Top 10 Dance Songs

Dance has changed so much over the years that it is impossible to recognise the origins of the modern in house DJ produced and mixed techno songs. It is a long way from Chubby Checker’s Twist to the modern dance lists arranged by GIORGIOSST. The people are not the same and the instruments used for producing; recording and playing the songs have changed drastically over the last sixty years. Today’s music can be produced entirely by one person sitting in a recording studio with the latest playback computer assisted instruments and mix them with drum beats to come up with a smash hit. Here are some of the numbers which have made people dance over the last six decades.

1. Chubby Checker – Twist
Chubby Checker introduced his version of the Twist on the Clay Cole Show. The recording of the song was a super hit for the singer. It started a new dance system called the Twist which became popular all over the world. The song was released in July 1960. The song topped the Billboard twice. It has been said that before the Twist was introduced by Chubby Checker adults refrained from dancing on the floor to music loved by teenagers. The song changed all that; everyone was dancing, all over the world to it.

2. Snap – Rhythm is a dancer
This song was released on April 20, 1992. It is regarded as the first single in the genre of Eurodance. It was sung by singer Thea Austin and Rapper Durron Butler. It topped the European charts and was in the

3. Lipps Inc – Funky Town
This song has moved many on the dance floor. It was released in 1980 on February 18. It was an immediate success on the Charts in Europe, USA and the UK. It was Lipps Inc’s single success on the US charts. The lyrics yearn for an atmosphere that will, ‘keep me movin’, keep me grooving.’ The writer producer was Steven Greenberg.

4. MARRS – Pump up the volume
This is a British contribution and the only song which hit the charts for MARRS. This was released on August 3, 1987. The song was written by Steve Young and Martyn Young. It was produced by John Fryer and Martyn Young. This is regarding as a stepping stone to the future British music industry of in house music. This was a purposeful attempt to create a dance song on the basis of the American sudden craze for in house created music. The song was involved in a long drawn plagiarism suit. The mastermind behind the song was AR Kane but he never made another song under the label MARRS.

5. Dr Albans – It’s My Life
This song was a world wide super seller for Dr Albans a Nigerian who had settled in Sweden. It was released in 1992 on Dr Albans own label dr records. This has been classified variously as a Eurodance song or as hip hop reggae. He was studying to be a dentist in Sweden and working as a DJ to supplement his income. He was noticed thus and made a hit single with Leila K a rap queen. The successful singles selling a million copies were NO Coke and Hello Africa. He followed it up with a hit album One Life which contained this ever popular number named It’s My Life. The song is still a favourite on the dance floors of the world.

6. Everything but the girl— Missing
The song was released in 1994 on August 8. It was a part of the album Amplified Heart. This song was intended by the duo group of Everything but the Girl as a dance number. This number gave them world wide recognition in the discos of the world. The writers of the song are Tracy Thorn and Ben Watt. The song spent one year on the US Hot 100 chart. The British duo of Thorn and Watt had many more hits after this which was considered as their signature tune.

7. Darude – Sandstorm
This trance track by Ville Virtanen who calls himself by the name Darude is a great favourite of the dance floors. It was released in 1999. The origin of his name comes from the fact that he played the song Rude Boy many times at a party and thus he began to be called the Rude Boy and from there it morphed into Da Rude or Darude. Sandstorm was the biggest selling in 2000 and sold more than two million copies.

8. Armin van Buuren – Trance hits
The ten or eleven years since 2000 have been ruled by songs mixed by DJs on the dance floor. The most prominent among them is Van Buuren born in the Netherlands and made famous by his radio show ‘A State of Trance.’ His songs are always being heard on the dance floors of the world. He has been voted the most popular DJ for four years running from 2007. Buuren has his own studio. He mixes up all the songs of a year into a two hour composition which is very well received the world over.

