SuedeGamer

About You ... dNeero-ites

2008-12-25T07:37:00.000-08:00

So, What Do You Think of Payday Loans?

2008-12-25T07:32:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays!!

2008-12-25T07:31:00.000-08:00

Identity -- You

2008-12-16T08:04:00.001-08:00

Christmas / Holiday from dNeero-ites

2008-12-15T08:29:00.001-08:00

It Drives Us Nuts!

2008-12-13T20:14:00.000-08:00

SpitzTunes - Cheer & Fear

2008-12-13T20:11:00.000-08:00

NEW PTC Program,Free Premium Membership in timed period, earn by viewing ADs!

2008-10-01T19:17:00.000-07:00

A new PTC site, Ptcnation is going to start and now offering goodies to new comers.

You now have the chance to earn some easy money every day, by just viewing ads!

Regular & Power Users:
Per click:
$0.010 (successful view)
Per referral click:
$0.005 (successful view)

VIP's:
Per click:
$0.010 (successful view)
Per referral click:
$0.010 (successful view)

Ptcnation is starting a Pre-launch! Signup Now & check the Forums! Anyone who signs up during our Pre-Launch will receive a complimentary 6 month's VIP($50 value), aswell as the chance to receive a Triple Cashout!

Join now or you will miss the chance!!

Learn To Earn Easy Constant Money Everyday With Paid To Click (PTC) Programs

2008-10-01T01:30:00.000-07:00

What are Paid To Click (PTC) Programs?

These are programs where advertisers pays you to click or view or surf their advertisements. PTC is the most popular internet income opportunity at present and will be more popular in the future.

What does one needs to do?

You watch the advertisements for 30 seconds and get paid for it.

What is the earning potential?

$200.00 per day or more!!! Let me explain you about the earning potential. The explanation is as follows:-

Let's say you have joined 20 PTC programs then those 20 PTC programs will have an average of 5-10 advertisements for you to view per day.

And most PTC will pay you $0.01 per ad you view. Let us suppose that on an average you get to view 5 ads per programs.

Therefore 20 PTC programs x 5 ads = 100 ads.

So you will be getting 100 x $0.01= $1.00/day. In a month you can make $30 on your own. I know it's not enough but that's a guaranteed extra income for you!

So where is the $200/day income?

On PTC websites, there is another system to generate income for the members which is called referral system. Wherein, most PTC sites will pay you 100% of your referral earnings!

Is it very confusing?
Let me explain it as follows:-

Let's say you have 10 referrals for each PTC.

Therefore 20 PTC x 10 referrals = 200 referrals

These 200 referrals, also clicks ads just like you everyday. They also click 100 ads and earn $1.00/day

As their referrer/upline, you earn 100% (in most PTC) of their total earnings.

NOW, let's calculate your potential earnings?

200 referrals x $1.00 = $200.00/day

This is how you can earn $200 everyday.

Unbelievable!? Well, this big earning is very much possible. Just be patient and concentrate on your goal.

But are there just 200 people you can refer? In reality there are millions of people looking forward to join PTC to earn money on line. How big is the chance you get thousands from them, or even more?

How does the referral system work?

You can refer your neighbors, your friends, internet friends, family, strangers, and anybody who knows how to use the internet. Just ask them to sign up using your referral link that looks like the referral link as shown below.

http://isabelmarco.com/?r=ajaxian

(The referral link sample above is my referral link for Isabelmarco (a PTC program). Your personal referral link can be found at your own account on each PTC that you will join).

Please note that when somebody signs up or joins a PTC using your link he/she will be counted as one of your referrals.

How does one receive his earnings at PTC?

You can claim your earnings using ALERTPAY, PAYPAL, or E-GOLD. (If you are new to PTC, please register a FREE Alertpay account first because most PTC pays its members via Alertpay)

What are Paypal, Alertpay and E-gold?

They are all Major Payment Processors that Most of PTC use to pay its members. You will also need to register a FREE account at the 3 payment processors mentioned above in order for you to get paid.

All you need to succeed in PTC is patience and an hour of your day. 200 referrals will not register or join in just 1 day. I know that. It will take months or even years. Always remember, There is no such thing as Easy Money.You have to work for it. But.. Is this work hard for you? I don't think so....

How can one get started?

STEP ONE: Make your very own email address if you don't have one.

STEP TWO: Register at ALERTPAY, PAYPAL, or E-GOLD

Click Here To Open A Paypal Account

Click Here To Open An Alertpay Account

Click Here To Open An E-gold Account

STEP THREE: Register a FREE account at all Recommended PTC Programs mentioned below under JOIN THE PTC. (Make a list of your Paid to Click Programs, so you won't forget the PTC you had already joined)

STEP FOUR: Log in to your account and Start earning cash by clicking/viewing/surfing advertisments (use Internet Explorer or Firefox browser in viewing ads. Most PTC are compatible with Internet Explorer and Firefox)

STEP FIVE: Make the Clicking and Viewing of ads a daily habit (1-2 hours per day)

STEP SIX: Refer others to join under you.. Make your own advertisements, blogs, articles like this one. AND BE PATIENT!!! Just keep on clicking.

STEP SEVEN: Cashout your Money when you reach the Minimum Payout

STEP EIGHT: ENJOY your earnings!!!

Remember joining 20 active PTC sites can make you earn bigger and faster! Start smart and get paid!!! Start Clicking Today! Earn $200 per day with paid to click (PTC) programs!

Note:-Please register for FREE using my links below and start clicking daily. These are the links to most reliable and regularly paying PTC programs.

Thank you and Good Luck!!

Join The PTC Sites To Earn $200 Per Day With Paid To Click (PTC) Programs

Here are the links to the reliable PTC sites.

Click Here To Join NeoBux: Earn up to $0.02 (2 cents) per click.
Earn up to $0.02 (2 cents) for every ad your referrals click.
Earn up to 10% of every purchase made here by your direct referrals.
Low $2 Payout!! Instant Payment!!!

Click Here To Join CrewBux
At CrewBux.com, you get paid to click on ads and visit websites. The process is easy! You simply click a link and view a website for a 20 seconds to earn money.You don't need any skills. You will earn $0.01 for each ad.You can earn even more by referring friends.You will earn $0.005 for each ad your direct refferals see.The minimum payout is $5

Click Here To Join Isabelmarco.com: At Isabelmarco's Moneymaker, you get paid to click on ads and visit websites. The process is easy! You simply click a link and view a website for 30 seconds to earn money. You can earn even more by buying refs. You'll get paid $0.01 ($0,015 for premium) for each website you personally view and $0.007 ($0,01 for premium) for each website your referrals view. Payment requests can be made every day and are processed through Alertpay. The minimum payout is $9.00.
Honest administration and 15-20 ads daily!!!
Click Here To Join ThinkBux: ThinkBux.com - Revolution PTC site!
# You get paid $0.01 per click. Premium members get paid $0.012 per click.
# Minimum payout is only $5! Payments are made via PayPal and AlertPay!
# You can convert your ballance to advertise, referals and upgrade!
# You can pay for advertise, referals and upgrade by PayPal and AlertPay!

He's the god on the road

2008-05-31T22:19:00.000-07:00

This guy is funny and brave.

Uncontacted tribe photographed near Brazil-Peru border

2008-05-30T21:48:00.000-07:00

Members of one of the world’s last uncontacted tribes have been spotted and photographed from the air near the Brazil-Peru border. The photos were taken during several flights over one of the remotest parts of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil’s Acre state.

‘We did the overflight to show their houses, to show they are there, to show they exist,’ said uncontacted tribes expert José Carlos dos Reis Meirelles Júnior. Meirelles works for FUNAI, the Brazilian government’s Indian affairs department. ‘This is very important because there are some who doubt their existence.’

Meirelles says that the group’s numbers are increasing. But other uncontacted groups in the region, whose homes have been photographed from the air, are in severe danger from illegal logging in Peru. Logging is driving uncontacted tribes over the border and could lead to conflict with the estimated five hundred uncontacted Indians already living on the Brazilian side.

‘What is happening in this region [of Peru] is a monumental crime against the natural world, the tribes, the fauna and is further testimony to the complete irrationality with which we, the ‘civilised’ ones, treat the world,’ said Meirelles.

There are more than one hundred uncontacted tribes worldwide, with more than half living in either Brazil or Peru. All are in grave danger of being forced off their land, killed and decimated by new diseases. Survival has launched an urgent campaign to get their land protected, and a unique film narrated by actress Julie Christie.

Survival’s director Stephen Corry said today, ‘These pictures are further evidence that uncontacted tribes really do exist. The world needs to wake up to this, and ensure that their territory is protected in accordance with international law. Otherwise, they will soon be made extinct.’

Coolest Number Plate Ever

2008-05-25T20:16:00.000-07:00

Don't understand?
Hint: Mirror

UEFA Champions League winners got Real Madrid's blessings

2008-05-21T23:58:00.000-07:00

In the last 6 year's UEFA Champions League, all cup winners met a common fact on their road, which is related to the team Real Madrid.

03 Juventus knocked out Real Madrid, AC Milan knocked out Juventus, AC Milan won the Cup
04 Monaco knocked out Real Madrid, Porto knocked out Monaco, Porto won the Cup
05 Juventus knocked out Real Madrid, Liverpool knocked out Juventus, Liverpool won the Cup
06 Arsenal knocked out Real Madrid, Barcelona knocked out Arsenal, Barcelona won the Cup
07 Bayan Munich knocked out Real Madrid, AC Milan knocked out Bayan Munich, AC Milan won the Cup
08 Roma knocked out Real Madrid, Man United knocked out Roma, Man United won the Cup

Noticed the coincidence?

Glory, glory, Man United!

2008-05-21T18:36:00.000-07:00

Man Utd 1-1 Chelsea: Incredible spot kick drama

Manchester United became kings of Europe for the third time on a night of high drama and emotion in Moscow as they beat Chelsea 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1 draw after extra time.

Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar was the hero with a penalty save to deny Nicolas Anelka after Chelsea captain John Terry had missed the chance to win the Blues the trophy by firing his own spot-kick hit the post.

The dramatic shootout looked to be going Chelsea's way after Petr Cech saved Cristiano Ronaldo's effort but Terry's miss opened the door for Sir Alex Ferguson to clinch his second Champions League crown.

As the celebrations began, you could have expected the ghosts of such giants as Duncan Edwards and George Best to be dancing with delight at the outcome.

It is 40 years since United first won the trophy with a team rebuilt by Sir Matt Busby from the survivors of that Munich disaster. Eight players lost their lives following the catastrophic events on a snow-filled German runway in February 1958.

It was fitting that United became the first English club to win the trophy 10 years later and even more apt that, half a century on, Ferguson's men had again taken on Europe's finest and beaten them all.

Their achievement was made even more poignant by Munich survivors Harry Gregg, Albert Scanlon, Kenny Morgans, Bill Foulkes and Sir Bobby Charlton, now a club director, who watched the drama unfold from the stands.

But modern-day football has its own heroes and the likes of Carlos Tevez, Wayne Rooney and the unstoppable Ronaldo now trip off the tongue in the same way Best and Charlton once did.

Yet, the opening 25 minutes of the first all-English final barely lived up to its hysterical pre-match hype.

However, all that changed from the moment Ronaldo headed United in front with his 42nd goal of a memorable season.

Paul Scholes, who missed United's last triumph through suspension in 1999, played a delightful interchange of passes with Wes Brown on the right flank.

His final return pass put Brown in the clear and the full-back's left-foot cross found the waiting Ronaldo in space at the far post.

The Portugal international planted a firm header into the corner of the net past a static Cech to give United first blood.

Chelsea's somewhat muted response almost brought them an equaliser in the 33rd minute when Lampard's cross was headed back into the six-yard box by Didier Drogba.

United's Rio Ferdinand, under pressure from Michael Ballack, was forced to head the ball towards his own goal and only a superb save from Van der Sar prevented a Chelsea equaliser.

But it required a sensational double save from Cech to deny United their second moments later.

Wayne Rooney delivered an inch-perfect 40-yard crossfield ball into the path of the ever-dangerous Ronaldo and the United goalscorer placed his cross on the head of the diving Tevez only for Cech to deny him.

Chelsea's failure to clear the loose ball gave Michael Carrick the chance to reward their superb approach work but again Cech was equal to the task with another fine save.

The Blues began to grow in confidence as the first half approached its climax and in the 45th minute, they took advantage of a massive slice of luck to level the score.

Michael Essien's attempted shot from 25-yards took two deflections on its way towards goal but the most telling was off the back of United captain Ferdinand.

It changed the direction of the ball into the path of Lampard, who duly supplied the finish from six yards.

Chelsea, buoyed by their flourish at the end of the first half, almost took the lead in the 54th minute.

Essien managed to get clear of the United defence but his attempted curler from the edge of the penalty area was far too high.

It was all Chelsea now but they could not force a second goal. Drogba sent a header a wide from Lampard's corner and Ballack was just off target with a 25-yard drive.

In the 77th minute, United had the woodwork to thank when Drogba sent a 20-yard shot against Van der Sar's left-hand upright. The Ivorian went close again four minutes from time when he just failed to convert Joe Cole's low cross.

Ryan Giggs was introduced in place of Scholes seconds later for the Welshman to make a record 759th appearance for the Red Devils.
The game went into extra-time, and within three minutes of the restart, the woodwork came to United's rescue again. This time it was Lampard who sent his shot crashing against the crossbar as United continued to ride their luck.

But Chelsea were almost made to pay dearly eight minutes later when Terry cleared a goalbound effort from Giggs off his own line.

Drogba was then sensationally sent off for slapping Nemanja Vidic as tempers flared on both sides.

But the lottery of penalties ensured that United clinched the trophy.

RON'S PEN WOE
Ronaldo blotted his copybook with a penalty miss in the shoot-out, but he wouldn't be made to pay for it.

TERRY TORMENT
Chelsea skipper John Terry lies on the turf after missing the penalty which would have given Chelsea the Cup.

ANELKA AGONY
Edwin Van der Sar celebrates as he dived to save Nicolas Anelka's penalty, giving Man Utd a famous win in Moscow.

CHAMPIONS
Manchester United are the Champions of Europe and the Champions of England too. Next on the list is global conquest...

Easy way getting One Man Army achievement in GTA IV

2008-05-18T08:23:00.000-07:00

For xbox 360 version GTA IV users, you can collect in-game achievements. One of the difficult ones is the One Man Army achievement. If you want to get it, you have to fulfill this: Survive 5 minutes on 6 star wanted level. Sounds hard, right? But here's a tips for getting this achievement in a very simple and easy way, you can even get it at the beginning of the game! Here's the how-to.

The requirement of getting the achievement in this way is that you do not have the access right to visit Algonquin. So, if you have already granted access, load back an old save or start a new one. After that, what you have to do is go to here, the Algonquin Bridge stair from Rotterdam Hill(marked as the red circle in this map)

(click to enlarge)

You may have a clearer idea of where it is by seeing these pics.

Since you are not allowed to visit Algonquin, passing the bridge will give you a instance 6 star wanted level. However, this is just a narrow pathway that is not connecting to any road, no police cars would be able to come to you and do you any harm. You just have to take care of a few policemen may walk in and hurt you but you must be able to handle them easily. And to get the achievement done, you just need to stay on the bridge(the middle part would be the best) for 5 minutes and you are done!

I wasn't looking for it in purpose, but just discovered this tip when I was hanging around in the city. So if you think getting this achievement is really hard, you can consider to get it following this tip.

UEFA Champions League Semi-Final Highlights

2008-05-02T19:55:00.000-07:00

Manchester United 1 - 0 Barcelona

Chelsea 3 - 2 Liverpool

GTA IV 5th official trailer released

2008-04-26T20:27:00.000-07:00

Here's the 5th official tralier just released

IGN's GTA IV Review Released

2008-04-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

IGN had recently post it's review to the long waiting game GTA IV and the game is perfect in the editor's eyes. It scored 10 in every aspects. And here's the video review of the game. Let's see if the game fulfilled your hope and is it a perfer game for you too?

Ronaldo pays for penalty

2008-04-23T18:57:00.000-07:00

Cristiano Ronaldo failed to give Man Utd the advantage after he missed a penalty in the second minute of their Champions League semi-final first leg clash at the Nou Camp. Gabriel Milito was adjudged to have handled the ball, but the in-form Portuguese winger blazed wide from the spot and although Barca enjoyed much of the possession, the Catalan club couldn't break down the United defence.

Barcelona 0-0 Man Utd

Cristiano Ronaldo may have been unusually wasteful but Manchester United are in sight of a place in the Champions League final.
The Portugal winger missed a penalty after only three minutes at the Nou Camp and the chance of giving the side a precious away goal.

United were rarely seen as an attacking force after that but they will go into the second leg at Old Trafford next Tuesday with quiet confidence.

Despite the absence of Nemanja Vidic, who was rushed to hospital on Tuesday night with a stomach complaint, they defended resolutely and kept a clean sheet.

Ronaldo with 38 goals to his credit was left frustrated when Gabriel Milito handled inside the penalty area in the second minute of the game.

Swiss referee Massimo Busacca had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, waving away protests from Barcelona.

Ronaldo stepped up to take the penalty kick - only to see his effort hit the stanchion.

He was left holding his head in his hands after missing a golden opportunity of giving United a precious away goal.

Sir Alex Ferguson's side struggled to find their rhythm in the first half, with Barcelona having the majority of possession.

Lionel Messi picked out Samuel Eto'o in the 13th minute only for Paul Scholes - on his 100th Champions League appearance - to make a vital interception.

Ronaldo did not seem to be suffering from a lack of confidence, however, after blundering from the spot - and continued to take players on.

Barcelona pressed forward again in the 21st minute and Rafael Marquez got clear of his marker but his header failed to trouble goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar, who was back in the side following a groin injury.

Then Yaya Toure showed good skill for the home side and sent a good cross into the area which was turned away by Van der Sar.

Ronaldo felt he should have had another penalty in the 30th minute when he was bundled over by Marquez after Xavi had carelessly lost possession.

However referee Busacca would have none of it and allowed play to continue, leaving the United winger frustrated.

Barca were dictating the tempo at this stage and Eto'o rattled in a shot after 34 minutes but Wes Brown made a vital block.

Brown was partnering Rio Ferdinand in the heart of defence in the absence of Vidic with the recalled Owen Hargreaves operating at right back.

Brown was showing little sign of the knock that forced him to train away from the main group last night.

Barcelona were spraying the ball around well, however, and won a free-kick in the 38th minute.

But Deco got little power on his effort and Van der Sar made a comfortable save.

United hit back and Marquez was booked in the 44th minute after tripping Ronaldo as he attempted to surge forward.

Ronaldo dusted himself down but sent his effort from an acute angle wide of the post.

Barcelona were quickly on the offensive at the start of the second half and Messi saw his effort blocked in the 47th minute, before Van der Sar did well to tip over Gianluca Zambrotta's long-range shot.

Eto'o skipped away from Ferdinand and tried to pick out Messi - but Michael Carrick was perfectly positioned and made the clearance.

Eto'o got clear in the 52nd minute but sent his effort into the side-netting, before Deco tested Van der Sar three minutes later with a low drive.

The Dutch goalkeeper was equal to Xavi's effort from 20 yards before Messi - who had only recently returned from injury - was replaced by Bojan Krkic in the 63rd minute.

Bojan was no less a threat than the Argentinian, having scored the winning goal in the quarter-final first leg against Schalke.

United were finding it difficult to set up any attacks, leaving Ronaldo, Rooney and Carlos Tevez fairly isolated up front.

Former Arsenal favourite Thierry Henry was called into the action after 77 minutes with Deco coming off.

Henry quickly picked up the pace of the game and rattled in a shot after 83 minutes that Van der Sar beat away.

The United goalkeeper then got his body behind a Henry free-kick as United held out for a creditable draw.

A late drama at Anfield

2008-04-22T22:31:00.000-07:00

A 95th minute own goal from John Arne Riise has swung the Champions League semi-final in the direction of Chelsea just as it seemed Liverpool would have the aces in their pocket. Dirk Kuyt's scruffy 43rd minute goal looked to be the difference at Anfield but seconds after the four allotted added minutes had elapsed Riise stooped to head past his own goalkeeper, Jose Reina.

Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea: Riise's blunder levels tie

A own goal in injury time from substitute John Arne Riise left Liverpool stunned and Chelsea dreaming of Moscow as the game ended all square at 1-1.

Liverpool had led from a first-half goal by Dirk Kuyt and looked to be heading to Stamford Bridge next week for the second leg of this Champions League semi-final in pole position.

But although Liverpool had created most of the scoring chances in a captivating match, Chelsea will know that their priceless away goal could be decisive as they aim for the May 21 final.

Beforehand it had all been about the powerbrokers in the directors' box.

Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks' presence may well have concerned Merseyside Police, but it was never going to be a low-key visit. The Texan arrived in the city to head straight for the club's Melwood training complex.

He chatted with manager Rafael Benitez and watched training from the restaurant balcony before eventually heading to Anfield, arriving almost three hours before the game. Despite predictions, there was no police escort.

The Dubai International Capital delegation - who had stayed in Chester overnight - of negotiator Amanda Staveley and chief executive Sameer Al Ansari arrived with less fanfare and sat quietly away from the owners.

Chief executive Rick Parry was relegated by the Hicks entourage from his usual front-row seat to way back in the box, where he was able to watch Hicks and son Tom jr waving their scarves and singing along with the fans.

So much for the sideshow. There was a vibrant match in store, and with three England managers watching as well. Fabio Capello, Steve McClaren and Sven-Goran Eriksson were as spellbound as the rest at a packed Anfield.

Liverpool fielded the side that had beaten Arsenal in the previous round, with Chelsea having Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack and Didier Drogba back.

And they started full of desire and pace, unfazed by the vociferous Kop, who had pointedly ignored the Hicks showboating.

Ballack and Lampard were dominant and Liverpool were instantly forced back, fussy Austrian referee Konrad Plautz doing nothing for the flow.

Liverpool needed to raise their game, and they did when Xabi Alonso's ball sent Kuyt away, Petr Cech half stopping the effort before Ashley Cole belted it away.

But Chelsea were playing the football and Joe Cole should have done better from a Lampard chipped pass.

Steven Gerrard was being smothered by Claude Makelele everywhere he went. But one clipped pass from the Liverpool skipper after 31 minutes sent Fernando Torres clear, only for Cech to produce a vital save.

But Liverpool's steady improvement was to produce a goal after 42 minutes. And it was all about Kuyt, with his seventh goal in 11 European ties this term.

