Interesting Facts

Interesting Facts About catfish

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Thu, 1 Sep 2011 14:38:00 +0530

A catfish has about 100,000 taste buds

Catfish are raised in freshwater ponds of only four to six feet deep.

Farm-raised catfish are taught to eat feed pellets that float on the water surface. Catfish are bottom-feeding wild.

A catfish can put up to 4,000 eggs a year per pound of body weight.

Small catfish are called "fry" as they still live on food supplied by the yolk sac.

When the catfish reach 4 inches long are called "fry" (the size of an index finger).

The catfish are harvested in the nets when they weigh about one to one and a half pounds.

About 95% of farm-raised catfish in the nation stands in Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama and Louisiana.

Catfish is now the fifth most popular fish in America.

Catfish is available throughout the year.

More than 447 million pounds of catfish were produced in 1995.

Interesting Facts About Serengeti

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:47:00 +0530

The Serengeti National Park is amid in Tanzania, adjoining to Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

The Serengeti ecosystem includes 2 countries: Tanzania and Kenya

In Kenya, the Serengeti ecosystem is acclaimed as Masai Mara National Reserve.

Serengeti National Park is 14,763 aboveboard kilometers.

The Serengeti National Park has abounding rivers abounding through it, abiding and seasonal, including the Seronera River, Mara River, Grumeti River and Orangi River.

The highlight of the Serengeti ecosystem, not activate anywhere in the world, is the clearing of the animals appropriately the acumen to appointment Serengeti National Park and Masai Mara National Reserve.

The clearing of animals consists of White Bearded Wildebeests, Burchells Zebra and Thomson's gazelles.

The clearing begins by the wildebeests, gazelles and zebra's own congenital biological triggers bent to chase for baptize and greener pastures.

The clearing attracts assorted breed of predators, some being: Hyenas, Lions, Leopards, Cheetahs, Crocodiles, Pythons etc.

Over a actor wildebeests activate their circumambulation of the Serengeti National Park and Masai Mara National Reserve. Over bisected a actor Burchells Zebras and Thompson's gazelles participate in the traditions of the Serengeti.

Serengeti comes from the Maasai chat "Siring" acceptation "Endless Plain", which absolutely is what it means: hundreds of kilometers of collapsed apparent land, more good termed "The Sea of Grass On Plains". The aboriginal compassionate about Serengeti comes from its acumen of the ecosystem from the Serengeti National Esplanade itself. The ecosystem encompasses the following: Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area in the south east, Ikorongo, Grumeti and Maswa Bold Affluence in the western pockets, the Loliondo Bold Ascendancy Area (also accepted as government accustomed hunting blocks) in the arctic east, and in the arctic by the acclaimed Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, appropriately the Serengeti National Esplanade itself is absorptive aural these bold ascendancy and reserves. The Serengeti ecosystem is about 27,000 aboveboard kilometers and the esplanade is accurate at 14,763 aboveboard kilometers.

Interesting Facts About Kite

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Tue, 1 Sep 2009 17:53:00 +0530

The smallest kite in the world which actually flies is 5mm high.

The largest number of kites flown on a single line is 11,284, this record is held by a Japanese kite maker.

The longest kite in the world is 1034 metres (3394 ft).

The largest kite in the world is the Megabite 55 x 22 metres (630sq metres).

The fastest recorded speed of a kite is over 120 mph. (193 km/h).

The record for the highest single kite flown is 3801 metres (12,471ft).

for a train of kites 9740 metres (31,955 ft).

The world record for the longest 'kite fly' is 180 hours.

Kite flying was banned in China during the Cultural Revolution, anyone found flying a kite was sent to jail for up to three years and their kites destroyed.

There are 78 rules in kite fighting in Thailand.

Kite flying was banned in Japan in 1760 because too many people preferred to fly kites than work.

The aeroplane is a development of the kite.

For centuries kites have been used in wars and battles, for signalling, lifting observers, target practice, as barrage kites, dropping propaganda leaflets etc.

The Chinese believe that looking at kites high in the sky maintains good eyesight.

The Chinese believe that when you tilt your head back to look at a kite in the sky your mouth opens slightly, which gets rid of excess body heat giving you a healthy yin-yang balance.

The Chinese name for a kite is Fen Zheng, which means wind harp. The name is derived from early Chinese kites which used to carry wind musical instruments.

Kites were used in the American Civil War to deliver letters and newspapers.

The delta hang glider was a development of flexiwing kite called a Rogallo.

The first powered aircraft were large box kites with motors fitted to them.

The world-renowned father of aeronautical theory was Sir George Caley (1721 to 1790) who lived near Scarborough in Yorkshire. He discovered the difference between lift & thrust and invented the steerable tail and rudder. He also discovered the importance of the dihedral angle for stability of flight and knew the importance of a curved wing.

If a lightweight engine had been invented in Sir George Caleys time he would have beaten the Wright brothers flight by over 150 years.

Large kites were banned in East Germany because of the possibility of man lifting over the Berlin Wall.

The fastest crossing of the English Channel towed by kites was 2hrs 30min by a team from Flexifoil International in 1999. They would have done it in 2hrs if the French Coastguards had not stopped them 1/2 a mile from the French coast.

In 1985 I was presented to his HRH Prince Charles after winning a British Council travel award to visit kite festivals in China. He told me that whilst on honeymoon on the Royal Yacht Britannia he asked a crew member to launch his kite (a wedding present) from the rear of the yacht. The kite went up so fast the line burnt his hands - he had to let go and lost the kite. He said he learned two things that day, first you must wear gloves when flying kites and secondly remember to tell the Captain of the ship to slow down.

The British scholar Joseph Needham said in his book "Science & Civilisation

in China", that the kite was the most important scientific device to have come to Europe from China.

When the Japanese were building some of the early temples & shrines they used large kites to lift tiles and other materials to the workmen on the roofs.

The Russians used kites to tow torpedoes in 1855 with great accuracy.

Ancient stories of fire breathing Dragons were probably a windsock type of kite flown by soldiers in the middle ages which had burning tar in the mouth opening to frighten the enemy in battle.

The para-gliders that brought back the first space capsules to earth were are development of the Rogallo Kite invented by Francis Rogallo in 1948.

The Rogallo kite was the model for the first hang gliders.

More adults in the world fly kites than children.

In 1826 there used to be a stage coach service between London and Bristol using kites instead of horses.

There is at least one Kite Festival every weekend of the year in some part of the world.

There are many indoor Kite Festivals.

Kites have been used for centuries for fishing.

Kites are used for bird scaring, forecasting the weather and frightening evil spirits away.

Approximately 12 people are killed each year in kiting accidents throughout the world.

It is now thought that the first kites flown over 3000 years ago, were made from leaves.

In Indonesia leaf kites are still used for fishing.

Kite flying is one of the fastest growing sports in the world.

