Amazing Facts

Shock discovery ... docs found parasitic twin inside tot's tummy

2009-09-16T04:52:00.000-07:00

Little Kang Mengru (1yr), from China, left medics baffled after her belly became enlarged.

Doctors carried out a CT scan to discover the cause of the growth and found a foetus inside her.

They believe the tot is her parasitic twin.

She is now waiting for an operation to have the tiny baby removed

Amazing Facts about Gujarat !!!

2009-09-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

1. Gujarat is one of the most prosperous states of the country, having a per-capita GDP 3.2 times India’s average

2. If it was a nation it would have been 67th richest nation in the world above many European and Asian economies like China and Ukraine .

3. Gujarat holds many records in India for economic development:

· 20% of India’s Industrial Output

· 9% of India’s Mineral Production

· 22% of India’s exports

· 24% of India’s textile production

· 35% of India’s pharmaceutical products

· 51% of India’s petrochemical production

4. The world’s largest ship breaking yard is in Gujarat near Bhavnagar at Alang.

5. Reliance Petroleum Limited, one of the group companies of Reliance Industries Limited founded by Dhirubhai Ambani operates the oil refinery at Jamnagar which is the world’s largest grass roots refineries .

6. Gujarat ranks first nationwide in gas-based thermal electricity generation with national market share of over 8% and second nationwide in nuclear electricity generation with national market share of over 1%.

7. Over 20% of the S&P CNX 500 conglomerates have corporate offices in Gujarat.

8. Over 35% of the stock market wealth of India is with Gujarati People.

9. Over 60% of Indian Population in North America is Gujarati.

10. An average income of a Gujarati family in North America is three times more than the average income of an American family.

11. Gujarat is having the longest sea shore compared to any other Indian state

12. Gujarat is having the highest no. of operating airports in India (Total 12).

13. India’s 16% of Investment are from Gujarat.

14. Gujarat is having highest no. of vegetarian people compared to any other state in India.

15. The first ALL VEG PIZZA-HUT was opened in Ahmedabad

16. Ahmedabad - the commercial capital of Gujarat is the seventh largest city in India.

17. Surat is the fastest growing city in the world.

18. Gandhinagar is the Greenest Capital City in whole Asia.

19. Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad(IIMA) is Asia’s 1 st and world’s 45th ranked management college located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

20. Gujarat is the safest state as the Crime rate of it is 8.2 which is the least in India even after considering 2002 communal riots, stated by India Today 2005 report.

21. Gujarat is having least crime against women among all Indian states (excluding Goa) where AP is 1st, Delhi is 2nd , Bihar is 3rd ,Zarakhand is 4th and UP is 5th.

22. Ahmedabad which is the seventh largest city in India is the lowest in crime rate among all Tier-I and Tier-II cities of India as per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report.

23. Ahmedabad is ranked 2nd in Real Estate - Ahead of Bangalore,Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai & Delhi. 3rd in Policy Initiatives - Ahead of Bangalore, Chennai, Calcutta, Mumbai & Delhi. 4th in Manpower - Ahead of Bangalore,Chennai, Mumbai & Delhi.

Quillpad - Typing in Gujarati has never been easier

2009-04-05T23:55:00.000-07:00

QuillPad is an application developed to be a text and code editor built in Java 1.4.

It has standard text editor features including open, save, cut, copy, paste, print and help. Plus advanced find & replace and support for pluggable tools. You can use QuillPad to write HTML, XML, JavaScript and other interpreted web languages as well as source code for C, C++, Java and other compilable languages.

Here are some key features of "QuillPad":

· Multiple Document Interface,

· Open and Save platform default, Unicode including UTF-8 (QuillPad Default), Latin 1, ASCII and other document formats using UNIX, Windows or Macintosh line endings,

· Document modified indicator ( *),

· File Read-Only detection and handling support (indicator: (!) ),

· File filters include text, PHP, JSP, ColdFusion, vCard, vCalender, HTML, XML, RDF, OWL, SGML, JavaScript, CSS, SQL, Java source code, C/C++ source code, C# source code, Python and TCL source code

· 14 Languages out of the box including English, French, German, Greek and Chinese,

· Java Look And Feel, native Operating System Look And Feel (when available) and a list of other available Look And Feels,

· Everaldo's Crystal SVG & Crystal Clear Icons,

· Change text box background colour and font name, colour and size,

· Save window size & position,

· Lowercase, Uppercase, Inverse Case, Title Case and Sentance Case functionality,

· Go to Line goes to line and column,

· Find and Replace (supporting Regular Expressions and a Multiple-Document Find & Replace mode),

· Help Browser displaying help from LSM/RDF format,

· Support for QuillPad Plugin Tools,

· Check for updates feature,

· Settings in User Home Folder (default) or locally using -local command line switch,

· RDF Powered: settings, language files, help files

10 Quick Fixes to Make your Windows Computer Faster

2009-03-07T02:39:00.000-08:00

Your computer running Windows isn’t running in the same speed that it used to run when you first used it. It’s slower, crappy, takes a while to start and tests your patience like anything. There are many reasons for this, let’s try fixing up a few things on your slow Windows PC:

Slow Start Up

There can be a variety of reasons to Windows loading slow during start up. Go to Run, type msconfig and hit enter. Under the ‘Start Up’ tab, uncheck the unwanted programs and press OK. Things should be a bit fine the next time Windows boots.

Another program worth mentioning here is StartUp Delayer which will help in setting after how much time programs should be loaded after Windows boots. For instance, you could set your instant messenger program to load 50 seconds after Windows starts up.

Slow Loading Start Menu

If the Start Menu items are loading slowly, you can open the Registry Editor by typing in the Run menu ‘regedit.exe’ and pressing Enter. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. Look for MenuShowDelay, and double click to edit the value. The lower the number specified, the faster the Start Menu will load.

Slow Right Click Context Menu

Probably the Windows Right Click menu on your computer is loading slow because too many programs added unwanted entries there. Just download this program called Mmm, install it and then modify your context menu to remove unwanted items to speed it up.

Slow Send To Menu

If the Send To menu loads slowly, you can type ’sendto’ in the Run Dialog, and remove unwanted items in the Explorer Window that appears. This should add some speed to it.

Slow Defragmentation

The Windows Defragmenter can’t get any slower. You need to have an alternative to the Windows Defragmenter, and Defraggler is just one of the best ones available in the market. It’s free, and works like a charm and can speed up defragmentation manifold. For some alternatives, see Five Free Programs to Defragment your PC.

Slow loading My Computer Window

If the My Computer Window loads slowly, in the Explorer Window, go to Tools >> Folder Options >> View and uncheck ‘Automatically search for network folders and printers”

Slow loading Add or Remove Programs Applet

This is one of the most annoying piece of programs present in Windows, it takes ages to load if you have a considerable number of programs installed on your computer. You can either use the all-in-one CCleaner for this purpose, or get MyUninstaller that comes as a speedy replacement for Add or Remove Programs.

