Helen Hodgetts and Dylan Jones, professor of psychology at Cardiff University, examined the cost of such interruptions in terms of the time taken to complete a simple seven-step computer task.

“Our findings suggest that even seemingly brief and inconsequential on-screen pop-up messages might impact our efficiency, particularly given their frequency over the working day,” says Hodgetts.

They found that, even after only a five second interruption, people take longer than normal to complete the next step in the task they are working on.

But in a more realistic work environment, where there is more information to retrieve after the interruption, the loss of concentration could have a greater impact on performance.

Other results from the study show that an interruption lag — a brief time between a warning for a pop-up and the interruption itself — can reduce the time we lose trying to find our place again.

A warning sound was found to be most effective because it allows us to consolidate where we are in the current task before transferring our attention to the interruption.

Conversely, a flashing warning signal on the screen can be just as disruptive as the interruption itself, said a Cardiff release.

Researchers suggest that e-mail alerts and similar pop-up messages should be as small and discreet as possible and should not obscure the original activity.

Source: http://www.zeenews.com/news585905.html

When 6 MPs against whom questions were listed did not bother to show up for the Question Hour, Vice-President and Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari was left to wonder if the virus had spread to the chamber.

“Is this a virus?” The Lok Sabha virus has reached Rajya Sabha,” he said describing the malaise.

“I was meeting a minister in the central hall and never realised that my question will come so soon,” said Rajiv Shukla, a Congress MP.

Empty benches during some of the most crucial debates of national importance are not unusual.

* During the passing of Right to Education, there were only 55 MPs in the Lok Sabha
* During the debate on internal security in Rajya Sabha, only 45 were present
* The debate on price rise was postponed in Lok Sabha twice due to lack of quorum

The opposition has been objecting to Prime Minister’s foreign tours saying for the last two years during each major session, the PM has been out at least twice.

“The Prime Minister should follow the schedule of the Parliament,” said CPM leader Sitaram Yechuri.

Source: http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/hamid_ansari_upset_as_mps_bunk_session.php

The 2-0 triumph and the number one Test ranking also gives India a psychological edge over the visitors, who are still licking their wounds after being spanked by an innings by the home team in two consecutive Test matches.

India have made a few changes in their squad, resting pace spearhead Zaheer Khan and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and calling up youngsters Ashok Dinda and R Ashwin.

With Test specialists Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman not considered any more for the limited-over clashes, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan and Rohit Sharma would shore up the middle-order along with Yuvraj Singh and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Starting with Virender Sehwag, India have such an array of stroke-players who can simply whip the bowlers around and cart them for sixes and fours with ease and the batting gives the hosts a clear edge.

Gambhir would be eager to get back into the groove at the new VCA Stadium in Jamtha after skipping the Mumbai Test to attend his sister’s wedding in Delhi.

After being in the Test mode for most part of the month, Dhoni and company are eager to switch gears.

“There are a lot of ODIs to be played in the near future, the T20 World Cup is coming (in April-May, 2010 in the West Indies), so we will shift to that right now,” Dhoni said after leading India to the top of the ICC Test rankings.

The Lanka bowlers would need to come out with something innovative to restrict the hosts’ batting line-up and put a stop to their losing streak on the tour.

The tourists have brought in right-arm sling-action bowler Lasith Malinga, who missed the Test series because of an injury, to strengthen their pace bowling attack which was exposed thoroughly in the Test series.

The visitors have also brought in all-rounders Chintaka Jayasinghe, Kaushalya Weeraratne and Muthumudalige Pushpakumara to play only the two T20s.

Their choices have increased for this form of the game with Angelo Mathews finally showing form with his fine knock of 99 in the Mumbai Test.

The islanders would also be hoping that their flamboyant, veteran opener Sanath Jayasuriya – who has joined the squad for the second part of the tour – and in-form opener Tillakaratne Dilshan would be their answer to the Sehwag and Gambhir combination at the top.

Lanka have not yet made up their mind whether the 40-year-old Jayasuriya, who is aiming to make the World Cup his Swansong, would open their innings.

Skipper Kumar Sangakkara had said earlier that Jayasuriya would bat down the order if the situation demanded despite the fact that he has been a very successful opener against all opposition, including India.

“He has been very successful against India as opener and against all opposition too. But right now he has a different role to play for us in the side, which will make him currently a performing and match-winning player. Whether he will bat at top or down in the middle, all these options can be considered,” he said.

“Our responsibility towards the team and towards Sanath is to make sure when he plays he becomes a match winner and get the best out of him. He’s willing to make that change. It is an exciting time to play a new role,” he said.

