Everything here come

Walcott run 100 meters in 10.3 seconds

2010-08-13T00:46:00.001-07:00

Spanish journalists were impressed by the speed of English football national team striker and Arsenal forward Theo Walcott, who was ahead of the return Champions League quarter-finals match between Barcelona and Arsenal asked what time he made, in the race at 100 meters.
“When I was 14, I ran a hundred meters in about 11 seconds. Now I am much faster, I think I can ran 100 meters in approximately 10.3 seconds,” he replied Walcott.
His French manager Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, laugh all present when he commented:
“I could run 100 meters in about 17!”
Journalists asked 60-year-old French expert, do you think seconds or minutes.

Grandma Tracy breakdancing at Mad Decent NYC block party

2010-08-13T00:39:00.001-07:00

After Ice Rain in South China

2010-08-10T00:56:00.000-07:00

Oversize cardboard toy is only missing an engine, and some drivetrain

2010-08-09T00:12:00.000-07:00

I consider myself decent when it comes to art. Well, at least I draw decent stick man for the least. And you SHOULD believe me when I say that! But when it comes to assembling a plastic model kit, I’m never the bright one. Sad to say, but I’ve still got a box of sealed MG Exia Gundam lying under my computer table. No, I don’t need help at that. I’ll just leave it there and rot, until I find some silly time to start my little project. If you say origami, I’m actually quite good at it! Well at least I know how to fold a bird. But if you’re referring to this 3D NSX made from cardboard, I had to step back and bow on you.

You have to give it to the Epson printing gurus for such an amazing artwork. Epson employees took advantage of their papercraft skills and giant printers to build an impressively detailed 1:1 cardboard replica of an Acura/Honda NSX Super GT race car.

Here’s the really cool part. The whole build process is nearly identical to what you’d expect out of stitching together a much smaller papercraft model. How identical? Printer Company Epson was kind enough to supply 1:24 scale design plans so that the rest of the world can crank out its own version of the car. It’s right here!

Wooooooowwwwwww :D

2010-08-09T00:06:00.001-07:00

Do You See What I See? Amazing Typographic Art

2010-08-09T00:05:00.001-07:00

Beauty isn’t the only thing in the eye of the beholder. In the case of this clever art installation from graphic-design students Joseph Egan and Hunter Thomson, legibility is too, depending on where the beholder stands. The piece consists of three typographic paintings with letters stretching down corridors, into fire escapes, and wrapped around corners at the Chelsea College of Art and Design, in London. The paintings are statements on the nature of perception and feature phrases like “It’s a point of view.” The witty sum of their distorted parts can only be appreciated from one viewing sweet spot. Much like the Cheshire Cat in Wonderland, the sentences seem to hover in front of their backdrop as if on a separate two-dimensional plane. Now I know how Alice must’ve felt.

Not Tetris

2010-08-09T00:04:00.001-07:00

It's Not Tetris!

Basically it's a little like tetris except with a twist.
Instead of normal Tetris rules you have to stack as much shit as you can without reaching the top of the screen. No, you can't clear lines.
Includes oldschool graphics, music, sounds, and new physics.
It's written in lua with löve. You probably know löve already.

CONTROLS!
Menu controls are arrow keys and enter.

Left/Right - Move block
Down - Let block fall faster
A/S - Rotate block counter-clockwise/clockwise
Enter - Pause
Esc - Return to menu

DOWNLOAD HERE!
I am not allowed to ask you to click on the ads, but it'd be nice to give me something back (The game is completely free after all)

IF THE SOUND BUGS OUT ON YOUR MACHINE, I'M SORRY.
THERE IS NOTHING I CAN DO ABOUT IT, IT SEEMS TO BE THE ENGINE'S FAULT.
Best advice I can give is to download löve yourself and then run it from source. (drag the .love file onto love.exe)
^also allows you to run it on linux and osx.

MORE SCREENSHOTS! (game is actually double size)

Look at that awesome mspaint created title.

I'm bad at this.

Cool Photos and Artworks for Your Inspiration

2010-08-07T00:31:00.000-07:00

This post is part of our weekly series: showing some interesting Photos and Artworks around the Web so you can get inspiration for your design. If you want to share your great Photos or Artworks with our readers, just send them over via email with image source link using “Weekly Photos and Artworks Inspiration” in the subject. Enjoy the post.

If you see a photo or artwork that is yours and you want credit or it to be taken off, just let us know. We don’t take credit for any of these, this post is just for collecting cool photos and artworks for design inspiration.

Seat Savers

2010-08-07T00:29:00.001-07:00

My Car photos - Toyota Land Cruiser BJ 60

2010-08-06T02:20:00.000-07:00

Free of Gravity Chair

2010-08-06T00:37:00.000-07:00

This is the best chair design I have seen so far. The gravity balance is fully reclined. Your legs can be elevated above your head, and the feeling of floating free of gravity should be amazing. But the price is way too high, over $2000 for one unit.

The World's 10 most influential Languages

2010-08-06T00:34:00.000-07:00

One hardly risks controversy with the statement that today English was a more influential language world-wide than Yanomami. To a child's question why that should be so, the well-informed parental brush-off would be that English had hundreds of millions of speakers while Yanomami could with difficulty scratch together 16,000. Really difficult and well-informed off-spring could then point out that in this case, Chinese would be the most important language of the world. At this point, the experienced parent would send the brat off to annoy someone else.

Every language, including Yanomami, is the most important language of the world - to its speakers. Rather than "important" we shall here, therefore, use the world "influential" in its stead. Chinese is a very influential language, no doubt about it, but is it more so than English? Clearly not. The number of speakers is relevant but quite insufficient for a meaningful ranking of languages in order of current world-wide influence, the stress being on the word "world-wide". There are many other factors to be taken into account and this is what we shall attempt to do in the following.

Ranking the world's current top languages is not just an idle past-time. The world is growing closer and this historical development is matched by large-scale linguistic adjustments, the most dramatic of which being the explosive growth of the English language. It does matter how major languages stand and evolve in relation to each other. Like the weather, many developments make sense only if one looks at the world-wide picture, not just parochial bits of it.

What does "influential" mean in this context? Each language carries considerable cultural, social, historical and psychological baggage. As anyone who has ever had to learn a foreign language knows, doing so in many ways alters one's attitudes and world view. To what extent, in what form and how deeply such changes actually manifest themselves in the individual learner depends on many factors, the circumstances that have led to the decision to learn the foreign language, the learner's character, intelligence, education and background. Theories on this subject need not detain us here. The very discovery that one can actually express the same thing in different words or look at something in totally different ways alone widens many a mental horizon. But not all. There are polyglot fanatics and it would be naive to claim that knowing a foreign language necessarily reduces aggression and the risk of war. It helps if other conditions are right, but more than linguistic skill is needed to bring that about. Leaders in what used to be Yugoslavia spouting murderous sentiments in near-perfect English provide sufficient warning of exaggerated hopes in this respect.

The formula used to calculate the importance of each language
In the original publication, the formula for weighing the criteria listed in Fig 1 was dropped at the printers to save space. I have resurrected it here for those who might be interested.
Each field is weighted in importance which is reflected in the maximum number of points that could be assigned to individual languages for that field. The six fields chosen are
1. Number of primary speakers: max. 4 points
2. Number of secondary speakers: max. 6 points
5. Economic power of countries using the language: max. 8 points
4. Number of major areas of human acitivity in which the language is important: max. 8 points
3. Number and population of countries using the language: max. 7 points
6. Socio-literary prestige of the language: max. 4 points (plus an additional point for being an official UN language)
Twenty major languages were then assigned a number of points in each field and the points added together and the top ten were ranked accordingly. C'est tout, as the French would say. No advanced maths or quantum physics required. Assigning points in this way inevitably involves a certain degree of arbitrariness. To check the robustness of the ranking I have tested the point system to destruction with reassuring results: it would have needed obviously absurd valuations to affect the ranking of the top ten languages given in Fig. 2. The only exception has been Portuguese and Japanese which came in with the same number of points. I have have given Japanese priority because of its relatively stronger economic power. However, if Brazil continues its present economic expansion, the two languages will soon have to be ranked together or reverse position.

Results are based on data collected between the early 1980s and mid 1990s - do they need updating?
No, they do not. The number of speakers of all the top ten languages have gone up in the last quarter century but relative to each other, the situation among the top ten remains unchanged. George Weber, 2008

Fig. 1. The main factors that make a language influential.

Fig. 2. The Top Ten languages of the world.