Slow Ending of Unresponsive Programs

If you’ve clicked on ‘End Task’ if any program is running unresponsive, you might have noticed that the program is not terminated immediately. You can alter this by going to Run >> regedit.exe >> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\ and change this value to 1000

Disable Animations and Appearance Overhauls to maximize performanceIf you’re a serious performance junkie, you probably won’t bother about eyecandy. Go to System Properties in the Control Panel. Click ‘Advanced’, then ‘Performance’ and click ‘Adjust for best performance’. This might boost your PC’s performance up a bit.

Additional Tips:

- Always keep your computer clean. Remove Junk and Unnecessary registry entries. Use CCleaner for this purpose, one excellent tool that just does what it says.

- Don’t keep installing software. Install a program only if it really serves you a purpose.

- Keep as less programs as possible running on the System Tray. This essentially means reducing the number of programs that start during Windows start up.

10 Essential Cheat Sheets To Download

2009-03-05T04:49:00.000-08:00

Ever wanted to master the keyboard shortcuts and get more productive on the web? Here is everything you need - 10 quick cheat sheets for some of the most widely used tools on the web. Download, print and stick them somewhere near your desk.

(1)Google Cheat Sheet (2) Windows Cheat Sheet (3) Mac OS X Cheat Sheet

(4) Gmail Cheat Sheet (5) Firefox Cheat Sheet Firefox (for Mac)

(6)Google Reader Shortcuts (7)Linux Cheat Sheet (8) Linux Command Line Ref.

(9)Thunderbird Cheat Sheet (10)Internet Explorer Shortcuts

How To Create Strong Passwords That You Can Remember Easily

2009-03-04T04:48:00.000-08:00

Creating strong passwords for all your online accounts is not a thing you should do. It is a thing you must do. Two months ago, my Google account was hacked into. The hackers changed my password and blocked my access to the account. Luckily, I discovered this early and got Google to change my password via my secon dary email account.

Last week, the MakeUseOf Google account was also hacked into and the hacker had the audacity to transfer the MakeUseOf domain out and blackmail the owner. In case you are still thinking that your password is strong and safe, maybe it’s time to wake up.

What makes a strong password?

I shall not elaborate on this since many sites have already discussed this in great detail. In a nutshell, a strong password must constitute the following:

It needs to contain special characters such as @#$%^&
It must be at least 8 characters long.
It must not have any common words such as 123, password, your birth date, your login name and any words that can be found in the dictionary.
a variation of capitalization and small letters

In my opinion, even if your password consists of the above, it is still not enough. Your password needs to be totally unique and different for each and every one of your online accounts. This is to make sure that in the event that one account is hacked into, your other accounts will not be affected.

You must be wondering how you are going to remember so many passwords when you have a problem remembering your existing one. Here are some steps that I have used and they are very powerful. Here it is:

1. First, think of a thing, date, phrase, event, place or anything that is unique only to you. It must be at least 8 characters long. I call this the salt term. For demonstration purposes, I will use my name Damien Oh as the salt term throughout this article. Note that the capital letters and the space in between the name are part of the salt term. For your own account, please select a salt term that is difficult for other to guess.

2. I used the following rules to replace the regular characters with special characters. You can form your own rule.

Replace all the ‘a’ with @
Replace all the ’s’ with $
Repalce any space with %
Replace any ‘o’ with 0
Replace any ‘i’ with !

In this case, the simple term Damien Oh becomes D@m!en%Oh.

3. Now go to Password Meter (see MakeUseOf review here) and test the strength of your salt term. This is the result of the above term. If your salt term is not strong enough, you will see a list of items that you can improve on.

4. Once you are happy with your salt term and are sure that only you can decipher it, go to any of your online accounts now. To set a password for that account, append the name of the site, or the URL of the site to the end of your salt term.

For example, for a MakeUseOf account, I will use D@m!en%OhM@keU$e0f as my password and use D@m!en%OhG00glem@!l for my Gmail account. If you do this for each and every one of your sites, you will be surprised to find that you have just created tens, hundreds, or even thousands of different passwords that you can remember easily.

Instead of the site name or the URL, you can also a variation of the site names or any other names that are related to the site.

Is that enough?

That is only the beginning. To really make it secure and hard for others to guess, you will need to change your password every few months. Some of you may find it a chore to come up with new passwords every month. Here is what you can do:

Instead of appending the site name to the end, you can now append it to the front, in the middle or even split the site name out into few parts. For example:

M@keD@m!enU$e0h0f
M@keU$eD@m!en%0h

You can also change the replacement characters such as @ for ~ and whatsoever. You can also do a complete changeover of your salt term to come up with a totally different password.

Conclusion

Generating and using a strong password is only your first line of defense against hackers. The most important thing that you should take note of is your internet browsing habits. When you are using a public terminal, make sure that it has the proper firewall and anti-virus installed, make sure your network is secure, log out when you are done with your session and clear the cache once you are done.

What other methods do you use to generate your passwords?

How To Speed Up The Shutdown Of Your Windows

2009-02-09T23:02:00.000-08:00

The Windows shutdown process may be as slow as the start up unfortunately. But, due to Windows amazing ability of user managed settings, you can change that! So, how can you speed up your Windows Shutdown process ?

WARNING : BEFORE making any changes to the Windows registry, it is highly recommended to make a backup in case anything goes wrong. To backup your Windows registry, tap your Windows key on the keyboard and “R”. When the Run box comes up, type regedit. When the Registry box comes up, go to ‘File’ then ‘Export’. Save the resulting file to your hard drive.

Auto-Kill All Programs at Shutdown

This tweak can speed up the process a lot by killing tasks quickly and not requiring user input for closing them, e.g. the repetitive Firefox pop-up asking if you really want to quit. Here it is:

Step 1: Go to “Start,” “Run,” and type regedit..

Step 2: Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Step 3: Find the Registry Key called AutoEndTasks and right-click then select Modify. Change the value to 1.

able Clearing of Paging File
We previously talked about the paging article in another article on speeding up Windows, but today we are talking about how to speed up the use of the Paging File even more.
On shutdown, Windows automatically removes the contents of the Paging File for security, because it may run as a temporary file, holding information such as unencrypted passwords, etc. (If you believe the security of your system will be too far out of control due to the absence of removal of such information, then it is not necessary that you use this hack.)
Let’s do it!

Step 1: Go to “Start,” “Run,” and type regedit.

Step 2: Navigate to:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management.

Step 3: Find the Registry Key labeled ClearPageFileOnShutdown and right-click it, then selectModify. Change the value to 0.

Hope this helps you get into your tweaking mood! Have fun hacking tweaking! More next time on WinHack!

How To Create Custom Themes For Firefox With Personas

2009-02-02T02:02:00.000-08:00

There’s no doubt that Firefox is the rising star of web browsers and one of the main reasons for its success is the sheer level of customization possible by way of add-ons and extensions.

