Best of Blurtit

What Animals Have So Far Been Cloned?

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:49:37 +0000

Mention cloning to anyone and they will probably think of a little sheep called Dolly and a mad professor in a white apron. But the world of cloning has been going on a lot longer than most people realise and the crazy scientists have been really really busy. So here, after a brief introduction to cloning, is a list of some of the fake animals we know about that.

A brief introduction to cloning

The cloning of animals you're thinking about is normally a specific form of cloning called somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). A somatic cell is any cell in the body except sperm cells or the egg cells. Each somatic cell has two sets of chromosomes. The idea is kind of simple. Take a somatic cell from an adult animal. Remove its nucleus - the brain of the cell containing the DNA which makes the animal the way it is, then take an empty nucleus-less egg cell and insert the DNA inside it. Then do a little bit of laboratory business and insert the new egg into a surrogate mother animal. After gestation a new animal is born exactly the same as the animal which donated its DNA. Weird, yes. Incredible, yes.

Injaz the Camel

In April 2009 Injaz, or 'Achievement' in English, became the world's first ever cloned camel. Injaz, a female one-humped camel, was born in Dubai on April 8, 2009 at the city's Camel Reproduction Centre following investment from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum - he of international horse racing fame. Injaz's real mother was slaughtered for camel meat in 2005, but scientists saved the DNA and injected it into an empty egg cell of Injaz's surrogate camel mother. With camel racing big business in Dubai the implications of camel cloning are significant. And if you're thinking you've heard of the Camel Reproduction Centre before it's because it produced the world's first ever Cama, a Camel Llama hybrid.

The Cloned Carp

If you thought cloning was a relatively new phenomenon then you were wrong. Depending of course on your view of the word 'relatively'. Because cloning was going on way back in the 60s. In China an embryologist called Tong Dizhou cloned a carp. It was the world's first ever cloned fish and the first time such a complex organism had ever been cloned. Then ten years later he inserted the DNA of an Asian carp into a European carp mother - the world's first ever cross carp. Although if you keep them out of water long enough... Unfortunately for Europeans much of Dr Dizhou's work was never translated into English meaning Western scientists had no idea such advances were being made.

Carbon Copy Cat

Carbon Copy or Cc surprised everyone when she was born because she didn't look or act anything like her genetic mum. For a start she had a grey stripe running down her white back whereas her mother, Rainbow, sported more of a gold and brown style. Then, when Cc started to play, she was found to be rather frisky. Rainbow on the other hand had always been shy and disinterested. Rainbow was quite a solid kitty. Cc was sleek. And so the illusion of cloning was smashed. But not for the makers of Cc. Genetic Savings and Clone claimed this was evidence of what they had stated all along, that cloned cats and dogs don't arrive with all the old tricks. Still for a company taking a mere $1000 from deluded pet owners seeking to revive their beloved dead pets it was all a bit of a nuisance.

Daisy, Millie, Emma - The Cloned Cows

Cow cloning has been going strong for a number of years although just what that number is appears to be a bit of a mystery. Japan claimed to have produced the world's first cloned cows when in July 1998 a pair of calves were born using the same technique that produced Dolly the Sheep a year before. One very important cow was born on July 7 1999. Daisy (the calf pictured above), a Holston heifer, was cloned from a 13-year-old cow named Aspen. Scientists had often worried that cloning the DNA of an elderly animal would result in health problems for the newborn animal. But Daisy proved doubters wrong when she was able to give birth naturally two years later. Jersey females Millie and Emma were cloned in 2001 using standard cell-culturing, a slightly different technique to the 'Dolly The Sheep cloning' of most animals. Emma, an acronym of Experimental Manipulation of Mastitis Abatement, was born to help scientists discover the genetic susceptibility to the bovine disease mastitis. Cow cloning is money with improved beef and milk yields sought across the world. Unfortunately Millie died. But then what hope have you got if you're born a cow?

Dewey the Deer

Dewey became the world's first ever cloned deer when he was born on May 23 2003 at the College of Veterinary Medicine in Texas. Dewey is a white-tailed deer and became the fifth animal the college had successfully cloned, the others being a pig, cattle, goats and a cat. Dewey is a copy of a male white-tailed deer from southern Texas. He was created using fibroplast cells which were isolated from skin samples derived from the dead buck, expanded in culture then frozen and stored in nitrogen. And best of all he's quite cute, isn't he?

Snuppy the Afghan Hound

In Korea people eat dogs, so it was something of a surprise when in August 2005 scientists announced to the world they had successfully created the world's first ever cloned canine, Snuppy. No, not Snoopy. Snuppy. It was a long and difficult process with scientists using nearly 2000 eggs to produce 1095 cloned embryos which were inserted into 123 dogs. Of these only three became pregnant and of these one miscarried, one was born but died after only 22 days, and then there was Snuppy, an apparently healthy cloned Afghan Hound born by a Golden Retriever! The world later woke to the shock news that Korean stem cell scientist Dr Woo Suk Hwang had fabricated each of his major discoveries, all that is apart from Snuppy. Good boy.

Libby and Lilly Ferret

Libby and Lilly became the first cloned ferrets in 2004 to apparently help scientists study human respiratory diseases. Yes, your respiratory system is the same as a ferret's. Lovely.

The Cloned Tadpole

Scientist John Gurdon claimed he cloned tadpoles way back in the 1970s. In techniques that would later be developed to clone Dolly, Gurdon successfully transplanted the nucleus of one frog into the egg cell of another. There has since been some scepticism surrounding the success of Gurdon's attempts and it's true that none of his tadpoles ever made it into frogs. But what he did do was show what could and would later be done. If that makes sense.

Mira, Mira and Mira - The Three Goats

America cloned goats first in 1999. And to prove it they gave them all the same name. Mira and Mira and Mira were all born within two months of each other. The aim was medical. The three Mira's were created to produce a substance called antithrombin III in their milk, a protein which stops human blood clotting.

Noah the Gaur

Unfortunately Noah, the first endangered animal clone, died shortly after his birth. The baby bull gaur (a wild ox native to Asia) was born in January 2001 but due to complications surrounding his birth lived for only 48 hours. He died after suffering dysentery. It was a blow for scientists hoping to use cloning to save animals from extinction. But they're still trying.

Prometea the Horse

Born on May 28 2003 Prometea (the female version of Prometheus) became the world's first cloned horse. The Laboratory of Reproductive Technology in Italy created 841 embryos of which only 14 could be used and only four were implanted into surrogate mothers. Only Prometea the Halfinger foal was born. Horse racing has so far said no to cloning preferring the more traditional methods of reproduction but with millions of pounds being made on the mating rights of horses surely cloning is the nearly natural next step.

Masha the Mouse

So the sheep might have gotten all the fame but it was Masha the Mouse who really paved the way for mammal cloning. Back in 1986 Russian scientists Chaylakhyan, Veprencev, Sviridova and Nikitin cloned Masha from an embryo cell. Much later, in December 1997 in Hawaii, a mouse called Cumulina (pictured above) became the first mouse to be cloned from an adult cell. During her life she gave birth to two litters and died naturally in her sleep in 2000.

Idaho Gem

Little Idaho Gem celebrated a double when he was born in May 2003 becoming both the world's first cloned mule and the world's first clone related to the horse family. Financed by a wealthy mule-racing magnate, Idaho Gem, along with another cloned mule, Idaho Star, was sent to a trainer for a successful career on the track.

The Five Little Pigs

Pigs and humans have more in common than a bacon sandwich. In fact the animals are now extremely important as providers of organs for human transplants. On March 5, 2000 an Edinburgh-based company called PPL Therapeutics announced it had successfully cloned five piglets - Millie, Christa, Alexis, Carrell and Dotcom. Since then science and technology have moved on and pigs are being specifically engineered so that their tissues are not rejected by the human body.

Dolly The Famous Sheep

The star of the show Dolly The Sheep, so famous her name is referred to in capitals, became an overnight sensation when in July 1996 she became the first ever mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell. However it wasn't until a year later that scientists mentioned the news to an ignorant and cynical public. Television channels were full of Dolly eating grass, Dolly looking at the camera, Dolly standing in hay. She became the most famous sheep ever to walk the planet and the planet loved her and hated her in equal measure. After six years at the top Dolly succumbed to illness and died. It was a sad end but a not unfamiliar story of the new celebrity age.

ANDi Monkey

ANDi (inserted DNA, in reverse) was named as the first genetically modified monkey when he was born in October 2000. He was created specifically to carry one extra gene from another species. Born in the lab ANDi helped scientists pursue further tests for human diseases such as Alzheimer's, diabetes and heart disease.

Snuwolf and Snuwolffy

In October 2005 two wolves in Korea defied the laws of natural selection when they were successfully cloned to avoid extinction. Snuwolf and Snuwolffy were born in the Korea Zoo where they still live. Well one of them does. Unfortunately Snuwolf died in August 2009 from an infection which was absolutely nothing to do with the cloning process according to the scientists.

Are There Any Celebrity Quotes That Had Disastrous Consequences?

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:24:55 +0000

The tough part of being a celebrity is all the talking you have to do. Interviews, press conferences, paparazzi following you around asking questions – all of these situations and more give any celebrity plenty of chance to say one dumb thing. It’s bound to happen when you talk that much. But sometimes, that small, seemingly innocent quote, can lead to a huge mess. Simply trying to give someone a new twist on an answer you’ve given hundreds of times can get you in deep trouble. Here are some examples…

Paul Newman Said...

“24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not.”

You’ve probably heard that expression a lot. Maybe one day at a party you overheard the extremely drunk guy say it in an attempt to make people think that he can have some good old fashioned fun, even in face of the fact that his propensity for drinking himself in to oblivion makes everyone worry. The seemingly innocuous quote eventually turned in to a monster when college students around the country began celebrating a day called “Newman Day.” On Newman Day, students do just as the quote suggests: They drink one beer every hour, all day – all while still showing up to all of their classes. While this tradition had wormed its way in to dozens of colleges and universities around the United States, it wasn’t until it hit Princeton University that Paul Newman found out about the holiday created in his honor. He wasn’t very happy about it. Reason being, Newman’s son Scott passed away due to a drug overdose, which led to Newman starting his own foundation that promoted substance abuse prevention through education. Students getting drunk in class are a bit contradictory to Newman’s beliefs to say the least. Newman asked Princeton to stop promoting this “holiday.” Princeton representatives said that Newman Day was not a school sponsored event, that it was a campus tradition that they had no control over. It was at this point that Newman and Princeton teamed up to spread the word of the dangers of Newman Day. While the day is still celebrated, the number of yearly at Princeton has declined. But the funny thing about this quote and its attribution to Paul Newman is that Newman probably never even said the quote. It is reported that Newman once said it during a speech he once gave to a college, a speech that there is no record of. So why the quote was even attributed to Newman in the first place is a bit of a mystery, but he took responsibility for its consequences anyway.

NBA player Kevin Garnett said...

“This is it. It's for all the marbles. I'm sitting in the house loading up the pump, I'm loading up the Uzis, I've got a couple of M-16s, couple of nines, couple of joints with some silencers on them, couple of grenades, got a missile launcher. I'm ready for war."

Kevin Garnett is known as one of the best players in the NBA. He’s a dominating presence that recently led the Boston Celtics to their first NBA championship in quite a long time. But before he began his stint with the Celtics, Garnett was a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves, a team that was good, but never quote good enough, even with his superstar skills on the court. Back in 2004, Garnett’s Timberwolves where in the middle of a hotly contested playoff series with the Sacramento Kings. The quote above was given in the lead up to the deciding game in the series. Of course, as most athletes tend to do, Garnett equated the game to a war, to preparing for a battle that might get ugly. Now, these kinds of quotes are tossed around a lot in the world of sports. The intensity of a rivalry can sometimes get hyped up to the point of extreme hyperbole. So a quote like Garnett’s is actually fairly generic, even if it is a little bit extreme. So the real problem with the quote wasn’t the quote itself, but the timing of the quote. Garnett said this in May of 2004, a time when the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were at their bloodiest and most ugly. Needless to say, soldiers and the families of soldiers that were serving in these wars were pretty ticked off that a man playing a game for a living would compare his job to that of a person being shot at in a battle. The NBA and the Timberwolves were showered in complaints. Soon thereafter, Garnett gave a rather lengthy apology in which he really could have just summed up with the words, “I was being an idiot, I’m sorry.” After that, the anger died down some. But then it got sparked all over again when the center for the Sacramento Kings, Brad Miller, decided to throw his hat in to the hyperbole ring, this time as a bit of a mocking gesture directed at Garnett. He said, “I’m bringing my shotgun, my bow and arrow, my four-wheel drive truck, and four wheelers and run over him.” By this point, no one really cared about the somewhat insensitive quotes that much, and Garnett and his Timberwolves eventually went on to defeat the Kings in that playoff round.

Hilary Clinton said...

“I’m not sitting here like some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette.”

Way back in 1968, there was a country singer by the name of Tammy Wynette. Tammy had quite an impressive list of musical accomplishments behind her, but nothing – NOTHING – she ever did could even compare to the popularity of her famous song “Stand By Your Man,” a song about a woman’s love for her man – a love that will allow the woman to overlook the man’s faults and mistakes. While soon-to-be President Bill Clinton was campaigning for the spot of Commander in Chief, he was also embroiled within one of what would eventually become many extra-marital affairs. This one involved a woman by the name of Gennifer Flowers (yes, it’s spelled correctly). In an effort to get their names and faces out there more than they already were, Bill and Hilary made an appearance on the news magazine show 60 Minutes. During the interview, the subject of Bill’s indiscretions popped up as was to be expected. Hilary, trying to portray herself as a modern independent woman, said the quote above. And it worked. She came off as a woman that would not stand idly by as he husband trampled all over her. But this didn’t fly with Mrs. Wynette. Tammy was furious that Hilary had basically degraded her hit single as nothing more than a woman devaluing herself. She said that Hilary had “offended every true country music fan and every person who has made it on their own with no one to take them to the White House.” This then sparked a flurry denouncements from country music radio station DJ all around the country who felt they needed to step in and side with one of their biggest stars. Many DJ’s even labeled the Clintons as “country music-hating liberals,” which added to the already arduous task of winning over southern voters. Hilary later apologized, and Wynette graciously accepted. In fact, they so patched things up that Wynette later performed “Stand By Your Man” at a Clinton fundraiser. This is all the more poignant given the later Monica Lewinsky scandal that Bill Clinton found himself in. Even through that, Hilary still stood by her man.

President George H. W. Bush said...

"Just as Poland had a rebellion against totalitarianism, I am rebelling against broccoli, and I refuse to give ground. I do not like broccoli, and I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I'm President of the United States, and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli."

I guess it makes sense when you think about it, but who knew there was such a thing as the “broccoli industry”? And who knew they would get so upset? Well, they do exist and they were steamed (yes, that’s a very lame steamed broccoli pun). When George Bush Sr. Said this somewhat amusing quote back in 1990, no one could have imagined what an impact it would have had on the popularity of this tree-like vegetable. Soon after the quote, America’s schools stopped serving broccoli, and children all across the country began to protest their broccoli servings at family dinner tables. In fact, it was reported that broccoli sales dropped significantly in 1990, all because of the president’s personal dislike of it. Not only was the broccoli industry upset at the quote, but they were also upset at the fact that Bush Sr. Had literally banned broccoli from being served anywhere the president happened to have been eating, especially the White House and Air Force One. This also upset nutritionists all over the country as the presidents messages basically told children that vegetables were bad for them. To protest the quote, broccoli growers all over the country began sending cases of the vegetable directly to the White House. President Bush then sent all of these cases to various food banks in the D.C. Area. It was later discovered that while broccoli may not have been on the top of everyone’s favorite foods list, it actually helps prevent certain types of cancers.

What Are The Most Controversial Books Ever To Be Written?

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:47:43 +0000

There are many books or series that have caused a stir due to the themes contained within them. Here are a selection of the most controversial:

The Chocolate War

“The Chocolate War” was written by Robert Cormier and was published in the 1970s. It is aimed at young adults. The novel explores protagonist Jerry Renault’s life at Trinity High School. Certain elements of the book’s plot, such as sexual content and violence have resulted in it being banned in a number of libraries. Despite the book’s controversial themes, it is said to be one of the best young adult novels ever to be written. A film adaptation was released in 1988, with several scenes from the book being changed. A sequel to the book was released in 1985, eleven years after the release of the original novel.

Lord of the Flies

“Lord of the Flies” is a highly controversial novel by William Golding. It was published in 1954. The book tells the story of a group of British schoolboys who end up stranded on an island after their plane crashes. There are no adults present, which forces them to work together in order to survive. Their struggles and experiences on the island cause them to realise how dark human nature can be, which emphases the book’s allegorical meaning. The book is extremely violent in places, which has resulted in it being highly controversial. The boys originally work together in an attempt to survive on the island, but their relationships are tested when the boys begin to form their own tribes. The metaphorical title, “The Lord of the Flies”, is another name for the demon “Beelzebub” and is presented in the form of a pig’s head surrounded by flies in the novel. Throughout the story, it is thought that the pig’s head is “The Beast”, but it later becomes clear that the boy’s actions have caused them to create “The Beast” themselves and it lies within them. The book has been adapted to film twice. The first adaptation was released in 1963 and many changes were made from the novel, with some scenes being less violent in the film. The second adaptation was released in 1990 and again was less violent than the book, though more profanity was used in this adaptation.

The Harry Potter series

The "Harry Potter" series is one of the most popular children’s book series of all time. The first instalment, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” was released in 1997. As the other instalments followed, the series quickly became a phenomenon and by the time the fourth book “Goblet of Fire” was released in 2000, the series had become one of the most successful children’s series of all time. The series is loved by millions of people all over the world, both adults and children alike. A successful film franchise has followed as well as merchandise and even a theme park,. The series, which consists of seven book sin total, has won dozens of awards and has had a huge impact on the public. Midnight launch events were held for the release of the novels, during which fans would queue for hours to receive their copy. The success of the series has made its creator JK Rowling one of the richest authors of all time. Despite the millions of fans though, the series has also caused much controversy, mainly due to the fact that it contains witchcraft. Many religious groups believe that the series promotes witchcraft and many people, most notably Laura Mallory have attempted to have the books banned. Mallory made several attempts for the books to be banned in the children’s school library as she believed that the series promoted taught and promoted witchcraft. Despite all her opinions on the series, Mallory has not read any of the books, stating that they are “too long”. After she failed to get the books banned, she made several appeals, but was rejected. Rowling has also be accused of plagiarism several times, the most famous being the Nancy Stouffer case, in which Rowling was accused of stealing ideas from Stouffer’s “The Legend of Rah and the Muggles”. The inclusion of Rowling’s fictional band “The Weird Sisters” in the film adaptation of “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” also caused a stir when a band with the same named filed a lawsuit for not being credited in the film. The case caused many Harry Potter fans to react angrily and Jarvis Cocker, who appeared in the film as a member of the band and wrote several of the songs used in the film, was forced to drop a planned “Weird Sisters” album due to the lawsuit.

The Catcher in the Rye

"The Catcher in the Rye" is a popular novel originally aimed at adults. Written by J.D. Salinger and published in 1951, the book has now become popular amongst young adults. The book follows the life of fictional protagonist Holden Caulfield, who is expelled from preparatory school. Sexual references, profanity and drug and alcohol use have made the novel one of the most controversial books of all time. The novel was famously linked to the murder of John Lennon due to his killer, Mark Chapman, idolising the fictional Holden Caulfield. The character has also said to have influenced other murderers. No film adaptation has been yet been made as a result of J.D. Salinger not wishing to have his novel made into a film. However, the book has been referenced in a wide variety of films and the popularity of Holden Caulfield has caused many characters in films to be loosely based on him. One of the most obvious references is “Chasing Holden”, a 2001 film where the protagonist, who compares his life to Holden’s, seeks out J.D. Salinger in an attempt to murder him. The book’s huge cultural impact has also led to it being mentioned in a wide variety of television programs and even in other novels and in various songs.

American Psycho

"American Psycho" was written by Bret Eastern Ellis and was published in 1991. The story focuses on Patrick Bateman, who is a serial killer. Patrick is the brother of Sean Bateman, who was the protagonist in Ellis’s earlier novel “The Rules of Attraction”. Patrick is a serial killer and the book explores his life, which consists of torturing and brutally killing a string of women, as well as drug and alcohol abuse. The novel became highly controversial as a result of the sadistic acts carried out by the protagonist, which included cannibalism, sexual abuse and necrophilia. . The murders are described in graphic detail and the book is banned in some countries. In some countries, the book is only allowed to be sold to those aged 18 or over. The book was also criticised for the amount of violence inflicted on females. A film adaptation was released in 2000 and has since become a cult classic. Ellis’s earlier novel, “The Rules of Attraction” was also adapted to film in 2002. Patrick Bateman’s role in “The Rules of Attraction” was less pronounced and the story instead focused on his brother Sean, who although is not as sadistic as Patrick, struggles to show his emotions and is a very cynical character. “The Rules of Attraction” film adaptation was more satirical than “American Psycho”, though the film often contained very dark scenes, including the famous suicide scene.

Of Mice and Men

“Of Mice and Men” is a very popular story that was written by John Steinbeck and published in 1937. This novella tells the story of two men, George and Lenny who are ranch workers. The men are best friends but are complete opposites. George is intelligent whilst Lennie has difficulties mentally. Lennie has incredible strength, which often causes problems and eventually leads to him accidentally killing a woman, resulting in a tragic end for the two men. The story has become extremely popular and there have been several film and theatre adaptations. The story was banned from a number of libraries due to the use of profanity and racism, as well as the subject of euthanasia.

Lady Chatterly’s Lover

“Lady Chatterly’s Lover” is a popular novel written by D.H. Lawrence. It was originally published in 1928. The story focuses on Constance Chatterly, who begins an affair with Oliver Mellors as a result of marriage difficulties. The book caused much controversy due to its explicit sexual content, as well as the use of profanity and it was banned in several countries, including Australia. When the book was published in 1961 in Britain, a trial was held as a result of the obscene words used. The publishers of the book were put on trial under the Obscene Publications Act 1959. The book eventually became available to the British public in a second edition, which was published in 1961. There have been several adaptations of the novel, including films and television movies.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is a highly controversial novel written by Mark Twain. It was published in 1884. It is a sequel to “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”. “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” focuses on the continued adventures of two young boys, Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. The book caused controversy due to the amount racism used. It has been banned in several libraries. Despite the controversy, the book has been adapted to film many times, including a 1974 musical and a 1976 Japanese anime series. Other sequels in the series include “Tom Sawyer Abroad” and “Tom Sawyer, Detective”.

What Are The World's Oddest Creation Myths?

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:45:12 +0000

Explanations on how the world came to be can be found in almost every culture and faith and vary from the traditional to the truly unusual. From giant eggs to homicide, these tales of the world’s beginning are more than a little strange.

Norse

In the beginning there was nothing but the ice of Niflheim in the north and the fire of Muspelheim in the south. The empty gap between them was known as Ginnungagap and was a void where the few stray bits of ice could sometimes meet with sparks of flame. These ice fragments melted and eventually, if inexplicably, formed a hermaphrodite giant named Ymir and a cow. This was convenient, because the giant was able to survive by drinking milk from the cow’s udders, while the cow in turn was able to survive on nothing but rime ice. The cow eventually uncovered a man as she consumed the ice, and he joined them once she had licked him free. Through means that are biologically boggling, both the giant and the ice man fathered several children, who then took to fighting and murdering each other. Eventually Ymir the giant was slain, and his children used his body to create the universe in one of the most macabre funerals you can imagine. His flesh they ground into dirt, and the maggots that appeared in his flesh because the dwarves that lived beneath the earth. His bones were transformed into mountains, and Odin strew his father’s brains into the sky to become clouds. Four of the dwarves were chosen to hold aloft Ymir’s skull for eternity, and so was created the heavens.

Japanese

The Japanese gods created two divine beings and assigned to them the task of creating the first land. One could wonder why gods capable of creating divine beings needed to delegate the whole land thing, but questioning gods is really never a good idea. Izanami no Mikoto ("Exalted Female") and Izanagi no Mikoto ("Exalted Male") were thus created and sent down to poke about the ocean with a jeweled halberd until they stirred up what turned out to be land. Pleased with this freshly churned up bit of sod, they moved in and eventually decided to have a family. From their unions came the eight great islands of Japan, each one birthed by Izanami in what must have been the strangest set of known pregnancies. They also were responsible for the creation of the Kami, the natural forces or spirits. Izanami died giving birth to the Kami of fire, whose destructive nature did terrible damage to its mother at the moment of creation. In her death throes, Izanami continued her fertile ways, creating more Kami from her feces, vomit and urine, and one last one created by her dying tears of pain and suffering.

