Stories from the life of Prophet Muhammad

One day Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) was going somewhere at noon and it was too hot in the desert when He (S.A.W) saw an old woman carrying her luggage on her head. Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) helped her and took the luggage from the woman and carried it for her..

Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) asked the woman that where she was going and why? She said that I am leaving this town as I have heard that a magician named Muhammad (S.A.W) is in town.

As Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) was very patient and kind, He (S.A.W) didn't say a word and kept listening. The old lady kept complaining that why she was leaving the town.

In short the basic reason of her to leave the town was her misconception about Muhammad (S.A.W), who was walking beside her and she didn't knew it.

While walking with the Holy Prophet (peace be upon Him), that old women noticed that this young man have a brightness on his smiling and humble face. And she also noticed that His sweat is perfumed. She was very impressed. 

When they reached the destination, Muhammad (S.A.W) put down the bag and was about to leave when the old woman said,"O, kind person! At least tell me your name!". Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) replied,"I am the person because of whom you left the town."The old lady was amazed to listen that and said that such a kind, helping and true person can never be wrong and therefore she also accepted Islam.

Mars, Facts and Information about the Planet Mars

Mars' History & Naming

Mars is named after the ancient Roman god of war, as befitting the red planet's bloody color. The Romans copied the ancient Greeks, who named the fourth planet from the sun after their god of war, Ares. Other civilizations also typically gave the planet names based on its color — for example, the Egyptians named it "Her Desher," meaning "the red one," while ancient Chinese astronomers dubbed it "the fire star."

Physical Characteristics of the Planet Mars

• Regolith

The bright rust color Mars is known for is due to to iron-rich minerals in its regolith — the loose dust and rock covering its surface. The soil of Earth is a kind of regolith, albeit one loaded with organic content.

This Hubble Space Telescope image shows Mars.
Credit: NASA/ESA/HST/STSCI

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• Geology

The cold, thin atmosphere means liquid water currently cannot exist on the Martian surface for any length of time. This means that although this desert planet is just half the diameter of Earth, they have the same amount of dry land.

The red planet is home to both the highest mountain and the deepest, longest valley in the solar system. Olympus Mons is roughly 17 miles (27 kilometers) high, about three times as tall as Mount Everest, while the Valles Marineris system of valleys — named after the Mariner 9 probe that discovered it in 1971 — can go as deep as 6 miles (10 kilometers) and runs east-west for roughly 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers), about one-fifth of the distance around Mars and close to the width of Australia or the distance from Philadelphia to San Diego.

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Mars has the largest volcanoes in the solar system, including Olympus Mons, which is about 370 miles (600 kilometers) in diameter, wide enough to cover the entire state of New Mexico. It is a shield volcano, with slopes that rise gradually like those of Hawaiian volcanoes, and was created by eruptions of lavas that flowed for long distances before solidifying. Mars also has many other kinds of volcanic landforms, from small, steep-sided cones to enormous plains coated in hardened lava. Some minor eruptions might still occur on the planet.

Scientists think the Valles Marineris formed mostly by rifting of the crust as it got stretched. Individual canyons within the system are as much as 60 miles (100 kilometers) wide. They merge in the central part of the Valles Marineris in a region as much as 370 miles (600 kilometers) wide. Large channels emerging from the ends of some canyons and layered sediments within suggest the canyons might once have been filled with liquid water.

Channels, valleys, and gullies are found all over Mars, and suggest that liquid water might have flowed across the planet's surface in recent times. Some channels can be 60 miles (100 kilometers) wide and 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers) long. Water may still lie in cracks and pores in underground rock.

Many regions of Mars are flat, low-lying plains. The lowest of the northern plains are among the flattest, smoothest places in the solar system, potentially created by water that once flowed across the Martian surface. The northern hemisphere mostly lies at a lower elevation than the southern hemisphere, suggesting the crust may be thinner in the north than in the south. This difference between the north and south might be due to a very large impact shortly after the birth of Mars.

