If you enjoyed this post, please consider visiting LifeStyle Hack at lifestylehack.com. The content their is written by the same author of KV2 blog. You may also choose to subscribe to the LifeStyle Hack feed.

Update-Some New pictures have surfaced. Here is the flikr photoset.

1) New York City has 11 letters

2) Afghanistan has 11 letters.

3) Ramsin Yuseb (The terrorist who threatened to destroy the Twin
Towers in 1993) has 11 letters.

4) George W Bush has 11 letters.

This could be a mere coincidence, but this gets more interesting:

1) New York is the 11th state.

2) The first plane crashing against the Twin Towers was flight number
11.

3) Flight 11 was carrying 92 passengers. 9 + 2 = 11

4) Flight 77 which also hit Twin Towers, was carrying 65 passengers.
6+5 = 11

5) The tragedy was on September 11, or 9/11 as it is now known. 9 + 1+ 1 = 11

6) The date is equal to the US emergency services telephone number 911.
9 + 1 + 1 = 11.

Sheer coincidence..?! Read on and make up your own mind:

1) The total number of victims inside all the hi-jacked planes was 254. >2 + 5 + 4 = 11.

2) September 11 is day number 254 of the calendar year.
Again 2 + 5 + 4 = 11.

3) The Madrid bombing took place on 3/11/2004. 3 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 4 = 11.

4) The tragedy of Madrid happened 911 days after the Twin Towers
incident.

Now this is where things get totally erie:

The most recognised symbol for the US, after the Stars & Stripes, is the Eagle. The following verse is taken from the Quran, the Islamic

Holy Book:
“For it is written that a son of Arabia would awaken a fearsome Eagle. he wrath of the Eagle would be felt throughout the lands of Allah and lo, while some of the people trembled in despair still more rejoiced: for the wrath of the Eagle cleansed the lands of Allah and there was peace.”

That verse is number 9.11 of the Quran.

Still uncovinced about all of this..?! Try this and see how you feel afterwards, it made my hair stand on end:

Open Microsoft Word and do the following:

1. Type in capitals Q33 NY. This is the flight number of the first
plane to hit one of the Twin Towers.

2. Highlight the Q33 NY.

3. Change the font size to 48.

4. Change the actual font to the WINGDINGS

Q33 NY

*Note. This is not only mine, It has been floating around the web on different sites and I deiced it should be here also.

Please Note

If you enjoyed this post, please consider visiting LifeStyle Hack at lifestylehack.com. The content their is written by the same author of KV2 blog. You may also choose to subscribe to the LifeStyle Hack feed.

Say it ain’t so! One of the most important technology and entertainment trade shows in the world, E3, has apparently been killed — at least according to Next Generation. Apparently trustworthy sources have been in touch and gave them the word that publishers are getting tired of spending millions of dollars to one up each other in front of the press and retailers, and might prefer to use that money to better their own campaigns and smaller, more focused shows instead of grandstanding on the E3 show floor. The firestorm that supposedly led to the impending collapse of E3 may have been brought on by a number of large exhibitors jumping ship, which caused smaller companies to do the same (we’ll save the finger pointing for now). Frankly, in our opinion the whole matter is a double edged sword. Yes, massive industry events are often better at sorting companies with and without stellar marketing budgets than the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, but it’s also a necessary evil. It’s simply not always feasible for hundreds of companies to round up retail professionals and game journalists the world over to show off new product in bits and pieces throughout the year every year — which is why we have massive shows like CTIA, E3, CES, CeBIT, etc. Then again, we shouldn’t get too ahead of ourselves here; the death of E3 has yet to be confirmed (and might be greatly exaggerated), so we’ll have to wait until Monday before we can expect to hear either way from the Entertainment Software Association, the organization we hope won’t be burying our second favorite show of like, all time

E3 has not been cancelled. Next-Gen had hoped that they would blow the lid off of a hot story by revealing that the show had been cancelled, but some quick fact checking shows that they are simply incorrect.