9. Paul Van Dyk – Electronic Dance Music
Paul van Dyk is the other DJ who has ruled the dance floors of the world. He calls himself a producer and creator of Electronic Dance Music. His dance mixes have sold almost five million copies all over the world. His real name is Matthias Paul and he is a German. His music has won him the Grammy Award for him in the special category of Electronic Music. He has also shared a Grammy for the music of Dark Knight.

10. GIORGIOSST— Remixes
These are the most popular downloads as of right now. The current favourites include Best Dance Songs 2011. Something about you is a compilation of 2010 dance songs. These are hot on the dance floors of the world. Other albums are best Dance Hits of Summer 2010 and Best dance songs of 2010.

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Top 10 Toys for Kids

Deciding the top ten toys for kids can be a daunting task. Many aspects of the toy have to be kept in mind. The prime focus is on safety, then its educational value, the durability and of course the price. Boys and girls definitely have different choices. A normal decision would be Soft toys for girls and action heroes for the boys. It usually isn’t that simple. Weapons head the list although some parents frown upon these. Remote controlled toys are very popular. Construction blocks and coloring books for the younger kids are also hot favourites. Keeping all that in mind here is the top ten list of toys for kids:-

1. Lego City Airport
It is a wonderful toy from Lego. The Lego brand has been issuing brick based toys for the last sixty years. This new addition in the form of Lego City Airport is very popular with kids and parents. Parents can help their kids build the airport terminal, Control tower and the jet plane itself. The terminal has revolving doors and a check in counter. There is an X-ray machine for the luggage and five small figurines. The five figurines are a pilot, a passenger, a service man, flight attendant and steward. There is also a baggage car.

2. Power Wheels Jeep Rubicon and Power Wheels Barbie Jammin’ Jeep
These two models are the favourites of both boys and girls. The Jeeps are powered by a twelve volt battery. The Jeeps are two speed and also have a reverse mode. The Jeeps have large treaded tyres and have grab bars for easy access and egress. These jeeps can drive at the speed of 5 mph but can be set at a safer speed of 2.5 mph. The battery of course is rechargeable.

3. Syma S 107 Remote Controlled Helicopter
This is a very popular toy with both boys and girls. The helicopter has excellent take off and landing capabilities. It can go up, down, right and left. This helicopter has two rotors placed on top of each other. It is a coaxial helicopter. The toy comes in three bright colours of red, blue and yellow. The helicopter is very sturdy because of its metal frame. The helicopter can fly up to eight minutes after every charging. It is the perfect toy for both adults and children. The remote requires six AA batteries. The helicopter can be recharged in half and hour.

4. Sing-A-Ma-Jigs
Fisher Price has come up with this hot seller. This has received the Toy of the Year Award for the year 2011 by the Toy Industry Association. This is an interactive stuffed toy in animal shapes which children can use to replay songs at their own pace and volume. The toys come in bright colours including red, blue, yellow and purple. There are twelve different versions in all and identified by unique colours and individual songs for each colour. Thus the orange bear sings, ‘on top of old smokey’ and the purple dog sings, ‘Oh Susanna.” If held together these soft toys magically harmonize with each other.

5. The Nerf Blasters
Perhaps you frown upon the purchase of toy guns but these sell like hot cakes. These are extremely colourful machine guns with soft bullets. These plastic guns come in so many shapes and sizes that it is hard to make a decision as to which one to buy. These are manufactured by Hasbro. The guns can be single shot or automatic firing at sixty shots per minute. They are very popular toys for boys who like to pretend they are commandos out on a raid and tag each other with the bullets. The Nerf Blasters come as hand held guns or machine guns mounted on elaborate stands.

6. Junior Monopoly
This is the electronic version of the classic board game Monopoly. This one is also by Hasbro. The board is circular and electronic. The paper notes have been replaced with credit cards. When you go to Jail it makes a sound of a Jail door slamming. It has the usual Go and Chance. This game has been on the best seller list for the last seventy five years now. The credit cards can be credited or debited with the central electronic bank placed in the middle of the round board.

