Science fiction|writer|visionary|Sir Arthur C. Clarke

Remembering Sir Arthur C. Clarke
source: ITU News
Science fiction writer and visionary Sir Arthur C. Clarke died on 19 March 2008 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, at the age of 90. He was born on 16 December 1917 in Minehead, Somerset in the United Kingdom and moved to Sri Lanka; then called Ceylon, in 1956.
The international telecommunication community will remember Sir Arthur for making popular the concept of using the geostationary orbit for communications.
In October 1945, Clarke published in the British magazine Wireless World a technical paper entitled „Extra-terrestrial Relays-Can Rocket Stations Give World-wide Radio Coverage?“ The paper established the feasibility of artificial satellites as relay stations for Earth based communications. Clarke predicted that one day communications around the world would be possible via a network of three geostationary satellites spaced at equal intervals around the Earth‘s equator.
Nearly two decades later, in 1964, Syncom 3 became the first geostationary satellite to finally fulfil Clarke’s prediction. Later that year, Syncom 3 was used to relay television coverage of the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo to the United States — the first television transmission over the Pacific Ocean. Now, there are hundreds of satellites in orbit and providing communications to millions of people around the globe. In 1954, Clarke had also proposed using satellites in meteorology. Today, we cannot imagine predicting the weather without using dedicated meteorological satellites. Looking back on these developments, in his book How the World Was One — Beyond the Global Village, published in 1992, Clarke wrote: „Sometimes I’m afraid that you people down on Earth take the space stations for granted, forgetting the skill and science and courage that went to make them. How, often do you stop to think that all your long-distance
phone calls, and most of your TV programmes are routed through one or the other of the satellites? And how often do you give any credit to the meteorologists for the fact that weather forecasts are no longer the joke they were to our grandfathers, but are dead accurate ninety-nine percent of the time?“
Clarke wrote more than 80 books involving science, and science fiction. His short story The Sentinel served as the basis for Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. His other famous works include The Exploration of Space, The Promise of Space, The Fountains of Paradise, his semi-autobiographical novel Glide Path, and Childhood‘s End. Before his death, Clarke had just reviewed the manuscript of his latest novel, The Last Theorem.

The treatment of HIV infection

The treatment of HIV infection can be largely divided into specific antiviral agents that inhibit viral replication, measures that either treat or prevent (prophylaxis) its complications – namely opportunistic infections and tumours. Major advances in the treatment of HIV infection have occurred in the last few years. This has resulted in marked falls in the reported number of new AIDS cases and deaths in the developed world since 1996. Effective antiretroviral therapy regimens which substantially inhibit HIV replication and allow sustained improvements in the immune system are the main reason for this. There are currently three classes of antiretroviral agents: the nucleoside and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors and the protease inhibitors. Improved formulations and new drugs are continuously being evaluated and there is increasing interest in the possible role of immunotherapy combined with antiretroviral therapy to

