What is -Google

Facts about google

Larry Page and Sergey Brin The glorious history of Google

starts with two students Larry Page  23  and Sergey Brin 24, who were pursuing their Ph.D. at Stanford University, when they got the  idea to create a new search engine. Supposedly, Larry Page and Sergey Brin did not like each other initially. They thought they have nothing in common, but with time they learned life lessons together, they went on to become best friends for life. This was perhaps a rather strange way of starting a venture as big as Google.




The biggest irony of Larry Page and Sergey Brin’s life is:

that there original goal for these  two enthusiastic PH.D. Students was to to sell their Google search idea for $1 million to whoever was willing to purchase it. However, luckily for them (and us?), nobody turned up ...

Did you know that Google was originally named Googol?

The name failed when Larry Page and Sergey Brin received their first $100,000 paycheck in the name of Google Inc. and they had to run and create a bank account for the name, so that they could cash it. Therefore, the naming ceremony was nothing but an accident.

Google started its hiring process by recruiting Craig Silverstein

as their first employee, without their current sophisticated HR team. Craig was Larry Page and Sergey Brin’s fellow student at Stanford. (Craig was third employee of Google. He has now resigned from Google and has joined Khan Academy, an online learning site offering collaborative videos and projects.)

The famous www.google.com of today was once

google.stanford.edu and z.stanford.edu, when it was in the testing phase and was working under the website of Stanford university. 

In the year 1997, Yahoo rejected an offer to buy Google for

$1 million and now the company is worth $20 billion, whereas Google has grown up to $200 Billion. This is perhaps one of the most interesting financial losses of the IT industry. (see: google current share price)

By December 1998, Google was named

the search engine of choice in the Top 100 Web Sites, as shown by PC Magazine.

 Google Garage: their first office. In the February of 1999, the Google Company

moved out of its garage office to its first mountain-view office, with just eight employees. This number is incomparable to the current staff size of Google.


 Lego Computers: It is hard to believe that

there was a time when the founders of Google were short on funds and used economic ways to save money. The very first Google’s storage rack that stored ten 40 GB hard disks was made up of Lego. Can you believe that the most royal company of the modern times had such a humble start? More info 

 Google Umpa Lumpas  Why is Google is sometimes nicknamed the “Mountain View Chocolate Factory”.


 Thats not because its gives its employees lot of chocolates (although it does) it is used as a comparison of Google to  Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory - because of a similarity in the cultures of Wonka’s factory  and the Googleplex who both employ slightly strange eccentric but dedicated “engineers”.

Cyclone Ita Crosses

 cyclone Ita rapidly developed off the north Queensland coast in markedly divergent 

upper flow east of an upper low on 23 February. The system moved in a southerly then 

southwesterly direction towards the coast. However, northerly upper flow between an upper 

low over Queensland and an anticyclone in the Coral Sea increased. Development was 

inhibited and the lowest central pressure of 994 hPa occurred just prior to crossing the coast 
southeast of Townsville on 24 February, where it dissipated quickly. Little wind damage was 

reported, however, moderate flooding was reported in coastal rivers and creeks. A tornado 

occurred at Yukan about 13 km south of Sarina on 24 February.

Owing to the rapid degradation of the cyclone before landfall, structural damage was 

relatively low at A$8.4 million (US$7.9 million). However, the agricultural industry suffered 

extensive impacts and total losses reached A$1.1 billion (US$1 billion).

5.45pm: Telstra has reconnected a satellite mobile cell in Hope Vale to return mobile coverage to residents in the area.

4.30pm: Category Cyclone Ita is expected to continues its track southeast on Sunday evening before it moves offshore later Monday.

Winds of up to 90km/h are expected between Ayr and Mackay tonight. Communities as far south as St Lawrence and Yeppoon may experience gales early Monday.

Heavy rainfall causing flash flooding continues between Bowen and Laguna Quays. Rainfall totals of between 100-200mm are likely, with isolated falls of up to 400mm possible.

The weather bureau has warned those living between Ayr and Yeppoon, including Mackay, to continue monitoring warnings.

2.45pm: Severe thunderstorms are producing heavy rain and flash flooding at Bowen, Proserpine and Hamilton Island.

Bowen recorded 93mm in one hour to 2pm.

