Long gone are those days, when you remodeled your living in a different color and after all was said and done, you felt exasperated and utterly dissatisfied because the color you thought would suit best, turned out to be an eye sore.

However, all that is about to change with the introduction of an all new online service that, will now enable consumers to pre-select the colors for their redecoration efforts, without ever having to test them in reality. This new service is called Colorjive. The service boats of numerous colors that are catered specifically for redecoration purposes.

The colors are coded according to brands and once you have applied the colors of your choice, then you can go to the nearest hardware store and give the code of the colors you saw on Colorjive. The codes will help the store owner to locate the exact color that you require.

However, even with almost limitless shades of colors, some of them aren’t guaranteed to work on every computer and virtual room, because of the fact that, some of the color pallets might have usage limitations from the manufacturer’s side and also because, many display monitors might not be able to bear such colors. Colorjive is an independent entity in itself, meaning that the website isn’t the property of any paint brand, thus providing you with unbiased opinion and color solutions, based on your choice and needs.

Via Smashing Apps.

The researchers at Electrawinds have announced that, they have test driven a heavily modified Audi A4 diesel model for 24 hours on fuel made entirely of animal fats. The all new experiment has proven that, animal fat can in fact be used an alternative to petrol, gasoline and diesel, the fuels that drive our current vehicles and contribute enormously to the Global Warming phenomenon.

The team of Electrawinds, that was led by the manager of the company collected animal fats from places like slaughter houses etc. and ran only on animal fats and consumed zero bio diesel, making the world’s first automotive ever to run entirely on animal fats. Electrawinds is Belgium’s premier and the largest renewable energy plant has two operational installations in the cities of Ostend and Mouscron. It specializes in in extracting pure energy by burning animal fats and has been supplying clean and green electricity to 85,000 families in the region.

According to a company spokeswoman,

“Our aim was to show that renewable energy is more than just wind turbines and solar energy.”

Via Green Diary.

After a long standing legal battle between the online auction giant, eBay and the internet telephony company, Skype has finally led to the salvation of Skype, as eBay has sold out a major share of telephony company, but still retains 30% stake in Skype. It is one of the most biggest and most successful web telephonic company, that provides its users with free calling between Skype and also provides

Skype has been sold a group of investors, after eBay managed to complete a successful assessment of Skype’s value that finally reached to $2.75 billion. The group on investors that, bought Skype includes Andreessen Horowitz, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), Joltid Limited and the brains behind Skype, Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis. Ebay had purchased Skype on the year 2005.

However, the founders of Skype had filed a lawsuit against eBay earlier this year, that almost brought the end of the world’s most preferred web phone company. In the lawsuit, the founders of Skype had stated that, the technology for Skype was their own creation and also accused eBay of violating the licensing agreement. The court case was later settled as Zennström and Friis were finally given a share of their company.

According to Josh Silverman (President, Skype),

“Great news – we’ve closed the deal with the new investors. Our journey continues: say hello to the future!”

Via Sky & Skype.

Philips has announced that, it has introduced a whole new range of service designed and developed specifically for the heart patients who check in the National Heart Center Singapore (NHCS), in which the cardiac patients will now experience virtual environments that have also been employed by Disney World.

This new feature is known as Philips’ Ambient Experience and the patients will experience a host of ambient environments including, African Savannah etc. that will also entail auditory fill ins as well. The goal is to make the grueling and at times the painful experience that the patients go through during the treatment phase.

As of now, there are more than 125 medical installations such as Fairview Hospital in Cleveland and the The Villages Regional Hospital in The Villages, Florida have already installed thhis new feature in their cardiac units, thereby creating a more friendly and rejuvenating environment, rather than the cold and and sterile room, as they usually are.

The psychological effects of this new technology are already proving to be a boon for the patients as, according to the latest figures released by several hospitals, there has been about 28% reduction in sedation given to the patients who are below the age of 4 and almost 16% reduction in sedation for those below the age of 18.

Via Cnet & Philips Healthcare.

The announcement of the is unique plan was made at the Interop technology conference in New York City. The plan is to use the existing networks that have been specifically designed for online multiplayer gaming by Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo and use these networks to issue emergency messages directly into the consoles, along with the regular channels such as radio, television and newspapers by the Emergency Management Office.

The newly devised plan is part of a string of initiatives called the Empire 2.0, taken by the New York administration, to ensure that the citizens are given enough reason to view the government as a transparent, participatory, and collaborative entity.

Via Information Week & SlashDot.

Today is the 20th anniversary of UN’s Convention on Rights of the Child and various ceremonies are being held all over the world to mark the event. This Convention on Rights of the Child (CRC) was signed in 1989 and it endorses and guarantees basic right of all children to life, education, play and protection from abuse. This landmark human rights treaty it seems was ratified by record 193 countries with noteworthy intriguing omission of two nations -US and Somalia.

Has this Convention on Rights of the Child made any difference to the state of children around the world? There are record high number of children dying every day due to disease, lack of proper nutrition and conflicts. Overflowing orphanages, abandoned children, school drop-outs and child labor still exist. Gun totting child soldiers in Congo and other parts of the world are a reality. Scores of children are getting killed, maimed and injured due to continuing conflicts and wars all over the world. Many more are getting abused in the comforts of homes and school.

The only difference is modern world acknowledges child rights and there are various organizations which create awareness for its implementation, legalities to protect children are in place too but we are very far from creating a safe world for our children.

Via Guardian

Stem cell research has opened whole new way of treatment for various ailments and the most recent one has been of creating a new skin which could help seriously burnt patients immensely. Researchers from France have claimed that they have invented a way to create new skin from human embryonic stem cells.

