Spark Spot

The study shows that even when people rate options similarly,the choice will be one that will be decided by the brain.The choice that causes more activation in the caudate nucleus, a brain region involved in anticipating reward, will be taken.The study also shows that after a decision is made, caudate nucleus activity increases for the selected option and decreases for the rejected one. The findings help to explain a classic finding in psychology.

In 1956, psychologists showed that after choosing between two similar home appliances, women subsequently claimed that the one they picked was better and the one they rejected was worse than they originally thought. The larger part of the brain are involved while people evaluate thoughts and come up with a conclusive decision.

Consistent with the original psychology study, people tend to change their evaluation of choices within minutes of making their decisions.The researchers found that activation in the caudate nucleus changed in parallel with this reevaluation. Compared with the initial brain scans, caudate nucleus activation increased for the selected  and decreased for the rejected option in the second brain scan.

The findings and facts reveals the biological basis for post-choice reevaluation.Re-evaluating our options post-choice may serve an adaptive purpose by increasing an individual’s commitment to the action taken. In the absence of a rapid update of value that concurs with choice, we are likely to think again and decide the actions.

Google, one of the most popular search engines,  rolled out two enhancements to its search engine that drives for a shift toward more integrated real-time search results. The new technology introduces new algorithms that draw from semantic relevance of search terms.

The first enhancement expands the list of useful related searches. The second enhancement lengthens search result descriptions, called “snippets“. Both new offerings are designed to help guide users more effectively to the information they need.

Till now, Google could not help users whose keyword selections were too broad, yielding them poor results as their search words were not optimized.The new technology tries to interpret the search terms. Making the snippets longer will help people find more quickly the information they are looking.

The new technology is based on algorithms Allon developed before coming to Google in 2006. Instead of using search histories that Google tracks, this new approach is strictly algorithm based and is automated and scalable. The new features, which are based on proprietary software, support 37 languages.

The new method allows Google to quickly search in real time after considering the semantic significance of the search terms users enter. The algorithms apply associations and concepts related to the search terms.The technology analyzes Web page content related to the query and determines the relevance of people, places or concepts to the query. The process only needs fractions of seconds.

The terrible incident that took place last year at the financial capital of India, MUMBAI, shook all the Indians in fear. The man accused of being the lone surviving gunman in  Mumbai attacks clearly stated that he was originally from Pakistan.

Firefighters try to douse a fire at the Taj hotel in Mumbai, November 27, 2008.In February, police formally charged Mohammed Ajmal Kasab with “waging war” against India, and his trial began, where he disclosed that armed gunmen killed 166 people in a three-day rampage last November.

He has confessed that he is from Pakistan and has also asked the court for legal assistance, the hearing has concluded and the next date of the trial will be known shortly.The attacks on India’s financial hub sparked renewed tensions between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan, and Islamabad initially denied Kasab was a national before accepting that he was.

India has charged 38 people, including Kasab, in connection with the case.The charge sheet, which runs to some 11,000 pages, contains accounts of more than 2,200 witnesses as well as other evidence provided by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, which helped Indian police with the probe.

Those charged as key planners of the attacks included Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, founder of the militant Islamist Lashkar-e-Taiba group India says was behind the attacks, and other senior Lashkar members Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Zarar Shah.

Sachin dedicates his century and award by donating 500$ for Tiger conservation in India. India’s master batsman Sachin Tendulkar continues his fantastic form in the test series against Newzealand. India made an emphatic win and created history by winning the first test in Newzealand since 33 years.

Sachin, the popular figure all over the world, respectable human both for his cricketing skills and personal attitude set the platform for India to win the first test at Hamilton. Sachin Tendulkar played an excellent sachin’s knock that enabled India to clinch the match comfortably in style.

Sachin Tendulkar  played a fantastic knock of 160 runs in the first innings that helped India to post a huge score of 520 runs on the board. India finally won the match by 10 wickets. Sachin was declared as Man of the Match. Sachin in post match presentation said that he would like to dedicate this century for Conservation of Tigers and also donated 500$ from his prize award towards Tiger Conservation in India.

I was really amazed to hear that the Master Batsman of India expressing his views to protect the Environment and Wild life. He actually emphasized the importance of Tiger Conservation by donating a part of his prize money and by dedicating his match winning century.