Sources close to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) tell Ars Technica that the show can and will go on, but that big changes are planned. The “Electronic Entertainment Expo” (hence E3) started in 1995 as a small but interesting annual convention for gaming, following roughly six months after the once-popular annual COMDEX computer trade-show in Las Vegas. The show has grown immensely in popularity, and that appears to be the problem.

Sources say that two major factors have led to the decision to transition the show to a more “closed-door” event. Both, coincidentally, were major reasons for COMDEX shutting down: cost and access. If you’ve never been to E3, let me describe it like this: long lines, truckloads of people, video games everywhere, and really fancy “booths” (where booth sometimes means basketball court-sized display area). As with COMDEX, the major players are reportedly tired of how much it costs to put on the dog and pony show. Turns out it costs millions of dollars to put the sparkle into an E3 blingfest.

Now in theory, these shows are primarily geared towards connecting businesspeople. To that end, E3 was (again, in theory) only open to industry folks and journalists. In recent years, however, the number of people attending have skyrocketed, in part because E3 registration was a moderately open process. The show was getting huge, and just as with COMDEX, the show-within-a-show was born. What I mean by that is that it was no longer enough to go to the show. To talk to someone who actually knew what they were talking about, you’d need an appointment. To see something really special, really worth writing about, you’d need to meet behind closed doors. To find out anything of interest about something that wasn’t on a placard, you needed to get in with the right people. With COMDEX the practice started to get ridiculous; major players officially skipped the show but set up camp in Vegas hotels and had their sideshows for a fraction of the cost.

One source I spoke with told me that media access is indeed a problem, but it probably does not factor in greatly to the decision to downsize the show. Nevertheless, there are plenty of complaints from insiders about how “blogging” in particular has made the shows more difficult, if only because floor people are instructed to speak only of what they are approved to speak of, lest another half-baked headline make the rounds.

Possibly more influential is the fact that E3 is viewed by some people as being the Sony-Microsoft-Nintendo show, which it is not supposed to be. Smaller players have complained about this before, but really, that’s just the nature of a tradeshow. Not everyone can be Wil Wheaton, can they?

In all seriousness, the days of the big consumer technology trade shows are indeed passing. At the end of the day, the reason is very simple: ten years ago, you needed a big trade show to generate buzz and hype. It used to be that COMDEX was a special event because so much new stuff was unveiled, and this was the only way to see it. Now, however, information comes down the pipe faster than ever, and companies are wondering if there’s really any benefit to spending the big money on displays only to share the floor with other competitors looking to out-wow attendees. It was a media circus for the days when you needed a circus to attract media attention. I don’t think anyone would say that consumer electronics is lacking for attention these days.

Official word from the ESA should be out tomorrow. Keep an eye on Opposable Thumbs for additional updates. We’ll follow-up there.

Though a launch date for Opera 10 hasn’t yet been set, Opera is hoping the updated application will lure users away from Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7 by building on Opera 9’s use of small Web applications called widgets.

Opera 9 was released June 20. It’s intended to combat IE 7’s release later this year, according to Opera.

“Opera 9 is the first salvo towards IE 7. We’re trying to give a user-friendly experience and eliminate problems,” said Thomas Ford, public relations manager for desktop Opera software.

The company expects version 10 to work on and across any platform, a continuation of its work to make Opera 9 compatible with different platforms, such as Nintendo DS game consoles, as a way of differentiating the browser from Microsoft’s offering.

“We want to enable Opera 10 to work on any device–mobile, desktop, games consoles. We want to find ways to tie things in much better,” Ford said. “That’s something we do that Microsoft fundamentally can’t.”

The company also will develop more widgets–HTML and JavaScript Web applications that run outside the browser. Opera is aiming for a day when people needn’t use a full desktop operating system, instead using a browser and Web applications for most tasks.

There is also a big push in the company toward creating developer tools.
In other news:

* The security risk in Web 2.0
* Blogging, her way
* Intel Core 2 Duo launches officially
* News.com Extra: Video games used to treat Iraqi war vets
* Video: Intel Core 2 Duo launches officially

“We will be unleashing developer tools, which are still in the planning stages,” Ford said. “We want developers to use Opera as a Web development platform, using open standards. We need to keep the Web ready for open standards.”