Babylonian

Babylonian tales begin with three gods, Apsu, god of fresh water, Tiamat, goddess of salt water, and Mummu, the god of mists. All this water was sloshing about, mingling and having a good time while Apsu and Tiamat got together and spawned two gods who grew up and spawned more gods, all of them swimming about in a massive body of water without so much as a tropical beach to break up the monotony of endless waves. Eventually there grew to be so many gods and goddesses bobbing abut that they got loud and unruly. Apsu went to his mate Tiamat and suggested that the only way they were ever going to get a good night’s sleep again was to slay the whole lot of them. Naturally Tiamat got a little irate at this suggestion, told Apsu to never suggest such a thing again and went swimming to clear her head. While she was gone, Apsu decided she’d come around eventually and got on with planning to kill off his entire family in the name of peace and quiet. The younger gods soon learned of this plot and were terrified, but their leader Ea hatched a scheme to save all their lives. He cast a spell on his grandfather Apsu, ripped his crown from his head and murdered him. Ea then built a palace on Apsu’s waters, hooked up with the goddess Damkina and fathered Marduk, a four eared, four eyed giant who controlled rains and storms. Now that the threat was over, the other gods spent no time in getting together and selling out Ea to their grandmother Tiamat, complaining that Ea had slain their dear grandfather. Angry, Tiamat mustered an army of dragons and terrible monsters to go after Ea. Marduk offered to defend his father on the condition that if he won he, Marduk, would rule the gods instead of Ea. The battle raged and Tiamat’s army fell before Marduk, leaving the two gods to face each other. Eventually Marduk was victorious, and he cleaved his great grandmother’s water laden body in half with his club. Half he put in the sky to make the heavens, and half he carved into land, which he lay over her husband Apsu’s fresh waters, which bubbled through her corpse as springs and wells. Those gods who had supported Tiamat were assigned labours in the newly created world, working the fields and land. Soon though, they rebelled, and Marduk decided the solution was to slaughter Tiamat’s general Kingu. Marduk mixed the general’s blood with clay and spittle collected from the other gods, and created humans from this disgusting muck. Humans were then made to do all the tasks the gods did not wish to do anymore, and were expected to pray to their creators in thanks for the lives they had been given.

Bakuba

From central Africa, the Bakuba have their own account of the beginning of the world. Originally the Earth was nothing but water and darkness, ruled over by the only living thing, a giant named Mbombo. Time passed in this dark dank kingdom of one, and very little happened until one day Mbombo felt a terrible pain in his stomach. The cause of this indigestion was revealed when he vomited up the sun, moon and the stars. Having regurgitated this brilliant source of heat and light, the giant watched as the sun evaporated the water of his kingdom away, creating clouds and eventually revealing dry hills and land that emerged from beneath the water. Indigestion struck again, and this time Mbombo vomited up a colourful collection of life. The first man and woman emerged from his bile, as did animals, trees, medicine and other wondrous things. The first woman went to the east, and her son Woto became the first king of the Bakuba.

Chinese – Pangu

According to one Chinese myth the world started off as nothing but formless chaos, like a high school student’s locker right around the end of the school year. Somehow this chaos coalesced, forming a cosmic egg containing the opposing principles of Yin and Yang. It took 18,000 years, but eventually the two principles worked out their differences and became perfectly balanced. At that moment, a primitive giant covered in hair, sporting horns and a stylish fur wardrobe hatched from the egg. His name was Pangu. Having just been born, Pangu didn’t spend any time doing the usual childhood things, but instead set about creating the world. He cleaved Yin from Yang with his giant ax. Yin became the Earth, and Yang the sky. To ensure the two principles never got together again, he stood between them and pushed up the sky. For 18,000 years he pushed; each day Pangu grew 10 feet bigger, the sky 10 feet taller, and the Earth 10 feet wider. This task took a terrible toll on Pangu, and when it was finally done Pangu died. In and act that made him into the world’s first organ donor, Pangu’s body was then transformed into the world as we know it. His voice was transformed into thunder, his right eye the moon and his left eye the sun. His breath became the wind and his body became the mountains. Rivers were formed of his blood, muscles became farmland, bones became minerals and the bone marrow became sparkling diamonds. His facial hair became the stars, his fur the flora of the world, and the fleas on his fur became the animals.

Why Is Friday 13th Considered Unlucky?

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:17:21 +0000

Friday the 13th is considered to be an unlucky day in much of Western Europe, North America, and Australia. Many people avoid travelling or signing contracts on Friday the 13th. Floors in tall buildings often skip from 12 to 14, and while the superstition is believed to be fading, it nonetheless has deep roots in both Christian and pagan culture.

me'nthedogs

Many Christians have long believed that Friday was unlucky because it was the day of the week when Jesus was crucified. The number 13 was believed to bring bad luck because there were 13 people at The Last Supper. Since there were 12 tribes of Israel, that number was considered lucky. Thirteen was also a sinister number in Norse mythology. Loki, one of the most evil of the Norse gods, went uninvited to a party for 12 at Valhalla, a banquet hall of the gods. As a result, he caused the death of Balder, the god of light, joy, and reconciliation. Loki tricked Balder's blind brother, Hod, into throwing a sprig of mistletoe at Balder's chest. Since mistletoe was the only thing on Earth fatal to Balder, the beloved god fell dead. During the Middle Ages, the superstition against Friday the 13th grew. On Friday, October 13, 1307, King Philip IV of France ordered the arrests of Jaques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templars and sixty of his senior knights in Paris. Thousands of others were arrested elsewhere in the country. After employing torture techniques to compel the Templars to "confess" to wrongdoing, most were eventually executed and sympathizers of the Templars condemned Friday the 13th as an evil day. Over time a large body of literature and folk wisdom have reinforced the belief. In the 18th century, the HMS Friday was launched on Friday the 13th. It was never heard from again. Since then, ships are not usually launched on that date.

What Are Some Real Life Spy Gadgets?

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:38:54 +0000

When we watch James Bond movies we are always amazed by Q and his massive workshop of clever toys -- watches that shoot lasers, X-ray glasses, bagpipes with flamethrowers – all fun, murderous toys of secret destruction. The crazy part of it all is that there are tons of these gadgets in real life, thanks to the CIA.

It looks like: A belt buckle but It’s actually: A Hacksaw

Scenario: You’re deep undercover within the enemy stronghold (which is a missile silo hidden within an active volcano), when the international terrorist that’s going to hold the world hostage asks you to perform the secret super-villain handshake. You say, “But why? We’re all bad guys here! Let’s get to some world dominating! Am I right, fellas?!” The villain just wants to be sure that you’re playing for the right team, so he insists. “Besides,” he casually mentions, “A real super-villain wouldnt’t mind giving the secret handshake at a moment’s notice.” Begrudgingly, you attempt the handshake. You nail every slap, every high-five, every low-five, every under-the-leg fist pound – you nail everything that has to do with secret super villain handshakes. You did it. You passed the test. But then the super villain terrorist guy informs you that there is no such thing as a secret super villain handshake, and that you’re the worst spy he’s ever seen. He arrests you and locks you away for the time being (he wants to keep you alive so you can watch his devious plot go off without a hitch). As you sit in a cell, handcuffed to a pipe, you remember that in your belt buckle is a tiny hacksaw capable of sawing through metal or concrete with relative ease. You pop open your belt buckle and you begin to thrust your hip in a sexual manner as you run the saw’s teeth against the cold chains of the cuff. Within mere moments your hands are free and you’re ready to take on an entire legion of terrorists. Sadly, after you make your daring escape, the terrorist gets tired of playing games and he just shoots you in the head.

It looks like: A Cigarette but It’s actually: A .22-caliber gun

Scenario: You’re walking the streets of Moscow, following a shifty eyed member of a crime syndicate that’s funneling weapons to a larger, far more dangerous terrorist organization that’s, like, waaay more dangerous than the one from the first example. The man you’re tailing heads in to a bar, you duck in there as well. The man, his nerves shot, panic setting in, gets himself a glass of cheap vodka. You sit down a few stools away from him. “Rough weather out there, huh?” you say. The man nods and takes a sip. In all of your infinite spy wisdom and with your extensive training in interrogation tactics you say, “Say, you wouldnt’t happen to know of any…international terrorist organizations, would you? I’m looking for a job.” As you say that, you twist the filter-end of a cigarette counterclockwise as you pretend to take a puff (oh, did I mention you’ve had a cigarette in your mouth this entire time? Well, you do), and it’s a good thing, too, because just at that moment, the shifty eyed Russian whips out a pistol that was tucked in to his belt. Just as he’s about to open fire and spill your red, white, and blue brains all over the bar, you squeeze the filter with your forefinger and thumb. Out of the front of the cigarette shoots a bullet and it strikes the shifty-eyed Russian down. It also strikes you down because the powerful recoil of the cigarette gun launches the thing from between your lips in to the back of your throat. Mission accomplished, but at what cost?

It looks like: Eyeglasses but It’s actually: A Dagger

Scenario: You’re in the New York Public Library checking the records for the types of books read by a certain man of interest; Mein Kampf, a book about Ted Kaczynski, and, most evil of all, The Joy of Cooking. As you look over the checkout record, you remind yourself how happy you are that the CIA gave you full medical coverage, which allowed you to buy the totally sweet glasses you’re wearing. A few flirtatious glances from the foxy ladies in the library lets you know that you made a wise selection in frame ware.Just as you were about to give yourself a very literal pat on the back for your fine taste in eyewear, you see the faint reflection of the man of interest you’re researching in the corner of your glasses. Just as he stabs down with the knife, you duck out of the way. You hit him in the back of the head, making him a bit dizzy. He comes roaring back with the knife, he’s quicker than you expected. You dodge a couple of slashes, side step a stab, and then give him some well placed punches. It is then that you decide to even these odds. You break off the legs of your fancy, lady attracting glasses to reveal what would be an extremely sharp dagger, but your forgot one thing: You left the dagger glasses at home because A) they aren’t very comfortable, and B) they don’t attract nearly as many foxy ladies. But, you’re a well trained CIA agent, so you stab the man of interest in the face with the leg of your now broken glasses. You Win. But the fight caused some commotion and it made a loud ruckus. In to view comes one of the foxy ladies that were eyeing you from before. They notice the dead guy, but they’re even more concerned with your broken glasses. They offer to mend the eyeglass leg. Then you have sex, with all of them – all 7 of them. It is awesome. You’re a spy, an awesome spy.

It Looks Like: Flour for bread dough but It’s actually: Explosive Powder

Scenario: Being a master of disguise, you have wormed your way in to the job of a bread maker in an Italian bakery. The bakery is situated near a hotbed of criminal activity, much of which has been linked to an even bigger, and waaaaaaaaay more dangerous international terrorist organization than the previously mentioned groups…COMBINED! Your co-workers think you’re a bit of an eccentric bread maker because you like all of your bread making supplies to be splayed out before you in a very particular manner. You keep one bag of flour on the left, and another on your right. But you never use the flour on the right; you just tell everyone that it’s your lucky bag of flour -- the one that your mom gave you on her death bed. But that’s not at all what it is. It’s actually flour that can be easily converted in to a bomb, while at the same time being completely edible. Today is a particularly hectic day in the bakery, and you don’t know why – but one thing you do know is that most of the terrorists you’re trying to hunt down have shown up in your bakery. “Must be some kind of management meeting where the crime bosses pay a visit to their smaller syndicates to make sure everything is running smoothly,” you think to yourself. Knowing how you’ll get a sweet promotion out of it, you decide to break all that eggs that happen to be in your basket. While no one is looking, you break open the bag of flour on the right and ingest a few handfuls of it. You down a bottle of acidic accelerant, and then you wash it all down with a detonator. You rush in to the mob of mobsters and punch yourself in the stomach. The punch mixes the flour and the accelerant, as well as setting off the detonator. You explode and take out all of the villains. As your head soars through the air, your final thought in life is, “Wait a second…I’ll never get a promotion this way.”

How Is Technology Helping The Environment?

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:29:17 +0000

Depending on which futurologist you choose to pluck your cards from our dear environment is either finished, going to finish or finished last Thursday, which is a bit like being finished. But even the most miserable scientists believe it’s still better to give something a go and get a few more minutes paddling around in the new world ocean rather than sit in the corner with their hands over our ears shouting, There’s no such thing as global warming… There’s no such thing... Take pre-eminent scientist, originator of the Gaia hypothesis and inventor of the microwave oven James Lovelock: “Climate change is happening and will shape the future world. It is unlikely that we will succeed in slowing the pace of change, mainly because we are too slow and unable to make effective responses in under 20 to 40 years. I think that our best course of action is to spend at least as much effort adapting to global heating as in attempts to slow or stop it happening.” And with the developed world on the one hand declaring a new green love-in and on the other doing next to nothing to change the way it lives and works, adaptation may be the inevitable solution. Still some people think it’s worth trying to save the planet and technology appears to be its biggest hope. Here are some of the things that are either happening now or will be soon:

The Fuel Cell

OK, let's start with a big one... The internal combustion engine changed the way we lived, so much so that now to keep on living we are having to think of ways to change the internal combustion engine. One big idea has been the battery-powered electric car, often extremely slow, ugly and unreliable. But way back in the 1970s Canadian Geoffrey Ballard was thinking differently. Why not produce clean electricity from a hydrogen-powered fuel cell? In the fuel cell hydrogen would combine with oxygen from the air to produce electricity, heat and water. No carbon dioxide! Not only that, the fuel cell would be reversible. It could be made to produce hydrogen when supplied with electricity. If all the cars could somehow be plugged into a ‘national grid’, in car parks and garages for example, the cells could act as generators. Like all great ideas the world has taken a long time to comprehend it. In recent years Dr Ballard could be found driving around car shows demonstrating his fuel-cell in a municipal bus. He was hailed as a ‘Hero of the Planet’ by Time Magazine and sadly died in 2008.

Carbon Scrubbing

Wouldn’t it be good if we could simply go about cleaning the atmosphere of all the nasty carbon dioxide and keep the nice fresh air to breathe? Mmm, well, actually this is what is currently being discussed in several environmental projects. It's called carbon scrubbing and comes in several forms, one of which involves ion exchange membranes used to trap the carbon dioxide much like a plastic sheet. One big question is what to do with the carbon once you’ve got it nice and clean. Put it in the ground? Make plastics out of it? The answer is unclear but if fully realised the technology could wipe tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere from different locations all over the world. The good or the bad side of scrubbing, depending on your viewpoint, is that it requires no behavioural or philosophical change. If the technology is cleaning dirty air, then you can keep making the air dirty.

Seeding

Plankton may be small but they could have a very big role to play in saving the planet. Phytoplankton love nothing more than a bit of sunlight and carbon dioxide. So the more green stuff you can get growing in the sea the better for the environment. To do this scientists have been ‘seeding’ the world’s oceans with iron dust to stimulate the growth of plankton. More plankton in the sea equals less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. When the plankton die they fall to the bottom of the ocean where the carbon remains trapped.

Exploding Stuff In The Sky

Sulphur

When a volcano explodes a huge amount of sulphur is released into the atmosphere. This becomes sulphur dioxide. Sulphur reflects sunlight extremely well and so the temperature of the atmosphere cools. Scientists put this volcanic research together with the need to make the world a safer place to live in and came up with the idea of shooting vast quantities of sulphur into the sky from a cannon! Big problems concern acid rain and the terrifying prospect of a huge increase in temperature should the cloud cover suddenly disappear in one go.

Water

Another exploding scheme comes in the plan create more clouds from water. Clouds are better reflectors than sea or land, so we should have more of them. That's the theory. How to do this remains the contentious issue. Do we shoot sea water into the sky? And if so how much and how often? And how does this then change the environment? How much more rain will be produced? There are more questions but I don’t have any answers. Sorry.

Making Changes At Home

Washing Machines

One of the biggest problems with washing machines is the amount of water they use. So scientists have developed one that doesn’t use any. Or very little anyway. Instead the machine utilises thousands of polarised nylon beads to stick to dirt and leave clothes dry. The machine uses 40 per cent less energy than a conventional washer.

Electrical Appliances

Did you know the amount of energy you waste by leaving your phone charger plugged into the wall is enough to power an aeroplane for an entire year? Well shame on you. But now, thanks to a new smart controller developed by a company in Australia, there is absolutely no excuse for leaving any electrical appliance in your house on. The controller works by linking all your devices together onto your mobile phone or laptop. When you leave the house you can simply switch everything off. Just don’t touch the fridge.

Fridges and Air Conditioners

And talking of fridges, if you’ve got one you are doing terrible, terrible things to the environment. Much better to eat out every night. No? Well how about a new white tub that uses a magnetic field to cool metal alloys down. The same technology is being used in air conditioners cutting energy use by 40 per cent.

Things To Do With The Sun

If you want to go renewable you need to think big. Cover the moon in solar panels, or the Sahara, or a place called Seville in the south of Spain. This final one is happening. The Gemasolar Power project is a 17-megawatt solar thermal energy farm using 2,500 heliostats or energy-focusing mirrors, spread over 185 hectares. The heliostats will focus solar thermal energy into a central tower to produce steam, which in turn will produce electricity. And the farm won’t stop working when the sun goes down. By using molten-salt technology to store heat the plant will be able to generate electricity for 15 hours a day. The solar thermal system can produce as much as three times the electricity of normal solar energy systems.

Sci-Fi

However, if Sci-Fi is more your thing then how about constructing a giant mirror between the Earth and the Sun. That's the idea of Roger Angel from the University of Arizona. He wants to launch some 16 trillion gossamer light-spacecraft into space and float them a kilometre apart to refract harmful light away from the globe. Should the planet need more light the mirror could be adjusted. Don't expect to see this soon, though. Unsurprisingly it is very, very, very expensive, will take about 30 years from launch date and in the wrong hands could be extremely dangerous.

Pond Life

Plant life and microbes love the things we hate. So scientists are trying to encourage their growth. Microbes clean nitrates in polluted water and plants can suck up arsenic from contaminated soil. But even more amazing is the fact that biologists are attempting to genetically modify plants that will soak up contaminants in their roots and transport them to their leaves. Then all you have to do is grab a pair of gloves and go to harvest. As big fans of carbon dioxide, algae will grow and grow when given the gas. There are obvious benefits from this, but did you know that algae is a fantastic producer of biofuel? Far superior to corn and many other crops. Of course when burned the algae releases all that carbon dioxide again, which is bad but perhaps not as bad as if you were to release a whole new lot of carbon dioxide anyway.

Desalination

In this crazy world one thing is certain: There is a lot of water and there is no water. So what to do? Well one thing scientists have been working on is getting all that salt out of the seas so people can start drinking it. This is happening in dry regions such as the Gulf where water is filtered at high pressure, treated with minerals and disinfected, but it’s also starting to happen in big cities such as London due to the high demand for clean water. The technology is expensive and uses a lot of energy but people need to drink.

Things To Do With The Wind

The windmill is one of the oldest and prettiest little machines in the world. But now we need more from our wind. Enormous wind turbines have been planted across vast areas of land, on mountains and in oceans. Some people think they look nice, others would prefer the end of the world. The continual point of discussion concerns how to harness enough wind to make a substantial contribution to the world’s energy needs. We know the wind blows strongest out at sea but if it’s blowing in the wrong direction then no matter how many turbines you have not one blade will turn. A solution to this appears to be the development of the vertical wind turbine. Transforming the traditional model the turbine turns its blades around a vertical axis. This makes it more stable and less sensitive to wind direction. Plus it can be made much larger. If traditional is still your thing then to harness the strongest winds the turbines must be transported far out to sea. In Norway they are chaining turbines to the seabed rather than securing them with a mast. This allows the turbines to float out like a ship into the deep seas and collect all that lovely strong wind. Some see wind as being a big contributor to the world's future energy needs but as with all renewables it is probably not the sole solution, rather part of a package including solar and wave. But there is one great uncertainty surrounding wind power. If the environment is changing then wind patterns will change. Turbines are planted where the wind blows. So when the wind changes what will happen to all the expensive turbines that have been stuck in the ground and sea? Saving the environment is just one problem after another.

What Different Funeral Customs Are There In The World?

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:21:31 +0000

Dying is never fun but a lot depends on where you are in the world when you decide it's time to drop. So, should you feel like finishing things off in a slightly different way, here are some of the more interesting funeral customs across the globe:

Eaten by vultures

So we'll start with one of the more interesting and ancient ones. The ancient Zoroastrians believed life was a constant battle between light and dark, good and evil. Their duty was to preserve the natural balance until, as with all eschataological beliefs, the world would end and a new better world would be born in which true believers would live forever in spiritual delight. However, in the boring material world people die and need to be disposed of. How to do this without upsetting the elements? Well the Zoroastrian way, which still exists in parts of Iran and India, is to perch the naked body onto a 'dokhma' (a stone tower) and let it be eaten by vultures. No waste, you see. Apparently in recent years a lack of vultures in India has made this process more difficult. A very similar custom called sky burial was practised by Buddhists in Tibet who believe the body is nothing more than flesh after death.

Hanging coffins

In certain regions in China and the Philippines it won't be just birds you find nesting on cliff faces. Because the ancient tradition of coffin hanging amongst some groups, primarily the Bo people in China, in Sagada on Luzon Island in the Philippines and amongst the Sa'da Toraja people of Indonesia ensured some of the best spots for the deceased. The coffins were lowered down on ropes and fixed between wooden stakes. The practice does not exist today but the coffins are still there with their beautiful sea views.

Eating the ashes

The Yanomami tribe of the Amazon do not believe in death. Or at least they do not believe in death as a natural state. They believe all death is inflicted from a hostile source, an evil spirit, a shaman of another tribe. To ensure the evil is destroyed the Yanomami cremate the body after death and swallow the ashes, during which there is a lot of screaming and shouting, thumping the earth and singing. Another form of endocannabalism is practised by the Amahuaca tribe of Peru. They like to crush the bones of their tribe members into a paste, cook and eat. They also take hallucinatory drugs and kill their children. Still if you're a woman you get to enjoy the company of all your husband's brothers.

Funeral bundles

In the Andes the Paracas people would shape their dead into the fetal position and wrap them in a bundle with gifts, clothing, food and gold. The funeral bundle was then moved to a nearby burial site, often in a cave and marked with a pole or a cane.

Exploding ashes

The great thing about ashes is you can scatter them anywhere. Off a cliff, in the sea, on a football pitch, in a computer, even in space. And yes all of these scatterings have happened. To be buried in a computer was the dying wish of one William Alan Watson who is now spending his time inside a SPARCstation. The floppy drive, hard drive and power supply had to be removed to accommodate William but apparently he now rests very peacefully. Condolences were written on Post-it notes and posted through the floppy slot. One of the first men on Earth to have their ashes exploded in space was Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. In 1997 Gene along with the ashes of writer Timothy Leary and nineteen others were popped into a space capsule and blasted into orbit. Unfortunately after ten years the capsule dropped back to Earth and burnt up in the atmosphere. Still they were ashes not people. Writer Hunter S Thompson (pictured above) was determined to cause a bang. His final wish after he shot himself through the head was to be the central part of a huge fireworks display. His ashes were exploded from a 150ft cannon during a party at his home in Colorado, all paid for by the actor Johnny Depp. It cost millions apparently.

Novelty coffins of Ghana

Getting buried in Ghana is fun. Especially if you're a member of the Ga tribe. The Ga tribe do coffins in a big big way. Basically whatever your job was or your love, interest or hobby is exactly what you are going to be buried in the earth in. So that guy down the road who loved cigarettes and smoked 100 a day and died yesterday at the age of 45 will be buried in a giant cigarette. The man who wore new shoes everyday will enter the ground in a giant shoe. The woman who washed floors is buried in a bucket, the fish man in a fish, the kid who liked coke a Coke bottle. You get the idea? It is simple and it is brilliant and I want to die in Ghana.

The religions

We need to devote at least three lines to the world's main religions so here goes:

Christianity: House, church, coffin, burial, cremation
Judaism: House, synagogue, burial (as soon as possible after death, same day or next day) seven days of mourning
Islam: Bathe the body (males wash males, females wash females (except husbands and wives)) ,enshroud body in white sheets (no more than three), funeral prayer, burial, head pointing towards Mecca
Buddhism: Prayers and cremation
Hinduism: Funeral before sun goes down on day of death, body laid head pointing south, oil lamp lit next to body and burnt for three days after death, body washed and dressed, body covered with flowers and cremated

Go green

As the world gets greener so do the funerals. You can now be buried wearing a bio-degradable shroud inside a cardboard or bamboo coffin within an eco-cemetery (a park or natural woodland) with a tree planted on top. Noone will know you were ever here.

What Are The Most Dangerous Bugs In The World?

