Book Review: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Click to enlarge. I have this version of the book and I want the succeeding ones related to the cover but I’m not sure they still exist.

I’ve been looking for a cheap version of this book for, perhaps, six years now. It was only by rough chance, and a good deal of sorting through a bunch of old piled books, that I found this lying underneath the rubble. It was in very mint condition given that it still has the plastic cover protecting the whole book itself from aging. It’s original price was at 719.00 php but I got it as 200 instead. Sweet deal, right? I’ve been looking for the rest of the series but luck has yet to smile on my search.

Let me give you a quick review since I’m a bit pressed for time. This book is meant for young adults but I’m 24 and I still enjoyed it. In fact, I enjoyed it so much I was willing to purchase all the series on day 3 of this book.  Perhaps Scott knows how to fish because his book got me hook, line, and sinker.

How can India and Africa collaborate to co-create a brighter future?

Regal and captivating in their own harmony, India and Africa vary in a lot of ways. India with its changing scenery and a huge diversity of people and environment can be associated to the entire land mass of Africa. India being a rising nation itself along with comparable and lower paced African nations faces colossal hurdles in the path of preserving the environment. But the cumulative need have urged the focus in the direction of the shared goal and teamwork with healthy competition can go a long way in making sure that the forthcoming generations are not dispossessed of the wealth of Mother Nature.

India and Africa have together industrialized and continued a long standing ancient connection. These resemblances were a consequence of having communal lands, climate and environs and they exist till date. There are indications of racial likenesses between Dravidians of India and African races. There are animal classes- both land-dwelling and deep-sea that are found wholly in and round these lands and there are landforms in the two regions that share comparisons that are hard to disregard. The two traditionally rich land masses have been cooperating since thousands of years through trade roads that occurred long ago and have once diversified up to a degree that the group if invigorated now can lead to very industrious accomplishments in expansion. The two countries have been allies in the fight against colonialism. Africa at the present shares developmental targets with India, as the two share difficulties and concerns as a product of vast resemblances. The two lively democracies own an intercontinental standing and there is massive potential if a shared future is directed.

The world currently is provoked with host of ecological matters which desires a critical reflection. Ecological issues cut across landmasses and do not only touch parts of the world where they are instigated but have a multiplier effects across the globe. There is consequently the superseding necessity to preserve the environment to defend humankind and other living creatures.

The following are present conservational issues and possible intercession that India and African states can institute to help address ecological issues.

The Next Galaxy! Samsung announces it’s most powerful warrior yet!

I saw this on PEX and the whole trailer was just cool:

Samsung Galaxy S3: Exynos 4 Quad Chip Promises a Speed Demon

For the first time, Samsung has provided some information about what its upcoming flagship device – Galaxy S3 – is going to boast. Samsung has rolled out its new speed demon – the Exynos 4 Quad processor chip – that the company has confirmed will power its next Galaxy smartphone scheduled for launch on May 3.

The new chip is designed to give a superior performance and power efficiency. Folks at Samsung claim that the Exynos 4 Quad processor will support clock speeds higher than 1.4 GHz. This statement also coincides with the rumored spec that Galaxy S3 will support quad-core 1.5 GHz Exynos processor.

Thanks to the 32 nanometer manufacturing process, the new silicon will save 20 percent more power than its predecessor (45-nanometer). For more power saving, it will have option to turn off each core whenever not required.

Here’s the official site!

I’m gonna save up to buy this for my birthday! 😀

Steve Jobs dies at 56

Thank you for everything

9/11 Remembered: POV from space last September 11 2001

Grabbed from this site

Click the image to further enlarge

It saddens me how religion and politics never help each other.

Remember 9/11 this Sunday at 8:46 AM; wherever you are.

Google closes LABS; NASA’s Atlantis ends 30-year “Shuttle Era”

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Sad news for anyone who has enjoyed a giddy thrill or two of playing with a freshly released app from Google Labs: Google has announced it’s closing down the labs and killing off many of the experimental products created therein, all in the name of increasing its focus on developing products that have obvious benefits to the company’s bottom line.

Google announced the news on its official blog, stating, “We’re prioritizing our product efforts. As part of that process, we’ve decided to wind down Google Labs. While we’ve learned a huge amount by launching very early prototypes in Labs, we believe that greater focus is crucial if we’re to make the most of the extraordinary opportunities ahead.”

😦 I can’t do my random moments of fun anymore. It’s all about money, I tell you.

SOURCE

Ferguson eased Atlantis onto the runway at 5:57 a.m. EDT (0957 GMT), ending a 5.2 million-mile (8.4 million-km) journey and closing a key chapter in human space flight history.

“Mission complete, Houston,” Ferguson radioed to Mission Control.

Astronaut Barry Wilmore from Mission Control answered back, “We’ll take this opportunity to congratulate you Atlantis, as well as the thousands of passionate individuals across this great space-faring nation who truly empowered this incredible spacecraft, which for three decades has inspired millions around the globe.”

Atlantis’ return from the 135th shuttle mission capped a 30-year program that made spaceflight appear routine, despite two fatal accidents that killed 14 astronauts and destroyed two of NASA’s five spaceships.

I’ll miss watching shuttles being launched into space. There’s nothing like watching something so big go very high with all the boosting and smoke and shit. I think this’ll be revived someday. Who knows? Maybe an underground group or some crazy billionaires-only club would want to see what the Earth looks like from the Moon.

iPad: There’s something wrong with it

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When I woke up today, it took me about half an hour to get up to speed with the iPad. After I’ve read a couple of articles, I already knew everything there was to know about it (and more): its advantages, its flaws, and its potential.

But hidden between the lines of all that iPad coverage I’ve learned a thing or two about Apple and its plans, mostly from the things iPad is missing.

The thing is, Apple didn’t omit a camera or multitasking by accident. An engineer didn’t come up to Steve Jobs on Tuesday saying “I don’t know how to tell you this, Steve, but we’ve forgotten about the camera. No, please, not the head! Ouch!” They’ve omitted all these things on purpose, and this purpose tells you more about Apple’s plans than the things they did put in.

Click the link above for the full article