I was shocked to hear that the IPL was going to held elsewhere other than INDIA. I got the news from Yahoo!

Cricket's lucrative Indian Premier League will be organised
abroad this year as the government says it can not provide security at the same
time as national elections, an official said on Sunday. "Due to the attitude of
the government that it cannot provide security for the tournament, we are forced
to take a decision to move the IPL out of India," the country's cricket chief
Shashank Manohar told reporters here.
"A final decision on the venue will be
announced in two to three days."
South Africa and England are the two
countries being considered as the likely venues, an IPL source told AFP.
IPL
commissioner Lalit Modi told reporters at the same media briefing that the
59-match tournament would be held between April 10 and May 24.

Gmail has brought up a new feature in the Google Labs: Undo Send - feature which allows you to edit/modify the email which you have sent just before. It's really interesting and helpful for those who are in hurry when they send email. If you just forgot to include something just undo send and make the changes and then resend it.. Wow !

GMAIL says:

"Sometimes I regret sending a message the
morning after. Other times I send a message and then immediately notice
a
mistake. I forget
to attach a file or email the birthday girl that I can't make her
surprise
party. I can rush to close my browser or unplug the Internet — but
Gmail almost
always wins that race. An email to the wrong Larry pushed me
over the edge. I
could undo just about any other action in Gmail — why
couldn’t I undo send? Many
people agreed, including Yuzo Fujishima, an
engineer in the Tokyo office. My
theory (which others
shared) was that even just five seconds would be enough time to catch
most
of those regrettable emails. And now you can do just that. Turn on Undo
Send in Gmail
Labs under Settings, and you’ll see a new “Undo” link on every sent mail
confirmation. Click “Undo,” and we’ll grab the message before it’s sent and
take
you right back to compose."

Official Gmail Blog: New in Labs: Undo Send

Punk fashion is the styles of clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewelry, and body modifications of the punk subculture. Punk fashion varies widely from Vivienne Westwood styles to styles modeled on bands like The Exploited. The distinct social dress of other subcultures and art movements, including glam rock, skinheads, rude boys, greasers, and mods have influenced punk fashion. Punk fashion has likewise influenced the styles of these groups, as well as those of popular culture. Punks use clothing as a way of making a statement.

The 1970s were a strange and progressive time for fashion. The most memorable fashion trend of the 70s was the rise of disco fashion that was popular throughout the mainstream. Seemingly symbolizing glamour and excess, it wasn’t surprising that a new type of fashion trend emerged that seemed to be the antithesis of disco fashion: punk fashion. Whereas disco fashion represented celebration, punk fashion represented anti-authority. Disco fashion was reflective of excessively enjoying your life, whereas punk fashion drew its inspiration from a source of anger. Punk fashion was considered to be arty, underground, and weird. However, strangely enough, punk fashion is now far more influential in current fashion than disco fashion, and dare we say, even more mainstream.
It’s very strange to see how punk fashion has been co-opted in the latest fashion trends, but it’s true. Such punk fashion staples as controversial t-shirts, tattoos, leather jackets, skinny ties, military boots, Chuck Taylor All Stars shoes, and short, spiky hair are quiet common when you go through any town in this country. Dyed hair, ripped fishnet stockings, heavy eyeliner, and safety pins are common punk fashion accessories that can be seen in popular fashion today.
It is important to remember that there are so many different subcultures of punk fashion that have their own different fashion rules. For example, early punk fashion was strongly defined by the designs of Vivienne Westwood. An amalgamation of mod and greaser fashion styles, early punk fashion was truly confrontational, although also a bit flaky. More popular punk fashion includes what is known as skate punk fashion. Skate punk fashion traditionally involves wearing baggy or torn jeans. Additionally, hooded sweatshirts or hoodies that include some kind of logo is practically a uniform in skate punk fashion. Of course, wearing skate shoes made from such popular brands as Vans, Etnies, Emerica, and so many others is considered to be the norm in skate punk fashion.
Of course many punks decry skate punk fashion as being too mainstream and there are many other types of punk fashion subcultures that are also becoming popular. Punk has always had a political edge to it and this can be seen in what is known as crust punk fashion. Generally in crust punk fashion that is influenced by 80s punk fashion (particularly hardcore) involves wearing camouflage trousers, torn shirts of popular punk bands, and studded vests. Patches that have political messages are worn and in many cases crust punk fashion involves dreadlocks. On the flipside of this is what is known as horror punk, which combines traditional punk fashion with goth fashion. Black clothes are worn and makeup is elaborately worn by both sexes. This type of punk fashion is heavily influenced by the popular 80s punk band, The Misfits.
It’s truly amazing to see how much influence punk has had on the music and fashion world. What started out as a spontaneous fashion movement that was opposed to the mainstream has become part of the mainstream. However, with its innovative designs and stylish looks, it’s easy to see why punk fashion has succeeded for all of these years!

