centrino 2 consumess less power

Up to a few years ago, CPU makers -- especially Intel and AMD -- were obsessed by speed. The faster their processor, the more they could say to strike a blow against their competitors.

However, faster clock speed required more electricity and generated more heat. Because the machines were hotter, more cooling was necessary. Cooling also consumed a lot of energy.

Now, with Green becoming the color of the technology everywhere, chipmakers have shifted their attention to making processors perform better while consuming less electricity. This is even more relevant to mobile computers.

To begin with, nobody likes a notebook that becomes as hot as a toaster after it has been used for a while. On the other hand, energy-efficient components will reduce power consumption and prolong battery life, which is a very important consideration for any mobile worker.

Intel, which makes the processors inside the majority of computers in the world, announced last week the latest platform for mobile computers: Centrino 2.

Intel is very good at creating marketing confusion, as there is also Centrino Duo. It is no surprise that many of us prefer to call Intel's technologies by their codenames. The new platform is called "Montevina".

The power consumption of the new Centrino 2 family of processors has been reduced from 35 watts to 25 watts. The amount of L2 cache memory in some processors has also been raised to 3 and 6 MB, which means computers can now have more space for data to move at a faster speed.

With the proliferation of High Definition content, Intel has also designed Centrino 2 to include HD encoding capability. Another new feature is the possibility to switch graphics engines. Then, while the original Centrino supports the IEEE 802.11 a/b/g wireless connection, the Centrino 2 has a native support for the n standard.

When this new standard is adopted here in Indonesia, the speed of data will reach up to 450 megabits per second (Mbps). Support for WiMAX is also included.

The new processors come with or without the vPro management and configuration features that used to be available only on desktop computers. Company-provided notebooks can take advantage of the Centrino 2 with vPro processors; home users will not need it.

The processors themselves are made using 45-nanometer (nm) technology. Again, to go Green, Intel claims that it does not use helium in the production process.

Clock speeds range from 2.26 GHz to 2.8 GHz. For true speed buffs, there is the Intel Core 2 Extreme with a clock speed of 3.06 GHz.

In around three months, the first quad core processor for the notebook will be available. Of course, these high-speed processors may not fit into the ultra-slim and lightweight notebooks. They are more likely to be used to drive large notebooks such as the 18.4-inch Acer Aspire Gemstone Blue.

There will be 14 different processors to choose from. So, folks, get ready for even faster notebooks with longer battery life

anti - aging diet

An anti aging diet should consist of three different components. If you focus on these three as your base, you'll be on your way to looking younger and feeling younger.

1. Fats.

First you should eliminate all the "bad fats" from your diet. These are such a huge contributor to aging it isn't even funny. On top of that they contribute to having low energy and even sickness and disease. Bad fats are that which contain high amounts of saturated fats. Generally these are the foods you pretty much know you should stay away from: fried foods, greasy foods, much of what is considered junk foods and fast foods.

On the other hand, there are "good fats" which you can, and should, consume in moderation. These fats are actually healthy for you, and don't contribute to disease as do the bad fats. These good fats are such things as olive oils, avocados, and fish oils.

2. Antioxidant Foods.

Antioxidant foods are huge in a anti aging diet. They essentially prevent heart disease as well as cancer, reduce blood pressure and slow the effects of aging.

Let's get right to it. Here are some antioxidant foods which you will definitely want to include in your anti aging diet:

Blueberries, raspberries and blackberries, broccoli, tomatoes, garlic, spinach, green tea and carrots.

There are more, but these are some of the common foods which are heavyweights in the antioxidant department.

3. Raw Vegetables.

This is another big one. Consuming your vegetables in the raw form, uncooked, will hold in all the anti aging qualities you are looking for. When you cook you veges, you unfortunately cook out some of the anti aging benefits.

The good news is there are actual raw vegetable restaurants opening up which prove you can have delicious meals with raw veges. There are also online guides available which will provide great recipes for an all around anti aging diet rich in antioxidants, healthy fats, and raw veges.

bye-bye BEIJING, see you in LONDON

Finally, the Beijing Olympic Games have come to a superb end.

Looking back on the Games' preparation, such a great success holding the world's top sporting event seemed unlikely.

China began its preparations in shaky fashion as obstacle after obstacle threatened to derail the event.

The worldwide torch relay faced numerous rallies calling for a boycott of the Games in light of human rights abuses in Tibet. Its readiness as the host was also heavily questioned by the international media over issues ranging from air pollution to food safety.

Back home, when it rains, it pours: a huge tremor devastated Sichuan province on May 12, killing more than 69,000 people in what was to become a national tragedy.

Then, four days before the Games were set to kick off, two men drove a dump truck into a group of jogging policemen and threw explosives into their barracks, killing 16 and casting dark shadows over the event's security preparedness.

Such formidable hurdles failed to dampen the spirit of the 1.3-billion strong nation. Instead, it was a baptism of fire.

China awed the world with a lavish and dazzling display at the opening ceremony in the iconic stage of the Bird's Nest stadium.

Then, Chinese athletes turned the sporting world on its head by fighting off their contenders from the beginning until the very end, allowing no letup.

Their efforts paid off as they won most of the gold medals up for grabs -- even in events they had never won before -- to dethrone traditional world No. 1 the United States, despite no icing on the cake following the abrupt withdrawal of Chinese hero hurdler Liu Xiang due to injury.

SKorea company clones dog

Bernann McKinney says he beloved pit bull "Booger" saved her life when another dog attacked her, then learned to push her wheelchair while she recovered from a severe hand injury and nerve damage.