Given this, it’s no surprise that Mozilla Labs has released Personas; a creative and fun extension that aims to customize the look of Firefox’s interface by letting you create custom Firefox themes.

Why Personas?

What separates Personas from the usual add-on themes available is that it eliminates the need to incessantly download new themes just to make simple changes to the look of Firefox every now and again. It allows for seamless transformations to the browser without constantly installing new themes and having to restart the browser over and over again.

How Does It Work?

Personas let users change the top and bottom grey backgrounds of the browser window in favor of colorful designs or images. Getting Personas up and running is also easy; simply download the add-on (compatible with Firefox 2.0 and above) and you’ll be presented with a small icon in the bottom-left of the browser on start-up. From here you can select your desired design from dozens of preset themes or you can opt to use the newest or most popular user-submitted Personas as well.

Create Your Own Persona

If you want to take Firefox customization to the next level, you could consider making your very own Persona. Header images should be 3000 pixels wide and 200 pixels long, while footer images should be 3000 x 100 pixels in dimension. Next, upload the images, apply your Persona and you’re good to go.

Keep in mind that .png images work best and that you should try and position the objects in your Persona so that they don’t distract from important areas in the browser, like the Home or Refresh buttons.

The folks at Mozilla Labs also promise that Personas will soon allow for wider content support, including HTML and Javascript, which should make the extension all the more fun.

Personas is currently available for Windows®, Mac and Linux, so go ahead and spice up that boring browser.Have a question or suggestions? Drop a line in the comments section and share your thoughts with fellow MUO readers. Any other alternative ways to create custom Firefox theme?

Set Firefox To Clear Temp Files, History etc. On Shut Down

2009-02-02T01:55:00.000-08:00

There’s a running joke in my family that (as far as security is concerned) knows no bounds.

On the computer, my passwords are at least 30 characters long, I try to surf on as many secure webpages (https) as I can, I keep everything in encrypted folders behind firewalls, and when I close my Firefox browser, all my personal browsing information is automatically dumped and deleted so no nefarious devil can get their hands on it. Yep, you can call me Captain Paranoia.

This is one of the reasons why I like Firefox. If you go to Tools>Options–>Privacy, there is a section there called “Private Data” :

Now, by clicking “clear now”, you can wipe all your private data immediately but you can set it up so it wipes your browsing history, temp files and other stuff automatically everytime Firefox closes. You can obviously achieve this by ticking “Always clear my private data when I close Firefox”.

If you want to be asked first, tick the second box “Ask me before clearing private data” but personally I found it really irritating always having a pop-up box jump out at me. So I turned it off. But I guess it all comes down to personal preference.

But you may not want ALL the private data cleared. For example, I decided to keep my cookies as I didn’t want to log in and out of certain sites all the time (preferring to manually delete them once a week instead). So by clicking on the “settings” button, you can tell Firefox what you want wiped when your browser closes and what you want kept.

Some of them, such as cookies and cache, are fairly straight-forward. But if you would like explanations of the others, Firefox Facts has a nice article explaining what they mean and what they save exactly.

This is a feature that everyone should have enabled by default. As I said, you may find it inconvenient to always have your cookies wiped but you should always have everything else wiped and dumped everytime your browser closes.

Otherwise who knows who will be looking at that information behind your back? Your partner? Your boss? Your roommate? Law enforcement without a warrant? These days, in the era of the Patriot Act, it pays to dump your internet data when you’re finished with it.

Wallpaper: Turn any photo into cool desktop wallpaper with a calendar

2009-01-07T21:59:00.000-08:00

Convert any photo into a perfectly-sized desktop wallpaper for your computer or portable device that even includes a handy monthly calendar. Add special effects to desaturate, blur, or color your wallpaper. Standard and wide-screen monitors, iPhones, cell phones, and other portable devices are supported.

Click on http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/wallpaper.php

Hidden Programs in Windows XP and How to run them

2009-01-07T03:19:00.000-08:00

There are plenty of Windows based utilities and programs that a System Administrator (or a geeky person) can run.

Here's a collection of such little utilities and instructions on how you can initiate them.

1- Private Character Editor

This program is for designing icons and Characters(Alphapet )

Click :start

Then :run

type :EUDCEDIT

............ ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .......

2- iExpress

This Program is for converting your files to EXCUTABLE files

Click : start

Then : run

type : iexpress

............ ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .......

3-Disk Cleanup

This program used for cleaning harddisk to offer space

Click : start

Then : run

type : cleanmgr

............ ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .......

4-Dr Watson

This program Is for repairing problems in Windows

Click : start

Then : run

type : drwtsn32

............ ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .......

5-Windows Media Player 5.1

Opens the old media player

Click : start

Then : run

type : mplay32

............ ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .......

Program ............ . CODE

__________ __________

Character Map = charmap

DirectX diagnosis = dxdiag

Object Packager = packager

System Monitor = perfmon

Program Manager = progman

Remote Access phone book = rasphone

Registry Editor = regedt32

File siganture verification tool = sigverif

Volume Control = sndvol32

System Configuration Editor = sysedit

Syskey = syskey

microsoft Telnet Client = telnet

How to write Letters and Emails Effectively

2008-11-08T05:06:00.000-08:00

You might be aware of the fact that the best way to convey anything is through written communication. Specifically when it comes to dealing with professional and personal matters. You can make wonders if you succeed to influence the reader no matter who ever it is. Many of us had already gone through rigorous practice of Essay and Letter writing at school level but we often ignore and do not implement what we learned. In fact you can notice a significant difference and better results when you use this means of communication when compared to others ways. The impact should be perfect and deep enough to get things done for you. To make this possible all you need to do is just keep these things in your mind next time you come across such a need.

See that you proceed by initially considering these parameters,

Purpose - Context or Why are you writing this letter ?

Expected result - Aim you want to achieve through this letter.

Motive that made you write a letter - Why did you wanted to write a letter instead of contacting directly ?

Who is the Reader - Either he is your Boss or Superior or Professor or Officer or Customer.

These things greatly affect your way of writing since they keep running through in your mind during the process. As a result you can expect a much refined output.

Tips that will make things drive your way while writing letter or mails,

1. When you are writing letters for your professional needs like an application for an interview or Statement of Purpose (SOP) for admission into a school or College, Request for an Appointment or a deal or a negotiation see that your are not emotional.

2. Reader must be convinced with your position which will be easier if you mention any facts. For instance, mention your achievements while you are writing an SOP.

3. It is always a strong point to provide facts and figures for any kind of letter writing purposes.

4. Stick to the layout of having a brief To note, Subject, Body, final paragraph and in the end regards like Yours Faithfully which would be more general than being experimental.