all about HIV, AIDS and Virus

Introduction
although it is clear that HIV is the underlying cause of AIDS and AIDS related disease, its origin remains obscure. There is firm serological evidence of infection on the east and west coasts of the USA from the mid 1970s, and HIV infection in central Africa may have antedated infection in North America. Phylogenetic analysis of the HIV-1 genome has suggested an origin in chimpanzees while, in the case of HIV-2, similarity to the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) genome may point to an origin in sooty mangabey monkeys. In both cases the butchery and consumption of these “bush meats” has been incriminated in transmissions to the human host. Like some other RNA viruses, HIV appears to have mutated and shifted its host range and virulence, explaining how a new pathogenic retrovirus could arise in man. Its virulence may since have been amplified as a result of travel, population dislocation and promiscuous sexual contact, with rapid passage of the virus. Retroviruses are so named because their genomes encode an unusual enzyme, reverse transcriptase, which allows DNA to be transcribed from RNA. Thus, HIV can make copies of its own genome, as DNA, in host cells such as the human CD4 “helper” lymphocyte. The viral DNA becomes integrated in the lymphocyte genome, and this is the basis for chronic HIV infection. Integration of the HIV genome into host cells is a formidable obstacle to any antiviral treatment that would no just suppress but also eradicate the infection. Nevertheless, modern treatment with combinations of nucleoside analogues and protease inhibitors has transformed the prognosis for carriers of HIV, usually achieving a sustained fall in virus concentration in blood and restoration of the main target cell (CD4 lymphocyte) to near normal levels. By contrast, the inherent variability of the HIV genome and the failure of the human host to produce neutralizing antibodies to the virus, as well as technical difficulties and concerns about safety, have continued to frustrate attempts to make an effective vaccine. This must not, however, allow efforts to develop and evaluate candidate vaccines to slacken. A particular concern is that a useful candidate vaccine (probably a recombinant envelope vaccine developed in North America or Europe against the locally prevalent HIV-1 B subtype) would be ineffective in those parts of the world where other subtypes predominate. WHO estimates that in the year 2000 there are 36 million carriers of HIV worldwide, and only a small fraction of them have access to suppressive treatment. Both their contacts, their dependants and possibly they themselves would have their life prospects transformed by an effective, or even partially effective, vaccine, and successful application of antiviral treatment in developed countries should in no way be allowed to deflect attention from the necessity of developing and delivering an effective vaccine and of promoting “safe sex” behavior.

HIV and related viruses

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THE STATUS OF WOMAN IN ISLAM

By Jamal A. Badawi

PREFACE
Family, society and ultimately the whole of mankind is treated by Islam on an ethical basis. Differentiation in sex is neither a credit nor a drawback for the sexes. Therefore, when we talk about status of woman in Islam it should not lead us to think that Islam has no specific guidelines, limitations, responsibilities and obligations for men. What makes one valuable and respectable in the eyes of Allah, the Creator of mankind and the universe, is neither one's prosperity, position, intelligence, physical strength nor beauty, but only one's Allah-consciousness and awareness (taqwa).
However, since in the Western culture and in cultures influenced by it,
there exists a disparity between men and women there is more need for stating Islam's position on important issues in a clear way.
Dr. Jamal Badawi's essay, The Status of Women in Islam, was originally
published in our quarterly journal, Al-lttihad, Vol. 8, No. 2, Sha'ban 1391/Sept 1971. Since then it has been one of our most-demanded publications. We thank Br. Jamal for permitting us to reprint his essay. We hope it will clarify many of the misconceptions.
Anis Ahmad, Director Dept. of Education and Training MSA of U.S. and Canada P.O. Box 38 Plainfield, IN 46168 USA Jumada al Thani 1400 April 1980

I. INTRODUCTION

The status of women in society is neither a new issue nor is it a fully settled one. The position of Islam on this issue has been among the subjects presented to the Western reader with the least objectivity.
This paper is intended to provide a brief and authentic exposition of what Islam stands for in this regard. The teachings of Islam are based essentially on the Qur'an (God's revelation) and Hadeeth (elaboration by Prophet Muhammad).

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Osama Bin Laden of Other Side

People familiar with Osama bin Laden as a fugitive terrorist bully the world. People rarely know the other side of the life of Osama.

Osama's first wife, Najwa bin Laden reveals another reality of the person who held liable under a number of terrorist acts, including acts of terror phenomenal, blasting the building twin World Trade Center, New York, on September 11, 2001.

As written in his book, Najwa said that Osama was a father figure who is much disciplined. Osama did not hesitate to hit her smiling so wide, until the teeth look.

On the other hand had a penchant for gardening Osama sunflowers and consider sports car Like his first wife.

In his house, Osama forbids the use of electronic equipment. He also ordered the boys to climb the mountain of sand in the desert without carrying water. The goal, so that the child strong.

Not without reason Osama apply hard on his family. That decision related to Osama to get away to the Sudan, as a form of resistance in the Arab royal families who invited U.S. troops stationed there.