According to the report published in Lancet journal stem cells were grafted on to mice and it took only 12 weeks for new human skin to form.  The technique involved was replication of biological process of formation of skin during embryonic growth.

This creation of human skin will bring hope to scores of seriously burnt victims who have to go through painful process of grafting their own skin or artificial nets which involves more time and risk of dehydration, infection and in the end of it all rejection too.

Everyday many people all around the globe become victims of serious burns due to various causes and can never recover completely from the scars.  New human skin from embryonic cells will open up an entire new effective way of treating skin burns.

via BBC

The all new feature available on the Kohl’s website is the ability of creating a list of items and commodities that will be available for the consumers for the Black Friday shopping season. The Friday after the U.S Thanksgiving, is traditionally known to be the beginning of the holiday shopping season. This new service will be available to all U.S user between November 22nd to November 27th 2009.

According to Julie Gardner, (Chief Marketing Officer, Kohl’s Corp.),

“In a tough economy for our customers, pre-shopping and planning their shopping are more important than ever because they really have to stretch their budgets. If we have a list, we stay well within our budget more.”

All Kohl’s stores across the U.S will remain open till 4 a.m. on Black Friday and will also be offering $10 coupons on every $50 purchases made by consumers along with ‘early bird’ deals on specific items as well. During the Black Friday season, the major retail stores throughout the United States are allowed to work till late hours at night and they offer sensational discounts and offers in an effort to generate more sales and revenue.

Via Bloomberg.

One of the biggest shopping seasons in the United States of America, also known as the Black Friday, as it falls on the first Friday after the Thanksgiving has made two of the biggest shopping networks, Wal-Mart and Target come out with all guns blazing. Both the companies have announced bottom dollar prices for their products and incredible deals on commodities that have the consumers run to their nearby Wal-Mart and Target outlets.

The all new explosive deals are targeted at electronic items such as, high-definition TVs, laptops and Blu-ray players etc. and also envelops day to day entertainment items for both children and adults such as, toys, DVDs etc. This new Black Friday shopping campaign by both the stores has raised their expectations as far as sales are concerned and the retail chains strongly believe that, this year’s holiday season will be extremely gratifying for their revenues and profits.

Even though Wal-Mart hasn’t announced all its commodities deals till yet, still some of the hot bargains that have indeed been by announced by the retail giant are, 50 inch Sanyo plasma HDTV for $598, Magnavox Blu-Ray disc player for $78, TomTom GPS System for $59, 
Reversible Fleece jacket for $7, Childrens sleepwear for $3. Apart from these daily items of use, Wal-Mart has lowered down the prices of some of the most sought after gadgets such as, Wii Play Bundle for Nintendo Wii for $39, Xbox 360 120GB Elite System w/ Free for $50, Xbox 360 Black Controller for $39, Gift Card for $299.99
, 
Lexar 4GB microSDHC Memory Card for $10.00
, Lexar 4GB SDHC Memory Card for $10.00 and 
Electronic Gadget 3-Slot Charging Station for $14.99.

Along with the above mentioned items that have been designated for the sale, Wal-Mart has also heavily focused on the entertainment section as well with a long list of items that are sure to make the consumers go on a shopping spree. These items include, a 15.6-inch eMachines laptop with 2GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, AMD CPU, and Windows 7 for $198, a 42-inch Emerson 720p plasma TV for $448, a 50-inch Sanyo plasma for $598, 46-inch Sony 1080p LCD TV for $798, Rock Band Special Edition (with all the instruments) for $50, Sony PlayStation 3 Slim with two games and a Blu-ray disc for $299, 320GB Western Digital external hard drive for $49 and a 10.1-megapixel Sony Cyber-shot camera with 3x optical zoom for $79.

As far as Target is concerned, the retail store is selling the Westinghouse 32″ Widescreen LCD HD TV for only $246 and the Xbox 360 120GB Elite System for $299.99.

Via Tha Indian & Yahoo! Tech.

In yet another instance of the rising violence in Afghanistan, a suicide bomber, riding a motorcycle killed 13 people in Farah, Afghanistan and injured 30 more, among whom several of those injured are children. The Afghan polices repeatedly asked the motorcyclist to stop, instead the bomber detonated the explosives wrapped around him.

According to General Mohammad Faqir Askar (Provincial, Police Chief),

“These days Taliban are causing high casualties because the foreign forces and Afghan forces have been conducting operations against the insurgency in the region.”

Furthermore, the police chief stated that, three days before today’s attack, five militants and a Taliban bomb maker were killed in a raid.

This latest attack come just hours after the newly re-elected Afghanistan President, Hamid Karzai took the oath of Presidency and stated that, the peace between the insurgents and the country is paramount for his administration. In a statement he said,

“We invite dissatisfied compatriots, who are not directly linked to international terrorism, to return to their homeland.”

Also, Mr. Karzai wishes to see Afghanistan’s security forces more adept at securing the future of the country and has proposed a five year time table during which all Afghan forces will be trained and ready for taking over the security apparatus from the coalition forces, who are currently commandeering the security of Afghanistan.

The attack on the city square that killed 13 people was preceded by another suicide attack in the southern province of Zabul, where yet another suicide bomber took the lives of two U.S troops. The NATO forces stationed in the region have stated that, in the recent months, there has been an increase in the influx of Uzbek fighters in Afghanistan and in a recent search operation, Afghan and the coalition forces shot and killed an Uzbek fighter, who was believed to be the financier of militant activities and logistics provider.

Via Associated Press.