AJORBAHMAN'S COLLECTION

Beef Jerky Underwear !

2012-02-14T12:03:00.001+03:30

There’s no better gift to present to your significant other than edible undies.
However, if you both want something a little more, ahem… “satisfying” than typical edible lingerie, consider beef jerky.

Yes, the laces are made from Slim Jims.

By following just a few easy steps over at Instructables you can make your own pair. Just be sure to stay out of the hot tub…

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

2012-02-14T06:35:00.003+03:30

RIP - Whitney Houston Dead at 48 - We will always love you

2012-02-12T09:15:00.000+03:30

Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You - Lyrics

2012-02-12T09:10:00.000+03:30

Whitney Houston, superstar of records, films, dies

2012-02-12T05:30:00.001+03:30

By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY | Associated Press –

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Whitney Houston, who ruled as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died. She was 48.

Houston's publicist, Kristen Foster, said Saturday that the singer had died, but the cause and the location of her death were unknown.
News of Houston's death came on the eve of music's biggest night — the Grammy Awards. It's a showcase where she once reigned, and her death was sure to cast a heavy pall on Sunday's ceremony. Houston's longtime mentor Clive Davis was to hold his annual concert and dinner Saturday; it was unclear if it was going to go forward.
At her peak, Houston the golden girl of the music industry. From the middle 1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists. She wowed audiences with effortless, powerful and peerless vocals that were rooted in the black church but made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen.
Her success carried her beyond music to movies, where she starred in hits like "The Bodyguard" and "Waiting to Exhale."
She had the perfect voice and the perfect image: a gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise.
She influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey, who when she first came out sounded so much like Houston that many thought it was Houston.
But by the end of her career, Houston became a stunning cautionary tale of the toll of drug use. Her album sales plummeted and the hits stopped coming; her once serene image was shattered by a wild demeanor and bizarre public appearances. She confessed to abusing cocaine, marijuana and pills, and her once pristine voice became raspy and hoarse, unable to hit the high notes as she had during her prime.
"The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy," Houston told ABC's Diane Sawyer in an infamous 2002 interview with then-husband Brown by her side.
It was a tragic fall for a superstar who was one of the top-selling artists in pop music history, with more than 55 million records sold in the United States alone.
She seemed to be born into greatness. She was the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, the cousin of 1960s pop diva Dionne Warwick and the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin.
Houston first started singing in the church as a child. In her teens, she sang backup for Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson and others, in addition to modeling. It was around that time when music mogul Clive Davis first heard Houston perform.
"The time that I first saw her singing in her mother's act in a club ... it was such a stunning impact," Davis told "Good Morning America."
"To hear this young girl breathe such fire into this song. I mean, it really sent the proverbial tingles up my spine," he added.
Before long, the rest of the country would feel it, too. Houston made her album debut in 1985 with "Whitney Houston," which sold millions and spawned hit after hit. "Saving All My Love for You" brought her her first Grammy, for best female pop vocal. "How Will I Know," ''You Give Good Love" and "The Greatest Love of All" also became hit singles.
Another multiplatinum album, "Whitney," came out in 1987 and included hits like "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."
The New York Times wrote that Houston "possesses one of her generation's most powerful gospel-trained voices, but she eschews many of the churchier mannerisms of her forerunners. She uses ornamental gospel phrasing only sparingly, and instead of projecting an earthy, tearful vulnerability, communicates cool self-assurance and strength, building pop ballads to majestic, sustained peaks of intensity."