In the late seventies, a new and distinctive sound arose from the streets of New York. The sound was hip-hop, and nearly twenty years later, it has transcended the street parties and music clubs of New York to become a worldwide cultural force.

Simply put, hip-hop music consists of a DJ mixing rhythmic passages of albums on a turntable while a rapper raps over the beats. But hip-hop is a culture unto itself, equipped with its own language, lyrical style, visual arts (graffiti), dance moves and look.

Although hip-hop is the musical outgrowth of urban African-American culture, its popularity is not bound by geography or culture. According to Soundscan, the company that charts record sales, three-quarters of all hard-core rap albums were sold to white consumers in 1994.

Furthermore, more and more suburban teens, taking their cue from their urban counterparts, have adopted the style and the trends of hip-hop's artists and its adherents.

From city, to suburbs and beyond...

Baggy pants, oversized athletic jerseys, expensive sneakers, long a fashion standard of the hip-hop community, have become the unofficial uniform of suburban fans. And thanks to music videos, films and hip-hop magazines, teens in the suburbs and outside the U.S. can stay informed with "what's going on" in the city.

This suburban emulation of urban style not only confirms the cross-cultural popularity of hip-hop, but it also recognizes the importance of the "street" in determining fashion trends. In the world of hip-hop, "street credibility" means acceptance. And for the fashion industry, attaining "street credibility" can mean big profits.

Clothes + Music = Fashion

Fashion and music have enjoyed a creative relationship in the past, just think of The Grateful Dead and hippies in the 60s, disco in the 70s and Madonna in the 80s. Often big-name fashion designers are the last to jump on the boat.

It took almost 20 years for the mainstream fashion industry to experiment with hip-hop fashions. Critics claim that the fashion industry's sudden interest in hip-hop stems more from the enormous profit potential of this untapped market of brand conscious consumers than from any creative interest. But whatever its reasons may be, big and small players in the mainstream fashion industry are looking toward the hip-hop community for inspiration.

Nepal Telecom the leading Telecommunication company here in Nepal has started to provide GPRS on GSM Networks ('NTC Mobile & Namaste'). At first Nepal Telecom brought this service for Post-Paid users but now It has annouced its service for Pre-Paid Users also. The Tarrifs are:

1) For Post-Paid Users

• Unlimited Access - Monthly Minimum 1000 Rs. + Registration charge 100 Rs. (One time charge)
• Volume Based (Usage based) - Monthly minimum Rs. 600 (User can call, send Message or Use Data service of the amount) + Registration charge 100 Rs. (One time charge) + Volume Consumed
• Per 2 Kb = 20 paisa

2) For Pre-Paid Users

• Volume Based - Registration Charge Rs.100 + Volume Consumed
• Per 2 Kb = 20 paisa.

What is e-Government?

E-government is the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) to transform the traditional government by making it accessible, transparent, effective and accountable. E-government does not mean putting more computers on the desks of government officials. And e-government is more than just a government website on the Internet. Political, social, economic and technological aspects determine e-governance. It establishes a relationship between government officials and citizens, providing greater access to government information and services by making the government accessible online; promoting citizen participation by enabling citizens to interact more conveniently with government officials, such as by requesting government service and filing required documents through website; increasing government accountability by making its operations more transparent, thereby reducing the opportunities for corruption; and supporting development goals by providing business, rural and traditionally underserved communities with information, opportunities and communications capabilities. E-government is not only used in developed countries. Some of the most innovative uses of the Internet in governance are being successfully used in the developing countries, as well.