After his run and cross preceded a poor clearance, he won the ball back from Lampard and when it was turned into the box there was Kuyt to force it under Cech's despairing dive.

That gave Liverpool all the incentive they needed to return after the break flying forward looking for another; Ryan Babel tormenting Paulo Ferreira and Gerrard and Alonso at last finding space.

Babel surged into the middle and unleashed a fierce right-footer that curled just wide.

Liverpool then lost Fabio Aurelio after an hour, collapsing with what looked like a recurrence of his groin problems. Riise sprinted into the fray.

Salomon Kalou then came on for Joe Cole, Chelsea searching for a way back into the game. Ballack's header was held by Jose Reina and Jamie Carragher got in the way of Kalou's close-range shot.

The balance was swinging again, Drogba a constant threat. Liverpool sent on Yossi Benayoun for Babel with 15 minutes left, referee Plautz still enraging Liverpool with almost every decision.

Carragher's stunning tackle on Lampard stopped an almost certain goal, Liverpool now living on their nerves as Chelsea surged forward.

Cech made a fine save to stop Gerrard's dipping volley, Nicolas Anelka coming on - eventually - for a very reluctant Ballack.

Torres, who had a tough time against John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho, lost control when put clear by Gerrard.

Terry was booked for a body-check on Javier Mascherano in injury-time, and Cech saved superbly again from Torres.

But the sucker punch was to come. In the fifth minute of time added on, Riise dived forward in the six-yard box to head a Kalou cross into the roof of his own net, under pressure from Anelka.

The Kop were stunned, Chelsea delirious, somehow they had achieved the away goal and draw they desperately wanted.

Microsoft gives out MS points to GTA IV gamers

2008-04-15T18:11:00.000-07:00

Microsoft is holding a function to thank Xbox 360 gamers who is eager to buy GTA IV on time. Xbox live users just have to register their Xbox Live ID on the web before 20th April and play GTA IV thru Xbox Live on 29th April. And MS will give out 500 MS points to these accounts for free. So , MS just give you back money in another way in return.Looks interesting? Want to join as well? Wait, this program is just valid for Xbox Live users in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.Too bad, they should do a little more...

http://www.xbox.com/zh-hk/gtaiv

Interested? Visit

Uefa Champions League Goals and Highlights

2008-04-11T19:46:00.000-07:00

Manchester U. 1 - 0 AS Roma

Barcelona 1 - 0 Schalke

Chelsea 2 - 0 Fenerbahce

Liverpool 4 - 2 Arsenal

Barcelona 1-0 Schalke 04: Toure goal enough

2008-04-09T17:50:00.000-07:00

Barcelona set up a mouth-watering Champions League semi-final clash with Manchester United by producing a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Schalke at the Nou Camp.

Yaya Toure's scuffed strike after 43 minutes was enough to give the Catalan outfit a narrow win and a 2-0 aggregate triumph over a German side who dominated much of the first half.

Barca started brightly and could have gone ahead after just two minutes, when Samuel Eto'o fed Bojan Krkic in the area, but the youngster miscontrolled his effort and Xavi volleyed over the bar following a series of rebounds.

But Schalke - in the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time in their history - were not intimidated by the occasion or the hostile Nou Camp atmosphere.

Gerald Asamoah drove wide from outside the box after four minutes and Halil Altintop saw his dipping effort scrambled away by Victor Valdes at the second attempt in the visitors' next attack.

At the other end, Andres Iniesta picked out Xavi with a perfectly-weighted through-ball after 11 minutes, but the latter's low drive was brilliantly pushed wide by Schalke keeper Manuel Neuer.

Kevin Kuranyi then got between Gianluca Zambrotta and Lilian Thuram, but could not direct Rafinha's sweeping right-wing cross past an exposed Valdes after 13 minutes.

Schalke should have gone ahead after 21 minutes, when Kuranyi shot wide from point-blank range at the far post.

The hosts came close themselves through a well-worked free-kick after 25 minutes, but Bojan shot straight at Neuer from just inside the area.

Schalke looked to be holding firm until Toure put the home side ahead with a scrappy strike two minutes before the break.

The Ivory Coast midfielder released Bojan on the right, but the youngster's cross was headed high into the air by Schalke defender Marcelo Bordon.

When it came back down, Mladen Krstajic headed off the line, but the ball fell to Toure, who scuffed his shot underneath Neuer and into the net from six yards out to give Barcelona a lead they barely deserved.

Soon after the restart Bojan squared neatly for the unmarked Henry after 49 minutes, but the former Arsenal striker curled a side-footed shot inches over the bar.

Barcelona then came close again a minute later, when Iniesta's long-range drive was pushed just past the post by Neuer.

Substitute Giovani Dos Santos fired a rasping drive at Neuer after 78 minutes.

Henry should then have set up the unmarked Eto'o after 81 minutes and also failed to find Giovani when the Mexican stood alone at the far post in the hosts' next foray forward.

Schalke too had their moments late on, but were unable to recreate the excellent form they showed in the first period and Barcelona held on comfortably. Captain Carles Puyol will miss that match after picking up a second-half booking for a foul on Asamoah.

Man Utd 1-0 Roma: Roma pay the penalty

2008-04-09T17:34:00.000-07:00

Carlos Tevez capped an industrious display with the only goal to steer Manchester United into the semi-finals of the Champions League for a second successive season.

The Argentina striker put the game out of Roma's reach by scoring in the 70th minute at Old Trafford to ensure the match was beyond Roma.

It was his fourth goal of the European campaign and his 17th of the season and set up a clash with Barcelona in the last four.

Manager Sir Alex Ferguson has likened Tevez to Eric Cantona in the way he can change the face of games.

And it was appropriate that the Frenchman was in the stands to appreciate the striker's contribution to the cause.

Ferguson decided to leave Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney on the bench with a crucial Barclays Premier League match to follow against Arsenal on Sunday.

It looked a bit of a gamble but it paid off and Owen Hargreaves was outstanding on his return to the side.

Hargreaves had a reputation as a defensive midfielder for Bayern Munich. But he played more as a second striker tonight and looked the part.

He was recalled along with Mikael Silvestre, Anderson, Ji-Sung Park and Gerard Pique to emphasise the depth in quality in the squad.

United dominated the first half and should have extended their 2-0 advantage from the first leg in Italy.

However Roma squandered a great chance of pulling a goal back when they missed a penalty in the 30th minute.

United showed their intentions from the outset and a cross from the right by Hargreaves was cleared by Philippe Mexes.

Park sent his effort across the face of goal and wide in the sixth minute following good work by Ryan Giggs.

A minute later Tevez was unmarked but headed wide from a cross from Park.

United kept up the pressure and Wes Brown head over the bar following a corner from Giggs in the ninth minute.

Then Roma goalkeeper Doni did well to parry a shot from Hargreaves to safety.

The Italians rallied briefly and Mirko Vucinic saw his effort blocked by Edwin van der Sar.

However Doni again had to look to alert to prevent Giggs and Anderson making the breakthrough in quick succession for United.

The hard-working Vucinic stung Van der Sar's fingers with a shot in the 29th minute before Roma were awarded a controversial penalty.

Brown was adjudged to have brought down Mancini but referee Tom Henning's decision infuriated Ferguson.

However Daniele De Rossi blasted his spot-kick high over the bar to United's relief.

Roma re-grouped and Vucinic came close to making the breakthrough in the 48th minute when van der Sar spilled his shot.

He tried to muscle in on the rebound but Rio Ferdinand, showing no sign of his foot injury, stood firm and made a crucial block.

Roma stepped up the pace and Taddei rattled in a shot that was deflected to safety by Silvestre in the 57th minute.

The home supporters were keen to see United extend their lead and Giggs released Tevez in the 67th minute but he had strayed into an offside position.

The goal eventually came in the 70th minute thanks to Tevez' fourth goal in the Champions League and his 17th of the season.

He peeled away from his marker to head home following as cross from Hargreaves to put United 3-0 ahead on aggregate.

Four minutes later Rooney was brought on in a bid to increase the misery on Roma.

He was given a rousing reception but that was nothing compared to the roar that greeted Gary Neville in the 81st minute.

It was first run out for a year after ankle injury and he took the armband.

Then in the 89th minute Park saw his effort blocked by Doni as United finished in style.

Chelsea 2-0 Fenerbahce: Blues down brave Turks

2008-04-08T17:30:00.000-07:00

Goals from Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard helped Chelsea to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League for the fourth time in five years after a 3-2 aggregate win.

Trailing 2-1 to Turkish side Fenerbahce from the first leg in Istanbul, Chelsea fought back to clinch a semi-final tie against their Barclays Premier League rivals Liverpool.

It will be the third time in four years the English pair have met in the last four of the competition but there is growing belief at Stamford Bridge that this could finally turn out to be Chelsea's year.

Avram Grant's side should have won this return leg by a much bigger margin but their victory was marred by an injury to goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini.

It plunged Chelsea's goalkeeping crisis to a new low as first-choice stopper Petr Cech is out for at least two weeks after undergoing facial surgery.

Chelsea's desire to eradicate their one-goal disadvantage was evident from the start and they were given a massive lift in the fourth minute when Ballack put them level on aggregate.

A free-kick from Lampard found the Fenerbahce defence dreaming and the Germany captain glanced a fine header into the far corner of the net.

It was the perfect start for Grant's side but it almost got even better four minutes later when a superb run by Salomon Kalou on the left flank ended with Joe Cole hitting a post from the Ivorian's cross.

Ballack then tested Volkan Demirel from the rebound with a low drive which the Fenerbahce goalkeeper did well to save at his near post.

Chelsea were in the groove and every attack promised to punish the Turks further.

Drogba, whose physical presence was as intimidating as it was near unstoppable, skipped past Gokhan Gonul before trying his luck with a curling shot that dipped just too late to hit the target.

But in the 25th minute, Chelsea's goalkeeping crisis plunged to new depths when Cudicini signalled to the bench that he could not continue, and on came Hilario.

Fenerbahce seized the opportunity to try and unnerve the Portuguese four minutes later when Semih Senturk sent a 20-yard drive just wide of his right-hand upright.

But the Turks should have equalised a minute later when a free-kick from Alex found Lugano in space on the edge of the six-yard box.

Unfortunately he could not direct his header on target and a golden opportunity to restore their aggregate lead went begging.

The double scare demonstrated Fenerbahce's ability to open up the Chelsea rearguard but moments later the English side squandered another chance to increase their lead on the night.

Joe Cole and Drogba combined superbly on the right flank and when the ball dropped invitingly for the Ivorian striker, he forced Volkan into another diving save.

Chelsea's appetite for more goals showed no signs of diminishing as the second period got under way and Drogba was unlucky with a shot on the turn that fortunately for Volkan was hit straight at him.

Drogba continued to cause the Turks problems and his sheer strength enabled him to carve out another chance in the 66th minute but again his low drive, from the edge of the penalty area, was just not accurate enough to beat Volkan.

In the 76th minute, Drogba for once turned provider and set up Joe Cole but the England midfielder, clear of the Turkish defence, was beaten to the ball by Volkan.

The Fenerbahce stopper then had to dive to his left to prevent a Drogba free-kick from finding the corner of the net as Chelsea continued to search for a second goal.

But with nine minutes left Chelsea had stand-in goalkeeper Hilario to thank for earning them a place in the semi-finals.

He made two stunning saves within seconds to deny Gokhan and then Colin Kazim-Richards.

But Chelsea wrapped-up the tie with three minutes of normal time remaining when Michael Essien's cross was turned home by Lampard from close range.

However, some of the gloss was taken off their victory when Essien was shown a yellow card - a misdemeanour that rules him out of the first leg against Liverpool in the semi-final.

Liverpool 4-2 Arsenal: Frenetic finish at Anfield

2008-04-08T17:18:00.000-07:00

Liverpool marched into their third Champions League semi-final in four years after seeing off Arsenal at Anfield.

With seven minutes left, Arsenal looked like were through as the score stood at 2-2.

But Steven Gerrard restored the lead with a controversial penalty, before Ryan Babel's breakaway goal sealed a victory which sets up another semi-final clash with Chelsea.

Arsenal scored first through Abou Diaby, before Sami Hyypia and then Fernando Torres forced Liverpool ahead.

Adebayor's strike with seven minutes left looked to have finished off the Anfield men before the late fireworks.

The end of the week-long trilogy between these English giants saw one surprise selection, with Benitez opting for Peter Crouch.

Arsenal were without Robin van Persie from the first leg, the Dutchman's injured knee not risked beyond the bench initially.

The Gunners started in sensational style, displaying blistering pace, strength in the tackle and sublime passing skills.

Alexander Hleb, in a central role supporting Adebayor, was a constant danger and they were ahead in the 13th minute.

Anfield was stunned into silence as Hleb threaded a ball down the right for Diaby to surge into the box before crashing home a shot between Jose Reina and his near post.

With Gerrard deployed on the left, Arsenal were destroying Liverpool's midfield, and flying at a frantic defence.

They were handed a lifeline when the 34-year-old Hyypia produced a towering header from Gerrard's corner after completely losing marker Philippe Senderos.

Suddenly Liverpool were alive. Gerrard flashed a 30-yard shot wide, Dirk Kuyt's drive was charged down and Senderos - already booked for a foul on the Liverpool captain - started to struggle against Crouch's height.

Then Arsenal suffered the blow of Mathieu Flamini being carried off after looking to have fallen awkwardly on an ankle.

Gilberto came on after 40 minutes. By now Liverpool looked a changed side; steaming forward, their confidence restored.

England boss Fabio Capello and Manchester United chief Sir Alex Ferguson sat side by side as Arsenal steeled themselves to defend in front of the Kop after the break.

Fabio Aurelio's shot was deflected agonisingly wide by Crouch, Torres having provided the cross.

It was the Spain striker, quiet up to that point, who forced Liverpool ahead. Crouch's flick-on reached the Liverpool goal machine in the box, he turned Senderos with ease before firing his shot into the top corner.

Wenger replaced Diaby and Emmanuel Eboue with Robin Van Persie and Theo Walcott, knowing another Arsenal goal would put them through.

Adebayor missed when clean through, the tension by now could be cut with a knife. Babel then came on for Crouch, who left the field to a standing ovation.

Liverpool switched back to their preferred system, with Gerrard working behind Torres while two holding players protected the midfield.

But Liverpool were caught searching for more, and Arsenal caught them cold on the break.

Walcott embarked on an amazing run from his own half before pulling the ball back for Adebayor to drill in the equaliser after 83 minutes.

But astonishingly they rallied. Straight from the restart, some Gunners still celebrating, Babel surged into the box and was brought down by Kolo Toure, for what looked a soft penalty.

Swedish referee Peter Frojdfeldt pointed to the spot, and with the Kop in hushed agony, Gerrard drove the penalty high into the net.

John Arne Riise came on for Torres with Liverpool desperate for the end now as another Gunners goal would again see them through.

But with Arsenal all up in Liverpool's box for a free-kick, the ball broke from the mass of players to be belted forward for Babel to outpace Fabregas to drive home the fourth.

Alvaro Arbeloa came on for a shattered Kuyt, and there was nothing left now from Wenger's men as Anfield celebrated.

Funny Soccer Mistakes Collection

2008-04-06T01:53:00.000-07:00

Simply hilarious

Ninja Gaiden 2's DDD-Cups Female Character

2008-04-05T09:51:00.000-07:00

Who could possibly fill the leather bustier opening left by the absence of Rachel in Ninja Gaiden II? Sonia, apparently, who will be performing the role of obscenely anatomically gifted ally to Ryu Hayabusa in the Xbox 360 sequel. Yeah, huge cans. Who could've possibly seen this coming? According to the above trailer, toe-headed Sonia works for the Central Intelligence Agency, which is obvious by her CIA standard issue fuck me boots. Maybe she works in the agency's demon-killing ninja affairs department—I really don't know, but she's sure to help in fiend-slaying while all sorts of flesh flops back and forth to the delight of the undersexed.

Importers Aware!! Get a FREE $10 off $50 coupon for Playasia!

2008-04-05T09:26:00.000-07:00

The forum Strikebang is giving out free $10 coupons to be used in Playasia. What you have to do is just simply get registered and made 5 posts in the forum within April. So, go grab your free coupon now!

http://www.strikebang.com/showthread.php?p=52709#post52709

Dont forget playasia

Flash Game - Neolla 2

2008-04-04T21:20:00.000-07:00

Can you escape from the planet again?

Flash Game - Neolla

2008-04-04T09:38:00.000-07:00

Can you solve all the mysteries and escape?

Trickshot: Artistic Pool Trick Shots

2008-04-04T03:08:00.001-07:00

Wonderful trick shots

Sexy Japanese Girl

2008-04-03T12:43:00.001-07:00

Uefa Champions League Goals and Highlights

2008-04-03T10:09:00.000-07:00

Schalke 0 - 1 Barcelona

AS Roma 0 - 2 Manchester U.

Fenerbahce 2 - 1 Chelsea

Arsenal 1 - 1 Liverpool

Schalke 04 0-1 Barcelona: Bojan strike seals win

2008-04-01T19:58:00.000-07:00

Barcelona took a significant step towards the semi-finals of the Champions League with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Schalke in Gelsenkirchen.

Bojan Krkic scored the only goal of the game in the 12th minute, earning Frank Rijkaard's side an important away goal on top of the slender lead they take into the second leg.

Schalke were outplayed in the first half before coming to life in the second - but they were unable to find a goal, leaving themselves with a mountain to climb at the Nou Camp next week.

Schalke coach Mirko Slomka surprised many with his bold team selection, which included Gerald Asamoah and Halil Altintop alongside Kevin Kuranyi in a three-man attack.

Barcelona had an attacking trio of Thierry Henry, Bojan and Samuel Eto'o - who had been passed fit to play on Tuesday morning.

Henry's shot was fumbled by Manuel Neuer, but the Frenchman squared the rebound to the unmarked Bojan - who tapped in from two yards.

Eto'o was finding a lot of room on the right wing, and his dangerous low cross almost forced home defender Marcelo Bordon to turn the ball into his own net only for the ball to flash past the post.

Schalke's belief moved up another level early in the second half when they managed to test Victor Valdes for the first time.

Altintop sent the first warning from the angle of the 18-yard box with a shot which fizzed past the far post, taking a deflection on the way.

After the resulting corner, Schalke regained possession and Christian Pander's powerful shot from 25 yards was too hot for Valdes to handle - but no Royal Blues player had gambled, and Gabriel Milito had plenty of time to clear the loose ball for a throw-in.

Barca were unable to regain control of the midfield as Schalke kept up the pressure, with Fabian Ernst's shot only inches away from Asamoah after Pander had waltzed past Gianluca Zambrotta in the 70th minute.

Substitute Soren Larsen headed wide from a Heiko Westermann cross before the latter got on the end of a cross himself - although he too was unable to direct it goalwards, instead claiming he had been impeded by Abidal.

Valdes tipped Bordon's stoppage-time header over the bar as Barca held on to move a step closer to a last-four clash against either Roma or Manchester United.

United cruise home in Rome

2008-04-01T18:02:00.000-07:00

Roma 0-2 Man Utd: Rooney and Ronaldo sublime

Goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney put Manchester United firmly in the driving seat going into the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Roma.

Ronaldo made the breakthrough with his 36th goal of the campaign to leave the Italians stunned.

Then to heap more misery on the Italian title-chasers Wayne Rooney extended United's lead in the second half after a defensive mix-up in the six-yard box.

It was a marvellous show of composure from United, who went into the match on the back of six straight Barclays Premier League wins.

Given they had taken four points off Roma in the group stages this season, it was little surprise they approached this match with confidence.

And although the Italians had a lot of possession in the first half they found their opponents hard to break down.

Park Ji-Sung's inclusion in the United side was a surprise and he got into a good position after 12 minutes only for Christian Panucci to take the ball off his toes as he shaped to shoot.

Roma hit back and Mirko Vucinic should have tried his luck on goal but opted instead to pass to Alberto Aquilani and the move broke down.

This was a good spell for the home side and Mancini saw his effort deflected to safety by Vidic. Then Panucci headed over the top from Rodrigo Taddei's corner.

Play broke down the other end and Rooney released Anderson but the Brazilian, who has yet to score for the club, blazed a shot over the top.

Ronaldo tried his luck with a free-kick from all of 30 yards only to see his effort go wide of the post in the 22nd minute.

Roma carved out a good chance in the 28th minute when Vucinic escaped his marker and cut inside, only to rattle a shot over the top.

Vidic then needed treatment after landing badly following an aerial challenge with Vucinic.

The Serbian seemed to have twisted his knee and was forced to come off.

He was replaced by John O'Shea, who partnered Rio Ferdinand at the back.

Ronaldo was anxious to improve on his 35-goal tally but not surprisingly was finding himself closely marked.

However, he broke free of his shackles in the 39th minute to make the breakthrough.

Rooney released Scholes on the right and he delivered a delicate chip into the area.

Ronaldo ran from deep and headed the ball beyond Brazilian goalkeeper Doni for a brilliant solo effort.

The Portugal winger was left dazed in the incident but recovered quickly to United's relief.

However Roma could have equalised in the three minutes later but Vucinic dragged his shot wide of the post.

Roma started the second half brightly and Vucinic released Max Tonetto but he sent his effort over the bar.

A minute later Tonetto's shot was superbly turned over the top by Edwin van der Sar.

Roma kept up the pressure and Panucci squandered a good chance in the 52nd minute.

He was left free at the back post but only succeeded in sending his effort wide of the target.

Roma responded and substitute Ludovic Giuly got clear down the right only to send a poor cross into the grateful arms of Van der Sar.

However Van der Sar needed to look alert to make a fine one-handed save from Vucinic's header.

This was a difficult time for United and Vucinic was proving to be a bit of a handful in the absence of Francesco Totti.

United, however, made it 2-0 in the 67th minute when Park headed the ball into the area at the back post.

It resulted in a mix-up between Doni and Panucci with Rooney on hand to knock the ball home.

Then Ronaldo skipped away from his marker only to see his effort come back off the post.

With a two-goal cushion, United were knocking the ball around well and Michael Carrick came close in the 71st minute, his effort going narrowly wide.

Rooney had put in a hard shift and was replaced by Carlos Tevez with six minutes remaining as Roma looked dispirited.

Tevez saw his effort go wide then Ronaldo rattled a superb volley narrowly over the bar as United finished the match in style.