Her decision not to follow the more soulful inflections of singers like Franklin drew criticism by some who saw her as playing down her black roots to go pop and reach white audiences. The criticism would become a constant refrain through much of her career. She was even booed during the "Soul Train Awards" in 1989.
"Sometimes it gets down to that, you know?" she told Katie Couric in 1996. "You're not black enough for them. I don't know. You're not R&B enough. You're very pop. The white audience has taken you away from them."
Some saw her 1992 marriage to former New Edition member and soul crooner Bobby Brown as an attempt to refute those critics. It seemed to be an odd union; she was seen as pop's pure princess while he had a bad-boy image, and already had children of his own. (The couple had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, in 1993.) Over the years, he would be arrested several times, on charges ranging from DUI to failure to pay child support.
But Houston said their true personalities were not as far apart as people may have believed.
"When you love, you love. I mean, do you stop loving somebody because you have different images? You know, Bobby and I basically come from the same place," she told Rolling Stone in 1993. "You see somebody, and you deal with their image, that's their image. It's part of them, it's not the whole picture. I am not always in a sequined gown. I am nobody's angel. I can get down and dirty. I can get raunchy."
It would take several years, however, for the public to see that side of Houston. Her moving 1991 rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl, amid the first Gulf War, set a new standard and once again reaffirmed her as America's sweetheart.
In 1992, she became a star in the acting world with "The Bodyguard." Despite mixed reviews, the story of a singer (Houston) guarded by a former Secret Service agent (Kevin Costner) was an international success.
It also gave her perhaps her most memorable hit: a searing, stunning rendition of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," which sat atop the charts for weeks. It was Grammy's record of the year and best female pop vocal, and the "Bodyguard" soundtrack was named album of the year.
She returned to the big screen in 1995-96 with "Waiting to Exhale" and "The Preacher's Wife." Both spawned soundtrack albums, and another hit studio album, "My Love Is Your Love," in 1998, brought her a Grammy for best female R&B vocal for the cut "It's Not Right But It's Okay."
But during these career and personal highs, Houston was using drugs. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2010, she said by the time "The Preacher's Wife" was released, "(doing drugs) was an everyday thing. ... I would do my work, but after I did my work, for a whole year or two, it was every day. ... I wasn't happy by that point in time. I was losing myself."
In the interview, Houston blamed her rocky marriage to Brown, which included a charge of domestic abuse against Brown in 1993. They divorced in 2007.
Houston would go to rehab twice before she would declare herself drug-free to Winfrey in 2010. But in the interim, there were missed concert dates, a stop at an airport due to drugs, and public meltdowns.
She was so startlingly thin during a 2001 Michael Jackson tribute concert that rumors spread she had died the next day. Her crude behavior and jittery appearance on Brown's reality show, "Being Bobby Brown," was an example of her sad decline. Her Sawyer interview, where she declared "crack is whack," was often parodied. She dropped out of the spotlight for a few years.
Houston staged what seemed to be a successful comeback with the 2009 album "I Look To You." The album debuted on the top of the charts, and would eventually go platinum.
Things soon fell apart. A concert to promote the album on "Good Morning America" went awry as Houston's voice sounded ragged and off-key. She blamed an interview with Winfrey for straining her voice.
A world tour launched overseas, however, only confirmed suspicions that Houston had lost her treasured gift, as she failed to hit notes and left many fans unimpressed; some walked out. Canceled concert dates raised speculation that she may have been abusing drugs, but she denied those claims and said she was in great shape, blaming illness for cancellations.