7. Buzz Lightyear
Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger is an eternal favourite for kids. The elaborate suit with the articulating arms and flashing lasers is very attractive for kids of all ages. Buzz has his catch phrases which he utters at the press of several buttons. One of the most famous is, ‘To Infinity and beyond.’ This is a Disney Pixar creation. Another phrase spoken by the toy is, ‘I am Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Universe Protection Unit.’

8. Push Scooters
Push scooters that kids love to roll and soon learn to balance and ride on are always on the list of top selling toys. They are timeless and environment friendly. They teach children balance which comes in useful when they learn to ride pedal bicycles. These come in exciting and attractive colors for boys and girls. Of course the scooters with little motors and chargeable batteries are also great favourites with kids.

9. Pillow Pets
Pillow pets will always remain hot favourites with little girls and small growing boys. They are ideal carry toys and bedtime companions. Made by My Pillow Pets they come in cute shapes and sizes. Pillow Pets are available as dolphins, puppies, ladybugs, penguins and monkeys. They are made of colourful and soft cuddly material loved by kids.

10. Playschool Alphie
This is the ideal toy for a three year old willing to learn the alphabet and identify colours. It is the creation of Playschool but is now under the wide umbrella of Hasbro. This one foot tall robot weighs just three pounds but belts out songs and music when required. It is a great educational toy. The robot can read, count and of course sing. It is the ideal companion for a preschooler.

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Top 10 Books To Read On A Flight

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Long travels on a flight can get really tiresome as well as boring. To do away with the boredom all aircraft operators provides us the magazines and newspapers. But how interesting can it make our journey? Does is really help to do away with the boredom? I think “no”. How can a boring magazine eliminate the boredom in a long and tiresome journey? We need something interesting something which keeps us so much within them that we forget practically that we are on a flight. The books and novels can serve us well but most of the flight operators won’t provide us the books or the novels we like and are interested in. Therefore, it is we who have to carry one during our travel. Which book to carry? Well, here is a list of top ten books to read on a flight. Hope you find it conclusive and helpful.

1. Goosebumps – by R.L Stine:
Goosebumps is a series of children’s horror fiction novels written by American author R. L. Stine and first published by Scholastic Publishing. It is a collection of stories that feature semi-homogenous plot structures, with fictional kids being involved in scary situations. Themes in the series include horror, humour and the supernatural. This book can be a good read for people who are interested in some supernatural and light horror stories.

2. Twilight series – by Stephenie Meyer:
Twilight is a young-adult vampire-romance novel by author Stephenie Meyer. Twilight till date, has sold 17 million copies worldwide. It spent over 91 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list and has been translated into 37 different languages. Twilight is definitely a good choice as it includes romance, power, supernatural and almost all aspects to make it a successful and worthy read.

3. Harry Potter Series – by J.K Rowling
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books narrate the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Wesley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The main story revolves around Harry’s dilemma involving the evil wizard Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry’s parents in his quest to conquer the magic world and rule the non-magical people. This novel is also a super successful movie and generates lots of interest among the young people.

4. The Gossip Girl series – by Cecily von Ziegesar:
Gossip Girl is an American young adult novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar and published by Little, Brown and Company, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group. “Gossip Girl” is a series that revolves around the lives and romances amongst the privileged teenagers at the Constance Billard School for Girls, an elite private school in New York City’s Upper East Side. The series primarily focuses on Blair Waldorf and her best friend, and follows the characters through their high school lives up through their graduation and moving on to college.

5. Relationships for Dummies by Dr. Kate M. Wachs:
This book is filled with snippets of advice for those of us who need help or know someone else who needs a bit of help in the relationship department. The book is filled with insight, true stories and lots of humour. It explores the myths and realities of love and lust and lays it all out in common sense terms that anyone can understand. This book can generate lots of interest as its all about relationships and the ways to keep relationships strong and sound.