Capcom Buys K2 Studios

2008-03-31T06:26:00.000-07:00

Capcom announced over the weekend that they've bought K2 Studios, best known for their work on the more recent, more rubbish Tenchu games, as well as Valhalla Knights . That's probably not the reason for the purchase, though: K2 also did some outsource work for Capcom on Lost Planet, and are also helping SNK with the latest Samurai Shodown. The move's aimed at making Capcom's "game development activities more efficient and speedy", while "Capcom also believes that pursuing a business strategy based on closer ties with K2 will help increase the value of the entire Capcom Group". And hey, who are we to argue.

K2 To Become Wholly Owned Subsidiary Through Simple Exchange of Stock [Capcom]

Rumor: Grand Theft Auto IV Achievements Leaked

2008-03-29T22:02:00.000-07:00

The full list of Xbox 360 Achievements for Grand Theft Auto IV may have been leaked, with two separate sources posting a list of fifty supposed Gamerscore-building accomplishments. The list includes some expected Achievements for things like hidden packages, stunt jumps, mission completions and mini-games, but some of the alleged feats are interesting and unique. There are potential plot-spoiling details included within, so beware when making the jump.
Here's a sampling of personal favorites.

Manhunt 15G - Complete the most wanted side missions from the police computer.
Assassin's Greed 20G - Complete all 9 assassin missions.
Warm Coffee 5G - Successfully date a girl to be invited into her house.
Key To The City 100G - Achieve 100% in "Game progress" statistic.
Let Sleeping Rockstars Lie 10G - Kill a Rockstar developer in a ranked multiplayer match.
Consider it all unconfirmed, as the list could be fabricated and we haven't received confirmation or denial from Rockstar themselves.
For the full list of rumored GTA IV Achievements, hit up the sources.

RUMOR: Complete Grand Theft Auto 4 Achievement List [Xbox 360 Achievements]

5 Steps to Increase your Google Page Rank

2008-03-28T21:17:00.000-07:00

Google Page rank is based on back links. Back links are Links pointing to your website from another website. The more back links you have the higher your PR will be.

1. Join forums, forums are a great way to achieve links to your website. In most forums you are allowed to have a signature and in your signature you can put a link to your website. But another important note to look on is making sure the forum is somewhat related to your website. You will still get credit if it's not, but if it's related to your website than you will be accomplishing two tasks at once.

You will be advertising for your website (bringing in targeted traffic) You will also be building your websites presence.

Your websites presence is very important to your survival. The more people see, or hear about your website the more credibility you will have and this increases your chances of having these visitors come back and possibly become leads.

2. Submit to search engine directories. Search engine directories are a good way to get a free link to your website. They also increase your chances at being listed higher on popular search engines like Google, and overture.

Most search engine directories allow you to submit to their website for free. This will allow you to increase your web presence by being listed on another search engine, and it will also be a free link.

Remember the more links you have the higher your PR will be

3. Using ezine ads (or newsletters). Creating an ezine will probably be the most beneficial step you can take to increasing your web presence. When you create an ezine you will be able to keep visitors coming back to your website for more by using signatures and giving special deals.

Ezine's will also allow you to increase your back links. By creating an ezine you can submit your information about your ezine to an ezine directory. This directory will than link to your website(thus giving you a free link).

4. Creating and publishing articles. Articles are an easy source of generating new traffic. You can include your signature in your article. This will bring in more traffic from article submission directories.

Your signature usually consists of 4 to 8 lines. Usually the first line would be the title of the website that you are trying to advertise. The last line would be the link to the website and the lines in between these would be a sales pitch to draw your viewers into your website.

5. Links from related websites. Gaining links from related websites can be one of the most frustrating tasks you can attempt.

They are very easy to find, but can be somewhat difficult to obtain links from.

To find related websites, all you have to do is go to a search engine... say Google... and type in your subject. Maybe your website is based on ford mustangs.

You go to Google and type in ford mustangs, than you look around for pages that are somewhat related to your website. After you have done this (which should be very easy) you have to contact them in some way to get your link posted on their website. This can be the most difficult task because a lot of webmasters ignore e-mail's from people requesting links because they don't see the importance of it at the time. Some other reasons could be that they are rarely online, or they delete spam mail and sometimes delete their important emails in the process.

Important note: When looking for link partners don't just link with websites that have a page rank of 4 or higher. Link with anyone and everyone you get a chance to. If you link to someone that has a page rank of zero, this will not hurt your page rank. It will only increase it because you are getting a link back to your website. Google doesn't look at your back links page ranks to determine what yours is going to be. It simply looks at how many back links you have.

So if Google one day decided to link to a website that was just created and this website has a page rank of 0 and has a domain that goes something like this: mywebsite.geocities.com it's page rank wouldn't increase even though Google's page rank is 10, it's rank would still be zero because it would only have that one back link.

Fourth GTA IV Trailer Released

2008-03-28T20:36:00.000-07:00

Here's the lastest trailer of the coming game GTA 4 , enjoy.

Here's the is a hardcore analysis of this latest trailer

Interested? Visit

Keeley Hazell -Flashing Lights

2008-03-28T07:59:00.000-07:00

Keeley Hazell Compilation

2008-03-28T07:57:00.001-07:00

Simply too hot!

Beckham wins 100th cap for England

2008-03-28T06:47:00.000-07:00

PARIS, March 26 - David Beckham showed he could still play a role for England when he won his 100th cap in a 1-0 defeat to France in a friendly on Wednesday.
The LA Galaxy midfielder looked a little rusty at times but gave a typically hard-working performance at the Stade de France and was involved in much of England's attacking play before being replaced by David Bentley in the 63rd minute.
The 32-year-old, who made his England debut against Moldova in a World Cup qualifier in September 1996, became only the fifth English player to achieve a century of appearances for his country.
Billy Wright (105 caps) was the first to reach the milestone in 1959 and was subsequently followed by Bobby Charlton (106), Bobby Moore (108) and England's record appearance holder Peter Shilton (125).
Beckham won his 99th cap in England's 3-2 home defeat against Croatia in a Euro qualifier at Wembley last November.
Camera flashes sparkled around the stadium when the former Manchester United favourite took his first corner kick, which was cleared by the French defence in the sixth minute.
Beckham then fell just short of netting his 18th goal for his country when he failed to connect at the far post with a low Ashley Cole cross.
GOLDEN BOOTS
Wearing golden boots to mark the milestone, Beckham also got the opportunity to show his defending skills, often switching to a full back position with former United team mate Wes Brown.
He picked up a yellow card eight minutes before the interval when his lack of condition forced him to pull Franck Ribery's shirt.
Beckham saved his team from the threat posed by Nicolas Anelka by beating the Chelsea forward to the ball just before being replaced by Bentley to a standing ovation from both the French and English fans.
His last contribution was a trademark 50-metre crossfield pass to Stewart Downing.
Then his number flashed up on the replacement board and he left applauding the fans who were cheering him.
"I'm very honoured," he told Sky Sports. "From when I started playing I never dreamed I'd get to 100 and beyond. It's every player's dream to play for their country let alone get 100 caps.
"I'm happy but I want to carry on."
Coach Fabio Capello overlooked him for the friendly against Switzerland last month and, asked if he had proved a point to the new man, Beckham said: "I proved my fitness, I felt fresh and sharp and it was good to be here as Paris is one of my favourite places in the world.
"It's a long way from Leytonstone (Beckham's London birthplace) but I'm very proud. My family are all here.
"There's been highs and lows, more highs obviously, and I would like to thank the fans who have supported me."
France defender William Gallas approached Beckham at fulltime to swap shirts but the England man declined. "He did ask me but I think he forgot what game it was for me," he said.

GOGo Becks! We will always support you!

Flash - Line Rider

2008-03-26T03:06:00.000-07:00

This is one of the most favourite flash I have every seen.
Have fun with it, mate.

Here's one of the video made with Linerider.

Hammer Comes Down On Xbox Live Cheaters

2008-03-25T21:17:00.000-07:00

Last year, MIcrosoft's Larry Hryb issued a stark warning to Xbox Live users in the wake of some issues with identity theft and achievement tampering. Today, Microsoft have taken action against those found to be in violation of the service's code of conduct. A number of accounts have been "affected", with punishments ranging from a resetting of gamerscore to public shamings (above) to permanent bannings to all of the above. Those caught, you have, oh, none of our sympathies. Those unaffected, nothing more to see here, move along.
Gamerscore Correction [Microsoft]

How to Make Money Selling on eBay

2008-03-25T21:14:00.000-07:00

How to Make Money Selling Antiques on eBay

Many people have said that antiques and collectibles are some of the most difficult items to start selling on eBay. However, people also said that these items have good potential on becoming the biggest sales on eBay.

So just what are the things a new eBay seller must know before setting up an auction to list their first antique or collectible for sale on eBay?

First of all, the markets of both the antiques and collectibles are moving slow. Antiques and collectibles trading aren't active like most other markets where huge qualities were transacted every day. So if you want to turn a fast profit with antiques and collectibles, you would do better with seasonal, general, or limited lifetime items.

eBay is a great marketplace to make money with antiques and collectibles selling, but these goods aren’t typically fast sellers. This is mainly due to the limited supply of antiques and collectibles. They are rare items and cannot easily be obtained in bulk, so the supply is very limited. On the other hand, the demand is also limited to people who both have the interest and can afford the items. As you can see, you have to be prepared for keeping certain antiques and collectibles with you for some time before the right customers come to you and buy your items.

Another challenge that new eBay sellers have to face is the high stock purchasing cost of an antique business. These goods don’t come cheap. In addition of that, finding a great deal on a rare item has a lot to do with luck and connections.

To achieve success in antique business, you need have a passion on antiques and collectibles and also have good knowledge on these items. One way to offset the high stock purchasing cost and the limited sales potential of antiques and collectibles is to use several sales channels. Listing your items on eBay is a good way to make lucrative profits, but you might not be able to clear out your stock with eBay alone. Search for other online and offline auctions dedicated to antiques. Contact your local dealers and get to know them. They are often a useful source of information.

If you do have expert knowledge on items that you are selling, make sure potential customers know. They will be more likely to purchase from someone who has good knowledge and experience in antiques or collectibles. They will expect that the item they are getting is valuable, not a cheap (or expensive) imitation. By telling them your knowledge of antiques and collectibles, you are reassuring your potential customers that they are paying for something really rare and wonderful. Customers may also recommend you to their friends and possibly bring repeat business to you if you provide good service to them. Your excellence customer service and high quality of your products will attract buyers keep on purchasing from you.

Lastly, focus on brands and trends that have persistent value. Some brands are popular for their rarity or their resilient craftsmanship and beauty. These brands will always have consistent demand. As for market trends, beware for hot fads that are here today and gone tomorrow.

eBay is well known for its antiques and collectibles, and for good reason. This Internet marketplace with its worldwide popularity is the perfect place to list hard to find items. Oftentimes, they are able to buy and sell items that they are interested, which makes their Internet auctioning look more like play than work. Each auction set up for reselling antiques and collectible does require some effort, but the payoffs are worth it.

How to Make Money by Thrift Selling on Ebay
Thrift selling means selling lots of unique products on eBay that were bought at a cheap price, typically at thrift stores. These product or items are occasionally not in perfect condition. They were either worn or damaged, but buyers like them because they are unique and don't cost much money to purchase. Thrift selling might not sound very profitable, but it can be if you do things right.

How to Find Thrift Stores
You can visit thethriftshopper.com to find the thrift stores that near your area. Thethriftshopper.com directory contains over 7,000 thrift stores in the United States. You may search by zip or city/state.

For people outside US, you may use Google and Yahoo to find thrift stores on your areas. Alternatively you can post your question in Yahoo Answer or in forums. Those experienced thrift shoppers see your questions may post their answer to help you find thrift stores near your area.

Keep Record of Your Auction Listings
There are a lot of things thrift sellers need to do. Their inventory is in bulk; they will frequently obtain hundreds of different items in their inventory at a given time. So it will be necessary for them to start lots of auctions to list each of their unique items. Thrift sellers must keep track of their items and their listings, so excellent book keeping is needed to ensure everything run smoothly. If you decide to start a thrift selling on eBay, you should look for a book keeping program that you’re comfortable with. Microsoft Excel is a good low-frills spreadsheet program. You may use it to keep track of your goods, your eBay auctions, and your shipping.

Excel spreadsheets are also helpful tools for calculating your net profits over time. Use them to find out which items have sold well, and which doesn't perform well.

Keep Your Stock Orderly and Neat
While you’re monitoring your eBay auctions and stock with Excel, spend time to organize your physical inventory as well. You don’t want to need to dig through a messy heap of stocks to search for the one that needs to be delivered. Organize your spaces to store your goods orderly. Label each item with a post-it note consisting the listing number. That way, you can find the item needed to ship easier and faster.

Maintain Good Reputation in eBay
Seller’s reputation is very important when making money on eBay. Since thrift items are usually used items which might have some damages, so the item description has to clearly specify the condition of your item. Be honest to disclose any damage the item has sustained, and include a picture of the worn or damaged areas. Specify that buyers purchase the items “as is”, and emphasize that you don't know the items’ histories and are not responsible for item failure. This may sound harsh, but you need to include these descriptions to protect yourself.

Use Listing Tools to Help Manage Your Auctions
There are good tools that you can use to make your thrift selling process easier. Bulk listers are tools that designed to start many listings at a time. This is a real time saver for eBay sellers need to start hundreds of auctions at the same time. Turbo Lister is the most popular bulk listing tool you can use. There is no cost to download and use this tool. The tool can be downloaded at:

http://pages.ebay.com/turbo_lister/

Conclusion
You can get thrift items at low price usually, but they can be costly if you make mistakes in your inventory management. Keep everything orderly and easy-to-find. Use software tool to help manage your listings. And provide buyers an honest description of an item’s condition. Building a good reputation is important to the success of your eBay business. So whatever you sell on eBay, always be friendly and helpful to your buyers.

Domains Yahoo Information

2008-03-25T09:04:00.000-07:00

Having put up more than a few Web sites myself, one of the easiest ways I've found to get your domains set up and running is to simply go through domain registration in Yahoo.

Yahoo will register your domains' names for under $10 a year, though as of this writing, Yahoo is having a sale on domains for $2.99 per year. That's a lot cheaper than some registrars I've seen that are still trying to charge $20 or more just for domains.

Once you get your domain registered, you still need to host it somewhere. Again, Yahoo has a simple answer, or several simple answers, in its Geocities service. You can plunk down your domains for free at Yahoo Geocities, but you'll have ads. For a nominal fee ($4.95 per month) you can get 500 MB storage and 25 GB per month transfer -- that's more than enough for most starter sites.

If you host your domains through Yahoo Geocities, you'll get plenty of tools to help you design and manage your site, enough to do just about anything legal you might want to do on the Net.

You'll have access to Yahoo web page templates as well as a point-and-click designer, in addition to the ability to manually play with your domains' HTML.

Yahoo also gives you choices for uploading, using their easy upload manager or the more traditional FTP for large sites. E-mail is part of the package.

A recent addition to the Yahoo Geocities tools is the ability to start and manage a blog on your domains.

All in all, registering and hosting your domains through Yahoo is an easy solution for a home user or small business.

5 Google Affiliate Secrets To Help You Earn Thousands Of Dollars Monthly

2008-03-25T04:57:00.000-07:00

There is no doubt that Google affiliates rank as some of the most successful affiliates anywhere on the web.
Yet few understand the reason behind this success. Even the majority of Google affiliates who are yet to start making huge five figure checks do not quite understand why the Google Adsense program has flourished so much within such a short time.
Anybody who understands the real secrets behind the phenomenal rise of Google affiliates will be in a much better position to benefit and profit from it, whether or not they are current Adsense affiliates.

1. Google Affiliates Are Riding On The Most Dramatic Shift In The Advertising Industry In History

A few webmasters think that this Adsense and pay per click affiliate mania is a passing fad. All indications are that this is not the case. If anything mounting evidence points to one of the most dramatic and rapid shifts in advertising industry history. You can’t beat the deal to advertisers where they pay only for actual traffic to their website and more so when they can easily calculate their conversion rate on that traffic and predict their profit margin on the deal. This arrangement cannot be duplicated on TV or in any other offline media with so much precision and accuracy.
This means that advertising revenue will continue to shift away from other media and will move online at an even more rapid rate than is the case currently. And not just any online mediums like banner ads for example. The revenue will specifically shift to pay per click text ads. If you need some proof just look at the Google numbers in recent months, and most of it is being generated by PPC ad revenue.
What does that mean to a blogger or webmaster? It means huge and increasing profits as the number of advertisers grows and the competition between them for clicks grows fiercer.
It means that any expert in any tiny little niche will find it increasingly easier to make a good regular income from a low traffic targeted site with higher paying, more valuable Adsense keywords.

2. Google Affiliates Recognize That Content Is Not King, It’s Everything

Writers, or rather good writers are already enjoying a huge advantage as Google affiliates. Only well written content will attract quality traffic and only interesting engrossing content will keep that traffic coming back again and again. Only high-quality keyword rich content will keep a site high in search engine rankings and thus guarantee enough traffic to keep Google affiliate adsense earnings high.

3. Top Google Affiliates Are All Using The Blog Secret

Blogs were created for linking and everybody knows that links are closely related to traffic in two ways, firstly they generate traffic but more importantly, they help a site achieve high search engine rankings with usually opens the floodgates of traffic. Top Google affiliates are using this secret to keep those big fat Google affiliate Adsense checks arriving by special courier every month.
Most top Google affiliates have dozens of blogs loaded with the right keywords and engaging content. With just a little SEO (search engine optimization) skills, these new breed of high flying online professionals are able to get their sites to the top of search engine rankings. It is then minimal maintenance as they sit back and watch the traffic volumes flow to their blogs already loaded with Adsense ads. The result of all this is that the clicks happening at their sites shoots up and with it their Google affiliate Adsense earnings.

4. Google Affiliates Are Using The Secret of The Hook

In advertising it is called the hook. Journalists call it the angle or slant of the story. Both mean the same thing. It is all about picking up a subject and asking yourself, what aspect of it most interests your audience? If you answer that question accurately then your ad or your article will attract maximum interest.
Online this is becoming more critical by the day. Content that is not slanted to fit the interests and needs of you audience will not attract enough interest and this impacts on the traffic of your blog or site and ultimately on your Google affiliate adsense earnings.
Top Google affiliates recognize this fact and they take great care to get their hook right. It is usually reflected in the headlines they use in their content. It takes ages to write because it has to include the right valuable adsense keywords. But then the results clearly show in the number of figures in their monthly Adsense checks.

5. Google Affiliates Are Always Looking To Supply Scarce Information

Have you noticed that the more scarce the information, the higher paying the Google affiliate adsense keywords related to that particular subject? If you haven't I'll bet that you're not one of the top Google Affiliates. You can't be.Top Google affiliates use this as one of their most valuable keys in opening the doors to their fat check monthly income. That's why before they even find the right "hook," they usually ensure that they are dealing with the right subject and the right keyword. It means that even with a low traffic site, a Google affiliate can enjoy a very high monthly income.

Metal Gear Solid 4 Limited Edition Details

2008-03-24T18:13:00.000-07:00

North American gamers may not be getting a boss "steel" colored PlayStation 3 and DualShock 3 like the Japanese, but they are getting a solid limited edition release for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. The premium package for Konami's tactical espionage action freak out contains the following stuff. Sorry, no Old Snake fake mustache accessory included.

Collectible metal box
Bonus Blu-ray disc with two "making of" documentaries, four chapters of the graphic novel and Metal Gear import soundtrack
$85 price tag

And if you pre-order it now, GameStop promises you an "exclusive Metal Gear Solid 4 art book" at the time of purchase. Not bad, I suppose, but not something I see myself sprinting to my nearest franchise location with an eighty-five dollar bill in hand. They still make those, right?

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Limited Edition

Hair Loss Treatment and Prevention

2008-03-24T00:11:00.000-07:00

Are There Ways To Restore Hair?

Generalized hair loss - resulting from certain illnesses and infections, vitamin deficiencies, as a side effect of medication or medical treatment, and following exposure to toxic substances - is usually temporary. Because these processes do not damage the hair roots, hair will regrow in the vast majority of people.

Patchy hair loss caused by ringworm is easily reversed with anti-ringworm treatment. Patchy hair loss caused by alopecia areata cannot be cured, although the condition usually clears completely by itself within six months to a year.

Balding in men is normal, and no treatment is required if the person is comfortable with the appearance. Treatments for this condition are designed to reverse the normal and natural course of events. Ways to restore hair in men who are balding include:

Camouflage techniques
Plastic surgery techniques
Drug treatments

Camouflage Techniques

Techniques for camouflaging (hiding) the hair loss include:

Toupees and hairpieces
Hair weaving

Toupees And Hairpieces

Toupees and hairpieces may be complete or partial, and they may be made of artificial fiber or natural hair. The overall cosmetic effect is dependent on the skill with which the color, thickness, and hair length are matched.

The goal is for the added hair to look natural, and this is difficult if the transformation is made all at once. A useful strategy it is use two or three hairpieces over the course of a few months, each slightly thicker than the previous one.

Hairpieces frequently look unnatural because they contain too much hair. A good hairdresser may be very helpful with careful positioning, trimming, and securely fixing of the hairpiece.

Hair Weaving

This technique allows artificial or natural hair to be anchored onto, or braided into, the remaining natural hair. Some of the natural hair is woven or braided together to act as an anchor onto which either artificial or natural hair tufts are sewn, woven, knitted, or glued.

The effect is semi-permanent, and the hair can be trimmed and styled to blend in with the natural hair. However, as the natural hair grows, the anchoring needs to be tightened every six to eight weeks, which can be expensive. Also, vigorous washing may loosen the new hair.

Need To Know:

A camouflage technique used in the past was the implantation of synthetic hair directly into the scalp. This technique is not recommended because it can result in scars, infection, and abscesses of the scalp and brain. Abscesses are pus-filled cavities surrounded by inflamed tissue. Because of the high rate of infection, the use of hair implants made of artificial fibers has been banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Plastic Surgery Techniques

Plastic surgery can help to lessen the visible effects of baldness. Techniques include:

Hair transplantation
Scalp flap transfer
Skin expansion
Serial excision

Hair Transplantation

This is the traditional method of resurfacing bald areas of scalp with hair. Plugs of bald scalp are removed and then filled with plugs of scalp containing several hair roots taken from hair-bearing areas. These grafts hear into their new locations, and the hair follicles eventually grow.

The number of grafts required and the length of a treatment session will vary, depending on the degree of baldness. Several operations may be required, and the procedure can be expensive. The technique does leave many small scars on the donor sites, but these are not usually apparent.