Learning to sleep in the open and uncomfortable, and desert hiking, for Osama, is the way he prepares his children facing difficult and hard life.

Najwa (then 15 years old) married to Bin Laden who was then 17 years old. The marriage produced seven sons and four daughters.

Najwa not the only one wife. Osama has a total of six wives who are placed in separate houses in Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

Regulations that apply to the same sixth wife, they can not use electronic equipment.

"My father would not allow the mother to turn on air conditioners, even though the AC was installed in our apartment," said Osama and Najwa's son, Omar, as the page loaded Telegraph.

"He also did not allow women to use the refrigerator standing in the kitchen," he added.

However, there is one thing in which Osama boasted to his children. Osama, Omar said, good at math. Osama likes to test the speed of even counted with a calculator.

"My father is very famous have great abilities in mathematics. Many who came to the house with a calculator and challenging his ability," added Omar.

According to Najwa's story, he and Osama never went to the United States in 1979, after the Iranian revolution. In the U.S., Osama Abdullah met Azzan, the radical Palestinian cleric who then became his spiritual teacher.

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In a book written by Najwa, also revealed that Osama had at least one gold-colored Mercedes car and speedboat.

"There's nothing satisfying thing for him other than speeding in the desert, then he would leave his car and walked in the desert," he said.

"Hobbies favorite is gardening. Planting best corn and sunflower large

New WordPress 2.9

We have been hard at work now for a few months on the new features that will be coming in WordPress 2.9, and we are nearing the time when the first beta version will be available. We’ll need your help with beta testing the new features and ironing out any bugs.

There are a number of different ways in which you can get involved in the testing process, and there are options to suit people of all different skill sets. First of all, you can join the wp-testers mailing list to keep up to date with the testing progress and to discuss things with the other testers. Secondly, you can head over to the Trac ticketing system and either create tickets for bugs you find or use some of the useful searches to look for patches that need testing or that need someone to try and reproduce the issue.

During the beta phase we are going to focus on the stabilization of the new features and the removal of existing bugs which are well-understood and have easily testable solutions. During this process we will not be adding any more enhancements so as to ensure that the focus is on making the 2.9 release as bug-free as possible. We will also try and have a few special bug hunt days where one or more experienced WordPress developers will be available to help people track down issues and get patches committed to fix bugs.

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We are aiming to release the first beta version of 2.9 around the end of October, once we have put the finishing touches on the new features, and then we switch to full on beta testing mode and your help and feedback will be very much appreciated. During the beta program will push out new builds for automated upgrades regularly and once we feel that a suitable level of stability has been achieves we will release a release candidate, and we hope to be able to make the final release 2.9 build available in either late November or early December.

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Years ago, we reviewed the Logitech Gaming Keyboard G11 and found that it was pretty great, except for being unfortunately large and lacking USB 2.0. The company's newest update, the Gaming Keyboard G110, certainly looks to have addressed those issues with a much slimmer base and a more efficiently compact key layout.

Backlit LED keys can be set to red, blue, or "any shade between," meaning a veritable spectrum of purples are yours to savor. Twelve programmable G keys can store macros up to 36 characters long, and an MR button allows adding macros spontaneously, in case any new ones come to you midgame.

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The G110 comes out in November for $79.99.

Latest P55 Series Motherboards from GIGABYTE

GIGABYTE Unwraps Latest P55 Series Motherboards
Delivering Cutting Edge Technologies that take a Mainstream Platform and Transform it to the Extreme -- 2009/09/08

Taipei, Taiwan, September 08, 2009 – GIGABYTE Technology CO., LTD., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, is pleased to launch their latest generation P55 series motherboards, based on the Intel^® P55 chipset, GIGABYTE P55 motherboards build upon the success of their Ultra Durable™ 3 design featuring 2oz copper PCB and deliver a host of cutting-edge features including the industry's first 24 phase VRM design, innovative Smart6™ PC management tools and Dynamic Energy Saver™ 2 power saving utilities just to name a few.

