Distance measuring syndrome made easy...thanks to Wikimapia

Are you fond of mile stone ... speedometer...or desi method of measuring distance? I must say I am. While riding my bike I use to look at speedometer to view not the speed but the distance. But this speed distance time have been the nightmere for non-engineering guy... whether its class 9th or 10th or CAT, fact is that it is everywhere. While I am travelling in bus I use to guess how far is my place. How can I get there? While traveling in train I use to measure speed of the train. I tell you one tip... Those 15 telephone poles running besides your track make 1 Km. Now its up-to you. you can use or dump....But why am doing bakar bakar ... But at last you need to tolerate me for getting something .... This is the fact of life ...You can"t get everthing without going through some pain... This is the Suri"s law of philosophy.. and again I am big time fan of philosophy. Sorry dudes can"t break the law and hence can"t tell you my findings in 1 line ...Now time has come for that 1 line Wikimapia had amazed me in may 2006, place IIT bombay, hostel no 3, computer room. That time I was doing internship there. I did not expect to see the nicely edited satellite image. Lot of chunk of time was swept away by the www.wikimapia.org. Histroy repeats itself, but location can vary, this time march 2008 place IIT Kharagpur, hostel Azad, my room..But this time again some innovation has crept in, and this time it is Geo Tools (Upper left corner, put mouse on wikimapia.... here it comes..).. measure area of you home or distance to your college or girl friend house ... not even that, you can send the URL to your friend with the distance marked as red ...Lots of chunk of time have been swept away by the wikimapia... AM I sick or crazy or distance geek .. you can decide and just tell me in my guest book.............. YES I AM THAT ONE .........crazy.

Skin remedies at your fingertips

Only a lucky few are blessed with a peaches-and-cream complexion. Most of us at some point or the other have been worried by skin problems. We spoke to many and have concluded that acne, blemishes, pigmentation, tanned skin and dark circles, are the most common skin woes. Here is a compilation on home remedies for all the above problems
-By Sugatha Menon

Nobody knows your skin as well as you, you are the best judge of what suits your skin type. Before you try out the recipe, do consult your skin specialist if you have any doubts. Doing a patch test under your forearm, before applying anything new to your face is also recommended. However since the remedies are natural and simple and off your kitchen shelves, you can rest assured.

A for acne

Just like A tops the alphabet list, so does acne top the skin problems list. The cause for acne are too many. However here are a few remedies you could try out to do the trick.

Multani mitti with rose water

Chill rose water. Take a few tbsp of multani mitti, add to it the chilled rose water, a few drops of lemon juice and 1 tbsp of sandalwood powder. Apply this pack to your face thrice a week for maximum results.

Cinnamon and honey

Take 2-3 pieces of cinnamon, powder it well. Mix it with honey and apply on the pimples, Leave it overnight. Regularly following this routine will control the pimple menace to a considerable extent.

Neem and mint leaves

Make a fine paste of neem and mint leaves. Apply to your face for 30 minutes. Rinse it off with cool water. It will keep your skin fresh and prevent an outbreak of acne.

Tulsi and mint leaves

If neem is not easily available, try the above method with tusli leaves as a substitute. Toothpaste

Many swear by this. Apply a dab of fluoride toothpaste (gel doesn’t work) to the first sign of a pimple and leave it overnight. The redness, swelling and pain will vanish. Orange peel

Dry orange and lemon peels in the sun. Store it in a dry container. To control acne, regularly use as a pack, powdered orange and lemon peels blended with rose water and sandalwood powder.

Turmeric

This recipe is a favourite with grandmothers. Make a paste of fresh turmeric root (freely available in the market). Add to it fresh sandalwood paste and a bit of powdered nutmeg. It works wonders on problem skin.

Garlic

This is another popular tip for zit zapping. Grate the juice of a 2-3 garlic cloves and apply it to the affected areas.

Fenugreek (methi) leaves

Grind together methi leaves, tulsi and mint leaves. Add a few drops of lemon to this. Apply this green pack to freshly washed face. Leave it for 20 minutes or till the pack dries. Rinse off with cold water. Do it regularly and see acne disappear.

Ban blemishes

The most common causes of blemishes are direct exposure to the sun, severe acne or skin disease. Here are a few ways to fight them.

Cucumber juice

Cucumbers are said to have compounds that are extremely beneficial for the skin. Even applying cold slices of cucumber to your skin is said to be beneficial. To get rid of scars form your face, extract the juice of a small piece of cucumber and add to it a few drop of lime juice. Apply regularly to the affected areas.