The Maori tribes from New Zealand made beautiful birdman kites made from bark cloth and leaves.

Kite flying is popular in most countries except for one or two for example, Iceland and Russia, but we are trying to remedy that.

You do not need wind to fly a kite.

Each year on the second Sunday of October kite flyers in nearly every country of the World unite and fly a kite to celebrate "ONE SKY ONE WORLD".

People were flying kites 1,000years before paper was invented.

Kites have been used for thousands of years to lift offerings and give thanks to the Gods for good harvests, fertility, weather and prosperity.

There are over 50 million kites sold in the USA every year.

Alexander Bell, the inventor of the telephone also developed the tetrahedral kite, which was very successfully used for man carrying.

In the Orient, kites are given to someone to bring them happiness, good luck, prosperity and cure illness.

The modern ram air parachute and para-gliders were developed from a parafoil kite invented by the American kite maker Domina Jalbert in 1963.

Baden-Powell (the brother of the founder of the scout movement) did lots of successful experiment with man lifting kites.

Samuel Franklin Cody who invented the Cody manlifting kite system was the first man to cross the English Channel towed by kites in 1903.

In 1908 Samuel Franklin Cody was the first man in England to build and fly a powered aircraft, (a large box kite fitted with a small engine).

Samuel Franklin Cody was the first man in England to be killed in a powered aircraft accident - 1913.

In 1901 Marconi used a Hexagon kite to transmit the first radio signals across the Atlantic, the kite line was used as the aeriel.

Benjamin Franklin used a kite to prove that lightning was electricity.

Lawrence Hargrave was an English man who emmigrated to Australia where he invented the box kite in 1893.

In 1847, a young boy won a competition to fly and land a kite on the other side of the Niagara River. They then used the kite line to pull larger cables over the river, enabling them to start work on building the first railway bridge between Canada and the USA.
Some Japanese kites weigh over 2 tons.

One of the longest Chinese Dragons I have seen flying was over 600 metres long.

Kites have been used in many sea rescues.

Interesting Facts About Jamaica

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:24:00 +0530

Jamaica is the largest English-speaking island in the Caribbean and the third largest overall. The island spans 4,400 square miles.

Jamaica is populated by over 2 million people, largely descendents of the freed African slaves brought over to the island by the spanish and British. Jamaica is classified as a developing country. Tourism and mining are the two most profitable economic sectors along with agriculture and manufacturing. Jamaica has been an independent country since 1962 when it ceased to be a British colony but remains part of the British Commonwealth.

Jamaica is an independent nation and a member of the British Commonwealth. After enjoying full internal self-government for a number of years Jamaica achieved independence in August of 1962. Queen Elizabeth II however, is still Queen of Jamaica by tradition and the titular head of state is her representative on the island—the Governor General. It is similar to Canada.

Jamaica is the third largest Caribbean island, measuring 146 miles at its widest point. Primarily of volcanic origin, the lush island features a mountain ridge that peaks at Blue Mountain which is 7,402 feet high. Many white-sand beaches and clear seas ring the island.

Democracy is complete, with an elected Parliament, a Prime Minister, an elected House of Representatives and a Senate. It works on similar lines to the British parliament. The constitution embodies absolute safeguards to personal liberties and democratic rule of law.

Parliament sits at Gordon House on Kingston's Duke Street and visitors can watch proceedings from the visitors gallery.

Population standing at 2,731, 832 at the end of 2005 is made up of the following approximate ethnic groups: African 76.3%, Afro-European 15.1%, European 0.8%, Chinese and Afro-Chinese 1.2%, East Indian and Afro-East Indian 3.4% and others 3.4%.

Arawak Indians were the original inhabitants exterminated by the Spanish after Columbus discovered Jamaica in 1492. The Spanish were defeated by the British in 1655.

Snakes are extremely rare. They were killed off by the mongoose, imported to exterminate canefield rats.

Climate is year-round summer with no definite rainy season, although it usually rains most in May and October. North-easterly trade winds blow continually.

Obeahism the Jamaican form of Voodoo exists but is seldom heard of. The Obeah man is supposed to marshal evil spirits to bring good or bad fortune. The practice of Obeahism is a still considered a crime punishable by imprisonment here.

Industries in order of importance are tourism bauxite, agriculture (sugar, bananas, coffee, pimento, cocoa and tobacco). No other country in the world produces pimento, also known as Allspice.

Orchids grow wild all over Jamaica—200 species of them, 73 of which are found nowhere else. There are also 500 species of fern and 1,000 species of trees.

Blue Moons happen in Jamaica. Sapphire-coloured moons have been observed half a dozen times during the last 40 years.

The Coconut Palm is not native to Jamaica or the West Indies. Surprisingly nor are sugar cane, bananas, mangoes, breadfruit or bamboo. They were all brought to the island at various stages in its history. The original Arawak inhabitants lived mainly on corn, fish and yams.

Unexplored country still exists in the Cockpit Country, part of which is inhabited by the Maroons, slaves turned loose by the Spanish before they fled the island, and who went to this wild country to form settlements. They later harassed the British so much they were granted independence in a treaty of 1734 and still govern themselves today.

Miscellaneous Departure Tax-Most important to remember, you will be asked to pay a departure tax of US$22 unless it was already calculated into your ticket when you bought it.

Official Matter Entry Regulations- No passports are required of Canadian or U.S. Citizens/Residents entering as tourists for any period up to six months provided that they have a return ticket and identification such as a social security card or driver's license. All other visitors must carry a valid passport.

Your home country may however impose other travel requirements in order for you to leave and return. Please check with your local officials for more information and to prevent any confusion.

Visitors can obtain a special licence after a 24-hour period on the island. You must produce your passport and two witnesses. If either party has been divorced or widowed, necessary documents must be produced to vouch for their current status. Young people under 21 years of age must produce written consent from a parent, signed by a notary public.

Jamaica's currency is the Jamaican dollar, not to be confused with the U.S. dollar. The value of the Jamaican dollar fluctuates but in November 2004 it was approximately JA$61 to US$1

With a size of 4411 square miles, Jamaica is a little smaller than the state of Connecticut in U.S. Jamaica has a length of 146 miles and a width of 22-51 miles. The annual population growth is 0.46%.Hot and humid weather conditions typical of a tropical climate, with a temperate interior, prevails in Jamaica. The average annual rainfall is 78 inches. Some significant places in Jamaica are: Kingston/ Montego Bay/ Mandeville/ Port Antonio/ Ocho Rios/ Negril/

Though the locals speak Jamaican language-Patois, the official language is English. The Ethnic groups comprising Jamaica are: Black (90.9%), mixed (7.3%), East Indian (1.3%), White (0.2%), Chinese (0.2%). The dominant religion of Jamaica is Christianity. Natural resources of Jamaica include bauxite, gypsum and limestone. The major exports of the country are bauxite, sugar, coffee, citrus products, rum, cocoa etc. The GDP per capita of Jamaica is US 3350.