Drive Through / Sometimes, “drive” is more of a suggestion…

2012-02-11T17:27:00.006+03:30

Car with Wood-Burning Stove

2012-02-11T17:21:00.005+03:30

Getting into a freezing cold car in the dead of winter is never a fun thing, especially if you live somewhere with lots of snow and ice. Swiss “innovator” Pascal Prokop decided his old Volvo 240’s heater wasn’t quite doing the job, so he installed a real wood-burning stove in place of the passenger’s seat.

Photo: Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters

Cities with the most speed traps

2012-02-11T08:03:00.005+03:30

By Colleen Kane | CNBC – 6 hours ago

(Photo: woodleywonderworks | Flickr)

MORE AT CNBC.COM

When lead-footed drivers get snagged and ticketed, their downfall might have been passing a speed trap where a cop was using radar or a laser, or maybe the driver passed a speed camera. However, as technology improves traffic enforcement, it is also progressing on the side of the speeder. Now joining the radar detector is crowd-sourced reporting of speed traps, a virtual warning system using the Internet and a mobile app.

This list of the 10 most-active cities for speed traps was compiled by Trapster.com, a community platform accessed online and via smartphone app, that alerts drivers to traps, hazards and other traffic issues nearby.

Trapster"s list is drawn from the reports of its base of nearly 15 million users. In addition to speed traps and enforcement cameras, "activity" can include road hazards, traffic, school zones, construction zones and locations of roadkill. However, Sean Farrell, product manager for Trapster, says that over 50 percent of the activity reported on Trapster are "live police" speed traps. For each of the following 10 most-active cities, Trapster users entered 3,000 to 4,000 reports in a recent 30-day period.

Note: These slides are taken from Trapster's TrapMap, and symbols indicate red-light cameras, fixed-speed cameras, and known enforcement points.

(Photo: Trapster.com | inset: Matthew Rutledge | Flickr)

10. Austin, TX

Law enforcement in the capital of Texas has a reputation for handing out speeding tickets to motorists only one to three miles per hour over the posted limits, says Farrell. "Trapster users have posted on Trapster"s Facebook page that many speed limits drop quickly, and happen to have heavy police ‘speed enforcement" in those areas."

Pagination

Is she really the daughter of Princess Soraya the EX Queen of Iran !?

2012-02-10T01:10:00.000+03:30

Derinkuyu, Underground city, Ancient Village or Ancient refugee settlement?

2012-02-10T00:33:00.000+03:30

Model Has Natural 20-inch Waist

2012-02-10T00:30:00.002+03:30

By Joanna Douglas, Senior Fashion and Beauty Editor | Fashion –

Model Ioana Spangenberg has a 20-inch waist. Photo by Barcroft Media/LandovRomanian model Ioana Spangenberg says she has natural 20-inch waist. When you see her thin middle in contrast to her 32-inch hips, it's no wonder tabloids like The Sun are referring to Spangenberg as "the human hourglass." The 30-year-old clocks in around 84 pounds, and says she was average size until her teen years. "When I was 13 my waist was around 15 inches. Someone could put their hands around it, their fingers would touch and they would still have extra room," she told the Sun.

See photos of the woman with the world's smallest waist ever

Spangenberg insists she's tried everything and cannot gain weight around her midsection. "No one seems to believe it, but every day I eat three big meals and I snack on chocolate and crisps all the time. I just have a small stomach. It's a bit like having a natural gastric band - if I eat too much, I feel sick," she told the Sun. "In Romania it is better to be overweight, because that means you are from a wealthy family...so while my friends were going out and dating, I was sitting at home with Mars bars wishing I could fatten up," she told the paper.

Read how celebrities maintain their svelte figures

Spangenberg gives new meaning to the termAs women all too familiar with trickery like Photoshop and wearing three pairs of Spanx, It's hard for us to believe Spangenberg isn't wearing a corset under her clothing. The legendary Ethel Granger, whose 13-inch waist was documented as the smallest in history, only attained her size with the help of severely pinching corsets. But Spangenberg insists her size and shape are all-natural, and with the encouragement of her German husband Jan, she's turned to the modeling industry to flaunt her skeletal figure.

"Jan was the first person who saw me as beautiful and encouraged me to celebrate my body. He asked me to pose in some photos for him," she told the Sun. "He was so impressed he put them online and the response was amazing." Spangenberg admits she has struggled with her self-esteem and told the publication she still wishes she could pack on a few pounds. "I would still like to gain weight so I don't look so shocking - and now that I live in Germany I can't get enough pizza or kebabs," she said. "But I'm finally comfortable in my own skin."

If she really, truly, I not wearing corsets, we're glad Spangenberg has come to terms with her natural appearance and we're glad she's gotten a good response from viewers. We can only hope women won't latch on to her unattainable size.

