Do we need to adjust leap second aftermath Tsunami?

Sumatran quake sped up Earth's rotation (Nature.com)
The tsunami disaster has changed the Earth's rotation rate too. According to the report, the disaster shaved millionths of a second off planet's day. According to Tom O'Brian, head of the US National Institute of Standards and Technology's Time and Frequency Division in Boulder, Colorado, which runs an atomic clock:

"I would be stunned if there was any change in the rotation rate that would necessitate addition or subtraction of a leap second."

Leap second is a second of time, as measured by an atomic clock, added to or omitted from official timekeeping systems annually to compensate for changes in the rotation of the earth.

How many radios do you have on your cell phone?

Multiple radios boggle cell phone design (CommsDesign)
Today's cell phones come with multiple radios. It should have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, IrDA, FM radio and what not. Among these, bluetooth has become de-facto standard for many people.

"There are simply too many wireless standards around. Just to get a technical understanding of how they are different and how you might market them to a user is difficult," said Jaap Haartsen, a chief scientist in the mobile-platforms group at Ericsson in Sweden.

Read the entire article from CommsDesign. There are quite a few interesting points.


Source: Om Malik on Broadband

Help Tsunami Victims

I have been blogging about this tragedy in my Indialog. There are lots of resources online where you can donate and help the victims. The death toll is already close to 200,000 though the official numbers are currently about 112,000. Tsunami has changed the map of South Asia in most parts. Om Malik has compiled a list of organizations that are helping the victims. Visit his post and go through the list and please donate whatever you can through any organization.

How can you watch Times Square fete?

CNET reports that MSN is going to webcast the whole event from start to finish. So, if you can't make it to the Times Square to watch what is famed to be locale's 100th New Year's Eve celebration, this is best wat to watch it, unless you have TV, which makes sense. The telecast at MSN portal will start at 5 PM and finish at 11:15 PM, Central Times.