The graphic shows that, as far as languages are concerned, "The West" means first and foremost the English language, followed only after a rather large gap by French and Spanish.
It cannot be stressed enough that it is not inherent superiority, not linguistic but historical factors that have put English, French and Spanish where they are now.
Whatever the historical factors that have pushed English into the top position, they are still at work and look like continuing.
It should be a sobering thought, however, to any triumphalist impulse that in 100 AD Latin looked set to dominate its slice of the world forever.

No people are more acutely conscious of the long-term influence that knowledge of another language can have on its learners than the French. No other language is promoted so aggressively all over the world. The French clearly understand that their language is the main carrier of la civilisation française. Speakers of most other major languages think along similar lines. However, two major civilisations, the Chinese and to a lesser extent the Japanese, actually take the opposite attitude. They consider their civilisations so manifestly superior that pressing their language on foreigners was really doing them too much honour. They also tend to think their languages far too complex to be mastered by clumsy strangers, although they are far too polite to say so openly.

Languages expand and shrink on the back of the social, cultural, military, scientific, technological, organisational and other strengths and weaknesses of their speakers. What is today called, over-simplistically and geographically incorrectly, "The West" dominates the world in countless subtle and not-so-subtle ways. While this is often denied for reasons of self-respect, even stand-offish China has for half a century embraced an ideology of Western origin (and is now boosting its standing with a capitalism that had also been invented in the West). With the introduction of Western technologies, Western ideas slip in quietly, along with Western attitudes and languages. That these effects can be absorbed without abandoning one's cultural identity has been shown with huge success by the Japanese and Koreans. Not all cultures and languages share the inherent strengths of those two. More fragile cultures can feel seriously threatened by Westernisation but if they wish to participate in the ongoing industrialisation and globalisation of of the world, they have little choice beyond making protesting noises.

Fig. 3. Uncertainty: how estimates of the number of people speaking a language vary.

Why discuss the problems of census takers and the reliability of their figures in so much detail? Before the charts of this article are looked at, it has to be understood just how unreliable world-wide figures generally are and especially those concerning languages. They are all a veritable patchwork of local, regional and national figures collected under wildly different conditions at different times, processed through many stages by people with wildly different levels of education, cultural backgrounds, loyalties, aims and ideas about accuracy, not to say competence. Of course, statisticians are aware of all this and much more, as are those compiling the official UN statistics, but they are reluctant to discuss this aspect of their work. Surrealistic pseudo-precision to the nearest 100 speakers is magically projected by UNESCO: it claims that there are 285,077,900 primary speakers of Russian and 1,077,548,100 of Chinese. Figure 3 shows the extent to which world-wide estimates can in fact differ if the streamlining is removed that is routinely carried out by international agencies. English has an uncertainty of well over 150 million! The much over-quoted Churchill saying regarding statistics comes to mind - but I shall resist the temptation.

What prevents the published figures from being totally useless (and turning this article into a complete waste of valuable paper or bytes) is the fact that all major languages carry very roughly similar margins of uncertainty. In other words, they can still be compared and ranked with a fair degree of confidence. The figures on which this article is based are drawn from reference works a few years old now (meaning in 1995) and collected a few years earlier still. In view of all that has been said here so far, the reader will understand that this matters little. The absolute figures will have increased since then but that will not affect the ranking of the ten most influential languages.

If the number of primary speakers of any language is highly uncertain, the number of secondary speakers is pure guesswork. I have included Fig. 6 (the numbers of which are drawn from a different source to those of the others, see the acknowledgements at the end) more for the sake of completeness. What is fairly certain is that in relation to its number of primary speakers, French has the most and Chinese the fewest secondary speakers.

Fig. 4. Numbers of primary speakers: the top twenty languages:

Despite the dearth of even semi-reliable data on the number of secondary speakers, their number is such an important factor in establishing the degree of influence exercised by a major language that we have to discuss briefly at least three groups of them. Each brings a different weight onto the scale and the three would have to be treated differently in any proper statistical analysis - if the figures were reliable enough for one.

Foreign students are a tiny minority but influential out of all proportion to their numbers. They tend to belong to the most highly educated social strata of their own countries. As political, business, social and cultural leaders to come they are a major factor in spreading the acceptability and social prestige of a foreign language.

Immigrants are people who have moved to another country to live there. They often learn the host country's language in a haphazard way, usually while trying to hold down a job and make ends meet. Their status in the host country is, at least initially, quite low. Only the second generation learns to speak the local language with any fluency. The various nationalities and linguistic groups tend to differ enormously in the way they adapt to their new homeland. Some groups rapidly dissolve into the host population, leaving barely a trace after a few generations while others cling to the ancestral way and language for many generations, using the host language only for dealings with the outside world. Immigrant languages in some countries can loom large in statistics but their influence on the host language is usually small. For example, there are sizeable Chinese, Korean, Pakistani and Indian immigrant communities in Canada and the USA. They speak their own languages at home but use English for their outward contacts. The existence of such communities does not make their languages international. The Spanish of Latin American immigrants is a different case. It is spoken more and more widely in the USA and the controversies around its use in US schools shows just how influential it has become. Whether it will successfully establish itself as second language besides English in the USA only time will tell. The chances of this happening appear good.

National minorities are yet another group of "foreign" language speakers, although "foreign" here is a misnomer. Members of linguistic minorities who do not speak the majority language often find their career, business, social and general prospects curtailed if not crippled altogether. The influence of minority languages of this type on the majority language is usually small but it can add up over the centuries.

Fig. 5. Number of primary speakers by language family.

The Indo-European Language Family
includes besides many other languages, Bengali, English, French, German, Hindi/Urdu, Italian, Marathi, Panjabi, Persian, Brazilian (Portuguese), Russian, the Scandinavian languages, and Spanish

The Sino-Tibetan Language Family
includes besides many other languages, Burmese, the various Chinese dialects and languages (e.g.Mandarin and Cantonese), Thai and Tibetan

The Niger-Congo Language Family
includes besides many other languages, Ful and Yoruba

The Afro-Asiatic language Family
includes besides many other languages Amharic, Arabic, Hebrew and Somali

The Austronesian Language Family
includes besides many other languages Indonesian/Malay, Javanese, Malagasi, Tagalog and many Polynesian, Melanesian and Micronesian languages

The Dravidian Language Family
includes besides many other languages Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu

Japanese is a language isolate

The Altaic Language Familyo
includes besides many other languages Azerbaijani, Monglian, Turkish and Uzbek

The Austro-Asiatic Language Family
includes besides many other languages Khmer (Cambodian) and Vietnamese

Korean is a language isolate

Fig. 6.Secondary speakers are people who speak one or more languages in addition to their first (home, mother or primary) language. The more secondary speakers a language has, the wider its influence in the world tends to be.

It is no coincidence that of the world's top ten languages only two do not function as lingua francas (a lingua franca is a language used as a means of communication between people otherwise speaking different languages). The two exceptions are Chinese and Japanese; their difficult and custom-tailored systems of writing and the fact that both are used by essentially monoglot societies in sharply limited if large geographical areas has prevented them from becoming the common language of a wider area. Hindi and Urdu suffer from the same limitations but their home base, the Indian subcontinent, is highly polyglot. The same can be said of the former Soviet Union where Russian, though often with a marked lack of enthusiasm, is willy-nilly used as lingua franca. Looking at the languages shown in Fig. 2 it can be seen that the higher a language has climbed up the ranking pole, the more important it is as lingua franca in its area. In the case of English, that "area" is the world.

All major languages today are growing, in influence as well as in numbers of speakers. The higher up a language is on the ranking pole the faster its growth. Apart from the natural population increase everywhere, this growth takes place at the expense of smaller, local languages. Hundreds if not thousands, of smaller languages are being pushed slowly out of the way. The speakers of some languages have seen the influence of their own language checked by one of the ten top languages. They then usually profess a fear of being dominated - while at the same time their own language in turn is driving smaller local languages towards extinction. Few even notice the irony of this and loud are the complaints about linguistic and cultural expansionism. Expansionism is what others do to you that you cannot do to them but would if you could.

Key to figs 7, 8, 9 and 10. The borders between the three groupsare often fluent or controversial.

Core countries
are countries in which the language enjoys full legal and official status (at least de facto) and where it is the normal language of communication, its speakers a majority or at least substantial minority.
Examples: Japanese in Japan; Spanish in Spain; English and French in Canada

Outer Core countries
are countries in which the language has some official or legal status (variously described as auxiliary, associated, or recognised, etc) and where it is the language of a more or less sizeable but always influential minority.
Examples: English in India, French in Algeria

Fringe countries
are countries in which the language has limited official or legal status and is understood and spoken by a minority. The language is influential as the language of trade and tourism, and is also usually the preferred foreign language of the young.
Examples: English in Japan, French in Romania, Spanish in the USA

Fig. 7. Number of countries using the language as main medium of communication or as major lingua franca.

