


source::::shirdi sai speaks …H.Deepa
Natarajan

Storm surge A man run away as waves crash over a barrier in Yantai, Shandong Province, China. Strong storms have battered the country’s coast.

Battling the blazeA plane drops fire-dousing chemicals near Santa Barbara, California, during attempts to quell a 170-acre grass fire. Some 2,000 people were evacuated.

Ferry cross the murkyA boat navigates past the Sydney Harbour bridge in Australia amidst thick fog. Flights and ferry services were delayed as a blanket of fog covered the city.

Animatronic apeDesigner Sonny Tilders unveils a six-metre tall, 1.1-tonne gorilla created for the world premiere of the King Kong musical in Melbourne, Australia.

Rising rocketA Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft is lifted to its launch pad at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Three astronauts blasted into space on 29 May.

Breaking the cageTwo bears seen through the bars of a private zoo near a restaurant in Pristina, Kosovo. A campaign has been launched to free bears kept in such conditions.

From sea to airA Japanese US-2 seaplane takes off. Japan has just signed a contract to provide the aircraft to India – the first time Tokyo has exported arms since 1967. (
source::::bbc.com
Natarajan
Imagine a train going right through a busy market filled with tourists and locals alike! We’re not kidding; it’s a moment you won’t forget. It is in Hua Hin , Thailand !!!!
Maeklong railway market
A marketplace with a working railway track through it.
If you’re driving from Bangkok to Hua Hin (which takes about 2.5 hours), make sure you schedule a stop in Maeklong Railway Market in Samut Songkhram, some 60km away from the capital. Locals call it Talad Rom Hoop Market, which translates to “Market Umbrella Pulldown” but tourists call it Scary Market (read on to find out why). At first glance, it looks like any typical open-air market in Thailand. The market is filled with stalls displaying juicy fruits, fresh vegetables, a variety of spices, herbs, seafood and plenty more.




source::::yahoolifestyle.com
Natarajan
Apple’s iPad is a revolutionary product that is cratering the PC industry. But it wasn’t Steve Jobs’ idea.
A full decade before Jobs launched the iPad in 2010, Bill Gates launched Microsoft’s touch input tablet computer.
Here it is:

Bill Gates with a Microsoft tablet in 2000
Two years later, Gates showed up with an improved model, a color tablet. It used the Windows XP Tablet operating system.
Here it is:

Bill Gates in 2002
Unlike today, Microsoft didn’t manufacture the tablet itself. Lenovo produced the tablet in 2000 and other partners, like Fujitsu, made the XP tablet in 2002. Here’s a closer look at the Fujitsu tablet.
Fujitsu Windows XP Tablet from 2002
So if Microsoft was a decade ahead, why did Apple become the King of the Tablets?
Last July, during an interview with Charlie Rose, Bill Gates explained that Jobs “did some things better than I did. His timing in terms of when it came out, the engineering work, just the package that was put together. The tablets we had done before, weren’t as thin, they weren’t as attractive.
source:::: businessinsider.com
Natarajan
MARYLAND: The US-born son of immigrants from India overcame his longstanding problem with words of Germanic origin Thursday to win the 86th national spelling bee.
Arvind Mahankali, 13, from New York City, correctly spelled knaidel, a type of dumpling also known as a matzah ball, to become the sixth youth of south Asian heritage to win the coveted title in as many years.
He is also the first boy to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee since 2008.
Mahankali, the eldest son of an IT consultant father and a physician mother, had placed ninth in 2010, then third in 2011 and 2012. More often than not, it was words of Germanic words that denied him the championship.
“The German curse has turned into a German blessing,” he said after besting eight other finalists in a nail-biting finale to a three-day nationally televised competition that started with 281 contestants from eight nations.
Earlier in the evening, Mahankali had aced such words as tokonoma (a recess opening in a Japanese living room) and kaumographer (someone who transfers designs onto cloth with a hot iron).
The youngster plans to save the $30,000 cash prize — plus a $2,500 US savings bond — for college, where he hopes to eventually get a doctorate degree in science.
Second place went to Pranav Sivakumar, 13, from Illinois, while Sriram Hathwar, 13, from New York, came in third. Amber Born, 14, a crowd-pleaser with her tension-breaking jokes, was the best among the girls in fourth place.
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Arvind Mahankali, 13, from New York City, correctly spelled knaidel, a type of dumpling also known as a matzah ball, to become the sixth youth of south Asian heritage.
source::::Economic Times..
Natarajan
WHICH ARE YOU?
(Author Unknown)
A daughter complained to her father about life and how things were so
hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted
to give up. She was tired of struggling. It seemed that as soon as one
problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with
water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In
one he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and the last he
placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a
word.
The daughter sucked her teeth and impatiently waited, wondering what he
was doing. In about twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He fished
the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and
placed them a bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a
bowl.Turning to her he asked. “What do you see?”
“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.
He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and
noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break
it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. She smiled as she tasted its
rich aroma. She said, “What’s the point?”
He explained that each of the items had faced the same adversity –
boiling water – but each reacted differently.
The carrot went in strong and hard. But after being subjected to the
boiling water, it softened and became weak.
The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid
interior. But after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became
hardened.
The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the
boiling water, they had changed the water.
“Which are you?” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your
door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?”
source:::: One of blogspots
Natarajan