Ladies in red 'appear more attractive to men'

Red, which is the colour of passion, makes women seem more attractive to men by sending out subtle messages about how receptive they might be to sexual advances, a new study has claimed.

According to scientists from the University of Rochester in New York, men really do prefer a lady in red because they are less likely to be rejected.

The finding of this study may help to explain why red is the hue most associated with love and romance in popular culture.

For the study, the researchers asked men to rate photographs of women framed by different coloured borders - and the same women in red were consistently rated more attractive.

The men were then shown women wearing shirts of different colours, and asked how receptive they thought the woman would be to romantic and sexual propositions.

Another question asked "imagine that you are going on a date with this person and have 100-dollar in your wallet. How much money would you be willing to spend on your date?"

Women in red scored more highly on both of these points.

The authors of the study said that this response to red probably stems from biological instincts rather than simply social perception of the vibrant colour.

Research has shown that non-human male primates are particularly attracted to females displaying red.

Female baboons and chimpanzees, for example, redden conspicuously when nearing ovulation, sending a clear sexual signal designed to attract males.

The colour is always popular on the catwalk and is regularly worn to star-studded events by the world's most attractive female celebrities.

"We find it fascinating that merely changing the colour of a woman's shirt can have such a strong influence on how she is perceived by men," the Daily Mail quoted Adam Pazda, a social psychologist from the university as saying.

The study, which tested 96 men from the United States and Austria, also found that the men felt the women in red would respond positively to their advances.

Pazda said the idea that women wear red clothing more when they are interested in sexual encounters appeared to be on target, and preliminary evidence suggests that this is indeed happening".

"From a pragmatic standpoint, our results suggest that women may need to be judicious in their use of red clothing.

"More generally, our finding that female red carries sexual meaning will likely be of considerable interest to fashion designers, marketers, and advertisers," he added.

The authors concluded that "as much as men might like to think that they respond to women in a thoughtful, sophisticated manner, it appears that at least to some degree, their preferences and predilections are, in a word, primitive."

The study has been published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

Adele Gives Middle Finger Salute at Brit Awards (watch!)

UK singerAdele often swears like a sailor and apparently knows how to gesture like one, too. She gave the middle figure salute when the host at the the UK equivalent of the Grammys cut off her acceptance speech.

The 21 singer swept all six Grammys she was nominated for at theAmerican awards show earlier this month, She must have felt entitled to say at least a few words to the British people, after winning the Brit Award forAlbum of the Year.

“Nothing makes me prouder than coming home with six Grammys and then coming here to the Brits and winning album of the year,” she said. “I’m so, so proud to be British and to be flying our flag. And, I’m so proud to be in the room with all of you,” she said.

At that point host and comedian James Corden cut: “And, I can’t believe to cut off… I’m so sorry.”

“Can I just say, Goodbye, and I’ll see you next time around, eh?,” Adele piped in, flipping up her middle finger.

The 23-year-old appeared as though she was flipping off the crowd, but she explained later that it wasn’t meant for them or her fans.

“I was about to thank the British public for their support and they cut me off, and I’m sorry if I offended anyone,” she said. “But the suits offended me, so thank you very much for all of your support.”

“We regret this happened and we send our deepest apologies to Adele that her big moment was cut short this evening due to the live show over-running,” a spokesman for the show said afterward.

Earlier, Adele had sung a sterling rendition of her song, “Rolling in the Deep,” which she also sang at the Grammys.

The British people probably could have used the encouragement with unemployment near 1930 levels and the country likely headed for another recession.

Hopefully, Adele didn’t act out during the UK’s family time on television. Otherwise, their strict censors may step in with an investigation

Wipro launches ultrabooks

Wipro Infotech, the India, Middle East and Africa IT Business unit of Wipro Ltd today launched a series of ultra-portable notebooks, which includes the country's slimmest and first 14-inch ultrabook called the Aero Ultra.


The range comprises of Aero Alpha, Aero Book and Aero Ultra.


Aero Ultra comes with about 19.3mm thickness, making it the slimmest notebook available in India. It weighs about 1.7 kg and comes with a 4GB memory and 500 GB hard disk. The e.go Aero range is priced between Rs 39,000 and Rs 49,000.


Ashok Tripathy, VP and Business Head, Wipro Systems and Technologies said the initial adoption of the product is expected to be at the enterprise level. "Wipro has understood that there is a need for light-weight, powerful yet affordable laptops in India. E.go primarily targets the progressive Indian on the move," he said.


