The Lincoln Lawyer Novel

The Lincoln Lawyer is Connelly's first legal thriller and is one of the best novels he has written, if not the best. That's high praise for an author whose 15 other books - including The Poet, Bloodwork, which was made into a movie starring Clint Eastwood, The Closers and The Narrows- are hailed as models of crime writing.
The protagonist here is L.A. defense attorney Mickey Haller, who makes the best use of his time by doing most of his work from the back seat of his Lincoln Town Car, hence, the book's title.
Setting the novel in sprawling Los Angeles County, home to dozens of courthouses, provides Haller a seemingly endless number of potential clients.
His driver, Earl, is a former client who acts as chauffeur to pay off his legal fees. Even though most of Haller's clients are drug dealers and users, bikers and prostitutes, he's always on the lookout for "a franchise," someone who can pay top rates for his services.
Enter playboy Louis Roulet, who is accused of beating and threatening prostitute Regina Campo. Haller is hired to defend him. But this new source of income - and lots of it - is also the source of terror, murder and much philosophical rumination.
There are so many things to admire about The Lincoln Lawyer that one hopes Connelly is planting the seeds for a whole new series.
First, Connelly is able to create a rooting interest for a protagonist of questionable motivation. This sometimes amoral lawyer admits to being in the business for the money and the victories, yet he remains likable. Even his two ex-wives love him.
Then there are the details.Connelly does his homework. His Bosch novels are steeped in the workings of the LAPD and the criminal underbelly of the City of Angels. Similarly, his Haller novel is infused with court procedure, and the banter among cops, lawyers, judges and defendants rings true.
The Lincoln Lawyer is available as a mass market paperback, an audiobook, an eBook, and in large print format in the USA, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

In the end, Haller outmaneuvers Roulet (revealed as a villain) without violating ethical obligations, frees the innocent Menendez, and continues in legal practice, though not without much self-examination and emotional baggage.

Characters

• Mickey Haller - criminal defense lawyer
• Margaret McPherson - Haller's ex-wife, prosecuting attorney
• Louis Ross Roulet - the accused
• Ted Minton - prosecutor in Roulet's case
• Jesus Menendez - former client of Haller
• Dwayne Corliss - jailhouse snitch
• Reggie Campo - alleged victim of Roulet
• Martha Renteria - Menendez's alleged murder victim
• Raul Levin - Haller's investigator and colleague in Roulet's case
• Lorna Taylor- Haller's manager and ex-wife

J.Lo named People's most beautiful woman

Jennifer Lopez was named People Magazine's most beautiful woman in the world on Wednesday, capping a career comeback fueled by her new job on top-rated TV show "American Idol".

The 41-year-old New York City-born singer and actress joined former winners Halle Berry, Jennifer Garner and Beyonce Knowles to top People's annual list of the world's most beautiful people.

"It's so crazy. Rarely am I left speechless, but I feel honored," Lopez told People of their accolade. "I feel not worthy, you know? I feel happy and proud. Proud that I'm not 25!."

The "Wedding Planner" actress, who is married to singer Marc Anthony and took time off to have twins in 2008, has enjoyed a revival in popularity since becoming a judge this year on talent show "American Idol".

Her new single, the dance pop hit, "On The Floor," has been topping charts around the world, giving Lopez her first Top 10 Billboard single since "All I Have" in 2003.

Lopez, who was dropped by her record label in 2010 after disappointing sales, releases her first new studio album in four years in May, called "Love?".

Lopez told People she felt better now than she did in her 20s. "In my 20s, I just wasn't there in my mind and my soul and my spirit. It's just great to be in the position I'm in now and be able to share that with the world."

Known for her flawless skin and curvy figure, she attributed looking good to her personal life. "I think it's because I have a lot of love in my life. I feel lucky to be an attractive person, but I've always felt that real beauty always comes from your heart."

Since signing up last year for "American Idol", -- the most-watched TV show in the United States -- Lopez has been named the celebrity face of products ranging from beauty firm L'Oreal, to Venus razors and the Gucci children's clothes collection.