Fingerframes

2012-02-10T00:25:00.000+03:30

Frame Concept Camera is an easy to use digital camera that makes picture-take a less stressful job. Forefingers and thumbs have often been used as an intuitive benchmark for focusing and clicking photos; Chun uses this same principle in making his device more user-centric. We are a photography-inclined generation and innovations that focus on not overwhelming us by simplifying tech advancements are always welcome.
Designer: Jeiyong Chun of SADI

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(Fingerframes was originally posted on Yanko Design)

Life-Proof Calling

Posted: 08 Feb 2012 02:12 AM PST

For all you know SpareOne may go onto become an iconic phone with its simple approach of being the ideal spare phone that works on a single AA battery. A shelf life of 15 years, simple demeanor and intuitive UI, makes it a coveted gadget to carry on hikes, travels and emergency situations.
Rodney explains, “ When we were approached to strategize this spare phone idea, we knew immediately that it has to be simple and “life-proof”. The archetype of a screen was logically used to showcase and glorify this simple but iconic long-lasting AA battery.”
Designers: Rodney Loh & Thomas Tellier for NextOfKin Creatives

The World's Most Exotic Pets

2012-02-07T22:32:00.004+03:30

Monkeys, Lions and Chimpanzees are animals we often see in the wild or on the Discovery Channel. The following are some exotic albeit expensive pets that can be legally bought. These animals, however do come with a heavy price tag and that is not including the upkeep.

(Click to View More!)

13. Bengal Cat

Price Tag: $800-$3,000

The Bengal Cat is bred by mating a domestic black shorthaired cat with an Asian Leopard cat. As with many hybrids the goal is to create a domestic cat in size and demeanor with the exotic Asian Leopard Cat appearance and coloring. As with most hybrid cats, the breed becomes more and more domesticated with each successive generation, therefore the ideal domesticated breed would be at least three to five generations removed from the original breed.

12. Snow Macaque

Price Tag: $3,500

The Snow Macaque is considered a threatened species as we continue to encroach on more and more of the animal's habitat. Due to this fact, coveted licenses and special permits are mandated to own this very rare animal. The Snow Macaque is a smaller primate with a lifespan of over 25 years with the distinguishing feature of a hairless red face.

11. Squirrel Monkey

Price Tag: $4,000

This primate is about the size of a squirrel thus it's name. Generally the squirrel monkey does not get any bigger than 2 pounds and is considered a very social, affectionate and peaceful animal. These complacent characteristics make the animal a highly desired pet, however as with most of these animals, many states do not allow them to be privately owned.

10. Chinese Crested Hairless Puppies

Price Tag: $4,000-$5,000

These dogs weigh about 5 to 12 lbs and are very vivacious, alert and friendly animals. Considered to be one of the rarest dogs, these dogs are prone to sunburning on a hot and clear day. The dogs first originated in Africa and the animals is most often found to be a very pleasant companion that lives for over 10 to 12 years.

9. Savannah Cat

Price Tag: $4,000-$10,000

Bred in a similar process to the Bengal Cat, the Savannah Cat is bred by mating the African Serval with a smaller domestic cat. The Savannah inherently has a much more difficult breeding process, because an African Serval is 40lbs and undomesticated and breeding it with a domestic house cat is problematic. Concurrently, the gestation periods between the two animals are different. Due to these factors, the Savannah is a more expensive and rare breed of cat.

8. Mona Guenon

Price Tag: $6,000

The Mona Guenon's natural habitat is within the Western African tropical forests, however this animal is capable of adapting to any forest environment. Therefore, despite special permits and licenses to own this animal, it is not considered an endangered specie.

7. Debrazzas Monkey

Price Tag: $10,000

The DeBrazza's Monkey is easily recognized by its white beard and yellowish gray fur. The animal will generally live for about 22 years. Though many people do shell out the hefty price for this primate, they become disappointed when the docile and tender babies grow to become unpredictable and hostile adults.

6. Striped Ball Python

Price Tag: $10,000

Master Python Breeder, Bob Clark states that he has an exclusive on this genetic striped ball python. The prominent stripe is what makes this animal very unique. More clearly, the striped ball showcases a yellow dorsal stripe with a a black border, clearly differentiating them from any other snake.

5. Hyacinth Macaw

Price Tag: $6,500-12,000

Macaws overall are very expensive. The Hyacinth Macaw exhibiting beautifully vibrant coloring, generally commands $20,000 a pair. Physically these birds are about 40 inches long and have a bright blue coloring. Their wing span is about four feet and these birds make popular pets despite their expensive price tag.