According to research firm Gartner, the Indian PC market had declined 6.5 per cent in the final quarter of 2011.The combined desk-based and mobile PC market in India totaled close to 2.5 million units.

10 Things we forget daily

Busy lifestyles and hectic schedules are taking such a toll on the mental health of people that they forget five important tasks or facts during the course of a typical day, a new study has said.

According the poll of 2,000 adults commissioned by Avery Office and Consumer Products, more than half of the people surveyed blamed theirforgetfulness on trying to do too many things.

Failing to return calls, replying to important emails, forgetting colleagues' names, leaving paper in the printer and neglecting to grab our packed lunch on our way out of the house feature high on the list of the most common omissions.

A quarter of those surveyed said they were expected to remember too much, and a fifth said there weren't enough hours in the day to deal with everything.

More than half said that they tend to forget things more frequently as they get older.

One in five forget important passwords, a quarter of them forget to charge their mobile phone battery and a further 12 percent said that they get a rude awakening every weekend because they forget to turn their alarm clocks off.

"People have so much to do in their lives that the most basic things like remembering to bring lunch to work or replying to important emails are being completely forgotten about," the Daily Mail quoted Gregg Corbett as saying.

"This then causes further complications when we try to correct things that we've overlooked.

"It seems the more we can do to simplify people's daily lives, the better all of us will feel and the less mistakes we will make.

"Both at home and at work, people seem to be forgetting things more and more," he added.

The tope 10 most forgotten things are:

Return phone calls

Reply to emails

People's names

Send birthday cards

Charge phone

Passwords

Take meat out of the freezer

Water plants

Pick up things from the printer

Take the rubbish out

Miley Cyrus Adds New Expression of Love in Tattoo (photo)

Miley Cyrusis well on her way to becoming a illustrated woman. She’s added yet another tattoo to her motley collection. There’s nothing fancy, or meaningful about it like her last two. It’s just a bromide.

Miley and boyfriendLiam Hemsworthpopped into Studio City Tattoo in Los Angles last night (Feb. 18) and Miley sat for some ink.

The art work was a simple slogan on the inside of her left bicep. It reads: “Love Never Dies.” She poses with the artist Illyaafterward. He’s also tattooed Miley in the past, according to reports. So far most of her inkings have mostly been small, understated and in support of a cause.

Her first tattoo, the words “Just Breathe” on the left side of her chest just under her breast, is also the slogan of a group fighting cystic fibrosis, a disease of the lungs. She got it in honor of a young child she met who died from the disease.

But her fifth tattoo covers most of her left rib cage under her arm. It’s a replica of the “dream catcher” that hangs over her bed. She also has a small heart and a cross tattooed on her fingers and the word “love” tattooed in one ear.

She added a sixth tattoo, an anchor, by Brazilian tattoo artist Fabio Sattori during her Gypsy Heart tour in Brazil.

The starlet arrived at the tattoo parlor at 8 PM with Hemsworth and a few other friends, according to TMZ, which broke the story.

Miley was wearing a sleeveless Van Halen tee-shirt. Check out Miley’s tattoo photos, including her most recent and previous inkings.

Species extincting slowly..

The Golden Toad was last seen on May 15, 1989, and is presumed to be extinct.

The world's biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate, according to the most recent Global Species Assessment and many other related studies. As a result, more extinctions are predicted for 2012.

While extinctions have been occurring on our planet since close to the beginning of life on Earth, we are now essentially living through an experiment with no predictable outcome. The prior five major mass extinctions, for the most part, happened over relatively long periods of geological time.

SCIENCE CHANNEL: 10 Extinct Species

In contrast, it's believed that some 10,000 species have gone extinct in just the past 100 years, with the evolution of new species not keeping up with the losses. Human activities, such as habitat encroachment, hunting, pollution and more are largely to blame.

According to Conservation International...

At least 15 species have gone extinct over the past few decades. The real extinction figure is believed to be much higher, however, due to the conservative approach used in such listings;
Thousands of animal, plant and lichen species are now considered at risk of extinction;
One in three amphibians (32%) and almost half (42%) of turtles and tortoises are now known to be threatened with extinction, along with one in eight birds (12%) and one in four mammals (23%);

There are major gaps in our knowledge of threatened species, and many species-rich groups have been poorly assessed;

The numbers of threatened species are increasing across almost all major taxonomic groups;Continental species extinctions have become as common as extinctions on islands, which are typically more ecologically fragile, and Current extinction rates are at least one hundred to a thousand times higher than background, or "natural" rates.