China Town Malayalam Movie Review

CHINA TOWN : (3.5)

CHINA TOWN movie preview

Director:   Rafi Mecartin
Producer:   Antony Perumbavoor
Music Director:   Jassie Gift
Lyricst: Anil Panachooran

Cast :  Mohanlal ,Jayaram  ,Dileep ,Pradeep Rawat ,Kavya Madhavan,Poonam Bajwa

China Town movie is a malayalam multi starrer movie featuring Mohanlal, Jayaram and Dileep in the lead roles. This movie tells us the story the sons of three friends who were parted twenty years ago are joining together for a particular aim.

China Town is a story of two generations. The sons of first generation are Mohanlal, Dileep and Jayaram. Their fathers were very sincere friends before 20 years ago. But their sons are parted in different ways. Later they combine together to execute an aim after 20 years

China Town Analysis

If one expects a humorous movie, then no one really cares about the logic. It should be one that will make you laugh. If that is so, the Vishu release from Rafi Mecartin - China Town – meets the expectations very well till the break but then the second half doesn’t live up to the billing and in the process breaks your heart.

i. The hall that I went to was packed to the rafters. One more multi-starrer movie. In multiple cinema halls. With multiple expectations. And yes with Mohanlal, Jayaram and Dileep in lead roles, you would expect it to do well.

China Town begins with a story of four friends who run a gambling shop in Goa back in the 80s. Quite a sight to see Mohanlal with co stars of the 80s Shankar, Prem Navas, Capt. Raju gambolling in their bell bottoms and prancing in care-free hippy style. The flash back ends with a gross murder that ends their lives. But one of them survives along with their 3 sons.

No, no revenge this time when the kids grow up!

The survivor brings up the three kids – Lal, Jayaram and Dileep. Jayaram( as Zacharia) in an unusual  gluttonous role played very well except for an awkward wig. Dileep (Binoy) a jobless Romeo gives a good performance. Mohanlal ( as Mathukkutti) is a wanna be ‘Don’. Kavya Madhavan plays Rosamma and she does a fair role except in a few scenes where the audience clearly voiced their displeasure. Whether she eventually becomes Lal’s lady love ... , well one has to watch the movie. The first half rocks with a lot of interesting scenes and the tempo is excellent. 

In the second half, Captain Raju (survivor) brings these three sons to Goa - China Town - to give them back their gambling shop. The villain is still around – bigger and meaner. The slide begins somewhere here.
Someone told me that this movie was inspired by the Hollywood flick ‘Hangover’. But when I didn’t find any similarities till the interval and I expected him to be wrong. But the second half reminds me proved me wrong. Introduction of Ranjini and all the reality show contestants, probably was a touch unnecessary. The ‘Hangover’ influence gets stronger.

Music by Jassi Gift is passable, the editing and special effects are quite interestingly done. The inclusion of the Hangover story by the script writer( the director himself) is the biggest flaw in the movie. Suraaj is okay in the comic role but what extra comedy can he bring up when the film already has Mohanlal, Jayaram and Dileep?

If you can spend Rs40 and get out by the interval, the movie is worth watching. But if you are adamant, then watch at your risk. An excellent first half but a disappointing second. Wishing you a happy and prosperous Vishu!

CHINA TOWN is a nice movie ,It's too difficult to bring a Hollywood movie (Hangover) in Malayalam,But they did it very nice.

The first Half is Super And Second Half is above average.Good work And Nice Cinema

tags


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Apple suppliers begin making white iPhones - sources

Customers pack a Verizon Wireless store in New York to buy the iPhone 4 shortly after the phone went on sale with Verizon service in New York, February 10, 2011.

Suppliers to Apple Inc have begun production of white iPhones after a delay of almost 10 months, pointing to a launch date of within a month, two people familiar with the situation said on Thursday.

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, flagship of Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group, would assemble the iPhone, one of the people said. They declined to be named because the information was not public.

An Apple spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment, while calls to a Hon Hai spokesman went unanswered.

Apple Senior Vice-President of Marketing Phil Schiller first said in a Twitter post in March that the white iPhone would be available for sale by Spring, which ends in May in the northern hemisphere.

The white iPhone would be available from AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc by the end of April, Bloomberg News reported on its website, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs first unveiled the white version of the smartphone when the iPhone 4 was launched in June last year, but it has been delayed because of a manufacturing issue that the company has not elaborated on.

Many telecommunications operators have been eager to sell the iPhone, hoping that the feature-jammed device will help boost data network use and increase revenue. For example, China Mobile Ltd, the world's biggest mobile operator, has been in talks with Apple for more than a year on distribution rights for the handset.