Supporting the latest Intel^® Core™ i7 and Core™ i5 processors featuring LGA 1156 socket (code named Lynnfield) GIGABYTE P55 series motherboards set a new standard in high performance computing. With the memory controller integrated directly into the processor die, GIGABYTE P55 motherboards support 2 channel DDR3 memory for blazing fast memory performance up to 2200MHz and above. Additionally, the GIGABYTE P55 Series features Intel^® Turbo Boost Technology, which is able to power down idle processor cores and dynamically reroute the power to the active cores for significant performance boosts, and at the same time, maintain greater energy efficiency.
The GIGABYTE P55 series mark another milestone for innovative GIGABYTE motherboard design, with the introduction of the world's first 24 phase power VRM design featured on the GA-P55-UD6. The innovative 24 phase power VRM has been designed and engineered to deliver fast transient response times through quick and seamless power delivery during extensive CPU loading variations. In addition, heat from the VRM is effectively reduced by spreading the load between all 24 power phases, resulting in a cooler and more stable platform.

Unique GIGABYTE Technologies*
Ultra Durable™ 3
GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ 3 series motherboards once again lead the motherboard industry for the highest quality and most innovative motherboard design. Featuring the industry's first consumer desktop motherboard design to introduce 2 ounces of copper for both the Power and Ground layers, GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ 3 motherboards deliver dramatically lower system temperature, improved energy efficiency and enhanced stability for overclocking.

GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ 3 motherboards also feature Japanese Solid Capacitors boasting 50,000 hours of operation, Ferrite core chokes with higher energy efficiency compared to the commonly used iron core chokes and Lower RDS(on) MOSFETs that features a lower resistance, which reduces power consumption and heat generation. The GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ 3 series motherboards promises to provide the stability, reliability and longevity essential to meet the power needs of high-end processors and other components running today's most demanding applications and games.
Smart6™ – A Smarter Way for PC System Management

GIGABYTE Smart 6™ is designed with user-friendliness in mind, offering a combination of 6 innovative software utilities that provides an easier and smarter way for managing your system. Smart 6™ allows you to speed up your system performance, boot-up time, managing a secured platform or recovers your system easily with a click of mouse button.

Smart QuickBoot

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Smart QuickBoost

Smart QuickBoost features quick and effortless CPU overclocking for novice and experienced users alike; simply click on one of three CPU performance levels, and Smart QuickBoost automatically adjusts CPU performance.

Smart Recovery

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Smart DualBIOS™
Smart DualBIOS™ not only allows double protection for the motherboard with two physical BIOS ROMs, it also includes a new feature that can record important dates and passwords

Smart Recorder
Smart recorder monitors and records system activities such as the time when the PC was turned on/off or even when large files were copied.

Smart TimeLock
Smart TimeLock allows parents to schedule time limits for their children to use the PC. It makes the rules simple by being able to select different usage times for weekdays and weekends.

Smart TPM – TPM via Bluetooth^® Cell phone and USB Drive*
GIGABYTE Smart TPM provides the industry's highest level of data protection with 2048 bit hardware encryption. A unique feature of GIGABYTE Smart TPM is that it allows users to store their digital key on a USB thumb drive. In addition, GIGABYTE Smart TPM allows users to lock and unlock their data remotely using a Bluetooth^® enabled mobile phone.

Smart DualLAN – Blistering Fast and Seamless Connectivity
GIGABYTE Smart Dual LAN technology features intelligent LAN port auto-switching between the 2 physical Gigabit LAN chips, offering hassle-free, zero downtime, high-speed network connectivity. Experience blistering fast network data access of up to 2Gbps bandwidth transmission with Teaming enabled and enjoy added power savings with Green Ethernet

Dynamic Energy Saver™ 2

GIGABYTE Dynamic Energy Saver™ 2 incorporates a host of intelligent features that use a proprietary hardware and software design to considerably enhance PC system energy efficiency, reduce power consumption and deliver optimized auto phase-switching for the CPU, Memory, Chipset, VGA, HDD and system fans. With a simple click of a button, GIGABYTE Dynamic Energy Saver™ 2 provides exceptional power savings and the most appropriate power usage without sacrificing performance.

