Microsoft certified Pakistani wonder kid makes world record by creating 7 computer operating systems

TrendPK.com

ABBOTABAD: After Arfa Karim now another Pakistani wonder boy has made world record after creating Microsoft and Google certified seven computer operating systems in the suburb of Abbotabad.

This teen computer genius of Pakistan, 14-year old student Sikandar Mehmood Baloch, lives in Bilal Town situated in the suburb of Abbotabad.

Sikandar not only become certified expert of 107 computer engineering languages in this young age, he also received all important certificates of his achievements from the Microsoft and performed work for the Gooogle.

He received further 25 certificates as acknowledgement of his unique work performed for Google the biggest search engine in the world.

Sikandar Mehmood is studying in 9th grade in a local school and he has made many Linux Systems (From VVS1 to VVS7) and developed an indigenous anti-virus system as well.

Sikandar made world record at the age of nine after making his first operating system. He works with many web sites and earns over 70 US dollars daily. TrendPK

Nokia to axe 4,000 jobs, move assembly to Asia

HELSINKI: Struggling Finnish phone maker Nokia plans to cut 4,000 more jobs at its plants in Finland, Hungary and Mexico as it seeks to cut costs by moving smartphone assembly work to Asia.

The cuts of 8 percent of the phone business workforce bring total planned job cuts at the group since Stephen Elop took over as Chief Executive in September 2010 to more than 30,000.

Nokia said in a statement the job cuts would take place in phases through this year. It has been reviewing the operations since unveiling the closure of its Romania plant last September.

“This was inevitable. It was a surprise it took so long for the decision to be made,” said Steve Brazier, chief executive of technology research firm Canalys. “Stephen Elop may be a polarizing figure, but he is proving effective at driving the change and he should be credited for that.”

Nokia’s recent business results have underscored the need for drastic cuts. Late last month it reported a 73 percent fall in quarterly earnings as sales of new Windows Phones failed to dent the dominance of Apple Inc’s iPhone or compensate for diving sales of its own old smartphones.

Its fourth-quarter smartphone sales shrank 31 percent from a year ago and the business made a steep loss for the quarter.

NO MORE PHONES BUILT IN EUROPE

Nokia said it would cut 2,300 jobs in Hungary, where it is a major exporter, some 1,000 in Finland and 700 in Mexico. It will continue to tailor models for specific operators at all sites.

Its Finnish factory in Salo, which was the cornerstone for its success in 1990s, has been the last remaining major phone assembly plant in the Western Europe for some time. Most rivals have moved their production to Asia.

The Hungarian government said it regretted Nokia’s decision.

Analyst Gergely Suppan at Takarekbank in Budapest noted the highest value-added activities would stay in Hungary.

The move comes only months after Nokia closed its plant in neighboring Romania, laying off some 2,200 people there.

Finnish unions demanded hefty cash payments to laid-off staff and Antti Rinne, chief of union Pro, said the announcement was damaging for Finland’s employment outlook.

“Raising the employment level and prolonging working careers is impossible if there are no jobs in Finland,” Rinne said in a statement.

Finland has pushed for years to prolong working careers as the Nordic country struggles with a shrinking work force and sluggish economic growth.

Nokia announced in April last year it would cut 7,000 jobs and unveiled a further 3,500 job losses in September. Its network arm Nokia Siemens announced cuts of 17,000 in November.

The group had 130,000 staff at the end of 2011, including Nokia Siemens.

Shares in Nokia were 1.2 percent higher at 3.93 euros, slightly outperforming the technology share index which rose 0.3 percent, by 5:53 a.m. ET. AGENCIES

Motorola makes Apple pull some iPhones in Germany

 

Apple Inc. says it has withdrawn several iPhone and iPad models from its Internet store in Germany because of a legal dispute with Motorola Mobility.

 

The move is in response to a ruling Motorola won against Ireland-based Apple Sales International Inc., from a court in Mannheim, Germany.

 

The court ruled that Apple should not be using Motorola s mobile technology in the devices without a license.

 

The dapd news agency reports that Apple withdrew the products but said that Motorola Mobility Inc. has refused to license the technology even though Motorola agreed it should be an industry standard.