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:28:50 +0000

There are many bugs that are dangerous. Some carry disease whereas others can bite when provoked, leaving nasty results. Here are some dangerous bugs:

Mosquito

The mosquito is one of the deadliest insects in the world. There are over 2,500 different species of mosquito and they are can be found in various parts of the world. There are around 200 species of mosquito in the US and around 33 in the UK. They can be identified by their proboscis, which the female uses to collect blood, which she needs to feed her eggs. Mosquitoes are a vector agent and carry more diseases than any other bug in the world. Perhaps the most dangerous is the Anopheles mosquito, which spreads malaria. In the US, mosquitoes have been known to spread encephalitis. Other diseases carried by mosquitoes include yellow fever. The diseases are spread to millions of people each year, resulting in millions of deaths. Mosquitoes never catch any of the diseases, they just simply spread them. Mosquitoes are attracted to the scent of sweat and can smell victims from up to 50 kilometers away. The more carbon dioxide you emit, the more appealing you will be to a mosquito. Those at greater risk of being bitten include pregnant women and people who are overweight. In some parts of the US, some species of mosquito target small birds and animals rather than humans. In the UK, mosquitoes are seen as more of a pest than dangerous and their bites are usually harmless. However, mosquito bites can be extremely irritating, causing the victim to scratch at the area, which can result in the area swelling and lead to scarring. Mosquito bites need to be treated quickly to prevent infection. There are various creams and other treatments for mosquito bites, one of the most common being calamine lotion, which eases the itching. Despite mosquitoes in the UK being harmless, there have been reported sightings of the Tiger Asian mosquito, which is one of the deadliest.

Scorpion

Like spiders, scorpions belong to the class Arachnida. They can found be found in British Columbia, North Carolina and in Brazilian forests and are recognised by the hook on the end of their tail, which carries venom and is usually raised before an attack occurs. There are around 2,000 species of scorpion, with around 40 species in North America. Some species of scorpion, such as the Euscorpius Flavicaudis, can even be found in the UK, usually in isolated areas such as sea ports. The average lifespan of a scorpion is 3 – 8 years. Although not as dangerous as mosquitoes, there are still thousands of deaths every year caused by scorpion stings. Whilst all scorpions carry venom, there are only certain species, such as the fat-tailed scorpion and the Israeli desert scorpion (Deathstalker), which are dangerous to humans. Both these species carry poisonous venom and cause many deaths each year. The venom of the Israeli desert scorpion is not always dangerous to a healthy human, but it can be potentially harmful to young children around age five or younger, elderly people and people who suffer from heart conditions or allergies. Scorpion stings are known to cause blurred vision, vomiting, swelling, slurred speech, drowsiness, heart palpitations and many other unpleasant effects. Stings can be treated by using ice cubes to ease the pain. It is also a good idea to consult a doctor who will prescribe painkillers to help treat the sting. Those who experience severe effects of a sting must contact a doctor immediately so that the sting can be treated correctly. Those who come across a scorpion should avoid getting too close and try not to provoke it – scorpions usually only attack humans who handle them. They are nocturnal creatures and will usually move around in dark places such as cupboards, drawers and even clothes and footwear, so those who live in areas where scorpions are commonly found may wish to check their items thoroughly!

Tsetse Fly

Like the mosquito, the tsetse fly is a vector agent. They are mainly found in Africa and can be recognised by their proboscis, which is used to drink the blood of both humans and animals, and by their wings, which fold over when they are resting. The main disease spread by the tsetse fly is trypanosomiasis, which is also known as sleeping sickness. The disease affects a large number of people in a number of countries, mainly Africa. African sleeping sickness not only affects humans, but also livestock, with around three million animals dying each year. The bite of the fly affects nearly half a million people a year, many of them dying as a result of the disease. Sleeping sickness is currently the most deadly disease in Africa, with more and more outbreaks occurring each year as a result of the tsetse fly’s bite. Unlike mosquitoes and many other types of biting fly, where only the female takes blood, both the male and female tsetse flies feed on blood. There are many factors that increase the risk of catching sleeping sickness. These include age, immune system, gender and state of health and should be taken into account when travelling to countries where the disease is common, particularly Africa. Children tend to be more at risk of catching the disease than adults. When bitten by a tsetse fly, the victim will experience flu like symptoms, fatigue, severe headaches, swelling and in more extreme cases, fever, slurred speech and seizures. Any early signs of the disease should be treated quickly to prevent the chances of it becoming fatal. A doctor should be consulted immediately so that the right medical treatments can be given. In some cases of the disease, the symptoms may not appear until months or even years after the fly has bitten. Those travelling in areas where the tsetse fly is most common should take care and use protective clothing. There are several types of special nets and beds available to reduce the risk of being bitten. Those who are likely to be in affected areas where there are livestock should take great care and avoid spending long periods of time in those areas.

Black Widow

The Black Widow is one of the most venomous spiders in the world and can be recognised by the red hourglass on its abdomen. The Black Widow can be found in various parts of the world, including the United States, where there are five types. The most common types of Black Widow in the US include Northern Black Widow, Southern Black Widow and the Western Black Widow. All three types are highly venomous. In the UK, there is a species of spider known as the Steatoda grossa, which is often mistaken for the Black Widow. The Black Widow earned its name as a result of the female eating her mate after reproduction has taken place. The average lifespan of a Black Widow in the wild is 1 – 3 years. As well as feeding off their mate occasionally, the female Black Widow spider will also use her web to capture other prey such as caterpillars, beetles, mosquitoes and flies. Although highly venomous, the Black Widow’s bite rarely causes fatalities among humans. However, the bit can be fatal for small children, those with heart conditions or health problems and the elderly. Although the bite is rarely fatal, some victims have been known to never fully recover after being bitten. When bitten, the victim will initially experience pain, often followed by abdominal pains and muscle cramps and in more severe cases, nausea, dizziness, vomiting, fainting and chest pains. Those who experience severe symptoms must consult a doctor immediately so that the bite can be treated. Painkillers usually help to ease discomfort and hot and cold compresses are said to help. Black Widows are nocturnal creatures and although they tend to avoid nesting in human dwellings, they can be found in areas such as garages. Like the scorpion, the black Widow spider usually only bites when provoked. Those who live in areas where there are known to be Black Widow spiders, such as the United States, should take care when wandering around particularly dark areas where the spiders are likely to be nesting and should avoid provoking the creature should they come across one.

Wasps

Although not as dangerous as some insects, the wasp is a highly feared creature, and can be recognised by the black and yellow bands on its body. One of the main species of wasp is the Common wasp, which is found in the UK. Wasps are social insects and form colonies of up to ten thousand. The queen wasp hibernates in winter, then gathers worker wasps. These worker wasps will construct a nest, which is usually completed a few months later. Wasps are related to bees, but do not produce honey. They feed on nectar, although young wasps will feed on dead insects. Other types of wasp include the solitary wasp, which acts alone and does not belong to any colony. Wasps are mainly feared due to their sting. The sting contains a venom, which although not usually dangerous, can provoke allergic reactions, particularly with people who do not have a high immune system. These allergic reactions can sometimes result in death. An allergic reaction can be caused by just one wasp sting. For those who do not suffer an allergic reaction, a single wasp sting is usually harmless, with just minor irritation. However, being sung by more than one wasp at once can cause serious damage, sometimes resulting in death. Children in particular are at risk of experiencing severe health complications brought on by a wasp sting. Symptoms of a wasp sting include, itching, swelling and pain. If the sting is not treated, then it can become infected. More severe symptoms include allergic reactions, which may cause nausea, vomiting, chest pain, swelling in the mouth or throat and unconsciousness. Those who experience severe symptoms must consult a doctor immediately. Wasps tend to lurk around sticky cans or jars that are left open, so it is a good idea to place lids on any food that is left out and to make sure that there are no sticky stains on clothing.

Bees

There are over 20,000 species of bees. A relative of the wasp, bees can be recognised be the black and yellow stripes on their body. Although similar in colour to wasps, bees are hairier. The hairs on a bee’s front legs are used to clean pollen. Pollen is stored in the bee’s hind legs and is carried to the hive. Like wasps, bees form colonies, with the queen bee leading a group of worker bees. The most social type of bee is the honey bee. One of the most common types of bee in the UK is the bumblebee. The most feared type of bee is the Africanized bee, which is one of the most dangerous. A sting from one of these bees will cause pain, but is usually harmless. However, if a victim is attacked by a swarm and stung several times, then the results could be fatal. Africanized bees can be found in the US, where there have been a number of deaths each year as a result of their sting. The honey bee and the Africanized bee will die after they have stung their victims The usual symptoms of a bee sting include itching, swelling and redness. For those who experience an allergic reaction however, the symptoms will be more severe and can include nausea, vomiting, fainting, difficulty breathing, anxiety and sometimes death. Those who experience a bee attack should remove the sting and use soap and water to clean the area. Those who experience more severe symptoms will need to consult a doctor so that the correct medicine can be prescribed. Those at risk of being badly affected by a bee sting include children, animals, those with heart conditions or the elderly. Many people become frightened upon encountering a bee and should try not to panic, as this is likely to result in the bee attacking the victim. It is best to avoid areas where there are nests and to avoid leaving sticky cans or sweets lying around, as this will attract the bees.

Fleas

Fleas are not only one of the most annoying insects in the world, they are also dangerous and are responsible for the thousands of people that succumbed to the Bubonic Plague in the 1600s. They are small, dark in colour and are wingless. One of the most smallest species of flea is the cat flea, which is also the most common. Cat fleas and dogs fleas usually cause little harm to their hosts, although allergic reactions can sometimes take place, causing severe discomfort for the animal. Cat fleas also carry disease, which can be transmitted to humans. The human flea bites a number of animals, including birds, monkeys, rats, pigs and bats. It sometimes carries Dipylidium Caninum, which is a tapeworm. This can be passed onto humans, with children more at risk of catching it and can be prevented by treating animals and destroying the fleas. Symptoms of a flea bite include pain, itching, swelling and a rash. Flea bites are likely to occur around the ankles, knees, elbows waist and armpits. Scratching the area can lead to infection and must be avoided. There are various creams available to treat the bite and insecticides can be used to help get rid of fleas. Although flea bites are usually harmless, they can cause allergic reactions. Fleas may also carry diseases from the blood of another victim, which can be passed on if the flea bites. Pets with flea infestations should be treated immediately. Advice on treatments can be provided by a vet and animals should be bathed with special shampoo. Pet owners should also take care to clean their pets beds and cages and vacuum around the area. If your pet cat or dog scratches regularly then it is likely that there is a flea infestation. Using a fine toothed flea comb on your pet’s fur will also help you to identify whether or not there are fleas. Flea infestations in the home can be treated by cleaning furniture and bed clothes thoroughly

Fire ants

Fire ants can be recognised by their reddish brown body. They form colonies and feed on plants and seeds. The fire ant earned its name as a result of the bite that they leave on humans, which causes a burning sensation. Fire ants are aggressive and will usually bite when disturbed. They nest in areas such as small buildings, moving through cracks and crevices. Ants also bite small animals, sometimes killing them. With humans, fire ant bites cause irritation and can lead to severe allergic reactions, which may result in death. Young children, those with health complications and the elderly are more at risk of being badly affected by a fire ant bite. Those who come into contact with a fire ant colony and are bitten more than once will break out in a series of small bumps around the affected area, that may become infected if scratched and lead to scarring. Initial symptoms of a fire ant bite include itching, redness and swelling. Allergic reactions may bring on more severe symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, sweating and difficulty breathing. A doctor should be consulted immediately if these symptoms occur. Placing ice on the affected area can help and there are allergy injections available. Areas where fire ant colonies are lurking should be avoided. Those who are aware of their allergies should take care to cover up, particularly on their feet to prevent fire ants from attacking. If you are bitten, then you should remove the ants from your skin immediately by rubbing them. If you have a cloth to hand, then you can also use this to remove them from your skin. As soon as you have done this, you should treat the affected area immediately, especially if you are aware that you are likely to suffer an allergic reaction to the bite.

What Are The Best Gadgets Available This Christmas?

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:04:33 +0000

It's been a tough 2009 for many of us which means you might be celebrating Christmas with an orange and big bag of humbugs. If, however, you do have a bit of spare cash stuffed down the back of the sofa you might be interested to know what the must have gadgets of 2009 are. In alphabetical order, here are a few:

Amazon Kindle

Reading books is so last century. Now everyone is reading computer screens. Or they will be. 2009 is set to be the year of the e-reader and Amazon's Kindle is proving to be the one thing people are really really talking about. The Kindle can hold a staggering 1,500 books (isn't that a town library?), is wireless and requires no contact with any computer. Ever. What's more the reader is lighter than an average paperback and is supposed to stay charged for days. The screens have always been the problems with these things but apparently this one's just like looking at paper. Test it out yourself. Cost: $259 from Amazon

DJ Hero

Music games are big and who could ever be bigger in music computer games than Liverpool's favourite mop-topped sons The Beatles? Well Jay Z and Eminem is who. And they are going to bust Mr Sir Paul McCartney's face this Christmas. Full of 'booming' tracks as the press release says including Rhianna, The Killers, Queen, The Black Eyed Peas and Marvin Gaye, you get to hone your late night skills with a new turntable controller. Gran will love it. Cost: Renegade Edition featuring Jay Z and Eminem CDs - $199/£139.99 Standard DJ Hero Bundle - $119/£89.99 available through DJHero.com and GAME

Fuji Finepix Real 3D W1

Just how much money have you got this Xmas? Because this toy is quite expensive. And you know how much cheaper new technology gets throughout the year. But this new camera is very exciting. Why? Because it's 3D. Yes, that's right. A 3D camera. Mad, isn't it? Fuji have come up with it. Apparently it's all in the enhanced parallax (the left eye right eye stuff) and Fuji's clever little printing centre. Cost: $599.95 from FUJI or £479 from JESSOPS

iPod Nano 5th Generation

Oranges used to be the fruit of choice for Christmas but in the past few years we've all got used to Apples. 2009 is no different with the latest iPod on offer - the iPod Nano 5th Generation. So what do you get? Well a video camera is one thing. Plus a larger screen, FM radio, voice recorder, a built-in speaker (presumably meaning bus journeys are going to get even noisier) and a pedometer. However the video recorder is not a camera, which bears reading again and the memory is no bigger than previous iPods. I've always had problems with my Nano, but then I got it as a present so I don't really care. Cost: $149 from Apple US or £115 from Apple UK

ISS Pro Evolution 2010

If it's winter then it usually means another year of ISS Pro Evolution. I have no idea if you like football games, and quite frankly I don't care. So what if the latest updates have not been all that was expected. Get some Christmas cheer, get the new Pro Evo and enjoy all the new players in all the right teams. Cost: $59.99 from Amazon or £34.99 from GAME or from Play

Lucky Voice Karaoke Party Box

In the 90s the West went Karaoke crazy. Then there were celebrity singing contests on the television and the clever guys at London Studio encouraging every man, woman and tone deaf dog to party with their vocal cords through the creation of Singstar. While all this was going on a chain of Karaoke bars called Lucky Voice were inviting people to hire a room as if they were in Japan and sing sing sing. Well now they're telling everyone to stay home (a slightly strange message for a business dependent on people spending money in one of their bars for the opportunity to do something which they are now being told they can definitely do veyr cheaply at home with a bottle of old gin and a David Bowie wig) by selling what might be this year's most annoying and most popular gift under the tree on Christmas morning: A pink microphone and a little technobox that plugs into a PC. It's cheap and it's simple, which means it probably won't last until the turkey sandwiches. Simply go to the Lucky Voice website, download the songs you want and start singing. You will need to buy the microphone!
Cost $81 or £49.95 (Microphone: $33 or £19.95) from Firebox

Netbooks

Man appears to have a fetish for extremely small things: IPods, mobile phones, Jeannette Krankie. So it's no surprise that the new shape of computers is XS (Extra Small). Netbooks (or mini-laptops) are primarily for those of you who can't stand to be without the world wide web for more than a few seconds, but there are some very powerful little machines around right now which will serve you well whatever your purpose. A lot will depend on the Christmas budget you have, and exactly what you want your Netbook to do. The Asus N10 for example comes with a big enough keyboard for serious typing but is extremely portable and has a lot of smart features. It looks sexy and the security system operates through your fingerprint which is just very very cool. Cost: $697.20 from ANT Online or £482 from MISCO or see various Netbooks

Sony PSP Go

There's a theory about big Christmas releases which says something like, what companies really like to do at Christmas is make sure there aren't enough of their products in the shops and therefore create a huge demand to get on all the news programmes and make everyone go mental. But this won't be happening with the new PSP Go. I don't think. Unless enough of you read this. So, what's the news? Well the Go is the latest PSP handheld from Sony and a complete redesign at that. It is now wireless and does away with cartridges. Games, films and music must all be downloaded, much like on an iPod. The Go is slimmer but with a smaller screen. And it's a bit expensive. If you already have an earlier PSP the chances are you may be getting something else this year. Cost: $249.99 from Amazon or £199.99 from GAME

Star Wars Force Trainer

There used to be nothing better at Christmas than sitting down and having a Luke Skywalker session on the tele. But now you can be Luke Skywalker. That's how good 2009 is. This Crimbo must-have enables you to train your Jedi mind skills by means of a headband and a ping-pong ball (it's much better than that, honest). The computer technology reads your brainwaves and translates them into levitational force. You must progress through the levels controlling the ball in different ways. All with your mind. Mental! Plus there are loads of Star Wars sound effects. Cost: $163 or £99.95 from Firebox

Wii Fit Plus

The Nintendo Wii has helped a lot of people look very silly in the last couple of years. But their games have found favour amongst the young, the old and now the ruling classes. Encouraged by politicians and doctors alike, the Wii Fit package has now gone Fit Plus which means much more exercising. You can even weigh your pets. I don't know. Maybe it's me, but isn't all this fitness stuff just a litte boring? Cost: Wii Fit Plus Bundle - $99.99 from Wii or £79.99 from GAME Wii Fit Plus Game - $19.99 from Wii or £17.99 from Play

What Films Have Been Banned Worldwide?

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:09:14 +0000

Over the years, there have been many films that have caused controversy, resulting in some of them being banned outright in particular countries. Whilst there aren’t many films that have been banned in every single country, there are ones that were so controversial at the time of their release that they still remain banned in particular countries today. In the UK, several films in the 1980s were dubbed “video nasties” due to the amount of violence in them. The majority of these were horror films that were not well known and many were outright banned in the UK and in other countries. Here are some of the most controversial films to be released:

I Spit on Your Grave

“I Spit on Your Grave” is a 1970s horror film that focuses on the theme of revenge. The story centres on a woman who spends her summer in the countryside to complete a novel that she is working on. Whilst there, she is brutally attacked by a gang of men, who destroy the novel that she is writing. She later carries out a series of brutal acts in order to get her revenge on the men. The film was banned outright in some countries due to scenes of graphic violence and torture. In the United States, a censored version of the film was released in 1980. In the UK, it made the 1980s video nasties list and was banned up until 2001, when a cut version became available. Although the film still remains controversial today, a remake is currently being planned.

Cannibal Holocaust

Released in 1980, Cannibal Holocaust is one of the most controversial films ever to be made. The film centres on an American film crew, who travel to the Amazon Rainforest to film a documentary about the tribes that live there. The crew goes missing, prompting an anthropologist to go searching for them. The anthropologist, who is accompanied by several guides, manages to locate several reels of film that were made by the missing film crew. The reels of film are played later, revealing what happened to the crew. “Cannibal Holocaust” was banned in a number of countries including Australia, Finland and New Zealand as a result of the film containing sexual violence and gore. It was also banned in the UK, where it made the video nasties list. It is thought that the film was banned in over 50 countries, though this has never been confirmed and some of the countries that originally banned the film have now lifted the ban, allowing the film to be released. As well as the violence and gore, the film was also heavily criticised for containing animal cruelty. Several animals, including two monkeys and a turtle, were killed during the making of the film. When the ban was eventually lifted in the UK in 2001, the film was released with an 18 certificate, with all the animal cruelty scenes removed.

A Clockwork Orange

“A Clockwork Orange” was released in 1971 and is a film adaptation of the novel of the same name. The story centres on Alex De Large, who is 17 or 18 years old (15 in the novel). Alex is the leader of a gang who regularly engage in a number of violent acts. After the violence leads to Alex killing a woman, he is placed in a prison, where he is placed under the Ludovico technique. The technique includes forcing the patient to view a series of violent acts whilst suffering from the affects of drugs, which eventually cause the patient to become repulsed by what they are witnessing on the screen, leaving them unable to perform the acts themselves. The film then deals with Alex’s reactions to the treatment. Despite earning a number of positive reviews, the film was banned in several countries due to scenes of extreme sexual violence. In the UK, it was banned outright upon request from the director, Stanley Kubrick, after it was revealed that the film had been the main influence in a number of real life events, including the murder of a boy. It was later revealed that Kubrick had been receiving threats due to his involvement in the film and this was the real reason for him wishing for it to be banned. A year or so after Kubrick died in 1999, the ban was lifted and the film became available on VHS and DVD.

The Exorcist

Released in 1973, “The Exorcist” is one of the most popular horror films of all time. It is a film adaptation of William Peter Blatty’s “The Exorcist”. The novel was thought to have been inspired by a real life incident in which an exorcism was performed on a boy. The story centres around twelve year old Regan MacNeil, who begins to posses strange powers. Her mother, Chris, takes her for a number of medical tests in order for doctors to identify what is wrong with her. Later, when Chris is advised to take her to see a psychiatrist, Regan’s behaviour becomes more aggressive. As the film progresses, Regan’s appearance changes dramatically, becoming more demonic. After a series of strange events take place, Chris seeks the help of a priest, Father Karras, who agrees to perform an exorcism. “The Exorcist” was banned in several countries, including the UK, for its controversial themes and disturbing scenes, the most famous being the crucifix scene and the “spider walk” (the spider walk scene was not added until later, but still remains one of the most famous scenes in the film). The film was said to have affected viewers badly upon its release, with reports of people requiring medical attention after viewing the film. The film was also said to have led to several miscarriages. It was also thought that the film was cursed, with several actors being hurt during filming and at least one dying. The room where most of Regan’s possession takes place was also damaged in a fire. The ban has been lifted in some countries. In the UK, the film was released the late 90s with an 18 certificate and was finally shown on television in the early 2000s.

Monty Python’s Life of Brian

“Monty Python’s Life of Brian” was released in 1979. The film is a comedy and centres on Brian, a young man who was born under the same circumstances as Jesus Christ. Throughout the film, he performs a number of rebellious acts against the Romans, which leads to him being captured. He manages to escape but later attracts a large crowd of people who believe him to be the Messiah. Brian tries to convince the group that he is not the Messiah, but they continue to harass him, and he runs away from them only to end up being captured again and sent to be crucified. The film was banned in several countries for it’s religious satirical themes and was branded blasphemous by many religious activists. The ban has only just been lifted in some countries. Despite being banned in the UK upon its initial release, the film has since been considered one of the greatest British comedy films of all time.

The Da Vinci Code

“The Da Vinci Code” is a 2006 film adaptation of the Dan Brown novel of the same name. The novel was extremely popular and fans eagerly awaited the release of the film. However, the film ended up being badly received by critics due to historical inaccuracies and was branded blasphemous in many countries by religious groups. Several groups tried to boycott the film and it was banned outright in some countries. The novel had also previously received criticism for inaccuracies but, unlike the film, was a world-wide success. Protestors in the United States attempted to stop the film from being shown. The protests and negative response from critics did not stop the film from performing well at the box office though and it ended up being one of the highest grossing films of 2006.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” was released in 1974. It is the first instalment in a series of well-known slasher films that centre on a killer known as “Leatherface”, who wears a mask made from human skin. The character is based on a real life serial killer, Ed Gein, who also wore masks of human skin. The first film focuses on a woman, her brother and some friends, who stop at a gas station, which is owned by Leatherface and his family, to fill up their car. They come across a house not far from the gas station and discover that Leatherface and his family are killers. The film was banned in many countries for containing scenes of extreme violence and gore. In the UK, it was placed on the video nasties list and banned until 25 years later, when it was released with an 18 certificate. Despite the controversy surrounding the film, it has since become one of the most popular horror films of all time, and in 2003, a remake was released.

The Last House on the Left

“The Last House on the Left” was released in 1972. It is a highly controversial horror film that tells the story of two girls Mari and Phyllis, who are abducted by a gang of criminals after attending a concert. They are tortured and brutally murdered by the gang, who later end up staying overnight at the home of one of the girl’s parents. The parents discover that the gang has murdered their daughter and carry out a series of brutal revenge attacks. The film was banned in many countries for containing scenes of sexual violence and sadism. It was banned in the UK and wasn’t released properly until 2002, when it became available on DVD with an 18 certificate. An uncut version is also now available. The film has been brought to attention recently due to a remake, which was released in early 2009. The remake differed slightly from the original, with character names being changed and several characters, including one of the girls, surviving. The revenge scenes with the parents were also less brutal.