Scalp Flap Transfer

This technique is based on the fact that the sides of the scalp (above the ears) and the back of the scalp usually remain hair-bearing. A long thin "flap" of hair-bearing scalp is removed and replaced across a bald patch to create a dense band of normal hair growth. Parts of the bald scalp may be removed as part of the procedure. The donor site is closed by stretching the adjacent scalp.

This technique can replace hair across a large area of bald scalp. The thick hair growth looks normal. The very narrow scars are easily hidden among the hair.

Skin Expansion

In this technique, one or more inflatable bags are inserted in pockets under areas of hair-bearing scalp adjacent to the bald patch. These bags, or expanders, are connected to valves that are also implanted under the skin. After the scalp has healed following the surgery, saline is injected into the valves, causing the expanders to gradually enlarge and stretch the overlying hairy scalp.

After a number of injections, over a period of some weeks or months, the expanders are so large that they have stretched out the hairy scalp to a greatly increased area. At a second operation, the bald scalp can be removed and the expanded hair scalp can be stretched to take its place.

This technique can produce excellent results, but during the interim period, while the expanders are getting bigger, the appearance can be bizarre. In addition, any procedure involving implanted foreign material may be complicated by infection.

Serial Excision

In this technique, as much of the bald area as possible is surgically removed in the first operation. The adjacent hair-bearing areas of scalp are pulled in close to the bald area, accepting the fact that some bald scalp will remain. This process is then repeated one or more times at a later date, so that the bald area is eventually removed.

Need To Know:

Q: Who is qualified to perform hair restoration surgery?

A: In order to ensure maximum safety and the best-looking results, choose a board-certified dermatologic surgeon who is an expert in the causes and treatment of hair loss. Since the success of the procedure greatly relies on the physician's skill and creativity, it's important to see a dermatologic surgeon with training and experience. Dermatologic surgeons invented hair transplant procedures in the 1950s.

Need To Know:

Q: Is it safe to have surgery at hair treatment clinics?

A: Many hair treatment clinics also offer surgery for baldness. But it is essential that anyone interested should be fully satisfied about the quality of the care offered, before agreeing to a costly series of operations that do involve some risk.

Drug Treatments

Two medications have been approved for the treatment of hair loss:

Minoxidil (Rogaine)
Finasteride (Propecia, Proscar)

Both of these medications also can be used preventively to help keep hair loss from happening.

Minoxidil (Rogaine)

Minoxidil (sold under the brand name Rogaine and also available generically) is applied to the scalp to stimulate hair growth in adult men and women. Medication applied to the body is called "topical" medication.

In the U.S., minoxidil is available without a prescription. The exact way in which this medicine works is not known.

Side effects of minoxidil are rare and include:

Itching or skin rash on the scalp
Headaches
Dizzy spells
Irregular heartbeat or chest pains
Decreased sexual ability or desire

Need To Know:

Minoxidil should not be combined with the topical application of corticosteriods (cortisone-like medicines), petrolatum (Vaseline), or tretinoin (Retin-A), because the use of these products on the scalp may cause too much minoxidil to be absorbed into the body.

In addition, individuals with other skin problems or irritations, heart disease, or high blood pressure may not be able to take minoxidil, because more serious problems may develop.

Minoxidil does not work for everyone, and it does have some limitations:

Minoxidil may help hair to grow in 10% to 20% of the population, and in 90% it may slow the loss of hair.
If hair growth is going to occur with the use of minoxidil, it usually occurs after the medicine has been used for several months.
When the use of minoxidil is discontinued, hair loss will recur.
If minoxidil is not allowed to completely dry (which may take two to four hours), it may stain clothing, hats, and bed linen.

Nice To Know:

Minoxidil originally was used as a treatment for high blood pressure and was found to cause increased hair growth all over the body in people taking it regularly. It was then prepared as a lotion for direct application to the scalp.

Finasteride (Propecia, Proscar)

Finasteride (sold under the brand names of Propecia or Proscar) is a medication taken by mouth. It belongs to a group of medicines called enzyme inhibitors. It is primarily used to treat urinary problems cause by enlargement of the prostate in men (benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH).

Finasteride has been found to stimulate hair growth in some men. Women, however, should not take finasteride. The medication is available only with a doctor's prescription. In clinical studies, it stopped hair loss in 83% of men.

If hair growth is going to occur with the use of finasteride, it usually will happen after the medicine has been used for about three months. The effect lasts only as long as the medicine is taken; new hair is lost within a year after finasteride treatment is stopped.

Side effects of finasteride are uncommon and include:

Breast enlargement and tenderness
Skin rash
Swelling of lips
Abdominal pain
Back pain
Decreased sex drive
Decreased amount of semen that is ejaculated during orgasm (this should not affect sexual performance, however)
Diarrhea
Dizziness and headaches
Impotence (inability to achieve or maintain an erection)

Need To Know:

Finasteride tablets may be crushed to make them easier to swallow. However, women who are or who may become pregnant should not take finasteride or handle crushed tablets, because the medication may cause birth defects in an unborn child.

Can Hair Loss Be Prevented?

There are many reasons for the loss of hair. Prompt treatment of health conditions that can lead to hair loss, such as thyroid disorders, can help prevent the hair loss from occurring.

The most common cause of hair loss is balding in men. Until recently, male pattern baldness could not be prevented. Today, the two medications used to regrow hair can also be used to prevent hair loss:

Minoxidil (Rogaine), which is applied to the scalp, may slow the loss of hair in 90% of men. Treatment is expensive, however - the cost is about $600 a year for the recommended use of twice daily. Any hair loss that is slowed by the medication will resume when its use is discontinued.
Finasteride (Propecia, Proscar), is a hair-promoting drug taken by mouth that is approved for use in men only. In clinical studies, it stopped hair loss in 83% of men. However, the medication can have significant side effects.

How-To Information:

Some everyday ways to help prevent hair loss include:

Eating a balanced diet and taking vitamin and mineral supplements to avoid losing hair due to a vitamin or iron deficiency.
Avoiding hair treatments that can damage hair; this includes bleaching, hot rollers, frequent perming, hot curling irons, and repeated brushing and combing under hot hair dryers.
Alternate hairstyles that put tension on hair, such as ponytails and braids, with looser hairstyles to avoid a constant pull that causes some hair loss.
When the hair is wet, avoid brisk rubbing with a towel; blot the hair dry instead.
Avoid vigorous combing and brushing the hair when it is wet, because its structure is more fragile then.
The old recommendation to brush hair 100 strokes a day should be avoided, as this damages hair.
Use wide-toothed combs and brushes with smooth tips.

What Is Hair Loss?

2008-03-23T23:50:00.000-07:00

What Is Hair Loss?

Most people routinely lose between 70 and 150 hairs from their scalp each day, mainly through washing, brushing, and combing.

Scalp hair starts to thin when more hairs are lost through normal shedding than the scalp is able to renew. About 40% of the density of scalp hair has to be lost before thinning of the hair becomes noticeable.

Hair loss can be caused by:

Heredity. Most balding is caused by a genetic predisposition - in other words, it's part of a person's genetic makeup. This is called male pattern baldness, or hereditary balding or thinning. It is the most common cause of thinning hair.
Illness, certain physical conditions, or their treatments. This can include high fever, thyroid disease, childbirth, inadequate protein in the diet, iron deficiency, cancer treatments, the use of certain medications, and other causes.

Hair may be lost in two ways:

In patchy hair loss, well-defined areas of hair are lost while the remaining scalp retains a good covering of hair.
In generalized hair loss, there is a uniform thinning over the entire scalp with no areas of normal hair growth.

The medical term for hair loss is alopecia. There are different classifications of alopecia:

Alopecia areata is a disease in which well-defined bald patches occur. It usually clears completely within 6 to 12 months without treatment.
Alopecia totalis is an uncommon condition in which all hair on the scalp is lost. The cause is unknown, and the baldness is usually permanent.
Alopecia universalis is a total loss of hair on all parts of the body.
Androgenetic alopecia is balding caused by heredity. It can affect both men and women, although women with this inherited tendency do not become totally bald. The condition can start in a person's teens, twenties, or thirties.

Nice To Know:

The story of Samson and Delilah illustrates how, in the popular imagination, strength and virility have long been associated with an exuberant growth of hair - Samson's source of strength was his hair, which Delilah had shaved in betrayal of him. Indeed, many societies have shaved the scalp as a form of punishment.

Today, however, more men are feeling comfortable with baldness. More celebrities and athletes are sporting bald heads, helping to dispel the myth that youth or masculinity are linked to a full head of hair.

The Structure Of Hair

Every hair grows within a hair follicle, which is a tiny tube of cells close to the surface of the skin. Each hair has a root and a shaft within this follicle.

If you pluck a hair and hold it up to the light, the root will appear as a bulbous white swelling at the deep end. The root lies between 2 and 4 millimeters (about a tenth of an inch) under the skin surface. Its purpose is to produce the actual hair, which is known technically as the hair shaft.

The hair shaft contains no living tissue. It consists of protein material twisted into a very fine rope-like arrangement. It is this part of the structure that we think of in everyday terms as "hair."

Each hair has:

A sebaceous gland, which provides fats and greases to the hair
An erector muscle, which is responsible for lifting the hair off the surface of the skin at times of stress or to conserve warmth

The hair root does not grow continuously, but rather in a cycle of stops and starts.

There is an initial period of active growth that lasts about three years.
As the period of growth ends, the deepest part of the hair follicle wastes away.
The hair root then enters a resting period of about 90 days, during which no further hair is produced by the resting root.
At the end of this phase, the hair falls out and a new hair is produced.

Human hairs are randomly distributed all over the scalp in terms of their growth pattern, so that at any one time, some hairs will be actively growing while others are resting. Only those hairs ending their resting phase are lost each day.

There is tremendous variation in the number of hairs that people shed each day, depending on the number of scalp hairs and the length of the growth cycle. As people age, their rate of new hair growth slows down, resulting in a gradual thinning.

Need To Know:

Q: What should I do if I think I'm losing more hair than normal?

A: If you notice you are shedding hair excessively after combing or brushing, or if your hair is becoming thinner, you should consult with your primary care provider or a dermatologist (a physician who specializes in treating skin and hair problems). A doctor can determine if disease is present and whether or not the hair loss will respond to medical treatment.

Facts About Hair And Hair Loss

The average human scalp has about 100,000 hairs.
Nearly two out of every three men develop some form of balding, while a higher percentage of men and women have some form of hair loss during their lives.
About 90% of a person's scalp hair is in a continual growth phase that lasts two to six years.
The other 10% of scalp hair is in a resting phase that lasts between two and three months.
Between 70 and 150 hairs are regularly lost from the scalp each day.
People with blond hair typically have more hair (average 140,000 hairs) than the average brunette (105,000 hairs) or redhead (90,000).
About 40% of the density of scalp hair has to be lost before thinning of the hair becomes noticeable.
Shaving hair does not stimulate hair growth.
Hair plucking does not stop hair growth.
Hair grows faster in warm weather than in cold.
Hair grows at an average rate of 1 centimenter (around half an inch) per month.

What Causes Hair Loss?

The causes of hair loss vary, depending on the type:

Generalized hair loss
Patchy hair loss
Balding in men

Generalized Hair Loss

Abnormal hair loss may occur:

Following certain illnesses and infections
After prolonged vitamin deficiencies, or a deficiency of protein or iron
Because of a disorder of the thyroid gland, in which there is too little thyroid hormone circulating throughout the body, causing inadequate stimulation of activity in body cells
As a side effect of medication or medical treatment (for example, chemotherapy or radiation therapy for cancer)
Following exposure to some toxic substances such as thallium (thallium sulfate is widely used as a rat poison)

In these cases, the hair loss is not immediately obvious. Although growth stops at once in the hair follicles, the dead hairs are not shed from the scalp until about three months later, when they fall out from their roots.

Major illness, injury, high fever, major surgery, severe bleeding, and possibly even severe emotional stress may cause sufficient physical upset to shock the actively growing hair roots into the resting phase, possibly to conserve energy that will be needed by the body for physical repair.

The roots remain securely anchored for three months, so there is no immediate apparent effect on hair growth following the illness or injury. But three months later, the hair sheds, and this may continue for some weeks.

Since this process does not damage the hair roots, they start to regrow - but it might be several weeks or months before new hair becomes apparent. Scalp hair grows at a rate of about 1 centimeter (around half an inch) per month.

Need To Know:

Cancer Treatments and Hair Loss

Anticancer treatments are designed to destroy rapidly growing cells, whether by chemotherapy drugs or with radiation. The hair root consists of extremely active cells, which during the active growth phase are growing and multiplying briskly to produce new hair cells.

Hair cells are very susceptible to anticancer treatments, targeted as these are against the most actively growing cells in the body. Fortunately, there is rarely any permanent damage. Hair growth usually returns to normal after therapy is completed.

Patchy Hair Loss

Patchy hair loss can be caused by:

Ringworm. Small patches of hair loss associated with dandruff-like scaling of the scalp and stubby, broken hair shafts within the bald area is typical of scalp ringworm. It occurs in children and is highly contagious, but it is not a serious threat to health. Once the diagnosis is made, the condition is easily treated with anti-ringworm treatment.
Alopecia areata. This condition involves patchy hair loss with normal underlying skin; the cause is unknown. As the hair in one patch starts to grow again, another bald patch may develop elsewhere. No cure for this condition is known, but it usually clears up by itself in six months to a year.

Need To Know:

In alopecia areata, it is rare for all scalp hair to be permanently lost. But this is more likely:

If the alopecia begins early in life,
If it persists over a long period, or
If it covers the scalp extensively.

Balding In Men

Balding is a normal process that develops to some degree in all men. It is influenced by male sex hormones, called androgens. Hormones are chemical messengers produced by the body that stimulates activity by organs or tissues elsewhere in the body.

There also is a strong inherited factor in balding. The trait can be inherited from either the mother's or the father's side of the family. It can affect both men and women, although women with this inherited tendency do not become completely bald.

The process of balding is due to progressive miniaturization of individual hair follicles, which become smaller and have a shorter growth cycle. The hairs consequently become smaller and narrower. The number of hair follicles remains the same, however. There is the same number of hair follicles in the scalp of a bald man as in the scalp of a man with a full head of hair.

The very first signs of the effects of androgens on scalp hair growth occur soon after puberty, which is the stage in the human life when the reproductive organs reach maturity. In boys, puberty occurs around age 13. After puberty, the front hairline above the temples may recede. In some men, this may be as far as the balding process will develop.

There is tremendous variation in the extent to which individuals may lose hair.

Some men experience a recession of the front hairline above the temples while retaining hair in the middle, which creates an "M" shape in the hairline above the temples and forehead.
Some lose hair on the center of the scalp, which produces a "bald spot" surrounded by hair.
Others have the recession at the front of their scalp join up with this area to create a larger balding area.
Some develop uniform thinning of the hair over the top of the scalp, with no discernible pattern; this usually progresses to complete baldness.

Nice To Know:

In men who will become completely bald, the majority will lose their hair at a young age and will complete the balding process by their mid-thirties.

Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal: Drogba sparks comeback

2008-03-23T11:58:00.000-07:00

Chelsea 2 - 1 Arsenal

A stunning double from Didier Drogba kept Chelsea's faltering title hopes alive and secured a 2-1 win after Arsenal had briefly threatened to put an end to their interest in the Barclays Premier League title race.

The Ivory Coast striker scored two goals in eight minutes after Bacary Sagna had put the Gunners in front.

• 'Disappointed' Wenger vows to fight on

Drogba's goals stretched Chelsea's unbeaten home league record to 78 games - but more importantly meant they are within touching distance of Manchester United at the top of the table.

Chelsea leapfrogged Arsenal into second place and now sit five points behind Sir Alex Ferguson's side with seven games remaining.

Manchester United have yet to visit Stamford Bridge - and that fixture may have the ultimate say in the destination of the title this season.

Arsenal had been the last team to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in February 2004 - and it looked like a repeat was on the cards when Sagna headed home a corner from Cesc Fabregas in the 59th minute.

Chelsea coach Avram Grant has often been criticised for not being able to beat the top teams but his team's stunning fightback may well have changed that perception once and for all.

The contest was just five minutes old when Michael Ballack tested Manuel Almunia with a free-kick that the Arsenal goalkeeper did well to collect at the foot of his left-hand upright.

But Arsenal, now five games without a win, had their chances too with Robin van Persie twice failing to beat Carlo Cudicini with shots from the edge of the penalty area.

Drogba was struggling to remain in the game in the opening half as he asked for treatment to a thigh problem - and he should have put home side ahead in the 24th minute.

A superb through-ball from captain John Terry put Drogba in the clear - but the ball bounced off his knee into the grateful arms of the waiting Almunia.

Cudicini had to be alert at the opposite end when Ashley Cole's backpass almost found its way into the net.

Chelsea continued to chase a goal and Salomon Kalou should have provided it when a downward header found him unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box five minutes before the interval.

Sadly for Chelsea, Kalou completely missed his kick and the chance went begging.

Ballack then tested Almunia with a stinging volley that the Arsenal goalkeeper did well to save at the foot of his post.

The game sprung into life in the 59th minute when Sagna scored his first goal for Arsenal and put Arsene Wenger's side in control.

Fabregas sent his corner arcing towards the near post and Sagna lost his marker Kalou to glance a header into the net.

The goal looked to have put an end to Chelsea's interest in the title race but then Drogba found the kind of form which has made him one of the most feared strikers in Europe.

The Chelsea faithful were already beginning to fear the worst and chanted the name of Grant's predecessor Jose Mourinho - along with `You don't know what you are doing' before Drogba lifted their ailing spirits.

The striker equalised in the 73rd minute when the ball cannoned back off Frank Lampard into his path on the edge of the penalty area.

Drogba reacted swiftly to drill a low shot beyond Almunia and into the bottom corner to put Chelsea back in the game.

But Drogba was not finished and eight minutes later the powerful striker had secured a remarkable comeback for the Blues with a goal which keeps them very much in the race for the title.

Joe Cole's free-kick fell to the striker eight yards out and he managed to bring the ball under control before despatching a right-foot shot that Almunia could only parry on its way into the net.

Drogba would have completed a sensational hat-trick moments later, only for Almunia to deny him with a superb save at his near post.

The result will give both managers much to think about as the title heads for a thrilling and unpredictable finish.

'Disappointed' Wenger vows to fight on

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba admitted his side's 2-1 victory over Arsenal has given them the 'belief' that they can catch leaders Manchester United.

Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna had put his side ahead in the 59th minute when he headed a Cesc Fabregas corner past goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini from close range. But Chelsea hit back through Drogba in the 73rd minute when he he lashed home a loose ball at the edge of the Arsenal box following a knockdown by Frank Lampard. Drogba then capitalised on some poor defending from Kolo Toure to hook in a deep cross into the box after a knock-on from Nicolas Anelka - and win it with just eight minutes left. And the Ivory Coast international, who was named man of the match, is confident his side can move forward after this result. 'I think they give the belief we can still be in the race against Manchester United,' Drogba said. 'Arsenal are not dead even though they lost this game. Although it is going to be difficult for them and their confidence will be hit. 'We played well today, it is always difficult against Arsenal. But we are strong and I think we deserved the win today.'Drogba also praised the impact of substitutes Nicolas Anelka, John Mikel Obi and Juliano Belletti, who came from the bench in the latter stages to give the Blues a final push. 'I think the substitutes did their job and that is what it is all about - the team. They wanted us to show that even though they are on the bench at the start they can be important. 'I hope we can win the title this year and the way we celebrated showed we believe that we can do it.' Drogba also paid tribute to Arsenal defender William Gallas, who got a mixed reception by the fans of his former club. He added: 'William gave some good years to Chelsea and the minimum the fans should show him is some respect.' Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insisted his side will not give up on the title even though they are six points behind Manchester United in the table. 'We will fight until the end and we are not worried about the future but are disappointed now obviously,' Wenger said. 'Today we were unlucky and I thought we played well. We were 1-0 up and were unlucky with their first goal which I thought was really offside. 'Anelka came on for them, and they decided to play long ball, which put us under a lot of pressure and that was the only way they could trouble us. In the end we lost the game. 'It is disappointing because we gave everything but now the priority has to be the next game.' Chelsea manager Avram Grant said Drogba has returned to something like his best form. He said: 'Didier was not so good when he came back from the African Nations Cup but last week against Spurs he was better, and today he was very good. 'We played well, especially in the second half against a very good team. 'It is not so easy to win the title but we in with a chance. We are still chasing but we are now closer to the top.'

United beat Reds to go clear

2008-03-23T10:09:00.001-07:00

Man United 3-0 Liverpool: Mascherano sent off

Champions Manchester United crushed 10-man Liverpool 3-0 at Old Trafford in a controversial north-west derby.

United took a firmer grip on top spot in the Premier League, but it was the performance of referee Steve Bennett - and Javier Mascherano's lack of control - which will be the talking point.

• Fergie hails maturing side

Mascherano, already booked, was dismissed just before the break for blatant dissent which earned him a second yellow card - and then the red.

The Argentinian had to be hauled from the pitch, such was his anger, and his boss Rafael Benitez was equally unhappy with the incident.

Wes Brown had scored his first goal of the season - and only the third of his career - to give United control at the break, before Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani netted inside the last 11 minutes as Liverpool tired.

But in a week which has seen football infuriated by Chelsea's Ashley Cole's escape from dissent aimed at referee Mike Riley, it was hardly surprising Bennett was having none of the same.

Cole should have been sent off at Tottenham in midweek - and Mascherano felt the backlash.

The midfielder had been snipping away at Bennett throughout the first period, ably assisted by Fernando Torres.

If television viewers could see the dismissal coming, Mascherano could not.

Torres had been booked for arguing seconds earlier, so when the midfielder continued the debate there was going to be only one winner. Mascherano was incensed, and had to be virtually pulled off the pitch.

United brought back goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar and defender Rio Ferdinand after groin and back injuries respectively, while Paul Scholes and skipper Ryan Giggs also returned.

Liverpool were unchanged after seven straight victories - a run which was to end in the 150th league meeting between these clubs.

The opening tackles were sharp and Mascherano was booked for cutting down Scholes, before Wayne Rooney twice went close.

First the striker got behind Jamie Carragher, whose tackle could easily have produced a penalty had the former Everton man gone down. But the England striker kept his feet and forced Jose Reina into a save with his legs.

Then Scholes' lofted pass fell behind the Liverpool defence, and Reina scooped the ball away from Rooney.

