Drinking any type of alcohol lowered the risk of serious heart disease in men, with the amount of risk reduction associated with the amount of alcohol:

• Light drinking reduced risk by 35%
• Moderate drinking reduced risk by 51%
• High and very high levels of drinking reduced risk by 54% and 50%.

Former drinkers had a 10% risk reduction.

• Light drinking was up to 5 grams a day -- or about one glass of wine, one and one-half beers, or less than a half glass of hard liquor.
• Moderate drinking was 5 to 30 grams a day, or about two glasses of wine, two or three beers, or a half to one glass of hard liquor.
• High and very high levels of drinking were 30 to 90 grams a day, or about five or more glasses of wine, seven or more beers, and one to one and a half glasses or more of hard liquor.

While the type of alcoholic beverage consumed, overall, did not have an effect on the level of risk reduction, the researchers found the protection greater for those drinking moderate to high levels of alcohol, which included beverages other than wine alone.

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What is an IMEI number?

The International Mobile Equipment Identity is a unique 17- or 15-digit code used to identify an individual mobile phone. The IMEI number identifies a specific mobile phone being used on a mobile network. It is like the registration number of a vehicle.

The GSM Association maintains a worldwide database of genuine IMEI numbers. This is activated and updated every 15 days in the Equipment Identity Register of the mobile operators' networks.

What are the uses of the IMEI code?

The IMEI helps to prevent a stolen handset from accessing any network. The IMEI allows lawful interception. It allows security agencies to track down users.

The IMEI number appears on the operators' network whenever a call is made. The DoT has asked the service providers to equip networks with Equipment Identity Register (EIR) to check whether calls are made from genuine handsets.

If you know the IMEI code of a mobile phone, you can get details on the manufacturer, model type, date and country of approval.

How can the IMEI help to block a stolen mobile phone?

If a mobile phone is stolen, the owner can call the network provider and ask them to ban the phone using its IMEI number. This makes the phone useless, even if the SIM card is changed.

How does the IMEI help security agencies?

Security agencies have informed DoT the presence of multiple Invalid IMEI on handsets while intercepting calls made by terrorists. By using the IMEI number, the security agencies not only can block the handset, but also retrieve call details from the recovered handset.

If my phone does not have an IMEI number, does it mean I will have to throw it away?

No, not necessarily. Read on further to find out what you can do. . .

Can you get an IMEI code if you don't have one on your handset now?

The Cellular Operators Association of India has tied up with Mobile Standard Alliance of India to set up 1,600 retail outlets across the country to provide IMEI number on handsets.

People who have Chinese handsets without a valid IMEI number can get it by paying Rs 199 by November 30.

You can visit any of the retail outlets set up by the COAI with your identity proof. Your photograph will be taken at the service centre. It takes about half an hour to get this code.

How can you check if the code is genuine?

You can check it easily. Dial *#06#

A 15-digit number will be displayed on your handset.

To validate the IMEI, SMS IMEI followed by the 15-digit IMEI number to 53232 and get the answer

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Windows 7 has been out less than two weeks and already we’re seeing third-party applications to exploit code in it. Gotta love the internet. The latest, called Connectify, takes advantage of a feature that Microsoft originally coded into Windows 7 but never finished. This piece of superfluous code makes it possible to turn a laptop into a virtual WiFi hotspot that can send an internet connection to any nearby WiFi-enabled devices.

Obviously this isn’t something that most people will use on a daily basis, but it certainly can come in handy. For instance, if you have only one Ethernet jack but several laptops that need to connect, Connectify allows the connected laptop to broadcast a signal to other devices. Potentially it could even allow several people to avoid connection costs at businesses by only connecting one laptop, but I’m sure the proprietors won’t approve.

Connectify is a free application that activates the dormant “Virtual WiFi” code in Windows 7 and is currently in beta testing. It will allow you to tether (hook up to the internet via your laptop’s ad hoc hotspot) any WiFi enabled device to your laptop no matter what operating system it’s running. Once the application is out of beta testing, in about six weeks, the final version of Connectify will probably come in a free, ad-supported version and a full version for an undecided amount.

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Google Chrome OS is supposed to be the operating system that truly ushers us into the era of cloud computing. It will basically just be an especially functional browser for netbooks and mobile devices intended to do everything over the internet. And it looks like we might finally get a look at it very soon.

Just a day after Google announced their very own programming language, a mole has told TechCrunch the Google Chrome OS will be available for download “within a week.” Like most of the products Google releases, Chrome OS will probably be in beta at first (heck, Gmail was in beta for years). And TechCrunch advises that it probably won’t have comprehensive driver support, meaning it will only work on a select number of devices. Obviously Google will be expanding driver support, and device manufacturers will certainly help if Chrome OS becomes popular, but for those with the right devices (TechCrunch cites the ASUS Eee PC line of netbooks as a probable candidate) it should be an interesting experiment.

Google projects that netbooks with Chrome OS preloaded will be commercially available in the second half of 2010, so this gives you plenty of time to test it out and Google plenty of time to tweak and improve. By then, we may be doing so many daily tasks with online apps instead of software on our computers that Chrome OS will be the perfect light-weight solution for cloud-computing.

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