WIDE ANGLE: BIG QUESTIONS FOR 2012

Here are some species, including plants and insects, which are already considered to be extinct in the wild and could completely disappear in 2012:

Anaxyrus baxteri (Wyoming Toad)

Bromus bromoideus (Brome des Ardennes)

Clermontia peleana (Pele Clermontia)

Commidendrum rotundifolium (Bastard Gumwood)

Corvus hawaiiensis (Hawaiian Crow)

Cryosophila williamsii (Root-spine Palm)

Cyanea superba (Superb Cyanea)

Cyanea truncata (Punaluu Cyanea)

Cyprinodon alvarezi (Perrito De Potosi)

Cyprinodon longidorsalis (La Palma Pupfish)

Cyrtandra waiolani (Fuzzyflower Cyrtandra)

Elaphurus davidianus (Père David's Deer)

Encephalartos brevifoliolatus (Escarpment Cycad)

Encephalartos nubimontanus (Blue Cycad)

Encephalartos woodii (Wood's Cycad)

Franklinia alatamaha (Franklin Tree)

Gallirallus owstoni (Guam Rail)

Kokia cookei (Molokai Koki`o)

Leptogryllus deceptor (Oahu Deceptor Bush Cricket)

Mammillaria glochidiata (Biznaguita)

Mangifera casturi (Kalimantan Mango)

Megupsilon aporus (Catarina Pupfish)

Mitu mitu (Alagoas Curassow)

Nectophrynoides asperginis (Kihansi Spray Toad)

Nilssonia nigricans (Black Soft-shell Turtle)

Oryx dammah (Scimitar-horned Oryx)

(Scimitar Oryx at Sydney Taronga Zoo; Wikimedia Commons Image)

Partula dentifera (Polynesian Tree Snail)

Partula faba (Polynesian Tree Snail)

Partula hebe (Polynesian Tree Snail)

Partula mirabilis (Moorean Viviparous Tree Snail)

Partula nodosa (Polynesian Tree Snail)

Partula rosea (Polynesian Tree Snail)

Partula suturalis (Moorean Viviparous Tree Snail)

Partula tohiveana (Moorean Viviparous Tree Snail)

Partula tristis (Polynesian Tree Snail)

Partula varia (Polynesian Tree Snail)

Skiffia francesae (Golden Skiffia)

Sophora toromiro (Toromiro)

Stenodus leucichthys (Beloribitsa)

Thermosphaeroma thermophilum (Socorro Isopod)

Trochetiopsis erythroxylon (Redwood)

Zenaida graysoni (Socorro Dove)

Also at risk are species listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. You can see the complete list here.

It can be a challenge for conservationists to target and try to save an individual species, beyond trying to put it in a zoo, save its genes for an animal gene bank, or initiate breeding programs in captivity. Another approach to staving off extinctions is to focus on biodiversity hotspots, which are identified as being among the most species-rich, at risk places on Earth.


Researchers are also still trying to undermine deadly diseases that are causing rapid population reductions to certain species. White Nose Syndrome, for example, is a horrific fungal disease that is killing many North American bats. Devil Facial Tumor Disease is yet another nightmarish illness that is killing off countless Tasmanian devils.

Why love is actually a 'drug'

It is often believed that 'love is a drug'' and now a new research has confirmed that romance really does work in a similar manner as addiction to illegal substances and activates a reaction in the same part of the brain.

Those smitten will produce an emotional response in the part of the grey matter usually involved with motivation and reward.

Our brains have been hardwired to choose a mate, and we become so motivated to win them over that we are sometimes willing to go to extreme lengths, the Daily Mail reported.

The reward comes by identifying that something feels good and is worth the effort.

"You can feel happy when you're in love, but you can also feel anxious," said Lucy Brown, a neuroscientist at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

Professor Brown insisted that the reward part of the brain or pleasure centre is vital for our survival as this drives the need to have sex.

"Intense passionate love uses the same system in the brain that gets activated when a person is addicted to drugs," co-author Arthur Aron, a psychologist at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, said.

Their study looked at magnetic resonance images of the brains of 10 women and seven men who claimed that they were deeply in love.