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The number of craters on Mars varies dramatically from place to place, depending on how old the surface is. Much of the surface of the southern hemisphere is extremely old, and so has many craters – including the planet's largest, 1,400-mile-wide (2,300-kilometer-wide) Hellas Planitia — while that of northern hemisphere is younger and so has fewer craters. Some volcanoes have few craters, which suggests they erupted recently, with the resulting lava covering up any old craters. Some craters have unusual-looking deposits of debris around them resembling solidified mudflows, potentially indicating that impactor hit underground water or ice.

• Polar caps

Vast deposits of what appear to be finely layered stacks of water ice and dust extend from the poles to latitudes of about 80 degrees in both hemispheres. These were probably deposited by the atmosphere over long spans of time. On top of much of these layered deposits in both hemispheres are caps of water ice that remain frozen all year round. Additional seasonal caps of frost appear in the wintertime. These are made of solid carbon dioxide, also known as "dry ice," which has condensed from carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere, and in the deepest part of the winter, this frost can extend from the poles to latitudes as low as 45 degrees, or halfway to the equator.

• Climate

Mars is much colder than Earth, in large part due to its greater distance from the sun. The average temperature is about minus 80 degrees F (minus 60 degrees C), although they can vary from minus 195 degrees F (minus 125 degrees C) near the poles during the winter to as much as 70 degrees F (20 degrees C) at midday near the equator.

The carbon-dioxide-rich atmosphere of Mars is also roughly 100 times less dense than Earth's on average, but it is nevertheless thick enough to support weather, clouds and winds. The density of the atmosphere varies seasonally, as winter forces carbon dioxide to freeze out of the Martian air.

The dust storms of the Mars are the largest in the solar system, capable of blanketing the entire red planet and lasting for months. One theory as to why dust storms can grow so big on Mars starts with airborne dust particles absorbing sunlight, warming the Martian atmosphere in their vicinity. Warm pockets of air flow toward colder regions, generating winds. Strong winds lift more dust off the ground, which in turn heats the atmosphere, raising more wind and kicking up more dust.

Orbital Characteristics of the Planet Mars

The axis of Mars, like Earth's, is tilted with relation to the sun. This means that like Earth, the amount of sunlight falling on certain parts of the planet can vary widely during the year, giving Mars seasons.

However, the seasons that Mars experiences are more extreme than Earth's because the red planet's elliptical, oval-shaped orbit around the sun is more elongated than that of any of the other major planets. When Mars is closest to the Sun, its southern hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun, giving it a short, very hot summer, while the northern hemisphere experiences a short, cold winter. When Mars is farthest from the Sun, the northern hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun, giving it a long, mild summer, while the southern hemisphere experiences a long, cold winter.

Composition & Structure

• Atmospheric composition (by volume)

95.32 percent carbon dioxide, 2.7 percent nitrogen, 1.6 percent argon, 0.13 percent oxygen, 0.08 percent carbon monoxide, minor amounts of water, nitrogen oxide, neon, hydrogen-deuterium-oxygen, krypton, xenon

• Magnetic Field

Mars currently has no global magnetic field, but there are regions of its crust that can be at least 10 times more strongly magnetized than anything measured on Earth, remnants of an ancient global magnetic field.

• Chemical composition

Mars likely has a solid core composed of iron, nickel, and sulfur. The mantle of Mars is probably similar to Earth's in that it is composed mostly of peridotite, which is made up primarily of silicon, oxygen, iron, and magnesium. The crust is probably largely made of the volcanic rock basalt, which is also common in the crusts of the Earth and the moon, although some crustal rocks, especially in the northern hemisphere, may be a form of andesite, a volcanic rock that contains more silica than basalt does.