1.10pm: SWIFT water rescue teams rescued two people who had driven their car into floodwaters in Townsville this morning.

Emergency crews were called to Abbott St in Oonoonba about 7.15am after the pair was stranded in waist-deep water.

12.15pm: In the Whitsundays all ports and harbours will close from 3pm and some flights have been cancelled.

Whitsunday Tourism chief executive Daniel Rochford said all island resorts and the mainland tourist centre of Airlie Beach were prepared for the looming blow.

``I just went for a walk down the main street (Airlie Beach) and was surprised how many tourists there were around,’’ Mr Rochford said. ``A lot of the locals who live within about a 400km radius have gone home but international tourists have stayed and are hunkered down.’’

Mr Rochford said there were no major concerns about the low level storm, mainly due to tough building regulations introduced since the mid 1980s.

``And people are very experienced in handling this sort of thing up here. In a lot of cases, the island resorts are the safest places to be,’’ he said.

``Having said that, there will be an impact on visitor numbers, with some flights already abandoned and the Bruce Highway cut to the north. But we’ll be back open for business pretty much straight away.’’

Sunny Leone's first full-fledged Bollywood formula

Sunny Leone's first full-fledged Bollywood formula flick is a paheli indeed. 



It will leave you wracking your brains because the makers, banking on basic instinct, have brazenly decided that they don't need any intelligence in order to craft a film. 

The painfully pointless Ek Paheli Leela is a full-blown cinematic conundrum whose depth is inversely proportional to the geneorus decolletage that is on show.

With Leone on the prowl, what do you expect? She is surrounded by a battery of males who lust for her without making any bones about it. 

Needless to say, the character the lead actress plays revels in the attention she attracts. She expresses her joy in robust song and dance aimed at turning up the heat. 

First-time director Bobby Khan crams an array of salacious ingredients into Ek Paheli Leela to inveigle the former porn star's primary constituency.

He, however, does not get too far because he hangs the flimsy exercise on a silly reincarnation tale that moves between the present and all of 300 years ago.

Leone's skimpy outfits change from one era to the other. But whether it is the bright lights of London or the scorching heat of the Rajasthan desert, nothing can deflect the lady from pursuing her one-point agenda. 

The in-your-face act of seduction continues unabated until it becomes as monotonous as the barren desert expanse that provides the principal backdrop.

The present-day heroine is a supermodel - Meera from Milan alias Manjeet Kaur from Mohali. 

She has problems that are much more alarming than the fact that her anatomical assets are in constant danger of bursting out of her clothes. 

Meera suffers from a mortal fear of flying - she is a survivor of a plane crash in which her parents perished. 

She is also on anti-depressants so as not to fall prey to a fatal panic attack. 

But she isn't the only one at the receiving end. Her sense of humour is as spectacularly depressing as her awful Hindi diction. Grin and breat it!

When a friend pays her short dress a compliment, she retorts with: "In the glamour industry, short skirts are short cuts to the top." You immediately figure out that there is serious trouble up ahead. 

Poor little Meera is tricked into boarding a flight to Jodhpur by a photographer-friend, Radhika "Rads" Randhawa (Shivani Tanksale) and a model coordinator Andy (Bigg Boss housemate Andy) so that they can go ahead with a planned desert shoot.

Cut to the shutterbug's Mumbai-based musician-cousin, Karan (Jay Bhanushali), and an old song that he has stumbled upon. 

Every time he hears the ditty, he flips his lid. In a nightmare, he sees himself being mercilessly whipped.

Enter a greybeard guruji who tells Karan that he has been reborn to complete a love story that died prematurely in Rajasthan three centuries ago.

A girl named Leela, the young man is told, holds the key to unravelling the tragedy of his past life. He must find her come what may. 

But this is only the tip of the iceberg. If one survives the ordeal up until this point, there is much more bewildering mumbo-jumbo in store. 

The scantily clad Leela (Sunny Leone again) romps around on the sand dunes with a handsome but impoverished sculptor Shravan (Rajneesh Duggal). 

This hunk is an understudy to Bhairav (Rahul Dev), a master engraver who is also the lord of the desert.

Leela catches the master's fancy and he decides to create a timeless statue of hers with indestructible stone. She is caught in two minds. 

