26/11 fires rage on, say Bollywood celebrities

Members of the Indian film fraternity remembered all those who lost their lives in the Mumbai terror attacks on its second anniversary this Friday. Many actors say the pain of the mayhem, in which 10 Pakistani terrorists held Mumbai hostage, killing 166 people, is still fresh in their mind.

Here's what the celebrities had to say on micro-blogging site Twitter:

Lata Mangeshkar: Aaj 26/11 hai, 2 saal pehele Mumbai par jo aatanki hamla hua tha, jisme kai maasoom logon ki jaanein chali gayi, kai log zakhmi hue, kai ghar ujad gayein, un sabhi bhai behenon ko, bacchon ko, aur us me apne pranon ki aahuti de kar kai logon ko bachaane wale un mahan veeron ko, unki is behen ki bhavbheeni shraddhanjali...."

(Today is 26/11 and two years ago on the same day Mumbai was hit with terror attacks in which innocent people lost their lives, many got injured, many families were ruined... I pay a very humble tribute to all those people, children and the courageous people who sacrificed their own lives to save others.)

Amitabh Bachchan: Today 26/11! Horrors of terrible visuals, pride in bravery of our men in uniform and deepest thoughts and prayers for lost lives.

Abhishek Bachchan: Our thoughts and prayers with all those who lost loved ones on 26/11. We will never forget!

Madhur Bhandarkar: Today is the second anniversary of 26/11. (I) feel so sorry for the innocent lives lost and (I) salute the martyrs. Doesn't matter how hard Mumbai is hit, it has always bounced back with a bang, with a zest of life. Jai Hind!

Anupam Kher: 26/11 tragedy completes two years. And we are still debating about (Ajmal Amir) Kasab's fate. A silent prayer for the victims and their families.

Pooja Bhatt: Amidst this barrage of corruption the nation seems to be subjected to I can't help but feel that the fires of 26/11 still tragically rage on.

Diya Mirza: Have not forgotten and will not forget this date. 26/11.

Arshad Warsi: 26/11, a day that showed our weakness and our strength. I salute our security forces for laying their lives for us, and Mumbai for its resilience.

Ram Gopal Varma: We will never forget 26/11… We will never forget that we can die any time.

Pooja Bedi: 26/11 once again!!! And monster Kasab still not hung for the massacre caught on tape and eyewitness accounts! What strong message are we sending? My thoughts and prayers today with all victims of terrorism in India and abroad! Let's push for swift and stern sentencing of terrorists!

R. Madhavan: Heart goes out to all who lost their near and dear ones in Mumbai on this day. We will never forget.

Kunal Khemu: 26/11- prayers for all those who lost their lives and for all those who lost their loved ones!

Minissha Lamba: 26/11…Salute to our martyrs…Amen.

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Save the world from climate change - by computer

me from climate change.

Billed as a strategy game with a social conscience, "Fate of the World" sees players try to protect the world's climate and resources while managing a growing population demanding more power, food and living space.

"'Fate of the World' is a scenario-based game where you run Earth for 200 years and you save it or potentially destroy it. The whole power is in your hands," said the game's British inventor Gobion Rowlands.

The player takes charge as head of the fictional Global Environment Organisation (GEO). They can impose policies such as banning logging in the Amazon rainforest, making all Europe's public transport run on electricity or slapping a one-child policy on the whole of Asia.

However, such power comes with grave consequences.

If, for example, you decide to bring down the birth rate to protect natural resources, the workforce could plunge and people could be forced to work until 80, triggering unrest against the GEO.

Gamers see the impact of their decisions: orangutans are saved from extinction, global temperatures drop by a degree; however, bad moves could see Europe battered by floods, or Africa ravaged by war.

"Even if they choose to destroy the world, they still learn more about the subject," said Rowlands, the 35-year-old head of video games developer Red Redemption, which employs 15 people at its base in Oxford, southern England.

The game was based on scientific, economic and demographic data from sources such as NASA, the United Nations and Oxford University.

"Fate of the World" was developed in partnership with academics working under Oxford University climate change expert Doctor Myles Allen.

The game "allows people to experience the decisions we are likely to confront and makes clear there are no easy answers", Allen said.

"Fate of the World" is a sequel to Red Redemption's 2007 "Climate Challenge" game produced by the BBC, which focused only on Europe.

Despite its straightforward graphics, the game has been welcomed by environmental and development groups, which were on board throughout the process.

"This game offers a new way of telling the climate change story and helps us to reach new audiences," said Ged Barker, the British digital campaigns leader for the Oxfam aid agency.

"Those who play the game will learn about climate change... without having to read lots of material that they might find boring."

The collaboration between Red Redemption, which is on its fifth computer game, and non-governmental organisations could go further. Rowlands is trying to negotiate a deal whereby a share of the profits go to their coffers.

A taster version is available to download now. The full version will cost 20 pounds (32.30 dollars, 23.60 euros) when it is released in February.

The French, Spanish and German versions come out in March.

Social network game developer Zynga unveils 'CityVille

Social network game developer Zynga has unveiled "CityVille," the first globally released online game built by the hot startup behind play hits "FarmVille" and "Mafia Wars."

