時至今日，不計其數的電腦使用者已經相當倚重網路應用程式。例如，Yahoo 與 Google 皆提供電子郵件程式以及照片分享網站。使用者可在世界的任何角落，用任何一台電腦，透過網頁瀏覽器，即可存取他們上傳的照片或電郵信箱的訊息。
眾多矽谷公司也提供各式各樣的服務，從簡易文書編輯工具到複雜的約會與社交網路系統，統統都只需網頁瀏覽器就可使用。這種趨勢大行其道，每一種應用程式都可能瓦解微軟在桌上型 PC 軟體市場的壟斷地位。最明顯的即是Google於去年10月開始提供一套免費的文書處理與試算表軟體，用瀏覽器即可開啟使用。
軟體與資訊工業協會(SIIA)會長Kenneth Wasch說：「就某種程度而言，軟體產業正邁向on-demand(隨選)的商業模式，對微軟構成威脅。」
這塊領域可籠統稱之為「Web 2.0」，微軟是新來乍到。但微軟賴以競爭的本錢，在於該公司廣大的Windows平台使用者(估計逾10億)。微軟計畫免費提供部分的網路服務，例如照片分享和磁碟儲存空間，同時提供收費型服務，例如電腦資安服務，及一系列瞄準中小企業用戶的商業導向服務
微軟軟體架構長Ray Ozzie向財務分析師詳細說明微軟稱為cloud(「雲」)的網際網路服務。 Ozzie在「微軟財務分析師日」會議中預告，這項軟體與代管服務將在未來12到18個月內推出，目標是提昇微軟現有的產品線，並透過更多的廣告贊助型網路服務開闢新的營收來源。
稍早接受News.com訪問時，Ozzie曾表示，微軟正在籌備一種多層次平台，將在其上建置網路服務，或搭配服務的on-premise軟體。 此平台將提供給微軟所有的客戶群，包括商業夥伴、一般消費者、企業組織、和軟體開發人員在內。Ozzie說，此舉反映整個軟體業的趨勢正在改變，從原先的軟體開發轉型為Software plus services (軟體加服務)的經營型態。
這對微軟而言，是重大的轉捩點。以往微軟主要的業務，是銷售PC用的套裝軟體。新策略則在致力挽留既有的顧客，不教他們轉投Google、Salesforce.com等網路應用程式供應商的懷抱。
微軟新「Windows Live」軟體將包含更新版的電子郵件程式、照片分享程式，以及協助使用者撰寫網誌的文書編輯工具，顯示微軟準備直接迎戰頭號強敵Google及其他對手，不但是在網路搜尋引擎市場交鋒，也要在PC本機或行動裝置內存的數位資訊搜尋領域較量。
惠普公司執行副總裁暨策略與科技長Shane Robison說：「我認為，微軟會跨出搜尋領域之外，邁進更複雜的服務領域。這將是一場競賽，誰會先馳得點，尚未可知。」
微軟Windows Live服務總經理Brian Hall則說：「我們融合了通訊與分享元件，量身製作了一套網路環境，(包括新版Hotmail、Messenger即時通訊服務、以及網路硬碟等)。依我們之見，可說是最適合個人及社群使用的跨平台服務。 」他指出，第一個完整版Windows Live目的是讓使用者在跨越不同服務與應用程式時，能享有以比較上來說更加暢行無阻的經驗。
這套軟體讓PC使用者可選擇把內含一系列服務的Unified Installer程式包裹下載，或是分別下載各種服務元件。個別的服務包括：Windows Live Photo Gallery照片程式、 Windows Live Mail郵件程式、Windows Live Messenger 8.5即時通訊程式，及Windows Live OneCare Family Safety電腦安全程式等。這一版軟體雖然包含Windows Live Writer網誌編寫程式，但同時微軟也很小心避免這些軟體侵蝕微軟核心產品Word和Excel的地盤。
微軟又說，在未來的版本裡，將提供SkyDrive線上資料儲存服務與FolderShare資料同步化服務。SkyDrive目前給予試用者500MB的免費網路儲存空間，而FolderShare使用者則可進行多台電腦的同步化，包括蘋果麥金塔電腦在內。
Source: CNet.com
Ecological Homeostasis
Are We Short of Water and Food ??
