Keyboard shortcuts

                                                   Windows Shortcuts

Shift + F10 right-clicks.
Win + L (XP Only): Locks keyboard. Similar to Lock Workstation.
Win + F or F3: Open Find dialog. (All Files) F3 may not work in some applications which use F3 for their own find dialogs.
Win + Control + F: Open Find dialog. (Computers)
Win + U: Open Utility Manager.
Win + F1: Open Windows help.
Win + Pause: Open System Properties dialog.
Win + Tab: Cycle through taskbar buttons. Enter clicks, AppsKey or Shift + F10 right-clicks.
Win + Shift + Tab: Cycle through taskbar buttons in reverse.
Alt + Tab: Display Cool Switch. More commonly known as the AltTab dialog.
Alt + Shift + Tab: Display Cool Switch; go in reverse.
Alt + Escape: Send active window to the bottom of the z-order.
Alt + Shift + Escape: Activate the window at the bottom of the z-order.
Alt + F4: Close active window; or, if all windows are closed, open shutdown dialog.
Shift while a CD is loading: Bypass AutoPlay.
Shift while login: Bypass startup folder. Only those applications will be ignored which are in the startup folder, not those started from the registry (Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\)
Ctrl + Alt + Delete or Ctrl + Alt + NumpadDel (Both NumLock states): Invoke the Task Manager or NT Security dialog.
Ctrl + Shift + Escape (2000/XP ) or (Ctrl + Alt + NumpadDot) : Invoke the task manager. On earlier OSes, acts like Ctrl + Escape.
Print screen: Copy screenshot of current screen to clipboard.
Alt + Print screen: Copy screenshot of current active window to clipboard.
Ctrl + Alt + Down Arrow: Invert screen. Untested on OS's other than XP.
Ctrl + Alt + Up Arrow: Undo inversion.
Win + B : Move focus to systray icons.

                                                                            General
 

• Ctrl + C or Ctrl + Insert: Copy.
• Ctrl + X or Shift + Delete: Cut.
• Ctrl + V or Shift + Insert: Paste/Move.
• Ctrl + N: New... File, Tab, Entry, etc.
• Ctrl + S: Save.
• Ctrl + O: Open...
• Ctrl + P: Print.
• Ctrl + Z: Undo.
• Ctrl + A: Select all.
• Ctrl + F: Find...
• Ctrl+W : to close the current window
• Ctrl + F4: Close tab or child window.
• F1: Open help.
• F11: Toggle full screen mode.
• Alt or F10: Activate menu bar.
• Alt + Space: Display system menu. Same as clicking the icon on the titlebar.
• Escape: Remove focus from current control/menu, or close dialog box.

•                                                                General Navigation 
   

  • Tab: Forward one item.
  • Shift + Tab: Backward one item.
  • Ctrl + Tab: Cycle through tabs/child windows.
  • Ctrl + Shift + Tab: Cycle backwards through tabs/child windows.
  • Enter: If a button's selected, click it, otherwise, click default button.
  • Space: Toggle items such as radio buttons or checkboxes.
  • Alt + (Letter): Activate item corresponding to (Letter). (Letter) is the underlined letter on the item's name.
  • Ctrl + Left: Move cursor to the beginning of previous word.
  • Ctrl + Right: Move cursor to the beginning of next word.
  • Ctrl + Up: Move cursor to beginning of previous paragraph. This and all subsequent Up/Down hotkeys in this section have only been known to work in Rich Edit controls.
  • Ctrl + Down: Move cursor to beginning of next paragraph.
  • Shift + Left: Highlight one character to the left.
  • Shift + Right: Highlight one character to the right.
  • Shift + Up: Highlight from current cursor position, to one line up.
  • Shift + Down: Highlight from current cursor position, to one line down.
  • Ctrl + Shift + Left: Highlight to beginning of previous word.
  • Ctrl + Shift + Right: Highlight to beginning of next word.
  • Ctrl + Shift + Up: Highlight to beginning of previous paragraph.
  • Ctrl + Shift + Down: Highlight to beginning of next paragraph.
  • Home: Move cursor to top of a scrollable control.
  • End: Move cursor to bottom of a scrollable control.