He died in 2006, but now he's back - at least in clone form, after the birth last week of puppies replicated by a South Korea company.

"Yes, I know you! You know me too!" McKinney cried joyfully Tuesday, hugging the puppy clones as they slept with one of their two surrogate mothers, both Korean mixed breed dogs, in a Seoul
laboratory. "It's a miracle."

The five clones were created by Seoul-based RNL Bio in cooperation with a team of Seoul National University scientists who in 2005 created the world's first cloned dog, a male Afghan hound named Snuppy.

It is headed by Lee Byeong-chun, a former colleague of disgraced scientist Hwang Woo-suk, whose purported breakthroughs in stem cell research were revealed as fake. Independent tests, however, proved the team's dog cloning was genuine.

Lee's team has since cloned some 30 dogs and five wolves, but claims Booger's clones, for which McKinney paid $50,000, are the first successful commercial cloning of a canine.

The procedure, which costs up to $150,000, is drawing criticism from animal rights groups which oppose cloning pets. They say it can lead to malformed offspring and exploitation of surrogates and egg donors, as well as unfounded claims that the new animal is an exact copy of the original.

"It's fraught with animal welfare concerns and it does not bring back a loved o," said Martin Stephens, vice president for animal research issues at The Humane Society of The United
States, based in Washington.

"A dead animal's DNA does not guarantee the offspring will be identical to the deceased. It takes more than just genes to create an animal," said Stephens, who is a biologist.

He said the cloning process also subjects hundreds of dogs and cats to invasive procedures as egg donors and surrogates. According to a report released by The Humane Society in May, 3,656 cloned embryos, 319 egg donors and 214 surrogates were used to produce just five cloned dogs and 11 cloned cats who were able to survive 30 days past birth.

There are millions of homeless dogs and cats in the U.S., Stephens said, and "we don't need new sources to compete with animal shelters and reputable breeders."................

underwater paradise of papua

Manta Rays

After breakfast, we set out on another diving trip amid rather strong winds. The waves were quite high with a strong enough current following the night-to-dawn downpour in the area.

We arrived at Manta Point after more than an hour to start the third day. Two speedboats had arrived earlier, one of which carried Miss Universe 2006 runner-up Kurara Chibana.

As we shifted our gaze from the beauty queen of Japanese origin to the ripples left on the surface of the water by tiny jumping fish, a small dark fin was seen emerging and moving around, followed by several other fins.

"Manta... Manta!" yelled Saka. I also hurried to the water with my snorkel along with the other divers to approach the manta rays.

I got overexcited seizing the opportunity for a close glance. Five mantas were swimming down there, tussling for plankton with numerous gold-banded fusiliers.

The mantas were scattered all over, which made it difficult for us to swim closer to them. So we had to find out where they were heading and screamed at each other when any of us noticed their positions.

My great desire to snap mantas at close quarters separated me from my peers. I kept praying while trying to find the right strategy to approach them and photograph them safely. All I could think about was how to avoid what had befallen Steve Irwin -- "The Crocodile Hunter" of a TV program -- some time earlier.

As I was preoccupied with the search for the fish, a manta was moving toward me. My heart was pounding and I was overwhelmed with admiration, fear and the urge to take pictures. There was no way of withdrawing as the moment would mark my first underwater photos.

"It's the right time!," I thought, pressing the shutter release. The manta was drawing closer to me ...

The flap of its 3.5-meter wings prompted me to refrain from disturbing it and risk infuriating it. I finally
lowered the camera as it was even closer, with our eyes meeting and holding.

Moments later I saw its mouth open wide to suck in plankton. When it was only about 3 meters from me, it turned away.

"Alhamdulillah," were my words in praise of God while again photographing the manta before it swam even farther.

Night snorkeling

after dinner I intended to go fishing because I felt something missing in Papua without this activity. Moreover, I'm a sports-fishing buff myself and three of my friends would be diving to find bamboo sharks. But as it was forbidden to fish in the resort area, I was going to head for the open sea by hiring a fishing boat.

In fact, the area around the jetty was teeming with the fish the locals call Bobara (giant trevally), weighing 1-3 kg. "If only the Seribu Islands that could be like this," I thought, an impossible wish given Jakarta Bay is now virtually the septic tank of the capital city.

By starlight, I followed my three friends diving from the jetty to start a bamboo shark hunt. Though I previously thought that sharks were mostly ferocious, further tips indicated that this species was not aggressive, which encouraged me to join the search.

As I shone the flashlight around, my eyes got fixed on a light brown fish in desert soldiers' camouflage pattern. "It's a shark!"

It was unbelievable to have found this shark in such shallow waters.

Sadly, though, the fish began to move to the left and right quickly in a frightened manner. I kept calm so as not to make it panic even more. Yet the shark was now going farther away from me, which spurred me to chase it but it dodged very fast and disappeared into darkness as I got closer.

The sight of the bamboo shark failed to quench my desire to observe blue spotted rays. Earlier in the day, several of these rays were frequently seen roaming around the jetty. This was the ray species that had reportedly killed Steve Irwin.

And my Raja Ampat trip proved to be rewarding.

The one I was looking for moved toward me, perhaps attracted by my flashlight. But the ray finally paused at a distance of about 3 meters from me, leading to another two-way stare.

Despite my composure to avoid any disturbances that might cause panic, the ray withdrew after a while. So the shark and ray wound up my night snorkeling.