More than 16 million iPhones were sold in the last quarter of 2010, accounting for more than a third of Apple's sales in those three months.

Swedish firm starts using Russian satnav

A Swedish firm has become the first known foreign company to use Russian positioning technology GLONASS, in a sign that the system could become a credible challenge to established U.S. rival GPS.

Sweden's Swepos, a national network of satellite reference stations which provides data for real-time positioning with metre accuracy, said GLONASS was better than GPS at northern latitudes.

"It functions somewhat better at northern latitudes because its satellite orbits are located higher in the sky and we see them better than we do the GPS satellites," said Bo Jonsson, deputy head of a geodesic research unit at Swepos.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's pet project, Russia has been developing GLONASS since 1976, spending $2 billion on it over the last decade.

Russia still has three satellites to launch in order to complete the satellite network.

The project suffered a major embarrassing setback last year when three of the satellites plunged into the Pacific Ocean after a rocket launch went wrong, raising questions over the system's future.

The head of Russia's Federal Space Agency Anatoly Perminov, whose deputy lost his job after the rocket crash, told Putin at a meeting on the future of the Russian space industry last week that the Swepos decision confirmed GLONASS' viability.

"Sweden has moved to using GLONASS. Why? Because in northern countries GLONASS has an advantage over GPS. The Americans themselves will be forced to use it at northern latitudes," he said.

Swepos's Jonsson said 90 percent of their clients were using GLONASS in combination with GPS. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, who oversees GLONASS development, visited the firm earlier this month.

An engineer works on the GLONASS-M-33 space satellite in the assembly area of the open joint-stock company Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems (formerly known as the NPO PM Applied Mechanics Institute) in the Siberian town of Zheleznogorsk, 50 km (31 miles) northeast of the city of Krasnoyarsk, April 8, 2009.

Putin will also visit Sweden later this month, where he is expected to promote the system.

Russia hopes the success of the system will spark a domestic technology revolution as services develop around GLONASS. The first smartphone using GLONASS technology, operated by MTS, went on sale this month.

Russia plans to introduce duties of around 25 percent by 2012 on the import of mobile phones without the GLONASS navigation system, as part of efforts to encourage worldwide adoption of the technology.

In August GLONASS' state operator said firms such as Nokia, Motorola and Qualcomm were in talks with Russian chip manufacturers about the mass production of handheld devices enabled with both GLONASS and GPS.

Should you invest in gold or silver?

It  is really important for an investor to first understand the economy and the financial systems prevalent in the market before he decides what to invest in. With the cost of crude oil having increased considerably per barrel, the government has also acted by increasing the price of petrol and diesel severely. Other stocks are now rallying to catch up with these prices.

Should an investor buy more gold or silver?

According to a research concluded earlier this year, precious metals were the best performing assets for the second consecutive year and also for the fourth time in the last five years. Investors enjoyed a 42% return by investing in precious metals in 2010.

Silver performed much better than other precious metals in the market in 2010 with prices rising by an astounding 80% which is two and half times the rice in price of gold (29%). Along with being deemed a safe investment, the relatively low supply of the metal as compared to the high demand has also contributed to the steady increase in price. In the first two months of 2011, silver’s price has increased at a steady 9.3%.

Judging by the present market scenario, investing in precious metals will be a very wise decision. Currently it seems like silver is as good or even a better bet than gold for investment.

What are the parameters one should consider before investing in gold or silver?

One of the main reasons investors prefer investing in these two metals is the stability witnessed in the market. Liquefaction is also an easy process for gold or silver bars and coins. Do note that purity of the mineral is of utmost priority and should be given its due importance.

Another important factor governing the decision on whether to invest in gold or silver is the price. Though the variation in the price of gold or silver is not as unpredictable as that of shares and equities, there still is a noticeable difference on a daily basis. However, when you are investing a large sum of money then this small difference can make a lot of difference. Hence, one should study the market carefully and invest when the price is relatively low.

Choosing the right vendor is also very important. If carefully observed then the price variations with wholesalers, retailers and commercial banks can be clearly noted. In this manner one can watch out for the purest gold available at a comparatively low price. For a regular investor, it makes sense to invest at regular intervals. This way one can take advantage of the market volatility. Investing in both gold and silver makes sense for a regular investor as he can diversify and can have a steady return irrespective of market fluctuations.