  •                                                                File Browser

    • Arrow Keys: Navigate.
    • Shift + Arrow Keys: Select multiple items.
    • Ctrl + Arrow Keys: Change focus without changing selection. "Focus" is the object that will run on Enter. Space toggles selection of the focused item.
    • (Letter): Select first found item that begins with (Letter).
    • BackSpace: Go up one level to the parent directory.
    • Alt + Left: Go back one folder.
    • Alt + Right: Go forward one folder.
    • Enter: Activate (Double-click) selected item(s).
    • Alt + Enter: View properties for selected item.
    • F2: Rename selected item(s).
    • Ctrl + NumpadPlus: In a Details view, resizes all columns to fit the longest item in each one.
    • Delete: Delete selected item(s).
    • Shift + Delete: Delete selected item(s); bypass Recycle Bin.
    • Ctrl while dragging item(s): Copy.
    • Ctrl + Shift while dragging item(s): Create shortcut(s).
    • In tree pane, if any:
    • Left: Collapse the current selection if expanded, or select the parent folder.
    • Right: Expand the current selection if collapsed, or select the first subfolder.
    • Numpad Asterisk: Expand currently selected directory and all subdirectories. No undo.
    • Numpad Plus: Expand currently selected directory.
    • Numpad Minus: Collapse currently selected directory.

    
                                                                  Accessibility

    • Right Shift for eight seconds: Toggle FilterKeys on and off. FilterKeys must be enabled.
    • Left Alt + Left Shift + PrintScreen: Toggle High Contrast on and off. High Contrast must be enabled.
    • Left Alt + Left Shift + NumLock: Toggle MouseKeys on and off. MouseKeys must be enabled.
    • NumLock for five seconds: Toggle ToggleKeys on and off. ToggleKeys must be enabled.
    • Shift five times: Toggle StickyKeys on and off. StickyKeys must be enabled.
    • 6.) Microsoft Natural Keyboard with IntelliType Software Installed
    • Win + L: Log off Windows.
    • Win + P: Open Print Manager.
    • Win + C: Open control panel.
    • Win + V: Open clipboard.
    • Win + K: Open keyboard properties.
    • Win + I: Open mouse properties.
    • Win + A: Open Accessibility properties.
    • Win + Space: Displays the list of Microsoft IntelliType shortcut keys.
    • Win + S: Toggle CapsLock on and off.

    
                                        Remote Desktop Connection Navigation

    
    
    • Ctrl + Alt + End: Open the NT Security dialog.
    • Alt + PageUp: Switch between programs.
    • Alt + PageDown: Switch between programs in reverse.
    • Alt + Insert: Cycle through the programs in most recently used order.
    • Alt + Home: Display start menu.
    • Ctrl + Alt + Break: Switch the client computer between a window and a full screen.
    • Alt + Delete: Display the Windows menu.
    • Ctrl + Alt + NumpadMinus: Place a snapshot of the entire client window area on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing Alt + PrintScreen on a local computer.
    • Ctrl + Alt + NumpadPlus: Place a snapshot of the active window in the client on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing PrintScreen on a local computer.