So i feel that the Indian Government in cooperation with all the State Governments must focus on the Conservation of Tigers by employing the necessary adequate steps there by to protect wild life.

Well, we all love to see pyramids and without any doubt i feel that the pyramids are treasures of Egyptian Civilisation.The large amazing structures on earth are called as Pyramids. The largest pyramid ever built, by volume, is the Great Pyramid of Cholula, in the Mexican state of Puebla. This pyramid is still being excavated. Pyramid-shaped structures were built by many ancient civilizations, including the Egyptians, Mayans, Sumerians and Cambodia. The Egyptian pyramids are very well known all over the world.

These pyramids  have been both the main destination for tourists, and a source of imaginative thought to the world for over three thousand years. However, there are actually over 100 pyramids in Egypt, many of which are relatively unknown to anyone who is not an ancient Egypt enthusiast.

Hence, major pyramids were not built throughout Egypt’s ancient history. The Pyramid Age began with a burst of building, starting with the 3rd Dynasty reign of Djoser.  In Egypt, all but a select few of the pyramids were built as tombs, sometimes to hold the physical body of a pharaoh or to hold the soul of the deceased as in the case of the small cult pyramids built next to the larger ones.

Today, we believe that they chose the shape in order to mimic the Benben, a pyramid shaped stone found in the earliest of temples, which itself is thought to symbolize the primeval mound from which the Egyptians believed life emerged. This also connected the pyramid to Re, the Sun God, as it was he, according to some of the ancient Egypt mythology, who rose from the primeval mound to create life.

In fact, pyramids continued to evolve throughout their history, perhaps  in the way that they were built. Royal pyramid complexes included the main pyramid, a courtyard surrounding the main pyramid, a much smaller cult pyramid for the king’s soul, a mortuary temple situated next to the main pyramid, an enclosure wall and a causeway that led down to a valley temple.

Our thinking on pyramids has evolved considerably over the years. Many of us who are a bit older were taught that the pyramids were built using Jewish slave labor, which is a fabrication of immense proportions. Most of the pyramids were built long before the Jews made their appearance historically and currently, many if not most scholars believe they were not built using slave labor at all.

However, some mysteries remain, even in some of the best well known Pyramids. The most famous of them all, the Great Pyramid of Khufu, continues, year after year, to give up a few more secrets, and there doubtless remains much to learn from these Egyptian treasures. There may even be one or more pyramids yet to be discovered.

Bill Gates, the prestigious founder of Microsoft,  is the richest man again. He overtook investor Warren Buffett, as the global financial meltdown wiped out $2 trillion from the net worth of the world’s billionaires.The number of billionaires in the world fell by nearly a third to 793 in the past year, with large numbers dropping off the list in Russia, India and Turkey.

Gates regained his title as the richest man in the world, with $40 billion after slipping to third last year when he was worth $58 billion. Buffett, last year’s richest man, fell to second place with $37 billion, down from $62 billion. Mexican telecommunications tycoon Carlos Slim took third place with $35 billion, down from $60 billion.

Collectively, the top three billionaires lost $68 billion in the year to Feb. 13, when Forbes took a snapshot of wealth around the world to compile its annual list of billionaires.The net worth of the world’s billionaires fell from $4.4 trillion to $2.4 trillion, while the number of billionaires was down to 793 from 1,125.

Indian businessman Anil Ambani, the biggest gainer on last year’s list, was the biggest loser this time, with $32 billion wiped out over the last 12 months. Ranked sixth last year, he fell to 34 with an estimated wealth of $10.1 billion.

The only person in the top 20 who did not lose money was New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose net worth was revised up to $16 billion from $11.5 billion because of a revaluation of his media company.

The Software model has been developed that facilitates 3-D images for tracking tigers.The new software, developed by Conservation Research with the help from Wildlife Conservation Society,  creates a 3D model from scanned photos using algorithms similar to fingerprint-matching software used by criminologists.

The software program enables to  calculate tiger populations by painstakingly reviewing hundreds of photos of animals caught by camera traps and then matching their individual stripe patterns, which are unique to each animal. It is expected that the new software will allow researchers to rapidly identify animals, which in turn could speed up tiger conservation efforts.