 

The devices withdrawn are the iPhone 3G, the iPhone 3Gs and the iPhone4 and UMTS-capable iPads but not the iPhone 4S. The products are still available in bricks-and-mortar stores.

 

Motorola said in a statment that “we are pleased that the Mannheim court has recognized the importance of our intellectual property and granted an enforceable injunction in Germany against Apple Sales International.”
 

Blackberry trying to avoid the hall of fallen giants

 

Research in Motion, maker of BlackBerry smartphones and tablets, sent its co-chief executives packing last week and replaced them with Thorsten Heins, who had been RIM’s chief operating officer. How would he characterize his employer?

 

“We make the best communications devices in the world,” said Mr. Heins, who met with editors and reporters from The New York Times on Friday.

 

Not everyone feels the same way. Over the last year, RIM’s share price has plunged 75 percent. The company once commanded more than half of the American smartphone market. Today it has 10 percent.

 

RIM has two, maybe three ways forward.

 

The first — the one that Mr. Heins is clearly aiming for — is a triumphant comeback after a near-death experience. Think Apple and its iMac. RIM is on the verge of upgrading its PlayBook operating system — now with, among other things, e-mail, a feature that the original PlayBook bafflingly lacked — and will release the BlackBerry 10 OS this year.Behind Door No. 2 is a gradual decline and diminution as rivals like Apple, Google and Microsoft devour most of the market; to some degree, they already have. BlackBerry would keep the scraps — a small but dedicated following of corporate and government customers who want its proprietary messaging and security features.Then there is the third option: oblivion. The road of progress is littered with the corpses of fallen titans. Objects that once seemed as indispensable as the companies that made them have been mercilessly superseded — as seen below. And RIM ought to know: with mobile devices like the BlackBerry 957, it helped to extinguish the pager era.

 

SONY WALKMAN (1979-2010) Before the Walkman, “personal audio” meant holding a transistor radio to your ear. Sony’s invention created an entire category of devices and helped make the company the technology leader of the 1980s. New models (Thinner Auto-reverse) were eagerly anticipated, the LP was relegated to the attic and tender moments spent listening to mix tapes from that certain someone proliferated across teenage bedrooms. Sony seemed incapable of putting a foot wrong. It successfully moved the brand into compact discs with the Discman, then bought record labels and movie studios to bring about that illusory marriage of technology and content. When the digital revolution hit, Sony was too beholden to its proprietary formats, as well as to the inertia inside its media companies. Enter Apple and the iPod.

 

PAGERS (BORN 1951) At first, pagers were attached to people who worked in fields where lives were on the line. That usually meant doctors, though the group expanded in the late 1980s to include drug dealers. Early beepers displayed only numbers, giving rise to a numerical lexicon that included codes like 911 (call me back immediately) and 07734, which resembles “hello” when read upside down. Pagers briefly gained fame in early 1990s hip-hop, showing up in songs like “Skypager,” by a Tribe Called Quest. The pager’s fall was attributable to the disruptive and destructive powers of another technology: the mobile phone. Why beep when you can talk? And a pager message is so tiny that it makes a tweet look like “The Iliad.” The beeper does live on, in limited circles: its network remains more reliable than cell networks, making it useful to E.M.S. and other rescue workers.

 

PALM PILOT (1997-2007) Filofax brought personal organizers to their analog apogee in the early ’90s, but Palm brought them into the digital age. Palm Pilots were dazzling when they first appeared: all of your contacts, calendars and notes in one slim, pocket-size device. A touch screen, which required a stylus, made navigation easy. And you could add software, bought through an online store. Want a Zagat guide to go along with your personal data? No problem. In later years, Palm even added telephone features, creating a compelling, all-in-one gadget. Despite boardroom dramas that affected the company’s name and its ownership, Palm’s reputation as a source of innovative hardware and software endured until Jan. 9, 2007. Why that date? That’s when Apple introduced the iPhone.