Different forms of investing in gold and silver

Other than dealing with shares and certificates, there are a number of ways in which one can invest in gold or silver. A few have been listed here:

* Bar: One of the most traditional ways, dealing with bars is very simple too.

* Coins: This sort of investment depends on the weight of the gold or silver coins.

* Accounts: Swiss banks provide a Gold-account option which aids in transactions involving the precious metal.

* Gold Exchange Trade Funds: This method helps gold transactions through the stock exchange.

* Spread betting: This involves predicting the rise and fall in the price of gold or silver before investing in it.

* Investing with mining companies: This is just like investing in the stock exchange. The only difference is that here one deals with shares from mining companies.

When is the right time to sell gold or silver?

With the current financial slump, people are selling their gold and silver as a means to make some extra cash. With the price of the two precious metals having reached an all-time high, it would probably be wise to hold on to it and see how far the prices soar and then cash in at the opportune moment.

There are two factors that govern the decision of the timing of a transaction involving gold or silver, the value of the US Dollar at that moment and the investor’s financial situation.

Usually, the price of gold is inversely proportional to that of the US dollar. However, most investors don’t have pure gold lying around in large quantities. So unless you are investing or speculating on a really large amount of gold or silver, the drop in the US Dollar’s value will not matter.

Copyright 2011 BankBazaar.com. All rights reserved.

Career Planning Tips

Career Planning Tips

Building a Career
Today, and more than ever, most people are responsible for building their own careers.
Whether you are just starting, or you have several years of experience, these paragraphs might help you advance your career.
The 9 most important career planning tips is listed below:

1. Never Stop Learning
Life-long learning is your keyword.
The world is constantly changing, and everybody is looking for new ways of doing business.
If you have decided that your current skills are good enough, you have also decided that your current job is good enough.
But if you want a career in the future, you should add regular updates to your skills and knowledge.
2. Ask, Listen And Learn
A good listener can learn a lot.
Listen to your co-workers, your boss, and your superiors. You can learn a lot from their experience.
Ask about issues that interest you, and listen to what they say. Let them tell you about how things work, and what you could have done better.
Most people will love to be your free tutor.
3. Fulfill Your Current Job
Your current job might be best place to start your career.
It is often very little that separates successful people from the average. But nothing comes free.
If you do your job well and fulfill your responsibilities, this is often the best way to start a new career.
Talk to your supervisor about things you can do. Suggest improvements. Offer your help when help is needed. In return ask for help to build a better career. It is often possible - right inside your own organization - especially if you have proved to be a valued employee.
4. Build Your Network
Your next career step might arise from your contact network.
Did you know that more than 50% of all jobs are obtained from contact networks?
If you have a good contact network, it is also a good place to discover future careers, to explore new trends, and to learn about new opportunities.
Spend some time building new contacts, and don't forget to maintain the ones you already have.
One of the best ways to get serious information from your network is to regularly ask your contacts how they are, what they do, and what is new about their careers.
5. Identify Your Current Job
Your current job should be identified, not assumed.
Make sure you don't work with tasks you assume are important. This is waste of time and talent.
When you start in a new job, talk to your superior about your priorities. If you're not sure about what is most important, then ask him. And ask him again. Often you will be surprised about the differences between what you assume, and what is really important.
6. Identify Your Next Job
Your dream job must be identified.
Before you start planning your future career, be sure you have identified your dream job.
In your dream job, you will be doing all the things you enjoy, and none of the things you don't enjoy. What kind of job would that be?
Do you like or dislike having responsibility for other employees. Do you like to work with technology or with people? Do you want to run your own business? Do you want to be an artist, a designer or a skilled engineer? A manager?
Before building your future career your goal must be identified.
7. Prepare Yourself
Your dream might show up tomorrow. Be prepared.
Don't wait a second. Update your CV now, and continue to update it regularly.
Tomorrow your dream job may show up right before your nose. Prepare for it with a professional CV and be ready to describe yourself as a valuable object to anyone that will try to recruit you.
If you don't know how to write a CV, or how to describe yourself, start learning it now.
8. Pick The Right Tools
Pick the tools you can handle.
You can build your future career using a lot of different tools. Studying at W3Schools is easy. Taking a full master degree is more complicated.
You can add a lot to your career by studying books and tutorials (like the one you find at W3Schools). Doing short time courses with certification tests might add valuable weight to your CV. And don't forget: Your current job is often the most valuable source of building new skills.
Don't pick a tool that is too heavy for you to handle!
9. Realize Your Dreams
Put your dreams into action.
Don't let a busy job kill your dreams. If you have higher goals, put them into action now.
If you have plans about taking more education, getting a better job, starting your own company or something else, you should not use your daily job as a "waiting station". Your daily job will get more and more busy, you will be caught up in the rat race, and you will burn up your energy.
If you have this energy, you should use it now, to realize your dreams.