The length of their relationships ranged from one month to less than two years.

Participants were shown photographs of their loved one, and photos of a similar-looking person.

It found that romantic love is one of the most powerful emotions a person can have.

They also divulged that the length of time couples were together made little difference to the intensity of their feelings.

The researchers discovered that in each of these long-term lovers, brain regions were also stimulated when they looked at photos of their partners.

Long-term love showed activity in the regions associated with attachment and liking a reward.

"For most people, the standard pattern is a slow decline in passionate love but a growth in bonding," Dr Aron said.

"As long as love remains, we get used to the relationship, and we're not afraid our partner will leave us, so we're not as focused on the craving," Dr Aron added.

Google cleared to buy Motorola Mobility

 US and European regulators have approved Google's $12.5bn (£8bn) purchase of Motorola Mobility and said they would keep a sharp eye on the web search giant to ensure patents critical to the telecommunications industry would be licensed at fair prices

It was one of a series of approvals that underscored the scramble by technology companies to acquire big pools of patents.

The US Justice Department also approved an Apple-led consortium's purchase of a patents from bankrupt Canadian company Nortel Networks and signed off on Apple's purchase of patents formerly owned by Novell.

Google, whose Android software is the top operating system for Internet-enabled smart phones, said in August it would buy phone-maker Motorola for its 17,000 patents and 7,500 patent applications, as it looks to compete with rivals such as Apple and defend itself and Android phone manufacturers in patent litigation.

The acquisition, the largest in Google's history, will also mark the Internet search company's most significant foray into the hardware business - a market in which it has little experience. Some investors have worried that Google's profit margins may suffer as it becomes a hardware maker, although Google has said it intends to run Motorola as a separate business unit.

Regulators in China, Taiwan and Israel have still not signed off on the Google purchase of Motorola.

Antitrust enforcers on both sides of the Atlantic want to prevent companies from gouging rivals when they license patents essential to ensuring different communications devices work together.

"This merger decision should not and will not mean that we are not concerned by the possibility that, once Google is the owner of this portfolio, Google can abuse these patents, linking some patents with its Android devices. This is our worry," EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told reporters in Brussels.

The US Justice Department said it was reassured by Apple's and Microsoft's public statements that they would not seek injunctions in filing infringement lawsuits based on the Nortel patents.

"Google's commitments have been less clear," the Justice Department added in a statement. "The division determined that the acquisition of the patents by Google did not substantially lessen competition, but how Google may exercise its patents in the future remains a significant concern."

Mr Almunia said the EU might be obliged to open some cases in the future.

"This is not enough to block the merger, but we will be vigilant," he said.

Regulators in China have until March 20 to decide whether to approve the deal or start a third phase of review, according to a source close to the situation.

The purchase would give Google one of the mobile phone industry's largest patent libraries, as well as hardware manufacturing operations that will allow Google to develop its own line of smart phones.

Google, the newest major entrant to the mobile market, is already being sued for patent infringement by Oracle, which is seeking up to $6 billion.

The legal battles over patents between technology and smartphone companies has prompted the European Commission to open an investigation into legal tactics used by Samsung against Apple and whether these breach EU antitrust rules.

Some regulatory experts said the DOJ's comments in approving Google's acquisition of Motorola appeared to be more than mere boilerplate.

"They have to proceed with caution and tread lightly," said Shubha Ghosh, a professor at University of Wisconsin Law School who specializes in antitrust law and intellectual property, with regards to Google.

Regulators will be on the lookout for practices that might limit the entry of new smartphones or new technologies.

"If Google makes it more difficult for new technologies to emerge, by locking-in existing licensees of the patents so that it becomes not profitable for them to adopt other technologies, that's the kind of thing that might give rise to antitrust scrutiny down the road," said Mr Ghosh.

Google's move to buy Motorola Mobility came shortly after it tried and failed to buy Nortel's patents. The winner was an Apple-led consortium, which includes Research in Motion, Microsoft, EMC, Ericsson and Sony, which agreed in July to pay $4.5 billion for 6,000 patents and patent applications.

Google buys Motorola: A history in gadgets

Google plan to acquire Motorola Mobility, the mobile phone company, has been given the go-ahead in the US and Europe.. Motorola was already dedicated to producing smartphones only for the Android OS. Here we look back over the history of one of the mobile industry's marquee names.