Opera also is hoping to take market share from IE 6, the most recent Microsoft browser, thanks to the security of the Opera architecture.

“People can wait for IE 7, or they can use Opera 9 if they want to be safe now,” Ford said.

Opera 9 has already seen a significant uptake of users, with 700,000 downloads on the first day of release. Overall, Opera 9, including the mobile Mini version, has seen roughly 25 million downloads since its release in June, the company said.

For more information on opera 9 check out my review.

Core 2 Duo runs at slower clock speeds than Pentium-era chips, but is still more productive because it handles more calculations per clock cycle, said Sean Tucker, a product manager at HP. Thanks to that slower speed, Core 2 Duo chips need less electricity, drawing just 65 watts compared to the Pentium 4’s 95 watts and Pentium D’s 130 watts.

Intel has already started shipping Core 2 Duo chips to manufacturers, so the first Core 2 Duo Desktop machines should reach consumers in early August. Meanwhile Core 2 Duo laptops will reach consumers by the end of August.

Conroe and Merom are successors to the Core Duo processor which was introduced by Intel early this year. The Core Duo (Yonah) was the first Intel chip used in Apple’s switch to intel earlier this year.

At present Apple’s lineup is as follows:

Intel: MacBook, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini: Core Duo or Core Solo (Yonah)
PowerPC: PowerMac, Xserve: PowerPC 970 (G5)

Newer processors from Intel sharing a new architecture now include:
Core 2 Duo mobile (Merom)
Core 2 Duo desktop (Conroe)
Xeon 5100 (Woodcrest)

Woodcrest is rumored to be used in the Mac Pro, which is expected be released at WWDC 2006. Apple’s use of the Core 2 Duo is not yet clear, but the Core 2 Duo mobile (Merom) is pin compatible with the current Core Duo (Yonah). This means that Apple could easily upgrade the existing Intel-based Macs to the newer processor with no design changes.
Read

Merom is “a mobility-optimized, dual-core processor based on the new, state of the art, Intel Core microarchitecture” according to the company.

Intel’s next generation notebook chip is due to be announced today alongside Conroe, the corresponding desktop chip. Merom will be marketed as the Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile and is destined to replace the current 2MB Yonah chips found in MacBook Pros.

Merom comes with a 667 MHz frontside bus and 4 MB of L2 cache, double the 2 MB found in current MacBook Pros. Intel is offering Merom in 2.0, 2.16 and 2.33GHz clock speeds, a perfect fit to drop into the MacBook Pro lineup.

Full article here posted by Jason.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider visiting LifeStyle Hack at lifestylehack.com. The content their is written by the same author of KV2 blog. You may also choose to subscribe to the LifeStyle Hack feed.

An AMD-ATI marriage could shift the balance of power in the chip industry in significant ways. AMD’s product portfolio — which has remained limited to the microprocessors that act as a PC’s main calculating engine — would balloon overnight, as it folds in two major new chip categories.

The new offerings would give AMD a more complete package of products as it takes on Intel, which has long supplied a wider portfolio that includes so-called chipsets that connect a microprocessor to a PC’s other core components and graphics chips that power images rendered by computer games and internet video.

Markham, Ontario-based ATI, which makes chipsets and graphics chips for PCs, also makes a host of semiconductors for consumer products, such high definition TVs and cell phones.

An acquisition of ATI “would make AMD a bigger player with a more diversified portfolio,” said Nathan Brookwood, an analyst with research firm Insight 64. “If there is any truth to this deal, it would certainly put AMD on a more equal footing relative to Intel.”

A deal would also put competitive pressure on Nvidia Corp., the other dominant maker of graphics chips. Santa Clara-based Nvidia has competed against Intel in selling chipsets and graphics chips while counting on AMD for sales of those products.

AMD has scheduled a telephone conference for 8 a.m. EDT Monday to make a “significant corporate announcement.” Chief Executive Hector Ruiz and Chief Financial Officer Bob Rivet planned to staff the call.