    
                                                        Mozilla Firefox Shortcuts

    • Ctrl + Tab or Ctrl + PageDown: Cycle through tabs.
    • Ctrl + Shift + Tab or Ctrl + PageUp: Cycle through tabs in reverse.
    • Ctrl + (1-9): Switch to tab corresponding to number.
    • Ctrl + N: New window.
    • Ctrl + T: New tab.
    • Ctrl + L or Alt + D or F6: Switch focus to location bar.
    • Ctrl + Enter: Open location in new tab.
    • Shift + Enter: Open location in new window.
    • Ctrl + K or Ctrl + E: Switch focus to search bar.
    • Ctrl + O: Open a local file.
    • Ctrl + W: Close tab, or window if there's only one tab open.
    • Ctrl + Shift + W: Close window.
    • Ctrl + S: Save page as a local file.
    • Ctrl + P: Print page.
    • Ctrl + F or F3: Open find toolbar.
    • Ctrl + G or F3: Find next...
    • Ctrl + Shift + G or Shift + F3: Find previous...
    • Ctrl + B or Ctrl + I: Open Bookmarks sidebar.
    • Ctrl + H: Open History sidebar.
    • Escape: Stop loading page.
    • Ctrl + R or F5: Reload current page.
    • Ctrl + Shift + R or Ctrl + F5: Reload current page; bypass cache.
    • Ctrl + U: View page source.
    • Ctrl + D: Bookmark current page.
    • Ctrl + NumpadPlus or Ctrl + Equals (+/=): Increase text size.
    • Ctrl + NumpadMinus or Ctrl + Minus: Decrease text size.
    • Ctrl + Numpad0 or Ctrl + 0: Set text size to default.
    • Alt + Left or Backspace: Back.
    • Alt + Right or Shift + Backspace: Forward.
    • Alt + Home: Open home page.
    • Ctrl + M: Open new message in integrated mail client.
    • Ctrl + J: Open Downloads dialog.
    • F6: Switch to next frame. You must have selected something on the page already, e.g. by use of Tab.
    • Shift + F6: Switch to previous frame.
    • Apostrophe ('): Find link as you type.
    • Slash (/): Find text as you type.

    •                                List of F1-F9 Key Commands for the Command Prompt

      
      
    • F1 / right arrow: Repeats the letters of the last command line, one by one.
    • F2: Displays a dialog asking user to "enter the char to copy up to" of the last command line
    • F3: Repeats the last command line
    • F4: Displays a dialog asking user to "enter the char to delete up to" of the last command line
    • F5: Goes back one command line
    • F6: Enters the traditional CTRL+Z (^z)
    • F7: Displays a menu with the command line history
    • F8: Cycles back through previous command lines (beginning with most recent)
    • F9: Displays a dialog asking user to enter a command number, where 0 is for first command line entered.
    • Alt+Enter: toggle full Screen mode.
    • up/down: scroll thru/repeat previous entries
    • Esc: delete line
    • Note: The buffer allows a maximum of 50 command lines. After this number is reached, the first line will be replaced in sequence.

    • Helpful accessibility keyboard shortcuts

      • Switch FilterKeys on and off. Right SHIFT for eight seconds
      • Switch High Contrast on and off. Left ALT +left SHIFT +PRINT SCREEN
      • Switch MouseKeys on and off. Left ALT +left SHIFT +NUM LOCK
      • Switch StickyKeys on and off. SHIFT five times
      • Switch ToggleKeys on and off. NUM LOCK for five seconds

Solution for "Bom Sabado" virus in orkut

Google’s social networking website Orkut has been attacked by virus called “Bom Sabado” on Saturday morning, which is a big treat for orkut . “Bom sabado” is a Portuguese world it means “Good Saturday” in English.
Bom Sabado is an orkut virus affecting profiles of many. Those who are affected by this virus are advised to change password and security question. Log out immediately and also clear the cookies and history.Users are also advised not to open Orkut account until the problem solved. Orkut had just last month announced new updates to the website. It’s a second time Orkut got affected by this kind of viruses. The same virus has hit Orkut last Feb also.


