APPLE HISTORY

 STEVE'S ROLE

I THINK THE NAME NEED NO INTRODUCTION .STEVE JOBS CHANGED THE WAY WE THAUGHT ABOUT TECHNOLOGY .HERE ARE SOME PARTS FROM HIS LIFE .

 1976 - High-school buddies Steven Wozniak and Steve Jobs start Apple Computer. Their first product, Apple I, built in circuit board form, debuts at "the Homebrew Computer Club" in Palo Alto, California.

1977 - Apple II is unveiled, the first personal computer in a plastic case with color graphics.

1983 - Apple starts selling the "Lisa," a desktop computer for businesses with a graphical user interface, the system most users are familiar with today.

1984 - Apple debuts the Macintosh personal computer.

1985 - Jobs leaves Apple after a power struggle.

September 1997 - Jobs is named Apple's interim CEO after the company records losses of more than $1.8 billion.

November 1997 - Jobs introduces a new line of Macintosh computers called G3, and a website that lets people order directly from Apple.

1998 - Apple unveils the iMac desktop computer.
2001 - Apple introduces the iPod.

2003 - The iTunes Store opens, allowing users to buy and download music, audiobooks, movies and TV shows online



.

August 2004 - Jobs announces he underwent successful surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his pancreas.
January 2007 - Apple introduces the iPhone.
2008 - Apple opens its App Store as an update to iTunes.
January 2009 - Jobs takes leave for health reasons. COO Cook leads the company in the interim.
June 2009 - Jobs returns to the company after undergoing a liver transplant.

April 2010 - Apple begins selling the iPad, a 10-inch touchscreen tablet, and has an 84 percent share of the tablet market by year's end.

Jan. 17, 2011 - Jobs announces that he will take another medical leave.

March 2, 2011 - Apple launches the iPad 2.

Aug. 9, 2011 - Apple briefly edges past Exxon Mobil Corp to become the most valuable U.S. company.

Aug. 24, 2011 - Jobs steps down as CEO and is replaced by Tim Cook, Apple's chief operating officer.

Oct. 5, 2011 - Jobs dies at age of 56 after battle with pancreatic cancer.

ASTON MARTIN

The History of Aston Martin

It all started in 1913 when two cycling buddies, over a couple pints at the end of a long day on the hill climbs (ok, I'm embellishing the back story a bit here) decided to go into business together. The two men were Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. They started out selling Singer automobiles. They were both handy mechanics and Lionel was an accomplished driver. He was often seen racing at the near by Aston Hill Hillclimb races near Aston Clinton. In 1914 the two decided to start to build there own vehicles and Aston Martin was born.

The name came from the combination of "Aston" from the hillclimb races and Lionel Martin's last name. I could never find out how or why Bamford's name was not involved, I envision a nagging wife that didn't want to have the tax collector come pocking around the household finances, but I somehow think that Martin-Bamford's would have had the legacy that Aston Martin now enjoys.

As with all great endeavors there are successes and challenges. What makes Aston Martin such a great marquee is that even though the challenges always seemed to outweigh the successes the product was always notable. As such were the early years. Soon after the first Aston Martin rolled out of the garage he first world was started and the company shuttered up for the duration. Once the war was over, and with fresh cash from Count Louis Zborowski, the company started to roll out vehicles that competed in races such as the French Grand Prix and Brooklands.

The early racing successes didn't result in a beneficial partnership for the two founders and Mr. Bamford sold his interest to Mr. Martin in 1922. Money was tight and cash flow was kept positive by infusions by the Count. Unfortunately, in 1924 the Count died in a racing accident and the future of Aston Martin became uncertain. In comes John Benson, later to be named Lord Charnwood (I'm American so I have no idea what it takes to go from just John to Lord Charnwood. However, I imagine it to be quit painful). he Lord had the cash and the desire to continue Aston's reputation in the racing world. He, however, didn't care for Mr. Martin and in 1925 Lionel hit left the company.

