Googling with Bing

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1915736

Michael Jackson The Legend

Pop Star Michael Jackson Dead At 50

Paramedics arrived at his Bel-Air home today and found the singer in full cardiac arrest. A doctor was in the home performing CPR on him. LAPD has opened an inquiry.

Pop star Michael Jackson was pronounced dead today after paramedics found him in a coma at his Bel-Air mansion, city and law enforcement sources told The Times.

Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Steve Ruda told The Times that paramedics responded to a 911 call from the home. When they arrived, Jackson was not breathing. The paramedics performed CPR and took him to UCLA Medical Center, Ruda said.

Hundreds of reporters gathered at the hospital awaiting word on his condition. The sources, who spoke on the condition that they not be named, said family members rushed to Jackson's bedside, where he was in a deep coma.

The circumstances of Jackson's death remain unclear. Law enforcement sources said that Los Angeles Police Department robbery-homicide detectives have opened an investigation into the death, though they stressed there is no evidence of criminal wrongdoing. The detectives plan to interview relatives, friends and Jackson's doctors to try to figure out what happened. The L.A. County coroner's office will determine a cause of death.

A Los Angeles Fire Department source told The Times that Jackson was in full cardiac arrest when rescue units arrived on scene. A doctor was in the house performing CPR on him, said the source, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Paramedics were called to a home on the 100 block of Carolwood Drive off Sunset Boulevard. Jackson rented the Bel-Air home -- described as a French chateau built in 2002 with seven bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, 12 fireplaces and a theater -- for $100,000 a month.

The home is about a six-minute drive from UCLA Medical Center.

Jackson has three children -- sons Prince Michael 7, and Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., 12, and daughter Paris Michael Katherine, 11.

The news comes as Jackson, 50, was attempting a comeback after years of tabloid headlines, most notably his trial and acquittal on child molestation charges.

In May, The Times reported that Jackson was living in a Bel-Air mansion and rehearsing for a series of 50 sold-out shows in London's O2 Arena. Jackson had won the backing of two billionaires to get the so-called King of Pop back on stage.

The concerts had been scheduled to kick off July 13.

Johnny Caswell, a principal at Centerstaging, the Burbank soundstage where Jackson rehearsed for his London concerts, watched many of the run-throughs and said he was "absolutely shocked" by the performer's death.

Jackson, he said, was "very frail" but approached the rehearsals with boundless energy.

"He was working hard. Putting four days a week in here. Six hours a day. Working hard. Dancing," Caswell said. "We're in shock over here."

The performer moved from the Burbank facility to the Forum at the beginning of June, Caswell said.

His backers envisioned the London shows as an audition for a career rebirth that could ultimately encompass a three-year world tour, a new album, movies, a Graceland-like museum, musical revues in Las Vegas and Macau, and even a Thriller casino.

Such a rebound could wipe out Jackson's massive debt, estimated at $400 million.

Jackson needed a comeback to reverse the damage done by years of excessive spending and little work. He has not toured since 1997 or released a new album since 2001, but he has continued to live like a megastar.

To finance his opulent lifestyle, he borrowed heavily against his three main assets: his Neverland Ranch, his music catalog and a second catalog that includes the music of the Beatles that he co-owns with Sony Corp. By the time of his 2005 criminal trial, he was nearly $300 million in debt and, according to testimony, spending $30 million more annually than he was taking in.

Compounding his money difficulties were a revolving door of litigious advisors and hangers-on. Jackson has run through 11 managers since 1990, according to Frank DiLeo, his manager and friend of three decades.

Times staff writers Richard Winton, Chris Lee, Carla Hall, Ari B. Bloomekatz, Anna Gorman and Nicole Santa Cruz contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-michael-jackson-dead26-2009jun26,0,2152435.story

Google: Let's Make The Web Faster!

I stumbled upon this announcement on Google Code.