Fig. 8. Population of countries using the language.

Fig. 9. Percentage of population in core countries that do not speak the language of the majority.

Fig. 10. Gross national product (GNP) in the early 1990s of countries using the language.
In relative terms, the ranking among the top ten languages is not static but one of slow, steady trends. Fig. 13 below shows in very broad terms the dynamics of life at the top over the last 500 years.
Note added in 2008: The trends continue and accelerate. The world economy has changed almost beyond recognition in the 15 or so years since the figures for the graphic below were collected. The core English-speaking countries have come under some pressure but this has not slowed down the growth of English as world language. Quite the opposite! The world is not learning Chinese more than before, but the Chinese learn English in staggering numbers, as do a growing number of citizens of many other countries.

Let us now look at the top ten languages, one by one.

English is the most obvious example of a language on the way up. It has survived the fall of the British Empire without even slowing down, it has now gone beyond being the language of the world's only remaining superpower (which in the long run would be a liability), becoming the first truly world-wide lingua franca. International English has become independent of any one English-speaking country, even the USA. A Korean manufacturer in an Athens hotel meeting the Brazilian buyer of a Swiss conglomerate will not only negotiate but order dinner from his room service in English. There may not be a single native English speaker in the hotel, but all non-locals staying there communicate with each other in English - as a matter of course. From, a certain level upwards, in business, sport, politics, science and many other fields, a knowledge of English has become not a matter of prestige but of necessity. Also: the level at which this occurs is moving ever downwards.

In science and technology the grip of English is complete. With growing computer sophistication it is becoming easier to put even the most awkward languages and script on screen but that does not alter the big picture. The Chinese trader, scientist, manufacturer who wants to talk to his foreign contacts is not helped much by even the most carefully presented Chinese characters on his screen. He has to tell his non-Chinese customers - in English.

It is an open question whether there is room for more than one global lingua franca. I doubt it and so does, it seems, the famous "market". There is an overwhelming interest in learning English practically everywhere in the world. Geography and history has made Mongolia one of the most landlocked and isolated countries in the world until recently, isolated especially from the West and from Western languages. Yet when the country opened itself up a few years ago, the change was signalled at once by signposting the capital's airport - in English. Barely noticed by English-speaking people, an enormous boom of learning English has developed all over the world, a boom that is not matched by a similar run on other languages. Not a small city in Brazil that does not boast at least two schools of English. Even in countries with strong cultural links to France the young want to learn English, not French. In Cambodia the French government suffered a painful experience when the young spurned the offers of the Alliance FranÃßaise, preferring instead to sign up with anyone who offered English courses, however dubious. In German-speaking Switzerland school children must learn French and in French-speaking Switzerland German. They do so for political reasons, the mutual intelligibility is seen as important in a multi-lingual country. The kids do not agree with their elders; surveys have shown that they would all very much prefer to learn English.

The French are rightly pained by this situation. Besides a certain amount of fashionability behind the English boom, there are solid economic and psychological forces at work. English is seen more and more widely as the language of world trade, of economic progress, of science and technology, the main window to the world and not just because of the Internet which of course it dominates.

French was, until a century ago, in a similar position to that occupied by English today. Nobody could pass for educated without the ability to speak French. However, French dominance was never so complete as its rival's is now for the simple reason that 100 years ago large parts of the world were not yet connected to rest as they are all today. In Mongolia it was sufficient to speak Mongolian, in Madagascar Malagasy could get you anywhere. Globalisation had not been heard of then.

French has suffered a decline in its world-wide influence above all when measured against English. It has more or less held its position against other major languages but against English, the situation is glum. French still has a base in many parts of Africa, although the position is crumbling as recent events in Rwanda and Zaire-Congo have shown. It also still enjoys considerable sympathy in Latin America where common Latin roots and a certain distaste for English-speaking gringos can still be found. International English is advancing there but it is still seen more as the language of the USA rather than as a politically neutral means of international communication. In Asia French has lost virtually all its ground to English, even in Vietnam where it is the nostalgic language of an older generation. French has a narrow base on which to built its claim as a world language: it is the majority language in France alone and a minority language in Canada, Belgium and Switzerland. The strength of French in international fields, especially diplomacy, is also slowly eroding away. Anybody who watches TV can see this erosion taking place before his or her very eyes: more and more international conferences replace French with English country tags on delegates' tables. In far away places, from Albania to Chechenia and Georgia - places where English is still very much a foreign language - demonstrators can be seen waving posters in English. They know what language to use to catch the international news media.

Despite a clear downward trend relative to English, French remains the world's second most influential language. Its prestige remains extremely high, not least thanks to the tireless efforts and the vast sums spent by the French government, but also by the pride taken in their language by practically all French people. In Hong Kong I once talked to a taxi driver and congratulated him on his excellent English. He said that he could not do without English in his job but that he now wanted to learn French even if he had little practical use for it. He wanted to learn it for its social prestige.

The number two position of French in the league table of the ten most influential languages is not so much endangered by the top language (which cannot be overtaken again in the foreseeable course of events) as by Spanish. Coming up quietly from behind it is spreading rapidly in the USA and may expand further afield yet. Latin America is no longer an economically depressing and often depressed area, no longer the backyard of the USA. With growing self-confidence, despite setbacks, Latin America will boost the value of Spanish (and with it that of its closely related Portuguese in Brazil) on the world's linguistic marketplace.

Russian has been held hostage by an ideology for 70 years and throughout the empire the language was imposed on subject people by brute force. The situation has changed dramatically since the early 1990s but Russian will take some time to recover any popularity outside Russia proper. For many years the newly independent parts of the former Soviet Union were busily shaking off Russian influence and trying to avoid the use of the Russian language. It turned out rather more difficult than they had imagined. For many, Russian was the only common language and they had no choice but to use it. The situation is still confused and will take decades if not generations to settle down. One hesitates to hazard a guess but the chances are that Russia will remain among the top ten languages.

An interesting development is the struggle for linguistic dominance within the former Soviet Union and eastern Europe between German and English. Here is a situation where linguistic characteristics and not historical or political forces may actually make a difference. German is a difficult language to learn, its three genders alone see to that, English is much easier initially. The chances are fairly even but my money would be on English as the eventual winner - but I would not bet a large amount.

Fig. 11. A hierarchy of linga francas.

Fig. 12. Major historical lingua francas.

Fig. 13. Rise and fall of major languages: the historical dimension.

Arabic is the only language apart from English and French that is used in an international "field". It is the language of Islam and as such used in countless Koranic schools between Morocco and Indonesia. It is also the only major international linguistic stream of influence that is quite independent of the West and as such is little noticed or appreciated there.

Chinese is a language whose speakers are noticeably disinterested in spreading its use outside their own people. Although Chinese is not really one but several languages held together by a common script, we shall disregard such finer distinctions here and call all these Chinese languages (usually and misleadingly called dialects) Chinese. It is a tenet of the language business that in order to penetrate a market you have to know its language. This may apply to most markets but China is different. Like any other people, the Chinese appreciate it if a foreigner makes the effort to learn their language, but they do not appreciate it if the foreigner succeeds. To tell the Chinese that their language is fiendlishly difficult and practically impossible to learn, cheers up their whole day. Everybody may feel proud to have mastered something that is too complex for most others. The Chinese have elevated this feeling into a national art form. A foreigner who speaks or (worse still) writes excellent Chinese is regarded with grave suspicion. Foreign visitors to China, diplomats as well as businessmen, have been known to pretend to a far lower knowledge of the language than they actually possessed. Not unlike the Japanese, the Chinese prefer to deal with foreigners in English.

Despite its huge number of native speakers, Chinese is not an internationally influential language. Its use is concentrated in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and widespread communities all over the world, especially large ones in Southeast Asia. With its continent-sized home base it seems sufficient unto itself. Chinese has been the historical language of learning in much of the Far East and has been a major influence in the past on the Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai and some other people. Its cultural influence has declined sharply over the past few hundred years but one gets the impression that the Chinese at home have not noticed or do not care.

German has suffered the wildest gyrations of all major languages in the level of its influence. Entering the 20th century as the major language of science and technology, it suffered a setback when Germany lost World War I, only to recover most of its position in the 1920s. Until the 1930s, for example, students of chemistry in the USA had to have a working knowledge of German. At that time the language was also exceptionally popular in Japan. It never recovered its old prestige after the catastrophic decline suffered in the wake of World War II, when it also lost most of its many secondary speakers in Eastern Europe. It has a chance today to restore a little of its lost prestige and influence there and in the former Soviet Union. German has to face stiff competition from English and the result will remain open for some time yet.