6. 13 Little Blue Envelopes – by Maureen Johnson:
13 Little Blue Envelopes is a 2006 novel by Maureen Johnson. The novel is about a 17 years old girl “Ginny”, who embarks on a journey throughout Europe by following instructions left to her in letters by her deceased aunt. Ginny is told that she is about to leave for several weeks and will travel to foreign lands. Her aunt leaves her the four rules to follow. She is only allowed to open the next envelope once she has reached the destination or, in some cases, achieved the task set in the previous letter. It is certainly an interesting book to read on a flight.

7. The Secret Under My Skin – by Janet McNaughton:
This is a story of a girl named “Blay Raytee”, who has no family, no birthday, no proper name, and almost no memories. Her home is in a “model social welfare project” in the island prefecture of Terra Nova where she mines an old landfill for reusable material. But Blay’s world changes forever when she is chosen to help a powerful young bio-indicator. This new life sets Blay on a path of discovery that reveals the secrets of her past, giving her a future and a sense of her own worth. This is another very interesting story to read on a journey.

8. The Chronicles of Narnia Series – by C.S Lewis:
The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels for children written by C. S. Lewis. It is considered a classic of children’s literature and is the author’s best-known work, having sold over 100 million copies in 47 languages. The Chronicles of Narnia presents the adventures of children who play central roles in the unfolding history of the fictional realm of Narnia, a place where animals talk, magic is common, and good battles evil. This is a very popular novel and generates a lot of interest among children.

9. A Northern Light – by Jennifer Donnelly
A Northern Light is an American historical novel by Jennifer Donnelly. In the United Kingdom it was published under the alternative title A Gathering Light. It is based on the Big Moose Lake murder case of 1906, a real event. This book is concerned more with the life of a young girl who gets caught up in it. It is an interesting real life story book which will keep you tied to your seat.

10.Blood and Chocolate – by Annette Curtis Klause:
Blood and Chocolate is a romantic supernatural werewolf novel for young adult readers by Annette Curtis Klause. It is set in the contemporary United States. This book is a very interesting book and will generate lots of interest within the teenagers. A good read.

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Top 10 Arcade Games of All Time

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An Arcade Game is a coin operated gaming machine. These machines are usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, public houses, and video game parlours. Virtually all modern arcade games make extensive use of solid state electronics and integrated circuits. In the past coin-operated arcade video games generally used custom per-game hardware often with multiple CPUs, highly specialized sound and graphics chips, and the latest in computer graphics display technology. In recent days most of the online games on the internet are of the arcade genre. These games are usually designed with Flash/Java/DHTML and run directly in web-browsers. With the increasing popularity of higher and gaming arcade games has faded away a little bit, but still remains a gamer’s delight. Here is a list of the top ten Arcade Games of all times.

1. PAC MAN:
Pac Man was one of the most popular Arcade Games of all times. It was developed in 1980’s by Namco and was licensed for distribution by Midway Manufacturing Company. Pac-Man is often credited with being a landmark in video game history, and is among the most famous arcade games of all time. It falls under the genre Labyrinth/Maze. The player controls Pac-Man through a maze, eating dots. When all dots are eaten, Pac-Man is taken to the next stage. Four enemies (Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde) roam the maze, trying to catch Pac-Man. If an enemy touches Pac-Man, a life is lost. When all lives have been lost, the game ends.

2. GALAGA:
Galaga is a fixed shooter Arcade Game developed in the year 1981 by Namco. It was distributed in Japan by Namco and in North America by Midway Manufacturing Company. The game play of Galaga puts the player in control of a space ship which is located on the bottom of the screen. At the beginning of each stage, the area is empty, but over time, enemy aliens fly in formation, and once all of the enemies arrive on screen, they will come down at the player’s ship in formations. The objective of Galaga is to score as many points as possible by destroying insect-like enemies.