This new software will make it much easier for conservationists to identify individual tigers and estimate populations and also the fundamentals of tiger conservation are knowing how many tigers live in a study area before you can start to measure success. This software can also be used to identify the origin of confiscated tiger skins based solely on the photos taken.

Pakistan, which was asked to host the Champions Trophy this season, lost the pride after the terror attack that took place aginst the Srilankan Cricket team. Many cricket playing nations have expressed their dis-satisfaction to come to pakistan for playing the champions trophy considering that it is not a secure country to play cricket. ICC  also thinks that Pakistan is not a safe country and is often prone to blasts and attacks. So ICC panel decided to shift the Champions Trophy from Pakistan.

The next thought from cricket fans is that India or Srilanka might host this trophy that will last for 12 days. Infact Srilanka had a better chance. But due to the war between the srilankan military and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, this might also not happen. Also the ICC  had said that Sri Lanka had agreed to step aside because there could be no guarantee of favourable weather at that time of the year.

Suddenly the lattest buzz is that South Africa may host this Champions Trophy. Cricket South Africa said that it will consider hosting the ICC Champions Trophy tournament in September this year once it receives an official invitation for the same. Cricket SouthAfrica have asked the ICC to provide them with a financial model and then their  Board will discuss the matter once it has received this model and an official ICC invitation.

Kollywood actor  Vikram fans allover the world will sense a sign of excitement now. Kanthasamy is slowly approaching its release date. The film which is touted to be a grandiose affair from its launch, cast, locales and every other aspect is being produced by Kalaipuli S Thanu who is known for his generosity in film making.

Kanthasamy will be Vikram next flick after Bheema. Shriya will be pairing with him for the first time. Kanthasamy stills that are released in the media project her in an entirely new avatar. The highlight of the film is said to be Vikram’s singing in the film. Kanthasamy’s audio is said to hit the shelves on April 5th.

Kollywood circles say that the movie will be released on May 29th after IPL. Film buffs may recall that the film was to have released by the 1st week of May. But the one month long IPL festival must have prompted the makers to reconsider their decision. Everyone hopes that this film will be a great entertainer thereby achieving success for the entire team that have put in a lot of hard work.

The dancing dynamite Prabhu deva who was often related to Michael Jackson is gifteed with a variety of skills and has often changed his appearance starting from a dancer to actor and director and so on. He has never hung around doing the same thing for very long in his career.

Prabhu Deva began as a dancer, his flexibility was such that he soon started getting the spotlight in special numbers of many prominent films. ‘Lalakku dol dappima’ from Suriyan, ‘Ada raasave’ from Walter Vetrivel and ‘Chikku bukku raile’ from Gentleman are unforgettable performances from the Indian ‘Michael Jackson’.

The frame of Sankar and ‘Kadhalan’ happened. Dancer and choreographer till then, he became an overnight star. There are those who believe that it was purely his dancing skills that sustained him as a lead actor. While, that thought is not without reason, it would also amount to doing injustice to the actor in Prabhu Deva. A dancer by profession, he molded himself well into his new found responsibilities.

It is as if things were not coming together for him as before to deliver the box office hit. But he did not sit on his earlier successes or current failures. Before you knew it, he had delivered a superhit in Telugu as a director. He came to Kollywood and gave us Pokkiri, he has also directed Telugu’s megastar Chiranjeevi in Shankar Dada Zindabad, remake of Lage Raho Munna Bhai  and an average grossing Pournami with Prabas and Trisha in the lead.

Villu is the first real blemish in his movies as director.The point is that Prabhu Deva has never been predictable, always surprising us by turning to things that we never thought he would do. It was tough to imagine that the young guy prancing around behaving like a teenager in Engal Anna would turn into a director hardly 2 years later.

Prabhu Deva has been quite a rolling stone, but it would be wrong to say that he has gathered no moss. He started as dancer, turned choreographer, had a fairly successful stint as actor and has now become director. What next? The one thing that he has always kept close to himself is dance. Even after turning an actor and then director, he did not stop being a choreographer, nor did he stop doing dance numbers in some movies.

Prabhu Deva has played the fine balancing act. He has been a rolling stone, but not severed ties with his first love, dance. He has always  moved along and has managed his career quite beautifully.