 

POLAROID INSTANT CAMERAS (1948-2008) Edwin Land’s invention of instant-developing film in 1948 put a darkroom inside a handheld camera. That achievement gave his Polaroid Corporation a distinct advantage over traditional film cameras. By 1980, Polaroid was selling 7.8 million cameras a year in the United States — more than half of all the 15 million cameras, instant and traditional, sold that year. In 1985, it won a major patent-infringement suit, forcing Kodak to abandon its own instant-camera efforts. The victory was short-lived. The late ’80s brought the rise of the digital camera. By 2000, digital cameras began appearing on cellphones, placing cameras in millions of pockets. Polaroid declared bankruptcy for the first time in 2001 and stopped making instant film in 2008. Kodak declared bankruptcy on Jan. 19.
ATARI 2600 (1977-c.1984) It wasn’t the first game console, but the Atari 2600 brought video games into the home and popular culture. Over its life span, more than 30 million were sold. Pong, Combat, Pitfall and Frogger soaked up children’s afternoons. Then came the PC, which could play games and do much more. Atari rushed out games, assuming that its customers would play whatever it released. They didn’t. Millions of unsold games and consoles were buried in a New Mexico landfill in 1983. Warner Communications, which bought Atari in 1976 for $28 million, sold it in 1984 for no cash.

–Courtesy New York Times
 

NASA launching multi-player game on Facebook

 

The online game, Space Race Blastoff, tests a player s knowledge of the space program with multiple-choice questions. Players can compete against others or play solo.

 

It features questions such as “Who was the first American to walk in space?” and “Who launched the first liquid-fueled rocket?”

 

Players who answer questions correctly earn virtual badges depicting NASA astronauts, spacecraft and celestial objects.

 

“Space Race Blastoff opens NASA s history and research to a wide new audience of people accustomed to using social media,” David Weaver, a NASA spokesman, said in a statement.

 

“Space experts and novices will learn new things about how exploration continues to impact our world,” Weaver said.

 

NASA has been quick to adopt Facebook, Twitter and other social networking tools and offers Foursquare badges to visitors to a number of NASA facilities, including the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and mission control in Houston.

 

The Space Race Blastoff game is available at apps.facebook.com/spacerace
 

Shaun Marsh out of Australia ODI squad

 

Struggling opener Shaun Marsh was Monday left out of Australia s one-day squad to face India and Sri Lanka, while wicketkeeper Brad Haddin has been rested in favour of Matthew Wade.

 

Australia go into the tri-nations series buoyed by a 4-0 Test whitewash of India, and with players such as newcomer Peter Forrest showing strong form in the domestic Twenty20 league and Sheffield Shield.

 

Marsh, 28, put in a poor performance during the Test series, scoring just 17 runs after returning to the side following a back injury.

 

“Shaun Marsh is obviously disappointed with his own form in recent weeks and is out of the side, but remains in our thinking for the future while he works at state level,” said national selector John Inverarity.

 

“As they say, class is permanent but form can be temporary.”

 

Inverarity said Haddin will be rested after “a heavy programme of Test cricket” in favour of debutant Wade.

 

“The workload for a wicketkeeper/batsman is rigorous and resting him for the start of the series will refresh him for coming international commitments, while also giving us a chance to look at Matt Wade at this level,” he said.

 

Australia have not named a vice-captain for the first three games because Haddin is resting and all-rounder Shane Watson is still unavailable due to injury.

 

Brett Lee is included in a bowling attack which also features Ryan Harris and Xavier Doherty.

 

Australia and India kick off the tri-nations tournament on February 5 with a match at the MCG.

 

Australian squad: Michael Clarke (captain), Dan Christian, Xavier Doherty, Peter Forrest, Ryan Harris, David Hussey, Mike Hussey, Brett Lee, Mitchell Marsh, Clint McKay, Ricky Ponting, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner.
 

Australia rising with Ashes in their sight

 

Only months ago, one-time powerhouse Australia were wallowing fifth in the Test rankings but now they are nudging India for third spot after the 4-0 series annihilation of M.S. Dhoni s men.

 

The pain of being humiliated at home in the Ashes 12 months ago is still deeply ingrained in the Australians and they are determined to get their act together for another tilt at number one ranked England some 500 days away.