Portuguese today means above all Brazilian. The language could hitch its wagon to the advance of Spanish in the wake of Latin American economic progress. Despite some ups and downs, that wagon is well on the way and Portuguese should be able to increase its world-wide influence. The Brazilians seem so keen to learn English, however, that one may almost speak of a "Chinese situation" developing, i.e. with Brazilians preferring to negotiate with foreigners in English. Only the future will show how this situation develops.

The sister languages of Hindi and Urdu, like all languages in the top ten group, have increased in absolute numbers of native speakers and in the spread of their influence within India, respectively Pakistan. The two languages are really local variants of the same language but written with different systems: Hindi uses the Devanagari script in India, Urdu the Arabic script in Pakistan. Both have large numbers of native speakers living in immigrant communities overseas. Neither can boast of significant worldwide influence outside their own communities. As local lingua francas they have an unknown but no doubt large number of secondary speakers. Hindi is also the official language (i.e. the official lingua franca) of the Union of India. Since the Dravidian-speaking south does not take to Hindi and prefers English which is also the language of the educated elite in the north, the use of English is widespread and the situation has been accepted officially by making English an "associate language". As the language of the higher administration, of secondary and university education English is in fact at least equal to Hindi as the lingua franca of India.

The article on Urdu in the International Encyclopaedia of Linguistics contains the following quotation:

The growing popularity of Urdu mushaira (poetic symposia) and literary conferences in the United Kingdom, United States, Soviet Union, Canada, and a number of Middle Eastern and African countries has led to the emergence of a large number of literary organisations and publications which reflect the spread of Urdu as an international language.

It would be regrettable if this article with its emphasis on economic power and numbers, contributed in however small a measure to the destruction of such delightful innocence. May Urdu with its poetic symposia and literary organisations become ever more international. The world would be a better place if all expansion was through such charming means.

Fig. 14. Systems of writing.

Acknowledgments

In gratitude to the editor of Language Monthly, Geoffrey Kingscott, for supporting and encouraging this article and for first publishing it in his journal.

Sources

Most figures on languages are taken from Eric V. Gunnemark's Countries, People and Their Languages (a Geolinguistic Handbook), 1991, Gothenburg, Sweden.

For cross-reference and back-up checks as well as for non-linguistic figures the following sources have been used:

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1985, Encyclpaedia Britannica Inc, Chicago, USA
Encyclopaedia Britannica Yearbooks 1985, 1993, 1994
Fischer Weltalmanach 1960-1993, Fischer Taschenbuchverlag, Frankfurt, Germany
The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Language, 1987, Cambridge University Press, England

Fig 6. is based on a table given in the Fischer Weltalamanach 1986, p. 910.

For economic figures the Fischer Weltalmanach 1993 and the World Bank Atlas 1991 as well as UN and IMF publications have been major sources.

Supplementary Information

Camouflage Photography in the Animal World: 50 Astonishing Photos

2010-08-06T00:30:00.000-07:00

Some animals have sharp teeth, some have fragile wings, some are predators, some chew on grass, but they all need to survive. Even if harder to believe, some carnivores can be extinct pretty fast, if they don’t find an “intelligent” method of hunting.
On the other hand, small animals with poor defense mechanisms need to find a smart way of surviving and hiding. Nature has found the solution: “camouflage”. The evolutionary ability of transforming or adapting to the environment to become a contained part of it. In one way of another, most of the animals have developed such a skill, and they can easily trick the eye.
From changing colors to changing body shapes, vertebrates and invertebrates appear as if… they are not there. This post will exemplify the camouflage technique, even in the underwater world. Prepare to train your eyes for spotting the animals and their amazing disguises!

Nature’s Best Camouflage-Sea Dragon

Sapo, Perereca Ou Rã

Karen Costa

How to Microwave Gourmet Popcorn in a Brown Paper Bag

2010-08-03T08:49:00.000-07:00

Peeeeee-yew! I’m done with the stinky stench of microwave popcorn. Actually, I haven’t popped a single bag of that toxic smelling stuff in years since I hate the thought of being swindled by a stank bag of greasy kernels. That’s right people, I’m calling foul on microwave popcorn since it’s a reeking wallet rip off.

Sure, you may think you’re paying all that delicious cash for a magic metal-lined bag that pops better kernels and cooks your corn more evenly. But think again. I can do the same popping magic trick with a cheapo plain brown paper bag. And at a tasty 50 cents per pound, plain popcorn kernels bought in bulk cost FAR less than that slimy packaged stuff.

Now let me pop the big question: have you ever recycled your leftover microwave popcorn bags? I cringe to think how much of this product graces our landfills, all in the name of snack food. But no fear, by switching your home movie snacking habit using this frugal trick, you can compost or recycle your used brown paper bags and create no waste. See How To Compost Without Raising a Stink for easy composting help.

Speaking of waist, do you know how many calories are contained in those popcorn flavor packets? What about the ingredients? Here’s the ingredient list from the Act II popcorn page on Amazon. Note: I couldn’t find this information on the company’s website.

Act II Popcorn Ingredients: Popcorn, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Salt, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Annatto Color. Contains: Fish, Milk

Fish? Milk? In my popcorn? Um, no thanks. I’ll skip the hydrogenated oil, fish, and milk additives in my snacks by sticking to my frugalicious and homemade popcorn version. Here’s how to make Microwave Popcorn in a Brown Paper Bag:

Step One: Get a brown paper bag

This is ridiculously easy, internet people. Just head on over to your local grocery store and pickup a package of no name flat-bottomed brown paper lunch bags.

I nabbed a package of 100 brown bags for around $2, on sale.

Step Two: Bag your popcorn

Add a 1/2 cup scoop of bulk popcorn kernels to your brown paper bag.

Fold the bag over twice. Don’t use staples to secure the bag — this might spark in your microwave.

This is so exciting. I’m popping with excitement.

Step Three: Pop in microwave

Stick the popcorn bag into your microwave. I set mine for 3 minutes on high.

Popping Tip: Stop the microwave when the popping slows to one to two pops per second. You don’t want to burn your tasty snack.

Step Four: Add gourmet topping

A pinch of salt with a dab of butter is the most popular way to eat popcorn.

But why not get creative and try some sweet or savory flavors to mix up movie night?

Try these toppings for some gourmet popcorn fun:

Mexican: Add chili powder, hot sauce, and salt.
Kiss My Breath: Shake in onion powder and garlic powder — hold the kiss.
Cheese Please: Mix in Parmesan cheese with a little salt.
Sweet Tooth: A dash of cinnamon, a sprinkle of sugar, and a topper of honey. Now that’s money.
Classic: A shake of salt with a pat of butter.

How do YOU make popcorn? Got a favorite gourmet popcorn topping to share?

The Einstein Tower – Hobbit Astrophysical Observatory in Germany

2010-08-03T08:41:00.000-07:00

Image Credit Wikimedia

If the denizens of The Shire had ever pursued sciences such as astrophysics or astronomy, then their observatory may well have look something like this. The Einstein Tower in the German town of Potsdam looks like something a curious Halfling might visit to explore the skies above Middle Earth but is, in fact, a perfect example of early twentieth century expressionist architecture – of the human variety. However, just like that of the Shire, its history has not always been a peaceful one.

Image Credit Flickr User -Renegade-

The idea for the Einstein Tower (or Einsteinturm in German) came about in 1917 and was funded and built through public donation. It went in to operation in 1924 three years after Einstein won the Nobel Prize for Theoretical Physics and at a time when Germany was in social upheaval.

It was designed by the architect Eric Mendelsohn (seen on the left in 1931) who at the time was among the most prolific of the modern architects working in Europe at the time. In Germany he was far better known than his contemporaries but his reputation has since been eclipsed by the likes of Le Corbusier and Van Der Rohe. We will return to Mendelsohn later, but for now let us return to one of his finest works.

Image Credit Flickr User Lurkan

Potsdam can be found twenty five kilometers to the south west of the German capital, Berlin and the Einstein Tower is perched on the summit of the town’s largest hill, the Telegraphenberg. It is a relatively small tower but it is vigorously modeled. Mendelsohn’s idea was that it would symbolize the greatness of Einsteinian concepts but remain a functional building. The tower temporarily lost its name in 1933 when the Nazis took over Germany and it was heavily damaged during the Second World War.