Lord Charnwood didn't last for long. By 1926 he had sold Aston Martin Motors to Renwick & Bertelli, a recently formed engineering company, for 4000 pounds. It was at this time the company moved to Victoria Road, Feltham. These new owners where also not to last. About a year later Renwick and Bertelli broke up and had to seek outside investors to keep the concern running. By 1936 the Bertelli's had left and the largest investors, the Sutherland family, took control. Now things were to get bad - like I said, what makes Aston Martin so great is the blood and sweat it took to build it. From the beginning, Aston Martin was destined to become the world's greatest marquee. Even at the expense of it many many owners. It indeed had a soul of it's own.

During WW II Aston Martin was assigned to making tooling and spare parts for aircraft joysticks. It was during these years that in the back corners of the works one of Aston's earliest stars, Claude Hill, continued work on a sports saloon - the Atom. It was the Atom that would spring board Aston Martin back to it's intended path.

In 1946 David Brown saw a small classified ad in the London Times offering Aston Martin for sale for only 30,000 pounds. He went over to Feltham to check the place out and drive the Atom. He fell in love with Atom and bought the company for the discounted price of on 20,500 pounds from the Sutherland family. Aston Martin now had the leader it needed to become what it was meant to be. Mr. Brown's core business was tractor parts. Specifically gears and transmissions. At first he did little with Aston Martin as his attention was devoted to finishing a new gear design. However, a friend of his convinced him to buy another automotive company, Lagonda, and merge it together with Aston Martin. After some shrud positioning he acquired Lagonda for 52,500 pounds. Aston Martin Lagonda was born. Yes, now you know why this site's domain name is AML. In 1954 the company moved to its Newport Pagnell facilities.

With David Brown came the "DB" vehicles. First there was the Aston Martin 2-litre, later called the DB1, built between 1948 and 1950. In 1950 the DB2s started to roll out of the plant followed by "DB"'s up till the DBS V8 built from 1967 to 1972. For more information on each model built please see our Gallery section. Unfortunately, the company, which had always just squeaked by, could no longer go in alone. In 1972 Mr. Brown sold the company to Company Developments Ltd. Company Developments was a second string asset stripper - remember that crazy in the 80's (see Pretty Women, Other Peoples Money, and Wallstreet, for a refresher). Things did not look good. But before they could rip the company apart two American enthusiasts, Peter Sprague and George Minden, bought the company. They focused on the product. Streamlining operations and improving quality. By 1981 things had greatly improved at Aston Martin but the American's couldn't keep it going and sold the company to CH Industrial. Who then sold it to Automotive Investments in 1983. They lasted just a year before selling the company to Peter Livanos and Victor Gauntlett. Could you imagine working at this place! You would never know how the boss was. Then in 1986 Ford bought 75% of the the company and the future of Aston Martin started to look a bit more promising.

In 1993 Ford finally bought the rest of the company from Victo Gauntlett and took over complete control of the operations. Ford invested heavily into modernizing the plants and focusing on innovative designs and technologies. For a company that averaged only a few hundred examples a year started to produce hundred then thousands of autos under Ford's leadership. In 2002 the company produced 6000 DB7's. More than all of the previous "DB"s ever built.

Ford Sells Aston Martin!

On Aug 31st, 2006 Ford has announced that Aston Martin Lagonda is up for sale. Now we have been here before and sometimes we have been in much more dire straights. Since Aston Martin's humble beginnings in 1913 the company has been sold:

- 1946 Sold to David Brown
- 1972 Sold to Company Developments
- 1975 Sold to Peter Sprague and George Minden
- 1981 Sold to CH Industrial
- 1983 Sold to Automotive Investments
- 1984 Sold to Peter Livanos and Victor Gauntlett
- 1986 Ford buys 75%
- 1993 Ford buys entire company

This time it's Ford that is in dire straights. The automotive giant is struggling to navigate the new world economy with an old world pension, health care program, and union. Let alone a product line up only second to GM. It's time for Ford to streamline operations and generate some fast cash to fundamentally change their business.