The Evil Dead

“The Evil Dead” is a horror film that was released in the early 1980s. The film is the first instalment of three films and focuses on a gang of students who encounter evil spirits when they play a tape that contains incantations from “The Book of the Dead”. The film contained much violence and gore, which caused controversy and resulted in it being initially turned down by US film distributors and being placed on the video nasties list in the UK. A fully uncut version wasn’t released in the UK until 2001, twenty years after the film’s release. Despite the initial controversy, the film has since become extremely popular and several comic book adaptations and a musical have been released.

Salò

“Salò” is a film adaptation of the novel “The 120 Days of Sodom”. The film centres around the story of a group of boys and girls and are subjected to extreme violence and torture by a group of fascists in Italy in 1944. The group, who consist of the president, the Magistrate, the Duke and the Bishop carry out a series of brutal and humiliating acts on the boys and girls, who are eventually murdered. The film was banned in many countries for containing scenes of torture, sadism and extreme violence. The ban has now been lifted in most countries and an uncut version of the film is available on DVD.

What Happens When Animals Are Introduced To New Environments?

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:08:09 +0000

Through evolution, plants and animals have learned to better adapt to their surrounding ecosystems. Eventually, human hubris intervenes as we attempt to shift what we consider the best parts of various ecosystems in to vastly different ones. Sometimes the results work out well. For example, the sweet and delicious yellow bananas we all eat would not exist if it weren’t for human tampering. But sometimes, shifting an animal in to a new environment for the betterment of human kind doesn’t always work out very well…

New Zealand Imports Opossums, Stoats and Rabbits

For millions of years New Zealand had a relatively small number of species. In fact, for nearly 80 million years New Zealand had only 4 types of mammal and they were all just different species of bat. By the time the 1800s rolled around, the Europeans started coming in with various livestock such as goats, sheep and pigs – all of which made little impact on the overall balance of life in New Zealand…until these same people stated bringing in the rabbits, opossums and the stoats. The rabbits and opossums were brought over for the purpose of game hunting. After all, why bother even living on a massive expanse of land if there’s nothing to shoot for fun, right? The problem with the rabbits was that they multiply like Gremlins (or, like rabbits, really). What started out as a fairly small number of rabbits at the start of the century exploded in to millions of rabbits by the end of it. While these rabbits were profitable for those in the pelt selling business, they were awful for farmers as they and the opossums would eat the local flora and fauna usually reserved for grazing animals like sheep, and they caused massive amounts of damage to crops. Then came the stoat. They were brought in by farmers in the hope that they would help control the ever growing rabbit and opossum populations. This backfired tremendously. Once the stoats made it to New Zealand they found it much easier to catch bats, native birds and insects – all of which were integral to the ecosystem. The stoat actually helped drive some animals to extinction. Fast forward to today. The New Zealand government spends millions of dollars every year trying to rid the country of its terrible stoat problem as their populations have exploded and they continue to wreck havoc. To top it all off, the stoats never even came close to getting rid of the imported rabbits and opossums because, as of 2001, rabbits and opossums were number one and number two most troublesome pests in New Zealand.

Australia Imports Cane Toads

Australia is currently one of the world's largest raw sugar exporters, and has been for quite a while, what with their over 6,300 sugarcane growing farms. In 1935, Australian sugarcane growers were having some problems with a couple of particularly bothersome types of beetle that would destroy sugarcane crops. To combat this, farmers started to import cane toads from Central America. The idea was to have the very small numbers of cane toads – only 101 were brought over – eat as many of the bugs as possible. It seemed like a good idea…at the time. Too bad nobody cared to educate themselves on how truly terrible cane toads are. First of all, they don’t climb. Cane toads live on the ground and eat only what is on their level. The beetles the farmers wanted the toads to eat were very higher up on the tops of the sugarcanes. The beetles they ate were the ones that fell off the sugarcanes, in other words, a relative few. With the cane toad experiment failing miserably, they had no other purpose, so farmers just let them be. After a while, the cane toad population of Australia grew larger and larger. What started as a mere 101 toads is now, today, over 200 million. What makes matters worse is cane toads eat just about anything they can fit in their mouths. From any kind of insect to other toads and frogs, cane toads, like the stoats mentioned above, were responsible to the extinction of a few species. Today, cane toads are still a huge problem in Australia. Their poisonous sacks, located just below their eyes, make them nearly impossible for larger animals to eat so Australia has had to devise other ways to get rid of them. For example, Queensland is an area of Australia that’s home to many of its sugar cane fields. Recently, Queensland held a bit of a celebratory day called “Operation: Toad Day Out” where citizens both young and old collected as many cane toads as they possibly could. Participants then take their collection of toads to collection points where the toads are frozen or gassed to death, then liquefied. Why? Well, other than just getting rid of the toads, which is obviously a good thing, it turns out that liquefied cane toad makes for a great fertilizer.

The United States (accidentally) Imports Rats

Way back in the 16th and 17th century, Europeans had a whole host of reasons for leaving their homes to start new lives in what would one day be known as the United States. Tyrannical rule, extraordinarily dirty living conditions, oh, and the plague and all other manner of terrifying epidemics made the decision to up and leave a fairly easy one. Sick of it all, large groups packed their things on to large ships and came over to the soon-to-be states like herds of cattle. The problem was that they didn’t just import themselves and their belongings; they also brought along their rats. Hundreds of thousands of rats. In fact, most of the ships carried with them more rats than they did people. As the ships docked and the humans got off to start new lives, so did the rats. Rats can adapt to nearly any environment which meant that they spread to the farthest regions of the United States with little to no trouble. As of 1999, it was estimated that there had to be about 1 billion rats in the U.S., and as far as the whole “really bad part” of it goes, on farms alone rats are the cause of an estimated $19 billion worth of damage every year.

New York Imports English Sparrows

In 1850, New York was quickly shaping itself into the new the bustling city it is today. They just had a few minor Mother Nature related problems that needed to be taken care of -- one of which included cankers worms that were killing trees in some of the city’s most beautiful parks. Someone in New York had the bright idea of importing some English Sparrows to solve the problem. This, of course, brings up another problem that no one ever seems to think of when they do these animal transplants: What do you do with the animals once they’ve done their jobs? When the Sparrows were introduced to their new home they immediately began doing just what everyone expected them to do. They gobbled up a huge portion of the canker worm population and everyone was happy that their parks’ trees were now looking as beautiful as ever. But, then, the sparrows started to like the taste of America’s native insects, so the English sparrows decided to extend their vacation by just a little bit longer. Then, they had lots of babies on this vacation. Once the babies came, the sparrows started to look for other American cities to live in. By 1875, the sparrows had made it as far as San Francisco, but not before they destroyed crops, kicked native birds out of their nests, and ate all the livestock feed they possibly could along the way.

How Do Fast Food Restaurants Make Fast Food?

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:31:10 +0000

Fast food restaurants are complicated places. Take a typical menu: Burger, fries and a fruit flavoured milkshake. All you really need to make this menu in your home is beef, potatoes, some oil, milk, ice cream, and fruit. That seems to be six ingredients. But this is not the way fast food restaurants like to do things. A fast food restaurant is much more like a science lab than a kitchen. Here are some of the strange and frankly scary things that go on in nearly every fast food restaurant you will ever visit.

Hamburgers

Generally speaking hamburgers start off simple and then get very, very complicated. A plain old hamburger for example will contain beef, bread, pickle, ketchup, mustard, onion and salt and pepper. Easy. Although that bun alone contains some twenty to thirty ingredients including hydrogenated oils (the stuff that keeps food alive for 100 years and humans alive for about 57), the ketchup has plenty of high fructose corn syrup in it and the pickle is packed with preservatives and some 'natural flavour' which is not quite natural enough for the pickle to already contain it naturally. But if you want to get really complicated, then track down the chicken recipes of many fast food restaurants around the world. What you will find is that chicken is just one of the delicious meats being served to you as 'chicken'. Actually that 'chicken' also includes beef, and probably pork, in the form of cheap injected protein powders. Because when you think fast food chicken what you really ought to be doing is picturing a pink inflatable flapping water balloon. Astonishingly, some 40 per cent of a fast food chicken is water and the protein powders are needed to keep the water in the bird. Cheap food really takes some thinking about. Plus of course all of those extra flavours you love - the barbecue sauces and oriental dips, the spicey hots and sweet and sours, well of course they're designed by scientists miles away from a kitchen with little petri dishes of ingredients like cellulose gum, xanthan gum, caramel colour, natural hickory smoke flavour and more high fructose corn syrup. But you knew all that already, didn't you?

French Fries

Gudlyf

In the past when fast food restaurants didn't understand the concept of the non-meat eater the one vegetarian option animal lovers could rely on when eating out was the humble potato. Except it wasn't. Because the harmless french fry actually contained more meat than a hamburger due to the huge amount of animal fat it was fried in. This later changed but the fry still does contain some animal, due to more of that mysterious 'natural flavouring' which comes from beef. How natural is that? Also if you like oil, especially that oil that preserves you along with the food, then most fries are cooked in a list of various hydrogenated oils. Delicious.

Milkshakes

Milkshakes are easy. And healthy. If you make them yourself. But there is nothing simple about the milkshake you will drink in a fast food joint. Most of them contain over 50 ingredients, with no mention of any fruit. The one thing a strawberry flavoured milkshake will not contain for example is strawberries. But it will be packed with other goodies like high-fructose corn syrup, guar gum, monoglycerides and diglycerides, cellulose gum, sodium phosphate, carrageenan, citric acid, E129... And as for the strawberries, well all you need are about 40 chemicals including lemon essential oil, orris butter, mint essential oil, rose, benzyl acetate and hydroxyphrenyl-2-butanone (10% solution in alcohol). Get cooking!

Soft drinks

Soft drinks are one of the big money spinners of fast food restaurants. Incredibly cheap to produce they can be sold with a nice fat profit margin. But why are they so cheap, and how do they differ from the soft drink you might buy in a can in a supermarket? Well for a start the black bubbly stuff you will buy in a fast food restaurant comes from a Coca-Cola syrup, which the store buys in enormous quantities. This is then diluted with gassy water and sold in a cheap paper cup. Think of a glass of orange squash. The orange concentrate is the cost and all that clear tap water that fills seven eighths of the glass is pure fast food profit. The bigger the cup the bigger the profit. Hence the beauty of the supersize.

Salad

Of course the way to avoid all this trouble is to walk right up to the counter and order a nice big green salad. But the shocking truth is that many of the salads fast food restaurants serve often have more fat in them than the burgers!!! How much evil can there be in the world? In fact if you do want a salad you really need to do your homework and check out the exact nutritional breakdown. For example a Wendy's Garden Sensations Mandarin Chicken Salad has more calories, fat, carbs, and sugar than one of their whopping Double Stack burgers. Why Why Why?! Well a lot of it has to do with the dressings. Then many of the healthy salad options fast food restaurants supply actually come packed with unhealthy meat. And then there's all the cheese. Wouldn't it be nice if you could order a salad and a guy gave you a lettuce, a tomato and a fork.

Ice cream

If you don't know the truth about ice cream then I suggest you don't read on. Because I imagine in your mind when you think of ice cream you think of hot sunny days at the beach with small children and little dogs. Not tons and tons of vegetable oil. But that's exactly what most ice cream is. Just vast vats of oil poured into small cones and fed to babies. Something else you should also be aware of is the difference between 'fruit' and 'fruit flavoured' ice cream. The guidelines stipulate that a product sold as fruit eg Pineapple Ice Cream must contain at least a gentle scraping of pineapple. But to be named Pineapple Flavoured Ice Cream means the dessert can have as much in common with a pineapple as a pogo stick. If you've just read this and feel sick, the good news is that anything labelled as dairy ice cream is not allowed to contain vegetable fat. Hurrah.

Coffee

DeusXFlorida

Now surely fast food coffee is OK. Well that depends how you like it. Hot or cold? Because the iced version can come with bowel-cleaning agents (sodium phosphate), sodium stearoyl lactylate which can irritate the eyes and skin and tetra sodium pyrophosphate which when ingested can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

And don't mention the hygiene

There are a lot of things the fast food restaurants won't tell you. And one of them is just how clean their restaurants are. A survey conducted by Dateline NBC a few years back in America found 60 per cent of the nation's top ten fast food restaurants had critical violations of cleanliness, ranging from dead rodents, undercooked meat, chewing gum in a taco and blood dripping from a cup at Hardee's. I think we will leave it there.

What Are Some Of The Most Unusual Records To Be Entered Into The Guinness Book Of World Records?

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:13:11 +0000

There are many unusual records that people have broken. Here a selection of some of the strangest:

Most Cockroaches Eaten

Ken Edwards from Derbyshire in the UK broke this record when he managed to consume 36 cockroaches in one minute. He achieved this on the set of the UK breakfast show The Big Breakfast in 2001. As well as cockroach eating, Ken also participates in a number of other unusual acts,including placing a large number of rats down his trousers. Ken now eats cockroaches regularly, stating that they are an essential part of his diet due to him having a hernia. He states that the cockroaches, when cooked, “taste like bacon” and that their scent, which they use against predators, acts as an anaesthetic to his throat. To add to his antics, Ken has even had fangs surgically implanted, so that the hard shell of the cockroaches is easier to bite into. Since some cockroaches carry disease, Ken has his selection cleaned so that he is able to eat them. Ken’s cockroach eating has made him a worldwide celebrity and he now appears regularly on a variety of television programs, where he discusses his cockroach diet. In 2006, a cockroach eating contest that was planned for the theme park Six Flags caused controversy when the animal group PETA received a selection of complaints. The contest was due to be held in time for Halloween and would involve competitors attempting to break Ken’s world record. PETA expressed their concerns for the competition, stating that they did not believe that it was suitable for live insects to be eaten.

Longest Fingernails In The World

Lee Redmond from Salt Lake City, Utah, previously held the world record for the longest fingernails. She decided to stop cutting her nails in 1979 and entered in Guinness Book of World Record in 2002, with the first female with the longest fingernails. Despite the length of her nails, Lee still managed to carry normal tasks, such as applying makeup and going on bike rides. She admitted that some tasks were troublesome, but still managed to carry out normal daily routines. Lee’s fingernails quickly made her a celebrity and she appeared on a number of television programs discussing her nails, which she always kept well manicured. In 2006, she stated on a number of television shows that she was planning to have her nails cut. She decided against this and her nails continued to grow. However, in early 2009, Lee was involved in a serious car crash, which resulted in her world breaking nails being broken. Lee’s injuries were serious, but not life threatening. Her nails were measured at a total of around 28ft long before the crash, the longest nail being 2ft 11 inches. Lee has since said that life without her long nails is much easier and she has no plans to grow them back to how they once were, stating that she may not be around for the 30 years that it took to grow them before. Her nails are currently around four inches long. Melvin Booth currently holds the record for the longest fingernails on a man. His nails measure a total of 29ft.

Most Body Piercings

The record for the most pierced woman is currently held by Elaine Davidson, who currently lives in Scotland. In early 2009, she had over 6,000 body piercings, which are both internal and external. In addition to her record breaking piercings, Elaine is also known for attempting other unusual acts, such as sleeping on nails. Originally a nurse, Elaine now owns a shop in Edinburgh, where she offers a variety of services such as tattoos, piercings braiding, aromatherapy and much more. She makes regular appearances on chat shows and festivals. Other records in this area include the record for most body piercings in one session, which is held by Kam Ma, who received over 1,000 piercings in just over eight hours by Charlie Wilson.

Most Tatoos

Isobel Varley currently holds the record for the world’s most tattooed senior citizen. Born in 1937, Isobel’s love for tattoos grew in the 1980s after she attended a tattoo convention. She started out with a small number of tattoos on her shoulder blades and thighs then proceeded to have them done in other areas. Today, the only parts of her body that remain untattooed are her face and parts of her hands. She entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 2000 as the world’s most tattooed senior citizen and still currently holds that title today. In September 2009, she had a number of previous tattoos reworked. She makes regular appearances at studio openings and tattoo conventions. The world’s most tattooed man is Lucky Diamond Rich from New Zealand, who entered the Guiness Book of World Records in 2006. Born in 1971, Lucky Diamond Rich is also known for his love of dangerous acts, such as sword swallowing. The world’s most tattooed woman is Julia Gnuse, who chose to cover her body in tattooes she developed a skin condition known as porphyria, which caused her body to blister when exposed to sunlight, leaving her with scars. Julia’s tattooes have earned her the nickname “The Illustrated Lady”.

Stretchy Skin

Garry Turner entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 1999 for having the stretchiest skin. He is able to stretch the skin of his stomach to 6.25 inches long. His skin stretching abilities are caused by a rare genetic disorder known as Elhers-Danlos Syndrome. Garry, who is also known as “Gary Stretch”, originally worked as a plasterer. His condition is extremely rare, but also dangerous. Although he wasn’t expected to live past his twenties, Garry, who is now in his thirties puts regular performances for the public, attaching pegs to his stretchy skin and he makes regular appearances on television shows. He has broken a series of other records, including one of his own, where he attached over 150 pegs to his face.

Eyeball Popping

Kim Goodman currently holds the world record for the furthest eyeball protrusion. She currently resides in Chicogo, Illinois and can pop her eyeballs out of her eye sockets by 12mm. She discovered her talent when she was hit on the eye when removing a hockey mask, which caused her eyeball to come out of its socket. Kim has stated that she has never been to see a doctor about her eyeball popping and said that friends were left speechless when they first witnessed her doing it. Kim’s eyeball popping has made her celebrity and she has appeared on a number of talkshows, including a David Letterman show, where guests had to show off their unusual talents. Letterman was impressed by Kim’s talent and invited her back to one of his other shows.

Longest Ear Hair

Radhakant Bajpai from Uttar Pradesh, India, was previously the world record holder for the longest ear hair, which measured 13.2cm. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the record was broken by Anthony Victor, who entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 2007. He is the second man from India to break this world record.

What Are The World's Scariest Monsters?

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:26:16 +0000

- “From goulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night
Good Lord, deliver us!” - An old Cornish Prayer

Monsters are the manifestations of our greatest fears; they are the darkest thoughts and collective terrors of humankind. Throughout our history certain themes appear time and time again, making these nightmarish creatures some of the scariest monsters known throughout the world.

Vampires

^{No sparkles, no angst, no soul. Now that's a proper vampire.} Though the modern day version of the vampire myth seem to speak more of teen angst and sex than soul twisting horror, tales of bloodsucking beasties and fanged demons reach back into our deepest, darkest past. The modern vampire tradition came to us out of the early 18th century South-eastern Europe, where vampires were considered to be the revenants of suicides, witches, evil doers and of course, the innocent victims of vampire snackage. In some areas it was common for graves to be exhumed to ensure that the body was indeed at rest and had not been wandering around treating the local populace like the historical version of a fast food drive-through. Vampire descriptions vary, though most described the beings as being undead, bloated and dark with the blood of their victims. If that wasn’t nasty enough, they could often be picked out of a lineup by the fact they had blood seeping from the mouth and nose and were dressed in the tattered remains of the shroud they were buried in.

Ogres

^{Not the sort of fellow you take home to meet the parents} Ogres are huge, brutish monsters that are somewhat humanoid in appearance. They are cruel natured and like several others on this list, tasty people bits is at the top of their preferred menu. By the 1600’s Charles Perrault’s fairy tales had brought the name and the modern idea of the ogre into being with tales such as Sleeping Beauty; though the belief in these vicious brutes had already been around for centuries. They are slow witted creatures that take great joy in inflicting suffering on their victims, and in some cultures have much in common with myths of giants of the “grind his bones to make my bread” variety. They are the brutes and bullies of the monster world, the one most likely to shake down the other monsters for lunch money at recess.

Lycanthropes (Werewolves)

^{Lycanthropy: The curse that means you have the sudden urge to chase cars and bite the postman} Werewolves are Therianthropes, humans with the ability to shape shift into the form of an animal, in this case a wolf. The idea of shape shifters is as old as the idea of vampires, and in fact the two conditions are sometimes linked. They are very different situations however, as werewolves are still living beings, usually believed to have invoked spirits or Satan in one of a wide variety of rituals designed to transform man’s inner beast into a snarling lap dog of the devil, complete with fangs and fur. If you suspect your neighbour invoked evil spirits/drank water out of the footprint of a wolf/fell asleep outdoors with the full moon shining down in his face and is now transforming into a canine and wreaking havoc on your village? No worries, you can just use silver…or not. It turns out that idea of silver killing werewolves is a new addition to the legend, appeared only after 1935. Instead, try keeping rye or mistletoe on your person and building your house in the shadow of a mountain ash tree. As the name suggests, wolfsbane is also reported to keep these carnivorous critters at bay. According to the Danes, scolding a werewolf firmly will cure them, and a Sicilian belief of Arabic origin claims that nothing will do but driving nails through the lycanthrope’s hands…er…paws.

The Chupacabra

^{Artist's rendition of a goat's worst nightmare} Much newer to the monster scene is the Chupacabra, which translated from Spanish literally means “goat sucker.” The first attacks by this creature were reported in Puerto Rico in 1995, and over the past 19 years reports of sightings and incidents have spread to Mexico, the United States, and many other South American countries. It commonly kills and drains the blood from livestock via one or two puncture holes, and has been cited as killing everything from sheep to turkeys. Though witness descriptions vary, the livestock assassin is commonly reported as being 3-4 feet high and moves by hopping, much like a kangaroo. They are described as being vaguely reptilian, with leathery greenish grey skin or scales and a line of quills or or spines that run down their spine. Red glowing eyes, fangs, forked tongue and a panther-like face make this monstrosity so ugly I doubt even its mother loved it much, especially given the fact that many reported it to be accompanied by a sulfuric stench that left them nauseous.

The Bogeyman

^{Bogeymen: A really good reason to be afraid of the dark.} There are countless variations of this childhood terror, with nearly every culture in the world having some sort of monster who torments and terrifies our children; especially those who misbehave. They are the phantasmal manifestation of all our childhood fears, swirled together into one unholy mess of a monster. Its appearance varies from culture to culture, and even from region to region within the same country. They can appear as anything from a green fog to a fiendish creature with wicked claws and a terrifying visage. Part nightmare and part punishment, it dwells under children’s beds or in their closets, and in many cultures travels the countryside looking for ill behaved children to punish or kidnap. In Croatia she is a horned old lady that steals naughty children through holes in their ceilings and takes them off to her cave to eat them, in Egypt it is a burned and crippled shell of a man who was burned as a child when he disobeyed his parents and takes away other naughty children to cook over his fire while they are still alive. They are the dreaded closet monster who only comes out when our parents closed our bedroom door and shut off the hallway light, and the reason many a child doesn’t let an arm or leg hang out over the edge of their bed. They are the most documented and most commonly reported monster to ever not exist.

Wendigos

^{Gluttony has never looked so terrifying} The next charming candidate on the list is the Wendigo, a cannibalistic super-ghost feared by the members of the Algonquian tribes of North America, including the Cree, Ojibwa and the Naskapi. They represent the cruelest elements of winter: Freezing cold, starvation and darkness. They appear as gaunt creatures of great height, but that’s where the resemblance to supermodels comes to an end. Their skin is grey and desiccated, stretched out over bones that in some places push right through their skin. Their lips are tattered and bloody with the remains of their feasts and they stink of corruption and death. In their unending quest for food they are literal avatars of greed and gluttony, never satisfied and eternally hungry. In some myths they gain in size with every meal, growing to gigantic proportions while never easing their hunger. Though supernatural, the tribes believed that Wendigo’s were once human, transformed though acts of greed or avarice, or because they violated taboos and consumed the flesh of another human being. Innocent people could also be possessed by these food obsessed phantoms, suddenly growing a yen to chow down on their friends and family while dropping weight like a starlet before her big audition.

Succubus/Incubus

^{Demonic dating is never a good idea.} Succubi are the demonic equivalent of that girl you knew back in high school, the one all the boys claimed spent more time under the bleachers than a wad of chewing gum. Incubi are their male counterparts, and together they are a demonic tag team of sex and reproduction that will haunt your nightmares for days. I know what you’re thinking, “What could possibly be scary about a sex demon? That’s not a nightmare, that’s a dream come true!” Well no, not really. Modern myths have revamped the image of these malevolent mates, but historically they were as dangerous as they were ugly. Descriptions go back as far Sumerian times and continue up to the present era. The victims of these nocturnal attacks were seduced in their dreams and awake to find themselves in the embrace of a demonic creature and not the attractive subject of their dreams, much like the folks who take someone home at bar close only to regret it in the light of day. In some myths the demons drain the live force from their victims, continuing their assaults until their mortal partners are exhausted or even dead. In others the pair works together, the Succubus seduces men and gathers up their semen, the Incubus use this semen to impregnate their victims in turn. These children were called Cambions, and despite having human parents were thought to be supernatural beings in their own right.