Bennett decided not to book Anderson for a late challenge on Steven Gerrard, before Reina rushed out of his box quickly to clear the danger with Rooney homing in.

Ronaldo's shot hit the foot of a post before Reina half-stopped a 33rd-minute Giggs effort and needed to claw it back from under the bar.

The deadlock was broken a minute later when Rooney's curling cross into the box was met by the unlikely figure of Brown - who reached it before Reina and saw his header drop into the net.

Then Liverpool's frustrations with perceived injustices saw them implode.

First Torres was booked for dissent, and when Mascherano joined in Bennett produced another yellow - and then red.

Gerrard was pushed back into Mascherano's holding role for the second half, which started with Reina making a point-blank save to stop a Ronaldo effort.

Reina produced another improbable save from Rooney, six yards out, before Fabio Arbeloa became the next Liverpool player to be booked for tugging back Anderson.

Ferdinand was cautioned for a foul on Torres from behind, before Benitez sent on Yossi Benayoun for the ineffective Ryan Babel just before the half's midway mark.

Torres, clinical in recent matches, then missed a decent chance when Gerrard's free-kick found him unmarked at the far post.

United sent on Carlos Tevez and Nani for Giggs and Anderson after 73 minutes, and it took another wonder save from Reina to stop Tevez making it 2-0.

Liverpool were incensed by a Michael Carrick challenge on Torres - right in front of Benitez - which Bennett chose not to punish.

Reina denied Ronaldo with a block which hit the bar and went out for a corner - which proved decisive.

Nani's 79th-minute corner was headed home by Ronaldo - and two minutes later Nani created space for himself on the edge of the box to blast in the third.

A disgruntled Torres was immediately replaced by John Arne Riise - and there was no way back for Liverpool.

Fergie hails maturing side Sir Alex Ferguson felt his young Manchester United side found a new level of maturity as they beat Liverpool 3-0 at Old Trafford to stay in pole position in the Premier League.

Wes Brown was the unlikely scorer of United's first when he leapt to head in Wayne Rooney's cross and the visitors ended the first half with 10 men after Javier Mascherano was sent off for a second bookable offence after arguing with referee Steve Bennett.

Liverpool failed to make a period of second-half pressure tell, and Cristiano Ronaldo headed home the second from a corner in the 79th minute before Nani added a third two minutes later after good interplay with Rooney

Ferguson was hugely pleased with the display and told Sky Sports: 'It was a really good performance - a performance of maturity.

'We've seen a team mature over the last six months and today they hit their high peak.'

Asked to comment on the dismissal of Mascherano, the Scot added: 'He has been booked and kept badgering the referee. We've talked about dissent and I think that was dissent.'

Ferguson refused to accept the title was in the bag, and said: 'It's going to go right to the end, Chelsea and Arsenal going really well. We've beaten a strong Liverpool side playing good football.'

United striker Rooney said: 'It's always nice to beat Liverpool and it's opened up a bit of a gap now at the top of the league.

'I'm delighted with the win. I know the goals will come [for him personally] - I'm not too concerned with that.'

Asked whether he thought the red card was a turning point, Rooney said: 'We were always on top. The Liverpool players were tired at the end, but overall I don't think it would have made any difference.

'We know it's in our hands now - we have to try and win as many games as possible and stay top of the league. We've got a good mix in the dressing room and we know what we have to do between now and the end of the season.'

Rafael Benitez was adamant Mascherano had only asked Bennett why team-mate Fernando Torres had been booked.

The said: 'Clearly he didn't say anything. Ryan Babel was close to him, he didn't say anything, he was asking what happened.

'In these big games, to lose a player in this situation...it's strange because Javier Mascherano is a good professional and was really surprised with the sending-off.

'In a big game like this between the top four, a sending-off for asking is just a surprise.'

Funny Japanese Adult TV Program

2008-03-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

This is hilarious indeed. Poor guys cant do anything more in TV.

Angry Video Game Nerd: Silver Surfer

2008-03-22T19:36:00.000-07:00

Very funny game review by the angry video game nerd.
Nice one.

Fake Brian Crecente Reviews Smash Bros.

2008-03-22T19:22:00.000-07:00

No, Crecente doesn't really sound like that or review games for garlic. Still, this is a hoot. Just watch.

Crecente Reviews

What a stupid video, enough said.

What is gold

2008-03-22T19:19:00.000-07:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the metal. For the color, see Gold (color). For other uses, see Gold (disambiguation).
Gold (pronounced /ˈɡoʊld/) is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from the Latin aurum, meaning shining dawn) and atomic number 79. It is a highly sought-after precious metal which, for many centuries, has been used as money, a store of value and in jewelry. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, underground "veins" and in alluvial deposits. It is one of the coinage metals. Gold is dense, soft, shiny and the most malleable and ductile of the known metals. Pure gold has a bright yellow color traditionally considered attractive.

Gold formed the basis for the gold standard used before the fiat currency monetary system was employed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). It is specifically against IMF regulations to base any currency against gold for all IMF member states. The ISO currency code of gold bullion is XAU.

Modern industrial uses include dentistry and electronics, where gold has traditionally found use because of its good resistance to oxidative corrosion.

Chemically, gold is a trivalent and univalent transition metal. Gold does not react with most chemicals, but is attacked by chlorine, fluorine, aqua regia and cyanide. Gold dissolves in mercury, forming amalgam alloys, but does not react with it. Gold is insoluble in nitric acid, which will dissolve silver and base metals, and this is the basis of the gold refining technique known as "inquartation and parting". Nitric acid has long been used to confirm the presence of gold in items, and this is the origin of the colloquial term "acid test," referring to a gold standard test for genuine value.

Characteristics
Gold is the most malleable and ductile metal; a single gram can be beaten into a sheet of one square meter, or an ounce into 300 square feet. Gold leaf can be beaten thin enough to become translucent. The transmitted light appears greenish blue, because gold strongly reflects yellow and red.

Gold readily forms alloys with many other metals. These alloys can be produced to increase the hardness or to create exotic colors (see below). Gold is a good conductor of heat and electricity, and is not affected by air and most reagents. Heat, moisture, oxygen, and most corrosive agents have very little chemical effect on gold, making it well-suited for use in coins and jewelry; conversely, halogens will chemically alter gold, and aqua regia dissolves it via formation of the chloraurate ion.

Common oxidation states of gold include +1 (gold(I) or aurous compounds) and +3 (gold(III) or auric compounds). Gold ions in solution are readily reduced and precipitated out as gold metal by adding any other metal as the reducing agent. The added metal is oxidized and dissolves allowing the gold to be displaced from solution and be recovered as a solid precipitate.

Recent research undertaken by Sir Frank Reith of the Australian National University shows that microbes play an important role in forming gold deposits, transporting and precipitating gold to form grains and nuggets that collect in alluvial deposits.[1]

High quality pure metallic gold is tasteless, in keeping with its resistance to corrosion (it is metal ions which confer taste to metals).

In addition, gold is very dense, a cubic meter weighing 19300 kg. By comparison, the density of lead is 11340 kg/m³, and the densest element, iridium, is 22650 kg/m³.

Colour of gold
The usual gray colour of metals depends on their "electron sea" that is capable of absorbing and re-emitting photons over a wide range of frequences. Gold behaves differently, depending on subtle relativistic effects that affect the orbitals around gold atoms.[2]

Applications

As the metal

Medium of monetary exchange
In various countries, gold is used as a standard for monetary exchange, in coinage and in jewelry. Pure gold is too soft for ordinary use and is typically hardened by alloying with copper or other base metals. The gold content of gold alloys is measured in carats (k), pure gold being designated as 24k.

Gold coins intended for circulation from 1526 into the 1930s were typically a standard 22k alloy called crown gold, for hardness. Modern collector/investment bullion coins (which do not require good mechanical wear properties) are typically 24k, although the American Gold Eagle and British gold sovereign continue to be made at 22k, on historical tradition. The Canadian Gold Maple Leaf coin contains the highest purity gold of any popular bullion coin, at 99.999% (.99999 fine). Several other 99.99% pure gold coins are currently available, including Australia's Gold Kangaroos (first appearing in 1986 as the Australian Gold Nugget, with the kangaroo theme appearing in 1989), the several coins of the Australian Lunar Calendar series, and the Austrian Philharmonic. In 2006, the U.S. Mint began production of the American Buffalo gold bullion coin also at 99.99% purity.

Today, gold has fallen out of use in coins made for general circulation.

Jewelry
Because of the softness of pure (24k) gold, it is usually alloyed with base metals for use in jewelry, altering its hardness and ductility, melting point, color and other properties. Alloys with lower "k", typically 22k, 18k, 14k or 10k, contain higher percentages of copper, silver or other base metals in the alloy. Copper is the most commonly used base metal, yielding a redder metal. Eighteen carat gold containing 25% copper is found in antique and Russian jewelry and has a distinct, though not dominant, copper cast, creating rose gold. Fourteen carat gold-copper alloy is nearly identical in color to certain bronze alloys, and both may be used to produce police and other badges. Blue gold can be made by alloying with iron and purple gold can be made by alloying with aluminium, although rarely done except in specialized jewelry. Blue gold is more brittle and therefore more difficult to work with when making jewelry. Fourteen and eighteen carat gold alloys with silver alone appear greenish-yellow and are referred to as green gold. White gold alloys can be made with palladium or nickel. White 18 carat gold containing 17.3% nickel, 5.5% zinc and 2.2% copper is silver in appearance. Nickel is toxic, however, and its release from nickel white gold is controlled by legislation in Europe. Alternative white gold alloys are available based on palladium, silver and other white metals (World Gold Council), but the palladium alloys are more expensive than those using nickel. High-carat white gold alloys are far more resistant to corrosion than are either pure silver or sterling silver. The Japanese craft of Mokume-gane exploits the colour contrasts between laminated colored gold alloys to produce decorative wood-grain effects.

The 220 kg Gold brick displayed in Chinkuashi Gold Museum, Taiwan.
Other
In medieval times, gold was often seen as beneficial for the health, in the belief that something that rare and beautiful could not be anything but healthy. Even some modern esotericists and forms of alternative medicine assign metallic gold a healing power. Some gold salts do have anti-inflammatory properties and are used as pharmaceuticals in the treatment of arthritis and other similar conditions. However, only salts and radioisotopes of gold are of pharmacological value, as elemental (metallic) gold is inert to all chemicals it encounters inside the body.
Gold leaf, flake or dust is used on and in some gourmet foodstuffs, notably sweets and drinks as decorative ingredient.[3] Gold flake was used by the nobility in Medieval Europe as a decoration in foodstuffs and drinks, in the form of leafs, flakes or dust, either to demonstrate the host's wealth or in the belief that something that valuable and rare must be beneficial for one's health.
Gold solder is used for joining the components of gold jewelry by high-temperature hard soldering or brazing. If the work is to be of hallmarking quality, gold solder must match the carat weight of the work, and alloy formulae are manufactured in most industry-standard carat weights to color match yellow and white gold. Gold solder is usually made in at least three melting-point ranges referred to as Easy, Medium and Hard. By using the hard, high-melting point solder first, followed by solders with progressively lower melting points, goldsmiths can assemble complex items with several separate soldered joints.
Gold can be used in food and has the E Number 175. Goldwasser (German: "Goldwater") is a traditional herbal liqueur produced in Gdańsk, Poland and Schwabach, Germany and contains flakes of gold leaf. There are also some expensive (~$1000) cocktails which contain flakes of gold leaf[citation needed]. However, since metallic gold is inert to all body chemistry, it adds no taste nor has it any other nutritional effect and leaves the body unaltered.
Dentistry. Gold alloys are used in restorative dentistry, especially in tooth restorations, such as crowns and permanent bridges. The gold alloys' slight malleability facilitates the creation of a superior molar mating surface with other teeth and produces results that are generally more satisfactory than those produced by the creation of porcelain crowns. The use of gold crowns in more prominent teeth such as incisors is favored in some cultures and discouraged in others.
Gold can be made into thread and used in embroidery.
Gold is ductile and malleable, meaning it can be drawn into very thin wire and can be beaten into very thin sheets known as gold leaf.
Gold produces a deep, intense red color when used as a coloring agent in cranberry glass.
In photography, Gold toners are used to shift the color of silver bromide black and white prints towards brown or blue tones, or to increase their stability. Used on sepia-toned prints, gold toners produce red tones. Kodak publish formulae for several types of gold toners, which use gold as the chloride (Kodak, 2006).
Electronics. The concentration of free electrons in gold metal is 5.90×1022 cm-3. Gold is highly conductive to electricity, and has been used for electrical wiring in some high energy applications (silver is even more conductive per volume, but gold has the advantage of corrosion resistance). For example, gold electrical wires were used during some of the Manhattan Project's atomic experiments, but large high current silver wires were used in the calutron isotope separator magnets in the project.
Though gold is attacked by free chlorine, its good conductivity and general resistance to oxidation and corrosion in other environments (including resistance to non-chlorinated acids) has led to its widespread industrial use in the electronic era as a thin layer coating electrical connectors of all kinds, thereby ensuring good connection. For example, gold is used in the connectors of the more expensive electronics cables, such as audio, video and USB cables. The benefit of using gold over other connector metals such as tin in these applications, is highly debated. Gold connectors are often criticized by audio-visual experts as unnecessary for most consumers and seen as simply a marketing ploy. However, the use of gold in other applications in electronic sliding contacts in highly humid or corrosive atmospheres, and in use for contacts with a very high failure cost (certain computers, communications equipment, spacecraft, jet aircraft engines) remains very common, and is unlikely to be replaced in the near future by any other metal.
Besides sliding electrical contacts, gold is also used in electrical contacts because of its resistance to corrosion, electrical conductivity, ductility and lack of toxicity.[4] Switch contacts are generally subjected to more intense corrosion stress than are sliding contacts.
Colloidal gold (Colloidal sols of gold nanoparticles) in water are intensely red-colored, and can be made with tightly-controlled particle sizes up to a few tens of nm across by reduction of gold chloride with citrate or ascorbate ions. Colloidal gold is used in research applications in medicine, biology and materials science. The technique of immunogold labeling exploits the ability of the gold particles to adsorb protein molecules onto their surfaces. Colloidal gold particles coated with specific antibodies can be used as probes for the presence and position of antigens on the surfaces of cells (Faulk and Taylor 1979). In ultrathin sections of tissues viewed by electron microscopy, the immunogold labels appear as extremely dense round spots at the position of the antigen (Roth et al. 1980). Colloidal gold is also the form of gold used as gold paint on ceramics prior to firing.
Gold, or alloys of gold and palladium, are applied as conductive coating to biological specimens and other non-conducting materials such as plastics and glass to be viewed in a scanning electron microscope. The coating, which is usually applied by sputtering with an argon plasma, has a triple role in this application. Gold's very high electrical conductivity drains electrical charge to earth, and its very high density provides stopping power for electrons in the SEM's electron beam, helping to limit the depth to which the electron beam penetrates the specimen. This improves definition of the position and topography of the specimen surface and increases the spatial resolution of the image. Gold also produces a high output of secondary electrons when irradiated by an electron beam, and these low-energy electrons are the most commonly-used signal source used in the scanning electron microscope.
Many competitions, and honors, such as the Olympics and the Nobel Prize, award a gold medal to the winner.
As gold is a good reflector of electromagnetic radiation such as infrared and visible light as well as radio waves, it is used for the protective coatings on many artificial satellites, in infrared protective faceplates in thermal protection suits and astronauts' helmets and in electronic warfare planes like the EA-6B Prowler.
Gold is used as the reflective layer on some high-end CDs.
The isotope gold-198, (half-life: 2.7 days) is used in some cancer treatments and for treating other diseases.[5]
Automobiles may use gold for heat insulation. McLaren F1 uses gold foil in the engine compartment.[6]

As gold chemical compounds
Gold is attacked by and dissolves in alkaline solutions of potassium or sodium cyanide, and gold cyanide is the electrolyte used in commercial electroplating of gold onto base metals and electroforming. Gold chloride (chloroauric acid) solutions are used to make colloidal gold by reduction with citrate or ascorbate ions. Gold chloride and gold oxide are used to make highly-valued cranberry or red-colored glass, which, like colloidal gold sols, contains evenly-sized spherical gold nanoparticles.

History

Funerary mask of TutankhamunGold has been known and highly-valued since prehistoric times. It may have been the first metal used by humans and was valued for ornamentation and rituals. Egyptian hieroglyphs from as early as 2600 BC describe gold, which king Tushratta of the Mitanni claimed was "more plentiful than dirt" in Egypt.[7] Egypt and Nubia had the resources to make them major gold-producing areas for much of history. Large mines also occurred across the Red Sea in what is now Saudi Arabia. Gold is also mentioned frequently in the Old Testament, starting with Genesis 2:11 (at Havilah) and is included with the gifts of the magi in the first chapters of Matthew New Testament. The Book of Revelation 21:21 describes the city of New Jerusalem as having streets "made of pure gold, clear as crystal". The south-east corner of the Black Sea was famed for its gold. Exploitation is said to date from the time of Midas, and this gold was important in the establishment of what is probably the world's earliest coinage in Lydia between 643 and 630 BC.

The Romans developed new methods for extracting gold on a large scale using hydraulic mining methods, especially in Spain from 25 BC onwards and in Roumania from 150 AD onwards. One of their largest mines was at Las Medulas in Galicia, where seven long aqueducts enabled them to sluice most of a large alluvial deposit. The mines at Verespatak in Transylvania were also very large, and till very recently, still mined by opencast methods. They also exploited smaller deposits in Wales, such as placer and hard-rock deposits at Dolaucothi. The various methods they used are well described by Pliny the Elder in his encyclopedia Naturalis Historia written towards the end of the first century AD.

The Mali Empire in Africa was famed throughout the old world for its large amounts of gold. Mansa Musa, ruler of the empire (1312–1337) became famous throughout the old world for his great hajj to Mecca in 1324. When he passed through Cairo in July of 1324, he was reportedly accompanied by a camel train that included thousands of people and nearly a hundred camels. He gave away so much gold that it took over a decade for the economy across North Africa to recover, due to the rapid inflation that it initiated.[8] A contemporary Arab historian remarked;

“ Gold was at a high price in Egypt until they came in that year. The mithqal did not go below 25 dirhams and was generally above, but from that time its value fell and it cheapened in price and has remained cheap till now. The mithqal does not exceed 22 dirhams or less. This has been the state of affairs for about twelve years until this day by reason of the large amount of gold which they brought into Egypt and spent there [...] ”
—Chihab Al-Umari[9]

The European exploration of the Americas was fueled in no small part by reports of the gold ornaments displayed in great profusion by Native American peoples, especially in Central America, Peru, and Colombia.

Although the price of some platinum group metals can be much higher, gold has long been considered the most desirable of precious metals, and its value has been used as the standard for many currencies (known as the gold standard) in history. Gold has been used as a symbol for purity, value, royalty, and particularly roles that combine these properties. Gold as a sign of wealth and prestige was made fun of by Thomas More in his treatise Utopia. On that imaginary island, gold is so abundant that it is used to make chains for slaves, tableware and lavatory-seats. When ambassadors from other countries arrive, dressed in ostentatious gold jewels and badges, the Utopians mistake them for menial servants, paying homage instead to the most modestly-dressed of their party.

There is an age-old tradition of biting gold in order to test its authenticity. Although this is certainly not a professional way of examining gold, the bite test should score the gold because gold is considered a soft metal according to the Mohs' scale of mineral hardness. The purer the gold the easier it should be to mark it. Painted lead can cheat this test because lead is softer than gold (and may invite a small risk of lead poisoning if sufficient lead is absorbed by the biting).

This 156 ounce (4,42 kg) nugget was found by an individual prospector in the Southern California Desert using a metal detector.Gold in antiquity was relatively easy to obtain geologically; however, 75% of all gold ever produced has been extracted since 1910.[10] It has been estimated that all the gold in the world that has ever been refined would form a single cube 20 m (66 ft) on a side (equivalent to 8000 m³).[10]

One main goal of the alchemists was to produce gold from other substances, such as lead — presumably by the interaction with a mythical substance called the philosopher's stone. Although they never succeeded in this attempt, the alchemists promoted an interest in what can be done with substances, and this laid a foundation for today's chemistry. Their symbol for gold was the circle with a point at its center (☉), which was also the astrological symbol, the Egyptian hieroglyph and the ancient Chinese character for the Sun. For modern attempts to produce artificial gold, see gold synthesis.

During the 19th century, gold rushes occurred whenever large gold deposits were discovered. The first major gold strike in the United States occurred in a small north Georgia town called Dahlonega.[11] Further gold rushes occurred in California, Colorado, Otago, Australia, Witwatersrand, Black Hills, and Klondike.

Because of its historically high value, much of the gold mined throughout history is still in circulation in one form or another.

Occurrence
In nature, gold most often occurs in its native state (that is, as a metal), though usually alloyed with silver. Native gold contains usually eight to ten percent silver, but often much more — alloys with a silver content over 20% are called electrum. As the amount of silver increases, the color becomes whiter and the specific gravity becomes lower.

Ores bearing native gold consist of grains or microscopic particles of metallic gold embedded in rock, often in association with veins of quartz or sulfide minerals like pyrite. These are called "lode" deposits. Native gold is also found in the form of free flakes, grains or larger nuggets that have been eroded from rocks and end up in alluvial deposits (called placer deposits). Such free gold is always richer at the surface of gold-bearing veins owing to the oxidation of accompanying minerals followed by weathering, and washing of the dust into streams and rivers, where it collects and can be welded by water action to form nuggets.

Gold sometimes occurs in minerals in chemical composition with other elements, especially in association with tellurium. Examples are calaverite, sylvanite, nagyagite, petzite and krennerite. Gold also occurs rarely as a mercury-gold amalgam, and in very low concentrations in seawater.

Production

Gold Nuggets found in ArizonaMain articles: Gold prospecting, Gold mining, and Gold extraction

The entrance to an underground gold mine in Victoria, Australia
Gold ore
World gold production trend
Gold output in 2005Economic gold extraction can be achieved from ore grades as little as 0.5 g/1000 kg (0.5 parts per million, ppm) on average in large easily mined deposits. Typical ore grades in open-pit mines are 1–5 g/1000 kg (1–5 ppm), ore grades in underground or hard rock mines are usually at least 3 g/1000 kg (3 ppm) on average. Since ore grades of 30 g/1000 kg (30 ppm) are usually needed before gold is visible to the naked eye, in most gold mines the gold is invisible.