Image Credit Flickr User Lorkan

Image Credit Flickr User -Renegade-

Mendelsohn sought a building of complete plasticity in his design, a building without angles but with round and smoothed corners. Concrete is the ideal for this, as it can be forced to curve but at the time of building there was a shortage of the material and parts of the building were built from brick. However, this combination of concrete and brick worked as the external effect was produced by rendering the surface material of stucco. It is still viewed by many as one of the most uniquely brilliant buildings of the twentieth century.

Image Credit Flickr User -Renegade-

Einstein’s Tower houses a magnificent solar telescope which was designed by the astronomer Erwin Finlay-Freundlich who was also a working associate of the great man Einstein himself. Below shows the inside the dome of the Einsteinturm - on the right is the heliostat, on the left, a mirror which reflects the beam of light down the tower.

Image Credit Wikimedia

Legend has it that Mendelsohn took Einstein on a tour of the tower and waited patiently for the nod of approval from the world famous scientist. And waited. And waited. Much later when Einstein met with the building committee it is said he whispered a single word – organic. To this day it is not known if this utterance was intended as approval or opprobrium.

Image Credit Flickr User Lorkan

One of the great ironies of this amazing building was that it enriched the lives of German citizenry at the time. Yet the three men associated with it at the time, Finlay-Freundlich, Mendelsohn and Einstein all had to leave Germany in the 1930s because of their Jewish ancestry. The bust of Einstein in the tower was reported to have been melted down during the Nazi era but after the end of the war in 1945 it was established that it had been hidden by workers at the tower. The building was itself heavily damaged by allied bombing and had to be renovated, something that was undertaken again when during the celebrations of its 75th birthday in 1999.

Image Credit Flickr User Lorkan

Initial research at the Einsteinturm revolved around the 1911 General Theory of Relativity. A predicted effect of the theory was a small shift of spectral lines in the gravitational field of the sun. Known today as red shift, the Einsteinturm was designed to verify this phenomenon. It soon became obvious that this was going to be a lot more difficult than previously thought because other solar influences obscured the shift of spectral lines. So, the outer solar atmosphere and its behavior soon became the primary focus of the Einstein Tower. Red shift was subsequently not proven until the 1950s. Solar Magnetic Fields and their behavior is the current focus at the Einstein Tower.

Image Credit Wikimedia

Most people know what happened to Einstein – he went to live and work in the USA. What of the other two men, Mendelsohn and Finlay-Freundlich? Both had to leave Germany because of the rampant anti-semitism of the thirties. So what happened to them? Mendelsohn (left) fled to the UK in 1933 and eventually went on to the USA.

There, among other things he helped the US Army build German Village. This was a replica of working class housing estates which helped the Americans gain the necessary knowledge to firebomb the real thing in to acquiescence in 1944 and 5. He died in 1953 having spent the remainder of his life on projects for Jewish communities.

Image Credit Flickr User Lorkan

What of Finlay-Freundlich (left)? He too was obliged to leave Germany in 1933 and he first went to Turkey where he worked at the University of Istanbul as a professor. Following that he went to St Andrews in Scotland and then on to John Napier as professor of Astronomy. In 1953 he proposed (with Max Born) an explanation of red shift.

The original function of the Einstein Tower had, by one of its instigators, finally been realized.

Image Credit Flickr User Mediaman

txtBOMBER

2010-08-03T08:28:00.000-07:00

The txtBOMBER is a one-hand-guerillia-tool - a machine not much bigger than a pressing iron - that generates political statements on the fly and immidiately prints them on any flat surface.
If you feel you are part of our modern viewless generation, the txtBOMBER is the perfect tool for you! Just switch it on, it's powered by a strong battery. And move it along a wall. It's that easy to show your?its?someones? opinion of something?someone?! Hell! You should reconsider if you are keen enough to use it!
The txtBOMBER has seven build-in pens to "print" the letters and a micro-controller-brain (Arduino), no need for a computer or any other brain.

Oh and it speaks german at the moment ;-)
http://vimeo.com/2109234

Possibilities for Mutation in Necktie Design

2010-08-03T01:59:00.001-07:00

Most articles of apparel are subject to what might be termed style churning. Consumers are accustomed to seasonal modifications, new variations, and occasional eruptions of stylistic insanity. Women’s clothing is especially subject to these sudden changes, which can render the previous season’s outfits obsolete. What is much less subject to style changes is business clothing, especially men’s business clothing. In my July 13 blog in the Museum of Possibilities, “Cutting Edge Office Wear,” I offered some unusual design possibilities for business wear, though I concluded that the current economic climate is not favorable to wild-looking office clothing. I did not look at men’s neckties.
If one examines two variables in a man’s apparel — the shirt and necktie – their permutations and variations have been few. They have evolved very slowly during the nation’s 234- year history.

For example, when studying the necktie choices of four U.S. presidents, one can see the stubborn and sluggish evolution of their shape and form. For clarity, these neck embellishments are colored red. From left to right, John Tyler (1790-1862) sported a loose, extravagant, cravat (a predecessor of the necktie and bowtie), while Chester Arthur (1829-1886) wore a loosely-gathered fabric, tidily tucked beneath his vest, similar to an ascot tie (another evolutionary branch that preceded the necktie). Teddy Roosevelt (1858-1919) wore a fat necktie that hardly differed from current styles, and Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) favored a thin tie that would not look out of place today.

Today, in almost all areas of culture and behavior, one finds a relaxation from earlier, fixed standards and rigid codes. Has the time arrived for men’s necktie styles to break out from tradition, and undergo mutations in shape, form and function? In theory, men should be able to start the day searching through a closet full of an assortment of necktie types, each for a different occasion or mood.

Men’s shirts, suspenders, sweaters, vests and neckties could perhaps be viewed by fashion designers as mix ‘n match elements within a single apparel “kit” that allows for unique combinations. There could be neck-shirts, tie-suspenders, neck-sweaters, shirt-like neckties, and shoulder-ties. Some of these shirt-and-tie combinations were featured in the April 19, 2010 issue of Design Mind magazine.

Why these kinds of riotous mutations in men’s necktie design have not occurred is puzzling to me. One possible reason is that the necktie – which has no obvious useful function – is emblematic of a particular part of a man’s anatomy! Perhaps it describes a man’s virility, and because of that cannot seem too silly- or strange-looking. Men want desperately to be taken seriously! Plus, in most contexts, men are shyer about their bodies than women.
Another possible reason for extraordinary conservatism in necktie design is that they are already a troublesome, hard-to-tie accessory; they don’t need to be made more complicated. They feel confining and choking, resembling a yoke. The phrase “loosening one’s tie” refers to one’s being able to relax.
While it is fun for me to imagine future scenarios, perhaps the one that I have described here just won’t happen at least for now. During a time of and job loss and shrinking incomes, an exhuberant flowering of new men’s necktie styles is perhaps not in the cards.

10 Spectacular Sand Sculpting Festivals

2010-08-03T01:57:00.001-07:00

While most people see summer as a chance for some fun in the sun, swimming and tanning aren't the only things going on at the beach. In fact, each year, artists from all over the globe meet in the sand to show off their sculpting skills—whether they're professional artists hoping to make it to the World Championship of Sand Sculpting come September or amateurs just in it for fun. WD decided to get in on the excitement and scoped out the biggest festivals across the United States.
Texas Sandfest

This Southern sand extravaganza, which runs in April and attracts 100,000 spectators, is a three-day competition hosted in Port Aransas, Texas. The competitors always bring their A game, since it’s a qualifying competition for the World Championship of Sand Sculpting. But the event isn't just for veterans: A one-day amateur showing attracts nearly 200 novices. Photo: "Time Frame" by Karen Fralich of Ontario, Canada; 1st place; courtesy of Kristie Woodworth.