Zombies

^{Brraaaaiiiiins... No?} No, not the brain slurping undead creatures that invariably make their way to the local mall in every Hollywood movie. I’m talking about the original zombies, the nightmarish flesh puppets trapped between this life and the next one and forced to do the will of their master. The idea of zombies originally came from the Carribean, where followers of the mystic faith of Vodou believe that people can be controlled by sorcerers and made to do their bidding as mindless drones by means of ritual and powerful magic spells. Big business does much the same thing, only they use powdered doughnuts and training videos to achieve the same affect. The sorcerers are known as bokor, and it is widely believed by those who follow Voodoo that they have the power to enslave the soul and reanimate dead bodies to do their bidding. The modern day version of these undead creatures came out of various reports from Haiti and other areas where Voodoo is practiced, mixed liberally with creative license, and then defined by the 1968 movie “Night of the Living Dead.”

The Old Hag

^{Hags, sucking the life out of the living for over two}^millennia When we dream we are vulnerable, and many of the monsters we fear come out of the night to attack us while we sleep. The Old Hag or Night Hag is one of these monsters, a cruel and hideous shadow that kneels on her victim’s chests as they sleep, crushing them as she steals their breath and life away. Those who wake up during these attacks claim to be paralyzed, pinned beneath a terrifying weight that drives the breath from their bodies as faint voices and odd sounds ring in their ears. Some claim to see nothing, others see a ugly old women or other creature leering down at them as they struggle to move or cry out. Like the bogeyman, the Old Hag has many names and faces, though her attacks are always described much the same. In Persian folklore she is named Bakhtak, German folklore call it “Elf Pressure” and in French stories there are mentions of the “Trampling Ogre”. These these attackers are blamed for the sudden deaths of the young and the healthy who die as they sleep in their beds, unfortunate victims who did not manage to elude the Old Hag’s terrible clutches.

Who Are The Most Violent Deities?

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:02:27 +0000

We all tend to believe that Gods are all benevolent beings that watch over us and care for us like only the most loving parent could. Nope, not at all. Most Gods are extremely violent lunatics that are vain, self-centered, and did we mention they were violent lunatics? Here are some of the most violent.

Kali

In the western world we are used to our Gods being benevolent and kind, with a bit of an angry streak. In Hinduism, they have an onslaught of Gods that should have their own adults only comic books. Take, for instance, Kali, the Hindu goddess of fertility. You’d expect the goddess of fertility to be motherly and sweet, but that’s only if your religion has no imagination. Like Buffy, Kali is a Slayer – a slayer of demons. She is the mother of all life and…well…if this were a movie poster we would say “She’s the mother of all life, and the bringer of death.” For a silly as they sounds, it’s true because Kali is also the goddess of death. Anytime you see Kali there is a good chance that she’s sporting an elegant dress fabricated from the arms of many dead men, a necklace of human skulls, and she uses cobras for bracelets. You can also tell it’s her because, well, she’s blue and has a ton of arms – but also because of patented sticking-out-tongue look.

Thor

Sure, you’ve heard the name a thousand times, but do you know how truly badass this God of Thunder is? First of all, he drives a chariot. Sure, nothing special, right? Yeah, you think that until you saw a gigantic man (compared to humans) with a huge red beard charging your way in a goat drawn chariot. A goat drawn chariot that literally set the world on fire everywhere it went. Now, imagine this huge bearded man charging at you in his flaming goat chariot as he wielded a massive hammer (named Mjöllnir) that fired lightening. If you didn’t soil yourself just by reading that there is something wrong with you. Thor wasn’t really an angry god, per se. He was more of a bar brawler – the kind of guy that no matter how terrifying he looked, people always seemed to mess with him. Granted, many of these people were giants that made Thor look like an infant, but still. A lot of Thor’s stories share similar themes, and by “similar themes” we mean someone messed with Thor, Thor finds them, Thor kills a giant even if they had nothing to do with anything. That’s just how Thor rolls.

Huitzilopochtli

Huitzilopochtli is the Aztec god of the sun, as well as the god of war. It’s safe to say that this god’s story is a little…weird. First of all, his mother was a goddess. Nothing strange about that considering who were dealing with here. But his father…his father was a ball of feathers. We’ve tried looking it up, but we can quite figure out the significance of that. Anyway, Huitzilopochtli’s sister became enraged when she discovered that her mother was impregnated by a ball of feathers because not only is getting pregnant by a ball of feathers a thing that can happen, but it’s something that’s frowned upon. When ths sister discovered this she attempted to kill her mother. Huitzilopochtli was not going to sit idly by in his mother’s womb and just let his sister kill his mom! So he did what any respectable baby would do in such a situation – he ripped out of his mom’s womb as a fully grown man in full armor. For plotting to kill his mother, Huitzilopochtli killed his own sister (whom, we assume, he had just met for the first time), chopped off her head and threw it in to the sky, where it became the moon so his mother could see it every night without having to worry about getting stabbed. Probably after realizing that he had the power to create objects in space out of human bodies, Huitzilopochtli then tracked down about 500 of his brother, killed them, and then through their bodies in to space, where they became stars.

Artemis

The Greek goddess of hunting, nature, and chastity is one violent lady. In nearly all of the stories she’s in have her doing nothing but feeling insulted and then killing the people that she felt insulted her. She has a short fuse and really, really does not want to deal with your crap. Just imagine how many bodies you would have left in your wake if you murdered a person for any menial little transgression you experience every day? Yeah, Artemis was that kind of lady. Some of her greatest wrathful moments include, killing her follower Marea and transforming her friend Callisto in to a bear because they both lost their virginity. But it doesn’t stop there. No, it gets waaaay more petty. Artemis and her brother Apollo once took offence to the Theban queen Niobe feeling a sense of superiority due to the fact that she had 14 children – 7 boys, 7 girls – while the mother of Artemis and Apollo only had one of each sex. Feeling that no one should feel superior to their mother, Artemis and Apollo mercilessly killed all of Niobe’s children. ALL OF THEM. They didn’t kill Niobe. They killed her kids. That’s messed up. Of course, some versions of the story have Artemis and Apollo killing all but one of each sex to make it even so Niobe could no longer boast, but, really, altering that little fact doesn’t necessarily make you look at this godly brother and sister tag team of crazy in a different, kinder light. But if you really want to reach the summit of Artemis’s pettiness-driven murdering then look no further than the story of Artemis and Chione. Chione was guilty of committing the sin of being too pretty, which, at the same time, committing the even greater sin of possibly, maybe, kind of, sort of, being prettier than Artemis herself. If you really need to ask what Artemis did, than you have not been reading any of this. Artemis killed Chione with a poison tipped arrow. Chione’s mother was so distraught by the death of her daughter that she flung herself off of a mountain to kill herself – but not before Apollo decided to be an even more terrible person than usually by turning her in to a hawk before she it the ground; leaving Chione’s mother to live out the rest of her days as a very morose little hawk.

Balor

This giant, and Celtic god of the underworld had one particular power that allowed him to rule with an iron fist: His literal evil eye. Sure, we all talk about someone giving you the “evil eye” at some point, but so rarely (read: Never) can this person’s “evil eye” actually kill you. Balor’s did. Luckily for most people living around him, Balor only opened his one eye when he was more than a little bit ticked off. Balor’s stories are packed to the gills with one eye opening kill after another (Get it?!!?), but it most violent act wasn’t even a kill at all. Balor had a daughter named Ethlinn. Ethlinn was pregnant with a child that was prophesied as being the savior and defeater of Balor. Obviously, when you hear that someone who will soon be born will one day kill you, you kind of want to do something about it. What’s that you say? You wouldn’t do anything to them? Well, it would make sense to you if you’re a crazy evil lord of the underworld. Sadly, so few of us are. We may never get to understand the other side of that argument. In a half-assed attempt at preventing his own death via the hands of his own grandson, Balor imprisoned his not-yet-pregnant daughter in a tower made of crystal. Cian, an all around good guy and fighter of evil, broke in to the tower and impregnated Ethlinn with triplets. Balor found out about the triplet and tossed them in to ocean…except for you that was saved. The one was named Lugh. Lugh eventually grew up and fulfilled his prophecy – he killed his grandfather by tosses a spear in to his big, stupid eye of death.

What Were The First Ever Inventions?

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:18:57 +0000

Boffins like Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell and Nikola Telsa are the people who normally spring to mind when we think about inventors. However, the greatest inventions in history were actually created thousands of years before these guys, by unwitting geniuses such as Ugg, Grok or Grumphhh. Without the important discoveries of prehistoric man things would be a lot different on planet Earth. All of the modern advancements in the world of technology would not have been possible had Stone Age man not fashioned tools from rock, rubbed wood together to create fire, or stabbed a hole in a piece of skin to sew clothes and shelters. Our culture and arts would be a lot less rich were it not for cavemen grinding rock to make pigments, or early humans boring holes in bone to make musical instruments. Here is a run-down of what are believed to be the first inventions. It’s worth bearing in mind that exact dates are very difficult to ascertain when charting discoveries from so long ago, and it may be the case that different people in different areas were inventing similar things at the same time. You’ll find a timeline of History’s important inventions on Wikipedia, although citations are missing for many of the earliest discoveries.

Stone tools

When: 2.4 million years ago First discovered in: East Africa

Prehistoric man’s first foray into the world of inventing began with the crafting of stone tools. These tools were created by hitting stones against each other, or applying pressure with wood or bone implements. As Palaeolithic man evolved, the tools became ever-more sophisticated and diverse in their design and function. There were ground-edge axes for chopping, flaked-edge adzes for working with wood, and much later, arrowheads, which were used for hunting.

Knife

When: 1.4 million years ago First discovered in: Ethiopia

You know who is really responsible for all this knife crime that’s going on? The cavemen, that’s who. Stone Age howdies would spend their time carving out blades by flaking off rocks from blocks of raw material. Different knives were fashioned for different purposes, and from a range of different rock types, including basalt, chalcedony, flint, jasper, diorite and quartzine. In actual fact, the invention of knives pre-dated man’s hunting days, and the earliest blades were predominantly scrapers, used to remove fatty tissue from animal hide, or as part of food preparation. It would almost certainly have been the women who wielded the first knives, as they were usually responsible for preparing meals.

Fire drill

When: 1 million years ago Where: South Africa

Next time you ask someone for a light, think for a minute about what life would be like were it not for the discovery of fire. When primeval man first learned how to create and control fire it sparked off an entire history of inventions and technological achievements. The exact date of the first ever flame is still unknown, but evidence of burnt bones at the Cradle of Mankind in South Africa suggests that it happened around 1,000,000 years ago. Scientists are unclear about exactly how the discovery came about. It is known though, that Stone Age man used fire drills to make fire for cooking. These drills consisted of a sharpened stick of hard wood and a softer slab of wood with a hole in it. The stick would be lowered over the hole and rapidly twirled under the softer wood started to smoulder. Then, small pieces of tinder could be added to create a flame.

Paint

When: 400,000 years ago Where: Zambia

Without paint the World would be a very boring place. Art galleries would be empty, all our houses would look the same, and kids would get very bored on rainy days. Well, we can thank the prehistoric people of Zambia for the pleasures of paint. Pigments and paint-grinding equipment dating back 400,000 years were discovered in the Twin Rivers area of Lusaca, Zambia. These paints were almost certainly used by the Stone Age inhabitants to paint their bodies in colours that ranged for yellow to purple. If only they’d have had the foresight to invent photography at the same time, perhaps we would have a clearer idea of what these painted prehistoric people looked like.

Spears

When: 400,000 years ago Where: Germany

These days you’re more likely to see a spear used in a javelin event than you are in a battlefield. However, for thousands of years spears were an essential item for hunters and warriors the World over. The oldest spears were discovered in Schöningen, near Hanover, and were some 7.5 feet long. They were carved from the trunk of a picea tree and had a frontal centre of gravity, suggesting they were launched like a javelin in order to catch prey from a distance. The discovery gave light to the theory that Stone Age man was able to hunt, and wasn’t just a scavenger.

Sewing needles

When: 40,000 years ago Where: Russia

Fashion these days is a trillion dollar industry, and it all started when one sharp caveman (or woman) decided to make a hole with a piece of bone. Stone Age folk in cold climates would stitch skins together with threads of tendon or leather thongs. This would be done by pushing the bone into the skins then hooking the thread through. Not only was this useful for fashioning primitive clothes, but the sewn fabrics could be used to provide shelter. Over time, the needles got smaller and more refined, and gradually horsehair was introduced as a means of stitching materials together.

Timepiece

When: 37,000 years ago Where: Swaziland

If you’d asked an early human for the time, they’d probably reach into their pocket and pull out a piece of bone. One particular piece, the Lebombo bone, dates back 37,000 years, and is regarded as one of the oldest mathematical artifacts. Made from a piece of a baboon’s fibula, the tool is marked with 29 clear notches. This suggests it could’ve been used as a lunar phase calculator, meaning that African women may have been the first mathematicians if they had been using this to keep track of their menstrual cycle. The Lebombo bone bears more than a passing resemblance to the calendar sticks still used by the Bushmen of Namibia.

Flute

When: 35,000 years ago Where: Germany

You might think that all early man did was walk around grunting. However, it turns out that the first humans were actually quite a cultured bunch, and would pass their time by playing the flute. This year’s discovery by scientists in Germany of a collection of 35,000 year-old flutes, fashioned from vulture wing bones, backs up the thinking that music was one of the things that gave the early Homo Sapiens the edge over their Neanderthal rivals. It is understood that music may have helped the humans to forge closer social groups and participate in religious rituals. Still, I wouldnt’t fancy their chances in a game of Guitar Hero.

Darts

When: 27,000 years ago Where: France

When they weren’t rocking out to the latest flute hits, the Paleolithic people could be found playing darts. Actually, it was more likely they were aiming for a rabbit or a boar than the treble twenty. The first darts, known as Atlatl, were made of reindeer antler and were capable of being launched in excess of 100 metres. Atlatls consisted of a shaft with a cup, in which the butt of the wooden dart would be laid. Once the dart is in place, the atlatl is held at the end away from the cup and the thrower uses the action of their upper arm and wrist to fling the dart and send it hurtling towards its victim.

Boomerang

When: 23,000 years ago Where: Poland

Believe it or not, the first ever boomerang was not discovered in Australia, but in a cave in the Oblazowa Rock in Southern Poland. Made from mammoth tusk, this straight, non-returning boomerang was almost certainly thrown at prey, though there is evidence to suggest that early boomerangs were used as weapons in hand-to-hand combat. It wasn’t until 10,000 years ago that the first returning boomerangs of the Australian Aboriginals came about. Then, of course, about 9,960 years later, the frisbee was born, which would challenge the boomerangs supremacy as the best thing you can throw through the air.

What Are The World's Most Romantic Animals?

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:14:33 +0000

According to Webster’s Dictionary romance is the art of trying “to influence or curry favor, especially by lavishing personal attention, gifts, or flattery.” According to most women, it’s a lost art normally only practiced by men on Valentine’s Day and usually involves a box of chocolates and flowers bought at extortionist prices at the very last minute.

In the animal kingdom wooing a mate is serious business, and only the ones who know the score are going to get the chance to pass on their genes. Here are some of the most romantic animals around.

Brolga

These grey cranes from “Down Under” mate for life, raising brood after brood of babies with their chosen mate, often in the same place. Their similarities to a 1950’s sitcom family are not what put them on this list though; it’s because even the old married couples still know how to boogie. Brolga are considered to have the most elaborate mating dance in the world and they do it every year, no matter how long they’ve been together. The birds jump and gyrate, their wings outstretched. They hop, bow, call and bob their head in rapid movements, getting a serious groove on while trying to enhance the romance. They’ll often toss grass up in the air and catch it in their bills as a way to add to their displays. One bird may dance alone, or a pair may dance together. Occasionally a whole group gets together, lines up and does the avian version of the Thriller zombie dance.

Elephants

Their famous memories already give elephants the advantage over humans, in that they almost never forget a birthday or anniversary. These massive mammals usually live separate lives, but when it comes time to woo, the boys know what they’re doing. Bull elephants fight for the right to mate, displaying their prowess and strength. Once the battle is done though, these mighty warriors turn tender, wooing their newly won mates with tender trunk twinings and nuzzles. After mating, the two will often stay together in a “honeymoon” period for several weeks. During this time they act like any love struck couple, nauseating their friends and ignoring the world in favour of each other’s company.

Bower Bird

^{For his sake I hope blue is in vogue this year.} You don’t have to be the toughest or the biggest to win the ladies, at least not if you’re a Bowerbird. These feathered fellows are masters of interior decorating, and the ones with the swankiest bachelor pad get the most avian action. The birds build a bower with two walls of vertically placed sticks, and then decorate the whole thing with brightly coloured objects. The types and colours of object vary from species to species, but usually include shells, leaves, flowers, feathers, stones and even discarded trash such as glass, coins and rifle shells. The girls wander from bower to bower, checking out the male’s as they preen and dance and show off their collections, parts of which will have likely been stolen from other male’s bowers in a classic game of one-upmanship. The males with the best décor get the most attention, and usually end up with the lion’s share of the ladies.

Angler Fish

^{"Til death do us part."}Everyone wants a mate that will stick by them forever, staying by their side through the darkest of times. The male Angler fish is the most devoted of mates, never straying nor cheating, forever bound to their chosen lady. In the total darkness that is the ocean floor, finding a mate at the right moment is a nearly impossible challenge. Instead, mature Angler fish males have developed a different approach. When they are mature, their digestive systems begin to pack it in, forcing them to find a female to bond to. Once he finds one, he gives her a very special love bite, releasing an enzyme that dissolved his mouth and her body and fusing them together, truly making them two hearts beating as one, as they will share a bloodstream for the rest of their lives. When the time comes for her to spawn, she will already have a mate ready and waiting to father her future brood.

Terns

^{"With this fish, I thee wed."} Giving gifts is a time honored romantic tradition. Call it bribery, generosity or demonstrating the ability to provide for your mate, it all boils down to winning your chosen one over with well chosen tokens of your affection. Giving courtship gifts is not limited to humans however, though I don’t know of many girls who could appreciate the Tern’s idea of a dazzling present. Terns are seabirds who know a thing or to about bling, as the females judge their potential mates on the size and number of fish they are presented with. The ladies reward the biggest and most lavish gift givers by flying off to join them in an acrobatic flight overland to celebrate their union before they go off to pick a nesting site together.

Alligators

^{Good, good, good vibrations.} Yes, alligators. Sure they’re ugly as sin and have a disturbing tendency to eat the cute and fuzzy mammals we all root for on the Discovery Channel, but to another alligator, these guys have the right stuff. Bull gators will approach the female and begin showing off his best moves, including rubbing her back, blowing bubbles gently against her cheeks and swimming in circles around her, making her the centre of his attentions. Along with these tender moments, he will bellow, roar, and use subsonic noise to create an aquatic display that is unique in the animal kingdom. They make the water around them dance like the Bellagio fountains in Las Vegas, putting on a show worthy of Headliner status, all in the name of love.

White-Crested Hornbill

^{Okay, this is a bushy crested hornbill, but you get the idea.} Putting a lady on a pedestal and doing her every bidding is a romantic notion straight out of a fairytale, along with princesses in towers and dashing knights in shining armour. The White-Crested Hornbill has taken a page from those stories though, and stashes his lady love like a princess in a tower, keeping her safe and nurtured during the time she is clutching their eggs. When the pair has consummated their bond and she has laid her eggs, the male Hornbill goes about carefully sealing her and their future brood into the cozy hole she has chosen to nest in. Mud and excreta are piled up until there is only a tiny slit left through which she can be lovingly fed by her devoted mate. For the next few weeks he will be her lifeline, keeping her safe and nurtured until the eggs hatch and the mother breaks out to help in the feeding of their new family.

How Does Blu Ray Technology Work?

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:37:45 +0100

Blu-ray is taking over the world of visual and audio entertainment having won the Great War of HD (2004-2006). But who is Blu-ray? Why is he Blu(e)? And just what the hell are we going to do with all our old dvds? Here's a cool trailer, and then some answers:

What is Blu-ray?

Blu-ray (not Blu Ray or Blue Ray or anything else except Blu-ray, Blu-ray Disc or BD) is the next-generation of optical disc storage media or, as most of us understand it, CD or DVD. Not only does a Blu-ray Disc offer much more storage space than a CD or DVD it also provides high definition (HD), so you can really see nice George Clooney’s face. A Blu-ray disc does, however, look very much like a CD or DVD, the main difference being the words ‘Blu’ and ‘ray’ on the box.

Why is it called Blu-ray?

Nice question. The name comes from the laser the new technology uses. Traditionally DVDs have employed a red laser like in the film Star Wars (now available on Blu-ray Disc). Blu-ray uses a green laser. Not really. Blu-ray uses a blue laser. With some violet in it. That’s right. A Blu-ray Disc should actually be called a Blu-with-a-bit-of-violet-in-it-ray Disc. The new laser is much more precise than the old red one. It has a shorter wavelength (405 nanometres if you really want to) compared to the DVD’s 650 nanometres. Greater laser accuracy equals more data and better quality. Good news.

Why is there no ‘e’ in Blu?

It’s a trademark thing. Blue-ray was already registered. So to get the name onto the streets the ‘e’ had to go. Plus words with missing or even backwards letters look cool.

Who’s involved in Blu-ray?

Blu-ray has been developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) – a group of the world’s leading consumer electronics and motion picture companies including Apple, Dell, HP, JVC, LG, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, TDK and many more. Everything started with Sony and their development of Blu-ray laser technology.

What’s the history of Blu-ray?

It’s a familiar story concerning a new technology format, a war and one big winner. In the past everyone had DVDs. DVDs offered up to ten times more storage space than CD. CDs had replaced cassette. Cassette had replaced vinyl. Before that there was a fat man in a white suit and a microphone. DVD had also replaced video. While people were sitting happily at home listening or watching their new Elvis Presley DVDs techno-geeks were getting bored and techno-companies were getting poor. So they set about inventing something new. Something big. Something new and big. Then two different factories working completely independently suddenly created near enough the same thing at the same time. These things were Toshiba HD DVD and Blu-ray. Then came a fight. Various companies and motion picture houses supported one party or the other. Some, like Warner Bros, couldn’t decide who was going to win and so supported both. This made it impossible for the public to know what was going to happen and several people buying the wrong thing. In the end with Blu-ray securing big support from companies such as Universal, Paramount and Blockbuster, and, very importantly, PlayStation 3 launching itself as a dual games and Blu-ray Disc player, it was Toshiba HD DVD who, in February 2008, hoisted the white flag and threw all their rubbishy stupid useless boring bits of old metal in the bin.

So why should I bother getting a Blu-ray machine then?

Well because it’s new and everyone likes new things. They stop us getting old and boring. They give our lives new meaning and stop us thinking about death. Death death death. But also because we now live in an HD world. Where everything in your television is exactly or even more like it is in real life. Philosophers and psychologists are still to understand the impact of this. Of the fantasy world becoming more realistic. But for now everyone’s doing it. So you should too.

How much will it all cost?

Blu-ray started off expensive but now the prices are coming down. That’s the way of technology, you know that. In fact if you bought a Blu-ray player in the beginning then the chances are you’ve probably had some problems. A lot of them were unable to offer the newer features as the technology developed. The discs cost the same as DVDs and the players vary up from the low hundreds. Know how much you want to spend and do your research. You want a machine that can cope with any coming changes. The PlayStation 3, for example, is able to update all new software through its online access.

What happens to my DVDs?

Don’t panic. Everything’s OK. Kind of. You can still definitely play DVDs on Blu-ray machines. Definitely. For sure. What’s more your DVDs may look better than you’ve ever seen them thanks to your new Blu-ray machine. That’s what the companies are saying anyway. I wouldn’t be so sure. You do need to make sure your Blu-ray box is backwards compatible. Some manufacturers might try a cheeky one.

How much stuff can I get on a Blu-ray Disc?

It’s not stuff. It’s films, music, pictures, sounds. Blu-ray is big. It offers over five times greater storage capacity than a DVD. This means 25GB on a single-layer disc and 50GB on a dual-layer disc. What does this mean in film? Well over nine hours of HD film on a 50GB disc and about 23 hours of standard definition (SD). That’s pretty good, isn’t it? Developments by Pioneer have increased storage capacity to 500GB on a single disc by using 20 layers.