- Meteorite Asteroid Impact On Earth Doomsday 2012
- Nasa Climate Report
- Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chief of UN IPCC on a Win-Win Situation for the Planet: Go Vegetarian!
- 20 Questions About Vegetarianism
...Excess protein consumption can cause a variety of problems including bone mineral loss, kidney damage, and dehydration. Your body can only use so much protein, the excess is either broken down through oxidization, placing an enormous strain on the kidneys, or it is stored as body fat. Neither option is particularly desirable...
http://www.lovinghut.com/
Since the vegetarian diet is the most effective solution to global warming, under Supreme Master Ching Hai's guidance, members of The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association recently opened a chain of Loving Hut vegetarian restaurants around the world, in the United States, Japan, Indonesia, Au Lac and Formosa. These places provide affordable and high-quality vegetarian delicacies to the public, bringing a positive impact on the food and beverage industry...
Meat or vegetables? Independent online (SA)
A recent study has revealed that giving up meat could drastically reduce one's carbon footprint. A diet with meat is responsible for producing in a year (as many) greenhouse gases as driving a mid-sized car for 4,758 km, the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IOeW) said last week. But the food a vegetarian consumes in (the same period of time) is responsible for generating (gases only) as driving for 2,427km, the IOeW said in a study commissioned by independent consumer protection group Foodwatch...
Vegetarian Shoes And Bags
The term pleather ("plastic leather") is a slang term for synthetic leather made out of plastic, a portmanteau of plastic and leather, the term can be either descriptive, or derogatory, depending upon the user (the derogatory use implies use as a substitute for genuine animal hide leather to cut costs)...
From All Corners of the Galaxy
Which Stars Are You From?
- Galactic Highway - The Wormhole
- Stream of Time
Wormholes are a valid consequence of Einstein's general relativity view on the universe. A wormhole, in theory, acts as a shortcut or tunnel through space and time. There are several versions on the same theme (i.e. wormholes may link different universes; they may link the two separate locations in the same universe; they may even link black and white holes together), but the physics is similar, wormholes create a link two locations in space-time, bypassing normal three dimensional travel through space. Also, it is theorized, that matter can travel through some wormholes fuelling sci-fi stories like in the film Stargate or Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
If wormholes do exist however, it is highly unlikely that you'll find a handy key to open the mouth of a wormhole in your back yard, they are likely to be very elusive and you'll probably need some specialist equipment to travel through them (although this will be virtually impossible).
Alexander Shatskiy, from the Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow, has an idea how these wormholes may be observed. For a start, they can be distinguished from black holes, as wormhole mouths do not have an event horizon.
Secondly, if matter could possibly travel through wormholes, light certainly can, but the light emitted will have a characteristic angular intensity distribution. If we were viewing a wormhole's mouth, we would be witness to a circle, resembling a bubble, with intense light radiating from the inside "rim". Looking toward the center, we would notice the light sharply dim. At the center we would notice no light, but we would see right through the mouth of the wormhole and see stars (from our side of the universe) shining straight through.
Source:http://www.universetoday.com/
Plato argued that time is constant - it's life that's the illusion. Galileo shrugged over the philosophy of time and figured out how to plot it on a graph so he could get on with the important physics.
Albert Einstein said that time is just another dimension, a fourth one to go along with the up-down, side-side, forward-back we move through every day. Our understanding of time, Einstein said, is based on its relationship to our environment.
Weirdly, the faster you travel, the slower time moves. (Is it truely weird? Not quite!!) The most radical interpretation of his theory: Past, present, and future are merely figments of our imagination, constructs built by our brains so that everything doesn't seem to happen at once.
Source: http://www.socialtext.net/
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