Siesta Sand Sculpture Contest

Held in Sarasota, Florida, each May, this festival attracts nearly 40 entries per year. Host to some of the funniest categories, including Adult Humorous and Adult Miscellaneous, Siesta Key Beach is transformed into a canvas of comical artwork. Photo: "Siesta Fish" by Libby Bennet and Lara Hines of Sarasota, Florida; People's Choice Award and 2nd Place, Adult Humorous; courtesy of Anne Johnson.
Piccolo Spoleto Sand Sculpting Competition

Every year around Memorial Day (the exact date depends on the tide), Isle of Palms, South Carolina, puts on one of the largest festivals in the U.S. Attracting 64 teams this year, the event includes the Most Realistic and Best Architectural categories, inspired by one of the sponsors, the American Institute of Architecture. Photo: "Raining Cats and Dogs" by Jeff Mahaffey of Hanahan, South Carolina; Best in Show; courtesy of Will McElheny.
Beach Community Bank Fiesta Sand Sculpture Contest

Entries were low this year due to the oil spill, but the Pensacola, Florida–based sand sculpture competition still produced incredible results, made possible by its renowned white sand beaches. Open to professionals and amateurs alike, the festival takes place in early June, and garners about 50 entries each year. Photo: "Close Encounter" by Chuck and Tammy Kunze of Milton, Florida; 1st place; courtesy of Whitney Vaughan Fike.
Chamber Sand Sculpture Contest

Every June in Grand Haven, Michigan, approximately 40 teams and over 200 individuals get two hours to turn the Lake Michigan shoreline into an art exhibit. This year, to the delight of spectators, the Sand Castle category was added to the competition. Photo: "Jabba the Hutt" by Sand Carvers and Kevin DiMeglio of Grand Rapids, Michigan; 2nd Place, Family Category; courtesy of Jenna Paparella.
Nebraska Children’s Home Society’s Sand in the City

Sand in the City is an active charity that, through its annual sand sculpting event, helps nonprofits learn how to raise money. One such charity is Nebraska Children's Home, which transforms its parking lot each June with 350 tons of sand for the 12 teams of sculptors. Photo:“Mama Said There’d Be Days Like This” by Millard Drywall Service, led by Joe Kirkendall, Omaha, Nebraska; 1st Place; courtesy of Kathleen Al-Marhoon.
Hampton Beach Master Sand Sculpting Competition

One of five World Championship qualifiers in the U.S, this New Hampshire–based competition has approximately 15 world-class master sculptors vying for $15,000 in prize money. Held in late June, the contest also boasts nighttime viewing hours, during which the awe-inspiring works are illuminated. Photo: "It's Not a Yolk" by Justin Garden of Grover, Massachusetts; 1st Place; courtesy of Greg Grady.
New England Sand Sculpting Festival

Held at Revere Beach in Revere, Massachusetts, every July, the NESSF, which hosts 10 artists annually, was originally the largest of its kind. According to the website, it is still regarded as a premiere event for sand sculpting thanks to national coverage by various media outlets, including Good Morning America, TODAY and The New York Times. Photo: "Selfish Trap" by Jonathan "Jobi" of Bouchard, Montreal, Canada; 1st place; courtesy of Adam Benoit, Celebrity Marketing, Inc.
Sandsations Sand Sculpture Contest

From mid to late July, Long Beach, Washington, hosts this unique festival, which boasts a slew of fun activities for spectators—including free sculpting lessons, a beach bonfire and the Sand Flea Pet Parade—while the 45 to 50 competitors create their magic. Photo: "Evolve" by Eric Hawley, Tacoma, Washington; courtesy of Becky Johnson..
American Sandsculpting Championship Festival

Held in Fort Meyers, Florida, every November, this competition sends its winner on to compete in the following year’s World Championships. Drawing in top master sculptors, the contest is free to all, but those who want a closer look must purchase VIP passes. Photo: "Mirage" by Thomas Koet of Melbourne, Florida; courtesy of Earl Quenzel with Quenzel & Associates.

Friday, 30 July 2010 The Oldest Species on Earth – The Horseshoe Shrimp

2010-08-03T01:56:00.000-07:00

Image Credit Wikimedia

It was almost bound to be small and seemingly insignificant but the oldest species of earth is a shrimp, ironic given the connotations of its name in the English language. Rather than being the runt, the squirt and the general nobody its name implies, this little guy (the Horseshoe shrimp to friends but Triops cancriformis rather more formally) has staying power. It is almost the same now as it was two hundred million years ago.

Image Credit Wikimedia

So, this little chap wasn’t just around when dinosaurs roamed the earth, it was around when they were evolving. Now researchers from the University of Glasgow in Scotland have discovered two hitherto undiscovered colonies of the rare shrimp. And they did so in quite an unusual manner.

Image Credit Wikimedia

The shrimp has a certain trick up its sleeve. When the weather is dry the water pools in which they live dry up and the adults die. However, the eggs can survive in the sand even through periods of extreme dryness – and for up to twenty years.

Image Credit Flickr User Jurvetson

The researchers took mud that they suspected might contain shrimp eggs and placed it in to one of their aquaria. Sure enough a few weeks later (after water had been added) they discovered a shrimp. It is this ability which has seen the horseshoe shrimp occasionally marketed in a similar way to the Sea Monkeys in the US.

One of life's great - if not greatest - survivors.

Very Good Picture on MS PAİNT :O :O :O

2010-08-02T01:55:00.000-07:00

Read More To Picture

Top 10 Historical Mysteries

2010-08-02T01:43:00.000-07:00

The depth of our collective history has countless stories, including some that we have yet to find the ending to. These mysteries have been puzzling scholars for years and many still remain unsolved:

10. The Mystery of Stonehenge

Built in three sections over 6,400 years by the Neolithic inhabitants of Salisbury Plain in Southern England, Stonehenge has captivated visitors for thousands of years. The site contains 30 sarcens (upright stones) weighing 26 tons and 30 lintels (horizontal top stones). Each stone weighs 6 tons and was carved from bluestone from a location several miles away. The Neolithic builders were able to create a monumental that has perplexed humanity for thousands of years using only stone tools, and without using draft animals. Even after all these years, nobody really knows why Stonehenge was built. The other mysteries surrounding Stonehenge are its construction and the significance of the giant blue stones used. Also mysterious: the people who built Stonehenge (we know very little about them because they left no written history).
Theories
The theories about Stonehenge’s construction range from glaciers moving the enormous bluestones to ropes and timbers, to aliens. As for its purpose it has been said to be a temple, a secular calendar, and that the bluestones themselves have healing powers. As a result of the recent discovery of a vast number of burials around the site, a new theory has emerged, one that states that Stonehenge was a place to celebrate the lives of the dead.

9. The Assassination of John F. Kennedy

John F Kennedy Assassination

John F. Kennedy was shot once in the back and once in head while riding with his wife Jacqueline in a Presidential motorcade through the streets of Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested 45 minutes after the shots were fired. After hours of interrogation, in which none of the proper procedures were followed, he was accused of murder. He was killed by Jack Ruby in the garage of the police building on November 24 in front of hundreds of journalists. On November 29, President Lyndon B. Johnson created the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination. It was headed by Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the United States, and found that Oswald was the lone shooter and that he did it from the sixth floor of the Schoolbook Depository Building with an Italian Mannlicher-Carcano rifle.
Theories
Many of the conspiracy theories that surround the assassination began the day that the Warren Commission’s results were released. The most prominent theory is that there was more than one shooter, either somewhere else in Dealey Plaza or on the grassy knoll. Other conspiracy theories include cover-ups by the Federal Reserve, the CIA, the Secret Service, Cuban exiles, CIA agent E. Howard Hunt, the Mafia, Lyndon Johnson, the American Fact-Finding Committee, the Soviet Bloc and the Israeli government.

8. The Crystal Skulls

Gaining recent popularity with the release of the newest Indiana Jones movie, the mystery of the Crystal Skulls goes all the way back to 1881 when the first two skulls were found by Mexican mercenaries. Thirteen crystal skulls have been found throughout Central and South America. Possibly the most famous skull ever found is the Mitchel-Hedges Skull, claimed to be found by seventeen year old Anna Mitchel-Hedges while accompanying her father Frederick Albert Mitchel-Hedges on an expedition to what is now Belize. It was later revealed that Mitchel-Hedges bought the skull at an auction at Sotheby’s in London in 1943. The Mitchel-Hedges skull is unique in that it is an anatomically correct representation, complete with a removable mandible. The other famous skull is the British Museum skull, possibly bought by a mercenary in Mexico and then sold to an artifact trader named Eugene Bodan, who sold it to Tiffany’s, who in turn sold it to the British Museum. Other notable crystal skulls include the Paris Skull (which was found at the same time as the British Museum Skull), the Smithsonian Skull, the Mayan Skull, the Amethyst Skull, the Texas Skull (nicknamed Max), the ET Skull (given the nickname because of its pointed cranium and exaggerated overbite), the Rose Quartz Skull, and the Brazilian Skull. (Image: the Mitchell-Hedges Skull.)
Theories
The Crystal Skulls were thought to be carved by the Mayans or the Aztecs for a long time. However, more outlandish theories have emerged over the years. Some theories: that they were created by aliens, that they came from Atlantis or Lemuria, or even that they were left behind by a society that now lives in the hollow center of the earth. Claims that they were carved with technology well beyond the reach of the Mayans and Aztecs have added to their mystery.