5. Use implications like try to convey your need indirectly then come to the point.

However the use of words depends on the intensity of the need and purpose. But try to keep things simple, clear and precise instead of going around the matter. The letter must never be wordy filled with plenty paragraphs since it annoys the reader and which might give negative results. So if you stick to these rules you will have greater scope of success mainly if you want to write a leave letter, SOP, Expression Of Interest, a Job application, Request for any appointment or even a business letter.

Unbelievable: Guess what is this?

2008-09-12T06:08:00.000-07:00

Unbelievable! Guess what is this?

Its a hard disk at 1956....

The Volume and Size of 5MB memory storage in 1956.

In September 1956 IBM launched the 305 RAMAC,

The first computer with a hard disk drive (HDD).

The HDD weighed over a ton and stored 5MB of data.

Let us start appreciating your 4 GB jump drive

How to capture full-sized screenshots of websites

2008-09-04T23:53:00.000-07:00

Capturing a full-size screenshot of a lengthy website or a blog is a tricky exercise. There are some screen capturing programs available (SnagIt) , but they come up with a cost. There are some online services that help to achieve the same, but you have to wait in the queue and it is not handy of you want to capture screenshots at your will.

But, I have been using a free, firefox plug-in that not only captures the full screenshot, but it allows you to add text, arrows, and boxes so you can illustrate the screenshot with additional information.

FireShot - is the plug-in that I am talking about. It is a free program that can be installed on top of firefox and helps you to take the full length screenshot or just visible portion of a webpage. It is a neat, little time saver for me so far while making illustrated screenshots.

This plug-in is an extension of the free software ScreenShot which is a standalone desktop program for your PC. You can download Screenshot for free.
For example, look at the sample screenshot of this blog which is normally 4 or 5 screens length and FireShot captures in a single shot.

Seven more Secret habits of Successful Bloggers

2008-09-04T07:46:00.001-07:00

After posting the “Seven Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers”, I thought I missed out some of the little-known, secretive habits of the successful bloggers. So, here we go:

1. Volume blogging:

Can you guess how many blog posts a typical ‘A’ list blogger publishes every week? 7 or 15. No, the average is about 28 (that is 4 posts a day). When you post in such great volumes and regularly paced out publishing, the search engines take note of your blog’s update schedule and revisit your blog more often. When you publish a post, say every 6 hours, you attract visitors from every time zone – so, the chances of getting new readership is very high.

2. Value blogging:

Once in few days, they write a blog post that you can not resist reading it at once. That’s value blog post. It might be a collection of tips or resources from the web; you would love to blog about it in your blog pointing to it (that’s link bait).

3. Establish the brand

Successful bloggers place a high emphasis on personal branding. They have a distinct logo, favicon and they brand the RSS feeds – which strongly puts a credible image for the viewers. With a good branding, the marketing is easy. The first-time visitors will always become loyal readers if they ‘see’ a good, branded blog.

4. Run blogging contests

Blogging contests are a good way to create a buzz. The contest participants (who are bloggers) will mention in it (that they are participating in a contest) their blogs to inform their readers, that is a sure way to attract first-time visitors.

5. Encouraging guest posts

A professional blogger gives room to another blogger to write fill-in posts. It is a WIN-WIN situation, where both the guest and the host bogger will reap benefits, because, the readers of one blog would visit other blog and each will showcase their blog in front of a large number of new audience.

6. Two-day, intensive blogging

This is the single-most secret that every professional blogger doesn’t want to reveal. Successful bloggers allot one or two days (just that) for intensive blogging ideas and posts. They develop their ideas and write the posts and schedule their blog posts for publication and forget them. In addition to these scheduled posts, when they come across ‘current events’ - something useful for their readers- they write at once and hit publish. Now, you know their secret of volume blogging.

7. Revenue streams

Every blogger depends ‘Google Adsense’ for making money (that’s the easiest passive money making option for anyone). A successful blogger has at least 10 different revenue streams apart from Google adsense.

My wishes to you for a blogging success.

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers:Tips for becoming a Problogger

2008-09-04T07:41:00.000-07:00

Who wants to earn a five figure income by blogging? Who wants to quit the 5-day job and work only few hours a week? And who else wants to retire early and rich?

Yes, every blogger aims to achieve all of these and more (money and fame) from blogging. We want the benefits of being a professional blogger - but, do we do exactly what probloggers do?

Here is the habits of highly effective bloggers who earn the money and fame in the blogosphere.

1. Professional bloggers are honest in their dealings: Yes, they understand that you can not mock around if they aim to earn money and fame from blogging. They are very serious about their blogging and they work hard something unique for their readers. Be it the blog's design, content, search engine optimisation or marketing - they give their heart into everything. No pain, no gain.

2. They give before they get: Every successful blogger would agree that there is a certain period of time - where you are expected to give all your energy into your blog. You can not expect your blog to earn bucks in the early days. Those who wait, shall reap big rewards.

3. Probloggers are not afraid of mistakes: Everyone makes mistakes (or shall we call them as experiments or trials?) when we venture into an unknown territory. The mother of all mistakes is 'not learning from your mistakes'. They experiment boldly - try new methods and techniques to improve their blog, different sources to build traffic, readership. They constantly get feedback and quickly learn and adjust their strategies.

4. They have set clear goals: What you want to achieve through blogging? How much readership do you want to build? How much you want to earn? What is the time frame to achieve? Do you have a blogging schedule? Very few bloggers are very clear about what they want to achieve with their blogs. Set realistic goals for your blog - think on them.

5. Money comes last: You get paid for the work you already did. This truth applies to blogging as well. It is very common that blogs do not earn much money in the initial months - but once you have the content, readership and traffic, you will get plenty of money. Probloggers understand this. Do not stop if your blog does not earn quick dollars.

6. Probloggers read a lot: Books. Blogs. RSS feeds. They follow, skim through every possible reading material in their specialty (niche) area. They meet fellow bloggers, attend conferences and learn outside the online sources to inform their blog readers. Unless you read, you will not have authority in your writing. Read more.

7. They understand users: They follow what users like. They track user behaviors on how they respond to a new design, a blog post and quickly adapt to the readers. If you are not in touch with your readers, then you are already lost. They send out newsletters, freebies to reward the users. With readers, you grow.

More importantly, they are passionate about blogging. They strive hard to reach new heights. They would sacrifice anything for the sake of blogging (at least till they retire).

What do you think the essential quality of a professional blogger? Have I missed anything? Comment on.

The Michael Phelps Diet: Don’t Try It at Home

2008-09-03T23:39:00.000-07:00

Swimmer Michael Phelps’s next career may be in competitive eating. Besides grabbing five gold medals at the Beijing Olympics so far, making him the winningest Olympic athlete ever, he’s got to be setting new marks on the chow line.

A New York Post account of Phelps’s… wait for it… 12,000-calorie-a-day diet, gave us a stomachache. Could one human being really consume that much and still be in Phelps’s shape? And could this possibly be healthy for Phelps, even considering his five-hours-a-day, six-days-a-week exercise regimen?

