Fueling Cloud for Business

The idea of Cloud Computing dawns upon the virtual world as the next-generation shift that puts Internet and Computing together in a single module.

The innovative technology is definitely going to transform the way the world runs business. In near future, Cloud will move to the center of our exchange and remain at the core of worldwide transactions. It is cost-effective as a venture to outsource infrastructure, especially at a time when a deluge of information demands complex handling and analyses. Taking into consideration the ground realities of the inadequacy of the existing solitary IT infrastructure to deal properly with an avalanche of instantaneous data, the Cloud Computing appears both as a challenge and a boon. It's the signal and herald of great change in the digital world and the inauguration of a new phase in the engineering.

A remote server, storing the content, with unparalleled processing power and amazing strength of software, sorts them out, analyses and delivers the results home in seconds. That way, it promotes client efficiency by controlling and limiting the workload, or making the work-flow much easier, and thereby, helps companies to risk no business opportunities. So it's sort of teaming up of providers and clients, working together in an advanced and collaborative set-up. However, the practical problems related to integrating cloud services to existing culture and the multitude of security questions associated with it, are yet to clarified or defined.

Cloud Computing has tremendous prospects in e-commerce, academic and scientific research, healthcare scene, etc. Realizing this hidden potential, Microsoft has made huge investments in its development and expansion. By next year, 90% of the software giant's developers will be focusing on cloud-based or cloud-inspired projects. Though it's an early stage for cloud computing, Microsoft hopes that in a decade about 50% of its income will be Cloud-generated. Already over a billion people and 20 million businesses use MS cloud services. Windows Azure and SQL Azure are designed as a massive platform for corporate business.

Hubble Recovery

The ailing and aged Hubble Space Telescope awaits urgent servicing missions that could extend its life, but the Nasa administrator finds it risky to send astronauts to perform the surgical job. Perhaps, unmanned missions to Hubble to reclaim it with reliable and advanced robotic capabilities might help its recovery. And, that's the talk of the town!

To save the life of planet-discovering, space-probing Hubble, which has revolutionized our knowledge of universe and replaced our speculations with clear and picturesque proofs, is a cause really worth fighting for. Hubble's unrivaled and miraculous vision has enabled us to see the unimaginable and fantastic, and taken us beyond our known worlds. Its remarkable voyage through space has enriched our knowledge and its impact on our science is terrific. Hubble's discoveries are epoch-making in Astronomy, and they have greatly altered and mobilized our spirit for the exploration of the Cosmos. 

By piecing together the spectacular images sent by stargazing Hubble, the scientists have attempted to arrive at new conjectures. Triggered by the instant availability of revelatory data, they crave for further and deeper understanding of the exotic phenomena, which yields staggering results of progress. Through regular observation and analysis of images 'featuring change or celestial activity', they have isolated intelligent clues to broaden all theoretical spectrum and gained insightful updates to strengthen our approaches leading to the 'mission impossible' of the discovery of the universe. It enhances our perceptions of our home and our neighboring galaxies and the mystery beyond, thus equipping us with a stronger urge and gravitational pull to break its code.

At certain point in future, Hubble might not be able to carry out our expectations. Keeping this in view, our scientists have already started designing a successor for it: JWST ( The James Webb Space Telescope ), which is at least 10 times more powerful in reflecting light coming from the distant stars. Some of the light falling on JWST's mirror may have traveled billions of uninterrupted light years before and carried along with them some significant reports of the remote past, including some interesting hints about the origins of the gallaxies. JWST may be launched by 2011, which will usher in a new era in our understanding of the enchanting universe.

Forbes 2010 List of Billionaires

In the Forbes list of world's richest in 2010, Carlos Slim Helu, the Mexican telecom magnate adorns the top-most position pushing Bill Gates and Warren Buffet to second and third positions respectively. Slim's wealth is estimated at $53.5 billions whereas the two Americans together are credited with $100 billion. In the fourth and fifth positions are two Indians: Mukesh Ambani and Lakshmi Mittal. Though the largest number of billionaires are still in the US, this has been the first time since 1994 a non-American leads the list. Financial downturn has certainly shaken up major economies and business men have suffered heavy losses. The US  has still got 40% of 1011 of the world's richest in it but there is a marked increase in the number of billionaires in BRIC countries. And, it is encouraging to note that the current global trends are more beneficial to emerging economies.

Arab Booker Prize Winner

The latest news sparkled with the annnouncement of the Winner of 'Arab Booker Prize' for literature 2010. There is no suspense. Abdo Khal, a brilliant Saudi author, is the panel's unanimous and expert choice for "the most prestigious and important literary prize in the Arab world". He writes from a personal perspective but makes ample use of the deep and centuries-old Arab experience.

A novel is a product of imagination, but it presents certain human issues in clear focus. Since there is no  predicament worse than the starvation of imagination, people's hunger for fiction and recreation must be accounted for and fed. No minds survive in a vacuum, and chances of undeprived creativity are an eternal and natural source of sweetness and light. All happiness, angelic and blissful, depends on the celebration of it.

As a matter of fact, a fictional account grants this freedom to indulge in extravagant dreams of fulfillment of desires and expectations. This silent excercise in freedom of choice resulting in expressive protrayal of life around secures the release of pent-up feelings and engenders cultural refreshment. It not only helps evolve popular understanding and perception but also gradually cements loyalty to leadership.


In a way, the prize-winning author asserts this faith in the deep and interactive relationship between the state and the individual in his novel, 'Spewing Sparks as Big as Castles'. He feels awkward and gets repelled by futile "double-standards". The novel is set in Jeddah, where Tarek, his young hero, comes to work leaving his poor village background behind. He has had his greedy ambitions of becoming glamorously rich, and so finds employment in a palace of the affluent.

The title of the novel is a Quranic reference to hell. The writer employes dark satire and symbolism, and depicts the dangerous influence of power and wealth that leads to repression, cruelty and agony in the society.  Dreams of wealth are not real but seductive; it weakens the moral fibre and imperils spiritual life. Both, the owner of the palace and his servant, are equally enmeshed in arrogance and ugliness.

It's a "terrifying" novel, Taleb Alrefai, a Kuwaiti writer and the chair of the judges' panel, declared. Being the first from the Gulf to be honored with the Prize, Khal, who was born in Al Majanah in 1962 in Jazan, said it was a quite unexpected win. However, it is true that he was selected from the five short-listed to bag a prize worth 60,000 USD without any lobby to back him. The total entries for this contest were 113 novels from 17 countries.

IPAF ( International Prize for Arabic Fiction ) was instituted in 2007 as a joint venture between the Emirates Foundation, Abu Dhabi and the Booker Prize Foundation, London. The goal was to encourage, promote and sustain the growth of Arabic Literature, and ensure its popularity globally. The winners of the prize were internationally recognized and their works translated into many languages.

Any lengthy fictional narration has its impact on the society and ultimately it paves way for the betterment of the people and their living environment. The prize is an acclamation of the Arab ethnicity and unity, an avowal of its unique cultural heritage, and an assurance of intellectual growth and distinction. It is highly noteworthy that the prominent Arab presence is globally being sanctified as congenial to the development of harmonious cultural ties. Literature from the indigenous culture creates and projects a perfect Arab image to the international community.


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