A few hours back, the Bom Sabado virus seems to have started and now it is all over orkut scraps that spreading from friend to friends. It is an auto generated message which is filing your scrapebooks. The scraps come from the friend list and it comes just like any other normal orkut scraps. Users are also advised not to open such scraps. The bug is hitting your cookies and automatically sending messages to your friend list.
If anyone reads this scrap even in their profile, their cookies are also stoled and so they are also posting scrap automatically to their friend list same scrap as bomb something like.
Orkut officials have not clear yet that the Bom Sabado is a virus or not. In week, this is a second XSS attack on a social networking website. The popular microblogging website Twitter was also attacked by a computer worm created by Norwegian. Twitter was received an XSS exploit, the attack, which emerged and was shut down within hours Tuesday morning and involved a XSS flaw that allowed users to run JavaScript programs on other computers.
So do not login to your orkut account,
If you want to change password, use this link www.google.com/accounts/
Solutions:-
Do not visit any profile on Orkut till this script is blocked
Clear your cookies and cache right away and change your password and security question:
Another solution :-
I have already posted a solution at many blogging sites. For everyone whose orkut account has been affected with the %u2018bom sabado%u2019 worm %u2026. The worm injects a hidden iframe containing a malicious javascript http://tptools.org/worm.js [do not click this], which steals the user cookie which contains the password in an encoded form. So the attacker do not get to know your plaintext password but can login using your credentials by impersonating using the cookie to fool the identification system. So a trivial solution is to diable javascript, another solution is to disable iframes or u can take an advanced measure by blocking the domain http://tptools.org/ by editing your hosts file and redirecting it to a safe address, say 127.0.0.1 go to C:windowssystem32driversetc There is a file named %u2018hosts%u2019. By default it is read-only. Go to it properties and uncheck the tickmark beside read-only edit it with you favourite editor. add this line at the end of it 127.0.0.1 tptools.org save it. and then restart your network interface. ( in simple words, just reconnect your interner connection ) and bingo!! the worm%u2019ll be useless. Hope this helps..

10 Tips to speed up Opera 9

                                                      Opera is already a very fast browser, but if you would have the choice between fast and faster than fast, what would you choose ? I took the liberty to compile a list of 10 great tips that speed up Opera in several unique ways. Many of the settings can be changed by simply going to Tools > Preferences in Opera but some can only be used by accessing not so obvious ways like ini files.


Please note that everything that I’m describing here worked fine on my computer. It speed up Opera and increased my browsing experience with it tremendously. While most tips will work for any users no matter their connection to the Internet some tips might only increase performance for broadband users.


Disable Name Completion and local network lookup


Whenever you enter a single word into the address field Opera will look in your bookmarks for that name and try to find a local network with the name as well. Server Name Completion tries to append prefixes and suffixes to the name automatically. While this feature might be great for some users it uses time and cpu and should be turned of for faster browsing.


Click on Tools > Preferences, select the Advanced Tab and choose Network from the left menu. Click on Server Name Completion and disable Look for local network machine and try name completion, using.
Increase the time cached images are used before checking for new versions


Opera downloads images to its cache to be able to load them faster (from your hard drive) the next time you visit the website. By default Opera checks every 5 hours if a new version of that image has appeared on the website. If you increase this time you increase your overall performance.


Go to Tools > Preferences and click on the Advanced Tab. Choose History from the left menu and select Every 24 hours or even every week for image checks. You can always refresh the cache manually by typing F5 while visiting the website.
Remove unneeded and duplicate plugins


Type opera:plugins in the address bar, this should display a list of plugins that are currently installed. Take a closer look and see if you find plugins that you never need. For instance if you never use Realplayer streams in Opera you should deactivate it.


To deactivate them open the file plugin-ignore.ini located in your Opera main directory and add the filename of the plugin that you want to disable to it.


Another problem are duplicate plugins that are caused by loading the plugins from Firefox as well. This happens of course only if Firefox is installed on the same system. You can disable this easily by typing opera:config in the address bar. Navigate to User Prefs > Plugin Path and delete the Firefox reference there.
Rebuild your profile if you have upgraded Opera (a lot)


This is only for users who upgrade Opera a lot. I for instance was using Opera since version 6 and always upgraded from the old version to a new one. This could mess up the ini files, especially the opera6.ini file which is still used in all versions of Opera. This could lead to all sorts of problems (slow page loading, high cpu usage)caused by obsolete or incorrect entries in that ini file.