4. Reticulated Albino Type II Tiger Python

Price Tag: $15,000

Master Python Breeder, Bob Clark's Reticulated Albino Type II Tiger Pythons sell for $15,000 each. An extremely rare breed, these pythons showcase a co-dominant tiger pattern, making them extremely popular in the snake world.

3. Lavender Albino Python Female

Price Tag: $20,000

This red-eyed snake is lavender in color, under a vibrant yellow pattern. Also available from python breeder Bob Clark, the rarity has fueled demand.

2. Chimpanzee

Price Tag: $60,000-$65,000

Chimpanzees are highly intelligent primates and are closely related to humans. Chimpanzees weigh about 115 lbs and the male is slightly larger than the female. The natural habitat of the Chimpanzee is within central Africa and western Africa. Though an endangered specie, Chimps are legal pets in some states.

1. White Lion Cubs

Price Tag: $138,000

The very rare White Lion is because of a a recessive gene and the animals are not considered to be albino. The White Lion's eye color is similar to the regular lion, however the coat pigmentation and skin are not. Due to its price, demand, upkeep and scarcity, the White Lion remains one of the most difficult animals in the world to obtain.

AMAZING RABBIT !

2012-02-05T15:40:00.000+03:30

Nouvelle Joconde : «En aucun cas Léonard n'y a mis la main»

2012-02-04T18:08:00.000+03:30

INFOGRAPHIE - L'annonce en fanfare d'un «nouvelle Joconde» fait les gros titres mais n'agite guère les spécialistes. Le point sur cette réplique toutefois intéressante.

» Faites bouger le curseur sur l'image pour comparer les deux versions.

Beaucoup de bruit pour rien? Cette nouvelle Joconde découverte au musée madrilène du Prado fait les grands titres mais n'agite guère les spécialistes. La réalité est bien moins spectaculaire, quoique intéressante. Cette copie précoce, en noyer milanais et non en peuplier florentin, qui passait même au XIXe siècle pour l'originale, et qu'on prétend aujourd'hui la plus ancienne jamais exécutée parmi la centaine de copies existantes, était bien connue.

Sa première référence se trouve dans un inventaire des collections royales espagnoles datant de 1666. Et la réplique était accrochée sur les murs du Prado jusqu'à ce qu'on l'emmène pour restauration, sur demande du Louvre. Un nettoyage des repeints XVIIIe a révélé un fond de paysage toscan auparavant peu discernable, fort proche de celui peint par Léonard.
Elle n'est pas de la main du maître
Une analyse infrarouge a également précisé les choses, permettant de certifier ce que l'on savait déjà: qu'elle n'était pas de la main de maître. La restauration conforte tout de même l'hypothèse de l'extrême précocité. Elle a pu être peinte dans l'atelier milanais par un élève (Francesco Melzi ou Andrea Salai le plus expérimenté des deux et dont l'inventaire après décès mentionne d'ailleurs une Joconde) devant l'original alors que celui-ci se trouvait dans un état intermédiaire.
«En aucun cas Léonard n'y a mis la main. La technique utilisée, peu subtile, n'a rien à voir avec le sfumato des chairs si complexe et raffiné qui s'observe dans le panneau du Louvre», affirme Jacques Franck, expert au centre d'études léonardiennes de l'université de Los Angeles UCLA. «Les couleurs, aussi, s'en écartent, notamment dans l' ensemble du costume, le paysage, etc.» On pourra constater les différences car l'oeuvre sera incluse dans l'exposition sur les dernières années de Léonard au Louvre du 29 mars au 25 juin. Elle permettra aux historiens de l'art d'avancer dans la connaissance encore très faible de l'atelier de Léonard. «Dans la réplique on voit mieux comment les mains de Monna Lisa reposent sur la balustrade et les plis de la draperie, commente Vincent Delieuvin en charge des peintures italiennes du XVIe siècle au Louvre. On se rend compte également que la fameuse ligne d'horizon, réputée décalée de part et d'autre du personnage, ne l'est en fait pas.»

La réplique du Prado permettra aussi d'imaginer, dans un certaine mesure, ce que pourrait donner une Joconde restaurée.

