8/2012 Climbing up Mt. Everest without ever going there

Want to take a look at Mt. Everest ? Do not have the courage, strength or money, to take up a trekking tour of Himalayas ? A bunch of Italian scientists have found a novel way to help you. They have set up a web cam at a vantage point on Kala Pathar, at an altitude of 5,675 metres (18,619 ft), from where you get a panorama of the big hills. The webcam captures video footage of the summit of Mount Everest[1] and is the highest webcam in the world. It was installed by Italian scientists as part of the Everest Share 2011 research project by the Nepalese Ev-K2-CNR team, which is intended to gather information regarding climate change by working together with the Everest weather station. The camera is an M12-type model made by the German-based company Mobotix. It is powered by solar cells and operates from 6am to 6pm local time[1] (UTC +5:45). It is capable of operating at temperatures as low as −30 °C (−22 °F) and broadcasts its live high definition video worldwide via the Internet. It is expected to work in conjunction with the Everest weather station – located at an altitude of 8,000 m (26,250 ft) on Mount Everest – to provide scientists with details regarding climate change. The captured video is transmitted wirelessly to the Ev-K2-CNR Pyramid Laboratory/Observatory, located on the slopes of Mount Everest at an altitude of 5,050 m (16,568 ft). The URL of the webcam is ::
http://www.evk2cnr.org/WebCams/PyramidOne/everest-webcam.html
partha

Buddham sharanam gachhami

A memorable day with Buddha, at Swaymbhunath Buddha stupa, just outside Kathmandu. Wonder how Buddha manages to live with so many monkeys around (in both the literal and figurative sense), Is that why the world worships Buddha ?

Daddy's day out

Visiting "Durbar Square" of Kathmandu, Partha discovers many lovely ideas and objects. His love for objets d'art dragged him to the curios market at the square.

Ugly teacher, lovely campus

Reaching the height of teaching (literally), Partha is on a hillock (Kathmandu University) which marks the beginning of the Himalayas. Teaching young Nepalis about security, is a paradox by itself. Nepalis (Gorkhas) are famous the world over as security people, guarding the rich and the famous. Now an Indian Professor will teach them a thing or two on how to guard computer based assets.