Interesting Facts About Peanut

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 18:46:00 +0530

The peanut is not a nut, but a legume related to beans and lentils.

Peanuts are naturally cholesterol-free.

Peanuts account for two-thirds of all snack nuts consumed in the USA.

There are four types of peanuts grown in the USA — Runner, Virginia, Spanish and Valencia.

Four of the top 10 candy bars manufactured in the USA contain peanuts or peanut butter.

The average American consumes more than six pounds of peanuts and peanut butter products each year.

March is National Peanut Month.

Peanuts are planted after the last frost in April or early May.

Dr. George Washington Carver researched and developed more than 300 uses for peanuts in the early 1900s; Dr. Carver is considered "The Father of the Peanut Industry" because of his extensive research and selfless dedication to promoting peanut production and products.

Astronaut Allen B. Sheppard brought a peanut with him to the moon.

Tom Miller pushed a peanut to the top of Pike's Peak (14,100 feet) using his nose in 4 days, 23 hours, 47 minutes and 3 seconds.

Most USA peanut farms are family-owned and -operated.

The peanut plant originated in South America.

As early as 1500 B.C., the Incans of Peru used peanuts as sacrificial offerings and entombed them with their mummies to aid in the spirit life.

Peanuts contribute more than $4 billion to the USA economy each year.

The peanut growth cycle from planting to harvest is about five months.

The average peanut farm is 100 acres.

The peanut plant produces a small yellow flower.

Americans eat more than 600 million pounds of peanuts (and 700 million pounds of peanut butter) each year.

Peanuts flower above ground and then migrate underground to reach maturity.

Two peanut farmers have been elected president of the USA - Thomas Jefferson and Jimmy Carter.

Adrian Finch of Australia holds the Guinness World Record for peanut throwing, launching the lovable legume 111 feet and 10 inches in 1999 to claim the record.

A mature peanut plant produces about 40 pods that then grow into peanuts.

Peanuts are a good source of folate, which can reduce the risk of certain birth defects in the brain and spinal cord.

Ever wonder where the term "Peanut Gallery" comes from? The term became popular in the late 19th century and referred to the rear or uppermost seats in a theater, which were also the cheapest seats. People seated in such a gallery were able to throw peanuts, a common food at theaters, at those seated below them. It also applied to the first row of seats in a movie theater, for the occupants of those seats could throw peanuts at the stage, stating their displeasure with the performance.

Besides being high in protein, peanuts are naturally cholesterol-free. They are also an excellent source of folate, meaning they have the ability to reduce the risk of some birth defects in the brain and spinal cord.

March is National Peanut Month and November is National Peanut Butter Lovers Month.

When snacking, you may think to recall that peanuts or peanut butter are ingredients in four of the top ten candy bars that the United States manufactures.

Each year, the average American consumes over six pounds of peanuts and peanut butter products.

Each year, Americans consume more than 600 million pounds of peanuts and 700 million pounds of peanut butter!!

More than $4 billion of the United States' economy each year comes from peanuts.

Talk about setting records! The world's largest reported peanut was four inches long. It was grown in North Carolina by Mr. Earl Adkins.

Thomas Jefferson and Jimmy Carter, what do they have in common? They were both peanut farmers who were elected as president of the United States.

Peanut butter is the number one use of peanuts in the United States. It takes, on average, 540 peanuts to make one 12-ounce jar of peanut butter. The average child is said to eat 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by the time they graduate from school. On one acre of a peanut crop there are enough peanuts to make 30,000 peanut butter sandwiches!! You do the math!

Peanuts have traveld a long way and been in many places, South America (Africa), India and China, North America (the United States), and even the moon! Astronaut Allen B. Sheppard took a peanut with him on his trip to the moon.

Peanuts have come a long way from their original use of feeding pigs to becoming acounted for as two-thirds of all snack nuts consumed in the United States.

Chocolate manufacturers use 20% of the worlds peanuts (2008).

Dr. George Washington Carver researched and developed more than 300 uses for peanuts in the early 1900s; Dr. Carver is considered "The Father of the Peanut Industry" because of his extensive research and selfless dedication to promoting peanut production and products.

The U.S. produced about 4.1 billion pounds of peanuts in 2004.

Adrian Finch of Australia holds the Guinness World Record for peanut throwing, launching a peanut 111 feet and 10 inches in 1999 to claim the record.

Tom Miller pushed a peanut to the top of Pike's Peak (14,100 feet) using his nose in 4 days, 23 hours, 47 minutes and 3 seconds.

Peanuts originated in South America, where they were cultivated by Indians for at least 2000 years. As early as 1500 B.C., the Incans of Peru used peanuts as sacrificial offerings and entombed them with their mummies to aid in the spirit life.

Spaniards and Portuguese slave traders introduced them to Africa and Europe, and slaves introduced them to the American South.

Though there are several varieties of peanut, the two most popular are the Virginia and the Spanish peanut. The Virginia peanut is larger and more oval in shape than the smaller, rounder Spanish peanut. Unshelled peanuts should have clean, unbroken shells and should not rattle when shaken.

The U.S. produces only about 6% of the world crop.

In the U.S., annual peanut production (about 1.5 million tons per year) often exceeds the production of beans and peas combined.

India & China together produce almost 2/3rds of the world crop.

Historically, the largest producer of peanuts in the world was India, but production in China overtook Indian production in the mid-1990s. For the period 1996 to 2000, China produced almost 40% of the world crop, and India almost 25%, with the U.S. in 3rd place with almost 6%

Worldwide, about 2/3rds of the peanut crop is processed for peanut oil.

20% of the world's peanut production is used in candy.

Peanut oil accounts for 8% of the worlds edible oil production.

Americans eat 3 pounds of peanut butter per person every year. That's about 700 million pounds, or enough to coat the floor of the Grand Canyon!

March is National Peanut Month. National Peanut Month had its beginnings as National Peanut Week in 1941. It was expanded to a month-long celebration in 1974.

One acre of peanuts will make 30,000 peanut butter sandwiches.

One acre of peanut plants yields about 2,860 pounds of peanuts.

Two peanut farmers have been elected President of the United States: Thomas Jefferson and Jimmy Carter.

Peanuts are also called goobers, goober peas, pindars, ground nuts, earth nuts, monkey nuts, and grass nuts.

Peanuts contain about 28% protein, 50% oil and 18% carbohydrates.

Peanuts are members of the pea family.

The official state crop of Georgia is the peanut. Georgia produces almost 1/2 of the total U.S. peanut crop. More than 50% of the crop goes to peanut butter production (2002).
Georgia is the largest producer of peanuts in the U.S.

The first peanuts grown in the United States were grown in Virginia.