• Internal structure

Scientists think that on average, the Martian core is about 1,800 and 2,400 miles in diameter (3,000 and 4,000 kilometers), its mantle is about 900 to 1,200 miles (5,400 to 7,200 kilometers) wide and its crust is about 30 miles (50 kilometers) thick.

Orbit & Rotation

Average Distance from the Sun

English: 141,633,260 miles

Metric: 227,936,640 km

By Comparison: 1.524 times that of Earth

Perihelion (closest)

English: 128,400,000 miles

Metric: 206,600,000 km

By Comparison: 1.404 times that of Earth

Aphelion (farthest)

English: 154,900,000 miles

Metric: 249,200,000 km

By Comparison: 1.638 times that of Earth

(Source: NASA.)

The Moons of Mars

The two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos were discovered by American astronomer Asaph Hall over the course of a week in 1877. Hall had almost given up his search for a moon of Mars, but his wife Angelina urged him on —he discovered Deimos the next night, and Phobos six days after that. He named the moons after the sons of the Greek war god Ares — Phobos means "fear," while Deimos means "rout."

Both Phobos and Deimos are apparently made of carbon-rich rock mixed with ice and are covered in dust and loose rocks. They are tiny next to Earth's moon, and are irregularly shaped, since they lack enough gravity to pull themselves into a more circular form. The widest Phobos gets is about 17 miles (27 kilometers), and the widest Deimos gets is roughly nine miles (15 kilometers).

Both moons are pockmarked with craters from meteor impacts. The surface of Phobos also possesses an intricate pattern of grooves, which may be cracks that formed after the impact created the moon's largest crater — a hole about 6 miles (10 kilometers) wide, or nearly half the width of Phobos. They always show the same face to Mars, just as our moon does to Earth.

It remains uncertain how Phobos and Deimos were born. They might have been asteroids captured by Mars' gravitational pull, or they might have been formed in orbit around Mars the same time the planet came into existence.

Phobos is gradually spiraling toward Mars, drawing about 6 feet (1.8 meters) closer to the red planet each century. Within 50 million years, Phobos will either smash into Mars or break up and form a ring of debris around the planet.

Research & Exploration

The first person to watch Mars with a telescope was Galileo, and in the century after him, astronomers discovered its polar ice caps. In the 19th and 20th centuries, researchers believed they saw a network of long, straight canals on Mars, hinting at civilization, although later these often proved to be mistaken interpretations of dark regions they saw.

Robot spacecraft began observing Mars in the 1960s, with the United States launching Mariner 4 there in 1964 and Mariners 6 and 7 in 1969. They revealed Mars to be a barren world, without any signs of the life or civilizations people had imagined there. In 1971, Mariner 9 orbited Mars, mapping about 80 percent of the planet and discovering its volcanoes and canyons.

NASA's Viking 1 lander touched down onto the surface of Mars in 1976, the first successful landing onto the Red Planet. It took the first close-up pictures of the Martian surface but found no strong evidence for life.

The next two craft to successfully reach Mars were the Mars Pathfinder, a lander, and Mars Global Surveyor, an orbiter, both launched in 1996. A small robot onboard Pathfinder named Sojourner — the first wheeled rover to explore the surface of another planet — ventured over the planet's surface analyzing rocks.

In 2001, the United States launched the Mars Odyssey probe, which discovered vast amount of water ice beneath the Martian surface, mostly in the upper three feet (one meter). It remains uncertain whether more water lies underneath, since the probe cannot see water any deeper.

In 2003, the closest Mars had passed to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, NASA launched two rovers, nicknamed Spirit and Opportunity, which explored different regions of the Martian surface, and both found signs that water once flowed on the planet's surface. In 2008, NASA sent another mission, Phoenix, to land in the northern plains of Mars and search for water,

Two orbiters — NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and ESA's Mars Express — are keeping Mars Odyssey company over the planet. In 2011, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, with its rover named Curiosity, is scheduled to investigate Martian rocks to determine the geologic processes that created them and find out more about the present and past habitability of Mars.