The good news is that this is the first time in Aston Martin history that the company is set up to deliver consistent profits. The product line up includes the DB9, Vanquish, and the Vantage V8. Along with many specials like the upcoming DBS - which may pr may not become a production vehicle. This means that Aston Martin could be purchased and ran without the buyers taking on a company under water.

The bad news is that since Aston Martin is above water financially it may be purchased for investment reasons rather than the love of the marques. The worst case scenario in my opinion is a VW buyout, or similar company, that folds Aston Martin into it's current global supply chain. For example, is it me or is the Bentley Continental Flying Spur a VW Pheaton? (nothing against VW -my day drive is a Passat!) What we need is an owner that will fundamentally understand that Aston Martin is a brand that will only retain its status if it retains its exclusivity.

David Richards and friends buy Aston Martin for $925MM!

In early 2007 Ford sold 92% of Aston Martin to the Aston enthusiast and CEO of Prodrive, David Richards. The sale once again sees our cherished marque in British hands and being lead by true enthusiasts. Prodrive is the automotive technology and racing company behind Astons racing program. In addition to David Richards, the American John Sinders and two Kuwaiti investment firms where part of the deal -- a deal that went down just as Aston Martin started to turn a profit. The company now has 100 worldwide dealerships selling around 6500 vehicles per year. Considering that in the 1990's they were producing fewer than 50 examples per year I'd say Aston is on a roll.

"GOOGLE" HISTORY

LETS  Google...!!!!!! 

Everyone knows the name Google. Whether young or old, computer smart or not this name will pop up in any conversation about computers

GOOGLE WEBPAGE  BACK IN 1999

   1996

Google has created some very impressive milestones of its time and continues to grow rapidly every day.  
It all started when Larry Page and Sergey Brin met in Stanford. Larry was 22 and a graduate of University of Michigan was there considering attending the school. And low and behold Sergey, who was 21, was there to show him around. Talk about a match made in heaven!
However,  according to some they disagreed on just about everything during their first meeting.

In 1996, now firm friends and both of them computer science grad students, began developing a search engine called BackRub. This search engine had operated on Stanford servers for just a little over a year when it started taking up to much bandwidth to suite Stanford.

1997

 they decided to switch servers and renamed the search engine in 1997, calling it Google. The name comes from a mathematical term for the number 1 followed by 100 zero’s. The use of the term reflects their mission to organize a seemingly infinite amount of information on the web.

1998

In august of 1998, Sun co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim writes them a check for $100,000 to a company that didn’t even exist yet. It was at this very moment that they realized what they had  and went and incorporated the name Google Inc. 

Their knowledge was great, but not great enough to impress the money boys or the major internet portals. Oh how they wish they invested in them now! So they began struggling for financial support. 
Andy was one of the few to see true potential of what these boys had created. During their presentation to him, Andy said he had to duck out for another meeting and offered to write them a check. The check was for $100,000 and that indeed had got things moving for them. 
In September the boys moved into the their workspace in Susan Wojcicki’s garage at 232 Santa Margarita, Menlo Park, CA. They then went on to file for incorporation in California on September 4 1998.  Shortly after completing this important task, the boys went an opened a bank account in the name of  Google Inc., their newly established company, and deposited the $100,000 dollar check Andy Bechtolsheim had given them. Shortly after they have established there new business they began hiring employees. There first one was Craig Silverstein, a fellow grad student from Stanford as well.
In December of 1998 PC Magazine wrote: “The 25 million pages currently catalogued seem to be good choices. The site has uncanny knack for returning extremely relevant results. There’s much more to come from  Google, but even in its prototype form it’s a great search engine.” .  They went on to say that  Google had made its mark as one off the Top 100 websites for 1998. Even at the very beginning they received only the best reviews.

1999

They then went on to become the most successful internet company ever. Early in 1999 they struck a deal with Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins for $25 million. In November 1999 Charlie Ayers joined  Google as the company’s first  chef. 