Mr. Peanut was created by 13 year-old Antonio Gentile in a logo contest held by Planters in 1916. He won the grand prize of $5.00. His drawing of a peanut person with arms and crossed legs was refined by a professional illustrator who added the top hat, monocle, white gloves and cane.

What is supposedly the World's Largest Peanut is in Turner County. A 20 foot tall peanut, it is a monument to the importance of the peanut in Georgia history.

Interesting Facts About Shawshank Redemption

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 18:24:00 +0530

The Mansfield State Reformatory in Ohio was used for the exterior shots. However the prison is now derelict and improvements had to be made prior to shooting. The interior shots were done on a stage as it was cheaper to do so than to renovate the interior of Mansfield prison.

All scenes containing Brook’s crow were monitored by the American Humane Association. The American Humane Association objected to the feeding of a live maggot to the crow during a scene, as they considered it cruel to the maggot. A maggot that had died from natural causes was found to complete the scene.

In the original story Stephen King wrote Red as an Irishman. Morgan Freeman was cast as Red. Although Morgan Freeman is of African descent, and cannot be of true Irish descent, the line "Maybe it's 'cause I'm Irish" was left in the movie.

"The Count of Monte Cristo" novel, by Alexandre Dumas père, is mentioned in the movie. The book has several similarities to the story. The Dumas’ story has a man who is falsely imprisoned for a crime, and makes a daring escape. After he has escaped he finds treasure that he has learnt about whilst in jail. He also carries out a plan of revenge against those who had imprisoned him.

The Shawshank Redemption is dedicated to Frank Darabont’s former agent Allen Greene.

The prisoners watch the movie Gilda, staring Rita Hayworth.

Prison Warden Norton whistles the tune from the hymn "Eine feste Burg ist unser Gott". The English title of this is "A Mighty Fortress is Our God".

The pictures of the young looking Morgan Freeman attached to his parole papers are actually pictures of Morgan Freeman’s son Alfonso Freeman.

Morgan Freeman’s son, Alfonso Freeman appears in the Shawshank Redemption as an extra, shouting "Fresh fish! Fresh fish today! We're reeling 'em in!" when the new inmates arrive.

The Shawshank Redemption movie follows Stephen King’s story of Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption very closely. Stephen King says the story is a collection of the memories he has of prison movies as a child.

A picture of Albert Einstein hangs on Andy Dufresne’s cell wall. Tim Robbins, who plays Andy Dufresne, also starred in a movie about Einstein, called I.Q.

After Andy is found to have escaped, Warden Norton instructs the guards to question Red. The guard shouts to “Open 237!”, which is Red’s cell number. 237 is the room number used in the Shining, and the total of the change in the story Stand By Me (called The Body in the book). All of these stories were written by Stephen King.

Warden Norton opens the bible where Andy Dufresne hid his rock pick it opens to the Book of Exodus. The Book of Exodus details the escape of the Jews from Egypt.

Two Shawshank inmates have the names of Heywood and Floyd. Heywood Floyd is the name of the main character in 2010.

Although the Shawshank Redemption movie was only a reasonable hit in the theaters, it has become of the most successfully video and DVD rentals of all time.

Brad Pitt was originally intended to play the role of Tommy Williams.

Stephen King and Frank Darabont were already friends as Frank Darabont had adapted Stephen King’s short story “The Woman in the Room”. Stephen King has a policy whereby aspiring filmmakers can adapt his short stories for a dollar. Stephen King was very impressed by Frank Darabont’s adaptation of “The Woman in the Room”. They became pen friends but didn’t meet until Frank Darabont optioned the Shawshank Redemption. Frank Darabont also directed The Green Mile movie, another Stephen King story.

When Red, played by Morgan Freeman, leaves his parole meeting at the end of the film, his friends ask him how it went. He Replies with "Same shit different day". This phrase was also used by a character in the Stephen King movie Dreamcatcher, which also starred Morgan Freeman.

When on the roof the prisoners are drinking Stroh's beer.

After Frank Darabont had written the screenplay Rob Reiner offer Frank Darabont US$2.5 million for the rights to the script. Rob Reiner was so impressed that he wanted to direct the movie himself. Frank Darabont seriously considered the offer, but decided to make the movie himself, as he considered it a "chance to do something really great".

After the Shawshank Redemption had gained popularity Ted Turner sold the television right to the TNT network, which his is own network. He sold it for a much lower fee than normal. Because it is so inexpensive to show the movie is sown on the TNT network very frequently.

Once Andy has been reassigned to the prison library, from the laundry, a prison guard comes to see him, for investment help. The guards name is Deakins. The cinematographer for the Shawshank Redemption was called Roger Deakins.

When Tommy Williams (played by Gil Bellows) is on the bus, the man sat behind him is Dennis Baker. Dennis was a former warden on the Mansfield State Penitentiary, where the Shawshank Redemption was filmed.

After seeing the screenplay an agent, who perhaps is in the wrong business, requested an audition for his supermodel client for the role of Rita Hayworth, who only appears in the movie as a character in one of her own films shown in the prison theater.

Auditions were held in Mansfield for extras for the movie. The auditions proved so popular than no more people were accepted after 3pm.

Thomas ("Tommy") Williams is played by Gil Bellows. He plays William ("Billy") Thomas In "Ally McBeal" (1997).

The hands seen loading the revolver in the opening scene are those of Frank Darabont and not Tim Robbins. The scenes were shot during post production.

Interesting Facts About Sunflower

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Fri, 3 Jul 2009 15:53:00 +0530

The scientific name of sunflowers is Helianthus, Helia for sun and Anthus for flower.

Sunflowers are a great choice for planting to attract birds to your yard.

Sunflowers are one of the fastest growing plants. They can grow 8 to 12 feet tall in rich soil within six months.

Do you know what country grew the tallest sunflower? The Netherlands (25' 5.5" tall) grown in 1986 by M. Heijmf.

It require only 90 to 100 days from planting to maturity.

The former Soviet Union grows the most sunflowers. The sunflower is the national flower of Russia.

The sunflower is native to North America and was used by the Indians for food and oil. Some farmers use it to feed their livestock.

We use sunflower seeds to make oil, bird seed and for snacking. They have lots of calcium and 11 other important minerals. They do have 50% fat, BUT it is mostly polyunsaturated linoleic acid.

Wild sunflower is highly branched with small heads and small seeds, in contrast to the single-stem and large seed head of domesticated sunflower.

Sunflower heads consist of 1,000 to 2,000 individual flowers joined together by a receptacle base. The large petals around the edge of a sunflower head are individual ray flowers which do not develop into seed.

A well-known sunflower characteristic is that the flowering heads track the sun's movement, a phenomenon known as heliotropism.