That is the vein in which this vapid yarn about love, desire and obsession unfolds against good-looking backgrounds, competently filmed by cinematographer Bashalal Syed.

But the pretty frames and the buxom female protagonist work at cross-purposes. They come in each other's way.

PLANE- CRASH

plane crash,no survivors

A Germanwings Airbus A320 plane carrying at least 148 people crashed Tuesday in mountainous southeastern France, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls told reporters.

Valls said he fears those aboard the flight from Barcelona, Spain, to Dusseldorf, Germany -- 142 passengers and six crew members -- may be dead.

French President Francois Hollande also said no survivors were expected. The plane crashed near Digne les Bains, in the Alpes de Haute Provence region, Valls said.

"The conditions of the accident are not yet clear but lead us to believe there will be no survivors," Hollande said.

The crash happened at about 10:30 a.m. (5:30 a.m. ET) in mountainous terrain near the village Prads-Haute-Bléone, French police Capt. Benoit Zeisser said.

Because of the terrain, it will be a difficult site for rescuers to access, Zeisser said. A police helicopter is in the area, he said.

The twin-engine Airbus A320s, which entered service in 1988, is generally considered among the most reliable aircraft, aviation analyst David Soucie said.

The crash site would be nearly halfway between Barcelona and Dusseldorf. Crashes mid-flight are rare, as most happen near takeoff or landing, CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo said.

NAVROZ-MUBARAK(specials)

Navroz, an Iranian New Year

Navroz, an Iranian New Year, marks the beginning of spring and the beginning of the year in the Persian calendar. It is usually celebrated on March 21 with families gathering together to observe rituals
NEW DELHI: Google is celebrating an Iranian New Year, Navroz, by posting a colourful doodle on its India homepage.

Google homepage visitors can see logo designed in a colourful way which symbolises flowers and bee.

Navroz, an Iranian New Year, marks the beginning of spring and the beginning of the year in the Persian calendar. It is usually celebrated on March 21 with families gathering together to observe rituals.

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It is celebrated by people from diverse background for many decades irrespective of their religious lineage or caste. It is considered the secular festival and is enjoyed by diverse ethnic communities across the world.
"Jamshedi Navroz is commemorated in honour of King Jamshed of Iran who was a just ruler," says Hormuz Dadachanji, priest at the Vatcha Gandhi agiary. Dadachanji will officiate at a private prayer ceremony organized by the owners of Kayani Bakery inside the restaurant, which is closed for business. The day begins with a visit to the neighbouring fire temples, so atashbehrams and agiaries are preparing to welcome scores of worshippers. "People offer sandalwood to the holy fire that is kept burning throughout. They bring flowers and incense as well. Each household decorates a table with auspicious items including a picture of the prophet Zoroaster where every item begins with the syllable 'sh'," says Freny Behramkamddin, wife of priest Nozer Behramkamddin who oversees the Bhicajee Patel Dadgah in Andheri .
Although it is not clear whether proto-Indo-Iranians celebrated a feast as the first day of the calendar, there are indications that both Iranians and Indians may have observed the beginning of both autumn and spring, related to the harvest and the sowing of seeds, respectively, for the celebration of new year.

Boyce and Grenet explain the traditions for seasonal festivals and comment: "It is possible that the splendor of the Babylonian festivities at this season led the Persians to develop their own spring festival into an established new year feast, with the name Navasarda 'New Year' (a name which, though first attested through Middle Persian derivatives, is attributed to the Achaemenian period). Since the communal observations of the ancient Iranians appear in general to have been a seasonal ones, and related to agriculture, it is probable, that they traditionally held festivals in both autumn and spring, to mark the major turning points of the natural year".

We have reasons to believe that the celebration is much older than that date and was surely celebrated by the people and royalty during the Achaemenid times (555–330 BC). It was, therefore, a highly auspicious occasion for the ancient Iranian peoples. It has been suggested that the famous Persepolis complex, or at least the palace of Apadana and the Hundred Columns Hall, were built for the specific purpose of celebrating Nowruz. Although there may be no mention of Nowruz in recorded Achaemenid inscriptions (see picture)[41], there is a detailed account by Xenophon of a Nowruz celebration taking place in Persepolis and the continuity of this festival in the Achaemenid tradition.