With India resting Zaheer, another left-armer in Ashish Nehra would lead their attack with S Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma likely to partner him while the spin options are Yusuf Pathan, Pragyan Ojha and the uncapped Ashwin.

In the only previous T20 clash between the two teams, in February this year at Colombo, Jayasuriya (33) and Dilshan (61), who led the side, opened the Lanka batting and put on 59 in less than six overs.

That contest was won by India when the Pathan brothers – Yusuf and Irfan – guided them home from 115 for 7 chasing 171 with a stand of 59.

Things have changed since then as Irfan has lost his place while Yusuf is still a part of the T20 team, the format through which he made his international entry.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/series-tournaments/sri-lanka-in-india-2009/top-stories/Buoyant-India-favourite-in-T20-opener-against-Lanka/articleshow/5313846.cms

John Fernandes  unsuccessfully contested the  Assembly elections in 2007 as a candidate for the Save Goa Front.

The alleged victim says Fernandes spiked her drink  and then raped her in his car on the first of December.  The victim, who works at a Goa hotel, says she met Fernandes through a mutual friend, who is also from Russia.  The victim and her friend had dinner with Fernandes on the first of December.  The victim says the politician raped her after they dropped her friend home.

The victim and her boyfriend have repeatedly said that they are under pressure to drop the case against Fernandes, who is from South Goa.

Swati Singh got the explanation for her fear of height and air travel when she was taken back to past life regression by Dr. Jayin.

Swati revealed that she was an Indian sailor D Singh and was died in a plane crash in 1966. She further said she boarded Air India flight No. 101 with 46 other sailors to New York.

She saw that the aircraft was filled with smoke in midair over Geneva and crashed near Mont Blanc in the Alps. All 106 passengers and 11 crew members were killed in the plane crash.

When asked to name any prominent personality in the plane, Swati said that nuclear scientist Dr Homi Jehangir Bhabha was on his way to Vienna in the same flight.

Source: http://www.samaylive.com/news/1966-air-india-crash-victim-born-as-swati-singh/669995.html

In a hotly contested match, New Zealand were on the attack with a very active Ryan Archibald prompting the moves. However, the Indian defence was vigilant and never let the Kiwis really threaten with goalkeeper Adrian D’Souza, too, doing a fine job.

The game continued at a high pace with neither team able to grasp control of play. Phillip Burrows had a deflection from close range go inches wide and a hard shot crash on the post, but it were India who finally opened the scoring through Khandekar at the conclusion of a quick counter-attack that took the New Zealand defence off guard.

The Black Sticks besieged the Indian goal in the final minutes of the period but were kept at bay by an Indian defence solidly organized around Sardara Singh.

New Zealand started the second period on the same attacking note, but still could not manage to shake the Indian defence.

It finally took a penalty-stroke conversion in the 47th minute by Couzins to bring back New Zealand into the match. However, they had little time to rejoice, as Shivendra Singh nearly scored on the next attack. His deflection from close range hit the post, but he had a similar opportunity shortly after and this time made no mistake to beat Kyle Pontifex in the New Zealand goal.

The Kiwis were not down yet and tied once again when Hayward scored from a penalty corner. The final minutes of the game were intense, providing good entertainment for the crowd, but no more goals were scored.

In another Pool A match, Belgium edged past a fighting China 4-3, while Pakistan, with two penalty corners goals by veteran Sohail Abbas defeated Canada 2-1 with Wayne Fernandes scoring the lone goal for the vanquished in Pool B.

Later, Argentina carried too much firepower for South Africa and won 6-2 in Pool B as Pedro Ibarra scored thrice for the hosts.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/hockey/top-stories/India-draw-with-New-Zealand-in-Champions-Challenge/articleshow/5310803.cms

A new “translated search” tool lets people direct Google to seek results from Web pages written in an array of languages and then deliver results in a searcher’s preferred tongue.

The feature has been available at the Google Translate service, but is becoming part of the California-based Internet
firm’s popular main search engine.

“Now, when you search on Google for something in your own language, you can use this tool to search the web in another language,” Google technical lead Maureen Heymans and product manager Jeff Chin said in a blog post.

“We’re integrating it fully into Google search, making it easier for you to find and read results from pages across the web, even if they weren’t written in a language you speak.”

The tool can be found in a menu revealed by clicking on “Show Options” at the top of a Google search results page.

Search keywords are translated into languages that appear relevant, such as French and Dutch for a query about Belgium, and Web pages found are presented in the searcher’s language.