The daily orientation of the flower to the sun is a direct result of differential growth of the stem. A plant-growth regulator, or auxin, accumulates on the shaded side of a plant when conditions of unequal light prevail. Because of this accumulation, the darker side grows faster than the sunlit side. Thus, the stem bends toward the sun.

Sunflower seeds are rich in oil, which they store as a source of energy and food. Sunflower seeds are crushed to give us oil. We can use sunflower oil for cooking.

Sunflower plants can be from 3 to 18 feet tall.

One sunflower can have up to 2000 seeds.

There are more than sixty different kinds of sunflowers in the U.S.

Sunflowers originally came from the U.S.

There are two kinds of sunflower seeds- black and stripe

Oil is made from black seeds.

Snacks are made from striped seeds

Sunflower seeds are also used to feed birds.

Sunflowers are the state flower for Kansas.

There is only one flower on each sunflower stem.

Sunflowers are very beautiful flowers and are used for decoration.Sunflower plants can be from 3 to 18 feet tall. One sunflower can have up to 2000 seeds.

Sunflowers are also an important crop. There are more than sixty different kinds of sunflowers growing in the United States, Europe, Japan and Russia. Sunflowers originally came from the United States.

There are two kinds of sunflower seeds. Oil is made from black seeds and snacks are made from striped seeds. Sunflower seeds are also used to feed birds.

Interesting Facts About Jasmine

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Sun, 31 May 2009 14:57:00 +0530

Jasmine flower and the essential oil extracted from the flower are being used extensively in cosmetics and perfumery, and as a calmative (relaxing properties, sedative) and aphrodisiac (intensifies sexual desire).

Jasmine is a very popular flower around the world, especially in tropics because of its unique fragrance. The Jasmine is native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the old world.

Jasmine flowers are white in most species, with some species being yellow flowered. Jasmine is believed to have originated in the Himalayas in western China.

Unlike most genera in the Oleceae family, which have four corolla lobes petals, Jasmines often have five or six lobes. Jasmines are often strongly and sweetly scented. Jasmine is widely cultivated for its shining leaves and beautiful clusters of fragrant flowers.

Flowering in Jasmines takes place in summer or spring, usally six months after planting. The Jasmine flower releases its fragrance at night after the sun has set and especially when the moon is waxing towards fullness. Jasmine flower buds are more fragrant than the flowers.

There exists a true Jasmine and a false Jasmine, and the two are commonly mistaken for each other because of the fragrance the plants release. The true Jsmine belongs to the family Oleaceae, is primarily a bushy shrub or climbing vine, and is non-poisonous.

True Jasmine has oval, shiny leaves and tubular, waxy-white flowers. The false Jasmine, on the other hand, is in a completely different genus, Gelsemium, and family, Loganiaceae, is considered too poisonous for human consumption.

Jasmine shrubs reache to a height of 10-15 feet, growing approximately 12-24 inches per year.

Jasmine leaves are either evergreen or deciduous.

A Jasmine leaf is arranged in opposite in most species, leaf shape is simple, trifoliate or pinnate with 5-9 leaflets, each up to two and half inches long.

The Jasmine stems are slender, trailing, green, glaborous, angled, almost 4-sided.

Most of the Jasmine species bear white flowers, which are about 1 inch in size.

Jasmine oil, which is a very popular fragrant oil, contains benzyl acetate, terpinol, jasmone, benzyl benzoate, linalool, several alcohols, and other compounds.

The variety Jasminium sambac, is a clustered flower of a equally strong scent known in Hawaii as the Pikake.

Two types of Jasmine are used for oil production - Jasminum grandiflorum and Jasminum officinale.

The nectar of the fragrant flowers of Carolina Jasmine, Gelsemium sempervirens, is poisonous, although its dried roots are used in medicinal preparations as a sedative.

Jasmine flower oil, extracted from the two species Jasminum Officinale and Grandiflorum, is used in high-grade perfumes and cosmetics, such as creams, oils, soaps, and shampoos.

Jasmine is known in India as the "Queen of the Night" because of it's intoxicating perfume that is released at night.

In China ,Jasmine is used a symbol of feminine sweetness and beauty. Jasmine also symbolize deep affection, happiness and elegance. This is why it is used in wedding toss.

Jasmine has been used for healing the female reproductive system. In Ayurvedic medicine jasmine is used to calm the nerves, sooth emotional problems, help with PMS and tension headaches. Because Jasmine has antispasmodic properties it can help relax the uterine cramps and pain during childbirth.

In Chinese medicine Jasmine flowers are known to "cool" the blood and have a strong antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-tumor properties. Because they cool the blood they help with reducing a fever or cooling an overheated person (from the sun) .

Jasmine has astringent properties which aids in treating inflamed eyes and skin, and as a gargle to relieve sore throats and mouth ulcers. Jasmine is used in aromatherapy to calm the emotions, and as an aphrodisiac. It is a valuable remedy in cases of depression because is produces a feeling of confidence , optimism and euphoria. It revitalizes and restores the balance of energy.

Jasmine is used in teas, herbal bathes, skin creams, soaps and potpourri. It is also used as a decorative touch to special dishes.

Interesting Facts About Soap

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Sun, 31 May 2009 11:27:00 +0530

Soap has been made for at least the last 2000 years in some form or another.

The first soaps were formed by boiling animal fat (or olive oil around the Mediterranean) to dryness with ashes from a wood fire, which contain potassium hydroxide. The earliest users were either the Celts (who called it saipo), or the Phoenicians. According to Pliny the Elder, the Phoenicians were using soap as early as 600 B.C.

These early soaps were generally used for cleaning clothes and for curing animal hides. The Romans used soap on their bodies as part of bathing, and they spread their soap making skills throughout Europe.

In Europe, medieval soap production centered around Marseilles and spread to Genoa and Venice. In England, there was soap production in Bristol as early as the 12th century. In the 13th and 14th Centuries, it started in Cheapside in London. Soap was seen as a great source of revenue by the government and it was taxed. During the Napoleonic wars this tax was as much as 3d per pound, and the tax inspectors would lock up the soap boiling pans to stop illegal production at night.

This tax was not repealed until 1835, by which time the exchequer was making £1m a year from the industry.

The process remained more or less unchanged until a method of producing large quantities of sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) was discovered in the late 18th century. This opened up the manufacture of good quality soap on a large scale. By the time of the industrial revolution in the late 18th century, soap was more widely available. In fact, Pears Soap dates from 1789.

Apparently, Justus von Liebig, a German chemist, said that the amount of soap that a nation used was a measure of its wealth and civilisation. If only that were true now.What's special about our soap Droyt's Clear Glycerine Soap is an all-in, semi-boiled frame soap, cut by hand from a large block and stamped to shape in a box die.

With the addition of a few other ingredients, this method can be used to make a genuine transparent soap, i.e. a soap which is clear like glass. It is not possible to make a true transparent soap by mechanical means.

