Flowers-From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A poster with twelve species of flowers or clusters of flowers of different families

A flower, also known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Magnoliophyta, also called angiosperms). The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds. The process begins with pollination, is followed by fertilization, leading to the formation and dispersal of the seeds. For the higher plants, seeds are the next generation, and serve as the primary means by which individuals of a species are dispersed across the landscape. The grouping of flowers on a plant are called the inflorescence.

In addition to serving as the reproductive organs of flowering plants, flowers have long been admired and used by humans, mainly to beautify their environment but also as a source of food.

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Love birds

Lovebirds are smaller members of the parrot family from Africa . They belong to the family Agapornis Personata in Greek which means 'Agapa' (love) and 'ornis' (bird'). There are 9 species of lovebirds, and many different color varieties. They are known by the name 'Lovebirds' as they revel in living with a life partner, constantly together - preening,cooing and billing. But they can be kept alone as pets. They are very social and affectionate and require handling and attention daily. Varieties of the domestic lovebird are peach-faced, fisher, and masked.

Origin	-	Africa.
Cage Size	-	Minimum of 22" length by 18" high and 18" wide.
Weight	-	50-55grams.
Foods	-	Canary seeds, sunflower seeds, apples, green vegetables and Pelleted diets which provide balanced nutrition.
Life Span	-	8 to 10 years.

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Top 10 Free Software Daily stories this week!

Top 10 stories:

1. Linux Myths: Busted! —One of the main reasons that most people are afraid to try Linux is because they have this preconceived notion about linux being too hard to use and difficult to maintain; or that they have to do something drastically differ ant and there is a steep learning curve to using linux… here is an attemp to dispel some of the myths surrounding Linux. Read more…

2. Marble provides basic engine for free Google Earth replacement —The Free Software Foundation can cross off another item on its high priority list of applications that free software needs in order to compete. Version 0.6 of Marble, which ships with KDE 4.1, may not rival Google Earth just yet, but the underlying engine has the potential to do so in future versions. Read more…

3. Videocast: Richard Stallman in New Zealand —“Richard Stallman’s tour of New Zealand has covered issues of copyright and the free software movement. He is fervently against restrictions on sharing, saying such restrictions are an attack on society. In this must-hear speech on copyright, Stallman introduces the foundation principles of the Free Software movement and then discusses the origins, uses and abuses of the laws of copyright…” Read more…

4. Richard Stallman lives and works by his principles —I’m not above engaging in a little shameless name-dropping, especially when I know the dropped name will spark a reaction. So while chatting with attendees at the LinuxWorld conference in San Francisco last week, I made no secret of the fact that I had interviewed Richard Stallman a few days earlier. I marveled at the awe and admiration on the faces of many of my listeners. Read more…

5. Richard Stallman and how easily we have traded away our freedom to share. —”…I much admired the way in which complex ideas were simplified and framed in historical, legal, economic, political and societal contexts to maximise the connections made […] Whilst Stallman calls for “sharing” , in New Zealand schools we identify “relating to others” and “participating and contributing” as worthy. Read more…

6. Torvalds: Fed up with the ‘security circus’ —Creator of the Linux kernel explains why he finds security people to be so anathema. Read more…

7. Why our mission is to teach them to value Software Freedoms —Rick, you miss one point: free software is about freedom, not price. Hackers insist on freedom even when it is inconvenient… My mission today is to teach you to value these freedoms… Please, try to learn this philosophy. Free Software is a movement that one day you will rejoin ;) Freedom is worth a sacrifice - (RMS). Read more…

8. “Say No To Software Patents” Campaign in Bangalore —“The Free Software User’s Group, Bangalore is co-ordinating a campaign to ‘Say No To Software Patents’ in India …” Read more…

9. Andrew Tanenbaum, Creator of MINIX on microkernels vs. monolithic kernels —A microkernel is much better engineered and is more modular and easier to understand. Monolithic kernels are still too big and unreliable. My metric is the TV set. The system should run for 10 years with a total of zero failures for 99.9% of the users… Read more…

10. The dark side of the EU —The evil aspect of the EU is revealed by a plan to merge surveillance with the US… Read more…

Top 20 Funny Cats

Windows XP SP3 review

Windows XP SP3 won't make any noticeable cosmetic changes to your operating system, but underneath the hood are several security improvements worth having.

In addition, one researcher claims Windows XP SP3 will slightly boost XP's speed as well.