Honey
Honey is known to have mild bleaching properties. Take a tbsp of pure honey, add to it a few drops of lemon juice, a tsp of milk and a pinch of fresh turmeric powder. Apply this all over the scarred areas. It is said to have miraculous results, if done regularly for a long period of time.
Neem leaves and turmeric
This is said to be beneficial if you are plagued by chicken pox scars. Grind together fresh neem leaves and fresh turmeric. Make a paste and apply it to your face. Let it dry and then rinse off with lukewarm water.

SASABE, Mexico - The sandy streets of Sasabe are empty. Migrant smugglers have to hunt for business at border-town shelters. Many deported migrants give up after one try, taking their government up on free bus rides home.
A U.S. crackdown is causing the longest and most significant drop in illegal migration from Mexico since the Sept. 11 attacks. Officials say the U.S. economic downturn, tighter security and a more perilous and expensive journey are persuading many who try to sneak into the U.S. to give up sooner.
Border Patrol arrests are down 17 percent so far this year along the U.S.-Mexico border after falling 20 percent all of last fiscal year and 8 percent the year before that. While it's impossible to know how many people are crossing illegally, the Patrol uses apprehensions to estimate the ebb and flow of traffic.

The downturn in illegal immigration has created labor shortages throughout the United States and several states are considering temporary-worker programs, especially in agricultural fields, where produce is going bad.
Mexicans in the U.S. are starting to send less money home, too.
Money being sent back is downRemittances soared in the early part of the decade to become Mexico's largest source of foreign income after oil exports. But they rose just 1 percent in 2007, reaching $24 billion and in the first quarter this year, they slipped almost 3 percent from the same period last year, Mexico's central bank said this week.
Adolfo Vasquez, a 41-year-old corn farmer from southern Mexico, picked fruit for three years in Washington state. Last year it took him two tries to get to his job. This year, he walked for four nights before U.S. Border Patrol agents caught him. He doesn't plan to try again.
"It's very disheartening because every time it gets twice as difficult," said Vasquez, resting under an aid station tent for deportees in Nogales. "We're going to go to Los Cabos or Tijuana. We hear there is work there."
The number of returned migrants who try again through the heavily traveled desert corridor west of Sasabe has dropped from 80 percent to 40 percent since January, said Border Patrol spokesman Jose Gonzalez. Agents keep fingerprints on all those apprehended and can determine multiple offenders, even if they give false names.
U.S. authorities attribute the drop to tighter security and a new program in the Tucson sector that has prosecuted more than 3,000 migrants for crossing illegally since it started in January. They face jail sentences from a few days to six months.
But none of the migrants interviewed by The Associated Press knew about the new prosecution program. Those on their way home said the main deterrents were tougher security and the dangers of the desert, including bandits who rob and even rape migrants on both sides of the border.
More border securityThe U.S. Border Patrol has added 200 officers since last year to the Tucson sector, and a total of 3,000 agents now search the vast desert for illegal migrants by truck, horse, ATV and helicopter. They now have four drones scanning for drug and migrant smugglers, as well as two newly built 12-foot walls with steel posts near Nogales and in Sasabe.
At the same time, Mexican drug smugglers have started to collect fees for access to the main routes into Arizona.
As a result, Grupo Beta, the Mexican government's migrant rescue group, has seen a 257 percent increase in the number of people seeking discounted bus tickets home this year. So far, 2,500 people in Nogales and Sasabe asked for the tickets this year, while Grupo Beta had only 700 requests in all of 2007.
"We can't keep up with so many people who are heading back," said Enrique Enriquez, coordinator for Grupo Beta in Nogales. He said his rescuers spend the day shuttling migrants to a bus station.
Maria Fernandez, 25, made her first crossing with her husband after both had been laid off from a department store in Puebla state. Friends in New York offered to help them find work. First they traveled to Altar, a farming town 70 miles south of Sasabe, a major gathering point for those heading to Arizona.
There, they had to pay about $50 so drug smugglers would allow them to travel the bumpy road north, and another $30 for a van that took them and another 25 migrants to Sasabe.
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They walked for four nights through the mesquite-covered desert, where they were robbed once. They hid from Border Patrol agents at least five times. But when they reached the highway where they would meet their next ride, they were spotted by a helicopter.
Now, Fernandez was waiting in Nogales for her husband to be deported, as she had been.
"I won't try again because it's very difficult and, as a woman, one risks a lot," she said.
The crackdown has made smugglers more desperate to recruit clients for the trip north. If fewer people cross, their earnings drop.