Auto Green* - Automatic Power Savings
Auto Green provides system energy savings by enabling users to turn on and off their PC remotely using their Bluetooth^® enabled mobile phone. Once your phone is paired with your system, you only need to step away from your PC, and it will automatically enter S3/S4 ultra low power state, giving you an added level of power savings.

*GIGABYTE motherboards featuring Smart TPM and Auto Green functions do not include a Bluetooth^® receiver; the addition of a 3rd party Bluetooth^® receiver is required.

X.H.D. eXtreme Hard Drive – Accelerating Hard Drive Performance with Ease
Accelerating system performance is made easy with the user-friendly GIGABYTE eXtreme Hard Drive (X.H.D.) technology, providing a quick and easy way to boost your hard drive performance simply by adding another hard drive.

eSATA / USB Combo Connectors

GIGABYTE provides 2-in-1 combination connector design which is capable of accepting eSATA and USB cable plugs, providing enhanced hard drive flexibility with no need for an additional power source. Easily connect your PC with external SATA storage devices and enjoy up to 3 Gb/s SATA data rates.

Onboard Debug LEDs – Simplifying Motherboard Troubleshooting
Embedded post code Debug LED display indicates system status to simplify motherboard troubleshooting by identifying and displaying error codes.

Precision OV – Providing More Precise System Voltage Control
GIGABYTE Hardware Overvoltage Control ICs featuring more voltage control options than before for the CPU North Bridge and memory. The overvoltage controllers also provide hardware linear real-time voltage control, which means there is no delay compared to the GPIO controller in past implementations. In addition, GIGABYTE's Hardware Overvoltage Controller ICs also allow for much finer voltage control, allowing power users to adjust voltage in as little increments as 20mV for better overclocking performance.

DualBIOS™ - Patented Dual Hardware BIOS Protection
DualBIOS™ is a GIGABYTE patented technology that automatically recovers BIOS data when main BIOS has crashed or failed. Featuring 2 physical BIOS ROMs integrated onboard, GIGABYTE DualBIOS™ allows quick and seamless recovery from BIOS damage or failure due to viruses or improper BIOS updating.

Multi graphics ATI CrossFireX™ and NVIDIA SLI™ support

Wanting to make sure gamers felt some multi-GPU love on the P55 platform, GIGABYTE has equipped their entire P55 series with support for both ATI CrossFireX™ and NVIDIA SLI™ multi-graphics support, delivering the ultimate in graphics performance for gaming enthusiasts who demand the highest frame rates without compromising on resolution.

Dolby Home Theater^®

In addition, GIGABYTE has also included the powerful Dolby Home Theater^® suite of audio technologies, which deliver a vivid surround sound listening experience for music, movies, and games, using two to eight speakers or any set of headphones. Designed to automatically deliver the best possible listening experience, Dolby Home Theater^® includes Dolby Pro Logic IIx for maximum surround sound expansion, Dolby Headphone and Sound Space Expander for a virtualized audio experience, and Natural Bass enhancement for the richest quality sound.

GIGABYTE P55 Series Motherboards

GA-P55-UD6

GA-P55-UD5

GA-P55-UD4P

GA-P55-UD4

GA-P55-UD3P

GA-P55-UD3R

GA-P55-UD3

GA-P55-UD3L

GA-P55-US3L

GA-P55M-UD4

GA-P55M-UD2

*Available features vary by model. Please visit the GIGABYTE website to see a complete listing of motherboard model features.

For additional information about the GIGABYTE P55 series motherboards, please visit the GIGABYTE website at: http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Default.aspx