Here’s Phelps’s typical menu. (No, he doesn’t choose among these options. He eats them all, according to the Post.)

Breakfast: Three fried-egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise. Two cups of coffee. One five-egg omelet. One bowl of grits. Three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar. Three chocolate-chip pancakes.

Lunch: One pound of enriched pasta. Two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayo on white bread. Energy drinks packing 1,000 calories.

Dinner: One pound of pasta. An entire pizza. More energy drinks.

If you eat fewer calories than you burn exercising, you lose weight. But an athlete like Phelps, who exercises up a storm, has to worry about eating enough to replenish the scads of calories he’s burned. If he doesn’t, his “body won’t recover, the muscles will not recover, there will not be adequate energy stored for him to compete in his next event.”

5 Tips to improve your memory

2008-09-03T00:34:00.001-07:00

Man is endowed with a rare organ called ‘brain’, which is responsible for all his personal and official activities. Your creative talent and reasoning power etc, all depend upon the memory system of your brain. But your memory system is sometimes treacherous. Your children fare badly in the exams and score poor marks. You are failing in job interviews due to your poor memory system. Hence, naturally you are in a dilemma how to overcome your drawbacks and improve your memory system.

The following five tips will certainly be helpful to improve your memory:-

1) Play indoor games like chess and carom, which will stimulate the performance of your brain, your thinking and planning capacities and your organizing abilities. Similarly physical exercise is good for your physical and mental health. Walk thrice in a week, at least half an hour a day, which will increase of your power of concentration.

2) Pay attention to minute details when you go to a place or when you meet a person. For example when you meet a person, observe the size and color of his dress, his height, his complexion, the place where you meet him, the door number of the house, the name of the street, its location etc and try to recall them when you go back to your residence. It is a kind of exercise to the brain to enhance the memory power of your brain.

3)In order to keep your brain in good working condition and sharpen it, you have to do some brain exercises time and again, like playing word games, thinking games and above all by doing a most effective exercise called ‘laughter’ which is capable of stimulating the whole body of a human being and refresh your memory system.

4) You should try to indulge in new activities as often as possible and take up your favorite activities like cooking, painting, gardening etc and try to do them in a different way whenever you embark upon these activities.

5) Good memory is about method. You need to constantly work on it with some new techniques. Try to do simple tasks in your day to day life like putting your two wheeler key or a car key at a particular place and do some important memory tasks every day like remembering some key words and codes etc. As far as children are concerned, to improve their memory system, try all the above mentioned ideas in a play way method.

WORLD's ONLY SEVEN STAR ( 7* ) HOTEL

2008-09-02T06:08:00.000-07:00

Burj Al Arab Hotel, Dubai, which was opened in 1999, is unofficially billed as a 7-star hotel and is the world's most luxurious and tallest hotel.

Designed to resemble a billowing sail, the hotel soars to a height of 321 metres, dominating the Dubai coastline. The hotel's own website describes it as the best in the world. With your chauffeur driven Rolls Royce, discreet in-suite check in, private reception desk on every floor and a brigade of highly trained butlers who provide around-the-clock attention, this hotel promises the finest the world has to offer.

Here are a selection of pictures to give you a taste of what you can look forward to as a guest.
- it's $75 U.S. just to get in the gate to look at this place!!!!

- the cost of it, is estimated at over 80 million U.S.

- the hotel opened this june 2003 for tourists.

The world's tallest waterfall, located in Venezuel

2008-09-02T00:16:00.000-07:00

World's Smallest Bodybuilder

2008-09-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

Meet Aditya “Romeo” Dev, who at just 2 ft 9 in. (0.84 m) is the world’s smallest bodybuilder: Pint-sized Romeo is well-known in his hometown of Phagwara, India - for his ability to lift 1.5kg dumbbells - despite his overall 9kg body weight.

Every day, crowds flock to the local gym to the see the mini-muscleman in training. Unlike many dwarfs, Romeo is well proportioned, with a head circumference of 15in and a chest measurement of 20in.

Romeo said: “I’ve been training as a bodybuilder for the last two years and by now I think I must be the strongest dwarf in the world."

The Icehotel

2008-08-27T11:57:00.001-07:00

Situated in the village of Jukkasjärvi, 200 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, in Sweeden, the Icehotel is one of the most fantastic tourist locations on the face of the Earth. Using pure, clear ice from the frozen Torne River, artists from all around the world come to Jukkasjärvi every year, to sculpt beautiful ice and snow structures. We are not aware of how spicy the prices but we’re sure it’s a unique experience that’s gotta be worth every penny!

The Fattest 15 Year Old in the World

2008-08-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

Georgia Devis weighs 210 kg at just 15 years of age, which makes her the world’s fattest teenager.

Georgia began over-eating when she was five years old and her father had just died. She kept on stuffing her face and today she can’t take more than 2 steps without having to stop and catch her breath. She can’t sleep in a normal bed because, well she simply can’t get in or out of it and she recently got banned from the school cafeteria for the simple reason that she just ate too much.

“It’s like a drug. Some people choose heroin but I’ve chosen food and it’s killing me. Doctors have told me I could drop dead at any moment.” says Georgia Davis. To prevent this the 15-year-old will have to take a trip to the US and join a fat-camp and attempt to loose over 100 kg in six months.

Georgia’s daily diet includes 2 loafs of bread, an entire chocolate cake, 2 plates of chips, 7 sandwiches, a gallon of soda, lasagna and many more. Her calorie intake is 14,000 calories a day while a normal 15 year-old takes in 2000 calories.

Glass Keyboard

2008-08-27T11:33:00.000-07:00

This glass “no-key” keyboard, designed by Kong Fanwen, could be a nice alternative to the “Really Cool” waterproof keyboard that we featured last month. The plan is to use a tiny camera with motion capture technology that will track your fingers as you type. Unfortunately, at this time, this is just a concept.

Amazing Shutter Art

2008-08-27T11:11:00.000-07:00

Picture Made With Pictures

2008-08-27T10:41:00.000-07:00

The World’s First Sand Hotel

2008-08-27T10:16:00.000-07:00

The world’s first sand-hotel is open for business on Weymouth beach, Dorset, in England. The 1000 tone-of-sand structure was built in a week by a team of 4 sand-sculptors and is only expected to last until it rains…which, as you probably know, happens quite often in Britain.

The sand-hotel was commissioned by a local travel website that, upon doing some research, found out that 57% of English tourists prefer foreign beach-destinations instead of national ones. So this is like a statement that signifies the rebirth of British tourism. The sand hotel has no roof, so you have a clear view of the star-filled night sky, no toilets and is not recommended for those that hate getting sand between their toes. For an offbeat experience like spending a night at the wonderful sand-hotel, you only have to pay $21, more than a fair price, in my opinion.

Happy Indepedence Day

2008-08-14T23:23:00.000-07:00

Award winning Cartoons...