E-government will not be successful just only buying more computers and putting up websites. It’s not sufficient to automate administrative practices from the paper system to digital system. Rather, e-government is a process of transforming government; it requires planning, political will and a sustained dedication of resources. Success of e-government will not be guaranteed with the mere purchase of advanced technology or the direct automation of complex procedures until it can increase the rate of citizen participation there by bringing about the greater effectiveness in government. Technology introduction can not change the mentality of bureaucrats who do not view the citizen as valued customer of government or an important participant in decision-making.

Why e-Governance?

We are in the process of building "New Nepal". "New Nepal " should not become only a popular slogan but really the "New Nepal" with all the positive values and aspirations of its citizens geared towards the peace and progress. There are many dimensions streamlined and drivers identified to make our "New Nepal" dreams come true. One of such dimensions is the reformation of the government. Governance and its service process should be well reengineered to fulfill the aspirations of its citizens. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and its tools can help its effective and efficient transformation.

With the advent of the information age, the ways we work, study, and live have been experiencing dramatic changes. Due to the influence of economic and information globalization and the rise of the digital economy, governments are "reinventing" themselves to meet new expectations and the priorities of citizens and businesses. These dynamics are compelling many governments to create a new vision for its relationship with businesses and citizens and to create a new organizational structure to fulfill its mandate. E-Government can fulfill the mandate of government formulating a new vision of how government views its citizens, employees and businesses, and building a citizen-centered, service-oriented, public-participative government with efficient, accountable, transparent and performance government system. ICT based online service is the most democratic and unbiased service system. It offers equal opportunity to all races, genders, ethnic groups.

E-Government breaks the barrier of geographical diversity and makes the government services handy to all citizens at villages who are even not connected by roads and opens up many opportunities, provided Internet connectivity is available either through wireless communication, fiber optic cables, dial-ups, VSATs or whatever other medium.

Besides providing service to citizens, it’s important to empower and motivate government employees to expect better service from them. E-Governance should transform the government workers into empowered knowledge workers. Nepal should not miss the benefits of global economy and specially the benefits offered by Internet.

Strategic Objectives of e-Governance:

The strategic objective of e-governance is to support and simplify governance for all parties - government, citizens, businesses and its employees. The use of ICTs can connect all three parties and support processes and activities. There may be two major objectives of e-governance:

1. Service to the Public:

This objective of e-government is to satisfactorily fulfill the public’s needs and expectations on the front-office side, by simplifying their interaction with various online services. The use of ICTs in government operations facilitates speedy, transparent, accountable, efficient and effective interaction with the public, citizens, business and other agencies.

2. Efficient Government:

In the back-office, the objective of e-government in government operations is to facilitate a speedy, transparent, accountable, efficient and effective process for performing government administration activities. Significant cost savings (per transaction) in government operations can be the result.

For implementing these strategies into reality, government must be subjected to transformation.

The transformation process is not so easy and not so simple. It requires a coherent strategy and should begin with an examination of the nation’s regulatory environment and the ability of the population to make use of planned technologies. The primary driving factor for e-government reform should not be the potential it offers to save money and reformation does not mean cutting staff. The savings incurred from e-government initiatives most often benefit the businesses and citizens utilizing the improved system more so than the government agencies that invested in them to begin with. In order to realize the benefits of transformation themselves, governments must develop a citizen-centric model involving key stakeholders outside of government—community, businesses, professional associations, scientists, academics and NGOs. Without their input and demand, even e-government projects that focus on internal government processes may not prove successful because citizens are unlikely to use a system that does not respond to their needs.