Cold Coffee Hot

2012-02-04T17:39:00.001+03:30

This is the perfect season to be discussing hot coffee and methods of keeping them just that – HOT!
Re-Warming is a reheating stick that restores tepid drinks to their piping-hot glory.
It is sleek and creatively wand-ish with a very Harry Potter vibe to it.
Not a new concept but definitely a sleek iteration for the next step in refinements.

Designer: Hyewon Lee

Funky Shoe Style

2012-02-04T17:36:00.005+03:30

As the name suggests Topless Shoes have no upper constrictions or bindings.
It’s like sinking your foot into a warm cushy hole and expecting it to ‘walk’ with you at every step.
The elastic layer called ‘muscle’ parts under the foot and encloses it in a firm yet comfortable grip.
Ideal for folks who find wearing shoes a huge task, and I’d sure like to give them a try.

Topless Shoes is a 2011 red dot concept design winner.
Designers: Zhao Xiaoliang, Han Like, Liu Peng, Meng Qingbao, Ren Mingjun, Yang Xiao, Chen Xuan, Lin Lin

Light in a Manhole

2012-02-04T17:34:00.000+03:30

Ever wished there was a hole in the floor that would open up and swallow you in?

Wishing for a similar safe haven, we have designer Chuang Chihong’s version;

The Gully Cover Light. In his words, “the design suggests an imaginary space beneath the floor.

It gives the impression that there is a refuge underfoot – a place to which we could escape.”

The light turns on when we lift the manhole cover, and switches off when we replace it.

I think it’s a clever way to bring the outdoors in!

Gully Cover Light is a 2011 reddot design concept entry.
Designer: Chuang Chihong

PVC Pipe Sculptures

2012-02-04T04:51:00.001+03:30

In yet another example of artwork constructed from unconventional materials, Korean artist Kang Duck-bong uses cut sections of PVC pipe, painted and arranged to resemble people and machines in motion.

Tworse Key - Twitter Telegraph

2012-02-04T04:45:00.001+03:30

Sugar Should Be Regulated As Toxin, Researchers Say

2012-02-02T18:41:00.003+03:30

By Christopher Wanjek | LiveScience.com

A spoonful of sugar might make the medicine go down. But it also makes blood pressure and cholesterol go up, along with your risk for liver failure, obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

Sugar and other sweeteners are, in fact, so toxic to the human body that they should be regulated as strictly as alcohol by governments worldwide, according to a commentary in the current issue of the journal Nature by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

The researchers propose regulations such as taxing all foods and drinks that include added sugar, banning sales in or near schools and placing age limits on purchases.

Although the commentary might seem straight out of the Journal of Ideas That Will Never Fly, the researchers cite numerous studies and statistics to make their case that added sugar — or, more specifically, sucrose, an even mix of glucose and fructose found in high-fructose corn syrup and in table sugar made from sugar cane and sugar beets — has been as detrimental to society as alcohol and tobacco.

Sour words about sugar

The background is well-known: In the United States, more than two-thirds of the population is overweight, and half of them are obese. About 80 percent of those who are obese will have diabetes or metabolic disorders and will have shortened lives, according to the UCSF authors of the commentary, led by Robert Lustig. And about 75 percent of U.S. health-care dollars are spent on diet-related diseases, the authors said.

Worldwide, the obese now greatly outnumber the undernourished, according to the World Health Organization. Obesity is a public health problem in most countries. And chronic diseases related to diet such as heart diseases, diabetes and some cancers — for the first time in human history — kill more people than infectious diseases, according to the United Nations.

Less known, and still debated, is sugar's role in the obesity and chronic disease pandemic. From an evolutionary perceptive, sugar in the form of fruit was available only a few months of the year, at harvest time, the UCSF researchers said. Similarly, honey was guarded by bees and therefore was a treat, not a dietary staple. [6 Easy Ways to Eat More Fruits & Veggies]

Today, added sugar, as opposed to natural sugars found in fruits, is often added in foods ranging from soup to soda. Americans consume on average more than 600 calories per day from added sugar, equivalent to a whopping 40 teaspoons. "Nature made sugar hard to get; man made it easy," the researchers write.