Possibility of Life

Mars could have once harbored life. Some conjecture that life might still exist there even today. A number of researchers have even speculated that life on Earth might have seeded Mars, or that life on Mars seeded Earth.

The most public scientific claim for life on Mars came in 1996. Geologist David McKay at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and his colleagues focused on rocks blasted off the surface of Mars by cosmic impacts that landed on Earth. Within they found  complex organic molecules, grains of a mineral called magnetite that can form within some kinds of bacteria, and tiny structures that resembled fossilized microbes. However, these claims have proven controversial, and there is no consensus as to whether they are signs of life.

Mars might have possessed oceans on its surface in the past, providing an environment for life to develop. Although the red planet is a cold desert today, researchers suggest that liquid water may be present underground, providing a potential refuge for any life that might still exist there.

THE EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE

Protective Buffer

The Earth's atmosphere is more than just the air we breathe. It's also a buffer that keeps us from being peppered by meteorites, a screen against deadly radiation, and the reason radio waves can be bounced for long distances around the planet. 

The air that accomplishes all of this is composed of five major layers. 

The lowest is the troposphere, which is the layer that provides most of our weather. It contains about four-fifths of the Earth's air, but extends only to a height of about 11 miles (17 kilometers) at the Equator and somewhat less at the Poles. 

The name comes from a Greek word that refers to mixing. And mixing is exactly what happens within the troposphere, as warm air rises to form clouds, rain falls, and winds stir the lands below. Typically, the higher you go in the troposphere, the colder it gets. 

Above the troposphere is the stratosphere. It extends to a height of about 30 miles (50 kilometers) and includes the ozone layer, which blocks much of the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays. 

The stratosphere is warmer than the troposphere because of the energy from the ultraviolet light absorbed by the ozone. At its base, the stratosphere is extremely cold, about -110 degrees Fahrenheit (-80 degrees Celsius). At its top, the temperature has risen back nearly to freezing. 

Next comes the mesosphere. In this layer, the air temperature drops again, down to nearly -180 degrees Fahrenheit (-120 degrees Celsius) at the top. Meteors generally burn up in the mesosphere, which extends to a height of about 52 miles (85 kilometers). This is why the Earth's surface isn't pocked with meteor craters, like the moon's. 

Entering Outer Space 

Above the mesosphere is the ionosphere. It extends to about 430 miles (690 kilometers) and is so thin it's generally considered part of outer space. The International Space Station and many satellites orbit within the ionosphere. 

The ionosphere is named for the ions created within this layer by energetic particles from sunlight and outer space. These ions create an electrical layer that reflects radio waves, allowing radio messages to be sent across oceans in the days before communication satellites. Electrical displays in the ionosphere also create the auroras called the Northern and Southern Lights. 

Beyond the ionosphere lies the exosphere. This tenuous portion of the Earth's atmosphere extends outward until it interacts with the solar wind. Solar storms compress the exosphere. When the sun is tranquil, this layer extends further outward. Its top ranges from 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) to 6,214 miles (10,000 kilometers) above the surface, where it merges with interplanetary space.

Silat: Indonesia and Malaysia’s Deadly Martial Art

You are minding your own business, buying a newspaper at your local convenience store, when a belligerent drunk decides to take a punch at you simply because you met his stare for a second too long. What the drunk doesn’t know is that you are trained in the Indonesian martial art silat, and you are therefore able to move easily into close range where your big guns—the knees, elbows and head—can be brought into play. This range is referred to as the “battleground” by Indonesians.

Now that you’ve entered the battleground and are literally in the drunk’s face, you can begin the “tranquilizing process”—a vicious combination of elbows, knees, finger jabs, head butts and kicks to his groin, shins, thighs, eyes or any other vulnerable target. If he is still a threat after your initial salvo of blows, your combinations must continue. Can you sweep him to the ground? Can you elbow his spine? Can you stomp on one of his feet and force him off-balance? These are just a few of the possibilities available to an accomplished silat stylist.