Process reform, leadership, strategic investment, collaboration and citizen participation are essential elements in the transformation process. Once government makes strategies to transform the governance process, it must prepare to meet the significant challenges and opportunities that will arise during implementation. The implementation process should address the issues of infrastructure development, law and public policy, e-literacy, accessibility, privacy, security and workforce issues. Awareness, education and rollout programs are also needed. To make the e-governance initiative successful, a good marketing program is required through out the country to encourage citizens to make use of them.

By: Rajesh Shakya, ICT and e-Governance Expert

Source: Egovernancenepal.blogspot.com

Due to various many reasons of under development of infrastructures, Nepal is far behind from other European and American countries in context of Web development. The development of electronic commerce has just started, here in Nepal. Due to lack of proper computer education people are not able to get sufficient computer knowledge. But Nowadays, since some years from the past there has been a rapid growth in the number of Computer Development Institutes and computer students. Website development has started in almost every sectors.

Development in Media:

Almost all media are fully utilizing the e-paper method to interpret the news. They are using it at the most they can to spread latest buzzs and alerts. The FM Stations are using it for Live Broadcast of their programs. Some of the media websites of Nepal are:

• http://www.ekantipur.com/, http://www.kantipuronline.com/ (Official website of Kantipur Publications Pvt. Ltd.)
• http://www.nepalnews.com/ (Operated by Mercantile Communications)
• http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/ (Online portal of The Himalayan Times daily)
• http://www.kfm961.com/ Kantipur FM
• http://www.bbcnepali.com/ BBC Nepali Service
• http://www.timesfm.com/ Website of Times FM
• There are many other media and their websites which I did not include here. I will post the different websites in other posts.

Governmental Organizations: (E-Governance)

Different Governmental Organizations are using e-service to make the government administrative works easier, faster and simpler. All the records of many of the governmental offices are fully digitalized.

• Government of Nepal used the E-Voting Service for the First time in Nepal on 28 Chaitra, 2064 for Constitutional Assembly Polls. (This service was tested/used on Voting Center, Kathmandu-1)
• Government of Nepal has declared to issue electronic social number for Citizens of Nepal, so that every governmental works of the citizen becomes easier.
• http://www.nepalgov.gov.np/, http://www.welcomenepal.com/

Search engines are one of the primary ways that Internet users find Web sites. That's why a Web site with good search engine listings may see a dramatic increase in traffic. Everyone wants those good listings. Unfortunately, many Web sites appear poorly in search engine rankings or may not be listed at all because they fail to consider how search engines work. In particular, submitting to search engines (as covered in the Essentials section) is only part of the challenge of getting good search engine positioning. It's also important to prepare a Web site through "search engine optimization." Search engine optimization means ensuring that your Web pages are accessible to search engines and are focused in ways that help improve the chances they will be found.
This next section provides information, techniques and a good grounding in the basics of search engine optimization. By using this information where appropriate, you may tap into visitors who previously missed your site.
The guide is not a primer on ways to trick or "spam" the search engines. In fact, there are not any "search engine secrets" that will guarantee a top listing. But there are a number of small changes you can make to your site that can sometimes produce big results.
Let's go forward and first explore the two major ways search engines get their listings; then you will see how search engine optimization can especially help with crawler-based search engines.

As per Wikipedia,

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via "natural" ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results. Typically, the earlier a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine. SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.
As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work and what people search for. Optimizing a website primarily involves editing its content and HTML coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines.
The acronym "SEO" can also refer to "search engine optimizers," a term adopted by an industry of consultants who carry out optimization projects on behalf of clients, and by employees who perform SEO services in-house. Search engine optimizers may offer SEO as a stand-alone service or as a part of a broader marketing campaign. Because effective SEO may require changes to the HTML source code of a site, SEO tactics may be incorporated into web site development and design. The term "search engine friendly" may be used to describe web site designs, menus, content management systems and shopping carts that are easy to optimize.
Another class of techniques, known as black hat SEO or Spamdexing, use methods such as link farms and keyword stuffing that degrade both the relevance of search results and the user-experience of search engines. Search engines look for sites that employ these techniques in order to remove them from their indices.

Major Search Engines:

• Google
• Yahoo!
• MSN
• Ask