Extra vegetable derived glycerine is added to bring the glycerine content to a level of between 10 and 11%.

Fully boiled soap -- In this case the glycerine is removed by adding a brine solution (salt water) to the soap. The glycerine dissolves in the water and is drained off leaving only the soap which is then dried into little flakes or ``noodles''.

Cold process soap -- This is an all in soap, but there is no external heating as all the heat comes form the saponification reaction which is exothermic (i.e. an excess of heat is produced by the chemical changes in the components of the reaction. An example would be the dissolving of sodium hydroxide in water). These soaps are normally made with pure coconut oil.

The soaps produced are called hard or soft depending on what sort of fats and oils are used, and whether sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide is the alkaliProcessing The soaps are then processed. If the soap was made into noodles, it is milled. If it was poured into a frame while hot it is cut.

During milling the soap chips are pushed through a machine called a plodder which mixes in colour and perfume and produces a continuous extruded bar of soap. This is then cut into billets by machine.

With cut soap, the soap is cut by hand or machine from a large block down to a soap sized billet.

After the soap has been made into a billet, it is stamped. There are two kinds of die. One is a capacity die where excess soap squeezes out around the middle and cut off later. This method produces a very regular weight and size and is the way that most domestic soaps are made. The other kind is a box die (or collar die). This contains all the soap which was placed in the mould. This methods produces a less deformed (and therefore more transparent) tablet and also requires less finishing.

Opaque milled soap -- This group represents the vast majority of soap produced in the world today. These soaps are made using a fully boiled process and utilise some of the most advanced soap making techniques, usually on a very large scale. After manufacture the soaps are then milled as above.

Translucent soap -- This is a relatively modern technique which simulates the old frame method and can produce glycerine soaps which a reasonable level of glycerine (up to 4%). The benefit of this method is that it produces a glycerine soap using a large scale, automatic machine process, which is therefore more commercially attractive.

Transparent soap -- There are three ways to make transparent soaps. The first is to pour the whole making into a frame and cut up the soap from a large block. This is very labour intensive.

The second way is to pour the soap into individual tubes which produces long bars of soap which then can be processed automatically.

The third method is to pour soap into individual moulds, which are then cooled, and the individual soaps released. This can be a completely automatic process.

The best method is the first. Pouring into individual moulds requires the soap to be very liquid and thus the water content is very high. This in turn means that the soap is prone to melting, even more than normal glycerine soaps. Glycerine is attractive to water and there is a tendency for such soaps to absorb moisture unless kept dry.

Synthetic detergent bars -- There are an increasing number of these cleansing bars on the market. They are made using a different chemical process to normal soap making. They were originally developed to attempt to achieve a product which is closer to pH neutral than normal soap. The first of these was Neutrogena, but there are now others available such as Dove.

Soap is famed. It has a magazine named for it and has limericks written about it,*but until this week no one apparently had ever fully investigated world soap statistics. This week Soap, a monthly magazine, publishes what it claims is the first such survey. Among its findings:

World production: 10,000,000,000 Ib. per year (of which the U. S. makes and uses about one-third).

Per capita consumption: U. S. 25 Ib.; The Netherlands 24 Ib.; United Kingdom 20 Ib.; Japan 7 Ib.; Brazil 6.8 Ib.; world average 6.6 Ib.; Russia 5.7 Ib. (compared to less than 2 Ib. 20 years ago); British India, 4 oz.; China, 2 oz.

Uses classified: World. 92% laundry soap; U. S. 85% laundry soap, 12% toilet soap, 3% miscellaneous.

Interesting Facts About Nelson Mandela

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:19:00 +0530

Nelson Mandela’s original name was Rolihlahla Mandela. (Nelson was added later.) He was born in “Black” Transkei, Africa on July 18, 1918.

Mandela is the world's most celebrated man who has held a political office while being jailed for nearly 30 years. Despite the fact that his freedom was stripped from him, he continued to stand up for his beliefs for his South African Brothers and Sisters who are still struggling with the affects of Apartheid.

Nelson’s peaceful boyhood was spent cattle herding and other rural pursuits. When his father died, Nelson’s rich and powerful relative took custody of him. Nelson Mandela was influenced by his African heritage of ritual and taboo. His values and attitudes were shaped by traditions and his royal privileges.

He was sent to boarding school and later to Fort Hare Missionary College. He was expelled from college for helping to organize a strike against the white colonial rule of the institution. He then became involved in other protests against the white colonial rule. In doing so he set out for personal and national liberation. He ran away from home to avoid an arranged marriage. Later, he graduated from the University of South Africa with a degree in law. He joined a law firm as an apprentice.

Nelson MandelaIn 1942,Nelson joined the African National Congress (ANC), which, at the time, was polite to the government. Soon Nelson Mandela had persuaded the ANC to use boycotts and strikes against the government instead of being polite. He was arrested for civil disobedience, and was not allowed to attend gatherings.

In his spare time, Nelson Mandela studied to become a lawyer so that he could protect blacks. Work as a lawyer strengthened his feelings against apartheid (which segregated and discriminated against blacks in South Africa). Nelson was particularly active during the 1950’s.

After the Shapesville massacre in which many blacks were killed, the white rule banned the ANC. Nelson went underground. He created the MK, which was the military portion of the ANC. Nelson arranged military training in Algeria for the MK members. He launched a sabotage campaign. On his return from Algeria he was arrested for going between countries without a passport, and was tried for sabotage and Africa attempting to overthrow the government. He spent the next 28 years in prison. Before going to prison he said, “Make every home, every shack or rickety structure into a learning center.”

When he got to Robben Island where he was to be imprisoned Nelson was told to jog to the prison gate. He refused. He and the other prisoners started a hunger strike to get better living conditions. The prisoners won. They also found ways to communicate with other prisoners. A few methods were: writing messages on toilet paper, hiding messages in the bottom of food buckets, slipping notes in the dirty dishes (they made the dishes extra dirty for this) so the cook prisoners could read them, and taping notes to the inside rim of toilet seats.

While Nelson was in prison he was offered freedom if he would stop his violent actions. He refused this offer.

During Nelson Mandela’s jail time he had secret talks with South Africa’s president, P.W. Botha, and his successor, F.W. de Klerk. As a result, in 1990 he was freed.

He was appointed Deputy President of the ANC. The ANC decided to suspend its 30-year armed struggle. In July of 1991, Nelson Mandela was appointed President of the ANC. Nelson decided to join the government and other parties to negotiate South Africa’s future. Finally everyone came to agree on a majority rule constitution. This constitution states that racial discrimination it is against the law.

In 1993, Nelson Mandela shared the Nobel Peace Prize with F.W. de Klerk forAfrican Flag dismantling apartheid, and in 1994 he became the first democratically elected South African president.