AMD spokeswoman Brenda Rarick declined to say what that announcement was or to comment on the news reports. Officials from ATI didn’t return messages left late Sunday.

P.S. -For what it’s worth, the WSJ also thinks the deal’s about to go down.
For all the information, check out this.
~~~~~~
Check out the pics of the KRZR here.

What we know (for sure)

* Zune is the name of the project, the brand, and the device.
* The first Zune device will be launched this year, with more devices to come in 2007.
* The Zune brand encompasses not only the device, but the software that will drive it, as well as a music, movie, and media service the Zune device family will use for acquiring, sharing, and discovery of said media. Music will be the first angle of service that is launched, “connected entertainment” being the ultimate goal.
* The Zune media service will heavily leverage community aspects and recommendation; emphasis is being placed on using Zune to discover new artists, media, etc.
* The Zune media device will be drive-based, and have WiFi.
* The Zune brand is intended to be an entirely vertically integrated end-to-end solution, not unlike the iPod / iTunes / iTunes Music Store triumvirate.
* The service and device will not be PlaysForSure compliant, meaning you will not be able to use your Zune player with Napster or Vongo, for example. This will be an entirely new system. Microsoft will continue to support and develop for their PlaysForSure initiative, but all things PlaysForSure are handled by two entirely separate division that will not have any crossover.
* Zune is under Microsoft’s new Entertainment & Devices Division, and is headed by, among others, Robbie Bach, J Allard (Corporate Vice President and Chief XNA Architect), and Bryan Lee (Corporate Vice President and CFO, Entertainment and Devices Division), which accounts for the division of this project from the rest of Microsoft, similar to how the Xbox project was also strictly separated.
* The logo we had is, of course, real.
* Microsoft’s launched the Zune viral marketing site, ComingZune.com.

What we think we know (and are pretty sure of)

* They’ll be showing off the device by the end of next month, and will aim for a November release.
* Microsoft will buy your way out of iTunes in order to convert you to a Zune user.
* The Zune will come in multiple colors.
* Pyxis is the codename for their nano competitor which would also include video capabilities; Alexandria is the codename for the software that powers the Zune experience.
* A Microsoft portable gaming system is in the works, and will be a part of the Zune family. This device should have Xbox Live Anywhere integration. This may or may not be an Xbox co-branded portable, but is probably going to be the portable gaming / media device we’ve been hearing about for years.
* Microsoft’s ad campaign will include a Super Bowl commercial.
* The Zune will have a bevy of accessories at launch; it’ll probably be cheaper for accessory makers to develop for the Zune port than pay the Made For iPod tax.

What we don’t yet know

* Whether the Zune media service will offer the same kind of all-you-can-eat subscription media services as PlaysForSure media services like Napster and Vongo. Supposedly subscription will be offered, but downplayed in favor of song purchase (which is the opposite of most PlaysForSure services).
* Whether you’ll actually only be limited to sharing with up to 10 people nearby, as rumored, and that they won’t get the protected files, but will “bookmark” them for later purchase.
* Exact device specifications for the first Zune device, as well as its price (though we hear it could be as much as $399).
* Whether it’ll include XM and/or Sirius service as rumored (we doubt it).

Let the analysis begin!

Landis, who started the day in third, passed Carlos Sastre and Oscar Pereiro in the overall standings to retake the yellow jersey he wore earlier in the race.

“I’m happy it was over,” Landis said on the Outdoor Life Network broadcast. “That was stressful.”

Serhiy Honchar set the pace at 1 hour, 7 minutes, 45 seconds for the stage over 35.4 miles from Le Creusot to Montceau-les-Mines. Andreas Kloeden had the second-fastest time of the stage and jumped up the overall standings to third.