2000

In April of 2000.  Google announced the MentalPlex program, which envisages the software’s ability to read your mind as you visualize the search results you want.
In June of 2000,  Google partnered with Yahoo! to become their default search provider. Also in June they announced the first billion URL index, making Google become the world’s largest search engine. 
In September of 2000 they started offering searches in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean , bringing their total number of supported languages to 15. 
In December 2000 Google toolbar was released.

They have been going strong ever since, making them the largest and best search engine site today, with multiple enhancements. They will continue to be at the top of their game for years to come.

THE HISTORY OF "COFFEE" AND ITS "ORIGIN"

The history of the coffee bean does not want for drama. Since its first documented use and probably long before stories involving coffee have been rife with intrigue, passion, revolution, and idiosyncratic charm.

             

       Of Goats and Holy Men

Legend has it that the stimulant properties of coffee were discovered sometime before the ninth century by an Abyssinian goatherd named Kaldi. Bored and mischievous, the young man's goats began snacking on coffee cherries while he napped nearby. Waking to find his goats pirouetting off rocks and the surrounding canyon walls, Kaldi collected a handful of the bright red fruit and hastened home to his village imam. As an experiment, the religious leader boiled the cherries in water and then drank the concoction himself. He became alert and lively, so much so that maintaining wakefulness during evening prayers was uncharacteristically effortless. These stimulating properties made coffee an instant hit among the ranks of the faithful, and its use rapidly became routine.

As coffee gained in popularity, the sixteenth-century Mohammedans found reason to complain. Ironically, they considered coffee to be a threat to religious sobriety, especially upon witnessing that followers were more likely to frequent street side cafes than they were to visit the mosques. Consumption was discouraged, and rumors linking the beverage with impotence, among other "ills," spread wildly. Still, there was no scarcity of coffee drinkers.

In fact, the Arabians guarded their beans with extreme jealousy. All coffee beans designated for export were boiled, destroying their ability to germinate and be domesticated outside the region. Although there is unofficial record that one religious pilgrim smuggled a seedling back to India in the early 1600s and planted it behind his hut in the Mysore area (where a great deal of good coffee has grown since), the commercial production of coffee remained under Arab control through the latter part of the century.

             The Baptism of the Bean

Not long after Venetian traders first presented coffee to Europe in 1615, Pope Clement VIII was warned it might prove threatening to the holy aims of the Church. A legislature of priests accused the beverage of being a tool for the devil, designed to lure good worshippers into losing their souls. Curious, the pope requested that his attendants bring a cup of the stuff to him. He found its aroma pleasing and, upon tasting it, became so enamored with the brew that he decided to get the better of the devil by baptizing it, thereby making coffee a "truly Christian beverage."

The ardently entrepreneurial Dutch orchestrated the first successful planting outside Arabia-on the island of Java-in 1699. An initial trial shipment was sent back to Amsterdam in 1706 and included one seedling, which was planted in the botanical gardens.

When coffee so gained in popularity in Germany that it replaced other breakfast beverages, the eighteenth-century ruler Frederick the Great issued a desperate manifesto. "It is disgusting to notice the increase in the quantity of coffee used by my subjects," he declared, complaining with particular bitterness that the revenues for coffee went to foreign hands while profit from beer came to the crown. "My people," he protested, "must drink beer."

.

         Coffee Crosses the Atlantic

Consumption of coffee in the United States began as early as 1668. The first documented license to sell coffee was obtained by Dorothy Jones of the Massachusetts Colony in 1670. '

The British East India Tea Company harbored plans to develop a profitable market in the colonies.

But the Boston Tea Party, plotted by revolutionaries in Boston's lively Green Dragon coffee house, made drinking coffee a popular form of protest against the iron fist of the monarchy. From that point forward, the more refined beverage of the British crown never regained a substantial foothold.

Today, the United States consumes more coffee than any other nation in the world. Although per capita intake peaked in the 1960s, our national average is again on the rise. Numbers indicate that the fuel behind this, and a parallel increase in Canada, is the emerging specialty coffee segment of the market. Clearly, an emphasis on better coffee is attracting consumers back to it.