7. The Tomb of Vlad Dracula

Most famous as Bram Stoker’s vampire character, Count Dracula, the real Dracula was actually a prince of Wallachia (now part of Romania). A defender against the Turks, he has been portrayed as both a patriotic hero and a ruthless villain. Vlad Dracula was a merciless ruler who impaled and tortured between 40,000 and 100,000 of his enemies, both Turks and fellow countrymen who posed a threat to his power. After three separate reigns, he was killed in battle against the Turks near Bucharest in 1476. The Turks cut off his head and sent it to the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed II. The final resting place of the rest of his body is unknown.
Theories
The most widely accepted theory about Vlad’s tomb is that he was buried at the island monastery of Snagov. However, after several archeological excavations of the island, Vlad’s body was not recovered. The other speculation is that Vlad’s body may have been originally buried at the Comana Monastery, however, the monastery was rebuilt in the seventeenth century and no body has ever been found there, either. Another option comes from superstition, because of tales of vampires running rampant in Wallachia at the time- Vlad could have been moved anywhere to protect the monks from being killed in their sleep.

6. The Amber Room

Originally built in 1701 for the first King of Prussia, it was soon moved to Russia as a gift to Peter the Great, only to be moved again to the Winter Palace by Tsarina Elizabeth. The room covered more than 55 square meters and it took 10 years to construct out of six tons of Baltic amber. When Hitler’s army was encroaching on the Soviet Union, curators tried moving the room once more, but the amber had become brittle, so they hid it behind plain wallpaper. However, the Nazis knew where to look for the famous work of art and soldiers disassembled the room so it could be sent to Konigsberg. Konigsberg Castle was heavily bombed by the Royal Air Force later in the war and was further destroyed by the advancing Soviet Army. Despite some reports eventually getting out that stated that the Amber Room had survived the war, it has never been seen again.
Theories
Some people believe that the Amber Room was destroyed by the bombing and lost forever. However, several other theories have been formulated: that it is still hidden in an underground bunker at Konigsberg, that it is buried in a mine in the Ore Mountains or that it was aboard a submarine or ship in the Baltic Sea that was sunk by the Soviet Navy. In 1997, one stone mosaic that had decorated the room was discovered in Western Germany, in the hands of a family of a soldier who had helped disassemble the Amber Room. The rest of it has never been found, despite several claims to the contrary.

5.The Riddle of the Sphinx

When one thinks of the Sphinx, they immediately think of the Great Sphinx at Giza, but the Sphinx was a powerful symbol in Greece, Phoenicia and Syria as well. In fact Riddle of the Sphinx originates in Greek legend. According to the ancient Greeks, if a man crossed its path the Sphinx would ask, “What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon and three in the evening?” If they couldn’t answer, the Sphinx would devour them; however, if they answered correctly, the Sphinx would destroy itself. The only person said to survive an encounter with the Sphinx was the Greek hero Oedipus who answered “man.”
Despite the riddle being solved, the Great Sphinx still poses many questions. How old is it? Who built it? And what was the purpose of the passageways?
Theories
Archeologists have heavily contested the age of the Great Sphinx. Conventional science believes the Sphinx was carved around 2500 BC by the Pharaoh Kafre. However, in 1989, author John Anthony West and geologist Robert M. Schoch determined that it was much older and that Kafre had it remodeled into his likeness. As for the passageways, three have been found already and several non-evasive exploration techniques have uncovered anomalies in the Sphinx that could either be man-made chambers or natural faults in the rock.

4. Jack the Ripper

One of the oldest unsolved murder cases in the world, Jack the Ripper instilled fear into the heart of Victorian London and still captures our imagination today. Between August and November 1888, five prostitutes were murdered in Whitechapel, an area in the East End of London. Despite the wealth of Victorian London, the East End was a very impoverished area of the city- home to many Jewish refugees from Russia, Poland and Romania. Whitechapel also had the highest crime rate in the city. Everything about the murders seems to be shrouded in mystery, from the identity of the killer to the letters that were sent to the police. Even the number of victims is under scrutiny. It is generally accepted that there were five victims of Jack the Ripper: Mary Ann (Polly) Nichols (Aug. 31, 1888), Annie Chapman (Sept. 30, 1888), Elizabeth Stride (Sept. 30, 1888), Catherine Eddowes (also Sept. 30, 1888) and Mary Jane (Marie Jeanette) Kelly (Nov. 9, 1888). However, some sources say there were only four victims, while others say there were as many as nine. As for the matter of the letters, it is commonly believed that they were a hoax despite containing graphic details of the murders. Recently it has been thought that Tom Bulling, a journalist from the Central News Agency, wrote the letters. However, some still believe that all, or at least some, of the letters actually were written by the killer, particularly the letter that was sent to George Lusk with half a human kidney. The story of Jack the Ripper had a real effect on, not only the rest of London, but also the entire British Empire. The legend played on the fears that poverty, crime, disease and social unrest were at their doorstep, and Jack the Ripper became the personification of all these evils.
Theories
For the last 120 years the case of the Whitechapel Murderer has been unsolved and this has led to many theories including hundreds of Victorian Londoners. The most accepted suspects are Montague John Druitt, Michael Ostrog, Aaron Kosminski, George Chapman, Thomas Cutbrush and more recently Dr Francis J. Tumblety. Other theorized suspects include Prince Albert Victor Christian Edward (who would later become King Edward VII), author and mathematician Lewis Carroll, Dr. T. Neil Cream, criminal Frederick Deeming, Walter Sickert, poet Francis Thompson and even an unknown woman who was dubbed Jill the Ripper.

3. The Ark of the Covenant

The Ark of the Covenant has fascinated people since it was first mentioned in the Bible in Exodus 25. God instructed Moses to construct a Tabernacle where the Israelites could worship God, and inside it would be a special room called the Holy of Holies where the Ark would be placed. Made from acacia wood covered in gold, it was topped with two cherubs whose wings covered what was called the Mercy Seat. It contained three precious artifacts, the two stone tablets that contained the Ten Commandments, the Rod of Aaron and a golden pot of manna. It has also been said that God himself resided between the wings of the two cherubs on the Jewish Day of Atonement, Yum Kippur. The Ark was not only the center of the Israelite faith, but it also had supernatural powers and was able to defeat their enemies.
Theories
The main question we have to ask when talking about the Ark of the Covenant is did it ever really exist. The Ark was supposedly kept in the Temple of Solomon until it was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC and has never been seen again. Then, if it did really exist to begin with, did the Babylonians destroy it or was it moved or captured? The Second Book of the Maccabees and the Book of Revelation state that the Ark no longer exists but there have been claims that it is hidden away in: Mount Nebo in Jordan, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Ethiopia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Languedoc in France, Herdewyke in the UK, the Hill of Tara in Ireland and the limestone caves under Mount Tsurugi in Japan.

2. King Arthur

Did one of the most famous kings ever really exist or was his legend just a way to inspire English troops? One of the first times he is mentioned is by a Welsh cleric named Nennius in his Historia Brittonum in the 9^th century. However, the most comprehensive account that is known is Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain, which dates back to the 12^th century. Monmouth claimed that Arthur was unsurpassed in power and diplomacy, a great warrior king who ruled Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Brittany, Normandy and Gaul. Mounmouth’s supposed history is completely false, but that didn’t stop the world from falling in love with and continuing the Arthurian legend.
Theories
While Arthur is a truly mythical king, his legend could have been based on several real people from history. One on the strongest theories was that Arthur was really a Roman commander named Lucius Artorius Castus who led 5,500 Sarmatians in Britain at the end of the second century. Despite the lack of historical evidence, some still believe that King Arthur once ruled Britain and that his tomb is still out there to be found.

1. The Lost Island of Atlantis

One of the oldest mysteries in the world, the legend of Atlantis has mystified humanity since ancient times. According to the Greek philosopher Plato, Atlantis was a large island somewhere west of the Pillars of Hercules (the Rock of Gibraltar) and the home of an incredibly advanced civilization known as the Atlanteans. Plato described Atlantis as a place of immense beauty with a palace compound in the center of three ringed canals. He said that every king that inherited the palace would add to it, trying to surpass his predecessor and by doing so they made it a palace that surpassed any other in both beauty and wealth. The Atlanteans themselves were blessed with wealth but at the same they were incredibly ambitious, constantly seeking power. Atlantis is said to have met its end when it was hit by a giant earthquake and swallowed by the sea. But is any of this the truth or is the story of Atlantis just a myth?