And how fast can a Blu-ray disc read and write data?

Pretty fast. And faster than a CD ROM. Here are some numbers:

1x drive speed = 4.5 MB/sec
2x drive speed (supported by all Blu-ray drives) = 9MB/sec
4x drive speed =18 MB/sec
6x drive speed = 27 MB/sec
8x drive speed = 36 MB/sec
12x drive speed = 54 MB/sec

Can you tell me the difference between 1080i and 1080p?

HD TV arrives in your television in two ways: 1080i and 1080p. The ‘i’ is interlaced and sent to the TV in two sequences. The ‘p’ is a single sequence. This is what Blu-ray uses. It’s sharper than ‘i’. 1080 by the way is the number of horizontal lines in the picture.

Is my TV OK for Blu-ray?

Well it depends on what TV you have. If you have an HD TV then yes, you’re OK. But a lot of the HD TVs that first came out don’t do full credit to the Blu-ray experience. Annoying, I know. If you get a new HD TV then you should be absolutely fine with Blu-ray products. Check prices and ask questions. Simple tips.

Does region coding exist for Blu-ray?

Yes and it’s a bit different to DVDs. It's all done to combat the pirates. Here’s the code:

Region A: Americas and Southeast Asia
Region B: Europe, Middle East, Africa and Australasia
Region C: Central and South Asia and Russia.

What about Blu-ray computers. Any news?

Yes. Well for gaming there is the PlayStation 3. The Microsoft XBox is a bit of a mystery to me. Up until now, as I’m aware, there has been no Blu-ray player. Microsoft backed the wrong pony, the Toshiba HD DVD, and since then they’ve openly declared hate and more hate on any idea of incorporating a Blu-ray player. But there have been countless rumours and even strong suspicions that things are happening. Anyone got any news? There are Blu-ray PCs such as the Sony VAIO AR216 Notebook and Blu-ray drives available but the numbers of computers incorporating Blu-ray technology remain small, mainly because of the cost. A burnable Blu-ray drive costs about seven times as much as a DVD-RW drive and the demand doesn’t appear to be there for watching HD movies on small computers.

How Are Robots Being Used In War?

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:03:23 +0100

One of the main problems with war is that people die. Even when your team's doing well. Clubs, stones, knives, arrows, tar, guns, dynamite, gas, grenades, missiles, bombs; man has tried everything. And still people keep dying. But now we are in the future. And in the future the one thing none of us need, for pretty much anything, is man. We do, unfortunately, still need war. Which leads us to the quite ridiculous and rather horrifying prospect of a world where computers play each other for us. And you thought robots were cute, didn't you? Still, thankfully, it seems we are some way away from full-scale robot warfare where man is left standing on the sidelines cheering 'Go Robot... Go Robot Go'. But it is happening. The robots are beginning to take over the asylum. And here's how:

ACER

The Armored Combat Engineer Robot (ACER) is a hardy little bulldozer with a very tough shell and a multitude of purposes. Capable of clearing and cutting obstacles with a giant cutter, sweeping and clearing mines, hauling cargo and disabled vehicles and firefighting and decontamination with the use of foam and a decontaminant tank, it is one handy robot.

BigDog

The BigDog is a fairly incredible machine to witness. Rather than reading this I really recommend you just watch the film clip of it above. If you're still reading, here are some BigDog facts:

BigDog was invented in 2005 by Boston Dynamics as a robotic pack mule built to accompany soldiers in rough terrain and carry all their stuff
BigDog climbs, jumps and even recovers balance when kicked or pushed
BigDog is about three feet long, two and a half feet tall and weighs 240 pounds (110 kilograms), about the size of a small mule or, interestingly, a big dog
BigDog is capable of traversing difficult terrain at four miles per hour (six point four kilometres per hour), carrying 340 pounds (150 kilograms), and climbing a 35 degree incline
BigDog sets a world record for legged vehicles by traveling 12.8 miles without stopping or refueling
These were BigDog facts

Boeing X-45

The next generation of unmanned combat aircraft look like flying stingrays. They are completely autonomous. Not only can these floating discs land and fly all on their own, they can detect enemies, engage in combat, drop bombs, launch precision guided missiles, change course, work as a team and fly to previously undetected targets. Remote pilots are optional.

Counter Rocket Artillery Mortar (CRAM) or R2-D2s

(warning - above clip contains excitable language!) In response to the fact that humans take way too long to make decisions, CRAM robots or R2-D2s (because they resemble the flashing little Star Wars character) were deployed in Iraq to counter incoming artillery fire. Using radar to detect rockets and mortar rounds R2-D2s automatically fire their rapid Gatling Guns at incoming targets leaving man completely out of the equation.

Dragon Runner

Dragon Runner is possibly the toughest thing on the planet. You can throw it down stairs, round corners, through windows and even out of fast-moving cars. What's more Dragon Runner always lands on its feet, or rather wheels. Either way up Dragon Runner functions perfectly as a mobile video camera broadcasting realtime images back to base. As soon as it senses something the little car sounds the alert.

Global Hawk Drone

In a similar way that you might log on to your computer, work from home, log off and then spend the evening with your children, so pilots (four in total) can fly the Global Hawk Drone, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), from an aircraft hangar thousands of miles away from a war zone, finish work and drive back to the family in time for tea. Used primarily for surveillance the drone has an unprecedented range and airbourne loitering time. It can:

take off and land automatically
fly at a speed of over 400 miles per hour (650 kilometres per hour)
spend as long as 36 hours in the sky
fly at over 60,000 feet
cover a range of three thousand miles (4,828 kilometres)

The Global Hawk is over 44 feet long (13.5 metres) and has a wingspan of nearly 116 feet (35 metres). Each Global Hawk costs about $123 million to produce.

iRobot Warrior

One of the next generation of remote military robot, the Warrior is a powerful and rugged machine capable of travelling over rough terrain, climbing stairs, disposing bombs, clearing routes, surveillance, reconnaissance and, as you can see from the clip, rescuing casualties, all while carrying payloads of over 150 pounds.

MAARS (Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System)

Offering a more lethal form of soldier support, MAARS employs the powerful M240B medium machine gun and has significant improvements in command and control, situational awareness, manoeuvrability, mobility and importantly safety than its SWORDS predecessor (see SWORDS below). It is also something of a transformer. MAARS' mechanical arm has the ability to switch from machine gun to explosives identification and neutralisation tool. What's more MAARS offers non-lethal options including:

a loudspeaker for shouting at non-compliant humans
a green, eye-safe, laser to dazzle people
riot beanbags or gas bombs launched from its 40mm grenade launcher

MATILDA

The Mesa Associates’ Tactical Integrated Light-Force Deployment Assembly (MATILDA) is a reconnaissance robot helping the military with its detection, disablement and deployment of explosives. The stupidly sweetly named robot is equipped with a manipulator arm, a 4-wheel trailer, larger monitor, and an upgraded radio system for extended range. If one of her treads breaks she can replace it in five minutes. Isn't she a clever little thing?

MARCbot

The Multi-function Agile Remote Control Robot (MARCbot) is a very small remote control truck fitted with a video camera. The camera, which is mounted on the end of an adjustable mast, allows soldiers to search for explosives from a safe distance. The size of the MARCbot means it can easily drive under suspect vehicles.

MULE

The Multifunctional Utility/Logistics and Equipment (MULE) vehicle is an autonomous unmanned 6x6 ground transporter capable of crossing all terrain. Current developments of the MULE include vehicles that will not only detect and neutralise anti-tank mines but also engage in combat. The MULE can be controlled remotely WITH A PLAYSTATION CONTROLLER!!!

PackBot

So called because it can be carried in a soldier's backpack, the PackBot claims to be a miltary man's best friend. PackBot will find a way under, over or through the most difficult locations including rocks, mud, gravel, stairs, logs, bombed buildings, caves and water. It can dig, tunnel and fall from helicopters. There are various versions of PackBots for different missions ranging from surveillance, mine clearance, reconnaissance, bomb clearance, first response, inspections, examine suspect vehicles, excavation. One of PackBots' stand-out features is its ‘flippers’ which give the machine 360 degrees rotation and allow it to traverse all terrain. PackBot is capable of speeds up to nearly six miles per hour.

Predators

There are a number of Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) being used for surveillance, reconnaissance and the deployment of missiles and bombs. The RQ-1 Predator is able to distribute surveillance imagery from radar, video cameras and a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) in real time to soldiers on the front line or globally via satellite links. The MQ-1 Predator comes with extra AGM-114 Hellfire missiles for a slightly more assertive mission. The MQ-9 Reaper Predator, operational in Afghanistan, can fly up to 50,000 feet and carry four Hellfire II anti-armour missiles and two laser-guided bombs (GBU-12 or GBU-12) as well as 500 pounds of direct attack munition. Pilots are able to fly Predators remotely from simulators thousands of miles from the aircraft's deployment.

Raven

The Raven is a tiny little UAV with a big reputation. It is launched into the air by hand much like a model aeroplane. Once airbourne the Raven can fly autonomously using GPS navigation or be controlled remotely from the ground. The Raven has three different cameras attached to the nose of the plane and a side mounted Infra Red camera providing live coverage. The Raven has between 45 and 60 minutes of battery time and lands by autopilot not requiring a landing strip. The Raven has a range of over six miles and can fly up to 15000 feet at a speed of 60mph. Plus it's small enough to keep in your rucksack.

SWORDS

Special Weapons Observation Reconnaissance Detection System (SWORDS) robots are currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. If you ever saw Short Circuit (see the trailer at the top of this answer!!) you will know the type of machine we are talking about. Built on a standard TALON (see next robot) chasis the robot can be mounted with a choice of several big guns including an M-16 rifle, machine gun, a grenade or rocket launchers capable of taking out a tank. SWORDS have been used to secure checkpoints and conduct armed reconnaissance. Though they love to shoot they are not autonomous and still need humans to press the right buttons from a remote distance.

TALON

The TALON began life in Bosnia as a robotic mine detector and clearer. Its gripping arm could identify and neutralise roadside bombs. Now, however, the TALON is a much meaner machine. Loaded with various weapons including rocket launchers, grenade launchers and machine guns. The TALON can also function under water. Soldiers control the TALON with virtual reality goggles from distances as far as 1800 metres.

What Are The Most Bizarre Vending Machine Items?

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:34:42 +0100

Vending machines are typically known as the best place to get an overpriced bottle of soda, or some chips that never quite replace the 2 meals you’ve missed that day. In our narrow way of thinking, we tend to think of vending machines as small, mechanized snack food dispensaries and nothing more. We in the Western world tend to be a little unimaginative with our vending machines. We think a vending machine with a credit card slot is a massive leap forward when it’s not even close to the astoundingly strange, yet magnificently cool vending machines that are actually out there. Here are some of them.

Live Bait Vending Machine

Are you the type of person that will be walking around your city on your lunch break when you are suddenly overcome with the insatiable urge to go fishing? If you are then you had better hope that you don’t live near one of these things because your mysterious post-lunch disappearance from work will either get your fired, or will spark a 12 state manhunt for you, depending, of course, on whether or not your office is filled with over-reacting lunatics or not.

Porn Vending Machine

Instantly and readily available porn magazines in public places is far from the greatest idea ever. I mean, this can only cater to the young and randy teenage boy market, or the street wandering sex maniac demographic – two markets that are ethically challenged and are libel to perform some rather unsavory sexual acts in said public places. There are no soccer moms grappling with their fidgety Riddlin-hungry kids stopping on the way to McDonalds to pick up some magazines filled with naked women presumably doing very lude and lascivious acts that may or may not involve men and animals. My guess is that these things exist solely to anger and tempt sex addicts on the way to their group meetings.

Tie Vending Machine

Here’s the scenario: You’re a high-powered business man with your totally awesome brick cell phone. You’ve got your briefcase loaded with all manner of documents, memos, stock projections, and contracts. You’re racing down the street with your totally sweet Armani jacket billowing in the wind. You’re in a mad dash to make it to the office because you’re late for your meeting with the Japanese firm that, under a contractual technicality, can actually kill you if you’re late for work. Half way to the office you realize something horrible: You forgot to put on a tie. If you walk in to work with no tie, the Japanese conglomerate that can technically kill you if you’re late can technically kill you for not sporting a spiffy tie. In your moment of panic filled realization your life flashes before your eyes. Just before you decided to take your own life with a brick cell phone to the cranium, you spot the one thing that will save you…a vending machine filled with ties. Why is it filled with ties and not delicious candies and treats? Who knows? But it has ties in it and ties are what you need to save your life. You slip in your cash, a tie is dispensed. You race up 48 floors to your office (because your elevator is broken). The Japanese firm that can technically kill you if you are not wearing a tie has a representative there that day. He complements you on your tie. It. IS.AWESOME. And so are you. But you were late, so he kills you.

Fortune Telling Vending Machine

Real fortune tellers are generally pretty useless. They usually play off of generalities and commonalities that all humans share. Once they zero in on just what you want to hear, they go in for the kill and offer you the most generic fortune possible. A fortune telling vending machine strips all of the theatrics and just treats you the same way a human fortune teller would if they were to cut the crap and just spin a wheel of fortunes (so to speak) and then ask for money.

Egg Vending Machines

Eggs, dude. EGGS! Quick! You have onions. You have bacon. You peppers. You have potatoes. You have everything you need for your signature “Start the day with a kick-ass omelet” omelet. But there is one thing you forgot to pick up from the grocery store. Eggs. Eggs, dude. You forgot the eggs. You can’t possibly be expected to supply a steady stream of prompt ass kicking throughout the day if you don’t have your “Start the day with a kick-ass omelet” omelet. What do you do? Go to a store that sells eggs? NO! What is this? The 17th century?! No! It’s the double-zeros or whatever we’re calling this decade! It’s time to get futuristic with your egg delivery system. Head to the egg vending machine and pop in some coins. When a sufficient number of coins have been deposited, simply push a button and a little window will spring open. In side this magical never land of a vending machine is a sack of eggs. Totally awesome farm fresh eggs, dude! You’ve got your eggs. You’ve got your omelet. You’re ready to kick ass.

The Used Panties of Japanese Schoolgirls

Let’s just cut right to the chase: If you use this machine, you are a crazy person. There are no 2-ways about it. You are sick and twisted and a little dangerous. There is absolutely no need – none whatsoever – to make the previously worn underwear of teenage girls an item you might pick up on a whim while walking your dog. Even if you have a practical reason for it, it’s still insane. You will not be a good parent if your daughter asked you to buy her some underwear, so you go get her someone else’s from a machine. This machine probably caters to the same market as the porn vending machine above. Perverts and sickos. No one else. Thankfully, these things don’t exist anymore. Or, at least they aren’t supposed to. If you walk the streets of Osaka you may still catch a fleeting glimpse of one as you run in fear from the crazy crowd of sex offenders that surround it.

What Is The Difference Between A Biological And Non-biological Washing Powder ?

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:58:34 +0100

A biological washing powder contains enzymes which break down stains and dirt whilst in the wash. A non-biological washing powder does not contain these enzymes and this is the major difference.

Biology Big Brother

Sometimes the enzymes may be artificially created so that they are more able to remove stains, particularly ones which are very deep and dried on to the fabric. Some people with very sensitive skin may find it better to use a non-biological powder, although this may not be as effective at getting rid of stains ! In terms of the environmental impact, neither system is perfect. Whilst the enzymes contained in a biological wash powder may take longer to disperse within the environment, the temperatures for washing can be lower than for a non-biological powder. The non-bio powder could take a higher temperature to do the same wash, which uses more electricity and water and this also has an environmental impact.

What Are The Most Dangerous Pets In The World?

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:27:00 +0100

For some people keeping an ordinary pet is unthinkable. They would no more settle for a kitten as a pet than some people would chose to drive a mini-van. It’s all about finding a companion that is as unique as they are, and in this quest many chose exotic critters that are as dangerous as they are rare.

Alligators and Caimans

^{Awww how cute! Sort of. I suppose. People like these?} Alligators and Caimans start off life as adorable little guys who look just darling as they hiss try to gnaw on your thumb. They fit in the palm of your hand and are just ugly enough to be cute, thus avoiding the fate of becoming matching luggage or a Hollywood starlet’s new purse. The trouble is, they don’t stay tiny and darling. No matter what that seedy pet salesman tells you, confining an alligator or caiman will not stop it from growing, and no amount of handling and tummy rubs will ever convert your wild carnivore into a snugly, cuddly fellow that can sleep at the foot of your bed. Caimans grow to 6-7 feet, while male alligators can be expected to hit the 12-13 foot mark. No matter what you do, big Al just isn’t going to fit in your bathtub by the time he’s a teenager.

^{Not shown: 2 minutes later when the knot comes undone and chaos ensues.} With a lifespan of up to 70 years, expensive dietary requirements and a tendency to bite the hand that feeds it, these toothy reptiles are not for the faint of heart. Attacks by pet caimans and alligators are not often reported, because many of the pets are illegally owned, and frankly it’s embarrassing to admit that your kick-ass pet tried to eat you, your family members or your neighbour’s dog Fluffy. Still, there are enough maulings each year to make sure that these predators made the list of pets you do not want to own without investing in life insurance.

Big Cats

^{See how cute and cuddly? He won't try to eat his owner for at least another year.} Tabby cats are one thing, but there are folks who prefer the company of lions, tigers and other exotic members of the cat family. Since the well publicized 2003 attack by Montecore, one of Siegfried and Roy’s beloved white tigers, the dangers of owning these beautiful and deadly hunters has become well known. There are currently as many captive tigers living in zoos, menageries and backyards as there are living wild on the entire planet, and nearly all of them are dangerous. In the United States alone there have been over 200 mauling incidents involving captive big cats since 1990, 21 of them fatal.

^{Not so cute when the grow up.} Like alligators, big cats are hunters and carnivores and their need to hunt is as powerful as a teen-aged boy’s need to eat every 20 minutes. They are powerful, well armed by Mother Nature and they have as much in common with today’s domestic house cat as a Pomeranian has with a Dingo. Most of these cats weigh in at at least 100 lbs, but the largest species, the Siberian Tiger can be as large as 600 lbs. You can’t just toss one of these guys a ball of string and call it a day; they need a large enclosure, proper diet and a lot of things to keep them busy so you can keep yourself off the menu. Even the most experienced handlers can suddenly have a cat turn on them, and when a carnivore gets cranky, people tend to bleed.

Snakes

^{Snakeskin furniture. Caution, may eat user.} No list of dangerous pets would be complete without including serpents, both the venomous and constrictor species. In this case the word “pet” is a bit of a misnomer, because last time I checked, pets were supposed to be attached to their owners and provided some level of companionship. Scientists state that snakes are non-social and do not form affectionate bonds, making them more like your college roommate than your childhood pet. Between 1990 and 2008 in the United States, 16 people were killed by captive venomous snakes. The vast majority of snake bites are non-fatal when treated, so the true number of people put in hospital after a love bite from their fork tongued friends is far higher. 8 people have been killed by constrictor type snakes in the same time frame, making constrictors statically less likely to snuff out their owner’s life than their venomous kin. There are no numbers on how many boas and pythons snacked on neighbourhood pets instead of their two legged keepers, or how many folks died of heart failure after finding an escaped constrictor in their supposedly snake free home. Exotic snakes are not just dangerous to their owners either; they can do a great deal of damage to the local ecosystem if released into the wild by an irresponsible handler who tires of them. In Florida, young Burmese pythons are a hot commodity, but once they reach a fraction of their potential size of 20 feet, many owners are abandoning them into the Everglade swamplands. They are eating other endangered species, threatening to destabilize the entire ecosystem, and even consume the resident alligators, sometimes with disastrous results.

^{Fatal case of indigestion}

Monkeys and Apes

^{When he gets bigger he's going to need primate therapy over this picture.} More than a dozen attacks involving pet primates have occurred since 1990, meaning these little guys have been up to more much more than just monkey business. The most common report seems to be monkeys or apes biting their owners or escaping and going on a banana fuelled rampage, destroying property and in one case actually attacking a police officer. Often bought as a surrogate child by the desperate or lonely, or by those who somehow think that there is nothing creepy about dressing a primate up in a tutu parading around the neighbourhood.

^{He was forced to wear a dress once too often.} Monkeys and apes commonly become increasingly aggressive as they mature. Most monkeys have a life span of 30 years, and apes can live 50 in captivity, meaning they are a life long commitment for an owner, especially once they reach maturity and pass the “cute and cuddly” stage.

Bears

^{Bear, beer, hot tub. No way this could go horribly wrong...} In defiance of most people’s basic survival instincts and despite such charming adages as “hungry as a bear” and “mean as a bear”,some people keep these notoriously dangerous omnivores as pets. Most commonly kept are Black bears, which are smaller and more docile than Grizzlies, though still quite capable of taking down a full grown adult human if they feel the urge. Since 1990 there have been 3 reported fatalities caused by American held pet bears, and many times that number in non-fatal maulings. These attacks are usually brought on by the owner or a family friend trying to get snugly with this living, breathing teddy bear, forgetting that human’s are not friends but food and real bears don’t specialize in picnic basket related shenanigans.

Adult male black bears can weigh over 600 lbs, while adult grizzly bears can tip the scales at a nightmarish 1000 lbs depending on their geographical location. All that fuzzy ferocity was not meant to be penned up and most exotic animal trainers consider bears to be the most unpredictable and dangerous of the animals they train.

What Is A Sea Cucumber?

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:32:15 +0100

Sea cucumbers are part of the Holothuroidea family and can be found on the seabed in oceans/seas throughout the world. Despite their name suggesting they look like cucumbers, they look more like slugs although they are slightly more sausage shaped and they often have a very warty skin.

Ed Bierman

They are basically scavengers, who live on the sea bed and eat debris which drifts down there, usually plankton. They are an interesting animal because they basically breathe in through drawing water through their anus and then expelling it. Within the cuisines of the far east, in particular Japan, they are considered a great delicacy. In Russia they are also 'farmed' to maximize production. They are also regarded as having great healing properties within Eastern medicine. Recently this has started to become of interest to western pharmaceutical companies. The sea cucumber is said to assist with tissue repair from injuries and to significantly reduce scarring.

What Is The Origin Of The Superstition About The Number 13?

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:36:59 +0100

The number 13 has a long history of being unlucky. As a result, most hotels don’t have 13 floors, most planes don’t have a 13^th row, and airports rarely boast a Gate 13. There are a few theories about the ominous nature of this number.

Judas, the betrayer of Jesus, was the 13^th member present at the Last Supper and is commonly cited as the main reason 13 is to be avoided. In ancient Rome a witch’s coven comprised 12, with the 13^th being the devil. There is also a Norse myth about 12 gods dining who are joined by a 13^th uninvited guest, Loki, who proceeds to persuade the God of Darkness to slay the God of Happiness. Numerologists consider the number 12 to be a ‘complete number’ because it is the number of months in a year, the number of Olympian gods, the number of apostles etc and so 13 can simply be thought of as avoidable because it exceeds a complete number by one. In contrast, the Chinese and the Egyptians consider the number 13 lucky. Sikhs believe 13 is a special number based on a legend about Guru Nanak Dev and also because 13 is tera in Punjabi which means ‘yours’ as in ‘I am yours, O Lord’. Ancient Egyptians associated the number 13 with eternal afterlife. For them, 13 symbolized death: But a glorious and desirable death. It’s possible that this association with death carried on but the positive nature of it did not.

What Is Deposit Insurance?

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:18:44 +0100

Deposit insurance is a guarantee provided by the government to all citizens, which stipulates that part of their money deposited in bank accounts would be insured, even if the financial institution goes bankrupt.

Photos8.com

There are, however, some very important restrictions which apply to deposit insurance. First, in most cases only deposits in the country's national currency are normally insured. This means that if an American citizen deposits $10,000 on his/her savings account, this amount would be guaranteed by the US government, even if the bank becomes insolvent the next day. However, if the same US citizen deposits €10,000 in a foreign currency account provided by a licensed bank, the investor stands to lose his/her euro savings, if the financial institution goes bankrupt, as the government will not refund this amount. In the US, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) provides citizens a degree of financial safety, as long as their funds are kept in American dollars. But there is another very important restriction to keep in mind as well. The FDIC only provides protection up to a maximum of $250,000 for each client at a given bank. As such, those who have a larger savings are usually advised to split their money between registered banks, in order to ensure that their entire fortune is protected.

What Are The Best Cities To Live In?