Since the 1880s, South Africa has been the source for a large proportion of the world’s gold supply, with about 50% of all gold ever produced having come from South Africa. Production in 1970 accounted for 79% of the world supply, producing about 1,000 tonnes. However by 2007 production was just 272 tonnes. This sharp decline was due to the increasing difficulty of extraction, changing economic factors affecting the industry, and tightened safety auditing. In 2007 China (with 276 tonnes) overtook South Africa as the world's largest gold producer, the first time since 1905 that South Africa has not been the largest.[12]

The city of Johannesburg located in South Africa was founded as a result of the Witwatersrand Gold Rush which resulted in the discovery of some of the largest gold deposits the world has ever seen. Gold fields located within the basin in the Free State and Gauteng provinces are extensive in strike and dip requiring some of the world's deepest mines, with the Savuka and TauTona mines being currently the world's deepest gold mine at 3,777 m. The Second Boer War of 1899–1901 between the British Empire and the Afrikaner Boers was at least partly over the rights of miners and possession of the gold wealth in South Africa.

Other major producers are United States, Australia, China, Russia and Peru. Mines in South Dakota and Nevada supply two-thirds of gold used in the United States. In South America, the controversial project Pascua Lama aims at exploitation of rich fields in the high mountains of Atacama Desert, at the border between Chile and Argentina. Today about one-quarter of the world gold output is estimated to originate from artisanal or small scale mining.[13]

After initial production, gold is often subsequently refined industrially by the Wohlwill process or the Miller process. Other methods of assaying and purifying smaller amounts of gold include parting and inquartation as well as cuppelation, or refining methods based on the dissolution of gold in aqua regia.

The world's oceans hold a vast amount of gold, but in very low concentrations (perhaps 1–2 parts per 10 billion). A number of people have claimed to be able to economically recover gold from sea water, but so far they have all been either mistaken or crooks. Reverend Prescott Jernegan ran a gold-from seawater swindle in America in the 1890s. A British fraud ran the same scam in England in the early 1900s.[14]

Fritz Haber (the German inventor of the Haber process) attempted commercial extraction of gold from sea water in an effort to help pay Germany's reparations following the First World War. Unfortunately, his assessment of the concentration of gold in sea water was unduly high, probably due to sample contamination. The effort produced little gold and cost the German government far more than the commercial value of the gold recovered. No commercially viable mechanism for performing gold extraction from sea water has yet been identified. Gold synthesis is not economically viable and is unlikely to become so in the foreseeable future.

The average gold mining and extraction costs are $238 per troy ounce but these can vary widely depending on mining type and ore quality. In 2001, global mine production amounted to 2,604 tonnes, or 67% of total gold demand in that year. At the end of 2001, it was estimated that all the gold ever mined totalled 145,000 tonnes.[15]

At current consumption rates, the supply of gold is believed to last 45 years.[16]

Price
Main articles: Gold as an investment and Gold standard

LBMA USD morning price fixings ($US per troy ounce) since 2001
Gold price per ounce in USD since 1968, in actual US$ and 2006 US$Like other precious metals, gold is measured by troy weight and by grams. When it is alloyed with other metals the term carat or karat is used to indicate the amount of gold present, with 24 karats being pure gold and lower ratings proportionally less. The purity of a gold bar can also be expressed as a decimal figure ranging from 0 to 1, known as the millesimal fineness, such as 0.995 being very pure.

The price of gold is determined on the open market, but a procedure known as the Gold Fixing in London, originating in September 1919, provides a daily benchmark figure to the industry. The afternoon fixing appeared in 1968 to fix a price when US markets are open.

The high price of gold is due to its rare amount. Only three parts out of every billion (0.000000003) in the Earth's crust is gold.

Historically gold was used to back currency; in an economic system known as the gold standard, a certain weight of gold was given the name of a unit of currency. For a long period, the United States government set the value of the US dollar so that one troy ounce was equal to $20.67 ($664.56/kg), but in 1934 the dollar was revalued to $35.00 per troy ounce ($1125.27/kg). By 1961 it was becoming hard to maintain this price, and a pool of US and European banks agreed to manipulate the market to prevent further currency devaluation against increased gold demand.

On 17 March 1968, economic circumstances caused the collapse of the gold pool, and a two-tiered pricing scheme was established whereby gold was still used to settle international accounts at the old $35.00 per troy ounce ($1.13/g) but the price of gold on the private market was allowed to fluctuate; this two-tiered pricing system was abandoned in 1975 when the price of gold was left to find its free-market level. Central banks still hold historical gold reserves as a store of value although the level has generally been declining. The largest gold depository in the world is that of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank in New York, which holds about 3% of the gold ever mined, as does the similarly-laden U.S. Bullion Depository at Fort Knox.

In 2005 the World Gold Council estimated total global gold supply to be 3,859 tonnes and demand to be 3,754 tonnes, giving a surplus of 105 tonnes.[17]

Price records
Since 1968 the price of gold on the open market has ranged widely, from a high of $850/oz ($27,300/kg) on 21 January 1980, to a low of $252.90/oz ($8,131/kg) on 21 June 1999 (London Gold Fixing).[18] The 1980 high was not overtaken until 3 January 2008 when a new record of $865.35 per troy ounce was set in the a.m. London Gold Fixing.[19] Indexed for inflation, the 1980 high would equate to a price of $2398.21 in 2007 dollars. On January 10, 2008, gold futures for February delivery was $884 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, erasing by $10 the previous record of $875 in 1980, and later it settled at $880.30.[20] On February 26, 2008, gold and platinum dollar prices climbed to historic highs of 948.90 and 2,130.90 dollars per ounce, respectively (London Platinum and Palladium Market).[21] On Thursday, March 13th 2008, gold futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose over $1,000/ounce for the first time.[22]

Compounds
Although gold is a noble metal, it forms many and diverse compounds. The oxidation state of gold in its compound ranges from −1 to +5 but Au(I) and Au(III) dominate. Gold(I), referred to as the aurous ion, is the most common oxidation state with “soft” ligands such as thioethers, thiolates, and tertiary phosphines. Au(I) compounds are typically linear. A good example is Au(CN)2−, which is the soluble form of gold encountered in mining. Curiously, aurous complexes of water are rare. The binary gold halides, such as AuCl, form zig-zag polymeric chains, again featuring linear coordination at Au. Most drugs based on gold are Au(I) derivatives.[23]

Gold(III) (“auric”) is a common oxidation state and is illustrated by gold(III) chloride, AuCl3. Its derivative is chloroauric acid, HAuCl4, which forms when Au dissolves in aqua regia. Au(III) complexes, like other d8 compounds, are typically square planar.

Less common oxidation states: Au(-I), Au(II), and Au(V)
Compounds containing the Au− anion are called aurides. Caesium auride, CsAu which crystallizes in the caesium chloride motif. Other aurides include those of Rb+, K+, and tetramethylammonium (CH3)4N+.[24] Gold(II) compounds are usually diamagnetic with Au-Au bonds such as [Au(CH2)2P(C6H5)2]2Cl2. A noteworthy, legitimate Au(II) complex contains xenon as a ligand, [AuXe4](Sb2F11)2.[25] Gold pentafluoride is the sole example of Au(V), the highest verified oxidation state.[26]

Some gold compounds exhibit aurophilic bonding, which describes the tendency of gold ions to interact at distances that are too long to be a conventional Au-Au bond but shorter that van der Waals bonding. The interaction is estimated to be comparable in strength to that of a hydrogen bond.

Mixed valence compounds
Well-defined cluster compounds are numerous.[24] In such cases, gold has a fractional oxidation state. A representative example is the octahedral species {Au(P(C6H5)3)}62+. Gold chalcogenides, e.g. "AuS" feature equal amounts of Au(I) and Au(III).

Isotopes
Main article: isotopes of gold
There is one stable isotope of gold, and 18 radioisotopes with 195Au being the most stable with a half-life of 186 days.

Gold has been proposed as a "salting" material for nuclear weapons (cobalt is another, better-known salting material). A jacket of natural gold, irradiated by the intense high-energy neutron flux from an exploding thermonuclear weapon, would transmute into the radioactive isotope Au-198 with a half-life of 2.697 days and produce approximately .411 MeV of gamma radiation, significantly increasing the radioactivity of the weapon's fallout for several days. Such a weapon is not known to have ever been built, tested, or used.

Symbolism

Three Gold Sovereigns with a Krugerrand
Swiss-cast 1 kg gold bar.Gold has been associated with the extremities of utmost evil and great sanctity throughout history. In the Book of Exodus, the Golden Calf is a symbol of idolatry and rebellion against God. In Communist propaganda, the golden pocket watch and its fastening golden chain were the characteristic accessories of the class enemy, the bourgeois and the industrial tycoons. Credit card companies associate their product with wealth by naming and coloring their top-of-the-range cards “gold;” although, in an attempt to out-do each other, platinum (and the even-more-elite black card) has now overtaken gold.

On the other hand in the Book of Genesis, Abraham was said to be rich in gold and silver, and Moses was instructed to cover the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant with pure gold. Eminent orators such as John Chrysostom were said to have a “mouth of gold with a silver tongue.” Gold is associated with notable anniversaries, particularly in a 50-year cycle, such as a golden wedding anniversary, golden jubilee, etc.

Great human achievements are frequently rewarded with gold, in the form of medals and decorations. Winners of races and prizes are usually awarded the gold medal (such as the Olympic Games and the Nobel Prize), while many award statues are depicted in gold (such as the Academy Awards, the Golden Globe Awards the Emmy Awards, the Palme d'Or, and the British Academy Film Awards).

Medieval kings were inaugurated under the signs of sacred oil and a golden crown, the latter symbolizing the eternal shining light of heaven and thus a Christian king's divinely inspired authority. Wedding rings are traditionally made of gold; since it is long-lasting and unaffected by the passage of time, it is considered a suitable material for everyday wear as well as a metaphor for the relationship. In Orthodox Christianity, the wedded couple is adorned with a golden crown during the ceremony, an amalgamation of symbolic rites.

The symbolic value of gold varies greatly around the world, even within geographic regions. For example, gold is quite common in Turkey but considered a most valuable gift in Sicily.

Toxicity
Pure gold is non-toxic and non-irritating when ingested[27] and is sometimes used as a food decoration in the form of gold leaf. It is also a component of the alcoholic drinks Goldschläger, Gold Strike, and Goldwasser. Gold is approved as a food additive in the EU (E175 in the Codex Alimentarius).

Soluble compounds (gold salts) such as potassium gold cyanide, used in gold electroplating, are toxic to the liver and kidneys. There are rare cases of lethal gold poisoning from potassium gold cyanide.[28][29] Gold toxicity can be ameliorated with chelating agents such as British anti-Lewisite.

See also
Carat (purity)
Colloidal gold
White gold
Rose gold
Black gold
Gold as an investment
Gold coin
Precious metal
Digital gold currency
Hallmark
Altay Mountains
Commodity fetishism
Fool's Gold

Footnotes
^ Environment & Nature News - Bugs grow gold that looks like coral - 28/01/2004. Retrieved on 2006-07-22.
^ http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Relativity/SR/gold_color.html
^ The Food Dictionary: Varak. Barron's Educational Services, Inc (1995). Retrieved on 2007-05-27.
^ General Electric Contact Materials. Electrical Contact Catalog (Material Catalog). Tanaka Precious Metals (2005). Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
^ Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in Nanomedicine: Hybrid Nanoparticles In Imaging and Therapy of Prostate Cancer - Radiopharmaceutical Sciences Institute, University of Missouri-Columbia
^ Supercars.net. 1994 McLaren F1
^ Nicholas Reeves, Egypt's False Prophet: Akhenaten, Thames & Hudson, p.69
^ Mansa Musa - Black History Pages
^ Kingdom of Mali - Boston University: African Studies Center
^ a b GOLDSHEET - YEARLY and CUMULATIVE WORLD GOLD PRODUCTION CHARTS. Retrieved on 2006-07-22.
^ Garvey, Jane A. (2006). Road to adventure. Georgia Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-01-23.
^ http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/china-now-worlds-largest-gold/story.aspx?guid=%7B8C528CE8%2D0262%2D485D%2DACEB%2D2247D18282CB%7D
^ Beinhoff, Christian. "Removal of Barriers to the Abatement of Global Mercury Pollution from Artisanal Gold Mining".
^ Dan Plazak, A Hole in the Ground with a Liar at the Top (Salt Lake: Univ. of Utah Press, 2006) (contains a chapter on gold-from seawater swindles)
^ World Gold Council > discover > gold knowledge > frequently asked questions. Retrieved on 2006-07-22.
^ (May 26, 2007) "How Long Will it Last?". New Scientist 194 (2605): 38-39. ISSN 4079 0262 4079.
^ World Gold Council > value > research & statistics > statistics > supply and demand statistics. Retrieved on 2006-07-22.
^ kitco.com: GOLD - London PM Fix 1975 - present (GIF). Retrieved on 2006-07-22.
^ LBMA statistics
^ Afp.google.com, Gold Prices Hit Record High Above $880
^ afp.google.com, Gold, platinum hit record peaks
^ U.S. gold hits $1,000 record high
^ Shaw III, C. F. (1999). "Gold-Based Medicinal Agents". Chemical Reviews 99 (9): 2589–2600. doi:10.1021/cr980431o.
^ a b Holleman, A. F.; Wiberg, E. "Inorganic Chemistry" Academic Press: San Diego, 2001. ISBN 0-12-352651-5.
^ Seidel, S.; Seppelt, K. (2000). "Xenon as a Complex Ligand: The Tetra Xenono Gold(II) Cation in AuXe42+(Sb2F11−)2". Science 290 (5489): 117–118. doi:10.1126/science.290.5489.117.
^ Riedel, S.; Kaupp, M. (2006). "Revising the Highest Oxidation States of the 5d Elements: The Case of Iridium(+VII)". Angewandte Chemie International Edition 45 (22): 3708–3711. doi:10.1002/anie.200600274.
^ S Dierks (May 2005). Gold MSDS. Electronic Space Products International.
^ I. H. Wright, C. J. Vesey (1986) Acute poisoning with gold cyanide Anaesthesia 41 (9), 936–939. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2044.1986.tb12920.x [1]
^ Wu, Ming-Ling; Tsai, Wei-Jen; Ger, Jiin; Deng, Jou-Fang; Tsay, Shyh-Haw; Yang, Mo-Hsiung. J. toxicol., Clin. toxicol. Metals. 2001, vol. 39, no 7, pp. 739-743 ISSN 0731-3810 [2]

Bibliography
Faulk W, Taylor G (1979) An Immunocolloid Method for the Electron Microscope Immunochemistry 8, 1081–1083.
Kodak (2006) Toning black-and-white materials. Technical Data/Reference sheet G-23, May 2006.
Roth J, Bendayan M, Orci L (1980) FITC-Protein A-Gold Complex for Light and Electron Microscopic Immunocytochemistry. Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry 28, 55–57.
World Gold Council, Jewellery Technology, Jewellery Alloys
Los Alamos National Laboratory

Duel Love Review: Hard Bodies, Limp Game

2008-03-22T01:19:00.000-07:00

Bandai Namco's Duel Love takes players into the underbelly of prep school fighting. That doesn't mean the game is only about fighting. At its core, Duel Love is a Japanese "renai game" ("romantic game") where the goal is to get the game's exceedingly male metrosexuals to fall head over heels in love with you. This is standard dating sim stuff, but Bandai Namco tries to spruce up the formula with touch pen touching.

Duel Love, like most renai games, is more reading and less playing. (Thus, that doesn't exactly make it import-friendly!) Onward the "Loved" and the "Hated"!

Loved

• Voice Acting: The developers were able to cram a fair amount of voice acting onto the DS cartridge. Hunky, Japanese dude voice acting! Sure, a lot of the time, it's just a few catch phrases for each character, but the mini-game massage moaning was a nice touch.
• Art: Duel Love features some stunning dual screen manga-style art. Typically, the upper screen is used for waist up shots of static faced-characters (hello Torsovision!), so the double screen anime art really do a nice job of mixing up things visually. These images don't move, but, like I said, pack a great deal of punch.
• Mini Games: The main attraction! Players get to "touch" pretty anime boys. As DS mini games go, these aren't half bad: There's a rhythm massage game where players need to touch arrows in the order that appear on the character's back. Same for an ice/ointment game. Other games include blowing steam away in the shower and mopping up sweat.

Hated

• Not *that* risky: The game is produced by Namco Bandai for the Nintendo DS, so actually in that regards, Duel Love does push the envelope. But those players expecting non-stop sweat-mopping and steam-blowing will be disappointed. That's merely window dressing on a very pedestrian window.
• Lack of interaction: Playing Duel Love felt like a test more than anything else. Like to see if you're actually paying attention! Characters drone on and on, and then just as you are going to pass out from boredom, someone asks you an inane question about Halloween or about a library book. Players are presentation with two choices. How you answer decides whether or not the male character falls for you. But you don't really have much opportunity to answer these questions or even ask questions. That's fairly standard for some renai games with male characters keep talking at you, not to you. Still, that's dull! No wonder this game is called Duel Love and not Dual Love.
• Crappy Adventure Mode: After you finish listening to other characters drone on and on, then a map will pop up, and it gives you three choices of where you can visit. This is most likely because sandbox style games aren't as popular in Japan.
• No Emotional Investment: Did. Not. Care. About. These. Characters. Whatsoever. Like a lot of manga and anime, Duel Love takes advantage of certain stereotypes or conventions. For example, there's Yuuma, the school's "mood maker" from Osaka. As the stereotypical Osaka person, he often cracks jokes and speaks in the Osaka dialect. Or there's Shinichiro, the glass-wearing bookworm, or melancholy Jin, the melancholy handsome dude. Streamlines the game, and plays on certain "types", but none of them were memorable.
• Music: If you're into synthesizers, you'll love it.
• Why is this a DS game?: Mini-games aside, there's not much reason this is a DS game. The touch screen isn't really used as it's easiest to set the game on "Auto" during the dialogue scenes, instead of touching the touch screen after each line of dialogue. The mini-games are such a small percentage of the game, Duel Love really needs something else to justify its existence on the DS. Or as a game, for that matter.
• Cannot Revisit Old Dialogue: It's possible to toggle ahead through the dialogue. But toggle back? Ha! Forget it, buddy. You must hang on every word. Ungh.

Duel Love never lives up to its saucy screenshot and is gaming's equivalent of the Sears catalogue: Lots of stuff, while only a page or so of underwear models. Those looking for erotic game thrills best look elsewhere. Ditto for those looking for a fun renai game. No love here for Duel Love. At all.

Flash game - Defend your Castle

2008-03-22T00:55:00.000-07:00

Classic old good game. And you know what, this game's going to be released in the Wii Ware! Have fun.

Order Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2

2008-03-22T00:42:00.000-07:00

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 – the sequel to the award-winning next-generation first-person shooter – returns to Sin City. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is your last chance to rescue America’s sexiest city from an escalating terrorist siege that will force you into heart-pounding action from beginning to end. The best are back and this time winner takes all.

Recipient of numerous awards, including 2006 Best First Person Shooter and Best Online Game, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 will push the top-selling franchise to new heights with new gameplay features and groundbreaking co-op and multiplayer modes.

Features

Ubisoft Montreal Returns – Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is back in the hands of Ubisoft’s Montreal studio, creators of the award-winning and highly acclaimed Rainbow Six Vegas, to ensure that ending to the Vegas story is one you’ll never forget.
More Vegas – Sin City is back and bigger than before. Explore all new Vegas hot spots as the environment changes from dusk to bright daylight to dawn, creating a visual experience that is as challenging as it is breathtaking.
More Multiplayer – The highly acclaimed multiplayer mode in Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas has been upgraded to include 11 new, smaller maps that force more intense face-offs, 2 new adversarial modes, more rewards, and easier access to matches using the improved and intuitive matchmaking system.
Unprecedented Customizable Experience – Create your own identity that stays the same in both single player and multiplayer modes and progresses as you do. Reap the benefits of your single player rewards in multiplayer and vice versa.
Vastly Improved Co-op mode – Turn single player mode into co-op mode at any time, just by jumping into the game. Now your friend can jump into your single player game and help you without any change to the story. Single player maps and storyline were created with co-op in mind, which means every map has multiple entry points and the story is the same.
Improved AI – AI is more challenging than ever. Now, the terrorists are equipped with thermal vision, night vision, and shields – not to mention a multitude of varying reactions – all of which are guaranteed to give you a new playing experience every time you go into battle.
New Weapons and Armor – Take down the terrorists more effectively using 11 new weapons. New camouflage, clothing and gear allow you to take customization to the next level.

You can now order the game for $54.90 at playasia, since it's the Asia version with region free, which is much cheaper than the US version. Care to grab one? Visit
http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-5vmf-71-dw-49-en-84-j-70-2hl6.html

Grand Theft Auto (series)

2008-03-21T19:53:00.000-07:00

Grand Theft Auto (GTA) is a sandbox style video game series created by Dave Jones and primarily developed by Scottish company Rockstar North (formerly DMA Design) and Rockstar Leeds in England and published by Rockstar Games.

The gameplay consists of a mixture of action, adventure, driving, and occasional role-playing, stealth and racing elements and has gained controversy for its adult nature and violent undertones. The series focuses around many different protagonists who attempt to rise through the criminal underworld, although their motives for doing so vary in each game. The antagonist in each game is commonly a character who has betrayed them or their organization or someone who has the most impact impeding their progress.

The series began in 1997 and currently has eight stand-alone games and two expansion packs for the original. Film veterans such as Michael Madsen, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Penn, James Woods, Joe Pantoliano, Frank Vincent, Robert Loggia and Ray Liotta have all voiced major characters in many installments in the series. The name of the series and its games are derived from "grand theft auto," a term referring to motor vehicle theft. At September 26, 2007, the Grand Theft Auto series had sold over 65 million units.^[1] Today it is one of the most popular games series on the market.

Overview

The games allow the player to take on the role of a criminal in a big city, typically a lowly individual who rises in the ranks of organized crime over the course of the game. Various missions are set for completion by the figureheads of the city underworld, generally criminal, which must be completed to progress through the storyline. Bank robberies, assassinations and other crimes feature regularly, but occasionally taxi driving, firefighting, pimping, street racing, or learning to fly an airplane are also involved as alternate adventures, which can be done at any time during the game, with the exception of the periods performing main missions.

In later titles, notably those released after Grand Theft Auto 2, the player is given a more in depth storyline, in which they are forced to overcome an event where they are either stabbed in the back and left to die by someone they know, or experienced an unfortunate event. This served as a motivation for the character to advance in the criminal ladder, and eventually leads to the triumph of the character by the end of the storyline.