3. STAR WARS:
Star Wars is one of the post popular Arcade Games, produced by Atari Inc. It was released in the year 1983. It is a rail shooter genre game and has a single player mode. In this game, the player does not have to destroy every enemy in order to advance through the game; he must simply avoid or destroy the shots that enemy’s fire. Each hit on his craft takes away one shield (of the six he started out with), and if he runs out of shields and takes another hit, the game ends. The player’s ultimate goal is to destroy the Death Star through three attack phases.

4. MS. PAC MAN:
Ms. Pac Man is a sequel to Pac Man and was launched in the year 1981. This was also manufactured by Midway Manufacturing Company. Ms. Pac Man is very similar to the original Pac Man. This game introduces a female protagonist, new maze designs and several minor game play changes over the original game. The game became one of the most popular video games of all time.

5. STREET FIGHTER II
The Street Fighter II was launched in the year 1991 as a sequel to the original Street Fighter which was launched in 1987. This was developed and marketed by Capcom and was a very popular game among the masses. In this game the player engages opponents in one-on-one close quarter combat in a series of best-two-out-of-three matches. The objective of each round is to deplete the opponent’s vitality before the timer runs out.

6. GALAXIAN:
Galaxian is a fixed shooter arcade game developed by Namco in the year 1979. This game was marketed by Midway Manufacturing Company and was the most popular games of those times. This is a prequel to Galaga and was the first of its kind shooter arcade game. The game play was relatively simple. Groups of alien armies attacked the player’s ship that moved left and right at the bottom of the wraparound screen. The ship could only have one shot on screen at a time. The objective is to not get destroyed by the aliens attack.

7. ASTEROIDS:
Asteroids was released in 1979 by Atari Inc. It was one of the most popular and influential games of the Golden Age of Arcade Games. Asteroids use a vector display and a two-dimensional view. The objective of Asteroids is to score as many points as possible by destroying asteroids and flying saucers. The player controls a triangular-shaped ship that can rotate left and right, fire shots straight forward, and thrust forward. It’s a simple shooting game and was one of the best of all times.

8. MORTAL KOMBAT:
Mortal Kombat is 1992 a fighting video game developed and published by Midway Manufacturing Company. In 1993, home versions were released by Acclaim Entertainment. It is the first title in the Mortal Kombat series. Mortal Kombat became one of the most popular arcade games of all time upon its release. Mortal Kombat is a story of a monk who sets out to save the earth from all evils. There are a series of fights and the monk has to win all the fights to move forward. This was a very popular arcade game of all time.

9. DEFENDER:
Defender is an arcade video game developed released by Williams Electronics in 1980. It was a shooting game featuring two-dimensional graphics. The game is set on a fictional planet where the player must defeat waves of invading aliens while protecting astronauts. It was a simple but a very popular games of the early eighty’s. The player controls a space ship flying either to the left or right. The objective is to destroy alien invaders, while protecting astronauts on the landscape from abduction.

10. SPACE INVADERS:
Space Invaders is an arcade video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, and released in 1978. It was originally manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan. It was later licensed for production in the United States by the Midway Manufacturing Co. Space Invaders is one of the earliest shooting games and the aim is to defeat waves of aliens with laser cannon to earn as many points as possible. It was the most popular game in the starting days of arcade gaming.

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Top Software Companies

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Software companies are changing the world constantly. Bill Gates and Paul Allen changed it permanently with their initial MS DOS programme. They brought computing into the home. They are everywhere today in the form of laptops, desktops, hand held tablets and mobile phones that are virtually communicating computers. The little chip has invaded our bodies our cars and our homes. Someone has to program these little silicon wonders and this is where the ten top software companies of the world step in. Whether we like it or not our lives are being governed by the software they churn out and the hardware they help produce and promote in the form of games and mobiles.