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:42:22 +0100

There are two annual surveys of living conditions that determine “the world’s most livable cities”, the Mercer Quality of Living Survey and The Economists’s World’s Most Livable Cities. Mercer’s survey is released annually and values criteria such as safety, education, hygiene, recreation, political-economic stability, and public transportation. These lists play a significant role in whether internationally operating companies will choose to open offices or plants in certain cities and what they will pay their employees there. In 2009, Mercer’s determined that Vienna, Austria was the top city to live in.

glen edelson

It was closely followed by Zurich, Switzerland;

paalia

Geneva, Switzerland;

jon gos

and then a tie between Vancouver, Canada

D'Arcy Norman

and Aukland, New Zealand

thinboyfatter

making up 4th and 5th place. Then followed three German cities, Dusseldorf, Munich and Frankfurt followed by Bern, Switzerland; and Sydney, Australia in 10th. The Economist uses data from the Mercer consulting group, but their top list for 2009 was slightly different. Their number one city to live in was Vancouver, Canada followed by Vienna; Melbourne, Australia; Toronto, Canada; Perth, Australia and Calgary, Canada (tie); Helsinki, Finland; Geneva, Sydney, and Zurich (3-way tie).

What Is The Origin Of The Superstition Of Going Trick-or-treating On Halloween?

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:15:58 +0100

Although going out ‘trick or treating’ is now predominantly a children’s Hallowe’en tradition involving chocolate and candy, the practice of dressing up and going door-to-door has a long history. The Druids believed that on October 31^st the dead would rise from their graves to visit their old homes. People would put offerings, usually of fruit or nuts, out to try to appease these spirits and save their homes and selves from harm at the hands of the wandering souls.

In the Middle Ages the poor would go door-to-door and this act was called ‘souling’. This was practiced on Hallowmas, November 1^st. They would receive food in return for making prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (November 2^nd). This was common in Ireland and Britain but similar traditions relating to the souls of the dead were also practiced in southern Europe. Despite the popularity of Hallowe’en trick-or-treating in the USA it seems that souling was never practiced in North America. The tradition of wearing costumes or masks dates back to the Celts who would try to mimic the evil spirits in order to appease them. Scottish men would impersonate the dead by dressing in white and masking their faces or painting them black. As it was in the 1930s that Hallowe’en celebrations became common in North America, it is likely that the British and Irish immigrants from the late 19^th century brought traditions with them that evolved into what is now called ‘trick-or-treating’, a practice that has only been recently (1980s) introduced to the UK.

How Do You Control A Barking Dog?

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:10:48 +0100

Controlling a barking dog can be done in various ways. It is often a matter of training it not to bark. If the dog barks when you are out, causing nuisance to your neighbours, then it needs to learn that it should not do this.

DVIDSHUB

Get it used to you going out of the house and coming back in. When you come back in tell it not to bark and make sure that it is quiet before you leave the house. Reward it when it is quiet. Repeat this ten or twelve times a day so that it does not feel abandoned. If it barks when you are in the house together, always tell it to stop barking and always reward it when it does (this goes for when you are out with the dog as well). If all else fails you can buy a dog collar which will emit a sound inaudible to humans but which can be heard by the dog. This will train it not to bark through an association with barking making a noise it does not like. But it is better to try and use training techniques first.

What Is The Origin Of The Superstition About A Lucky Rabbit's Foot?

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 05:58:52 +0100

The practice of carrying a lucky rabbit’s foot dates back to about 600 BC making it one of the oldest traditions. This superstition was prevalent in the southern United States particularly among African Americans and so may well have arrived in the USA with African slaves.

Many cultures have believed rabbits and hares to be symbols of fertility and abundance. Rabbits tend to be particularly active in spring which is a hopeful time of year when life seems to be bursting with renewal. They also reproduce easily and in great numbers. Rabbits were considered sacred prior to 600 BC because of a belief that spirits inhabited the bodies of animals. European Celts also held this belief and thought that the amount of time rabbits spent underground indicated they were inhabited by underground spirits. A number of cultures have been known to use a rabbit’s foot in herbalism and folk magic. As rabbits are considered lucky in so many areas, particularly those that once did or currently practice animism, the foot is the easiest way to keep this lucky creature with you at all times. Also, when a rabbit runs it’s back feet touch the ground before their forefeet and so many people believe this makes their back feet lucky.

How Many Things On Tomorrow's World Actually Got Made?

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 08:57:07 +0100

The television programme Tomorrow’s World first launched on the BBC on 7 July 1965, the day before Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs escaped from prison. Tomorrow’s World failed to predict this. Yet on that first ever broadcast the show, which was to popularise science through a combination of fascinating first sights of new technologies and disastrous live transmissions, declared the future would be run by robots, computers and lasers. Oh yeah, it later said that we would all be eating worms. Still there were more than a shedload of inventions that premiered on TW which are still with us today here in this near perfect vision of what everyone once called earth. Here are some of them (in alphabetical order!):

The Barcode Reader

Beep beep beep. Black and white lines would revolutionise shopping, host Maggie Philbin stated to a hypnotised and slightly nauseous public. Then came Tesco, shopping on Sundays and the end of the church.

The Breathalyser

In the past people got drunk and drove home. Then they woke up wondering why their car was in the living room. Former Spitfire flying presenter Raymond Baxter ended this when he demonstrated how crystals changed colour depending on how much alcohol was breathed on them. The breathalyser was born. The drunk driver was arrested.

The Bucking Bronco

In 1978 TW visited a cowboy college in Dallas. Amongst a crowd of spotty cowboys in Velvet Underground and Ramones tshirts longest-serving presenter Judith Hann tried out a new apparatus built to test the rodeo skills of the very best bull tamer. The horned robot could be set at different speeds and was later seen at frat parties all across the West.

The Camcorder

The 80s were Camcorder crazy. In 1981 TW was explaining how two machines (the camera and the video recorder) had become one. Progress was fast leading to everyone buying the wrong machines and staring at piles of Betamax tapes instead of the television. It was a good time.

Cash Machines

Invisible banking, cashless societies and the ATM (automated teller machine or cash machine) were ideas all first aired on TW. There was even a demonstration of ‘chip and pin’ transactions, in the 60s!

CCTV

In only TW’s third programme Raymond Baxter did an Orwell. ‘Robot television cameras’ would be placed in strategic positions to deter robberies, he said while worrying that privacy would be infringed. They were and it was. Still he never wrote a book about it.

Ceefax

TW might not have predicted the internet, but it did tell viewers all about Ceefax which had been developed by the BBC. The same station that produced TW. Other predictions on that show included some music, darkness and probably sleep. Amongst other things Ceefax did give insomniacs two repeating news stories to read once the national anthem had finished.

The Clockwork Radio

One of the more recent inventions featured on TW was the clockwork radio. Inventor Trevor Baylis explained how, with a little bit of arm power, music and news could be available to anyone day and night. After his spot on the show the clockwork radio was singing all over Africa.

The Compact Disc

Music would never sound the same again. Plus it would be indestructible. To prove this in 1981 presenter Kieran Prendiville (later creator of Ballykissangel!) smeared a Bee Gees disc with strawberry jam. It still played.

The Digital Camera

It never worked. How could it work, it wasn't even in the studio. There was no digital camera. But way before anyone had linked photographs with computers TW was talking about it. It would happen. Even if no-one was quite sure how.

The Digital Watch

In 1970 Swiss chemical firm Hoffman La Roche patented liquid crystal display (LCD).In 1972 Judith Hann said the future was digital. She was talking about clocks and watches. She was right. Then TV went digital. It was something different but Judith had predicted it. Kind of.

The Fax Machine

There might be some people who don’t even know what a fax is anymore. A fax is like a scanner with email. Or a photocopier attached to a computer. It was important for about two and a half years. They made futuristic whirring and beeping sounds a bit like a washing machine having sex with a microwave. No-one quite knew what faxes were. The commercial fax was first shown on TW. People got excited. Then they forgot about it.

Fibre-Optics

Fibre-optics are now so widely used that no-one has a clue what they are. It’s the same as electricity. So when communicating with fine strands of light-carrying glass instead of copper was discussed as a real idea of the future on an early edition of TW viewers chuckled.

Global Positioning System (GPS)

All old technology is massive. It’s one of the rules. GPS navigation was performed on TW but it came in a massive computer in the boot of a four door saloon. The A-Z was safe in the glove-box for another twenty years.

The Home Computer

On the very first show, TW featured two Essex schoolboys learning to use a computer in their school. A couple of years later the programme investigated Europe’s first home computer terminal. The machine, which included an electric typewriter, a diary and a calculator, could send and receive messages and check bank balances. Raymond Baxter predicted every home would have one. He didn’t say when.

The Hovercraft

TW thought amphibious vehicles were the future. And they were. Passenger hovercrafts later shuttled customers across the English Channel. Still Raymond Baxter was disappointed that the full potential of the great machine was never fully utilised over land. People would later be transported by high-speed train to Paris through a 'Channel Tunnel'. TW had said this would happen twenty years earlier.

In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF)

Judith Hann was a real scientist which meant the bits no-one else watched really interested her. Becoming a champion for IVF Judith helped many would-be parents get the advice and information they so desperately sought. Later shows would talk about too many people living on the planet.

Kraftwerk

German synth combo Kraftwerk were always from the future. They still are. Back in 1975 they were live on TW making robot sounds.

Laser Surgery

TW was never squeamish when it came to its predictions. From the very first show there were predictions about advances in medicine. It became a core part of the show’s success covering pioneering laser surgery on the brain of a woman with Parkinson’s, live laser eye surgery and controversial heart surgery. Quite a lot of people died in the heart one.

The Mobile Phone

The mobile phone’s first ever television appearance was filmed live on TW in 1977. The phone rang. The presenter answered it. It was a wrong number.

The Mouse With The Human Ear

Just as people were tucking into their futuristic Micro Chips, Dr Charles Vacanti and his team at the University of Massachusetts popped up on the show with a new human ear; it was grafted on to the back of a mouse. Eek! Grown from human cartilage cells, the achievement became a major scoop for TW and was broadcast all over the world. The mouse was a star.

The Personal Stereo

In 1980 music went mobile. Viewers looked at their record players and tutted. This new walking around with a cassette player and a pair of headphones with pink hair and funny coloured socks would never catch on. But it did. It was just the music that was crap.

Phone Cards

Back when there were phone boxes that weren’t just for tramps a common problem was loose change. These were the days of one pound notes and half penny coins. So TW featured a neat looking plastic card that could be used in special phone booths. It could also cut vandalism since there would be less cash in phone boxes to be nicked. Tramps everywhere looked confused, mainly as a result of being tramps.

Pocket Calculators

One of the stars of TW was inventor Sir Clive Sinclair. Back in the 80s he invented the Sinclair C5, a battery operated electric car bike type thing. It was stupid. But in the 70s he’d already come up with the pocket calculator. He introduced it on TW and soon everyone had one. No-one kept it in their pockets.

Pong

Video games weren’t so good in the beginning. Two sticks, a ball and one shared space beep. But Raymond Baxter enjoyed playing it on the show with his American wife Sylvia. Later he would demonstrate a new bulletproof vest with a gun and an assistant. Sylvia was unavailable.

Suspenderless Stockings

TW wasn't all science. Or else no-one would have watched it. In between the microscopes and radiation were women’s legs and the age old question: How do you keep a stocking in place without a suspender? Fat legs and lard were two wrong answers.

Uri Geller

In the 1970s TW investigated the subject of Extra Sensory Perception (ESP) and inadvertently thrust spoon-bender and future best friend of Michael Jackson Uri Geller into the public consciousness. Geller would later demonstrate the power of the mind by becoming quite famous. He went on to bend keys.

Some of the things that didn't quite work out:

Worms as food, the floating bicycle, paper underpants, waterproof paper, the sheep-shearing robot, the snooker-playing robot, the portable bath, the paper suit, the glow-in-the-dark fishing rod, interplanetary etiquette, pills for an all-chemical meal, centrally-heated ski poles, squash ball warmers, real plants that double as television aerials.

How Should A Beginner Train For A Marathon?

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:28:05 +0100

A marathon is 26.2 miles, so even those who run 3- 8 miles a few times a week to keep fit still need to ‘train’ for a marathon.

Paul Keleher

There are a number of running schedules to be found in running magazines and online as well as suggested meals. If you are a beginner – generally fit (see your doctor if you’re not sure) but not a regular ‘runner’ – then your first focus is to get used to running regularly to build endurance. Don’t worry about speed. Find a friend to run with if you can. It’s usually very helpful to follow a structured training schedule to avoid temptation to run too much (beginner’s over-enthusiasm) or too little (which can lead to panic as race day looms). Following a 16-week training schedule will get most beginners ready to go. Usually week 1 through 5 will have 3 ‘rest’ days and 4 running days. Most schedules will begin with 20 minutes of jogging (during which you can walk if you need to, but stop your watch if you do) on Mon, Weds, and Sat with a one hour ramble/walk on Sunday. The ramble should increase from week 2 - 4 to 90 minutes while your jogging days can be 20 – 25 mins. By week 5 the 90 minute ramble can continue or you can run/walk a 10k race. This will give you race-running experience. By week 7 your Sunday should be 8 miles (walking when necessary); week 8 should be a ½ marathon or a 2 hr jog/walk. Weeks 9 – 14 should include a timed session once a week (i.e. 3 x 1 mile) and only 2 rest days. Sundays are 8 – 12 mile slow runs and another 10k and ½ marathon. Week 15 you should practice your prep for the marathon and run for 50 mins at marathon pace. Week 16 should be 3 easy, 20 minute runs (one in your race kit) with the race on the weekend.

How Long Did It Take The Titanic To Sink After It Hit The Iceberg?

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:04:33 +0100

It took the Titanic two hours and forty minutes to sink, after hitting the iceberg at 11:40 pm on the night of April 14 1912. Titanic had already received warnings of icebergs from the steamer SS Amerika and also the Mesaba, but unfortunately, both warnings weren't delivered to the correct place.

cliff1066

After the iceberg was spotted by lookouts, warnings were sent to the bridge, and an attempt to turn and reverse the ship went wrong, ending in a collision between the right side of the ship and the iceberg. The ship's creator, Thomas Andrews and a few others carried out an inspection on the ship after the collision, and from this it became clear that the sinking of the Titanic was inevitable. After the inspection, a distress signal was sent out, and lifeboats were readied just after midnight, with the first one being lowered just after 12.40 am on April 15, 1912.

Why Is Dubai Called An Open City?

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:32:28 +0100

Dubai is generally referred to as being an 'open' city because although it is situated within the Muslim Gulf States, it is more relaxed about certain values compared to other Gulf states. For example, women are able to wear 'western' style clothes and alcohol is permitted. It is also easier to travel there as a tourist.

Faithful Chant

However, within other Gulf States, where the state is more traditionally Muslim, women, whether tourists or residents are expected to dress modestly and to avoid showing too much flesh. Alcohol restrictions are also in place and depending on the state can be hard to access. Dubai is generally viewed as being more open to tourists who do not have to adapt their dress codes, alcohol intake or general outlook in order to visit this country. Nevertheless the more traditional Gulf States can offer tourists a fascinating insight into a complex Islamic Society.

Can Lightning Travel Upwards?

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 06:46:26 +0100

Lightening can travel ‘upwards’. Huge jets can travel more than 60 km (40 miles) into the ionosphere. This type of lightning is known as “gigantic jets” and are as powerful as the more common cloud-to-ground lightning bolts. This phenomena was photographed near Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. This type of lightning is relatively uncommon and scientists are yet to discover what type of storm is most likely to produce gigantic jets. The jets are capable of delivering electric charge into the upper atmosphere. This is comparable to ground lightning but the charge actually travels faster and further because there is less resistance in the thinner air up between the clouds and the ionosphere provides less resistance. Gigantic jets occur very quickly and the only way to get a photo of them is to have a camera ready for the exact time they occur. The recently captured images were caught by chance. A low-light, high speed camera is necessary to capture relatively clear images, but you also need quick reflexes and good luck.

How Do You Pick The Best Watermelon?

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 06:09:17 +0100

To choose the best watermelon, first look for one that doesn’t look too dented or bruised. Once you’ve found one you like the look of, pick it up. It should feel quite heavy for it’s size. Now that you’re holding the melon, turn it around. Although you picked a melon that looked good in the pile, you should be able to find a creamy, yellow spot or patch on its underside. A yellow patch means that the melon was left to ripen on the vine – this is the spot that was on the ground and never saw sunlight – and so it has the best chance of being very tasty. Watermelons that are picked before they are ripe (as with most fruits and vegetables) will have lost nutrients and exposure to sunlight and therefore flavour.

Watermelon can be stored for up to 3 days on the counter. It’s best to put it in the fridge to chill the day before you plan to eat it. You can also chop the watermelon up immediately and store what isn’t used in a sealed container in the fridge. Eating watermelon is an excellent way to stay hydrated because about one cup of watermelon contains 92% water. They are also packed full of vitamins including A, C, and B6 which help boost your immune system to fight off colds and viruses, and also cope with stress.

How Many Chromosomes Does A Human Cell Have?

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:31:31 +0100

A human body cell, such as those that make up skin, kidney tissue, heart tissue and blood vessels all contain 46 chromosomes. The chromosomes are arranged in pairs, so that each cell has 23 pairs. In females, each of the pairs are identical but in males, one pair, the sex chromosomes are different. While women have two X chromosomes, men have and X chromosome and a Y chromosome.

Image Editor

Each chromosome contains, on average, 4000 genes and in total, the human genome consists of about 30 000 genes. There are two cell types that are exceptions to the rule of having 23 pairs of chromosomes - gametes, otherwise known as sex cells have only 23 individual chromosomes - they have half the normal complement of genes and chromosomes. This is because when the female gamete, the egg, is fertilised by the male gamete, the sperm, the two individual sets of chromosomes come together to form a fertilised egg with the full 23 pairs, one pair from each parent.

What Are The Strangest Restaurants In The World?

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:21:44 +0100

A lot of restaurants try to get you in their seats by dressing the place up with some road signs or sports memorabilia or maybe a random assortment of trinkets that defiantly refuses to conform to any one cohesive theme. There are other restaurants, though, that take this theme restaurant idea well beyond some festive wall decoration. Instead, they convert their restaurant in to the edible version of a Disney attraction. Eating at these places is no longer something you do for sustenance. You do it for the experience. The food is practically an after-thought. Granted, some of them are kind of crazy…

Modern Toilet

Go ahead, just admit it. It’s okay. It’s natural. A lot of us want to eat poop out of a toilet. But we can’t. First of all, it’s just gross. That’s a give in. Secondly, you may not be aware of this but poop is only good for your health if it’s coming out of you. Going in, not so much. This is why Modern Toilet exists. When you visit this Taiwanese restaurant you will be seated in a seat that is a toilet seat. A decorative toilet seat, of course. The tables themselves are bathroom sinks, and the meals are served in mini-toilet bowls. The drinks come served in (what else?) a plastic urinal. If the thought of eating noodles out of a toilet and drinking out of a urinal grosses you out, then do not order the ice cream because it comes served in a toilet bowl…and the ice cream itself is a delicious swirl of chocolate frozen yogurt.

Dinner in the Sky

“AHHHHH! THIS STEAK IS DELICIOUS BUT—BUT…AHHHHHHH!” is the general reaction of those that eat at the traveling restaurant called Dinner in the Sky. Dinner in the Sky is one of the most absurd experiences one can have while eating, and perhaps the most terrifying as you and your party of up to 22 are no longer confined to the restrictions of a building. The entire table is suspended via crane 165 feet in to the air with a server at the center making sure you are properly attended to. In terms of pricing, Dinner in the Sky is what one can consider “Are you insane?!” kind of money. $11,400 gets you their services for 8 hours, not including catering which is an independent cost that Dinner in the Sky has nothing to do with. On top of that, the insurance fees are extremely high; thereby securing the fact that you will probably never be able to afford to do this. Of course, you can always just heat up a frozen TV dinner and then climb a tree…

Eternity

Evidently, people in the Ukraine have a very morbid sense of humor. That or very morbid eating habits. Eternity is a death themed restaurant that was opened by the owners of a funeral parlor that wanted to give their customers some place to hang out before and after a funeral. So, taking this whole dead theme several thousand steps too far, the constructed a restaurant in the shape of a massive coffin. In this massive coffin are yet more coffins; these line the walls along with various other pieces of death-related paraphernalia. Their menu included such morbidly named salads such as the “Nine Day Salad” and “Forty Day Salad.” These names are taken from local death rituals that are normally involved with a Ukrainian funeral.

Cannibalistic Sushi

The western peoples of the world (save for your more trendy cities like New York and LA) have, historically, had a hard time with the idea of eating raw fish. In a probable attempt to get more westerners on the raw fish bandwagon, restaurants with a very particularly theme began to sprout. Nyotaimori is the serving of sushi and sashimi off of the naked body of a beautiful woman. Of course, once this concept made it to U.S. Shores, it became the hottest way for people to eat cold food. But then Nyotaimori underwent a bit of an evolution. In Japan, the restaurant called Cannibalistic Sushi decided to take this idea one step further. Instead of eating food off of a human body, why not eat from inside a human body? When you sit down, a fake human body is wheeled out on a gurney. When you cut in to this fake body fake blood pours out and the internal organs are then exposed. Once you have dissected the body, you can then go to town on the organs which are made of sushi that has been cut in to the shape of kidneys, livers, and various other organs.

Buns and Guns

“Sandwiches Can Kill You” is the slogan of this Beirut located restaurant that serves some typical sandwich shop type of foods, but it wraps the typically boring sandwich eating experience in camouflage, hands it an automatic rifle, and tosses it head first in to a hellish battlefield where people are losing limbs and being blown apart by bombs. In other words, its atmosphere is very cozy. "We wanted to create a new, attractive idea inspired from the events that our country went through," said the restaurant’s general manager to the L.A. Times. By this he means that the restaurant was created in the aftermath of a 2006 bombing. Why someone would want to commemorate such an event with a cool burger joint hangout is, arguably, a little strange, but, hey, Buns and Guns does it very well. All of the food has some kind of militaristic name attributed to it like the M16 Carbine meat sandwich, or the Mortar burger. This DMZ atmosphere is further perpetuated by the stacks of sandbags that line the outside of the restaurant and the constant aural barrage of helicopter and gunfire sound effects that blare throughout the place as you eat.

What Is The Origin Of The Spilling Salt Superstition?

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:51:25 +0100

Many people consider it bad luck to spill salt. This superstition does not have one clear origin, but there are a number of good theories that may explain how it developed into one.

Unlike today, salt was once very expensive and quite scarce. Imagine your meal without any salt and you will start to appreciate why this simple spice was once a hot commodity! So, spilling salt used to be extremely wasteful and a faux pas whilst at the dinner table and was certainly considered to be bad form. Wasting salt being termed ‘bad luck’ might have developed as a way to stop people from being careless at the dinner table. Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper shows that Judas – an Apostle who betrayed Jesus to the Jewish authorities in return for thirty pieces of silver – is shown to have accidentally spilled salt onto the table. Some Christian beliefs also claim that the Devil hangs about over the left, or sinister, side of the body waiting for an opportunity to invade. Those who believe in this see tossing some of the spilled salt over ones left shoulder is the equivalent to tossing it in the devil’s face to put off his attack.

What Were The Most Popular Films That Were Released Twenty Years Ago?

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:09:58 +0100

There were many top films that were released in 1989. One of the most notable films of that year was “Batman”. This film was the very first instalment in the “Batman” film series and was the second most successful film of that year. The most successful was “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”. The Disney comedy film “Honey I shrunk the Kids” was also released in 1989. Other popular films released twenty years ago include teenage black comedy “Heathers”, “Look Who's Talking”, “National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation”, “Dead Poets Society” and Disney's 28th animated feature film “The Little Mermaid”. The year 1989 was also a popular year for sequels. The second instalment of the “Back to the Future” series was released and was the third most successful film of that year. Other sequels included “Lethal Weapon 2”, “Ghostbusters 2”, “The Fly II” and “The Karate Kid Part III”. There were also many horror sequels “A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child”, “Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhatten” and “Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers”.

How Do You Get The Smell Of Garlic And Onions Off Your Hands?

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:36:40 +0100

Garlic and onions add fantastic flavour to dishes, but you don't want to smell them on your hands for the next day after cooking! The best way to quickly and easily get rid of the smell of garlic on your hands and fingers is to rub your fingers on stainless steel. A spoon or tap or sink basin is fine. Just rub the skin that touched the garlic on steel for a few seconds and the smell will be completely gone. Wash with soap and water after, if you like.

To get rid of the smell of onions, stainless steel helps but doesn't seem to entirely remove the smell. Instead, try rubbing your hands with coarse salt and then rinse with cool or cold water.

If you want to prevent onion-related tears and also minimize the amount of smell that gets on your fingers in the first place, try chopping them under water.

What Is A Moral Panic?

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:22:32 +0100

A moral panic occurs when an event or group emerges that rocks society’s boat the way that iceberg rocked the Titanic, threatening to capsize the values of the day and causing a panic that is utterly bewildering to those not caught up in the insanity.