Families are preparing a menu of festival delicacies. Parsi caterer Zinobia Schroff will cook Irani berry pulao, chicken farcha and patra ni machhi.

CHINA'S-TOP-GUNS

China's next top guns
Hong Kong (CNN)The search is on for China's teen top guns.

China said Monday it has selected 16 high schools to offer pilot training as the country's armed forces seek to attract better qualified recruits.

China shows off new stealth fighter jet
China shows off new stealth fighter jet 02:15
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The schools, in 11 provinces across the country, will recruit 1,000 male junior high school students aged between 14 to 16, the China Daily reported.

Successful applicants will receive flight training and "military standard" physical training in addition to their regular high-school studies.

It's the latest attempt by the People's Liberation Army's air force to attract more talent.

Last year, it said it would require wannabe pilots to take psychological assessments and a flight simulation test.

China's military has traditionally been focused on winning land battles and is now making efforts to improve its air and naval power in the pursuit of what President Xi Jinping has called "balanced strength."

RUPERT-MURDOCH'S-UK

Rupert Murdoch's UK journalists cleared of illegal payments to officials
: Four senior journalists at Rupert Murdoch's British tabloid Sun were cleared on Friday of making illegal payments to public officials, the latest reporters to be exonerated after a massive police investigation.

The journalists - the paper's executive editor, deputy editor, chief reporter and royal editor - were found not guilty of paying military figures for information, including details about Queen Elizabeth's grandsons, Princes William and Harry.

However, one former ministry of defence employee who was paid 100,000 pounds ($149,000) by the paper for passing on stories was jailed for one year.

The issue of whether journalists should face criminal action for paying for stories they deem to be in the public interest has been controversial. Critics argue that such cases should never be brought to court.

"There is no celebration whilst this witch hunt continues against my colleagues who are still facing the nightmare that I hopefully one day will wake up from," Duncan Larcombe, the paper's royal editor, told reporters after the verdict.

The multi-million pound police investigation into illegal payments arose out of an inquiry into phone hacking by journalists on The Sun's sister paper, the News of the World, which led to the jailing of ex-editor Andy Coulson and a number of other senior staff last June.

News UK, the British newspaper arm of Murdoch's News Corp. , handed over a huge trove of emails to detectives investigating the hacking offences, resulting in the arrest of dozens of Sun journalists for payments to officials.

So far only two former News of the World reporters have been found guilty for such payments. Former police officers and prison officers have also been convicted and are serving jail terms.

The Sun's Larcombe, chief reporter John Kay, executive editor Fergus Shanahan and deputy editor Geoff Webster had argued that payments made to soldiers and Ministry of Defence officials had been for stories which were in the public interest.

The four men were found not guilty by a jury at London's Old Bailey criminal court after 10 days of deliberations

After the verdict, reporting restrictions were lifted on the jailing of MoD official Bettina Jordan-Barber, who was sentenced to a year in prison in January. She had admitted passing information to Kay, who called her his "number one military source", between 2004 and 2012.

UK-NEWS

For 6-month stay in UK, pay health surcharge
With less than two months to go for the general election in the UK, the government has clamped down on migrant benefits. From April 6, nationals from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), including those from India, coming to live in the UK for longer than six months will be required to pay a 'health surcharge' to gain access to the National Health Service (NHS).

So, Indians will have to pay an additional £200 per year (Rs 19,000) as health surcharge as a fresh fee. Students will have to pay £150 (Rs 14,000). The new fee is bound to hit the already dipping market of Indian students visiting Britain for higher education. Indians coming on an intra-company transfer (ICT Tier 2 visa) will, however, be exempt from the charge. Visa applicants will need to pay upfront for the total period of their UK visa.

Till now, non-EEA nationals coming to work, study or join family members have received free medical treatment under the UK's NHS in the same way as a permanent resident.

Immigration has become a major topic for the upcoming general election, with most political parties promising either to cut down on the number of foreigners allowed to come into the UK to work or curbing the benefits they receive. "International students cost the NHS around £430 million per year and over £700 per head," the Foreign & Commonwealth Office said in a statement. "The surcharge for students will be just £150 per year, a fraction of their true cost to the NHS. It is 1% of the cost of studying in the UK and is well below the price students pay for private health insurance in competitor countries, such as Australia and the USA."

