Happy and Sad Thoughts

Jackson tops list of top-earning dead celebrities Late King of Pop earned more than other 12 deceased stars on list combined

2010-10-26T12:47:00.000-07:00

Michael Jackson never graced Forbes’ annual Celebrity 100 list during his life. In death the King of Pop earned more in the past year than any star on that list, apart from Oprah Winfrey.

It was enough to secure Jackson the No. 1 spot on our 10th annual Top-Earning Dead Celebrities list. With gross earnings of $275 million, he earned more than the other 12 deceased stars on the list combined. Still more impressive: His estate's 12-month haul was greater than the pooled earnings of this year’s two biggest living acts, U2 and AC/DC. Jackson’s posthumous earnings come from his stake in the lucrative Sony/ATV catalog, the hit Sony film "This Is It" and renewed fan interest in music, videos and all things Michael Jackson.
“The death of Michael Jackson really put a focus on — crassly, quite frankly — what someone’s worth when they’re deceased,” says David Reeder, vice president of Corbis' GreenLight, which manages the personality rights for Albert Einstein and Steve McQueen, among other dead celebrities. “In a more positive way, it exposed consumers to this idea that there actually is a market for, and an enduring legacy for, these people.”
To place on this year’s list, a deceased celebrity needed to earn at least $5 million between Oct. 1, 2009, and Oct 1, 2010, usually through things like music royalties (John Lennon), book sales (Dr. Seuss) or the licensing of one’s image and likeness (McQueen). To compile the list, we spoke to agents, lawyers and other sources to estimate a star’s gross earnings (before taxes, management fees and other costs).

Want good grades in school? Shun Facebook

2010-09-13T12:50:00.000-07:00

For students who want to make good grades in school, reducing the time they spend on Facebook and other social networking sites may well be the beginning of wisdom, according to a new research.

Social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Flickr have become popular not just among young adults – who are mostly students – but also among businessmen who have found them to be veritable advertising tools.

But psychologists at the Open University of the Netherland found that students who use Facebook while they study get significantly lower grades than those who do not.

They found that the exam results of those who used the social networking site while working, even if it was on in the background, were 20 per cent lower than non-users.

Researchers say the findings undermine the theory that young people‘s brains are better at multi-tasking on digital gadgets.

Study author, Prof. Paul Kirschner, was quoted by The Mail of London as saying, ”The problem is that most people have Facebook or other social networking sites, their emails and maybe instant messaging constantly running in the background while they are carrying out other tasks.

”Our study, and other previous works, suggest that while people may think constant task-switching allows them to get more done in less time, the reality is it extends the amount of time needed to carry out tasks and leads to more mistakes.”

His team studied 219 students aged between 19 and 54 at an American university.

The Facebook users among them had a typical grade point average – a score from zero up to four – of 3.06. Non-users had an average GPA of 3.82.

Those who did not use the site also said they devoted more time to studying, spending an average of 88 per cent longer working outside class.

Three quarters of the Facebook users said they didn‘t believe spending time on the site affected their academic performance.

Kirschner said that he expected to see similar results in younger pupils.

He also said he was not ‘demonising‘ Facebook and pointed to the distracting nature of all social networking.

‘We should resist the fashionable views of educational gurus that children can multi-task, and that we should adapt our education systems accordingly to keep up with the times,‘ he said.

The study, according to The Mail of London, will be published in the journal, Computers in Human Behaviour.

The study‘s result seems consistent with that of another study conducted in the United States last year which suggested a link between social networking sites and academic performance.

According to the study conducted on 219 students at Ohio State University, students who said they used Facebook reported grade-point averages between 3.0 and 3.5; those who didn‘t use it said they averaged 3.5 to 4.0. Also, Facebook users said they studied one to five hours a week as against non-users‘ 11 hours or more.

But Aryn Karpinski, a doctoral student in the school, who conducted the research with graduate student Adam Duberstein, was quoted by the USA Today as saying that the study was too narrow to conclude that Facebook and academics didn‘t mix.

She said, ”It cannot be stated that Facebook use causes a student to study less or get lower grades. I‘m just saying that they‘re related somehow, and we need to look into it further.” Of the 68 per cent of students who said they used Facebook, 65 per cent accessed the site or multiple times daily.

An American professor, Mark Bauerlein, in his recent book, The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don‘t Trust Anyone Under 30), warned that social networking sites were doing young adults more harm than good.

Bauerlein, an English professor at Emory University in Atlanta, US, said today‘s young adults had been shaped by exposure to computer technology since elementary school.

The cost, he was quoted as saying by USA Today, outweighed the convenience. ”Kids are writing more than ever online or in text messages, but it‘s not the kind of narrative skill needed as adults,” he says. ”Those forms groove bad habits, so when it comes time to produce an academic paper … or when they enter the workplace, their capacity breaks down.”