Landis started the day 30 seconds behind yellow jersey wearer Pereiro, who managed to hang on early, losing only 10 seconds to Landis at the first time check. By the second time check, though, it was clear that Landis had taken the lead.

John Lelangue, the sporting director of Landis’ Phonak team, coached him from the car along the route, cajoling, positioning his rider and warning of upcoming hazards.

The Tour, won a record seven straight times by Lance Armstrong until his retirement last year, ends on the tree-lined streets of the Champs-Elysees on Sunday.

Landis would become the third American victor of the race.

Americans who have worn yellow
Name Tour titles
Greg LeMond ‘86, ‘89, ‘90
Lance Armstrong ‘99, ‘00, ‘01, ‘02, ‘03, ‘04, ‘05
David Zabriskie None
George Hincapie None
Floyd Landis None

Landis No. 1 in 2006
Place Race
First Tour of Georgia
First Tour of Georgia individual time trial
First Paris Nice
First Tour of California
First Tour of California individual time trial

IMPORTANT INFO ABOUT AREA CODES: We actually received a call last week from the 809 area code. The woman said “Hey, this is Karen. Sorry I missed you–get back to us quickly. I Have something important to tell you.” Then she repeated a phone number beginning with 809 . “We didn’t respond”.

Then this week, we received the following e-mail:

Subject: DON’T EVER DIAL AREA CODE 809 , 284 AND
876

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION PROVIDED TO US BY AT&T. DON’T EVER DIAL AREA CODE 809

This one is being distributed all over the US . This is pretty scary, especially given the way they try to get you to call. Be sure you read this and pass it on. They get you to call by telling you that it is information about a family member who has been ill or to tell you someone has-been arrested, died, or to let you know you have won a wonderful prize, etc.

In each case, you are told to call the 809 number right away. Since there are so many new area codes these days, people unknowingly return these calls.

If you call from the US , you will apparently be charged $2425 per-minute.

Or, you’ll get a long recorded message. The point is, they will try to keep you on the phone as long as possible to increase the charges. Unfortunately, when you get your phone bill, you’ll often be charged more than $24, 100.00.

WHY IT WORKS:

The 809 area code is located in the British Virgin Islands (The Bahamas). The charges afterwards can become a real nightmare. That’s because you did actually make the call. If you complain, both your local phone company and your long distance carrier will not want to get involved and will most likely tell you that they are simply providing the billing for the foreign company. You’ll end up dealing with a foreign company that argues they have done nothing wrong.

Please forward this entire message to your friends, family and colleagues to help them become aware of this scam

Sandi Van Handel AT&T Field Service Manager
(920)687-904

Additional information on these area codes can be found from ATT at:

http://www.consumer.att.com/consumertips/areacode.html

Apple posted revenue of $4.37 billion and a net quarterly profit of $472 million or $.54 per diluted share. For reference, the year-ago quarter brought in $3.53 billion in revenue, net profit of $320 million or $.37 per diluted share.

Analysts expected Apple to earn 44 cents per share, on average, within a range of 40 cents to 49 cents, on revenue of $3.68 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

Apple shipped 1,327,000 Macintosh computers and 8,111,000 iPods during this quarter which represents a 12% growth in Macs and 32% growth in iPods year-over-year.

- 75% of Macs sold during the quarter used Intel processors.
- 2nd highest quarterly sales and earnings in Apple’s history
- International sales accounted for 39 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
- iPod continued to earn a US market share of over 75 percent
- Desktops: 614,000, down 14% from previous quarter
- Portables: 498,000, up 60% from previous quarter
- iPods: 8,526,000

Live streaming of the results conference call will be broadcast at 5pm EST (Updates will be posted here).

Updates:

- Mac: 55% of revenue. Increased sales to 1.327 million.