Released last year, the Motorola Atrix attempts to combine the mobility of a smartphone with the usability of a laptop. the handset was among the first to feature a dual-core processor, significantly improving performance when running more demanding apps, such as word processors.

Released last year, the Motorola Atrix attempts to combine the mobility of a smartphone with the usability of a laptop. the handset was among the first to feature a dual-core processor, significantly improving performance when running more demanding apps, such as word processors.

Launched in America in October 2009, the Droid was widely seen as among the first credible challengers to the iPhone. It was Motorola's first Android-based smartphone and its success encouraged the firm to concentrate on working with Google.

Relations between Motorola and Apple are likely to become even more strained when it comes under Google's control, but it wasn't always that way. Released in 2005, the Rokr E1 was the first handset to be integrated with iTunes, allowing users to store and play their music on their phone.

The phone that started it all, the DynaTAC was the first conumer mobile phone. It hit the market in 1983, and became an icon, helped by appearances in classic 1980s movies such as Wall Street. Weighing three quarters of a kilogram, it was a brick by today's standards, but it kickstarted the mobile revolution. Although the networks that DynaTAC handsets used are no longer available, the handsets are highly prized by collectors who can pay more than £1,500 for a good example

No one ready to pay full sponsorship of Team India: Sahara

Sahara India said on Monday that no corporate was ready to shell out more than 50-60 percent of the current value of the sponsorship of Indian cricket team. 

Sahara, which has said it was pulling out of the team sponsorship over the way it has been treated by the BCCI, said that its chairmanSubrata Roy sounded other corporates to see if anyone could fully or partially sponsor Team India. 

To his surprise, none was willing to pay more than half of what Sahara was paying now, Sahara said in a statement. 

"In the last 3-4 days, Subrata Roy and his team discussed the option of assigning full or partial sponsorship with some corporates. This was done because Sahara has committed to continue to support the Team Sponsorship for 2-4 months till a new sponsor is on board. 

"We were very surprised to note that though they were interested in the opportunity, yet (they) were not willing to pay more than 50-60 percent of the current value," Sahara said. 

Sahara accused the Board of Cricket for Control in India of backing out of a commitment to hold a joint news conference to explain their respective views on the issues that led to it withdrawal of its sponsorship of Team India and for pulling out of the ownership of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Pune Warriors. 

The Sahara statement came soon after Board president N Srinivasan told the media in Chennai about the decisions taken at its Working Committee meeting. 

While BCCI stated that its hands were tied by rules, Sahara shot back to say that the rules were framed by the cricket authorities. The rules, the company said, had no statutory binding. 

"Subrata Roy requested BCCI officials not to elaborate on the rules by saying that any disagreement in sports should be taken in perfect sporting spirit and should be resolved accordingly. 

"He further requested the BCCI president and his team that there is no point in quoting the rule book and debating it word by word. 

"After all, they were BCCI's own rules and not some constitutional rules of the government," he said. 

Sahara also complained that it was unfair that Pune Warriors was the only IPL franchise to pay an annual bank guarantee. 

"None of the earlier eight teams who entered IPL in 2008 deposit any bank guarantee against franchise fee. Of the remaining nine teams, only Sahara is required to deposit the bank guarantee. Considering that Sahara has never defaulted in last 12 years in any payment that was due to BCCI, this is out and out discriminatory in nature," Sahara said. 

Roy and his team Sunday met Srinivasan, IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla, BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale, board treasurer Ajay Shirke and IPL chief executive Sundar Raman in Mumbai to try thrash out the points of discord.

World's 'fattest man' needs 18 carers to keep him alive

A British man who weighs 58 stone and devours eight hotdogs for breakfast has been named the world's fattest man.

Keith Martin, 42, is so large that he is bed-ridden and he requires an army of 18 medical professionals to look after him, including ambulance staff, carers and nurses.

His needs are putting an extra drain on NHS resources and costing the taxpayer thousands of pounds.

Eight ambulance workers are required to help hoist his giant frame to a reinforced vehicle for frequent hospital visits close to his home in Harlesden, North-West London.

Trips for health checks are the only occasions in the past ten years on which he has left his bed. He also requires four carers to visit him twice a day and four nurses three times a week to wash him and monitor his health as his staggering weight is putting massive strain on his heart and other internal organs.

Medics say he would need to shed half his bulk before he could even be considered for a gastric band to aid his weight loss.