Microsoft is using an interesting method to distribute Windows XP SP3. You don't download it as a separate .exe file - instead, you download a small executable file that, when run, changes your Registry so that Windows Update will download Windows XP SP3. If you are comfortable with editing the Registry, you can instead use a hack to tell your Registry to download SP3.

The actual download of Windows XP SP3 weighs in at 65.6MB. Once we downloaded it, it took about 30 minutes to install on a 1.83GHz Core Duo laptop with 1GB of RAM. Reboot after the install, and you're in business.

Don't bother looking around for any visible changes to the operating system; you won't find any. You'll have to go to System Properties and check your OS version just to make sure Windows XP SP3 installed properly.

Microsoft claims there is one, exceptionally minor interface change - according to the Release Notes, a Security Options Control Panel applet "offers more descriptive text to explain the settings and prevent incorrect configuration of settings". Doesn't make the pulse race, does it?

But we couldn't find even that - our version of XP doesn't seem to have the applet in question.

One of the biggest changes to XP won't affect people who already have the operating system - it's to do with product activation and Genuine Advantage, Microsoft's way of validating its OS. Before Windows XP SP3, when you installed XP for the first time, you had to enter a valid product key or else you couldn't install the operating system. With SP3, you'll be able to install XP for 30 days without the key.

If you already have XP, of course, you won't need a product key to upgrade to Windows XP SP3, so it won't really affect upgraders.

What is a TFT Monitor?

A TFT monitor uses thin-film transistor technology for the ultimate LCD display. LCD monitors, also called flat panel displays, are replacing the old style cathode ray tubes (CRTs) as the displays of choice. Nearly all LCD monitors today use TFT technology.

The benefit of a TFT monitor is a separate, tiny transistor for each pixel on the display. Because each transistor is so small, the amount of charge needed to control it is also small. This allows for very fast re-drawing of the display, as the image is re-painted or refreshed several times per second.

Prior to TFT, passive matrix LCD displays could not keep up with fast moving images. A mouse dragged across the screen, for example, from point A to point B, would disappear between the two points. A TFT monitor can track the mouse, resulting in a display that can be used for video, gaming and all forms of multimedia.

A typical 17-inch TFT monitor has about 1.3 million pixels and 1.3 million transistors. That leaves a significant chance for a malfunctioning transistor or two on the panel. Upon delivery, a TFT monitor can have "dead pixels" for this reason. A dead pixel is a pixel whose transistor has failed, thereby creating no display image. On a solid black background, dead pixels will stand out as tiny dots of red, white or blue. Most manufacturers will not replace a TFT monitor that has less than 11 dead pixels. Often, a TFT monitor won't have any dead pixels —- always the hope for any buyer, though dead pixels are not noticeable unless located in a critical position on the screen.

There are only a handful of TFT factories that turn out panels for all brands of TFT monitors. Since there is a given failure rate -- considering how many transistors are on each panel -- only so many of the displays come out bearing no dead pixels, while a certain percentage bear an acceptable number of dead pixels and other panels are unusable. The panels that bear some dead pixels are often sold to be used in discount models. If looking for a TFT monitor, it is a good idea to read feedback provided by buyers at popular online retail sites. By scanning the reviews for several brands, it is easy to get a feel for which models have consistently good panels that rarely bear dead pixels.

A TFT monitor delivers crisp text, vibrant color and an improved response time for multimedia applications. If interested in gaming, video editing or other multimedia applications, look for a TFT monitor with a response rate of 16ms or less.

Bharathidhasan and his life

Bharathidasan was born in Pondicherry. His original name was Subburathinam. He underwent formal education in Tamil literature, Tamil grammar and Saiva Sidhantha Vedanta under reputed scholars. He also studied at the Collège Calvé in Pondicherry. In 1909, he was introduced to Subramanya Bharathi, and his interactions with the Mahakavi had a major impact on him. He initially worked as a Tamil teacher in the French territory of Karaikal.

He actively participated in the Indian Independence Movement and through his writings openly opposed the British and the French Government. He was sentenced and imprisoned by the French Government for voicing views against the French Government that was ruling Pondicherry then. He was a strong supporter of Periyar and an important member of the Suya-Mariyadhai Dravida Movement,founded by Periyar.

During the Atheist's conference in Chennai, he signed a document having the words "I am an undying atheist".

Throughout his writing career he was encouraged by political leaders such as Annadurai and M. G. Ramachandran. In 1954 he was elected to the Pondicherry Legislative Assembly. He remained a prolific writer till he died in 1964 in a hospital in Chennai.