Top 10 Stress Relievers: The Best Ways To Feel Better

Top 10 Stress Relievers: The Best Ways To Feel Better

There are many ways to reduce tension and relax. Here are the ten stress relievers I believe are most effective for the amount of work and time involved. Some can be learned in the time it takes to read this page, while others take a little more practice, but there's something here for everyone!

1. Breathing Exercises

Deep breathing is an easy stress reliever that has numerous benefits for the body, including oxygenating the blood, which ‘wakes up’ the brain, relaxing muscles and quieting the mind. Breathing exercises are especially helpful because you can do them anywhere, and they work quickly so you can de-stress in a flash. The Karate Breathing Meditation is a great exercise to start with, and this basic breathing exercise can be done anywhere!

2. Meditation

Meditation builds on deep breathing, and takes it a step further. When you meditate, your brain enters an area of functioning that’s similar to sleep, but carries some added benefits you can’t achieve as well in any other state, including the release of certain hormones that promote health. Also, the mental focus on nothingness keeps your mind from working overtime and increasing your stress level. Here's an article on different types of meditation to help you get started.

3. Guided Imagery

It takes slightly more time to practice guided imagery, but this is a great way to leave your stress behind for a while and relax your body. Some find it easier to practice than meditation, as lots of us find it more doable to focus on ‘something’ than on ‘nothing’. You can play natural sounds in the background as you practice, to promote a more immersive experience.

4. Visualizations

Building on guided imagery, you can also imagine yourself achieving goals like becoming healthier and more relaxed, doing well at tasks, and handling conflict in better ways. Also, visualizing yourself doing well on tasks you’re trying to master actually functions like physical practice, so you can improve your performance through visualizations as well!

5. Self-hypnosis

Self-hypnosis incorporates some of the features of guided imagery and visualizations, with the added benefit of enabling you to communicate directly you’re your subconscious mind to enhance your abilities, more easily give up bad habits, feel less pain, more effectively develop healthier habits, and even find answers to questions that may not be clear to your waking mind! It takes some practice and training, but is well worth it. Learn more about using hypnosis to manage stress in your life.

6. Exercise

Many people exercise to control weight and get in better physical condition to become more healthy or physically attractive, but exercise and stress management are also closely linked. Exercise provides a distraction from stressful situations, as well as an outlet for frustrations, and gives you a lift via endorphins as well. This article can tell you more about the stress management benefits of exercise, and help you get more active in your daily life.

7. Progressive Muscle Relaxation

By tensing and relaxing all the muscle groups in your body, you can relieve tension and feel much more relaxed in minutes, with no special training or equipment. Start by tensing all the muscles in your face, holding a tight grimace ten seconds, then completely relaxing for ten seconds. Repeat this with your neck, followed by your shoulders, etc. You can do this anywhere, and as you practice, you will find you can relax more quickly and easily, reducing tension as quickly as it starts!

8. Sex

You probably already know that sex is a great tension reliever, but have you officially thought of it as a stress-relieving practice? Perhaps you should. The physical benefits of sex are numerous, and most of them work very well toward relieving stress. Sadly, many people have less sex when their stress levels are high. Learn how to avoid this trap!

9. Music

Music therapy has shown numerous health benefits for people with conditions ranging from mild (like stress) to severe (like cancer). When dealing with stress, the right music can actually lower your blood pressure, relax your body and calm your mind. Here are some suggestions of different types of music to listen to, and how to use music in your daily life for effective stress management.

10. Yoga

Yoga is one of the oldest self-improvement practices around, dating back over 5 thousand years! It combines the practices of several other stress management techniques such as breathing, meditation, imagery and movement, giving you a lot of benefit for the amount of time and energy required. Learn more about how to manage stress with yoga.