_{It is a strange and new idea, thus it must be destroyed!} On some level everyone fears change. From the moment we are dragged screaming from our mother’s safe, warm womb and out into the cold reality of life, we treat every new experience with doubt and suspicion. After all, we tried creamed spinach didn’t we, and look how that turned out! Sometimes this resentment grows into a beast of fear and hostility that takes on a life of its own and runs rampant through the minds of normally sane men and women, turning them into a panicky mob looking for a place to plant their pitchforks.

Rock and Roll

_{The Satanic Ritual also known as the dreaded Sock Hop} In the wholesome 1950’s where housewives cooked pot roasts while dressed in heels and pearls, a terrifying new sound hit the airwaves. Called the devil’s music, Rock and Roll was blamed for everything from destroying the moral fibre of the day’s youth to an increase in premarital sex and deviant behaviour. Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and other crooners sent the watchdogs of society into a frothing panic as white men performed music that made them “sound black” and shattered cultural divides that had existed for generations. Truly the world was about to come to an end to the tune of “Hound Dog”. Church and community leaders accused the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) of organizing this new music as a diabolical plot to corrupt the values of white youth. The Ed Sullivan show could only show Elvis from the waist up to avoid his sexually charged hip gyrations, Connecticut ordered Fats Domino’s concert cancelled to prevent the rioting that will surely take place if young people are permitted to attend and the Everly Brother’s song “Wake up Little Susie” is banned from Boston’s airwaves for its purportedly lewd content. To this day Rock & Roll and the musical genres that it spawned are still accused of the same terrible crimes as fifty years ago, including accusations and a lawsuit claiming that Heavy Metal rock band Metallica’s song Fade to Black caused at least one person to commit suicide. Fundamentalist Christian organizations commonly accused rock bands of backmasking, a process used to insert satanic messages into songs which could only be heard when played backwards. If you’ve ever tried to play a record backwards, you’ll know what you can hear is more akin to the mating call of a moose, filtered through a tub full of jello than a set of satanic commands.

Dungeons and Dragons

_{Here there be dragons, and psychosis.} D&D is a role playing game created in the 1970’s and made popular in the 1980s, and is still very popular with nerds, geeks and basement dwellers today. Throughout its history this game of imagination and adventure has been plagued with accusations that it encourages satanic worship, sorcery and witchcraft. Ask a non-gamer about D&D and you’ll likely also get told that it causes depression, suicidal thoughts and can lead to schizophrenia and psychotic breaks. Is any of this true? No. But thanks to a full scale moral panic, many still believe that too much imagination creates Satanists and serial killers. Several people have written extensively on the dangers of role playing games, including Patricia Pulling, who sued TSR, the company that distributed D&D, claiming they were responsible for the suicide of her son. When her suit failed she formed the very lamely named organization BADD, Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons. Proving she was truly bothered aboug this innocent role playing game, she began a personal crusade that would last the rest of her life, despite such inconvenient issues as not having any true understanding of either D&D or the occult forces she claimed D&D recruited for. James Dallas Egbert III was the inadvertent cause of another wave of moral panic when he disappeared from the utility tunnels under the Michigan State University. Despite the fact that Egbert had never played D&D in his life, the private detective hired to find the missing youth remarked to the media it was his belief that Egbert had been playing a live action version of D&D at the time of his disappearance. Though entirely wrong, the media reported this as fact and soon it was the accepted story. In actuality Egbert had attempted suicide, failed, and had gone into hiding for a month while he recovered. This story led to the writing and airing of the movie “Monsters and Mazes”, a thinly fictionalized account of the Egbert case where the protagonist suffered from a psychotic break while playing D&D and could not separate reality from his fantasies.

Video Games

From the first time siblings beat each other black and blue over a game of Pong, the overly vigilant watchdogs of the status quo declared video games to be training tools for violence, mayhem and murder. Every game from Asteroids to Zaxxon was cited as dangerous, encouraging the day’s youth to spend hours committing acts of violence and destruction without any repercussion except the blowing of their entire allowance on their arcade orgies. In 1983 a video game arcade set to open in that same open minded state that banned rock concerts for fear of dance induced rioting, Connecticut. The arcades opponents declared that the store owner “would mesmerize their youngsters, rob them of their lunch money, provide them with a center for illicit drug traffic and cause the downfall of youth baseball, music lessons and, yes, the very Scholastic Aptitude Test scores of the community" (New York Times 27 Apr. 1983). They managed to forget to mention Satanism, but I’m sure it was an accidental oversight. By 1993 first person shooter games and games that depicted live action for the first time made for a more realistic gaming experience, and parental panic rose quickly. Senator Joseph Lieberman, champion of moral outrage and sworn enemy of electronic fun in all forms, declared that these games were the equivalent of R rated movies and were being marketed to children. Senatorial hearings were called, and leading members of the electronic entertainment industry were called on to answer for their magical technology and its corrupting content. After the hearings the gaming industry adopted a self-imposed rating system using a number of rating levels to depict a variety of content including violence and sexuality, ensuring kids everywhere would yearn for those games with the highest violence ratings and the promise of digitized sexuality. In 1999 the Columbine killings triggered yet another level of panic, as parents learned that the suspects in those shootings spent a great deal of time playing first person shooter games like Doom and Quake. The media fanned the flames of fear, and soon parents, activists and government officials alike were all declaring the incident the fault of video games that were actually training their children to be killers. President Clinton requested a study be done by the Surgeon General on the effects of video games and other media on children. The results made it clear that media violence of any kind had little to no impact on children’s behaviour. In fact it ranked video games as the tenth most significant risk factor, far below such elements as poverty, substance abuse, natural aggression and a violent upbringing. Since the report was made public it has been almost universally ignored by those who still wave their torches and howl in protest at the dangers of video games, because everyone knows you can’t trust science, after all they created video games in the first place.

What Are Some Real Life Examples Of Irony?

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:35:08 +0100

Merriam-Webster’s defines Irony as an “incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result.” We encounter little moments of irony in our daily lives. If I were to make up some, I would say that a Firehouse burning down out be ironic. An Olympic swimmer drowning in a bath tub would certainly be ironic.

Those, as I said, were made up. But life is funny. In fact, there is an old saying that states, “Life is not without a sense of irony.” This old saying is oh-so very true. Here are some examples.

Noisy Crows

In 2002, the town of Woodstock, Ontario in Canada was experiencing a terrible problem. Their town had become overrun with crows. Big and nasty black crows. Sure, they would cause an all around massive mess with their sizable poops that rained from the skies in truly epic fashion. But the biggest problem came not from the poop, but from their shrieking “CAW!” The sound of this massive crow population at nearly all hours of the day forced the town’s people to do something about it. They eventually hired a group of people that brought in hawks and owls to frighten them away. This was actually their second plan to get rid of the noisy crows. They’re first? Setting off a huge barrage of extremely loud fireworks. Irony indeed.

Don’t Drink the Water

Arnold Bennett was a largely successful English novelist that wrote dozens of books between 1898 and 1931. Bennett lived in Paris. At the time, Paris’ water supply had come under fire for not being safe to drink. Bennett used his celebrity to try to quell peoples’ fears. He took a big swig of water in front a large crowd to prove that the water was just fine and that nobody had anything to worry about. The water was contaminated with typhoid and he died shortly thereafter.

Buttons

In an attempt to create greater public awareness for toy safety, in 1974 the Consumer Product Safety Commission had 80,000 buttons created and passed out with the slogan “For kids’ sake, think toy safety” printed on them. It wasn’t the catchiest slogan out there, but it gets to the point. Not long later, the buttons were recalled due to “sharp edges, parts a child could swallow, and were coated with toxic lead paint.”

Dangerous Vegetation

Way back in the old-timey time of 2000, a tree branch fell off of a tree in Nevada City, California. This branch hit a power line on the way down and cut off power to the whole town for more than 30 minutes. During this 30 minuet long power outage there was a courtroom trial going on. The trial centered around the Pacific Gas and Electric Company and how they failed to trim vegetation around power lines.

The Tattoo

Samuel Worlin Moore walked in to a convenience story to purchase some sundries. To pay, he accidentally placed $200 on the counter and walked away. Realizing his error, he immediately rushed back in to retrieve the money. A short time later that same day, Moore stormed in to a grocery store with a gun and demanded money from the cashier. When a customer came up behind him, Moore ran away. When the police asked the cashier if the assailant had any distinctive markings, the cashier mentioned that Moore had a very distinctive tattoo. When news of the attempted robbery broke, the convenience store clerk contacted the police and informed them that he may have seen a man with the same distinctive tattoo that was described in news reports in his store, and he his face was captured by the stores’ security camera. Moore was soon captured and pled Guilty. Oh, and that distinctive tattoo that Moore had was that of a gun that had the words “Not Guilty” written near it.

The Safety Film

We’ve all seen those ridiculously over the top safety films where the bad actors pretend they aren’t paying attention to their band saw, then they get their hand sliced off while they scream, and stage blood pours all over the place like the fountains at the Bellagio. But every once in a while you’ll see the videos that employ the usage of real footage and pictures of real, horrible accidents. These are the videos that make you squirm in your seat as you try to hold back either your vomit or your giggles of nervousness. According to Industrial Machinery News (a publication for what we assume is the world of Industrial Machinery), there was once a company that was a shining beacon of light in the dark and dangerous world of factory safety. This company was so safe that they had a five-year perfect safety record, and they were very proud of it. One day, this company decided to impart upon their employees the importance of proper eye-goggle protection. To show them how truly terrible some eye accidents could be, they choose to run a video that showed nothing but absolutely gruesome and graphic images of terrible eye accidents. Twenty-five people were injured as they ran out of the screening room, and 13 fainted – one of whom needed stitches when he fell out of his chair and cut hit head.

Court of Law

This example of irony goes waaaay back to 1871 when an attorney named Clement Vallandigham was attempting to explain to a jury that his client was innocent. His client was on trial for the murder of a man with a pistol. Clement argued that the now dead man may have shot himself due to the fact that he was in an awkward knelling position while he held a pistol in his pocket. To better illustrate this point to the jury, Clement elected to reenact this entire situation. Clement placed what he believed was an unloaded pistol in to his pocket and he knelt down. The pistol was loaded. It went off. Clement shot himself. He died soon after. Luckily for him, the jury believed that this was a pretty good bout of lawyering. Clement’s client was found not guilty.

What Films Are Due For Release In 2010?

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:13:13 +0100

There are lots of big films that are being released in 2010, one of the main ones being the first part of the final Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which is due for release in late 2010.

doug88888

Other notable releases include “A Nightmare on Elm Street”, which will be a remake of the original 1984 film, “Alice in Wonderland” by Tim Burton, a “Clash of the Titans” remake, the fourth installment to the “Shrek” series and a third “Toy Story” film. There will also be a sequel to the first “Sex and the City” film, which was released in 2008. There will also be a third addition to the “Chronicles of Narnia” film series, which will be entitled “The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader”. Other sequels include an addition to the “Predator” films. “Spiderman 4” was also rumoured to be being released in 2010, but a 2011 release date is more likely.

How Do I Share Photos Online?

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:14:20 +0100

There are a number of ways to share photos with friends and family online. You can either post your photos on Facebook (and send a link to the album to those who aren't on Facebook) or you can use a photo hosting site online such as Picasa which is linked with Google or Flickr which is linked with Yahoo!

Facebook

If you wish to post photos on FB go to your Profile page and click on 'Photos'.

This will take you to a page where you can create an album to organize your photos in. Add in whatever information you like, or none if you wish.

When you have finished click 'Create Album' and this will take you to the uploading page where there are options at the bottom to use 'Simple Uploader' or to download a Facebook Exporter that works well (and easily!) with iPhoto. There are also directions here telling you how to upload photos directly from your phone. Once your photos are uploaded you will see an option at the bottom of the page to "Share this album with anyone by sending them this public link". You can copy and paste this into an email to share your album with anyone who doesn't have a Facebook account.

Picasa

This is a good choice if you've already got a gmail account, but is also very easy to use especially if you want to upload a lot of photos at once from a Mac. Picasa also has it's own editing facility that you can use for free to make your photos even better! If you search for Picasa on Google it will take you to an introductory page. It will detect if you are using a Mac or PC and tailor the information to suit your computer.

Once you have signed up for Picasa you can go directly to Picasa Web Albums from the main page. Picasa Web Albums allows you to let friends and family easily upload your photos and let's you organize your photos into albums with comments and descriptions.

With Picasa you can check for duplicates, rotate the image, and do other simple editing. If you use iPhoto it will automatically sync when you launch the Picasa uploader. If there are photos that you don't want to share you simply choose not to import them when Picasa launches.

From your library you can email, print, or export. You can also make a collage/contact sheet of several photos and this can be uploaded as a single photo. There are auto editing options to help you straighten your photo or fix the contrast or add text.

Flickr

On Flickr you can register - if you don't already have one - for a Yahoo! Account.

Once you've done this you can import and organize your photos into sets to share with friends and family.

You can add tags, descriptions, and titles as well as rotate your photos under the Batch Organize tab. Here you can also sort permissions and add tags. You can also order prints. Once you've selected a photo (or more), click on 'Order Prints' and Flickr will let you set up printing preferences and direct you to printing services in your area.

Your photos can be shared by clicking 'Share this' and adding the appropriate email addresses. You can add a short message if you like.

If your friends or family are already on flickr you simply need to type in their screen name. You can also 'Send to a friend' (at the bottom of the page) if you want to email the link to one person directly and send a longer message or description of the photos.

What Are The Most Environmentally Friendly Cars?

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:30:06 +0100

The most environmentally friendly cars are electric, but these still aren’t viable for extended motorway driving or as an only family car due to low speeds and recharging times. However, your choice of car can still have a significant impact on the environment. If you choose wisely, you can still drive from A to Z with a relatively clear conscience. Many people forget that the more ‘green’ your car is, the lower your petrol bill will be. So, this is a good list for those looking for an economical car as well as those trying to be green while still owning a set of wheels! In the UK, the top green cars are:

Ford Focus ECOnectic

A diesel car with aerodynamics that lower CO2 emissions. It also features a bespoke transmission oil that reduces friction.

Toyota Prius

A major player in the hybrid market for the past 10 years. Now in it’s 3rd generation, Toyota have had plenty of time to refine this petrol electric car to further improve it’s high speed fuel consumption and performance. A good family car.

Honda Civic Hybrid

The only the only competitor for the Prius in the UK. Also in it’s 3rd generation, the Civic has better fuel consumption than diesels in it’s class and is reportedly much nicer to drive than previous models.

Ford Fiesta ECOnectic

A popular compact car in the UK. It has a turbodiesel engine that makes it peppy and with it’s lowered sports suspension, improved aerodynamics, and low CO2 output, it is an excellent contender.

Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion

A diesel car with very low CO2 emissions and is Volkswagens attempt to provide a green car without using hybrid technology. As it’s emissions are below 100 g/kg, the Polo is exempt from vehicle tax.

Mini Cooper D

BMW relaunched the Mini in 2001 with high hopes and 8 years later it has a turbodiesel engine that makes it incredibly punchy. It handles well and has low CO2 emissions and a diesel particulate filter.

Smart Fortwo

An instantly recognizable micro-sized car. Many say it is Tardis-like with its surprisingly accommodating interior. It emits only 88 g/kg of CO2 meaning it has the lowest production of any petrol or diesel car. It has a diesel particulate filter and has enough luggage space for two, comfortably seated people.

What Is Eggs Benedict?

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:31:23 +0100

Eggs Benedict is an American breakfast dish. It consists of Canadian bacon and poached eggs on top of an English muffin, all covered in Hollandaise sauce.

The dish is believed to have originated in New York. The story most often given is that Lemuel Benedict, a New York stockbroker from an elite family, asked to be brought the ingredients one day while breakfasting at the Waldorf hotel. He then prepared the dish himself. The maitre' D of the hotel is said to have been intrigued by Benedict's dish. He tried it out himself, liked it and named it after his customer. It then became a favourite in New York's top hotels. Lemuel Benedict's original version of the Eggs Benedict is said to have included toast and ham rather than a muffin and bacon but it is the muffin and bacon version which has stood the test of time.

How Many Species Are There In The World?

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:05:20 +0100

There has never been a comprehensive count of the number of species in existence.

audreyjm529

This was recognised as a serious deficiency and, in 2000, a project got underway to undertake a full accounting of the planet's species. The project is called the Catalogue of Life and you can visit the project's website at www.catalogueoflife.org The website allows you to search the accumulated data interactively, either through entering search terms or drilling down through a classification tree. To compile the data, experts in specific areas of biology from around the world collaborate. As of early 2007 just over 1 million species in total have been entered into the database. When the project is complete, which is expected to happen n 2011, it is anticipated that just under 2 million species will have been noted. The definition of species used for the project is extremely broad and even covers things such as viruses.

What Are The Most Dangerous Jobs?

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 09:06:13 +0100

At one time or another, most of us come to see the daily grind of commuting, coffee and cubicles to be mind numbingly dull. If you yearn for something that brings home the bacon with a side order of adrenaline, you could always try one of these careers. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Roofers

Sloping platforms, heights and rabid squirrels hiding in chimneys, is there any wonder why this gig is on the list of most dangerous ways to make a living? Injuries are common, ranging from backs thrown out lifting heavy stacks of shingles to hand and fingers hacked and slashed with the sharp edged tools of the trade. The injuries are not the reason the fellows fixing your leaky roof are on this list though. Gravity is behind this occupation’s danger rating. Not only is there the risk of falling off the roof you are working on, but there is also a chance you’ll plummet through the old roof you’re there to fix or even take the plunge through a skylight. Falling is a sure fire way to ruin your day, unless you’ve mastered the art of sprouting wings on short notice.

Drivers

From the pimple faced kid who delivers your pizza to the semis stuffed full of six-packs, drivers are one of the cornerstones of modern society. They fetch and carry like a 50’s housewife, making sure we don’t run out of all we need to make our materialistic little lives complete.

The greatest threat to those who drive for a living is sudden deceleration; the kind usually accompanied by screeching tires, screaming passengers and a loud crunching sound. Our highways and byways are a coast-to-coast demolition derby, and those that spend that much time behind the wheel are just a statistic waiting to happen.

Electrical power-line installers and repairers

Birds may use our electrical wiring as a roost without fear of being fried, but those who spend their days keeping the juice flowing have to have a healthy respect for the voltage that runs through those wires. This career choice is like playing one long game of Operation, only you’re both the surgeon and the patient. One wrong move and you get lit up like a neon sign as the juice intended to power someone’s X-box ends up making a break for freedom through your torso. Rain, sleet and snow add to the challenges of this occupation, because anyone who remembers their basic science classes can tell you that water and electricity are not the best combination. And best you not be afraid of heights, because you’ll be spending much of your life dangling from power poles, suspended by a harness coveted by dominatrix the world over, one safety strap away from an unhappy landing.

Police and Sheriff’s Patrol Officers

It makes perfect sense that a career that pits you against devious villains and gun wielding ganstas would make the list of most dangerous jobs. It’s only logical that the men and women standing between us and lawless anarchy are more likely to die than the guy peddling french fries at the local drive thru. What is surprising is why this career is dangerous. It’s not the bullets or the bad guys that bring down the most law officers, it’s the public. More specifically it’s the public with a license to drive. Police officers spend much of their time in cars and vans on patrol. Just like the transport and delivery drivers mentioned earlier in this list, the hours logged behind the wheel makes them statistically more likely to be caught in an involuntary deceleration maneuver. Add to that high speed chases, ticket stops, directing traffic and other tasks that require them to stand in the path of Joe Public during Friday night rush-hour with nothing more than a reflective vest and a flashlight to save them, and you have the reason why police officers die from bad drivers far more often than they do from guns.

Farming and Agricultural Work

Farming. The word conjures up cheerful images of haystacks, silos and weathered old men up early to listen to crop reports; praying for rain to come down and the price of pork bellies to go up. The reality is that those adorable livestock are vectors for a number of ailments, including anthrax and avian flu. The pesticides used to keep our future salad pest free can cause cancer, and those shiny tractors are John Deere green painted murder machines. Tractors alone cause approximately 300 fatalities each year, and a great many more injuries. Stephen King may think terror comes in the shape of a laundry folding machine, but any farmer will tell you, it’s the tractors that you have to watch out for.

Garbage and Recycle Collectors

Daily exposure to society’s refuse cannot be good for mind, body or soul, but every day there are those that heft, handle and sort everything we don’t want anymore. Contaminants, contagions and various hazardous materials are all part of the daily routine, and strains, cuts and diseases are an ever present risk. Despite the dangers, it is not these that claim the majority of lives in this polluted profession. Once again it is the lack of skill of other drivers that moves this career into the list of deadly professions. The vast majority of fatalities among collectors are caused by fast driven cars with slow witted drivers at the wheel.

Structural iron and steel workers

Working on the “high steel” is not for the faint of heart. Oh sure, the views are fantastic and you belong to one of the few groups that society allows to catcall and whistle at a pretty girl without slapping you with a sexual harassment suit, but its got its down side. When your job entails building the structures that will one day by bridges and skyscrapers, you don’t get such job perks as walls, floors or air conditioning. What you do get is the thrill of spending each day tethered to a tower of iron and steel, riveting, welding, and manhandling massive hunks of steel into place while trying to avoid falling off. The combination of heavy steel being moved, high winds, potentially bad weather and a marked lack of flooring makes this job one of the most dangerous in the world, with nearly three quarters of all deaths in this field coming from falls.

Aircraft pilots and flight engineers

Now before anyone screams and swears they will never fly again, let me clarify the reason that pilots and flight engineers rank so high on this list. It’s not that 747’s have been dropping out of the sky and no one told you; it’s that the vast majority of airplane related deaths arise from bush pilots, crop dusters and other small scale aircraft having what is referred to in the industry as a “controlled flight into terrain”.

In most cases, it is pilot error brought on by fatigue or a moment’s distraction that causes perfectly good aircraft to leave the sky and bury themselves into the sides of mountains, fields and other bits of terra-firma. In Alaska, where there is an abundance of both mountains and bush pilots, pilots have a 1-8 chance of dying during a 30 year career.

Logging workers

What do you get when you mix men, chainsaws and a stretch of prime timber? Sawdust, testosterone and ludicrous levels of risk. Logging is ranked one of the three most dangerous professions in the world, combining the worst traits of many others on this list. Usually done in remote regions, this means your commute involves traversing steep, unpaved logging roads populated with speeding trucks weighed down with tonnes of trees bound for processing. The actual logging part involves scaling trees, hacking of branches with a chainsaw while tethered to the tree by a rope and a hope. The most common cause of death out for loggers doesn’t come from being flattened by a truck or falling out of a tree though, it comes from being hit by falling objects. Tree limbs the size of Christmas trees, tree tops that fall the wrong way, and equipment dropped by a fellow logger all make the list of things that might just fall out of the clear blue sky and wreck a lumberjack’s day.

Fishermen

The top spot in this grisly count down goes to those who sail the oceans to feed our need for seafood and fish sticks. Isolation, unpredictable weather and rigging that can crush a hand or drag a man overboard in seconds make even the most mundane of tasks a calculated risk. The most common death for fisherman is drowning, either after falling overboard or having the entire boat capsize, leaving you at the mercy of the ocean and its inhabitants, some of which you were just trying to capture and stuff in the ships hold. Crab fishing on the Bering Sea is the most deadly of all, harvesting crustaceans out of the icy depths while trying to avoid hypothermia and preventing ice from forming thick enough to capsize even the largest vessel. Vicious storms, an expanding ice pack and 24 hour days spent in the race to fill the holds in the 3-4 week season.

Why Did The Romans Invade Britain?

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:58:38 +0100

There is no definitive answer to this question, rather there are accepted theories based on the available evidence. A variety of factors are generally cited. Among these are: A) Britain was seen as the edge of the world. The acclaim and glory brought to the Roman general who could conquer Britain would enhance the prestige of the Republic, their family and their political prospects. B) Rome had recently conquered Gaul (except for a small village of indomitable Gauls which held out under their chief Vitalstatistics...) and the territory was not yet fully subdued. Britain contained related Celtic tribes such as the powerful Belgae and Trinovantes, which could offer potential support and allies for Gallic rebellion. C) Economic wealth... Britain had several valuable commodities; tin, slaves, silver and iron among them. D) Generally antipathy to the 'barbaric' Celtic tribes and their religious practices. E) a Roman expedition to Britain by Julius Caesar in 55 and later in 54 BC had pointed to the feasibility of invasion, and penetration/influence into Britain by Roman traders had made it possible to enact traditional Roman practices of dividing and conquering their targets F) the Romans lacked truly good Fish and Chips shops