- Pleased with Intel transition. “Solidly” on track to update Xserve and PowerMac by end of this year.
- Over 2900 Universal Applications.
- Most critical applications will be converted by September
- MacBook very well received
- Happy with the Mac ad campaign, feel that it is contributing to Apple’s momentum
- iPod
- NPD: 75% of market share US (MP3)
- Other music product revenue up 90% year over year
- Strong sales of iTunes and iPod accesories
- iTunes Music Store - 85% marketshare.
- Enthusiastic about upcoming iTunes/iPod products in the pipeline
- Retail
- 146 stores open during quarter.
- 50% of buyers are new to Mac.
- Outlook:
- “Very excited about and confident in the products in our pipeline.”

Q&A

Q: How important is it to hit the holiday season. and how innovative can innovative be [w/ respect to iPods]?
A: We don’t talk about unannounced products, but “very confident” in products in our pipeline.

Q: Markets: Consumer, Education, Pro
A: The MacBook was in high demand in both consumer and education. Pro market has been slow - thought to be due to wait in PowerMac with Intel and some Universal apps. Education market did very well. Higher edu grew 31% year to year. Very well poised in going into school season.

Q: Assuming any contribution from Leopard for the September [next] quarter?
A: We’ve not announced the ship date for Leopard, but will show the new features at WWDC.

The first test was a true/false event, so today we move on to the multiple-choice questions. And remember, all the questions are about the 2005 season.

1. Which NFC tight end of this group caught the most passes in 2005?
A. Jermaine Wiggins
B. Jason Witten
C. Jeremy Shockey
D. Alge Crumpler

2. Which of these AFC tight ends caught the most touchdown passes in 2005?
A. Tony Gonzalez
B. Todd Heap
C. Randy McMichael
D. Heath Miller

3. Only seven wide receivers caught 10 or more touchdown passes last season. Which one of these four receivers got into the end zone the most and finished tied with Steve Smith for the league lead?
A. Marvin Harrison
B. Larry Fitzgerald
C. Chris Chambers
D. Hines Ward

4. Who had the most receptions for a running back in the AFC last season?
A. LaDainian Tomlinson
B. LaMont Jordan
C. Chris Perry
D. Edgerrin James

5. Who had the most receptions for a running back in the NFC last season?
A. Tiki Barber
B. Marshall Faulk
C. Brian Westbrook
D. Michael Pittman

6. Who led the NFL in punt return average in 2005 with a 12.8-yard average (minimum of 20 returns)?
A. Steve Smith
B. Dante Hall
C. Antwaan Randle El
D. Reno Mahe

7. Who was the only player in the NFL to have a plus-30-yard kickoff return average (minimum of 20 returns)?
A. Pacman Jones
B. Terrence McGee
C. Jerome Mathis
D. Quincy Morgan

8. How many kickoffs were returned for a touchdown in 2005?
A. 4
B. 8
C. 12
D. 16

9. Which quarterback threw the most touchdowns in a single game in 2005?
A. Donovan McNabb
B. Peyton Manning
C. Drew Brees
D. Jake Plummer

10. Which quarterback in the AFC threw for the most yards in a game last year with 386?
A. Peyton Manning
B. Ben Roethlisberger
C. Carson Palmer
D. Tom Brady

11. A kicker led every team in scoring except for four teams. Larry Johnson (Kansas City), Shaun Alexander (Seattle) and LaDainian Tomlinson (San Diego) are three non-kickers to lead their team. Who is the fourth player?
A. Steve Smith
B. Rudi Johnson
C. Mike Anderson
D. Clinton Portis

12. Which team led the NFL in sacks in 2005?
A. Miami
B. N.Y. Giants
C. Seattle
D. Pittsburgh

13. Which defensive back had the most sacks in the NFL in 2005?
A. John Lynch
B. Adam Archuleta
C. Adrian Wilson
D. Roy Williams

14. Two players tied for the dubious honor of the most fumbles in the NFL last season with 17. Drew Bledsoe is one. Who is the other?
A. Chad Pennington
B. Jake Plummer
C. Kyle Boller
D. David Carr

15. Which quarterback completed the highest percentage of third-down passes (minimum of 100 attempts) during the season?
A. Peyton Manning
B. Jake Plummer
C. Carson Palmer
D. Jake Delhomme

ANSWER KEY: 1-A, 2-B, 3-A, 4-B, 5-C, 6-D, 7-B, 8-C, 9-A, 10-B, 11-D, 12-C, 13-C, 14-D, 15-A

BONUS QUESTION: Which NFL defense gave up the fewest red-zone touchdowns last year?
A. Chicago
B. Baltimore
C. Carolina
D. Indianapolis