Silat’s Many Styles

Roughly speaking, silat means “skill for fighting.” There are hundreds of different styles of silat, most of which are found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, southern Thailand and the southern Philippines. Common to all of these styles is a combat-oriented ideology and the use of weaponry.

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In Indonesia, there exist hundreds of styles of pentjak silat, as well as many systems of kuntao, a form of Chinese boxing that bears many similarities to silat and is found primarily within the Chinese communities in Indonesia. There are also many systems that blend pentjak silat and kuntao. “Chinese fighting tactics have had positive influences on the development of pentjak silat,” says noted martial arts historian and author Donn Draeger.

Malaysia is home to a style known as bersilat, which can be divided into two forms: putat, a dancelike series of movements intended for public display, andbuah, a realistic combat method never publicly displayed.

Bersilat is also found in the southern Philippines, as well as langkah silat, kuntao silat and kali silat.

Silat techniques vary greatly, from the low ground-fighting postures of harimau(tiger) silat to the high-flying throws of madi silat. One particularly vicious madi throw involves controlling your opponent’s head, leaping through the air, and using your body weight to yank him off his feet as your knee slams into his spinal column. A typical harimau takedown involves coming in low against an opponent’s punch, capturing his foot with your foot, and forcing his knee outward with a strike or grab to the inside knee to effect the takedown.

Rikeson silat focuses primarily on nerve strikes, while cipecut silat makes extensive use of the practitioner’s sarong for throwing and controlling the opponent. A rikeson silat stylist might take an opponent down with a finger-thrust attack to the nerves situated in the crease between the upper leg and torso. Cipecut practitioners will deflect an attack with their sarong, then wrap it around the opponent’s head, utilizing the significantly improved leverage to yank him to the ground. Bukti negara pentjak silat, as developed by Paul de Thouars, relies on a sophisticated leverage system to achieve almost effortless throws.

In Philippine silat, it is common to trap your opponent’s foot with your own foot while controlling his head and arm, then spin him in a circle. The opponent’s body rotates 360 degrees, but his knee and foot remain in place, causing severe injury.

The sheer number of silat styles allows practitioners a tremendous amount of variety, as well as a certain amount of freedom and self-expression. By researching a number of silat systems, you can add tremendous diversity to your combat arsenal.

Silat’s Indonesian Weapons

Virtually all silat styles, particularly Philippine silat, emphasize weapons training. In the areas where silat originated, carrying a weapon, usually one of the bladed variety, was for generations a fact of life for the general male populace. A silat practitioner will normally be skilled with a knife, stick, sword, staff, spear, rope, chain, whip, projectile weapons or a combination thereof.

The kris sword, with its wavy blade, is one of the most common weapons in Indonesia and Malaysia. Another wicked weapon found in Indonesia is the karambit(tiger’s claw), a short, curved blade used to hook into an opponent’s vital points. According to Donn Draeger, the karambit is used in an upward, ripping manner to tear into the bowels of the victim.

Most silat systems emphasize low, quick kicks, primarily because of the likelihood the practitioner will be confronting an opponent armed with a bladed weapon. A good rule of thumb is to never try a kick against a knife-wielding opponent, unless the kick is delivered at close range and is used as a support technique.

Silat’s Key Components

What comprises a good silat system?