The Grand Theft Auto series is notable for the large amount of freedom given to the player in deciding what to do and how to do it through different methods of transport and weapons. Unlike most action games, which are structured as a single track series of levels with linear gameplay, in GTA the player can pick and choose which missions they want to undertake, and their relationships with various powers are changed based on these choices. The vast cities of the games can also be roamed freely at any point in the game, offering many accessible buildings and minor missions. There are exceptions: Missions follow a linear, overarching plot, and some city areas must be unlocked over the course of the game.

Grand Theft Auto III and subsequent games have been notable for their storylines, high quality of voice acting, and "radio stations," which simulate driving to music with satirizing DJs, radio personalities, commercials, talk radio, popular music, and American culture. All of this is seamlessly integrated in the realistic setting of a dysfunctional urban environment which parodies a real-life city. Players also often cite the music and humor of the series in explaining its appeal.

The use of vehicles in an explorable urban environment provides a basic simulation of a working city, complete with pedestrians who obey traffic signals. Further details are used to flesh out an open-ended atmosphere that has been used in several other games, such as The Simpsons Hit & Run, which has less emphasis on crime or violence.

The series has courted a great deal of controversy since the release of Grand Theft Auto III. This criticism stems from the focus on illegal activities, in comparison with "hero" roles that most other games offer. The main character can commit a wide variety of crimes and violent acts while dealing with only temporary consequences, including the killing of policemen and military personnel. Opponents of violent video games believe that players will try to emulate this behavior, while proponents believe it provides an emotional outlet, as such actions in real life would have serious consequences.

Grand Theft Auto IV

he next installment of the series, Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA IV), was originally slated to be released in October 2007 worldwide for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, the first Grand Theft Auto game to be released simultaneously on the PlayStation and Xbox platforms. However, the game has been delayed, but will officially be released April 29th, 2008.^[2] It has been confirmed that episodic content will be released exclusively for the Xbox 360. Microsoft officially announced a strategic alliance with Rockstar Games over the rights to episodic content through their Xbox Live service at their X06 event^{[citation needed]}. GTA IV's game engine is the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (a.k.a. RAGE) used in Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis. The game once again takes place in a redesigned Liberty City that very closely resembles New York City, much more than previous renditions.

History

The Grand Theft Auto series may be divided into canons, based on the inclusion of a numbering after the recognizable title name (e.g. Grand Theft Auto III) after the original Grand Theft Auto's release, and to a certain extent, the type of graphics engine used. For further information on each title, see their respective articles.

The original Grand Theft Auto.

Grand Theft Auto 2 retained the original top-down perspective.

Grand Theft Auto III brought the series into a 3D environment.

Grand Theft Auto, the first title in the GTA series was released for DOS, Microsoft Windows and PlayStation in 1997/1998.^[4] The game is set in three different fictional cities, Liberty City, Vice City and San Andreas. A reduced Game Boy Color port was later released, and subsequently two expansion packs were offered, set in London.

The second game in the series, Grand Theft Auto 2, was developed for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation and Dreamcast and released in 1999. Set in the indeterminable future,^[5] it featured updated graphics and somewhat different gameplay based upon the player's appeal to various criminal organizations. A reduced Game Boy Color port was also produced.

Grand Theft Auto III was released in October 2001. The game's setting takes place in fictional Liberty City, which was based on New York City, around October 2001.^[6] Grand Theft Auto III brought a third-person view to the series, rather than the traditional top-down view of earlier titles (although the view is still made available as an optional camera angle). Graphics were also updated with a new 3D game engine. While not the first of its kind, the gameplay engine expanded the explorable world of GTA III, doing away with a traditional game structure where the player faces a "boss" at the end of the level and moves onto a new level, opting instead for more realistic mission-based approach. Multiplayer was discarded (third party mods were later released, allowing for multiplayer gameplay), but GTA III improved in many other areas such as voice-acting and storyline (in previous GTAs, there was speech only in short animated cut scenes between levels, other communication was simply subtitles running on the bottom of the screen). Pop culture also is cemented into GTA III, drawing many aspects and ideas from popular films and shows such as Scarface, Goodfellas, and The Godfather.
Grand Theft Auto III sold very well and became the first blockbuster game in the series, setting the precedent for subsequent GTA titles to be very successful. GTA III also attracted heavy criticism for its violence against police and its indifference to innocent bystanders, making future games in the GTA series synonymous with violence.

After the success of Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was released in 2002. This game was set in 1986 in Vice City, which was based on Miami. Vice City was also the first game to introduce fully functional flying vehicles that could be used by the player, such as sea planes and helicopters. Influences for the game included movies such as Scarface, Carlito's Way and the TV series Miami Vice.^{[citation needed]} In fact, the entire basic storyline of the game is an homage to Scarface, including the climactic gun-fight in the main character's mansion at the end.^{[citation needed]}

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, released in October 2004, had its setting in the early '90s, focusing on California gang life and the awakening of the drug epidemic brought on by crack cocaine. The setting was in the fictional state of San Andreas, which was based on some California and Nevada cities, specifically Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Las Vegas.

San Andreas also attracted controversy when a sex minigame that was cut from the game, but remained in the game code, was discovered in both the console and PC versions of the game. Dubbed the Hot Coffee mod, the minigame allowed players to have sex with the players girlfriends in the game. As a result, GTA: San Andreas was pulled from a number of retail outlets and was re-rated from "M" (Mature) to "AO" (Adults Only) by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB); the first game in the series to be given an AO rating. Rockstar has since released an edited version of the game for the PC, Xbox, and PlayStation 2, and has reclaimed the "M" rating.

Grand Theft Auto Advance was also released in 2004. Originally developed to be a top-down conversion of GTA III for the Game Boy Advance, it ended up becoming its own completely original adventure, set roughly a year before Grand Theft Auto III^{[citation needed]}. Unlike the Game Boy ports of I and II, Grand Theft Auto Advance did not tone down the excessive violence and adult dialog common to the GTA series. The game received an "M" rating from the ESRB.

In 2005 and 2006, Rockstar released two games for the PlayStation Portable: Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories respectively. Liberty City Stories is a GTA III prequel set in 1998's Liberty City. A PlayStation 2 port was released by Rockstar on June 6, 2006. Vice City Stories was released on October 31, 2006 and set in 1984 Vice City, two years before the events in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. A PlayStation 2 port was released for this game on March 6, 2007.

Controversy

The Grand Theft Auto series has been a source of considerable controversy since the creation of the popular Grand Theft Auto III installment, which was accused of glorifying carjacking and other criminal acts^{[citation needed]}.

A sequel released shortly thereafter, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, also came under similar criticism for hate crimes: a mission in the game involves a gang war between Haitians and Cuban refugees, with the player acting on behalf of both gangs to plot against one another. Haitian and Cuban anti-defamation groups highly criticized the game for this and similar scenarios, including using phrases such as "kill the Haitian dickheads" in reference to the gang with which the character is having a shoot-out. After the threat of being sued by the Haitian-American Coalition, Rockstar removed the word "Haitians" from this phrase in the game's subtitles^{[citation needed]}.

The following sequel, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, is similar. After the game's release, unofficial patches became available on the PC version enabling the player to engage in crudely rendered sexual mini-games (dubbed "Hot Coffee" in reference to a euphemism for sex used in the game). This prompted suspension of the game's production, application of an Adults Only (AO) ESRB rating to the "Hot Coffee" version, a re-release of a version lacking the controversial content to restore the Mature (M) rating, and a class action lawsuit against Take Two Interactive^{[citation needed]}.

Critics have also targeted the exploitative and violent attitude toward women in the series. Although not encouraged to do so in any of the games, players may utilize the services of prostitutes, and then subsequently rob and murder them.

Similar games

Because of the success of the Grand Theft Auto series, notably Grand Theft Auto III and subsequent games, several other developers have attempted to emulate GTA's driving/shooting formula and open-ended sandbox play. Notable games that are often seen as doing so include DRIV3R, The Getaway series, The Godfather: The Game, True Crime: Streets of LA and True Crime: New York City,^[7]^[8] Saints Row,^[9] Scarface: The World Is Yours,^[10] The Simpsons Hit & Run, Just Cause, Mafia and Total Overdose.

Billboard in GTA: San Andreas mocking True Crime: Streets of LA.

As a result of such similarities, Rockstar has placed several Easter eggs to mock the competition. One such Easter egg in GTA III references Tanner, the protagonist of several games in the Driver series. In a mission called "Two Faced Tanner" players must kill a "strangely animated" undercover cop who is "useless out of his car" (they even go so far as to give the pseudo Tanner a female pedestrian's walking animation).

In GTA: Vice City, during the mission "Autocide", the targets that the player must kill are subtle references to the main characters of Driver 2 (Dick Tanner, after Tanner), The Getaway (Marcus Hammond and Franco Carter, after Mark Hammond and Frank Carter), and True Crime: Streets of LA (Nick Kong, after Nick Kang Wilson). DRIV3R responded by sticking floatie-wearing characters named Timmy Vermicellis, after the protagonist of Vice City, Tommy Vercetti, since none of the protagonists in the GTA series could swim before GTA: San Andreas.

In San Andreas, while breaking into Madd Dogg's mansion, players will see a man playing a video game and making fun of the way the main character walks stating "How could Refractions [a parody of Reflections Interactive] mess up so bad? Tanner, you suck ass!!" (Tanner's walking animations were often criticized). Another San Andreas Easter egg mocks True Crime, which was depicted on several billboards in the city of Los Santos, in addition to the "TRUEGRIME" garbage truck cheat code, which also mocks the game.

Wii Third Party Games Can Be Million Sellers Too

2008-03-21T11:43:00.000-07:00

I've often been privy to conversations where people swear that the only good Wii game is a first party Nintendo game. While this might be true for some, there are plenty of other folks out there who enjoy a decent 3rd party game although admittedly the really good ones are few and far between.

The Video Game Blog has posted an interesting list of the third party Wii games that have sold over a million copies. Some of them are pretty obvious like Resident Evil 4 (1.6 million) and Guitar Hero III (1.8 million) while others were definitely a surprise (at least to me) like Carnival Games (1.2 million) and the top seller of all, Sonic and Mario at the Olympic Games (3.4 million). There are seven games total on the list including three that are getting pretty close to a million like RE: Umbrella Chronicles (900k) and LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (900k).

While all the games on the list may not be your cup of tea, it certainly is interesting to see what sells on the little white console. You can check out the entire list at That Videogame Blog.
3rd party Wii games that sold a million

Who said only Nintendo games can sell on Wii? Good games will sell, period.

20 More GTA IV Screens

2008-03-21T08:28:00.000-07:00

Hey, new GTA IV screens. If idyllic moments of calm and tranquility are your thing, this isn't your thing. But if your thing's angry faces, men holding guns and explosions, wll, today is your lucky day, my friend.

More GTAIV Screens

HOT BUSTY Ai 18 year old bikini model

2008-03-21T07:27:00.000-07:00

She's really hot and pretty!

How Google Detects AdSense Invalid Clicks

2008-03-20T23:25:00.000-07:00

Still thinking to cheat AdSense? Stop that. It will never bring you anywhere. You might pull it off with smaller ads network, but definitely not with Google. Here are some detection methods they might use. At the very least, they have the resources to do so.

IP Address
If the AdSense click is originated from the same IP Address as the one used for accessing your AdSense account, your account is flagged.

Cookies
Most home users do not use static IP Address for Internet connection. In most cases just disconnect and reconnect will give you a new IP Address. But don’t forget, Google has set cookies on your computer.

Other Google Services
Thinking that you are safe just because you do not access your AdSense account? Think again. This time, consider these: GMail, Google Earth, Google Calendar, Google Search, Google Toolbar, Google Talk, Google Sitemap, Google Desktop, Blogger, and so on, and so on. With the wide range of services they provide, Google can trace the originator of most (or probably almost all) clicks.

Click Pattern 1
Oh, why this computer / IP address / person is so trigger-click-happy on this particular website but never click on the ads on other sites?

Click Pattern 2
And why is it that people accessing these sites direct (type-in URL or from bookmark) tend to be very active ad-clickers compared with those referred from search engine or other sites?

Click Pattern 3
And why the ad-clickers like to hit and run, compared with non ad-clickers that surf a few pages before leaving?

Click-Through-Rate (CTR)
Your CTR may range from 0.5% to 10%, but if it exceeds a certain point (probably around 10%), you are flagged.

Geo-Location
Used Urchin (Google Analytics) before? Then you should know that Google can trace traffics origin down to the small town. Different IP doesn’t mean much. Unless you site is really targetted to one small geo-point, a high number of clicks from nearby location will get you banned quickly.

Hardware address?
MAC address of the LAN card, modem, and router works almost like a fingerprint. I’m not sure if Google can track this, but probably they do. They have rocket scientist, remember?

Advertisers conversion rate
Ad click is one thing. But does it bring value to the advertisers? If none of the clicks on your site translate to conversion to the advertiser, you are in trouble. First the Smart-Pricing hits, then your AdSense account disabled.

Search Engine Ranking
Your website is not indexed on any search engine, not linked by any prominent website, but get consistently high traffic? That sounds like something is in play. Regardless of whether it is an adware-embedded software, spam, trojan clickbot, or intentionally installed click-exchange network, it doesn’t sound right.

Webpage design
How about the “click here” or “support us”? Google has the best search engine in the world. Is it really that hard to find those words?

Combo
Each of these detection methods might seem rather weak. But combine them together, and not many click-fraud can pass-through these filters. Even the smartest clickbot will have a hard time.

In short, it is almost impossible to cheat AdSense in the long term. Instead of spending time, money, and effort trying to outsmart Google, try these tips to improve your AdSense earning.

How to Cheat Google AdSense

2008-03-20T23:23:00.000-07:00

Face it. You come to this article probably thinking to find some ways to cheat Google, or to confirm whether some method you have on mind will work. Well, if you want to know how to cheat AdSense, here are the ways, focusing on the AdSense click-frauds. These covers from basic AdSense cheating techniques to the advanced class.

But before you proceed, you might need to know why you shouldn’t cheat Google (answer: you will get caught).

Basic clicker cheat

This is a noob. This guy knows almost nothing about web technology or network architecture. He clicks on his ads every time he has chance. It can be a few clicks to hundreds of clicks daily. Most likely he doesn’t even read the AdSense Program Policies and Terms and Conditions.
Proxy clicker cheat

She knows a thing or two about cookies and IP address. Or she doesn’t know, but somehow guessed that if she use the things called anonymizer, Google will not be able to trace her, because her identity is hidden. She may use anonymizer / proxy websites or specialized anonymous software like tor (The Onion Router).
Multiple computer clicker cheat

He knows that somehow Google will detect if the clicks are originated from his own computer. So he will try to even out origin of the clicks. He will recruit his friends, family members, relatives, neighbors, his cats, and his dogs on single mission: to click on the ads. He will also click on the AdSense ads when he is using the library computers, or his office workstation.
Software clicker cheat

Graduate to the next step is buyers of clickbots / click-bots. These are specialized robot software to click on AdSense ads. It will browse around your websites, clicking on the ads every few minutes. The more advanced ones will cloak the IP address too, so the website seems to be very popular worldwide. To cover the track, this clickbots will browse around the advertisers sites too while continuing its “click quest”.
Paid-clickers cheat

If you don’t like automated things, there is always other option for you. Just pay $50 dollars a month to the professional AdSense clickers. These are groups of highly specialized Internet surfers with office in the dark rooms in street corners of India, Pakistan, and China, helping AdSense account owner to earn good amounts of money ? before the AdSense account is disabled, that is. They will browse around your websites, clicking on the ads every few minutes. Because they use human eyes, they know which ads worth more. And to be more convincing they can click a link or two, or sign up free offers / newsletters on the advertiser sites.
Click-rings cheat

Network is power. So says many business gurus. Instead of taking things to their own hand, this people realize that they can join hands with those with similar goals and distribute AdSense clicks among themselves, the so called AdSense click-rings. Joining this click-ring network means that your website address will be made known to members, who will regularly browse the website and click on your AdSense ads. In exchange, you will also browse other members’ sites and click on their AdSense ads. The medium used varies. Some click-ring groups use mail-list for communications. Some are using bulletin boards/forum, Yahoo groups, or Usenet. IRC is another popular way. Slightly more complicated is specialized AdSense exchange software for collecting members website address and displaying others’ websites for clicking.
Other medium cheat

I have tens of thousands email address on my newsletter subscriber list. If I include AdSense ads on my newsletters, with 5% CTR, I can get a thousand clicks per one email. Not bad. Or I can pay someone to write some useful/nice/funny/cute toolbars or firefox extensions or screensavers that people can download and use for free, and display my AdSense ads there.
Visitor cheat

Simply putting “Visit out sponsors” or “Check out the ads above” on your website is cheating. This might not be very clear-cut cheat to some. But Google AdSense program policies has stated clearly, the only text allowed are “Advertisements” or “Sponsored List”
Spam cheat

This is the highest level all click-frauds, the Maestro of Fraudsters. She spams millions of emails regularly, offering to “satisfy your inner needs if you can help me check on the links on my website”. Of course, email is not the only way. What IRC and instant messaging (IM) are for, after all. She will look for unsuspecting victims, offering something too-good-to-be-true “if only they will visit the website and click on the links”.
Click-through-rate cheat

Whichever method(s) above used, there is one limiting condition: the CTR(click-though-rate). Any CTR that exceeds certain percentage (probably around 10%) will raise red flag in Google AdSense back room. To lower the CTR, the professional cheaters will create some pages on the same domain that attracts very high traffic. Some interesting freebies will sure do the tricks. AdSense code is pasted there, thus creating a very high page impressions. Whether or not the the ads are clicked does not matter anyway, because they are targeting low paying keyword that does not have much competition. The fake clicks are, of course, on where the big money is, the low traffic pages stuffed with high-paying keywords.

Man Utd 2-0 Bolton: Ronaldo hits another brace

2008-03-19T18:19:00.000-07:00

Cristiano Ronaldo played the captain's role to the full, scoring both goals to hand Manchester United a 2-0 win against Bolton and the advantage in the Premier League title race.

Ronaldo, given the skipper's armband for the first time by Sir Alex Ferguson, responded with a virtuoso display.

The 23-year-old opened the scoring with a mis-struck shot then ended the contest with another of those stunning long-range free-kicks.

Victory took United three points clear of Arsenal and was just the cushion needed ahead of the weekend's clashes of the big four.

• Ronaldo 'genius' sends United clear

Bolton may never have expected a result but apart from a 10-minute spell in the second half they barely put up a fight.

Even without Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs in the starting line-up, United simply swept away Wanderers, the poor crumbs on a rich man's table.

Ferguson's confidence was plain from the start as he made seven changes while Bolton boss Gary Megson made four alterations from the disastrous defeat by Wigan on Sunday.

With Ferdinand still struggling with a back problem it meant a chance for 20-year-old Catalan defender Gerard Pique to test his mettle against Kevin Davies and El-Hadji Diouf, but they did not provide even a physical challenge.

Megson's tactic of packing defence and midfield was hardly unexpected but it took less than nine minutes for United to nullify them.

Carlos Tevez threatened to score only for Ricardo Gardner to whip the ball off his toe, but from the resulting corner Ronaldo struck.

It was not the most beautiful of Ronaldo's many goals but it was crucial.

First the winger rose to head back Nani's corner, Tevez missed an overhead kick but Bolton only half-cleared and Ronaldo was swiftly there to strike a shot into the ground and home from 12 yards out.

Nani blazed over after a jinking run, but in the 18th minute Bolton put together a thrilling move that nearly earned them an equaliser.

The inspiration was Danny Guthrie, the midfielder on loan from Liverpool and Bolton's best player of the night, surging out of midfield and then down the right where he sent over a searching cross.

Davies' movement had seen him shake off Pique and he slid in at the far post only to see Tomasz Kuszczak made an excellent stop.

The costliness of that miss was hammered home as `Captain Fantastic' made it 33 goals for the season, and 24 in the league, after being fouled by Abdoulaye Meite.

It was another of those tremendous Ronaldo free-kicks that appear to defy the laws of physics - rising, dipping and swerving from 30 yards out over a six-man wall to leave Ali Al Habsi clutching thin air.

It also meant he overtook George Best's 32-goal tally - the previous best for a United winger.

Gretar Steinsson tried to get Bolton back into it but failed with a wild drive, before Tevez curled a left-footed shot into Al Habsi's arms after a scintillating dribble.

United nearly made it three in first-half injury-time as first Darren Fletcher's low drive was blocked and then John O'Shea blasted wide.

Immediately after the break Steinsson, moved to centre-back, played Bolton into further trouble by chopping down Tevez on the edge of the box.

Old Trafford awaited Ronaldo, but he was the decoy and instead Nani took the free-kick and only a sprawling dive by Al Habsi kept the ball out.

But then followed Bolton's spell of pressure and United had cause to thank their keeper.

First Davies' threatened but shot low and straight at Kuszczak, then Diouf did have the ball in the net with a quickly-taken free-kick but referee Alan Wiley ruled it out on the grounds he had not whistled for him to strike it.

Bolton did not complain too much, but when Diouf put the re-taken kick in the same spot Kuszczak was waiting for it.

The Polish keeper then performed heroics to tip over after Nicky Hunt caught a volley perfectly from 30 yards out and the ball looked destined for the top corner.

Gavin McCann was next to find Kuszczak impregnable as the keeper turned aside his low strike.

United responded to end the revival and the Ronaldo hat-trick looked odds on when he ran at the Bolton defence, performed a couple of step-overs and sent in a fierce shot but Al Habsi was able to parry his effort.

Saha should have sealed matters after a neat side-step but lost his cool and found the stands instead.

As United poured forward for a third, Nani had three decent chances in quick succession, two missed and one saved. The home fans were left cursing they had not fallen to his captain.

Ronaldo 'genius' sends United clear

Cristiano Ronaldo was hailed as 'a genius' after another stupendous free-kick saw Manchester United take the advantage in the title race.

United saw off Bolton 2-0 at Old Trafford thanks to two early goals from Ronaldo, captaining Sir Alex Ferguson's side for the first time.

Ferguson believes the title race will go to the wire and heaped more praise on his skipper for the night, while opposite number Gary Megson called the winger 'the best player in the world'.

Ferguson said: 'The important thing was that we had the opportunity and the incentive to go three points clear of Arsenal, our nearest pursuers.

'It's nip and tuck now. I think it's going to go to the wire. Chelsea will be key because they have got us and Arsenal at home. It's a lead, it's not a significant lead but it's a lead nonetheless.