FACTBOX - Some facts on drug-resistant "superbugs"

Some of the world's most powerful medicines are losing the war against drug-resistant strains of HIV, gonorrhea, tuberculosis and other microbes, global health experts said on Thursday.

"People assume that antibiotics will always be there to fight the worst infections, but antimicrobial resistance is robbing us of that certainty and new drug-resistant pathogens are emerging," Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Thursday.

"It's not enough to hope that we'll have effective drugs to combat these infections. We must all act now to safeguard this important resource," Frieden said in a statement released to coincide with World Health Day.

Here are some facts from the CDC about antimicrobial resistance and what people can do to prevent it.

* Scope of the problem: Antimicrobial resistance occurs when germs change in a way that reduces or eliminates the effectiveness of drugs to treat them. This happens when antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and other medications are used too liberally. About half of antimicrobial drugs -- antibiotics in particular -- are used unnecessarily or inappropriately prescribed in U.S. hospitals and in doctors' offices, the CDC says. The best approach to preserving those drugs is to use them only when needed.

* Cost: The United States spends more than $1.1 billion a year on unnecessary antibiotics for respiratory infections in adults. Antibiotic-resistant infections are responsible for $20 billion in excess healthcare costs and $35 billion in costs to society, such as lost wages, plus 8 million additional hospital days.

* HIV: Studies suggest 4 to 20 percent of newly diagnosed HIV patients have transmitted a drug-resistant infection. A 2007 study of HIV patients in the United States found one of every six newly diagnosed infections was drug-resistant. Doctors can help by testing for resistance before prescribing drugs, and patients can help by taking their drugs as prescribed and practicing safe sex.

* Malaria: Worldwide, there were an estimated 225 million malaria infections and 780,000 deaths in 2009. Most deaths were of children in Africa. Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous of the malaria parasites, has developed resistance in nearly all areas of the world where it is transmitted.

* Gonorrhea: More than 700,000 people in the United States become infected with gonorrhea each year, and the infection is showing increasing signs of antibiotic resistance. In 2009, 23.5 percent of gonorrhea strains showed resistance to penicillin, tetracycline, fluoroquinolones, or a combination of those antibiotics. Cephalosporins are the only class of antibiotics left, and preliminary data suggest resistant strains may be emerging. To fight this, the CDC is working with the National Institutes of Health to find other drugs to treat gonorrhea.

* Tuberculosis: About 1.3 percent of all U.S. TB cases reported in 2009 were multiple drug-resistant, or MDR, TB, and there has been one reported case of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB. With MDR or XDR-TB, the standard cocktail of antibiotics does not work and stronger medicines must be used, often for a longer time. Surgery may also be required to remove pockets of infection. To prevent the spread of drug-resistant TB, patients need to take all of their medications exactly as prescribed.

Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Scientists find superbugs in Delhi drinking water

A gene that makes bugs highly resistant to almost all known antibiotics has been found in bacteria in water supplies in New Delhi used by local people for drinking, washing and cooking, scientists said on Thursday.

"We are at a critical point in time where antibiotic resistance is reaching unprecedented levels," said Zsuzsanna Jakab, the WHO's regional director for Europe.

"Given the growth of travel and trade in Europe and across the world, people should be aware that until all countries tackle this, no country alone can be safe."The NDM 1 gene, which creates what some experts describe as "super superbugs", has spread to germs that cause cholera and dysentery, and is circulating freely in other bacteria in New Delhi, a city of 14 million people, the researchers said.

"The inhabitants of New Delhi are continually being exposed to multidrug-resistant and NDM 1-positive bacteria", said Mark Toleman of Britain's Cardiff University School of Medicine, who published the findings in a study on Thursday.

A "substantial number" of them are consuming such bacteria on a daily basis, he told a briefing in London. "We believe we have discovered a very significant underlying source of NDM 1 in the capital city of India," he said.

NDM 1, or New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase 1, makes bacteria resistant to almost all antibiotics, including the most powerful class, called carbapenems.

It first emerged in India three years ago and has now spread across the world. It has been found in a wide variety of bugs, including familiar pathogens like Escherichia coli, or E. coli.

No new drugs are on the horizon for at least 5-6 years to tackle it and experts are concerned that only a few major drug companies, such as GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, still have strong antibiotic development programmes.

Toleman's study, carried out with Cardiff University's Timothy Walsh and published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, investigated how common NDM 1-producing bacteria are in community waste seepage -- such as water pools or rivulets in streets -- and tap water in urban New Delhi.