However, it is not all doom for social networking sites. Researchers at the University of Minnesota, United States in 2008 discovered the educational benefits of social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.

A lecturer in the Department of English, University of Lagos, Dr. Emmanuel Adedun, said that the findings of the studies were in tune with his observation. He said that he had observed that social networking sites engaged students‘ attention so much that it affects their academic performance.

According to him, ”If the findings were that use of social networking sites affects students‘ performance negatively, then, they are in tune with my observations. You see, our children here in Nigeria today are more into anything entertainment. And they get a lot of entertainment from these sites. This, therefore, engages their attention to the extent that it affects their cognitive performance negatively.”

According to Science Daily, an online science news publication, Mrs. Christine Greenhow, a learning technologies researcher in the university‘s College of Education and Human Development and principal investigator of the study, said, ”What we found was that students using social networking sites are actually practising the kinds of 21st century skills we want them to develop to be successful today.

”Students are developing a positive attitude towards using technology systems, editing and customising content and thinking about online design and layout. They‘re also sharing creative original work like poetry and film and practicing safe and responsible use of information and technology. The Web sites offer tremendous educational potential.”

Defrauding women searching for husbands

2010-09-12T13:30:00.000-07:00

Ms James commenced her journey to the unknown when she responded to an advertisement that promised to help her in the choice of a life partner. However, by the time she realised what had hit her, she has lost millions of Naira, writes TOYOSI OGUNSEYE
Lola James (not real name) was worried that her parents had refused to approve of her fiancé. She simply couldn‘t understand why almost all the members of the family disliked him. She had done everything within her power to convince her parents to bless the union, to no avail.As she thought about this matter that had been bothering her for months, she decided to read a soft-sell magazine (name withheld) to take her mind off her worries. When she got to page 18 of the magazine, she saw an advert with the title, ‘Old woman with old power – Mama Ijebu.‘ The advert, which was full of grammatical errors, reads, ”For your financial problem, love powder, do as I say, quick sales, favour soap, progress at work, for political appointments, love me only to stop your husband from extra marital affairs, win contracts, to receive money from relatives, home and abroad, loot winning, to win land cases and court cases, promised and fail, ill luck, to regain your husband or wife back, for you to marry the man/woman of your choice, protection against witches and wizards. We also cure fibroid, low sperm count, diabetes and stroke. Come and see the power of old.”Apart from two phone numbers on the advert, no traceable address was provided. James became interested, especially when she read, ”for you to marry the man/woman of your choice” part. She immediately called one of the numbers on the advert and spoke with an old woman who identified herself as Mama Ijebu. James told the old woman that her parents had refused to allow her marry the man of her choice. She was then instructed to pay N6,000 as consultancy fee into a bank account that was given to her by Mama Ijebu.
Rest of the story here http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20100912241925

Why I removed my testes with broken bottle

2010-09-12T02:08:00.000-07:00

What‘s the worth of a man‘s scrotum? This is the question that Mr. Toyin Ibitoye has been battling with. After losing all his investments in a business transaction, he attempted suicide by piercing his own scrotum. While the police prepare to charge him to court, his medical doctor describes it is as a psychiatrist case. AKINWALE ABORISADE writes
For Dauda Abimbola, a night guard at Oke-Offa area of Ibadan, Oyo State, every night comes with a peculiar horror. But the horror that struck in the wee hours of Sunday, August 5, 2010 was such that kept him brooding all day long. This is because of the absurd manner in which it came. It was night as usual in the area. At 12:30 a.m. the rustic city had gone to sleep. Baba Isale area of Oke-Offa was calm and still, with no humans on the street but for the guard on patrol. Only the intermittent chirping of birds and crickets intruded the tranquillity of the night-time. Suddenly, a long, painful groan rent the air. Abimbola cautiously walked down to the direction of the noise. A huge figure (a man) was lying helplessly on the floor, writhing in pain in the pool of his blood. Read full story in link below.
http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201009121573793

First time in a Chinese restaurant

2010-08-29T20:57:00.000-07:00

My first time in a Chinese restaurant and it was great fun. I and my colleagues in office organised a send forth party for one of our ex staff. I particularly enjoyed the different assortment of good food, chicken, fish, vegetable and all sort of Chapman and juice. The atmosphere was very cozy and chilling. The ambiance superb, nice soft Chinese music. In fact it was a wonderful experience and i would love to visit again on my own with my girlfriend. If you have gotten one, i recommend you visit one and give your hubby a treat of a lifetime.

Unhealthy Lifestyle-Cause of short life expectancy

2010-07-30T13:38:00.000-07:00

It has been discovered from research that the life expectancy of an average Nigerian is 46 years for men and 47 years for ladies. I think the cause of this is unhealthy lifestyle habit of individuals.

I think the African diet needs to be re-arranged in such a way that there is a possibility of different variety. These meals should be taken in the right proportions and right quantities.