Written on 11:04 AM by Unknown
Hey readers! Don't get startled by the heading...did not intend to but I must have grabbed a whole lot of attention here. Just that, I grabbed the novel - The Da Vinci Code (Illustrated Edition that I won in a National Geographic contest!). Its been lying on my bookshelf for about 6 months and i just dint touch it...I mean, I've already ready the normal edition once earlier and all the excitement was gone.
But this time, as I picked up and read..I was again fascinated by the facts in this book (most of the facts are claimed to be true by the author). Facts especially about the Holy Grail - Mary Madgelene was supposedly the wife of Jesus Christ and not a prostitute as claimed by the Vatican Church!
Then the fact that there exists a secret society by the name - "Priory of Sion", which has existed through centuries and whose grandmasters included people like Boticelli, Leonardo Da Vinci, Sir Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo etc.
Da Vinci was the most celebrated of the Priory grandmasters - and like all members of the secret society, was a worshiper of the sacred feminine, the divine Goddess whose worship the Church had almost eliminated by branding women as the tools of the devil and objects of temptation. All his works of art are said to have double meaning connotations and hints to his inclination, and his celebrated painting "Mona Lisa" is one of the most intriguing objects in the world. It is believed by some historians that Mona lisa is not actually a woman, but a fusion of male and female form. In fact, Da vinci Code claims that the name Mona Lisa is specially relevant for the fact that the name is an anagram:
Mona ~ Annagram of Amon - Egyptian God of male fertility
Lisa ~ Annagram of Isis - Egyptian Goddess of female fertility (also known as Lisa)
Da Vinci was too much of a genius in these matters. His painting - The Last Supper, is quite controversial in this regard and we'l talk about it in the next post.
PS: Apologies for the irregular posting. Have been busy with college projects!
Posted in
book review
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Written on 10:35 AM by Unknown
Friends and wazzhot readers, this is amazing news for you. I was shocked to receive an email recently which supposedly has the full first chapter of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - the 7th and final Harry Potter book by J.K. Rowling!
I really wish to share it with all of you and hence I have created a temporary new website where all of you can read it. Here's a portion of the first chapter:
The New Mission
The dark night sky seemed to show that something horrible had happened. Yet, it could never truly tell the atrocities laid forth on that sinister night. Two figures tore along the forgotten roads that lead to the deepest fears of most mortals. No words were exchanged, for there were no words that could explain what had just occurred. The most callous act of betrayal was nothing compared to what Professor Snape had just done.
Draco Malfoy felt Severus Snape’s hand tighten around his arm as the two rounded another shadowy corner. There was no time to pause. Draco made a motion to speak, but Snape quickly silenced him with a single glance. The Unbreakable Vow had been forged and completed. The impossible had been accomplished and nothing would ever be the same.
Albus Dumbledore was dead.
Draco felt his body shudder. The Dark Lord would not be pleased with the course of action he had failed to take. His mouth grew dry as he recalled....Read more
***
I cannot surely say if J.K Rowling's manuscript has been leaked...but this draft which claims to be the first chapter of the final Harry Potter book reads quite unbelievably convincing. If you forgot to check out the above link, do read the whole chapter here and please feel free to comment what you think.
Posted in
Harry Potter,
Harry Potter and the deathly hallows
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Written on 10:21 AM by Unknown
Mozilla Firefox, a free, open-source web browser for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X, has long had a loyal cult following. Now Datamation’s (an online tech magazine) readers have taken notice, choosing Firefox – narrowly – to win its Product of the Year award in the Anti-Spam category.
The other entrants in this popular category were Norton Internet Security 2007, Vanquish’s vqME, Bullguard’s Internet Security, and the Apache SpamAssassin Project’s SpamAssassin.
The upgraded Firefox browser has built-in phishing protection, which is turned on by default. It checks sites against either a local or online list of known phishing sites, which are authentic-looking Web sites set up by scammers to trick users into entering personal financial information. The list is automatically updated.
Users point to Firefox’s speed, stability, highly customizable interface and open code base. Firefox also has the ability to block those ultra-annoying pop-up windows.
Firefox users tout the fact that it is not integrated with Windows, which helps prevent viruses and hackers from causing damage if they somehow manage to compromise the browser. Firefox doesn't support VBScript and ActiveX, two technologies that allow many IE security holes. Additionally, no spyware/adware software can automatically be installed in Firefox when users inadvertently visit an infecting site. The open source browser also gives users complete control over cookies.
“Firefox's anti-phishing features are a welcome addition to the browser and have been solidly implemented,’’ enthuses Leslie Franke, a systems analyst at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., in Akron, Ohio. Franke has used Firefox as her default browser since the summer of 2003, when it was operating under the name Firebird. “There is no question that anti-phishing features are desperately needed in all browsers and Firefox is at the head of the pack.”
Franke says she especially likes that Firefox enables phishing filters by default and that “the steps taken when a phishing site is found are straightforward and easy to understand.”
Mitch Keeler, a resident of Vernon, Texas who runs a site called Firefox Facts, has used the browser for over three years. Keeler says the anti-phishing features are a plus for less experienced Internet users.
“The phishing protection feature warns Firefox users when they stumble upon suspected phishers, and offers to take them off the Web page or to a Web page where they can find what they are really looking for via search,’’ he says.
Firefox vs. Internet Explorer
How does Firefox stack up against Microsoft’s Internet Explorer? Last November, software testing firm SmartWare released a report based on tests it conducted on the Firefox 2.0 and IE7 browsers, both of which include new technology to help flag and block phishing sites.
In a third-party test that pitted the browsers against two week's worth of phishing sites, the test indicated that Firefox's phish “net” may have fewer holes than IE's. Firefox blocked 243 phishing sites that IE7 overlooked, while IE7 blocked 117 sites that Firefox did not, according to the report.
But Craig Roth, vice president at technology research firm Burton Group, said people should not put too much stock in one test.
“It's a matter of how it’s keeping up with attacks over time that is important,’’ says Roth.
He says people have long paid attention to Firefox because it has a certain David and Goliath element to its story. Where the browser will prove its merit in the future, says Roth, lies in Mozilla’s ability to stay on top of the security features it has implemented.
“It’s the infrastructure and the people behind it who track where attacks are coming from that give this [Firefox’s anti-phishing features] its value. So if the technology feature is there to check certain websites against a blacklist, that alone doesn’t do anything. It's the blacklist that has to be continually updated,’’ he observes.
If you still browse the internet on Internet explorer, please take my advice and try firefox for once. You can download it from the top button in the right sidebar.
Posted in
internet
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