1. Microsoft Corporation
This is the company which has influenced us the most even up to the current year of 2011. The Windows software is in all the laptops and personal computers being used by the citizens of the world. It has invaded the lives of young and old with its gaming devices, prominent among them being the Xbox and the Xbox360. The corporation is also in the television news dissemination industry with its collaboration with NBC thus forming MSNBC. With a total revenue nearing 65 billion dollars and a net profit of more than 16 billion dollars it certainly is the biggest software company because most of its revenue is still from software.

2. IBM
IBM had a name in computers even before Bill Gates came on the scene with Microsoft. The company currently sells both hardware and software all over the world and had a 2010 total revenue of nearly a 100 billion dollars but its net profit is lower than Microsoft at 14.83 billion dollars. Originally a business machine selling company over the years it has merged and remerged to become a mammoth corporation which is one of the biggest in the world. IBM was the creator of FORTRAN a computer language very much in use before the advent of MSDOS. IBM was the only big computer company which could deliver computing power for the NASA program. IBM is very progressive as a researcher and as an employer.

3. Google Inc.
This is the prominent search engine on the internet receiving a billion requests a day on its site. The profits are generated by advertising on Google through AdWords. The company was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin during their college days at Stanford. The motto of the company is ‘Don’t Be Evil.’ The headquarters of the company are in Mountain View California. Google has a million servers operating all over the world keeping control of all the data requested by the people of the world. Google is a derivative of Googol which is the word for one followed by a hundred zeroes. It had a net profit of 8.5 billion dollars in 2010.

4. Oracle Corporation
This company is based in Redwood Shores, California, USA. It is a software and hardware development company concentrating on providing special database management systems all over the world. Its famous software programs are Oracle Database and Oracle Applications. It had a net profit of more than six billion dollars in 2010.

5. SAP AG
SAP AG is a German consulting firm with a net profit of 1.81 euros in 2010. This company specialises in providing software consulting to businesses of all sizes all over the world. It has its base in Waldorf, Germany. Its best known product is SAP ERP which stands for SAP Enterprise Resource Planning. It was founded as System Analysis and Programme Development in 1972. Its main rival is Oracle Corporation.

6. Accenture plc
Accenture plc is based in Ireland for tax purposed but its administration headquarters are in New York. It had a net profit of 1.78 Billion Dollars in 2010. It is the largest consulting firm in the world and thus with its many software creations for the operation of its many services it is considered one of the software giants. It is big in technology consulting for people wishing to develop specific software for their own operations anywhere in the world. It had genesis as Andersen Consulting.

7. Hewlett Packard
This company is based in Palo Alto, California, USA. It made a net profit of 8.76 billion dollars in 2010 but most of it came from its hardware sales. The company was founded in 1939 by two Stanford graduates named Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard. The company is also known as one of the founders of Silicon Valley. HP Software Division is the section of the company dedicated to software sales, research and development. It has a successful package in HP IT Management Software.

8. CA Technologies
CA Technologies is based in Islandia, New York. It was founded in 1976 by Charles Wang and Russ Artzt. It is one of the biggest software development corporations that survive independently in the world of IT technologies. It made a profit of 771 million dollars in 2010. It is ranked as one of the greenest companies in the world. It is one of the companies which has adopted cloud strategy. The company has grown by acquiring software companies and merging them into CA Technologies.

9. Infosys Technologies Ltd
This company is based in India and generated a profit of 1.31 billion dollars in 2010. It was founded in 1981 by NR Narayana Murthy and Nandan Nilekani. It is a software company with a global presence and is based in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.

10. Yahoo Inc.
This company is based in Sunnyvale California. It was founded by Jerry Yang and David Filo. It had a profit of 1.23 billion dollars in 2010. The main business of the company is as a web portal and search engine and its Yahoo Mail service. It was founded in 1995. An unsuccessful bid was made to acquire Yahoo by Microsoft Corporation. The main revenue comes from advertising on its web site. It has a forty per cent share in a controversial company Alibaba which markets products made from shark farming. Yahoo has a big chunk of the advertising revenue from internet services

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