Martin took the crown of heaviest man on the planet after the previous title-holder - a 90-stone Mexican Manuel Uribe - went on a crash diet.

Uribe, 44, is still listed as the heaviest man in the Guinness Book of Records but is believed to have shrunk to a relatively svelte 31st 6lb. Martin has also overtaken another former world's heaviest man, fellow Brit Paul Mason.

Mason, a 51-year-old former postman from Ipswich, slimmed down from 70st to 49st after being warned he was dangerously close to death.

Super-sized Martin told a Channel 5 documentary, due to be aired next week, that his life of excess was triggered by the death of his mother when he was a teenager.

"My mother died when I was 16 and I didn't care about anything after that and I couldn't care less about what happened to me - I ate anything and everything," the Daily Mail quoted him as saying.

"I blame myself. It was my fault and I hate what I have done to myself," he added.

Martin typically starts the day with eight hot dogs and four slices of bread, or a pile of ham sandwiches followed by coffee with sugar.

Lunch includes a selection of chocolate bars, cakes, a packet of biscuits plus more coffees with sugar.

And for dinner he would have two whole roast dinners with all the trimmings, or 16 sausages plus a family-sized bag of oven chips washed down with coffee.

Martin has not had a girlfriend for 20 years and can no longer find clothes that fit him, as he is 5ft 9in with a six- foot waist.

He relies on round-the-clock support from carers and relatives with his two sisters taking it in turn to carry out house visits. He spends his days watching television and gorging on sweets, cakes, biscuits and sausages.

Martin is one of several morbidly obese Brits to appear in the TV programme Big ody Squad, which aims to raise awareness of the plight of more than a million similarly overweight people who cost taxpayers millions of pounds in home help costs every year.  

Pop legend Whitney Houston is dead

Iconic American singer Whitney Houston has died at the age of 48, her publicist said.

Houston's publicist Kristen Foster confirmed the singer's death.

The cause of her death was not immediately known. Six police cars were spotted in front of the Beverly Hilton hotel, where Houston was staying, the ABC News reported.

TMZ reports that paramedics were called there Saturday afternoon and found Houston unresponsive in her hotel room. According to TMZ, paramedics' attempts at CPR failed and Houston was pronounced dead at 3.55 p.m.

She was last seen publicly Thursday, when she appeared disheveled and disoriented in front of a Hollywood nightclub.

Houston returned to rehab in May of last year seeking treatment for drug and alcohol dependence. "Whitney voluntarily entered the program to support her long-standing recovery process," her publicist said at the time.

Whitney Houston was an award-winning singer, actress, producer and a former model.

She was the most awarded female artist of all time, garnering a total of 415 awards during her lifetime, according to Guiness World Records.

She is also one of the best-selling music artists in the world, having sold more than 170 million albums and singles before her death.

At her peak in the 1990s, Houston was a force to be reckoned with in the music industry. Her greatest hits included "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," "How Will I Know," and "I Will Always Love You."

The six-time Grammy winner staged a comeback in 2009, but was dogged by rumors that she was using drugs again.

In August 2009, Houston released "I Look to You," her first studio album in seven years. It sold 304,000 copies in its first seven days on the market, according to ABC News. In 2010, Houston launched her "Nothing but Love" world tour.

Pakistan bars 13000 obscene websites

Pakistani authorities have blocked 13,000 "obscene" websites and are taking more steps to prevent the spread of such materials through the internet, a top official said.

Parliamentary secretary for information technology Nawab Liaqat Ali Khan made the remarks while responding to a calling attention notice in the National Assembly or lower house of parliament.

"It is a serious issue and we are trying to address it," Khan said.

A ministerial committee and a sub-committee had been formed to look into the matter.

Khan expressed concern at what he described as the "rapid spread of obscene websites" and said the government currently has no mechanism to block all these websites.

"However, we take action on receiving a complaint. We are trying to devise a mechanism," he said.

Though China and India have installed an "automated filtration system", such measures are very costly, he said.

Even if such a system is installed in Pakistan, authorities will not be able to block all objectionable websites, Khan said.

Most of these websites are based outside Pakistan and authorities were unable to take action against them or penalise them, he said.

After a string of cases were filed in courts across Pakistan against blasphemous and pornographic contents on the internet, authorities last year began blocking websites.

Earlier, authorities had blocked popular portals like Facebook and YouTube but the move was criticised by civil society groups. Following protests, authorities began selectively blocking only pages that contained blasphemous and pornographic materials.