Many researchers are seeing sugar as not just "empty calories," but rather a chemical that becomes toxic in excess. At issue is the fact that glucose from complex carbohydrates, such as whole grains, is safely metabolized by cells throughout the body, but the fructose element of sugar is metabolized primarily by the liver. This is where the trouble can begin — taxing the liver, causing fatty liver disease, and ultimately leading to insulin resistance, the underlying causes of obesity and diabetes.

Added sugar, more so than the fructose in fiber-rich fruit, hits the liver more directly and can cause more damage — in laboratory rodents, anyway. Some researchers, however, remained unconvinced of the evidence of sugar's toxic effect on the human body at current consumption levels, as high as they are.

Economists to the rescue

Lustig, a medical doctor in UCSF's Department of Pediatrics, compares added sugar to tobacco and alcohol (coincidentally made from sugar) in that it is addictive, toxic and has a negative impact on society, thus meeting established public health criteria for regulation. Lustig advocates a consumer tax on any product with added sugar.

Among Lustig's more radical proposals are to ban the sale of sugary drinks to children under age 17 and to tighten zoning laws for the sale of sugary beverages and snacks around schools and in low-income areas plagued by obesity, analogous to alcoholism and alcohol regulation.

Economists, however, debate as to whether a consumer tax — such as a soda tax proposed in many U.S. states — is the most effective means of curbing sugar consumption. Economists at Iowa State University led by John Beghin suggest taxing the sweetener itself at the manufacturer level, not the end product containing sugar.

This concept, published last year in the journal Contemporary Economic Policy, would give companies an incentive to add less sweetener to their products. After all, high-fructose corn syrup is ubiquitous in food in part because it is so cheap and serves as a convenient substitute for more high-quality ingredients, such as fresher vegetables in processed foods.

Some researchers argue that saturated fat, not sugar, is the root cause of obesity and chronic disease. Others argue that it is highly processed foods with simple carbohydrates. Still others argue that it is a lack of physical exercise. It could, of course, be a matter of all these issues.

Christopher Wanjek is the author of the books "Bad Medicine" and "Food At Work." His column, Bad Medicine, appears regularly on LiveScience.

Negative Woman, We see her true colors!

2012-02-02T05:38:00.002+03:30

Stare at the red dot on this woman's nose for thirty seconds. Then, look over at a blank white space (a piece of paper or an empty browser tab will do). Did you see the "correct" version of the image? Here's how it works: stare long enough at an object and the eye's photoreceptors (particularly the color-sensitive cone cells) lose sensitivity from overstimulation. Divert the eyes to a blank space, and the surrounding cone cells send out a much stronger signal. The brain interprets this discrepancy as looking at the precise opposite colors, in what is known as a 'negative afterimage.' Nifty, no?

Facebook’s Rise From Start-Up to Establishment

2012-02-02T05:22:00.000+03:30

By Daniel Gross

Facebook's prospectus, released today, offers readers a voyeuristic look at the company's operations, its profits and the riches it will shower on fortunate investors and insiders. Reading between the lines of the prospectus also reveals a case study of how, in an age of income inequality and embedded privilege, an outsider can very quickly become part of the establishment. It shows how a good idea can attract not just capital and customers, but people and other institutions. Facebook has definitively arrived.

It starts literally at the top of the prospectus -- with the lead underwriter. Facebook chose Morgan Stanley, the last remaining white-shoe firm, which traces its lineage to J.P. Morgan.

From the moment he got started, Mark Zuckerberg, an outsider without significant family connections, was able to attract members of the establishment. At Harvard, some of his first funding came from the Winklevoss twins, who were portrayed in The Social Network as aristocratic, rich-guy rowers from Greenwich, Conn.

The roster of significant investors also reveals that members of the establishment -- in Silicon Valley, New York, Boston, Washington, Russia and Hong Kong -- clamored to be a part of the company, even when it was not clear it would be a juggernaut.

Soon after Zuckerberg moved out to Silicon Valley, he began to attract the attention of established players. Peter Thiel, a co-founder of Paypal and ringleader of a group of technology entrepreneurs, in 2004 became the first outsider investor in the company, putting in a reported $500,000 for stock worth 10 percent of the company at the time.