The following are some of silat’s key components:

• Silat Component #1: Efficient entry system. The style must have techniques that allow you to move quickly and efficiently into close range of your opponent. It must also include training methods that will hone your timing, precision and accuracy when employing those techniques.
• Silat Component #2: Effective follow-up techniques. The system must have effective punching and kicking techniques. Heavy-duty techniques such as head butts, knee smashes and elbow strikes must be highly developed. “Finishing” techniques are more effective if your opponent is properly “tranquilized.”
• Silat Component #3: Devastating finishing techniques. After you have entered into close range and applied a “tranquilizing” technique to your opponent, the next step is to apply a “finishing” technique, such as a throw, sweep, takedown, lock or choke, to end the confrontation. Locking maneuvers will break or render ineffective an opponent’s joint. Choking techniques will produce unconsciousness. Takedowns, throws or sweeps will slam the opponent into the ground or other objects with enough force to end a confrontation.
• Silat Component #4: Realistic weapons training. Most silat systems emphasize weapons training at some point. This training will include realistic contact-oriented drills rather than forms practice and will greatly improve your reflexes, timing, accuracy, rhythm and precision. It’s amazing how quickly practitioners improve when facing a bladed weapon traveling at a high rate of speed.

Silat theory, then, is simple: Enter into close range of the opponent, apply a “tranquilizing” technique such as a punch or kick, and then “finish” the opponent off with a heavy-duty technique such as a lock, sweep, choke or throw.

Silat’s Ambassadors to the United States

Suryadi (Eddie) Jafri was one of the first to teach pentjak silat in the United States, conducting seminars throughout the country in the 1970s and ’80s before returning to Indonesia several years ago.

The well-respected Paul de Thouars teaches silat publicly at his Academy of Bukti Negara in Arcadia, California, and also conducts seminars across the United States each year.

Another fine instructor is mande muda pentjak silat stylist Herman Suwanda, who divides his time between Los Angeles and his home in Indonesia. Mande muda is a composite of 18 different silat systems.

Dan Inosanto of Los Angeles uses his weekly seminars as a forum to spread silat, as well as other martial arts. Inosanto has studied with de Paul de Thouars, Eddie Jafri and Herman Suwanda in Indonesian pentjak silat. He has also worked with John LaCoste, who taught Dan Inosanto kuntao silat, bersilat, kali and langkah silat of the southern Philippines. Dan Inosanto also trained under Nik Mustapha in Malaysian bersilat.

There are actually only a few qualified silat instructors in the United States, and most of them are not easy to find. If, however, you have the good fortune to undertake the study of silat under a competent instructor, prepare yourself because you are in for an exciting, invigorating exploration into one of the world’s richest and most effective martial arts.

10 Upcoming Technology That May Change The World

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We have seen great leaps in digital technology in past the past five years. Smartphones, cloud computing, multi-touch tablets, these are all innovations that revolutionized the way we live and work. However, believe it or not, we are just getting started. Technology will get even better. In the future, we could live like how people in science fiction movies did.

(Image Source: YouTube)

Today’s post is about 10 upcoming, real-life products that is set to revolutionize the world as we know it. Get ready to control the desktop and slice Ninja fruits with your eyes. Get ready to print your own creative physical product. Get ready to dive into the virtual world, and interact with them. Come unfold the future with us.

Read Also: 20 Futuristic Concept Gadgets That Really Inspire

1. Google Glass

Augmented Reality has already gotten into our life in the forms of simulated experiment and education app, but Google is taking it several steps higher with Google Glass. Theoretically, with Google Glass, you are able to view social media feeds, text, Google Maps, as well as navigate with GPS and take photos. You will also get the latest updates while you are on the ground.

(Image Source: YouTube)

It’s truly what we called vision, and it’s absolutely possible given the fact that the Google’s co-founder, Sergey Brin has demo’ed the glass with skydivers and creatives. Currently the device is only available to some developers with the price tag of $1500, but expect other tech companies trying it out and building an affordable consumer version.

2. Form 1

Just as the term suggests, 3D printing is the technology that could forge your digital design into a solid real-life product. It’s nothing new for the advanced mechanical industry, but a personal 3D printer is definitely a revolutionary idea.

Everybody can create their own physical product based on their custom design, and no approval needed from any giant manufacturer! Even the James Bond’s Aston Martin which was crashed in the movie was a 3D printed product!