                                 World Map of Coffee Growing Regions

                           Coffee Producing Countries: Coffee Harvesting Times and Production

Coffee Producing Country	Coffee Harvesting Time	60 Kg Bags harvested in 1999	60 Kg bags exported
Brazil	March-October	27,170,000	23,135,000
Colombia	October-February and April-June	9,300,000	9,995,000
Costa Rica	Atlantic coast: August-November.  Pacific coast: September-December	2,467,000	2,196,000
Dominican Republic	August-June	1,058,000	161,000
Ecuador	June-October	1,533,000	988,000
Ethiopia	August-January	3,833,000	1,818,000
Guatemala	October-January	4,500,000	4,669,000
Haiti	October-November and February-March	385,000	161,000
Honduras	October-March	3,067,000	1,987,000
Indonesia		7,833,000	5,084,000
Jamaica	August-September	40,000	24,000
Kenya	October-December (main) and June-August	1,433,000	1,113,000
Malawi	December-February	61,000	54,000
Mexico	High Altitudes: November-January.  Low altitudes: August-November	6,193,000	4,358,000
Nicaragua	South: November-January and August-September. North: December-March	1,304,000	983,000
Papua New Guinea	April-September	1,286,000	132,000
Tanzania	October-December	773,000	634,000
Uganda	September-December	4,000,000	3,841,000
Venezuela	September-March	1,073,000	452,000
Zambia	October-March	45,000	54,000
Zimbabwe	July-October	189,000	141,000

THE HISTORY OF "JEANS"

ITS been a while now that i am updating my blog and getting a very good response from all of you guys . thanks for your support!!!!!

now to make the long story short i was thinking about jeans thing  for a while, we all wear it (SOME same jeans everyday like me some different ) but have you ever thaught where it came from. 

So i thaught we should know about it.SO SIT BACK ON  THE TIME MACHINE and enjoy the ride 

AT A GLANCE:No item of clothing is more American than the blue jeans invented in 1873 by Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss. Waist overalls, was the traditional name for work pants, which is what these first jeans were called. The word jeans became more popular around 1960 when the baby-boom generation adopted the term for its favorite type of pants, blue jeans.. Invention: blue jeans Definition: noun / waist overalls, jeans, Levi's® jeans Function: Clothes, especially pants, that are usually close-fitting and  created from the rugged cotton twill textile that is colored blue with indigo dye Patent: 139,121 (US) issued May 20, 1873 for Fastening Pocket-Openings Inventor: Jacob Davis (aka Jacob Youphes) Criteria: First to invent. First to patent. First practical. Birth: 1834 in Riga Latvia Death: 1908 in San Francisco, California Nationality: German Inventor: Levi Strauss (aka Loeb Strauss) Criteria: First to patent. First practical. Entrepreneur. Birth: February 26, 1829 in Buttenheim, Germany Death: September 27, 1902 in San Francisco, California Nationality: American (of German decent) Milestones:1847 Strauss family moves to New York City where Levi joined his brothers dry-goods business 1853 Levi moves to San Francisco, California to establishing a dry-goods business Levi Strauss&Co. 1854 Jacob moves to New York, then to San Francisco, California then to Canada for nine years 1868 Jacob settled in Reno, Neveda tailoring clothing and manufacturing tents and horse blankets1871 Jacob who was using rivets on horse blankets, decides to try them on pant pockets for strength 1872 Jacob wrote a letter to Levi suggests that they hold the riveted pants patent rights together. 1872 on August 8, filed patent application for Improvements in Fastening Pocket-Openings 1873 patent 139,121 awarded to Jacob Davis and one half assigned to Levi Strauss & Co. 1873 Levi hires Jacob to oversee production of the riveted pants at the San Francisco plant 1875 Levi and two associates purchased the Mission and Pacific Woolen Mills 1890 the year that the lot number "501®" was first used to designate the denim waist overalls 1935 Levi's® jeans for women were first featured in Vogue magazine 1936 The red Tab Device was created to help identify Levi's® 501® jeans from a distance 1960 The word jeans became popular when the baby-boom generation used the term for the pants jeans, blue jeans, levi's, denim waist overalls, 501, dungaree, Levi Strauss, Jacob Davis, invention, history, inventor of, history of, who invented, invention of, fascinating facts.