'With eight games to go the team who plays with the most consistency now will win it.'

Ferguson made seven changes from the side who beat Derby and claimed he needed to test out various options ahead of Sunday's meeting with Liverpool.

Gerard Pique came in for the injured Rio Ferdinand while Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs were all rested.

'It was not a great performance but it was necessary to make those changes as Rio Ferdinand is doubtful for Sunday with a back problem,' added Ferguson. 'I had to find out about Gerard Pique. We've got great confidence in the lad and he's come through very well.

'They are all top players so you have to put your faith and trust in them. At times we were a bit relaxed in the second half but when we speeded up the game and played with great penetration at times we could have scored a few more goals.

'Ronaldo's free-kick was marvellous. He does put in the practice and he has this technique.'

Ronaldo now has 33 goals this season - overtaking George Best's 32 in 1968, the most a United winger had scored in one campaign until now - and 24 in the league.

Ferguson added: 'It's fantastic and speaks volumes about the player, it's amazing that he can do that playing in the position he does.'

Megson saw some cause for hope in Bolton's fight against relegation after a good second-half display - and admitted his players were still in awe about the quality of Ronaldo's free-kick.

Megson said: 'It was genius from probably the best player in the world at the moment.

'Everyone in the dressing room afterwards was talking about how he does it. We have seen him do it twice now and the truth is we just don't know how he does it.

'But for the first goal we caused our own downfall. The marking from the corner was sloppy and when you have that sort of quality against you then you cannot afford to do that.

'If we can replicate our second-half performance then there is optimism.

'We had more shots in this game than probably any away game we have played and we need to keep it going in every game until the end of the season.'

Tottenham 4-4 Chelsea: Eight-goal humdinger

2008-03-19T18:13:00.000-07:00

Chelsea lost ground in the Premier League title race after Robbie Keane's dramatic late equaliser earned a point for Tottenham in a thrilling 4-4 draw at White Hart Lane.

In a game that never stopped for breath, Didier Drogba's opener was cancelled out by Jonathan Woodgate before Michael Essien and Joe Cole established a two-goal cushion for the visitors.

Spurs staged a comeback and levelled through Dimitar Berbatov and Tom Huddlestone, then Cole grabbed another 10 minutes from the end.

They were denied maximum points, though, when Keane found the top corner in the 88th minute before Berbatov was denied a late winner by a superb Carlo Cudicini save.

With Spurs naming the same side that defeated Chelsea in the Carling Cup final, Avram Grant's team could not gain revenge for their Wembley defeat.

• Grant hits back at 'big game' critics

Spurs have insisted that they have moved on from their triumph over the Blues last month but their three defeats since suggest otherwise, as did the big-screen reminder before kick-off showing highlights of their victory. At least they now have another famous match to remember.

Fabio Capello was in the stands to watch his England players distinguish themselves in a typically hectic London derby.

There was plenty for him to digest, starting with the pace of Aaron Lennon up against Ashley Cole down one flank.

Joe Cole was Chelsea's creative force, while Jermaine Jenas and Frank Lampard were up against each other in the centre, and John Terry had to try to keep Berbatov and Keane quiet.

Capello saw Terry set up the opener in the third minute.

Drogba's free-kick from 25 yards was blocked but the striker then made his way towards the far post. Claude Makelele found Terry on the left and his cross invited a powerful header from Drogba.

It could have been worse for Spurs three minutes later when Drogba turned on the edge of the area and forced a save from Paul Robinson; Joe Cole finished neatly but was ruled offside.

Capello then saw two of his England players combine for an 11th-minute equaliser.

After Lennon had been fouled by Makelele, Jenas swung over the cross from the right and Woodgate, unlike his ricocheted Wembley winner, thudded home his header.

England midfielder Cole, full of invention and energy, created the goal that put Chelsea back in front, in the 20th minute. He weaved his way through the Spurs defence then slipped through Essien, who chipped over Robinson as the goalkeeper rushed out.

The game was already at a frantic pace but the intensity heightened with a series of contentious decisions before the break.

The conduct of players has been highlighted this week through a new Football Association initiative, with hopes of more respect for officials.

Joe Cole, however, picked up a yellow card for dissent towards the assistant when a decision did not go his way.

The Spurs bench were then furious when Jenas appeared to be fouled by Lampard. Play was allowed to continue and Robinson was forced into action when Drogba drilled a shot from the edge of the area.

Spurs were raging again following Ashley Cole's high tackle on Alan Hutton, with Mike Riley issuing a yellow card.

'It's a red and you know it,'' protested Spurs assistant boss Gus Poyet to the fourth official.

Poyet then confronted Cole at the half-time whistle and they went face-to-face down the tunnel before the Spurs assistant went on to aim his anger at the referee.

The debate continued as the second half restarted, then Joe Cole extended Chelsea's lead seven minutes into the second period. Makelele fed him the ball and Cole went outside Pascal Chimbonda before getting his shot away. Robinson got to the finish but the ball looped in.

Terry was needed at the other end to intercept a dangerous Steed Malbranque cross - but Berbatov pulled one back from the corner.

Huddlestone, on for Jenas at the break, delivered the set-piece and the Bulgarian outjumped Terry to head in.

Huddlestone levelled the match with 15 minutes remaining, drilling in powerfully after Keane's corner went to the far post.

Cole scored his second in the 80th minute, finding the top corner after getting past Chimbonda again - but Keane earned a point two minutes from time.

Picking up the ball on the edge of the area after the ball had hit Ricardo Carvalho on the back from a long clearance, he curled a delicious effort into the top corner. Berbatov could so nearly have won it too, but his right-foot shot was brilliantly blocked by Cudicini.

Grant hits back at 'big game' critics

Avram Grant defended his record in high-profile matches this season after Chelsea lost ground in the Barclays Premier League title race with a thrilling draw at Tottenham.

With Manchester United defeating Bolton, Grant's men are now five points behind the league leaders with eight games remaining following Robbie Keane's dramatic late equaliser.

Grant still has an impressive percentage of victories but is yet to win a 'big'' game - against Manchester United or Arsenal in the league, Barnsley in the FA Cup or Tottenham in the Carling Cup final.

The 4-4 draw at White Hart Lane came after Chelsea opened the scoring and led 3-1 and 4-3.

'Every game in which we drop points is a big game,'' said Grant. 'If we won would it have been a big game? We lost against Barnsley and it became a big game. Every game we drop points is a big game.

'I can be happy only that, in the league, we haven't dropped that many points, otherwise there would have been more big games. Every game here is big. If we didn't win we wouldn't be in this position.

'What is a critical game? Every game at Chelsea is critical. If we'd lost other games, we wouldn't be in this position. Every game we win is a normal game. Every time we drop points is a big game.''

Despite putting in an impressive performance in front of England boss Fabio Capello, Cole was taken off towards the end as Chelsea looked to defend their lead.

Grant said: 'We wanted to play more in midfield, have one more in midfield because we knew they would play a direct ball. We wanted to pass the ball better. That's why we took him off.''

Grant was disappointed with his side's defending from set-pieces, adding: 'In the last two games Tottenham have scored six against us and five were from set-pieces. It is unusual for us.

'There are many positives to take from the game but we didn't win, which is disappointing. We showed a great spirit and, of course, we will continue to fight.''

The Blues face Arsenal at the weekend, where they can overtake their title rivals with a victory.

'We're closer to Arsenal now than we were before,'' Grant said. 'We'll be at home and we'll come to fight to win the game.''

Grant claimed his view was blocked for an incident just before the break when Ashley Cole caught Alan Hutton with a high tackle, earning the Chelsea full-back a yellow card.

'In this case the referee said it was a yellow card,'' said Spurs head coach Juande Ramos.

'But I've seen much less serious tackles that have seen players sent off, like Robbie Keane earlier in the season.''

Grant added: 'The referee was two or three metres from it so we have to respect that.'

Celtics Snap Rockets’ 22-Game Win Streak

2008-03-18T23:03:00.000-07:00

Boston 94, Houston 74

The shots stopped falling, Boston's stars took over and just like that, the Houston Rockets' 22-game winning streak was history.

Kevin Garnett scored 22 points and Paul Pierce added 20 as the Celtics beat the Rockets 94-74 on Tuesday night, stopping Houston's remarkable victory run.

The Rockets hadn't lost since a 97-89 defeat to Utah on Jan. 27 and put together the NBA's second-longest winning streak. It ended 11 victories shy of the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers, who won 33 in a row.

It was only Houston's second loss in 28 games and its fourth since a 97-93 loss in Boston on Jan. 2, a game Tracy McGrady sat out with a knee injury. The Rockets also lost for the first time in 11 games since Yao Ming went out with a season-ending foot injury on Feb. 26.

Luis Scola scored 15 for Houston, which had a 15-game home streak snapped. Only the 1985-86 Rockets, who won 20 straight at The Summit, had a longer home-court streak in franchise history. McGrady had eight assists and seven rebounds, but only eight points on 4-for-11 shooting.

Reserve Leon Powe added 21 points for the Celtics, who've won 13 of their last 14 games, the last three without All-Star guard Ray Allen, who's out with a sore left ankle.

The Rockets still have one more streak to protect - they'll go for their 13th straight road win in New Orleans on Wednesday night.

Houston beat the Lakers on Sunday to take over sole possession of first place in the Western Conference and set up Tuesday's showdown between conference leaders.

They were tied at 40 at halftime, but Boston took control in the third quarter, led by its All-Star duo.

Garnett swished a jumper from the top of the key 15 seconds out of the break and Pierce sank a 3-pointer on Boston's next trip down, the start of an 18-5 spurt. The Rockets missed eight of their first 10 shots out of the break and stopped getting the bounces that had always gone their way throughout the streak.

Even when Houston got aggressive, it backfired.

With 3:18 left in the third quarter, Tony Allen drove the baseline and McGrady and Scola both jumped to block him. McGrady blocked the ball, but Scola whacked hit Allen and sent him hard to the court. Referee Scott Foster called a flagrant foul on Scola as Allen lay on the floor for several minutes. He finally got up and hit two free throws to put Boston up 64-52.

McGrady missed a jumper in the final seconds of the third quarter and Battier was there for the rebound, but tipped it right to James Posey, who started a fast break the other way.

The Celtics outscored Houston 32-16 in the third quarter and built a 72-56 lead, the largest deficit the Rockets had faced since Boston had them down 20 in their first meeting. Houston went 7-for-16 from the field with six turnovers in the decisive quarter.

Boston pushed the lead over 20 early in the fourth quarter. During a timeout, the crowd stood and applauded as a video on the scoreboard finished with a shot of the arena and the line: "Where 22 in a row happens.''

The rest of the game was a cold dose of reality.

McGrady left with 8:45 left and fans slowly filed out of the arena. With 2:09 left, Garnett drove down the line and hammered home a one-handed dunk, then added a milder throwdown on Boston's next possession.

The loss dropped Houston back into a first-place tie with the Lakers in the West. The Hornets are one game behind heading into Wednesday's matchup.

Notes: Boston coach Doc Rivers said he would re-evaluate Ray Allen's injury on Wednesday. Rivers said Allen could "possibly'' play in Dallas on Thursday. ... The Celtics have won seven straight road games and all seven meetings against teams from the Southwest Division. ... Former Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon had a courtside seat for the second straight game. ... Rockets rookie forward Carl Landry sat out for the sixth straight game with a bruised right knee. Landry will travel with the team to New Orleans for Wednesday's game.

http://www.nba.com/games/20080318/BOSHOU/recap.html

House of the Dead 2 & 3 Wii version Gameplay

2008-03-18T17:43:00.000-07:00

Ah, how I am looking forward to the return of the House of the Dead franchise. Back in the day I played the original HOD on the Dreamcast on an almost daily basis. Now it's coming to the Wi with all its rail shooting goodness and terrible voice acting intact. I long for the return of those dulcet tones... "Reload! Reload! Reload!" Somehow it just never gets old.
Make the jump for a second clip.

Super Busty Japanese Highschool Girl

2008-03-17T23:56:00.000-07:00

Why didnt I meet any girls like that in my school age?

This Is How You Sell Video Games

2008-03-17T22:13:00.000-07:00

I've no idea what Lionel Kiddie City is, though I have my suspicions it's some kind of ancient toy store. I do have an idea of how awesome this commercial is, though. And that's very awesome. Yes, simply awesome.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Sells 1.4 Million In One Week

2008-03-17T17:40:00.001-07:00

Wii fans starved for more Super Smash Bros. have dropped cash on Nintendo's newest mascot fighter at an alarming, record setting rate. Nintendo announced today that it had shifted 1.4 million copies of Super Smash Bros. Brawl in the United States during its first week on store shelves, with 874,000 of those being snapped up on day one. It still has a long way to go to get to the numbers its Gamecube predecessor did (7 million!). Insert something about printing money, it's a fad or Nintendo going third party here.

Had you grab your copy yet? If not , grab one. If you dont even got a Wii, buy one for the game too!

Listen To Boy Massage Moaning

2008-03-17T00:34:00.001-07:00

This isn't sorta why you shouldn't play DS boy scrubbing title Duel Love on the train, this is EXACTLY why you shouldn't. Realize: Image-wise, this clip is safe-for-work. Sound-wise? Totally not safe. Do stick around for the hand-slapping finishing move.

Well...creative Japanese...no, THIS GAME IS GAY.

Sega Superstars Tennis Trailer

2008-03-16T22:35:00.000-07:00

On the fence about which version of Sega Superstars Tennis to grab? Then you'll "love" this trailer. Get it? Tennis! Not sure if I'm frothing for essentially another go at Virtua Tennis, but maybe I'm just bitter about Shadow and Pudding taking up valuable slots in the roster. At least they got Gilius Thunderhead and Alex Kidd in there. My inner Sega fan is being torn apart by the struggle...

After seeing this trailer, I found out that this game looks a lot better than what I expected. May be I will go grab one when it releases!

Rockets Beat Lakers to Stretch Win Streak to 22

2008-03-16T20:26:00.001-07:00

Houston 104, L.A. Lakers 92

HOUSTON, March 16 (AP) -- Tracy McGrady had carried the Houston Rockets through their winning streak since Yao Ming went down with a foot injury.

On Sunday, it was everyone else's turn to help him.

Rafer Alston scored 31 points and hit eight 3-pointers, both career highs, and the Rockets beat the Los Angeles Lakers 104-92 to stretch their streak to 22 and claim sole possession of first place in the Western Conference.

Kobe Bryant scored 24 points for the Lakers and smothered McGrady on defense, helping hold the Houston star to 11 points on 4-for-16 shooting.

The rest of the Rockets made up for it. Shane Battier scored 14 points and shadowed Bryant most of the game, backup point guard Bobby Jackson added 19 points and Luis Scola had 13 points and 11 rebounds.

"There wasn't a time where we wavered from successful team basketball,'' Battier said. "Different guys hit shots and we tightened the reins on defense.''

The Rockets have won 26 of their last 27 games and 31 of their last 34. They've won 15 straight at the Toyota Center, 10 straight since Yao went out with a broken foot and 11 of their last 13 games by double digits.

Houston haven't been beaten since a 97-89 loss to Utah on Jan. 27.

"Let's keep it going,'' McGrady said. "This was a good test for us. We came out and took care of business.''

Critics continue to dismiss Houston's streak as a fluke, saying the Rockets have played a bunch of bad teams. McGrady hopes this win silences some of the skeptics, even though the Lakers were missing Pau Gasol, who's out indefinitely with a sprained ankle.

"This was really all about how good the Rockets are,'' McGrady said. "This is what this game was about, the Lakers coming in here at the top of the Western Conference. This game determined where we are. We answered those questions, we took on that challenge and we're standing alone.''

Alston had 16 points in the first quarter and Houston's reserves scored 25 in the first half.

The Lakers held Houston to 12 points in the third quarter to cut a 15-point halftime deficit to two. But with the Lakers continuously double-teaming McGrady, Alston hit three 3-pointers in the third quarter to give the Rockets a 71-66 lead heading to the fourth.

Alston came into the game knowing he was going to have opportunities to score.

"I felt that the attention was going to be on Tracy,'' Alston said. "I thought if I could get going early, maybe that would shift the attention a little away from him, maybe they wouldn't leave me out there at the 3-point line. But they stayed glued to him all night.''

Every time the Lakers got close, someone other than McGrady would keep Houston ahead. Jackson hit a 3-pointer from the corner to put the Rockets up 84-79 after Bryant cut the lead to two with a free throw.

Jordan Farmar's 3-pointer with 6:09 left pulled the Lakers to 86-84, but Battier drove for a layup 25 seconds later.

Battier and Jackson sank 3s as Houston surged to a 96-86 lead with 3:20 to play. With McGrady occupying the defense on one side of the floor, Alston drove for a layup and Jackson swished a jumper from the wing that made it 100-86, putting the game out of reach.

Lamar Odom scored 17 and Ronny Turiaf added 13 for the Lakers, who play at Dallas on Tuesday, the next leg on a rugged four-game road trip. Gasol is expected to sit out at least the next two games.

"Teams obviously can crowd the lane and go back to playing the type of defense against us that we've seen in the past,'' Bryant said. "What we have to do is focus on the defensive end a lot more. And I'll obviously have to shoulder more of the load.''

With the Lakers' defense keying on McGrady from the start, Alston sank three 3-pointers in the first 7 minutes as the Rockets built a quick six-point lead.

Alston and McGrady started the second quarter on the sideline, but the Rockets' reserves stretched the lead. Jackson hit a jumper, drove for a reverse layup, then found Luther Head open for a breakaway dunk to start a 15-6 spurt.

McGrady didn't score in the first half, going 0-for-6 from the field, but Houston still managed to build a 59-44 halftime lead.

Bryant started the third with a basket from the free-throw line, triggering a 12-0 Lakers spurt. The Rockets missed their first 12 shots out of the break, including two by McGrady.

Alston snapped Houston's drought with a 3-pointer and added two more 3s in the final 1:44 of the quarter to keep the Rockets on top.

Notes: Former Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy was a television analyst for the game and sat one seat from team owner Les Alexander, who fired him after last season. Former center Hakeem Olajuwon also had a courtside seat near Alexander. ... Rockets rookie forward Carl Landry sat out for the fifth straight game with a bruised right knee.

http://www.nba.com/games/20080316/LALHOU/recap.html

Tor and Vidalia - to surf the web anonymously

2008-03-16T07:59:00.001-07:00

Tor is a software project that helps you defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security. Tor protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world: it prevents somebody watching your Internet connection from learning what sites you visit, and it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location. Tor works with many of your existing applications, including web browsers, instant messaging clients, remote login, and other applications based on the TCP protocol.

Hundreds of thousands of people around the world use Tor for a wide variety of reasons: journalists and bloggers, human rights workers, law enforcement officers, soldiers, corporations, citizens of repressive regimes, and just ordinary citizens. See the Who Uses Tor? page for examples of typical Tor users. See the overview page for a more detailed explanation of what Tor does, why this diversity of users is important, and how Tor works.

Vidalia is a cross-platform controller GUI for Tor, built using the Qt framework. Using Vidalia, you can start and stop Tor, view the status of Tor at a glance, and monitor Tor's bandwidth usage. Vidalia also makes it easy to contribute to the Tor network by helping you set up and manage your own Tor relay.
Vidalia runs on most platforms supported by Qt 4.2 or later, including Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux or other Unix variants using the X11 window system.

===================================================================

Vidalia and tor not only provide anonymous web surfing, it can also help you to bypass any web filters in your office! Care to try it out? Visit http://vidalia-project.net/ for more details.

Ninja Gaiden DS Footages

2008-03-16T05:54:00.000-07:00

monestary illusion

netherworld

cavern of ice

cavern of flame

forest of shadows

isle of destiny

This is going to be a hit for sure!

Pro Gaming Group CPL Shuts Down

2008-03-15T20:32:00.000-07:00

The Cyberathlete Professional League has become the latest pro-gaming operation to close its doors. The organization announced that it had ceased operations on March 13, canceling all currently schedule events. The official statement cites "the current fragmentation of the sport, a crowded field of competing leagues, and the current economic climate" as responsible for the CPL suspending operations. General ennui was not mentioned as a factor.

The World Series of Video Games, which shut down in September of last year, similarly pointed to a "very crowded field of competitive gaming leagues." The CPL, established in 1997, noted that it "intends to continue to pay the 2007 World Tour prizes."

The CPL Ceases Operations

Doh......if they shut down then who else is going to promote about cyber gaming as a sports?
Hope the pro-gamers can find other programs to join, and us casual gamers can find some other great competitions to watch.

Arsenal 1-1 Middlesbro': Gunners rescue late point

2008-03-15T12:49:00.000-07:00

Arsenal produced another late show at Emirates Stadium as Kolo Toure rescued a 1-1 draw against Middlesbrough - but it was not enough to send the Gunners back to the top of the Barclays Premier League.

After Manchester United beat bottom club Derby 1-0 earlier in the afternoon, Arsene Wenger's men knew only victory in the day's late kick-off would be good enough to remain ahead in the title race.

However, a goal from Jeremie Aliadiere against his old club in the 25th minute looked to be sending them to defeat following a determined defensive display by the visitors - until Toure nodded home with just four minutes left.

Boro finished the game with 10 men when substitute Mido was sent off for a high kick on Gael Clichy.

But with the margins for error at the top of the table so slim, a fourth successive draw in the Premier League could yet come back to haunt the Gunners.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=220652&cc=4716

Ronaldo goal send United top

2008-03-15T10:19:00.000-07:00

Manchester United moved back to the top of the table after a hard fought 1-0 win at Derby. Cristiano Ronaldo netted the only goal of the game in 76th minute, but Arsenal can reclaim top spot if they avoid defeat against Middlesbrough in the late game. Elsewhere, Chelsea squeaked past Sunderland at the Stadium of Light thanks to a John Terry goal. Liverpool won again, this time beating Reading 2-1 at Anfield - Javier Mascherano and Fernando Torres with the goals.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/scoreboard?league=all&cc=5739

Other matches results

FT	Derby County	0 - 1	Manchester U.

FT	Liverpool	2 - 1	Reading

FT	Portsmouth	2 - 0	Aston Villa

FT	Sunderland	0 - 1	Chelsea

FT	West Ham U.	2 - 1	Blackburn R.

Fatboy Slim - Push The Tempo

2008-03-15T06:25:00.000-07:00

Here's another hilarious music video I want to share with you guys.
You know what, I even went buy the single after watching this video few years ago.

Coffee and TV MV

2008-03-15T02:33:00.000-07:00

Coffee and TV - Blur
It's always my all-time favorite.