(Image Source: Kickstarter)

Form 1 is one such personal 3D printer which can be yours at just $2799. It may sound like a high price but to have the luxury of getting producing your own prototypes, that’s a reaonable price.

Imagine a future where every individual professional has the capability to mass produce their own creative physical products without limitation. This is the future where personal productivity and creativity are maximized.

3. Oculus Rift

Virtual Reality gaming is here in the form of Oculus Rift. This history-defining 3D headset lets you mentally feel that you are actually inside a video game. In the Rift’s virtual world, you could turn your head around with ultra-low latency to view the world in high resolution display.

There are premium products in the market that can do the same, but Rift wants you to enjoy the experience at only $300, and the package even comes as a development kit. This is the beginning of the revolution for next-generation gaming.

(Image Source: Kickstarter)

The timing is perfect as the world is currently bombarded with the virtual reality topic that could also be attributed to Sword Art Online, the anime series featuring the characters playing games in an entirely virtual world. While we’re getting there, it could take a few more years to reach that level of realism. Oculus Rift is our first step.

4. Leap Motion

Multi-touch desktop is a (miserably) failed product due to the fact that hands could get very tired with prolonged use, but Leap Motion wants to challenge this dark area again with a more advanced idea. It lets you control the desktop with fingers, but without touching the screen.

(Image Source: Leap Motion)

It’s not your typical motion sensor, as Leap Motion allows you to scroll the web page, zoom in the map and photos, sign documentss and even play a first person shooter game with only hand and finger movements. The smooth reaction is the most crucial key point here. More importantly, you can own this future with just $70, a price of a premium PS3 game title!

If this device could completely work with Oculus Rift to simulate a real-time gaming experience, gaming is going to get a major make-over.

5. Eye Tribe

Eye tracking has been actively discussed by technology enthusiasts throughout these years, but it’s really challenging to implement. But Eye Tribe actually did this. They successfully created the technology to allow you to control your tablet, play flight simulator, and even slice fruits in Fruit Ninja only with your eye movements.

(Image Source: Eye Tribe)

It’s basically taking the common eye-tracking technology and combining it with a front-facing camera plus some serious computer-vision algorithm, and voila, fruit slicing done with the eyes! A live demo was done in LeWeb this year and we may actually be able to see it in in action in mobile devices in 2013.

Currently the company is still seeking partnership to bring this sci-fi tech into the consumer market but you and I know that this product is simply too awesome to fail.

6. SmartThings

The current problem that most devices have is that they function as a standalone being, and it require effort for tech competitors to actually partner with each other and build products that can truly connect with each other. SmartThings is here to make your every device, digital or non-digital, connect together and benefit you.

(Image Source: Kickstarter)

With SmartThings you can get your smoke alarms, humidity, pressure and vibration sensors to detect changes in your house and alert you through your smartphone! Imagine the possibilities with this.

You could track who’s been inside your house, turn on the lights while you’re entering a room, shut windows and doors when you leave the house, all with the help of something that only costs $500! Feel like a tech lord in your castle with this marvel.

7. Firefox OS

iOS and Android are great, but they each have their own rules and policies that certainly inhibit the creative efforts of developers. Mozilla has since decided to build a new mobile operating system from scratch, one that will focus on true openness, freedom and user choice. It’s Firefox OS.

Firefox OS is built on Gonk, Gecko and Gaia software layers – for the rest of us, it means it is built on open source, and it carries web technologies such as HTML5 and CSS3.

(Image Source: Mozilla)

Developers can create and debut web apps without the blockade of requirements set by app stores, and users could even customize the OS based on their needs. Currently the OS has made its debut on Android-compatible phones, and the impression so far, is great.

You can use the OS to do essential tasks you do on iOS or Android: calling friends, browsing web, taking photos, playing games, they are all possible on Firefox OS, set to rock the smartphone market.

