Neil Armstrong, first man who landed on moon was dead in the age of 82

The first man to walk on the moon died on Saturday following complications that resulted from cardiovascular procedure.

Neil Armstrong, 82, was best known as the first man to ever set foot on the lunar surface. He inspired millions of people when he made the “giant leap for mankind” on July 20, 1969.

In a statement released by the family, Armstrong’s demise was caused by “complications resulting from cardiovascularprocedures.” No details had been provided as to where he died.

Armstrong underwent bypass surgery in Cincinnati on Aug. 7, two days after his birthday, the Daily RX reports. The procedure is usually performed to improve blood flow in blocked arteries.

While a bypass surgery cannot cure heart disease, it can help avert heart attack, as well as reduce heart disease symptoms, such as chest pain and shortness of breath. The most common complications that may arise in this kind of procedure include bleeding and irregularities in the heart beat, called arrhythmias.

Mocrosoft's New LOGO

Microsoft, on Thursday, unveiled a new corporate logo “to express the company's diverse portfolio of products” as the U’.S. tech giant ramps up for a series of big launches.

 

The new logo, updated for the first time in 25 years, features a square which contains four separate coloured squares. The old logo had a similar look but the squares appeared deformed as if part of a flag waving in the wind.

 

The move comes with Microsoft ramping up for its Windows 8 platform and its first tablet computer, called Surface. The company is also making an aggressive effort to gain ground in the smartphone market.

 

“It's been 25 years since we've updated the Microsoft logo and now is the perfect time for a change,’’ said Microsoft brand strategy manager Jeff Hansen. “This is an incredibly exciting year for Microsoft as we prepare to release new versions of nearly all of our products. From Windows 8 to Windows Phone 8 to Xbox services to the next version of Office, you will see a common look and feel across these products providing a familiar and seamless experience on PCs, phones, tablets and TVs.

 

Wave of new releases

 

“This wave of new releases is not only a reimagining of our most popular products, but also represents a new era for Microsoft, so our logo should evolve to visually accentuate this new beginning.’’

The logo also includes the name Microsoft in the Segoe font which is used in products and marketing communications, along with the new squares.

 

“The symbol is important in a world of digital motion,’’ Hansen said. “The symbol's squares of colour are intended to express the company's diverse portfolio of products.’’

 

The new logo is being used starting Thursday on the Microsoft.com website and in three Microsoft retail stores on Thursday.

 

“It will sign off all of our television ads globally,’’ Mr. Hansen said.

 

“And it will support our products across various forms of marketing... We're excited about the new logo, but more importantly about this new era in which we're reimagining how our products can help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full potential.’’

China's Yu Wenxia has been crowned the 2012 Miss World

This is the second time Miss China has been awarded the title. The last time was in 2007 when Zhang Zilin took the honor.

The first runner-up is Sophie Elizabeth Moulds of Wales and the second runner-up is Jessica Michelle Kahawaty of Australia.

The 23-year-old Yu is a music student who says she wants to become a music teacher.

This is the first time for the Inner Mongolian city of Ordos to host the international beauty pageant.

The city is one of the richest regions in China thanks to its abundant natural resources. It hopes the world event will raise its profile for economic development and tourism.

Infosys Ltd., join hand with Indian Postal

Infosys Ltd., the second biggest software services exporter, whose business in India only accounts for a small fraction of its overall business, has been chosen by India Post to “transform” its financial services platform. The project is expected to cost Rs. 700 crore.

Infosys is to deploy its Finacle core banking and McCamish Insurance platforms for the project.

The company will also train 35,000 personnel of India Post and implement an electronic content management system to process the millions of documents that are generated across the postal network.

India Post has chosen Infosys as its technology and consulting partner to integrate its delivery of financial products across its network of 1.5 lakh post offices across the country, an Infosys release stated.

The company will install 1,000 ATMs for India Post.

The project, part of the ‘India Post 2012’ modernisation programme, “aims at bringing transparency, agility, flexibility and scalability to India Post’s operations”, the statement said.

It is expected to reach out to about 200 million customers of India Post and would help improve efficiency, it said.

Federer beats Djokovic for Cincinnati Masters

Roger Federer stormed past Novak Djokovic 6-0, 7-6 (9-7) on Sunday to deliver a crushing title victory at the Cincinnati Masters, an event he has now won a record five times.

The 31-year-old Swiss world number one dominated his number two Serb rival in a 23-minute opening set sweep and then played an impressive tiebreaker in the second to ice his sixth trophy of the season from eight finals.

Federer won his 76th career title — in 79 minutes, finishing with eight aces, 28 winners and never facing a break point.

“It’s been a long summer,” said the Wimbledon champion. “The change from grass to hard courts is not easy but we all have to do it. “Even with how well I’m playing you never expect yourself to win these big matches. It’s been a great week for me.”

Djokovic failed to follow up on the Toronto Masters title he lifted a week ago after coming from the London Olympics empty-handed.