In June of 1999, Nelson Mandela retired from the presidency, and returned to live in the town of Qunu, Transkei, in which was born.

Restful retirement was not on the cards as Mandela shifted his energies to battling South Africa's AIDS crisis raising millions of dollars to fight the disease.

His struggle against AIDS became starkly personal in early 2005 when he lost his only surviving son to the disease.

The country also shared the pain of Mandela's humiliating divorce in 1996 from Winnie Mandela, his second wife, and watched his courtship of Graca Machel, widow of Mozambican President Samora Machel, whom he married on his 80th birthday in 1998.

In 2007 Mandela celebrated his 89th birthday by launching an international group of elder statesmen, including fellow Nobel peace laureates Desmond Tutu and Jimmy Carter, to tackle world problems including climate change, HIV/AIDS and poverty.

Interesting Facts About Slumdog Millionaire

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 15:34:00 +0530

Slumdog Millionaire is a 2008 British film directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy, and co-directed in India by Loveleen Tandan. It is an adaptation of the novel Q & A (2005) by Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup.

Slumdog Millionaire tells the story of a young man from the slums of Mumbai who appears on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Kaun Banega Crorepati, mentioned in the Hindi version) and exceeds people's expectations, arousing the suspicions of the game show host and of law enforcement officials.

Slumdog Millionaire initially had a limited North American release on 12 November 2008 by Fox Searchlight Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures, to critical acclaim and awards success. It later had a nationwide grand release in the United Kingdom on 9 January 2009 and in the United States on 23 January 2009. It premiered in Mumbai on 22 January 2009.

Slumdog Millionaire was nominated for ten Academy Awards in 2009 and won eight, the most for any film of 2008, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score and Best Original Song.

It also won five Critics' Choice Awards, four Golden Globes, and seven BAFTA Awards, including Best Film. Slumdog Millionaire has stirred controversy concerning language use, its portrayals of Indians and Hinduism, and the welfare of its child actors.

Budget $15 million
Gross revenue $326,895,516

Academy Awards record
1. Best Picture
2. Best Director, Danny Boyle
3. Best Adapted Screenplay, Simon Beaufoy
4. Best Cinematography, Anthony Dod Mantle
5. Best Original Score, A. R. Rahman
6. Best Original Song - "Jai Ho", A. R. Rahman and Gulzar
7. Best Film Editing, Chris Dickens
8. Best Sound Mixing, Resul Pookutty, Richard Pyke, and Ian Tapp

BAFTA Awards record
1. Best Film, Christian Colson
2. Best Director, Danny Boyle
3. Best Adapted Screenplay, Simon Beaufoy
4. Best Cinematography, Anthony Dod Mantle
5. Best Film Music, A. R. Rahman
6. Best Editing, Chris Dickens
7. Best Sound, Glenn Freemantle, Resul Pookutty, Richard Pyke, Tom Sayers, Ian Tapp

Golden Globe Awards record
1. Best Picture - Drama
2. Best Director, Danny Boyle
3. Best Screenplay, Simon Beaufoy
4. Best Original Score, A. R. Rahman

Interesting Facts About Indonesia

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:50:00 +0530

Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago consisting of many thousands of islands. Around six thousand of the islands are inhabited.

The Indonesian name for Indonesia is "Tanah Air Kita" - Our Land and Water.

Indonesia's national motto is Unity in Diversity.

The highest point in Indonesia is Puncak Jaya (5,030 m) in the highlands of Papua.

Indonesia's region of Papua (formerly Irian Jaya) shares the island of New Guinea with Papua New Guinea.

The Indonesian administrative divisions of Kalimantan share Borneo with Malaysia and Brunei.

The islands of New Guinea and Borneo are two of the largest islands in the world.

The eruption of Mount Tambora, on Sumbawa Island, in 1815 was the most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded history. 1816 was known as the "Year Without Summer" because of the global climatic effects of the eruption.

In 1883 the volcanic island of Krakatoa (part of the Indonesian archipelago) was destroyed by a volcanic eruption. This caused a tidal wave that killed over thirty thousand people.

Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions sometimes cause a tsunami, a giant wave which can swamp islands and coastal settlements. A tsunami can travel as fast as 800 kph.

Indonesia is part of the Ring of Fire which includes about seventy-five percent of all the world's volcanoes. (The rim of the Pacific Basin is ringed with volcanoes, from Alaska through the USA, Mexico and South America, then on to New Zealand and up to Japan and Russia.).

In the early 1890s Eugene Dubois discovered a skull and thigh bone of Homo erectus in East Java. Dubois published his findings of "Java Man" in 1894, claiming that Homo erectus was an ancestor of modern humans.

The Sangiran Early Man Site, on the World Heritage List, is estimated to have been inhabited one and a half million years ago. Half of the world's hominid fossils have been found at Sangiran in Java.

Marco Polo was one of the first Europeans to visit Indonesia.

Europeans went to Indonesia in search of spices. Spices were a very valuable commodity in Europe.

Indonesia is one the world's largest producers of nutmeg.

Thousands of statues regard Java's jungles from the heights of Borobudur—the world's largest Buddhist temple. The ancient pilgrimage site was built in the 8th and 9th centuries A.D.

By the late eighteenth century "Indonesia" was part of the Dutch colonial empire and known as the Netherlands East Indies.

Indonesia's island of Bali did not come under the control of the Netherlands until 1906. During the Dutch capture of the island many thousands of Balinese were killed. Puputan Square in Denpasar is named after the suicidal battle of the Balinese aristocracy in their struggle against the Dutch.

Between 1811 and 1816 (during the Napoleonic Wars), "Indonesia" came under British rule but was returned to the Dutch.

After the War (1939-1945) Indonesia declared independence. Sukarno, the independence leader, became the country's first president.

Following independence, the Dutch remained in control of the western part of New Guinea (now Papua). This territory was eventually passed to Indonesia under a United Nations agreement (1963).

In 1975 East Timor gained independence from the Portuguese but was annexed by Indonesia in 1976. East Timor voted for independence in 1999 but did not regain independence until 2002.

In October 2002 a terrorist bomb in Bali (Kuta town) killed over 180 people. Three years later, suicide bombings in Bali killed over twenty people.

In 2003 a car bomb outside the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta killed fourteen people. A year later, another car bomb in Jakarta outside the Australian embassy killed nine people.

On 26 December 2004, a quake occurred under the sea near Aceh in north Indonesia (8.9 on the Richter scale); this produced tsunamis causing flooding and destruction in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Thailand, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and the east coast of Africa (Kenya and Somalia).

An earthquake measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale, off the coast of Sumatra, killed between one and two thousand people in March 2005. Many of the victims lived on the small island of Nias.

Towards the end of May 2006 an earthquake measuring 6.2 struck the Indonesian island of Java killing over three thousand people.