8. Project Fiona

Meet the first generation of the gaming tablet. Razer’s Project Fiona is a serious gaming tablet built for hardcore gaming. Once it’s out, it will be the frontier for the future tablets, as tech companies might want to build their own tablets, dedicated towards gaming, but for now Fiona is the only possible one that will debut in 2013.

(Image Source: Razer™)

This beast features next generation Intel® Core i7 processor geared to render all your favorite PC games, all at the palm of your hands. Crowned as the best gaming accessories manufacturer, Razer clearly knows how to build user experience straight into the tablet, and that means 3-axis gyro, magnetometer, accelerometer and full-screen user interface supporting multi-touch. My body and soul are ready.

9. Parallella

Parallella is going to change the way that computers are made, and Adapteva offers you chance to join in on this revolution. Simply put, it’s a supercomputer for everyone. Basically, an energy-efficient computer built for processing complex software simultaneously and effectively. Real-time object tracking, holographic heads-up display, speech recognition will become even stronger and smarter with Parallella.

(Image Source: YouTube)

The project has been successfully funded so far, with an estimated delivery date of February 2013. For a mini supercomputer, the price seems really promising since it’s magically $99! It’s not recommended for the non-programmer and non-Linux user, but the kit is loaded with development software to create your personal projects.

I never thought the future of computing could be kick-started with just $99, which is made possible using crowdfunding platforms.

10. Google Driverless Car

I could still remember the day I watch the iRobot as a teen, and being skeptical about my brother’s statement that one day, the driverless car will become reality. And it’s now a reality, made possible by… a search engine company, Google.

While the data source is still a secret recipe, the Google driverless car is powered by artificial intelligence that utilizes the input from the video cameras inside the car, a sensor on the vehicle’s top, and some radar and position sensors attached to different positions of the car. Sounds like a lot of effort to mimic the human intelligence in a car, but so far the system has successfully driven 1609 kilometres without human commands!

(Image Source: Wikipedia)

“You can count on one hand the number of years it will take before ordinary people can experience this.” Google co-founder, Sergey Brin said. However, innovation is an achievement, consumerization is the headache, as Google currently face the challenge to forge the system into an affordable gem that every worker with an average salary could benefit from.

Malaysia Festival

Malaysia is a country of multi-ethnic society practising multi-culturalism and multi-religion. Each ethnic group practises its own religion and belief which means various festivals are celebrated throughout the year. These festivals are usually celebrated either nationwide or at state level. "Open house" concept is practised almost all the festivals, which means inviting relatives and friends to partake in the food and festivity occasion. Some of these festivals are public holidays.

Malaysia Fest (September)

Pesta Malaysia, or Malaysia Fest, is a two-week affair held in September of every year. First held in 1987. it aims to create awareness and appreciation of Malaysian culture, craft and cuisine. This is one of the best times to make your journey to Malaysia if you are a new visitor. All the thirteen states of Malaysia participate in the event, which is held in Kuala Lumpur. Among the programs and activities visitors can look forward to will be cultural shows, demonstrations of the beautiful Malaysian handicrafts, and cuisine of the thirteen states. Streets are strung with lights, while shopping complexes and hotels compete for awards in creative light decorations. If you can only make it to one festival, this is the one to aim for.

Hari Raya Puasa

Hari Raya Puasa is a celebration marking the end of a Muslim month of fasting and abstinence, Ramadan. It is a special occasion for Muslims. Hari Raya Puasa officially begins at the sighting of the moon on the day before the next month on the Muslim calendar, Syawal. The first moon of the month of Syawal is sighted by religious elders in the late evening from several vantage points in Malaysia. The festival actually begins the following day, ushered in by prayers at the mosque early in the morning, and a visit to the cemetery to pray for the departed souls of loved ones. Then, of course, comes the feast.

New Year's Eve

As in many other countries throughout the world, New Year's Eve is celebrated with much merrymaking at public squares, hotels and restaurants. The Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur is particularly a good place to join in revelers, who gather at the square to usher in the new year.