“I had a terrible first set; he started very solid on serve. He was using it very efficiently and putting a lot pressure on my serve. “I made a lot of double faults and didn’t find my rhythm; it was over in 20 minutes. I played better in the second; I thought it was very even.

“But when I had the chances I didn’t use them. He deserved to win.” But the Serb who will defend his US Open title said he was still pleased with his effort as he heads into the start of the Grand Slam in a week.

“Maybe playing a couple weeks in a row, four weeks in a row, got me maybe mentally. Physically it didn’t.” Federer moved alongside Rafael Nadal at the top of the table for Masters 1000 trophies on 21 for each. At age 31, he is the oldest man to win the Cincinnati event since Andre Agassi at the age of 34 in 2004

Federer back on top in ATP rankings

Wimbledon champion Roger Federer stayed top of the men’s tennis rankings released by the ATP on Monday.

The 31-year-old Swiss remains on 11,435 points narrowly ahead of Serbia’s Novak Djokovic (11,270), who on Sunday claimed his third title of the season at the Toronto Masters.

Spain’s Rafael Nadal remains third with Olympic gold medallist Murray fourth and Spain’s David Ferrer fifth.

The only changes in the top 10 see Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia gain a place to eighth, while Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina drops to ninth and John Isner of the United States comes in at 10.

 

ATP top 10 as of August 13: 

1.Roger Federer, Switzerland, 11,435 points 

2.Novak Djokovic, Serbia, 11,270 

3. Rafael Nadal, Spain, 8,895 

4. Andy Murray, Britain, 8,200 

5. David Ferrer, Spain, 5,455 

6. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France, 4,880 

7. Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic, 4,425 

8.Janko Tipsarevic, Serbia, 3,320 

9. Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina, 3,305 

10. John Isner, United States, 2,890.

Rudisha gets 800m gold with world record

David Rudisha of Kenya used his trademark running from the front to win the elusive Olympic 800 metres gold on Thursday in a world record time of 1 minute 40.91 seconds.

The world champion Rudisha, 23, bettered his mark of 1:41.01 from August 29, 2010, in Rieti, Italy, for the first athletics world record of the London Games.

Nijel Amos of Botswana got silver in a junior world record 1:41.73 and bronze went to Timothy Kitum of Kenya in 1:42.53.

By winning, Rudisha upstaged his father Daniel, who was part of the Kenyan 4x400m team, which got silver at the 1968 Games.

Michael Phelps ends Olympic career with 18th gold medal

  By Julian Linden

Michael Phelps, his emotions overflowing as he swam his last competitive race before retiring, ended his record-breaking career on Saturday the only way he knew how, by winning another Olympic gold medal.

Joining forces with his American team mates, Phelps gave the sporting world one last view of his incredible talent and determination to win when the United States blitzed their opposition in the men's medley relay on the final day of the swimming competition at the London Games.

"I couldn't ask to finish on a better note," Phelps said. "I have done everything I wanted to do. I am very happy."

It was the perfect ending for the most decorated Olympian of all time who built a stockpile of medals that once seemed unimaginable.

He finished his career with 18 gold medals, six from Athens, eight from Beijing and four from London, twice as many as the next best in any sport.

Phelps also won two silver and two bronze medals during his career, giving him a total of 22, yet another record. Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina held the previous record for almost half a century but Phelps set a standard that could last even longer.

When he finished his final race, the crowd at London's Aquatics Centre, including his mother Debbie, rose to their feet to give him a standing ovation.

Swimming's world governing body FINA presented him with their lifetime achievement award and Phelps' lifetime coach Bob Bowman whispered in his ear: "I love you."

"We hugged, he said 'We did it,' we smiled and I said 'yes we did' and that was it."

Microsoft pushdown Hotmail for Outlook

Microsoft is pulling the plug on Hotmail, one of the early leaders in web-based email, and plans to transition the service’s more than 350 million users to a new email service called Outlook.com, the software giant announced on Tuesday.

The new service will, as its name suggests, tie in with the Microsoft email program of the same name that is part of the company’s popular Office suite of business software. Microsoft touted the new system as the biggest change in web-based email since the introduction of Hotmail in 1996.

Microsoft bought the company a year later for an estimated 400 million dollars. According to a blog posting by product manager Chris Jones, Outlook.com combines contact information from emails and popular social networking services such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus. Featuring a minimalist design, the new service boasts powerful tools for sorting emails, including automatic recognition of newsletters, social media updates and junk mail that, according to Jones, accounts for some 70 per cent of inbox content.

The service also automatically recognises emails with photos, documents or shipping information attached and sends these to pre-selected folders. While the free service is ad-supported, Microsoft said that unlike Google’s Gmail service the ads will not be related to the content of users’ emails. “We don’t scan your email content or attachments and sell this information to advertisers or any other company, and we don’t show ads in personal conversations,” Jones said. He said that Outlook.com was launched on Tuesday in a preview period and that eventually all Hotmail users would be switched to the new service.

No date was given for the transition.