Google:
What would be possible if browsing the web was as fast as turning the pages of a magazine? We invite you to join us in exploring and innovating across the entire spectrum of performance - from Internet protocols to the browser to website development. Together, let's make the web faster!

Visit: http://code.google.com/speed/

How To Get Started In Game Development

I believe most boys once had a dream of creating their own games. However, it seems almost impossible for average people to create a fantastic game like Warcraft 3, Left 4 Dead, Need For Speed, Fifa, etc. Those games are developed by a team of professional game programmers and designers and are often funded in millions of dollars.

Nevertheless, you can always start small. "Start small and think/dream big!" It has always been my favorite quotation. Sadly most people do not know where to start and are usually overwhelmed by the jargons of game programming. Fortunately, you can find lots of free and useful online information on how to get started in game development. The drawback, however, is people tend to get information overloaded. So I am recommending a good resource for you.

http://www.gamedev.net/reference/programming/features/davegpg/

(introduction quoted from the above site)

I often get asked how someone with little or no programming experience can get started in game development. Up until now, I have always tried to help them along as much as I can on a one-to-one basis. However, because the number of questions has grown to an almost unmanageable level lately, I decided it is time for me to put all my advice in an article to serve as a general resource.

This article is intended for people who want to make their own games, but who have little or no programming experience. In fact, I'm going to assume the reader has no programming knowledge at all. I will focus mainly on the programming and design aspects of game development, and not the artistic side. I am not going to cover actually getting into the industry (because there are already ample resources for that) but I will walk you through the things you need to do to get to the point that you can make your own games. Finally, the path I lay out here should not be looked at as the only - or even the best - route to learning how to make games, but it has worked well for me and for other people.

The Future Of Facebook - Mark Zuckerberg Interview Video

Barry Diller Said The Internet 'Absolutely' Will Become a 'Paid System' Within 5 Years, True Or Not?

My friend, Peter sent me another email to inform me about an article that might interest me...

You may read the original article at http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=19552.

Frankly speaking, I do not 'Absolutely' agree to what Barry Diller said, despite he is way more successful than me in the Internet business field. Well I do believe that more and more businesses with paid products and services will appear online gradually or even exponentially. However, there are still many websites which provide free contents and are able to make sustainable income from displaying advertisements on the sites. A few very good examples are Google, Yahoo, Youtube, Facebook, etc.

You might argue that Google and Yahoo do provide some paid products and services for the high end users such as business owners and professional webmasters. But think about it. What is the primary income source for Google and Yahoo? It's the search engine which is FREE for the end-users. They make most of their money from the advertising programs, namely Google Adwords and Yahoo Search Marketing.

I really cannot imagine Google and Yahoo start charging people for using their search engines. If it really happens, other competitors will easily take over their current market share. Who would want to pay for using the search engine?

This is just my two cents. Anything can happen in the next five years since the Internet evolves too rapidly. What's your opinion?

Can You Read This?

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too.
Cna yuo raed tihs?
i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Source: http://forum.codecall.net/blogs/chetanbhagde/308-can-you-read.html

The Flash Mind Reader - I Can Read Your Mind!

Very interesting and fascinating, isn't it? During one of my classes, my lecturer showed us this little flash game and asked us to figure out how the logic works. We were quite bored with the lecture so he decided to give us something challenging to refresh our minds.

Basically you have to choose a number from the schedule. For example, I choose 23. Then sum up the two digits of the number. Thus, 2+3=5. Next, subtract the original number with the sum of the two digits, that is 23-5=18 in this case. You click on the shining crystal ball and it will give you the symbol of the final answer, 18 in this case. You may try the game with any number in the schedule.

Eventually a new student managed to give the correct answer. In fact, the answer is simple and you can easily notice it after playing for few rounds.

Have you understood how it actually works? Give me your answer in the comment section!

Disclaimer: Flash file Hosted At http://www.exstatica.net/flash/psychic.swf