The Story: The first jeans came in two styles, indigo blue and brown cotton "duck." Unlike denim, the duck material never became soft and comfortable so it was eventually dropped from the line. Although denim pants had been around as work wear for many years, historically dating back to England in the 1600s with a fabric there called denim, it was the first use of rivets that created what we now call jeans. "Waist overalls" was the traditional name for work pants, which is what these first jeans were called. The word jeans became more popular around 1960 when the baby-boom generation adopted the term for its favorite type of pants. How were blue jeans invented is a simple story. Levi Strauss came to San Francisco in 1853, at the age of twenty-four, to open a west coast branch of his brothers' New York dry goods business. He had spent a number of years learning the trade in New York after emigrating there from his native Germany. He built his business into a very successful operation over the next twenty years, making a name for himself not only as a well-respected businessman, but as a local philanthropist as well. One of Levi's many customers was a tailor named Jacob Davis. Originally from Latvia, Jacob lived in Reno, Nevada, and regularly purchased bolts of cloth from the wholesale house of Levi Strauss & Co. Among Jacob's customers was a difficult man who kept ripping the pockets of the pants that Jacob made for him. Jacob tried to think of a way to strengthen the man's trousers, and one day hit upon the idea of putting metal rivets at the points of strain, such as on the pocket corners and at the base of the button fly. These riveted pants were an instant hit with Jacob's customers and he worried that someone might steal this great idea. He decided he should apply for a patent on the process, but didn't have the $68 that was required to file the papers. He needed a business partner and he immediately thought of Levi Strauss. In 1872 Jacob wrote a letter to Levi to suggest that the two men hold the patent together. Levi, who was an astute businessman, saw the potential for this new product and agreed to Jacob's proposal. On May 20, 1873, the two men received patent no.139,121 from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. That day is now considered to be the official "birthday" of blue jeans. With the patent secured, Levi hired Jacob Davis to oversee production of the riveted pants at the Levi Strauss & Co. San Francisco plant. Sometime during 1873, the first riveted clothing was made and sold. (the exact date was lost along with the company records in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire). Jacob Davis was in charge of manufacturing when Levi Strauss & Co. opened its two San Francisco factories.In 1875 Levi and two associates purchased the Mission and Pacific Woolen Mills from the estate of former silver millionaire William Ralston. Much of the mill's fabric was used to make the Levi Strauss & Co. "blanket-lined" pants and coats. The denim for the riveted work pants came from the Amoskeag Mill in Manchester, New Hampshire, a company known for the quality of its fabrics. Within a very short time, all types of working men were buying the innovative new pants and spreading the word about their unrivaled durability. Hard to imagine that back in 1885, when denim first established itself as a reliable work wear cloth for a working man's garment — that a pair of Levi overalls cost $1.25. Brand new. Holding a patent on this process meant that for nearly twenty years, Levi Strauss & Co. was the only company allowed to make riveted clothing until the patent went into the public domain.. Around 1890, these pants were assigned the number 501, which they still bear today. When the patent expired, dozens of garment manufacturers began to imitate the original riveted clothing made popular by Levi Strauss & Co. In the 1950s, high school kids put them on as a radical way of defining themselves, of wanting to look and be more adult — and dangerous and rebellious against adults because adults didn't wear jeans.  In the 1970s Me Decade and the beginnings of celebrity culture surfaced, jeans were definitely about being sexy and all about fashion. In 1980 came the controversial Calvin Klein ad slogan heard around the world. Who can ever forget 15-year-old Brooke Shields (barely old enough to get her driver's permit) purring into living rooms "Nothing comes between me and my Calvins"?