The easiest approach would be to backup the file opera6.ini in your profiles folder of your Opera installation and delete it afterwards. Please note that Opera has to be closed before you do this. Restart Opera afterwards and it should automatically create a new opera6.ini file without all those old entries.


You will loose the personal information if you entered them in Opera and also all tweaks that you might have applied are gone too. It is however not a big problem to enter them again using the Preferences for the personal information and about:config for the latter.
Disable Turbo mode


While this might sound a little bit strange at first to disable turbo mode and present it as a tip to speed up Opera it becomes clear soon. Turbo mode means that Opera pre-draws any image which means that you see part of it although it is not fully loaded. This uses CPU and memory and could increase overall performance especially on slower computers. It should not be noticeable on fast computers though.


Type about:config and enter Turbo into the search field. Disable Turbo Mode and click on save.
Increase the number of total connections


If you happen to load many tabs at once and like to read websites more or less simultaneously you might want to increase the maximum number of connections. This should have a drastic impact on loading times if you use a broadband connection. It should not make a big difference for users with slow connections, such as 256K connections or less.


Type about:config and enter connections into the search field. Change the value of Max Connections Total from 20 to another value, I suggest 32 or 64 connections. The Max Connections per Server setting should remain as it is. You might even want to test a lower setting, for instance 4 connections there.
Reduce the amount of visited pages in history


Opera keeps track of the last 500 visited websites. The benefit is that Opera displays all urls that fit the string that you enter in the address bar. You can then scroll down and load the website without entering the url fully. This can however impact the time Opera needs to startup.


A temporary fix would be to clear the history manually, a better solution to reduce the amount of websites that Opera stores.


Click on Tools > Preferences and then on the advanced tab. Select History from the left menu and either click on Clear next to Addresses if you want to test if this solution really speeds up loading times or reduce the number of stored addresses in the history right away. I never use that feature and set it to 0. You might reduce it to 100 for instance.
Change Expiry Settings


Some Webmasters want you to load their website anew every time you visit it to display new ad banners for instance. This has the effect that Opera will not use the files stored in cache to load the website but request the complete website again from the server increasing load times.


We are however able to ignore the Expires meta tag from websites by changing two settings in the Opera configuration.


Write opera:config in the address bar, hit enter. Search for expiry and change the settings for Check Expiry History and Check Expiry Load to 1.
Save Images Faster


This is probably more a usablity tip than a performance tip but I think it is still nice enough to be included. Instead of saving images by right-clicking on them and selecting Save Image you can simply press CTRL and left-click the image. The download window appears and you can save it then immediately.
Delay mail and rss connections at startup


Opera prioritizes mail and rss accounts during startup. This could mean that you could witness lots of disk activity during startup which could slow down Opera significantly. It is possible to delay each account individually to prevent that Opera slows down during startup.


Locate your accounts.ini file which should be in the Opera mail folder. Every account should have an entry Initial Poll Delay=X where X should be set to at least 60 (seconds) and the rss feed to something like 120 or more.

Burj Khalifa pictures,wallpapers

Solar Power: The New Designs & Innovations

Solar power is no longer just about installing photovoltaic panels on existing rooftops to convert a bit of electricity with sunlight. Nowadays, people are finding unique ways to integrate solar energy into architectural, vehicular and even fashion designs from the beginning. Moreover, some innovators have even figured out ways to make structures entirely energy-independent by combining various alternative energy sources.

When solar was first introduced it was an auxiliary power source – now we have cars, boats, planes and even entire buildings that run on solar power. From the world’s first energy-autonomous vehicle to solar balloons, arcs, lily pads and even bras here are some of the most clever contemporary solar designs. These push the existing envelope of solar technology and design ingenuity.

                                                     It is hard to say whether the solar bra concept is more geared toward a male of a female audience. The stomach solar panel is perhaps a little less than sexy but supposedly generates enough energy to power a small mobile device such as an MP3 player or a cellular phone. The idea is interesting but the implementation is dubious. After all, who goes outside in only a bra? And what about the unwashability of such a clothing item...?