Next came the establishment venture capital firms: Accel Partners, the huge global venture capital firm, which invested $12.7 million in 2005 and now holds an 11 percent stake; Greylock Partners, which was founded in 1965 and has a long and distinguished history in the field, came on board in 2006, along with Meritech Capital Partners.

Once Facebook gained critical mass, heavyweight corporations, the classic second and third movers, came knocking on the door. In 2006, Interpublic (IPG), the gigantic advertising conglomeratem bought a sliver of Facebook for $5 million. (It has already sold half its stake). And in 2007, the largest software company in the world, Microsoft (MSFT), paid $240 million for a 1.6 percent stake. The global rich, eager to get in on the next big thing, followed in the footsteps of the corporations. Li-Ka shing, one of the wealthiest men in Hong Kong, invested in two different transactions in 2007 and 2008. Yuri Milner, Russia's dominant entrepreneur, bought a stake in the company for $200 million in 2009. In 2011, Goldman Sachs (GS) came up with a way to let its clients in on the Facebook action.

Of course, as a cash-generating machine, Facebook didn't really need any of this aristocratic capital. It did, however, need grown-up advice and supervision on how to transition from a start-up to a titan. And, here, again, the prospectus shows Zuckerberg's ability to tap into the establishment. Top executives include COO Sheryl Sandberg, a double Harvard graduate, a veteran of the Clinton White House and Google (GOOG). The board of directors includes Marc Andreesen, who founded Netscape, and Reed Hastings, the chief executive officer at Netflix (NFLX). Then there are the requisite graybeards from Washington, such as Donald Graham, CEO of the Washington Post Company, and Erskine Bowles, former White House chief of staff in the Clinton years and co-head of the Bowles-Simpson Commission.

There's a certain irony in this. If The Social Network is to believed, Facebook started in part as a reaction to an establishment that was keeping Mark Zuckerberg and his nerdy buddies out. It then morphed quickly from an elitist network -- remember, at first you had to be a student at Harvard to get onto Facebook -- into a remarkably democratic and open network. At the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, I attended a session in which Sandberg spoke of how the company and technology were allowing those whose voices had yet to be heard to be broadcast loudly throughout the world.

In other words, Zuckerberg and his team have stormed the establishment's barriers by empowering the non-establishment and allowing for the creation of new social networks. In doing so, they've created untold wealth for themselves. But because the establishment is smart enough to be open to new ideas, many of the already-rich are going to get much richer as a result of Facebook's IPO.

Daniel Gross is economics editor at Yahoo! Finance.

Hitler painting sold for €32,000

2012-01-31T06:48:00.000+03:30

Hitler painting sold for €32,000

A Slovak online auction has just proved that art by the world’s most vicious dictator is still considered valuable by some people. On Sunday Hitler’s painting ‘Maritime Nocturno’ fetched €32,000 at Darte auction house.

The picture entitled ‘Maritime Nocturno’ was sold to an anonymous buyer. RT reported.
The 1913 work was estimated at €25,000 with a starting price of €10,000.
It was put on sale by the family of a Slovak artist who had apparently met Hitler in Vienna, where the future Fuhrer was pursuing his ambition to become a professional artist.
The 60x48cm picture depicts a glittering sea under a full moon.
In 2011 the auction house sold another Hitler painting from the same collection for €10,200.
Hitler was interested in art from early childhood.
As a young man he even painted for a living. In the late 1900s he attempted to enter the Vienna Fine Arts Academy but failed.

oratert.com

Pothole Gardens !

2012-01-29T08:08:00.006+03:30

Drive around just about any major city and you’re bound to get jostled by a few potholes.
The city of London is no exception, and artist Steve Wheen decided to highlight this growing problem by turning bits of broken road into miniature gardens and nature scenes.

The project was originally started as part of his college coursework, but has since grown into a labor of love, injecting a little bit of beauty into the most unlikely places.

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Hitler painting sold for €32,000

Hitler painting sold for €32,000

Pothole Gardens !