The researchers collected 171 swabs from seepage water and 50 public tap water samples from sites within a 12 kilometre radius of central New Delhi between September and October 2010.

The NDM 1 gene was found in two of the drinking-water samples and 51 of seepage samples, the researchers said, and bacteria positive for NDM 1 were grown from two drinking-water samples and 12 seepage samples.

"We would expect that perhaps as many as half a million people are carrying NDM 1-producing bacteria as normal (gut) flora in New Dehli alone," Toleman said.

Experts say the spread of superbugs threatens whole swathes of modern medicine, which cannot be practiced if doctors have no effective antibiotics to ward off infections during surgery, intensive care or cancer treatments like chemotherapy.

In a commentary about Walsh and Toleman's findings, Mohd Shahid from Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Uttar Pradesh, India, said global action was needed.

"The potential for wider international spread of ... NDM 1 is real and should not be ignored," he wrote.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has designated April 7 as World Health Day and under the slogan "No action today, no cure tomorrow" it is campaigning about the risks of life-saving antibiotics losing their healing power.

Is Global Warming Making Tibet Dustier?

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA—Sediments taken from the bottom of a lake on the Tibetan Plateau suggest that changes in wind patterns caused by global warming may be making the area dustier. That trend could accelerate the melting of crucial glaciers in the Himalayas and affect already imperiled water supplies.

Tricky connections. Global warming may be increasing winds that blow dust onto the Tibetan Plateau, and the sunlight-absorbing dust may be accelerating the melting of glaciers there

Jessica Conroy, a graduate student in paleoclimatology at the University of Arizona in Tucson, and colleagues collected sediment cores from the bottom of Kiang Lake in southwestern Tibet using equipment suspended from rafts. The cores track the history of climate in the region back to 1050 C.E. According to Conroy, who presented the data here at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union on 15 December, the amount of fine-grained dust in the lake sediment increased over the 20th century. Finer dust arrives from distant desert regions hundreds of kilometers away, suggesting stronger winds with the power to deliver the material.

Scientists have previously noted the rise of dust in the region but attributed it to the increase in agriculture, grazing, and other relatively local developments. Data Conroy presented showed that dusty periods coincide with summers when a Northern Hemisphere atmospheric phenomenon called the Arctic Oscillation is in a "positive phase." A positive phase of this pattern in the summer leads to stronger winds in desert areas to the north of the lake as well as south of the Himalayas.

Global warming seems to be keeping the Arctic Oscillation in its positive phase more often, which Conroy says could mean that climate, not just changes in the local landscape caused by human activity, could be making southwestern Tibet dustier. Lonnie Thompson, a paleoclimatologist at Ohio State University in Columbus, who did the earlier work noting the rise of dust, says he was "impressed" with the data and called the work "thoughtful." The findings mirrored patterns he had documented within ice in a Himalayan glacier called Dasuopu, "particularly the increase in the past century or so of dust," he says. Conroy's hypothesized link between dust levels and the Arctic Oscillation "probably warrants more investigation," Thompson says.

"It's going to continue to be dusty in this region, and dust can accelerate the melting of the glaciers in the Himalayas," says Conroy. That's because the dust lands on the white ice and makes it darker, absorbing radiation and accelerating melting in the Himalayas. These glaciers, which provide water for hundreds of millions of people across Asia, are in serious danger—although a well-documented typographic error in the 2007 IPCC report exaggerated the rate of their disappearance. Dust also warms the air above the Tibetan Plateau, enhancing monsoon circulation patterns, which could affect rain and alter rainfall patterns across the southern Asia.

First official UK "royal app" launched for wedding

Britain's first official royal app was launched on Tuesday, and with the marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton just weeks away, unsurprisingly it focuses on royal weddings.

A Royal Wedding stamp from the tiny Pacific island of Niue is seen in this handout photo obtained by Reuters on April 5, 2011.

The "Royal App", launched by the Royal Collection, will feature details of seven previous weddings, including Queen Victoria's marriage to Prince Albert in 1840 and the 1981 wedding of William's father Prince Charles to Princess Diana.

It culminates with Charles's wedding to second wife Camilla in 2005.

The app, which will be available to download for Apple and Android users from April 18 at a price of 1.79 pounds, is the latest foray into the digital world by the royal family, following on from the launch of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts.