                                                                It has been called everything from Noah’s Eco-Arc to a giant stapler and many things in between. Born of a recall this structure was designed with reuse/recycling as well as alternative energy in mind. Following an unfortunate recall of a huge number of photovalic cells that simply could not be ethically resold Sanyo decided to use them themselves and create an amazing company structure at the same time.

                                                      One of the biggest problems, as everyone knows, with solar energy is the difficult off-times when the sun simply won’t shine (at night or during poor weather). To take advantage of even these down times systems like these that use materials (like salt) which store heat for long periods even in the absence of sun seem to be the next stage in solar energy evolution – making the absolute most out of available power and materials. What’s next on the solar horizon? Hard to say but the key elements seem to be: (a) using solar power even without the sun, (b) mixing solar power with other alternative energies and (c) making maximum use of solar power by integrating it with existing structures and vehicles at small and large scales with maximum material, time and cost efficiency.

                                                           This first commercial solar power station in Europe is a sight to behold, appearing like an alien object standing out brightly against the flat surrounding landscape. An array of solar panels around the base are used to reflect the sun direct at the giant tower in the middle where, in turn, that heat energy is used to raise the temperature of water piped through the structure. The panels are an awesome site to behold and rotate to track the sun throughout the year.

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)

                                          Short for liquid crystal display, a type of display used in digital watches and many portable computers. LCD displays utilize two sheets of polarizing material with a liquid crystal solution between them. An electric current passed through the liquid causes the crystals to align so that light cannot pass through them. Each crystal, therefore, is like a shutter, either allowing light to pass through or blocking the light.

Monochrome LCD images usually appear as blue or dark gray images on top of a grayish-white background. Color LCD displays use two basic techniques for producing color: Passive matrix is the less expensive of the two technologies. The other technology, called thin film transistor (TFT) or active-matrix, produces color images that are as sharp as traditional CRT displays, but the technology is expensive. Recent passive-matrix displays using new CSTN and DSTN technologies produce sharp colors rivaling active-matrix displays.

Most LCD screens used in notebook computers are backlit, or transmissive, to make them easier to read.

A color television picture tube contains three electron guns, one corresponding to each of the three primary colors of light—red, green, and blue. Electromagnets direct the beams of electrons emerging from these guns to continuously scan the screen. As the electrons strike red, green, and blue phosphor dots on the screen, they make the dots glow. A screen with holes in it, called a shadowmask, ensures that each electron beam only strikes phosphor dots of its corresponding color. The glow of all the dots together forms the television picture.

Mountain views....

In this i would like to share the photos with u.....The most remarkable tour in ma life ....to enjoy the beauty of nature and photography....................

Trip 2 wagamon..... the region that fully covered snoww...........

Another view......haha i'm on the top



Count how many hills you can see??

Wayanad hair pin road

Solar Car...

                                              Central and Eastern Europe might not be the first places you think of when it comes to electric cars. In fact, you’re probably more likely to think of bad cars, such as the infamous Yugo, dubbed the worst car in history.Although it’s not particularly known for its autos, Hungary is taking a stab at the electric vehicle market with a futuristic new solar-electric car. Founded by auto enthusiasts and backed by local investors, the Hungarian company Antro, is working on a prototype for a modular car that is capable of splitting into two separate vehicles. With solar panels on the roof, the three passenger Antro Solo can run up to 20 km per day on solar energy alone..

          The environmentally-conscious company started research back in 2002 and, with backing from various local sponsors, has invested 1.5 million euros in market research and development of a working prototype.

The Antro Solo concept is a three-passenger car, with a hybrid drive and solar cells on its roof that the company says could generate enough electricity for up to 20km a day at city speeds.Futuristic looking in itself, the grander plan for the car is much more audacious: Antro intends to allow users to be able to connect two Antro Solos to form a six-passenger Antro Duo. Or perhaps more interesting still, owners of a Duo could split the car into two smaller Solos should Mum have different weekend plans to Dad. Or if they divorce.The current prototype looks interesting, but I can’t believe its chances of ever making it to past the prototype stage are much above slim.