“We’ll algorithmically select the best language(s) to translate your search query into and then return you translated results from those pages,” Heymans and Chin said. “We’ll even display results from multiple languages.”

Searchers can look for Web pages written in any of 51 languages. The tool will display results from as many as five languages at a time, according to Google.

Source: http://www.zeenews.com/news584461.html

“I like to blow an audience away. I like to show ‘em stuff they’ve probably seen in a dream but they’ve never seen in a movie,” Cameron said in a statement.

“It will be like they’ve had an experience outside their day-to-day life, outside this world or maybe outside their body. It will be a visual journey, a physical journey, in the sense you will feel you’ve actually climbed that mountain. It will also be an emotional journey,” he added.

It was shot using the fusion digital 3D camera developed by Cameron and Vince Pace, the movie’s director of photography, over a period of 10 years.

The film’s promo was recently shown here at the PVR multiplex Select Citywalk that boasts of being the only 3D compatible screen in the capital. It showed clips from the first half of the movie.

To be released in both the 2-D and 3-D formats Dec 18 worldwide, it will hit the Indian screens in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu other than English. Many are comparing it with India’s first 3D movie “Chhota Chetan”, but “Avatar” is notches high in technology.

“Chhota Chetan” was made on 35 mm print, a technology which is now outdated while for “Avatar” Cameron has used fusion 3D camera and the latest technology called 2K Digital.

“3D is all about the depth on the screen while watching a movie. Things popping out of the screen depend upon how a film is made and on the intention of a director,” Pirthu Shah, head of digital media distribution Scrabble Entertainment, told IANS.

Scrabble lends the technology across major multiplex chains in the country.

“The technology that we use here is an active 3D filter. It means that the polarisation and the 3D is in the glass itself,” Ranjit Thakur, CEO, Scrabble Entertainment, told IANS.

“It’s an LCD panel that divides left eye to right eye and that’s how the 3D effect comes. The director (Cameron) intended to make the movie in a regular live-action fashion. It’s not that everything has to come on your face. There are, however, sequences when you would feel like that, but that’s not how he intended to do it.”

3D glasses that cost about Rs.5,000 to Rs.6,000 each, now have an imbibed infrared chip and batteries with its sensor in the projector room. These gradually pick up the effects once the movie starts.

The film’s preview shows “Avatar” as a typical gargantuan Cameron extravaganza that combines elements of massive spectacle and intimate character in an associative and emotional tale like his earlier movies – the “Terminator” series and “Aliens”.

A blend of live-action photography and new virtual photorealistic production techniques, “Avatar”, conceived by Cameron 14 years ago, is his comeback venture after his multiple Oscar-winning “Titanic” (1997).

Starring Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver and Zoe Saldana, the movie depicts the story of a wounded ex-marine thrust unwillingly into an effort to exploit an exotic moon rich in bio-diversity, who eventually crosses over to lead the indigenous race in a battle for survival.

Source: http://www.samaylive.com/news/3d-avatar-promises-edgeofseat-special-effects/669672.html

During the one-and-a-half-hour long hearing, Rana’s lawyer Patrick Blegen produced three witnesses, including Rana’s brother-in-law, who spoke about his “honest and trustworthy character”.

“No, it doesn’t disturb me because I know that Judge Nolan is going to take everything into account and is taking her time because it’s a very omplicated and serious case. I mean, obviously I would prefer to have him out, and he has been in custody for a long time, but we’re going to be as patient as we can be,” said Rana’s lawyer Blegen after the adjournment.

Earlier, the hearing in the case of Rana’s accomplice David Coleman Headley, which was scheduled for December 4, had been indefinitely deferred.

Source: http://www.ndtv.com/news/world/rana_bail_hearing_adjourned_till_dec_15.php

His son, K T Rama Rao, an MLA and TRS leader, too had demanded that Rao be shifted saying: “All the doctors and other officials of the administration in Khammam are from the Andhra region and therefore there is a threat to KCR’s life here. So we want him to be shifted from Khammam to Hyderabad or Warangal.”

The TRS chief’s fast over his demand for a separate Telangana state triggered protests across Telangana region in Karimnagar. Hundreds of TRS workers staged protests, while there were demonstrations too outside the Khammam hospital. (Read: In Andhra, TRS goes the Shiv Sena way)

Meanwhile, the Andhra Labour Minister R Venkata Reddy met K Chandrasekhar Rao in Khammam hospital, requesting him to end his fast.

The TRS has decided to send a five-member delegation to New Delhi to brief the centre about situation in Telangana and step up pressure seeking support for separate Telangana.

Source: http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/telengana_chief_shifted_to_hyderabad.php