 

Andrew Strauss s England team comprehensively outplayed Australia in the 2010-11 series, inflicting an unprecedented three innings defeats on the home side to claim their second consecutive Ashes win.

 

That prompted a major overhaul of Australian cricket and ushered in a new captain, new coach and a revamped selection panel with a view to restoring Australia to the top of world cricket.

 

Michael Clarke, who took over as captain from Ricky Ponting last March, is at the helm of a reinvigorated team, identifying new potential Test stars, revitalising the old stagers and working hard towards becoming number one again.

 

One-time top ranked India now shade Australia by only a decimal point in third place in the ICC Test rankings after crashing to four huge defeats in their ill-fated series Down Under.

 

After his team s thumping 298-win in the fourth Test in Adelaide last weekend, Clarke was asked how he would rate Australia s chances if they had to play England next week.

 

“Fortunately, I don t have to worry about it. I wouldn t have a clue. I look forward to playing them when we get there but right now I m just enjoying this success against India, to be honest,” he said.

 

“There s a long way to go before we have to play England and there s a lot of hard work we have to put in as a team before we even have to worry about that.”  

 

Australia struggled to dismiss England regularly in the Ashes, but against India the bowlers were a revelation.

 

Clarke, who with new coach Mickey Arthur is now part of the selection panel, said the 2010-11 debacle has fired the Australians to retrieve the Ashes in England in 2013.

 

“I think it (last summer s Ashes defeat) has played a part, it certainly has for me personally,” he said.

 

“We said and knew we had to do a lot of work to improve our games, both personally and as a team. It s obviously a very special feeling beating India 4-0, knowing that last summer I couldn t buy a run. It s a great feeling.”

 

Before the Ashes in 2013, Australia face the West Indies away in March-April and South Africa and Sri Lanka at home next southern summer.
 

Oil prices dip near $99 a barrel

 

Oil prices are down on concerns that the U.S. economy could slow and investors  worries eased about supply disruptions in the Persian Gulf.

 

Benchmark crude fell by 34 cents to $99.22 per barrel in New York on Monday. Brent crude, which is used to price foreign oils that are imported by U.S. refineries, lost 28 cents at $111.18 per barrel in London.

 

The Commerce Department said Americans kept a tighter grip on their wallets in December. Consumer spending was flat, even though incomes rose by the most in nine months. The economy relies heavily on consumer spending, and analysts say the economic recovery could stall and energy demand may stay weak if spending doesn t pick up.

 

Meanwhile, Iran welcomed international weapons experts into the country in hopes of refuting claims that it is building a nuclear weapon. That eased concerns about possible military action in the region. Still, Europe plans to embargo Iranian oil this summer to pressure Iran about its nuclear program. If that happens, Iran says it could retaliate by blocking passage through the Persian Gulf, where tankers carry one-sixth of the world s oil exports.

 

The U.S. is ready to implement sanctions on Iran s central bank that will make it harder for Iran to sell oil.
In other energy trading, heating oil was flat at $3.07 per gallon and gasoline futures fell 5 cents to $2.88 per gallon. Natural gas futures fell by 1 cent to $2.75 per 1,000 cubic feet.
 

Aitzaz ready for Swiss letter on SC directions

While talking to the media in front of the Supreme Court in Islamabad, the PPP leader said that let suspense persist till Feb 01 in the Prime Minister contempt of court case.

 

He said that he has moved some documents regarding the case in the apex court but it cannot be exposed before time.

 

He said that he would not move a writ petition to linger on the case; rather he would argue in favour of his stance.

Produce missing persons on Feb 9, SC orders agencies

 

Three member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry heard the plea regarding missing prisoners of Adiala Jail.

 

Counsel for ISI, Irshad Ahmed informed the court that secret agencies have handed over 7 missing captives to KP government. On this, the chief justice said that you have taken the missing prisoners and you shall produce them before the court.

 

The chief justice said that law is not above the constitution and the constitution ensures lives and wealth of the people. The adjourned the hearing while issuing notices to the attorney general and advocate general Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
 

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