             Also worth a mention, just across the border to the south of Hungary, is a Croatian company called Dok-ing. It specialises in making landmine clearance machines, and sports the company motto: “Don’t send a man to do a machine’s job.” But it, too, has launched its own project for a small electric city car called Dok-ing XD — a fully electric three-seater that promises to travel 155 miles on a single two-hour charge.

The project was disclosed in 2009 after four years of development. But like Antro, Dok-ing XD sounds and looks good, but the likelihood of it hitting mass production are low. Local media hype followed announcement of the project last summer, but there has been no news since. The working prototype was expected to be on roads by the end of last year, which led to mass production being optimistically scheduled for middle of 2010.

Format USB (Pen Drive) using Command prompt

Formatting a pendrive i not something new.But formatting through DOS is something different and new.So now you can just follow the below steps to format your pendrive in seconds
How to format USB?

• First go to command prompt(Start > Run > CMD)
• Then C:/documents and settings Command prompt will appear.
• Then type format x (x is the driver letter) and press ENTER
• After that you have to enter the volume label of the pen drive correctly and press ENTER.
• Then a prompt will appear.Select Y (yes) command.
• Format will start.
• Then after the process is over your drive is fresh and ready to be written !

Famous Writers

jk rowling
Ms. J K Rowling was born on July 31st, 1965 in Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire, England. Her given name at birth was Joanne Kathleen. Ms. Rowling has one sister, Di, who was born 2 years after J K. It is interesting to note that Ms. Rowling claims that she has actually been writing since she was 5 or 6 years old.
tom clancy
Seventeen years ago Tom Clancy was an obscure Maryland insurance broker with a passion for naval history and only a letter to the editor and a brief article on the MX missile to his credit. Years before he had been an English major at Baltimores Loyola College and had always dreamed of writing a novel. His first effort, The Hunt for Red October. 

stephen king
Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut.

jrr tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, as he was christened, was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa in 1892. His early and barely memorable years were spent divided between the city and a country farm. His father, an English banker, was making efforts to establish a branch in that country. Many of Tolkien's early memories of South Africa, including an incident when he was bitten by a tarantula while visiting a rural district, are reported to have influenced his later works. 

michael crichton
Michael Crichton was born in Chicago, in 1942. He was educated at Harvard College, graduating in 1965 with a degree in anthropology. Deciding to become a doctor, he attended Harvard Medical School and graduated with an MD in 1969. To pay his way through medical school, he wrote spy thrillers under another name. One of these books, A Case of Need, won the Edgar Award for the Best Mystery of the Year.

william shakespeare
Details about William Shakespeares life are sketchy, mostly mere surmise based upon court or other clerical records. His parents, John and Mary (Arden), were married about 1557; she was of the landed gentry, he a yeomana glover and commodities merchant. By 1568, John had risen through the ranks of town government and held the position of high bailiff, similar to mayor. 

charles dickens
Charles Dickens was born in 1812 and he lived during a very challenging time for Europe. His stories were very realistic and sometimes very sad to read. They dealt with how life was for the poor and lower-classes. His art, although not always pleasant to read, has a unique style and I love the way Dickens put words together. He lived until 1870 and during his life-time, he wrote several books.

dean koonce
When he was a senior in college, Dean Koontz won an Atlantic Monthly fiction competition and has been writing ever since. His books are published in 38 languages, a figure that currently increases more than 17 million copies per year. Eight of his novels have risen to number one on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list.

george lucas
George Lucas was born in Modesto, California. The son of a stationery store owner, he was raised on a walnut ranch, and attended Modesto Junior College before enrolling in the University of Southern California film school. As a student at USC, Lucas made several short films, including Electronic Labyrinth: THX-1138: 4EB, which took first prize at the 1967-68 National Student Film Festival.