2008-08-14T11:08:00.000-07:00

1.Poverty:

2.Population:

3..Humanity(Modern):

4.Terrorism (That is the flag of peace)+:

5.LOC Problem: (Drawing lines, trapping free birds)

6.Leader:

7.Suicide Scenario:

Global Warming Mug ...Help! I'm melting!

2008-08-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

Time for a nice cup of coffee and to daydream and plan your next beach holiday? Before you start, it might be worth checking that the beach is actually where you left it – and not hundreds of kilometres inland!

Need to know the impact of global warming. Just pour hot liquid in this mug and you’ll see what happens as the sea level rises!

The Global Warming Mug – it's a cool reminder of a very hot topic! Al Gore will love you for it...and so will your children's children.

Features
A mug that reveals how the world will look after the polar ice caps melt.
The map on the mug responds when the mug is filled with hot coffee or another hot beverage. The mug is microwave safe.
Do not put in the dishwasher or soak for long periods of time.
Suitable for ages 12 years+.
Size: 13 x 9 x 8cm

Temperature sensitive tile

2008-08-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

Thinking of a bathroom makeover? If so, check out this great tile. It’s temperature sensitive so that the color changes as the tile heats. The palatte below shows single tiles in change and the series of photos there after show a full shower change. Pretty cool stuff from Moving Color

You walk into shower filled completely with boring black tile and turn the water on. Soon the shower walls begin to transform themselves into psychedelic changing patterns. This cool scenario really exists.

Inspired by the stunning Northern Lights of Alaska, this line features 4 × 4 glass tiles that appear black at room temperature and move through the color spectrum when temperature (warm water, radiant heat, etc) is applied. The moving color is dynamic to the temperature of the heating agent.

A Story without Words

2008-08-14T03:02:00.000-07:00

Amazing Eye Facts

2008-08-13T11:36:00.000-07:00

Ever notice how many times your eyes blink? Probably not, because we blink so fast. The average person blinks about 12 times a minute. That's an amazing 10,080 blinks in a kids day (14 waking hours). That's why when someone says "it happened in the blink of an eye," they mean it happened really fast.

How far can an eagle see?A lot further than the human eye can see. An eagle can see a rabbit about 1 mile or 1760 yards away. Now the average person needs to be about 550 yards away to see the same rabbit. That's why when someone says "you must have eagle eyes," they mean you can see really far.

Does being color blind mean you only see in black and white?Not exactly. People who are color blind just can't see things in as many colors as people who have normal vision, and they cannot see certain colors like red, green, and some blues. Not all color-blind people see colors the same way, either. That's why when someone says "you must be color blind," they mean you didn't pick out your colors too well.

If bats are blind, how do they "see" where they are going?It is a common misconception that bats are blind. Almost all bats can see, and their sense of sight and smell is well developed, but these bats don't use their eyes to "see" where they're going. They use sound waves. They make high pitched sounds and then listen for the echoes caused when the sounds bounce off an object. Some bats can fly at a speed of up to 30 miles per hour. Their "radar" must be pretty good to fly that fast at night! Now you know why if someone says "you're as a blind as a bat," they mean you missed something or didn't see it.

If someone is nearsighted they can't see things near, right?Actually it is the other way around. People who have nearsighted vision can see things that are near very well, but they have trouble seeing things far away clearly. The scientific name for nearsightedness is myopia. People who have farsighted vision can see things far away clearly but have trouble seeing things close up. The scientific name for farsightedness is called hyperopia. Now that's a mouthful!

10 MOST BEAUTIFUL INDIAN ROADS

2008-08-12T11:09:00.000-07:00

1.Ahtong , Sikkim

2.Corbert Park Pathway

3.Numaligarh , Assam

4.Dalhousie

5.Nainital, Uttaranchal

6..Almora, Uttaranchal

7.Ooty

8.Patratu valley, Jharkhand

9.Gulmarg

10.Manali Pass

Twins of different colours!..."million-to-one medical miracle"

2008-08-12T10:39:00.000-07:00

The two girls you see in the picture here are twins. Born to a mother of Jamaican-English descent and a father of German descent, Alicia and Jasmin Singerl were born in May 2006. They look completely different.

Kylie Hodgson gave birth to twin daughters but the phenomenon is that they are of different colours. Her husband and her are both of mixed race where their mothers are both white and their fathers are black. The odds of getting the different coloured twins are a million to one.
When they were born you could see there was a colour difference straight away. We couldn’t believe it.

Alicia’s eyes were brown and her hair was dark. Jasmin’s eyes were blue and her hair was white - you could hardly see her hair or her eyebrows.

Kylie Hodgson gave birth to twin daughters but the phenomenon is that they are of different colours. Her husband and her are both of mixed race where their mothers are both white and their fathers are black. The odds of getting the different coloured twins are a million to one.

Here are a few photos of the Lovely twins.

Millau Bridge ( World's Highest Bridge )

2008-08-11T19:23:00.000-07:00

What you see in the composite image above is a panoramic view of the Millau Viaduct (Viaduc de Millau), a cable-stayed bridge spanning the Tarn River in southern France.

British architect Lord Foster in collaboration with French bridge engineer Michel Virlogeux, it is the tallest vehicular bridge in the world, with one pier's summit at 341 metres (1,118 ft)slightly higher than the Eiffel Tower and only 40 m (132 ft) shorter than the Empire State Building. It was formally opened on 14 December 2004 and opened to traffic on 16 December 2004.

Asia's Tallest Known Living Women

2008-08-10T07:04:00.000-07:00

Thirty-four-year-old Yao Defen is known as Asia's tallest woman. At 7 feet 7 inches, 396 pounds, and a shoe size (EUR) of 78, Yao attracts a lot of attention. This "woman giant" makes her living as a circus performer.

Yao Defen was born in Shucha Town of Liuan City in Shuchen County, Anhui Province in 1972. The fourth child of her family, she weighed only 6.16 pounds at birth. At age 3, her food intake was three times that of other children her age. By age 11, her height was 6 ft. 2 in., and she grew to be 6 ft. 8 in. by age 15. Finally, she became the tallest woman in Asia at 7 ft. 5 in., which is almost seven inches taller than the woman basketball star Zhen Haixia.

10 Strange Facts about Albert Einstein

2008-08-09T07:08:00.000-07:00

Albert Einstein in a famous 1951 photo by Arthur Sasse.
So you think you know Albert Einstein: the absent-minded genius who gave us the theory of relativity (two of them, in fact, special theory and general theory of relativity), but did you know that Einstein was born with such a large head that his mother thought he was deformed? Or that Einstein had a secret child before he was married?
Read on for more obscure facts about the life of the world’s smartest genius:

1. Einstein Was a Fat Baby with Large Head

When Albert’s mother, Pauline Einstein gave birth to him, she thought that Einstein’s head was so big and misshapen that he was deformed!