The weddings app will include details about the "tradition, splendour and romance" of the past seven occasions, with images of the dresses, jewellery, and gifts, said the Royal Collection, the body which looks after the monarchy's collection of artwork.

"It is fitting and exciting that the first Royal Collection App will share the stories of past royal weddings and offer a wealth of historical context for the ceremony on April 29," said Jemima Rellie, its director of publishing and new media.

The creators said highlights of the app, which will be available in eight languages, include images of a sapphire and diamond brooch given to Queen Victoria by her new husband and the current queen's wedding dress, designed by Norman Hartnell.

The "Royal App" is not the first to target fans excited by the upcoming nuptials. Last month, a media company launched an app promising to feature all the latest information about William's wedding was launched for iPad users. [ID:nLDE72G1XA]

Source Code (2011)

• Release Date: 04/01/2011
• Rating: PG-13
• Runtime: 1 hr 34 mins
• Genre: Science fiction, Thriller
• Director: Duncan Jones
• Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright

In Duncan Jones’s sci-fi thriller Source Code, Jake Gyllenhaal plays Captain Colter Stevens, a U.S. Army helicopter pilot who awakens after an enemy ambush to find himself sitting on a Chicago-bound commuter train, surrounded by strangers, with absolutely no idea how he got there. As he struggles to process his strange new milieu, he’s pestered with small-talk by a perky fellow-passenger (Michelle Monaghan) whom he doesn’t recognize, but who clearly seems to know him. When he looks into a mirror, staring back at him is the image of a man, who, while handsome, is certainly no Jake Gyllenhaal. What Hitchcockian hell has Captain Stevens wandered into? Could it all be a dream?

Before Colter can ponder matters further, a massive explosion sends him hurtling into oblivion, from which he emerges, intact, strapped to a chair inside a dark capsule-like enclosure. A woman, Goodwin (Vera Farmiga), pops up on a video screen and tersely informs him that he is now part of a new, high-tech front in the War on Terror: Source Code, an experimental program that allows a person to assume the identity of someone else during the last eight minutes of his or her life. Whoever planted the bomb on the train is said to be readying another, far deadlier attack to unleash on Chicago in a matter of hours. The only hope for preventing it is for Colter to repeatedly scour the memory of one of the train's deceased passengers in the hopes of finding clues that might help them determine the identity of the bomber.

Soon Colter finds himself in an existence not unlike that of Bill Murray’s character in Groundhog Day, revisiting the same eight-minute scenario over and over again. As a soldier, his first instinct is to try and prevent the explosion from happening and save the lives of the innocents on board. But doing so is futile, Source Code’s creepy and condescending inventor, Dr. Walter Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright), glibly explains. Source Code is not a time-travel machine but rather a “time-reassignment” device built on principles of quantum mechanics and parabolic calculus that Colter's feeble mind couldn’t possibly comprehend. The train bombing is a part of the past, which is unalterable; Stevens’ actions to prevent its occurrence, however heroic, have no real-world ramifications. He is simply a detective whose crime scene is the residual consciousness – the “after-image” – of a dead man’s brain.

But if that were true, Colter wouldn’t be able to exit the train, make cell phone calls, strike a romantic chord with Monaghan’s character, or engage in various other activities that we see him perform in the film, activities that lie well beyond the experiential purview of the dead man’s final memories. Could it be that the Source Code program is actually something more profound, perhaps a kind of portal to a parallel universe? (Jones’s usage of Scott Bakula, star of TV’s Quantum Leap, in a clever cameo as the Colter's father, provides a strong hint.) Colter's own experiences seem to confirm as much: Each time the train-bombing scenario unfolds, he notices subtle differences in seemingly trivial details, like the timing of a coffee spill. No two universes, after all, can ever be exactly alike.

This little twist exposes some potential issues with Source Code’s underlying logic, chief among them being questions about the reliability of any “evidence” uncovered by Colter in his quantum adventures. The narrative asks us to take a few logical leaps of faith, and I humbly suggest you comply. Source Code is more than strong enough as a film – an intelligent, probing sci-fi thriller that packs a surprisingly strong emotional punch – to withstand any nitpicking about its theoretical veracity. Director Jones’s ambitions are grander, his aim more mainstream, his tone more hopeful this time around than in his haunting 2009 breakout hit, Moon, but the result is just as resonant.