"CityVille is where Monopoly meets Main Street," said the game's general manager Sean Kelly.

The game challenges a player to build his or her dream city from the ground up and incorporates winning aspects of popular Zynga titles "FrontierVille" and "FarmVille."

"Instead of harvesting crops you're harvesting your neighborhood; instead of clearing your friend's frontier you're working on a friend's franchise," Kelly said, referring to the title as Zynga's most social game to date.

Zynga rocketed to success at Facebook, where people recruited friends to join them in online play and shared game accomplishments at the world's leading social network.

More than 320 million people have played Zynga games since the San Francisco-based company was launched in 2007, according to its founder Mark Pincus.

The number of people playing Zynga games each month tops 225 million, according to the firm.

Test, or beta, versions of "CityVille" will be rolled out worldwide in coming weeks in English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish.

"CityVille" play involves creating thriving cities while balancing the needs of virtual inhabitants and tending to jobs such as running businesses and harvesting crops.

Players in the roles of city managers will also need to cultivate beneficial relationships with neighboring cities.

This phone can only make calls,Unbelievable

If multi-function phones leave you dazed, here's the answer -- a mobile phone that just makes calls and does nothing else has been developed. No MP3, no apps and no, not even texts can be operated on it.

"John's Phone" neither checks Facebook nor follows Twitter feeds. It, however, has a battery life of three weeks and has a manual just one page long, the Sun reported.

There's more. The phone's address book is actually a pen and paper notepad that is tucked behind a flap on the back.

A little smaller than an iPhone, it is 10.5 cm long. It is called the "anti-iPhone". Dutch advertising agency John Doe that created the phone is hoping that it will be a hit with buyers who are left confused by modern technology and youngsters who are buying their first phone.

Costing from 59 pounds in white up to 67 pounds in pink or green, the sole modern feature is the ability to assign ten speed-dial numbers.

"At a time when there is an abundance of choices and oppressive channels, we wanted to develop a simple gadget," designer Diedriekje Bok was quoted as saying., this phone can only make calls

Facebook mail

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the newly launched Facebook messaging system will soon replace the regular mail.

"We spent lot of time building a handful of products to fit what we think the need is in a modern messaging system," said Zuckerberg in his fresh attack on rival Google.

So what is the difference between the newly launched Facebook messaging system and the good old Gmail?

The new Facebook system unifies all your conversations that happen through e-mails, Facebook messages, SMS, other chat clients and puts them as a thread on your new @facebook.com email address.

Your e-mail username will be similar to your profile name and you will be able to send your emails from within your Facebook page.

Facebook's 'Social Inbox'; much like Gmail's 'priority inbox' will sort your personal messages and prioritising notes from Facebook friends. All other messages go in a second inbox. You will be allowed to move people from one folder to other.

Facebook has about 500 million users so this product is a direct threat to Gmail's 170 million users and Yahoo!'s 303 million users.

The new feature is already being rolled out in the US but might take a while to reach your inbox. And you will have to sign up for this service at .

So should you switch from your e-mail to this? Considering Facebook's track record on privacy maybe you should wait and watch.

Facebook worth $ 41 billion

Just an hour before Facebook is set to announce its 'gmail killer', it now ranks as the third largest web company, with an estimated valuation of USD 41 billion which is greater than EBay.

According to Bloomberg, the social network's latest valuation, based on the selling price of shares on SecondMarket, an exchange for privately held companies, makes it the country's third-largest online business after Google

(USD 192.9 billion) and Amazon (USD74.4 billion).

Since Facebook has yet to go public, its forecasted revenue and worth in the public market is all still theoretical. Facebook, which expects sales of at least USD 1.4 billion this year, has called the figure "fundamentally speculative."

Based on recent private-market transactions, Facebook has a total estimated value of USD 41 billion, exceeding eBay's USD 39.4 billion in market capitalisation.

The only two web companies worth more than Facebook are Amazon, at USD 74.4 billion and Google, Inc., at USD 192.9 billion.

Today's value of Facebook comes from an "off-the-record" conversation that Bloomberg BusinessWeek's Brian Womack had with someone who had access to recent transaction data on SecondMarket.com.

Now if Facebook were trading on an exchange that the public could access, the size of the company's total market capitalization might increase over the course of the trading day depending on the exact details that Mark Zuckerberg announces at today's 10 am PST press conference.

Facebook's value has been growing for almost three years now, but it seems to be accelerating recently.

While there's no doubt that Facebook is one of the biggest websites and one of the biggest companies of the moment, it's hard to know if the company's estimated valuation has anything to do with its actual worth.

And there is no way of knowing that until Facebook finally files for an initial public offering.

Based on what Facebook has been saying so far, that may be at least a couple of years from now.

The reason why Facebook is not jumping ahead and filing for an IPO is that, while the company is growing fast, its revenue is still not spectacular.

Facebook could bring in close to USD 1.5 billion or as much as USD 2 billion in revenue this year, depending on who's doing the estimates.

Facebook's users have increased by more than two-thirds since September 2009, when it had 300 million members.

In March, the company surpassed Google as the most visited Web site in the US, according to research firm Hitwise.