As the back of the head seemed much too big, the family initially considered a monstrosity. The physician, however, was able to calm them down and some weeks later the shape of the head was normal. When Albert’s grandmother saw him for the first time she is reported to have muttered continuously “Much too fat, much too fat!” Contrasting all apprehensions Albert grew and developed normally except that he seemed a bit slow.

2. Einstein Had Speech diffculty as child

Earliest Known Photo of Albert Einstein (Image credit: Albert Einstein Archives,The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel)

As a child, Einstein seldom spoke. When he did, he spoke very slowly - indeed, he tried out entire sentences in his head (or muttered them under his breath) until he got them right before he spoke aloud. According to accounts, Einstein did this until he was nine years old. Einstein’s parents were fearful that he was retarded - of course, their fear was completely unfounded!

One interesting anecdote, told by Otto Neugebauer, a historian of science, goes like this:

As he was a late talker, his parents were worried. At last, at the supper table one night, he broke his silence to say, “The soup is too hot.”Greatly relieved, his parents asked why he had never said a word before.Albert replied, “Because up to now everything was in order.”

In his book, Thomas Sowell [wiki] noted that besides Einstein, many brilliant people developed speech relatively late in childhood. He called this condition The Einstein Syndrome.

3. Einstein was Inspired by a Compass

When Einstein was five years old and sick in bed, his father showed him something that sparked his interest in science: a compass.

When Einstein was five years old and ill in bed one day, his father showed him a simple pocket compass. What interested young Einstein was whichever the case was turned, the needle always pointed in the same direction. He thought there must be some force in what was presumed empty space that acted on the compass. This incident, common in many “famous childhoods,” was reported persistently in many of the accounts of his life once he gained fame.

4. Einstein Failed his University Entrance Exam

In 1895, at the age of 17, Albert Einstein applied for early admission into the Swiss Federal Polytechnical School (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule or ETH). He passed the math and science sections of the entrance exam, but failed the rest (history, languages, geography, etc.)! Einstein had to go to a trade school before he retook the exam and was finally admitted to ETH a year later.

5.Einstein had an Illegitimate Child

In the 1980s, Einstein’s private letters revealed something new about the genius: he had an illegitimate daughter with a fellow former student Mileva Marić (whom Einstein later married).

In 1902, a year before their marriage, Mileva gave birth to a daughter named Lieserl, whom Einstein never saw and whose fate remained unknown:

Mileva gave birth to a daughter at her parents’ home in Novi Sad. This was at the end of January, 1902 when Einstein was in Berne. It can be assumed from the content of the letters that birth was difficult. The girl was probably christianised. Her official first name is unknown. In the letters received only the name “Lieserl” can be found.

The further life of Lieserl is even today not totally clear. Michele Zackheim concludes in her book “Einstein’s daughter” that Lieserl was mentally challenged when she was born and lived with Mileva’s family. Furthermore she is convinced that Lieserl died as a result of an infection with scarlet fever in September 1903. From the letters mentioned above it can also be assumed that Lieserl was put up for adoption after her birth.

In a letter from Einstein to Mileva from September 19, 1903, Lieserl was mentioned for the last time. After that nobody knows anything about Lieserl Einstein-Maric.

6. Einstein Became Estranged From His First Wife, then Proposed a Strange “Contract”

After Einstein and Mileva married, they had two sons: Hans Albert and Eduard. Einstein’s academic successes and world travel, however, came at a price - he became estranged from his wife. For a while, the couple tried to work out their problems - Einstein even proposed a strange “contract” for living together with Mileva:

The relationship progressed. Einstein became estranged from his wife. The biography reprints a chilling letter from Einstein to his wife, a proposed “contract” in which they could continue to live together under certain conditions. Indeed that was the heading: “Conditions.”

A. You will make sure

1. that my clothes and laundry are kept in good order;

2. that I will receive my three meals regularly in my room;

3. that my bedroom and study are kept neat, and especially that my desk is left for my use only.

B. You will renounce all personal relations with me insofar as they are not completely necessary for social reasons…

There’s more, including “you will stop talking to me if I request it.” She accepted the conditions. He later wrote to her again to make sure she grasped that this was going to be all-business in the future, and that the “personal aspects must be reduced to a tiny remnant.” And he vowed, “In return, I assure you of proper comportment on my part, such as I would exercise to any woman as a stranger.”

7. Einstein Didn’t Get Along with His Oldest Son

After the divorce, Einstein’s relationship with his oldest son, Hans Albert, turned rocky. Hans blamed his father for leaving Mileva, and after Einstein won the Nobel Prize and money, for giving Mileva access only to the interest rather than the principal sum of the award - thus making her life that much harder financially.

The row between the father and son was amplified when Einstein strongly objected to Hans Albert marrying Frieda Knecht:

In fact, Einstein opposed Hans’s bride in such a brutal way that it far surpassed the scene that Einstein’s own mother had made about Mileva. It was 1927, and Hans, at age 23, fell in love with an older and - to Einstein - unattractive woman. He damned the union, swearing that Hans’s bride was a scheming woman preying on his son. When all else failed, Einstein begged Hans to not have children, as it would only make the inevitable divorce harder. … (Source: Einstein A to Z by Karen C. Fox and Aries Keck, 2004)

Later, Hans Albert immigrated to the United States became a professor of Hydraulic Engineering at UC Berkeley. Even in the new country, the father and son were apart. When Einstein died, he left very little inheritance to Hans Albert.

8. Einstein was a Ladies’ Man

Einstein with his second wife and cousin, Elsa (Image credit)

After Einstein divorced Mileva (his infidelity was listed as one of the reasons for the split), he soon married his cousin Elsa Lowenthal. Actually, Einstein also considered marrying Elsa’s daughter (from her first marriage) Ilse, but she demurred:

Before marrying Elsa, he had considered marrying her daughter, Ilse, instead. According to Overbye, “She (Ilse, who was 18 years younger than Einstein) was not attracted to Albert, she loved him as a father, and she had the good sense not to get involved. But it was Albert’s Woody Allen moment.”

Unlike Mileva, Elsa Einstein’s main concern was to take care of her famous husband. She undoubtedly knew about, and yet tolerated, Einstein’s infidelity and love affairs which were later revealed in his letters:

Previously released letters suggested his marriage in 1903 to his first wife Mileva Maric, mother of his two sons, was miserable. They divorced in 1919, and he soon married his cousin, Elsa. He cheated on her with his secretary, Betty Neumann.

In the new volume of letters released on Monday by Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Einstein described about six women with whom he spent time and from whom he received gifts while being married to Elsa.

Some of the women identified by Einstein include Estella, Ethel, Toni and his “Russian spy lover,” Margarita. Others are referred to only by initials, like M. and L.

“It is true that M. followed me (to England) and her chasing after me is getting out of control,” he wrote in a letter to Margot in 1931. “Out of all the dames, I am in fact attached only to Mrs. L., who is absolutely harmless and decent.”