I could have been a mass murderer: Radcliffe

Daniel Radcliffe thinks that had he not landed a role in Harry Potter, he could have ended up as a killer.

The 22-year-old admitted that he would have gone 'crazy' in any other field of work.

"I would just be a nuisance in any other line of work. I think if I was in an office, I might come in one day and kill everyone," the Daily Star quoted him as saying.

"I might be one of those guys who just goes crazy," he said.

Despite his pangs for a massacre, the boy wizard believes that it was his childhood fame that helped him keep his sanity.

"People always say stuff like: 'You didn't have a childhood.' That's an insulting thing to say to somebody. Being on a film set is a fantastic place for a 10-year-old boy," he added.

Google to pay users for their search history

Search giant Google has announced that it will start paying some users in exchange for their search history as part of the company's new project called 'Screenwise'.

The new project, which aims to know more about how people use the Internet in their daily lives, is asking for volunteers to install a Chrome browser extension that allows data to be collected in exchange for "up to $25 in gift cards".

The company said that those who sign up would be given a $5 Amazon.com Gift Card code, and then an addition $5 gift card code every three months for staying with the project as a "thank you."

According to technology website Ars Technica, the Screenwise Data Collector project is offering $100 on signup, plus $20 per month up to one year's involvement.

"What we learn from you, and others like you, will help us improve Google products and services and make a better online experience for everyone," the Screenwise website said.

"To be eligible to join, you must be 13 or older, have a Google Account (or sign up for one), and be ready to use the Google Chrome browser," it added.

According to news.com.au, an official statement from Google said the panel is a small project that started at the beginning of the year and is completely optional to join.

"People can choose to participate if it's of interest (or if the gift appeals) and everyone who does participate has complete transparency and control over what Internet use is being included in the panel," the statement said.

"People can stay on the panel as long as they'd like, or leave at any time," it added.

Divorce Hotel: 'Untie the knot' overnight !

A hotel in The Netherlands that offers quick and cheap divorce is proving popular among couples who are desperate to end their marriage.

The 'Divorce Hotel' helps husbands and wives to arrange all the necessary legal documentation to end their marriage over the course of just two days.

They meet a mediator and series of lawyers behind closed doors who will split assets, agree alimony payments and arrange visitation rights - all for a fixed fee, News.com.au reported.

Entrepreneur Jim Halfens behind the concept said he spotted a gap in the market in a country where the average divorce can easily run into five figures and take months to complete.

"When they leave the hotel, all work is done," Halfens told Sky News.

"The only thing that happens then in Dutch law is that they have to show the agreement to a judge in the Netherlands and that takes a couple of weeks.

"They walk divorced out of this door and to make it official takes a couple of weeks," he stated.

He uses a number of high-end boutique hotels around the country, including the smart Carlton Ambassador Hotel in The Hague.

Sales manager Ninke Bons explains that the couples, who often check in together, but mostly choose to stay in separate rooms, are handled with care by the staff.

"We treat them as any other guests, we just try to keep a closer eye on them or make sure they are not wandering around by themselves," she said.

"Just as an example - we would normally inquire if a guest enjoyed their stay at the hotel. Well, obviously that's not very appropriate in the case of the 'Divorce Hotel," she added.

Couples have to apply to use the process and are rigorously screened by the divorce hotel legal team. If the husband and wives are squabbling, or barely on speaking terms, they are deemed unsuitable for the process.

The concept is thought to be perfect for TV and the multi-Emmy Award winning Base Productions is pitching a series to television networks in the US, and several are said to be interested.

Producer Mickey Stern says rather than a reality TV show - a genre born in the Netherlands - they are proposing a high-gloss documentary series examining couples as they go through the process and how conflicts are resolved as the spoils are divided.

Facebook use ‘elevates’ mood

People visit social networking sites like Facebook for reasons including the positive emotional experience they enjoy and want to repeat, a new study has claimed.

Measurements of physical and psychological responses such as breathing rate, brain activation, and pupil dilation, designed to assess a person’s psychophysiological state were collected by researchers from IULM University, Catholic University of Sacro Cuore, in Milan, Italy, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge.

The responses were collected in a group of individuals participating in either a relaxing or stressful task or being online on their own personal Facebook account.

The results of the study revealed a significantly different experience for stress or relaxation exposure compared to the response to Facebook.

The study has been published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.