False alarm

I was engrossed in my web designing work today when a loud alarm went off at the office. I saw every one getting their jackets and leaving the office and guessed that it was the fire alarm. So I followed the rest down the stairs and went outside. It was quite cool and nobody was panicking. The building is only 3 stories high anyway.

We were given the green light to go in after a while. The funny thing is that as I was about to enter the office, the alarm suddenly went off again. The security people told us that it was something setting off the alarms. Must have been some stupid guy who tried smoking in the toilets.

Test your internet speed

It was reported that more than half of UK homes have broadband now. You may find it hard to believe but customers in the UK have a bigger range of ISPs to choose from than in the US.

However, it was reported that many of the ISPs are not delivering the promised broadband speeds, with customers in some places reporting less than one fourth of the promised download speeds. Of course, there's always a warning in fine print:

Download speeds may vary substantially depending on where you live and technical factors such as the quality of your telephone line

Take the Internet Speed Test to find out whether you are getting the speed your ISP said you would. It is easy to use. All you have to do is press the "Begin" button and you will get the download and upload speed results. It's totally free. The website also has links to a number of freeware links as well as tips and tweaks.

Back to office

It felt strange going back to working in an office after nearly a year. Yes! I finally got a job but it's only a temporary position at the University of Warwick for a few days. I guess that ends my status as a full time blogger. I know it sounds crazy, but it actually felt nice to be going to work, stuck in a traffic jam and working with other people again.

The pay is good and I wish the job was for a longer period. I am hoping that this will lead to other opportunities. Got the job through, Unitemps, a temporary employment agency, based at the University of Warwick. After several applications and a few interviews, this was my first successful application. Won't be blogging much for a few days.

Turning your photographs into works of art

Recently while visiting Warwick castle, I was looking at the big portraits and was thinking that it would be great to have a portrait of our small family. Nothing ostentatious, without the gilded frames and not too large either - just a simple one. Sitting for portrait session is so old fashioned and of course with the kids, would be almost impossible unless you kept them tied down to the chairs.

Learn to Dream is among the companies who can convert your photographs into paintings.

They do more than just enlarge your photos. After you have sent the picture of your choice to them as a printed photo, a negative, or in digital format, there will be a personal consultation process. They will discuss the best choice of material and photograph manipulation techniques to create works of art from your photographs.

You can have the pictures printed on a number of materials - ranging from art paper and photo paper to canvas and image blocks. My personal choice is the canvas. They are even willing to give you a full refund in case you are not satisfied.

Google $30 million moon contest

Space the final frontier

Last Thursday, Internet search giant Google announced the sponsorship of $30 million prize to anyone that can land a robot on the moon and send back images and data. Known as the Lunar X Prize, they are offering it in partnership with the Los Angeles based X Prize Foundation.

According to the post "Fly me to the moon" on Google's blog, they hope that the prize could

lead to important developments in robotic space exploration, a whole host of new space-age materials, precision landing control technology, and who knows what else.

Peter H. Diamandis, chairman and CEO of the X Prize Foundation said:

The Google Lunar X PRIZE calls on entrepreneurs, engineers and visionaries from around the world to return us to the lunar surface and explore this environment for the benefit of all humanity

The contest is on till Dec. 31, 2012 unless extended.

Rock stars likely to die young

According to a recent study published in the Journal of Epidemial Community Health, Rock stars in the US and the UK are two to three times more likely to die young than the rest of the population. The reason - drug and alcohol abuse.

This comprehensive study was carried out by the Researchers at the Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University who analysed the survival statistics of 1,064 pop and rock stars who became famous between 1956 (Elvis Presley) and 1999 (Eminem) (Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com).

It comes as no surprise considering the fact that there will be at least one or two accidents in the news every month, involving a celebrity who was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. However, those who do go into rehab are those who realise that they have a problem and need to do something about it. I wonder how many are there who are addicted but simply refuse to accept the fact.

A global child

The next blog on my review list is Preyanka's 'Dreaming of Hanoi'. Preya is a true global child. She was born in Calcutta, India to an American mother and Indian father. She spent her childhood moving between Colorado, India, and Thailand before moving to Hanoi, Vietnam in 1992. She finally went back to the US in 2000 and right now teaches English literature to high school students in Boulder, Colorado.

Used to visit her Blogspot blog before she finally moved to her new website. The blog has a neat and tidy template uncluttered by ads.

She asked me to give her some "brutally honest advice" and well all I can say is, keep doing what you have done so far. I love her pictures and really original and thought provoking posts. I can identify with some of her posts as an expat child myself - but slightly different, as an Asian in the West.

One really touching post was that on the evacuation of thousands of orphans after the fall of Saigon. It's a description of the hope amidst the chaos, as told by her mother, Cherie Clark.

Really nice blog.