9. Einstein, the War Pacifist, Urged FDR to Build the Atom Bomb

Re-creation of Einstein and Szilárd signing the famous letter to President Franklin Roosevelt in 1939. (Image credit: Wikipedia)

In 1939, alarmed by the rise of Nazi Germany, physicist Leó Szilárd [wiki] convinced Einstein to write a letter to president Franklin Delano Roosevelt warning that Nazi Germany might be conducting research into developing an atomic bomb and urging the United States to develop its own.

The Einstein and Szilárd’s letter was often cited as one of the reasons Roosevelt started the secret Manhattan Project [wiki] to develop the atom bomb, although later it was revealed that the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 probably did much more than the letter to spur the government.

Although Einstein was a brilliant physicist, the army considered Einstein a security risk and (to Einstein’s relief) did not invite him to help in the project.

10. The Saga of Einstein’s Brain: Pickled in a Jar for 43 Years and Driven Cross Country in a Trunk of a Buick!

After his death in 1955, Einstein’s brain [wiki] was removed - without permission from his family - by Thomas Stoltz Harvey [wiki], the Princeton Hospital pathologist who conducted the autopsy. Harvey took the brain home and kept it in a jar. He was later fired from his job for refusing to relinquish the organ.

Many years later, Harvey, who by then had gotten permission from Hans Albert to study Einstein’s brain, sent slices of Einstein’s brain to various scientists throughout the world. One of these scientists was Marian Diamond of UC Berkeley, who discovered that compared to a normal person, Einstein had significantly more glial cells in the region of the brain that is responsible for synthesizing information.

In another study, Sandra Witelson of McMaster University found that Einstein’s brain lacked a particular “wrinkle” in the brain called the Sylvian fissure. Witelson speculated that this unusual anatomy allowed neurons in Einstein’s brain to communicate better with each other. Other studies had suggested that Einstein’s brain was denser, and that the inferior parietal lobe, which is often associated with mathematical ability, was larger than normal brains.

The saga of Einsteins brain can be quite strange at times: in the early 1990s, Harvey went with freelance writer Michael Paterniti on a cross-country trip to California to meet Einstein’s granddaughter. They drove off from New Jersey in Harvey’s Buick Skylark with Einstein’s brain sloshing inside a jar in the trunk! Paterniti later wrote his experience in the book Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein’s Brain

In 1998, the 85-year-old Harvey delivered Einstein’s brain to Dr. Elliot Krauss, the staff pathologist at Princeton University, the position Harvey once held:

… after safeguarding the brain for decades like it was a holy relic - and, to many, it was - he simply, quietly, gave it away to the pathology department at the nearby University Medical Center at Princeton, the university and town where Einstein spent his last two decades.

17 year old girl has 7 kids!!!!

2008-08-08T01:27:00.000-07:00

This is really outrageous.

Argentine teenager Pamela Villarruel poses with her seven children outside her parents' home in the town of Leones in Cordoba Province, northern Argentina, May 11, 2008. (Pics courtesy: AP)

Pamela, 17, bore all seven children in just three pregnancies, having her first boy in 2005 when she was 14 and the other six girls in two deliveries of triplets in the following two years.

Pamela and her children currently sleep in the living room of her mother Magdalena who supports them all by house cleaning.

The father of Pamela's first son abandoned them, the father of the first set of triplets was forced out of the house by the family for beating her, and Pamela refuses to identify the father of the more recent triplets.

Magdalena requested to have her daughter's fallopian tubes tied to avoid any further pregnancies, but was denied as Argentine law prohibits the procedure to be done on minors.

Amazing Facts About Elephant

2008-08-06T09:55:00.000-07:00

1.Elephants stomp when they walk.

2.Elephants sleep standing up.

3.Sometimes baby elephants lie down to sleep.

4.Elephants bathe. Sometimes the spray dirt on themselves to get the parasites off. Sometimes they bathe in mud

5.Elephants live in herds.

6.They cool off by fanning their ears. This cools the blood in their ears. That blood goes to the rest of their body and cools off the elephant.

7.They poop 80 pounds in one day.

8.Elephants weigh 10,000 pounds. It would take 250 students to add up to 10,000 pounds.

9. They collect food with their trunks.

10.Only grown up ladies and their babies live in the herds.

11.The daddy elephants leave the herd when they are 12 years old.

12.They fight with their tusks.

13.They eat grass and bark.

14.During the wet season they eat things low to the ground.

15.During the dry season they use their trunk to gather food from trees and bushes.

16.They suck up water into their trunks and shoot it into their mouths.

17.Elephants need lots of room to roam and eat. (Some of us think that this must mean they are not happy in the zoo or in the circus.)

18.They can run 24mph for short distances.

Pizza Facts

2008-08-06T09:18:00.000-07:00

Just Facts:

Mmmmmm....Pizza

There are approximately 61,269 pizzerias in the United

States. Each man, woman and child in America eats an average
of 46 slices (23 pounds) of pizza a year.

- - -

Pepperoni is America's favorite topping (36 percent of all

pizza orders); we eat approximately 251,770,000 pounds per year.
Other popular pizza toppings are mushrooms, extra cheese, sausage,
green pepper and onion.
Anchovies always rank last on the list of favorite toppings.

- - -

Around the world, toppings vary greatly to reflect regional

preferences. In Japan, for instance, eel and squid are

favorites. In Pakistan, curry is a big seller. In Russia,

red herring is a topping of choice and Australians enjoy

shrimp and pineapple on their pies as well as barbecue

toppings. Costa Ricans favor coconut.

- - -

Modern pizza was born in 1889 when Queen Margherita Teresa Giovanni,
the consort of Umberto I, king of Italy, visited Naples.
Don Raffaele Esposito, who owned a tavern-like place called Pietro Il Pizzaiolo,
was asked to prepare a special dish in honor of the Queen's visit. Esposito

developed a pizza featuring tomatoes, mozzarella cheese (a

never before used ingredient made from the milk of water

buffalo) and basil - ingredients bearing the colors red,

white and green for the Italian flag. He named it the

Margherita Pizza, after the guest of honor. Thus, the

modern-day tomato-and-cheese pizza was born.

- - -

Marie Antionette's sister, Marie Carolina, wife of Ferdinand I of Sicily and Naples,
had ovens built in the forest so she could enjoy pizza while
the Royal Hunting Party feasted on wild ducklings and pigs killed in the hunt.

- - -

The world's largest pizza was built on October 11, 1987
by Lorenzo Amato and Louis Piancone.
The pizza covered 10,000 square feet and measured 140 feet across.
It weighed in at 44,457 pounds, consisting of, among other items,
18,174 pounds of flour, 1,103 pounds of water, 6,445 pounds of sauce,
9,375 pounds of cheese and 2,387 pounds of pepperoni.

The pie was cut into 94,248 slices and eaten by more than
30,000 spectators at the baking in Havana, Florida.

Welcome

2008-08-06T02:04:00.001-07:00

WElcome