Top Fictional 15

Forbes is well known for bringing out many lists on a variety of topics mostly concentrating on companies and individuals. Lists like List of Billionaires, Best small companies, Best large companies, Fastest growing tech... (one could keep on going!) have made it popular among business leaders all over the world. No wonder it describes itself as the "HOME PAGE FOR THE WORLD'S BUSINESS LEADERS".

Breaking away from its image as a Buisness Magazine, it also produces lists under Education, Food & Drink, Health & Style, Personal Finance, Places, Real Estate, Sports, Technology, Vehicles and Travel!



I came across a rather interesting list - The Forbes Fictional 15. This list gives the fiction world's wealthiest characters. Interestingly these fictional characters are worth much more than their real-life counterparts with their aggregate net worth being $111 billion!



Jogging my childhood memories, the stingy cartoon character Scrooge Mcduck was there and so was Mario, the unforgettable moustached character from the video gaming world.



Also registering their presence in the Top 15 were Lara Croft, Richie Rich, Willy Wonka & Lucius Malfoy. However out went Santa Claus, for the very first time in Fictional 15's history!

Profiles, giving a snapshot of lives of all the characters, have been created on the site. Surely interesting stuff!

Latest Tech News..

I have not been around for some days now....

So here are some latest tech news..

---> You Tube faces ban in Turkey over a clip insulting Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who was instrumental in shaping modern Turkey. This led to a "virtual war" between Turks and Greeks, with each side berating the other by posting videos on the website. Similarly Jack Straw, leader of Commons also supported plans to impose "control" on You Tube.

And ... similar to Anna Nicole's death it led to Wikipedia temporarily suspending editing of an article on Ataturk.

---> In a challenge to Yahoo! and Google, the founder of Wikipedia plans a search engine. "The idea that Google has some edge because they've got super-duper rocket scientists may be a little antiquated now," he said. The new search engine plans to take as much as 5 % of the search market.


----> To add to the "blocking" rage around the world, Wikipedia was banned in China.Founder Jimmy Wales accused Yahoo! and Google of aiding censorship in China saying "This is something I would never do. I think access to information is a fundamental human right."
In response to the block, the main page of the Chinese Wikipedia has added a message at the top directing any mainland China user who succeeds in getting through to a special status page.

More later...

Team India gets new outfit, but...

Indian Cricket Team's official apparel sponsor, NIKE unveiled a new "inspirational" outfit for the team for the upcoming World Cup in the Carribeans.



"Advanced Nike patented technologies have been incorporated into the cricket apparel to ensure zero distraction, superior comfort levels and enhanced performance", Nike said.

The jersey is made from Dri-FIT fabric, a Nike patented technology, which reduces cling and enables the skin to breathe better. The fabric is designed to wick sweat, which leads to better moisture management and is extremely light so that the player does not carry additional weight that may affect his performance.

Captain Rahul Dravid, Vice-Captain Sachin Tendulkar, former skipper Sourav Ganguly, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik donned the new outfit at the press release.

Twist in the tail!

But to add a twist to the tale, just 24 hrs. later the International Cricket Council (ICC) informed the Indian board that only uniforms approved and supplied by the sport's world governing body can be worn at the World Cup in the Caribbean!



So why were the stars paraded in those outfits? Obvious Nike had an eye on the coming World Cup and Indian market with its fanatical support for anything that relates with cricket.

Although the new outfit is already available on major online store like Amazon it appears that the Indian team can sport the new clothings only after the World Cup.

This comes after Nike won a $ 27.12 million ( Rs. 199.96 crores) deal in Dec 2006, to sponsor the Indian cricket team's clothes for the next five years. To put it in perspective, this is more than shirt deals struck by Juventus, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Man U!

While other sports are neglected...

Amid all this razzmatazz, other sports in India get a step-brotherly treatment. Read this story about a man, who once was the best player at the National Kho-Kho games in 1987, but now works as a daily labor.

Joke of the day!

Samajwadi Party, whose government headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav, is in danger of being pulled down in Uttar Pradesh (as it moved into minority), says it will withdraw support from the Congress led UPA government at the centre.



Read the news here.. and guess who published the news ... Sahara Samay owned by Subroto Roy.

Incandescent light bulbs are out..

Global Warming has a (welcome) victim in the good ol' "incandescent light bulb".

The Australian government plans to phase out Australia's 87 million standard light bulbs with fluorescent bulbs by 2009 or 2010. The Howard govt. wants consumers to pay $5 for an efficient compact fluorescent bulb rather than 50 cents for the wasteful incandescent variety that have lit up households for 125 years.



Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull says the expensive bulbs will pay for themselves within a year by reducing household electricity bills by up to 66 per cent and eventually cutting Australia's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by four million tonnes a year.

The move has received support from environmental groups and opposition parties. Australia ranks among the highest 1, 2 per head emission of GHG and is also the first country to initiate such "reforms".

Mr. Howard said, "We need to take practical measures in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

But it is difficult to see why he refuses to sign the Kyoto Protocol setting Greenhouse Gas reduction targets, instead requiring energy-hungry developing countries like India and China to help combat climate change!

United States, the largest emitter of GHG in the world has been the biggest culprit so far by obdurately refusing 1, 2 to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. But there are signs of some change 1, 2 in the outlook of the Bush Administration, already under immense pressure from nations and environmental groups.



With the world temperatures rising and its effects becoming all too visible 1 , 2 the efforts to reduce GHG emission are on a high now. Richard Branson, owner of Virgin brand, recently offered a prize of $ 25 million to anyone who can reduce billion of tons of CO2 from the atmosphere.

Hope sanity and good sense prevails, so that our beautiful earth - remains as ever beautiful!