Theories
It seems that everyone who has ever studied Greek history has a theory as to Atlantis’ location. Also, many other cultures have stories of a great flood and even the name Atlantis isn’t exclusive to the Greeks: the Basques have Atlaintica, the Vikings have Atli, the Northern Africans have Attala, the Aztecs have Aztlan and on the Canary Islands there are legends of Atalaya. Proposed locations of Atlantis: Santorini in Greece, the Bermuda Triangle, the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and Tunisia, the Azores archipelago (Portugal), Greece’s Crete and even Sweden. It has also been said that some Atlanteans survived and went on to settle in England (Druids), Hellenic Greece, the New World (Mayas and Incas) and Egypt.

World’s biggest ad space?

2010-08-01T01:08:00.001-07:00

Here is the biggest ad space in Russia, but I think that it actually can be one of the biggest in the whole world. The cars you see in the background are full size cars, complete with lighting in the night. The advertiser is BMW and it is a promotion campaign for their new BMW M5. The ad is more than 6000 square meters big and it is located in Moscow.
The Biggest Ad Space in Russia [englishrussia.com]

Sawed-off USB key

2010-08-01T01:06:00.000-07:00

Here is the coolest USB drive I have seen so far this year. I am afraid you can’t buy it (yet! I bet someone will put this one into mass production…) but here’s some nice instructions that will help you make one. Awesome idea!
How to make a Sawed-off USB Key [evilmadscientist.com]

10 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do with Google

2010-08-01T01:03:00.000-07:00

Google is amazing (please thank me for this amazing revelation). There are some things you probably didn’t know Google can do. Take your time and read the information below. You’ll likely learn a few tips and tricks that will make you appreciate Google even more.

10. Find a beautiful wallpaper for your desktop resolution with Google images

Here’s how you do it:

Go to Advanced Image Search
Next to “Exact size” click on “Use my desktop resolution”. Then, next to “Content types” select “Photo content.”
Enter some words. If you want to find cows, enter beautiful cows Let’s see the results:

Notice that many of the images in the results are from wallpaper sites. Google Images makes it very convenient to go through these types of sites and browse them like a gallery instead of going to each gallery site separately. Yes, I hear you say: Wow, I didn’t know Google could do this.

9. Create unlimited disposable email addresses with Gmail

Take the following example:

That’s right, you can add one or more dots ANYWHERE between your username and send messages to that ‘new’ email. All of those messages will arrive to your old (without dots) email. Hard to explain without a picture. But somehow Google did find a way to do it…

Sometimes you may receive a message sent to an address that looks like yours but has a different number or arrangement of periods. While we know it might be unnerving if you think someone else’s mail is being routed to your account, don’t worry: both of these addresses are yours.
Gmail doesn’t recognize dots as characters within usernames, you can add or remove the dots from a Gmail address without changing the actual destination address; they’ll all go to your inbox, and only yours. In short:

homerjsimpson@gmail.com = hom.er.j.sim.ps.on@gmail.com

homerjsimpson@gmail.com = HOMERJSIMPSON@gmail.com

homerjsimpson@gmail.com = Homer.J.Simpson@gmail.com

All these addresses belong to the same person. You can see this if you try to sign in with your username, but adding or removing a dot from it. You’ll still go to your account.

Yep, this is an explanation from Google itself. Now that you understand this, let’s keep going.

8. Search videos durations using Google Video

I’ve noticed there’s not a single video site that allows you to search videos by duration. Let’s say I want to learn Spanish and I want comprehensive videos for that (longer than 20 minutes.) To search, I go to Google Advanced Video Search page and select “Long” next to “Duration”. Here’s what happens:

Now all that’s left is to get some free time and watch those…

7. Want to find an iPad alternative using Google Search?

Sure, you can write ‘iPad alternative’ in Google but that won’t give you the best results. Instead, try this:
Using “better than product” where product=any product will give you not only alternatives but better alternatives to a particular product. Very cool.

6. Detect any unknown language with Google Language Detector

I have a big problem:

What’s the solution? Google language detector.

Another good way to detect and also translate is to use Google Translate and the “Detect Language” option:

5. See what the Dutch haven been searching for recently using Google Insights

Google is the most popular search engine in almost any country in the world. Google Insights (like the name suggests) gives you ‘insights’ of what people have been searching for around the world. For example, Netherlands:

Hyves is a Dutch portal and social network. Weer seems to be a weather portal.

4. When did Google become more popular than Microsoft? Google Trends has the answer

Google Trends helps you discover the trends on various topics and see what people have been searching for over time. In this case, you can see when people started searching for Google more than Microsoft in early 2005.

3. Hate opening PDF files? Google Docs is the solution

So you’ve been searching on Google for a particular topic and found a PDF file:

Instead of opening the file in Adobe Reader (which is a painful process), you can click on “Quick View” and open the file in Google Docs! It takes seconds to open and it’s way more flexible. If you choose later, you can always save the file as PDF by choosing the export option in Google Docs.

2. Scan and Read your RSS feeds like email messages in Google Reader

You probably know how easy it is to open and read email messages in Gmail thanks to the list view. Well, you can do the same in Google Reader:

The default view in Google Reader is ‘expanded’ which makes the items pretty difficult to scan and read. If you change the view from expanded to ‘list’, then it becomes WAY easier to SCAN items and pick what you like.

1. Google can tell you the answer to life and the universe

I wish it was so simple
Written by Darren, the owner of All Search Records, a blog on internet tips. You can also follow him on twitter @onlinetipz.

Crush The Castle 2 Flash Game :) Very Nice Game

2010-07-30T04:29:00.000-07:00

READ MORE TO PLAY

Crush the castle

Description

Even after crushing and capturing Arcturia, the Redvonian King was still longing for more castles to crush. Rumor has it that King Blutias has built sturdier castles in his cluster of islands known as Crushtania the Redvonian King wants them crushed. The King has sent you, his Seige Master, and Halgrim his finest mason, to assemble the greatest minds in the land to destroy Blutias's empire. Produced In-House by Armor Games Inc. Programmed by Joey Betz. Art by Chris "Con" Condon. Special thanks to John, Dim, Joel, and all of the Beta Testers. Version 1.3 fixes some bugs with the load more button and the latest shares as well as a hopeful fix to the loss of save data when playing from a short url.

Controls

Mouse to Fire, Release, and Reload

Arrow Keys to View Castle

Everything here come

Walcott run 100 meters in 10.3 seconds

Grandma Tracy breakdancing at Mad Decent NYC block party

After Ice Rain in South China

Oversize cardboard toy is only missing an engine, and some drivetrain

Wooooooowwwwwww :D

Do You See What I See? Amazing Typographic Art

Not Tetris

Cool Photos and Artworks for Your Inspiration

Seat Savers

My Car photos - Toyota Land Cruiser BJ 60

Free of Gravity Chair

The World's 10 most influential Languages

Camouflage Photography in the Animal World: 50 Astonishing Photos

Nature’s Best Camouflage-Sea Dragon

Camouflage Lizard

Hidden Shrimp

Grasshopper – Master of Camouflage Clothing

Camouflage

Perfect Camouflage

Nature’s Camouflage

Camouflage Brownish Frog

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Camouflaged Rock Grasshopper

Bark Hopper Camouflage

Camouflaged Spider, Montagne d’Ambre, Madagascar

False Leaf Katydid, BCI, Panama

Remarkable Leaf Texture Mimicry

Bark Bug, Peruvian Amazon

Bark Katydid Nymph, Camouflaged

Yellow Camouflage

Camouflage

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Sole

Scorpionfish

Where is it? What is it?

Acrobat…

The Art of Camouflage

Incredible Camouflage

I Am Not Here!

Ornate Ghostpipefish

Camouflage 2

Phyllocrania Paradoxa

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Camouflage

Green Spider

White Rabbit, White Snow

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Stonefish

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Orange-Tip Butterfly

Mimicry in Action

Zizeeria Knysna

Canarian Orthoptera

Sapo, Perereca Ou Rã

How to Microwave Gourmet Popcorn in a Brown Paper Bag

Step One: Get a brown paper bag

Step Two: Bag your popcorn

Step Three: Pop in microwave

Step Four: Add gourmet topping

The Einstein Tower – Hobbit Astrophysical Observatory in Germany

txtBOMBER

Possibilities for Mutation in Necktie Design

10 Spectacular Sand Sculpting Festivals

Friday, 30 July 2010 The Oldest Species on Earth – The Horseshoe Shrimp

Very Good Picture on MS PAİNT :O :O :O

Top 10 Historical Mysteries

10. The Mystery of Stonehenge

9. The Assassination of John F. Kennedy

8. The Crystal Skulls

7. The Tomb of Vlad Dracula