British immigration and security minister James Brokenshire said: "The health surcharge will play a vital role in ensuring Britain's most cherished public service is provided on a basis that is fair to all. For generations, the British public have paid their taxes to help make the NHS what it is today — the surcharge will mean temporary migrants will also pay their way."

UK's visas and immigration department has made it clear that visas will not be granted to applicants if the health surcharge is not paid. When an application is refused, rejected or withdrawn, the charge will be refunded. The changes, however, will not affect visitors coming to the UK on a standard visit visa, regardless of its length.

Indians staying longer than six months will have to pay an additional £200 per year as health surcharge as a fresh fee.

TO-LURE-RECRUITS

To lure recruits, ISIS uses pics to glamorize group
Much attention is paid to the extreme, distressing and sadistic propaganda disseminated by ISIS, who go to great lengths to circulate images and videos of the atrocities it commits. Yet little attention is paid to what could arguably be considered the most dangerous propaganda emerging from the group — the pictures and videos that attempt to normalize and even glamorize life within ISIS — and are used as a recruiting tool for the extremist group.

This week, a Western 'jihadi bride' found herself being chastised by fellow ISIS supporters for going off message with a picture of women posing around a luxury BMW. The same woman also posted a picture of a group brandishing guns in a similar pose often struck by their male counterparts.

This image suggests power and a sense of parity with male militants, but it is undermined by the recent ISIS document unearthed and translated by the counter-extremism think tank Quilliam telling women their position would be confined solely to the home and the service of their militant husbands.

Charlie Winter, a researcher at Quilliam, said propaganda attempting to normalize militants plays an important role in constructing an image of ISIS as a way of life as opposed to just a group. "It's all pretty clear what they are trying to get across — that ISIS is not just a jihadi group fighting, it is setting up a state. It's no longer a group even, it's a political machinery."

JOHN KERRY- TO- MEET- EUROPEAN

John Kerry to meet European counterparts on Iran talks on Saturday

LAUSANNE, Switzerland: US secretary of state John Kerry will meet his British, German and French counterparts on Saturday to discuss his week-long negotiations with Iran on curbing Tehran's nuclear programme, a US spokeswoman said on Friday.

Spokeswoman Marie Harf said the nuclear talks with Iran would resume next week. The venue for Kerry's meeting with the Europeans was still being worked out, Harf added.

Separately, Iran's deputy foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran's talks with the six major powers would resume on Wednesday, according to Iran's ISNA news agency.

OBAMA-TIME FOR MANDATORY

Obama: Maybe it's time for mandatory voting
 (CNN)The president whose major policy achievement is mandatory health insurance thinks maybe voting should be mandatory, too.

Asked how to offset the influence of big money in politics, President Barack Obama suggested it's time to make voting a requirement.

"Other countries have mandatory voting," Obama said Wednesday in Cleveland, where he spoke about the importance of middle class economics, and was asked about the issue during a town hall.

"It would be transformative if everybody voted -- that would counteract money more than anything," he said, adding it was the first time he had shared the idea publicly.

The clout of millionaires and billionaires in campaign funding has been enormous, and many claim the uber wealthy have undue leverage in politics.

"The people who tend not to vote are young, they're lower income, they're skewed more heavily towards immigrant groups and minority groups," Obama said. "There's a reason why some folks try to keep them away from the polls."

At least 26 countries have compulsory voting, according to the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. Failure to vote is punishable by a fine in countries such as Australia and Belgium; if you fail to pay your fine in Belgium, you could go to prison.

Aside from campaign finance issues, the United States also grapples with one of the lowest voter turnout rates among developed countries.

Less than 37% of eligible voters actually voted in the 2014 midterm elections, according to The Pew Charitable Trusts. That means about 144 million Americans -- more than the population of Russia -- skipped out.

But mandatory voting could bring its own set of problems. Haydon Manning, associate professor at Flinders University in Australia, said that country's rules can backfire.

"Turning the vote out might not be a problem, but wooing disengaged citizens now requires banal sloganeering and crass misleading negative advertising," Manning wrote. "To me, this can diminish the democratic experience for those who take the time to think through the issues."