A tsunami, caused by an undersea earthquake (magnitude 7.7), struck the island of Java on 17 July 2006 killing over 500 people.

In November 2008 an earthquake near the island of Sulawesi, magnitude 7.5, killed at least six people.

An earthquake with a of magnitude 7.6 occurred near the north coast of Papua in January 2009.

Indonesia is a vast equatorial archipelago of 17,000 islands extending 5,150 kilometers (3,200 miles) east to west, between the Indian and Pacific Oceans in Southeast Asia. The largest islands are Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo), Sulawesi, and the Indonesian part of New Guinea (known as Papua or Irian Jaya). Islands are mountainous with dense rain forests, and some have active volcanoes. Most of the smaller islands belong to larger groups, like the Moluccas (Spice Islands).

Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation, is 86 percent Muslim—and the largest Islamic country, though it is a secular state. Indonesians are separated by seas and clustered on islands. The largest cluster is on Java, with some 130 million inhabitants (60 percent of the country's population) on an island the size of New York State. Sumatra, much larger than Java, has less than a third of its people. Ethnically the country is highly diverse, with over 580 languages and dialects—but only 13 have more

Interesting Facts About Ginger

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Sat, 7 Mar 2009 18:39:00 +0530

Ginger, a knobby, fibrous root, has smooth light brown skin with a sheen to it. The flesh of the root is white. Ginger root is a seasoning and flavors sweets, including cakes, cookies, breads, and beverages. It is also good in sauces, and fruit dishes, and is often used heavily in Asian cooking. When buying, look for ginger root with the least amount of knots and/or branching.

Ginger is said to stimulate gastric juices, and provide warming and soothing effects for colds and coughs.

Ginger root should be kept in a cool, dry place, usually at 40 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit. After purchasing, ginger may be refrigerated in plastic wrap for up to one week. For longer storage, peel ginger root and cover it with sherry wine before refrigeration. Freezing for up to three months is also an option.

Fresh ginger can be found in the produce section of most grocery stores. Look for smooth skin with a fresh, spicy fragrance. Tubers should be firm and feel heavy. Length is a sign of maturity, and mature rhizomes will be hotter and more fibrous. Avoid those with wrinkled flesh, as this is an indication of aged ginger past its prime.

Ginger was used in ancient times as a food preservative and to help treat digestive problems. To treat digestive problems, Greeks would eat ginger wrapped in bread. Eventually ginger was added to the bread dough creating that wonderful treat many around the globe love today gingerbread

Ginger ale eventually stemmed from a ginger beer made by the English and Colonial America as a remedy for diarrhea, nausea and vomiting.

Ginger thrives in the tropics and warmer regions and is therefore currently grown in parts of West Africa, the West Indies, India and China with the best quality ginger coming from Jamaica where it is most abundant. In the United States, ginger is grown in Florida, Hawaii, and along the eastern coast of Texas.

Gingerroot is characterized by it’s strong sweet, yet woodsy smell. It is tan in color with white to creamy-yellow flesh that can be coarse yet stringy.

Ginger is an excellent natural remedy for nausea, motion sickness, morning sickness and general stomach upset due to its carminative effect that helps break up and expel intestinal gas. Ginger tea has been recommended to alleviate nausea in chemotherapy patients primarily because its natural properties do not interact in a negative way with other medications. It is a safe remedy for morning sickness, since it will not harm the fetus. Some studies show ginger may also help prevent certain forms of cancer.

To make ginger tea, slice some ginger root, put it in a tea ball and place in a teapot. Pour boiling water over the tea ball and let it sit for ten minutes. Sweeten with honey or drink it straight.

In spite of it being a natural remedy, it's important that any medicinal use of ginger be discussed with a physician, as it must be taken in moderation to avoid gastric irritation.

Ginger is available year-round. When selecting gingerroot, choose robust firm roots with a spicy fragrance and smooth skin. Gingerroot should not be cracked or withered. It can be stored tightly wrapped in a paper towel or plastic wrap (or put into a plastic bag) in the refrigerator for 2–3 weeks and like galangal, gingerroot can also be placed in a jar of sherry and refrigerated for 3–6 months.

The aromatic rhizome of this 30 – 60 cm tall tropical plant is used in food preparation and as medicine for centuries in southeastern Asia. There, pharmacists recommend it for any ailment with which people may be afflicted.

After ginger was first introduced in Europe (approximately 800 AD) it ranked second to pepper as a spice for centuries.

Ginger grows in southern China, Japan, West Africa, and many other tropical countries including the Caribbean islands. Jamaican ginger is considered to be the best of all.

Chinese cooks use ginger with beef successfully, whereas European chefs prefer to use it as an exotic flavouring for fresh fruit salads, or to give cream of carrot soup and extra kick.

English make candied ginger, ginger jam, and dry it to be ground and use as a condiment.

Chinese dry ginger and sell it as green ginger. Black ginger is first scalded and then dried.

Fresh ginger is best. Its thin skin can be scraped with the back of a spoon and then cut, grated or pounded to mix into soups, sauces and stews.

Ginger possesses an intriguing; sweet, spicy and pungent flavour rendering it suitable for use in a range of dishes from stir-fried beef to ginger tea.

Ginger ale, ginger beer and ginger wine are only vaguely flavoured with ginger.

The ginger root is not actually a root, but a rhizome.

The major producers of Ginger today are China and tropical/subtropical places in Asia, Brazil, Jamaica, Nigeria.

The health benefits of honey and ginger in treating respiratory problems are unmatched by any other concoction.

The ginger plant is approximately 30 - 60 cm tall and is extremely rare to find in the wild.

Interesting Facts About Skype

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:23:00 +0530

Founded in August 2003, Skype is the leading global Internet communications company.

Skype is headquartered in Luxembourg with offices in Europe, United States and Asia.

Skype was acquired by eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) in October 2005.

In Q3 2008, Skype posted total revenue of $143 million, representing 46 percent year-over-year growth and delivered the seventh consecutive quarter of profitability.

Every day millions of people use Skype software to communicate with others through free voice and video calls, as well as instant messages. Many people also use SkypeOut or one of our global subscriptions to save money when calling landlines and mobiles across the world.

Skype is a global phenomenon - in Q3 2008, Skype added 32 million users - ending the quarter with more than 370 million users, representing an increase of 51 percent from a year ago.

In Q3 2008, Skype-to-Skype minutes reached nearly 16 billion, a 63 percent increase year over year, and SkypeOut minutes increased 54 percent versus last year to 2.2 billion.

Skype's 370 million registered users have made more than 100 billion minutes worth of free Skype-to-Skype calls.

Skype software is extremely secure, sustainable, and scalable. At peak times, there are over 14 million concurrent users and over 300,000 simultaneous calls. There are more than 100,000 information queries on the network each second.

Skype accounted for 6% of the world's international calling minutes in 2007, according to preliminary data released by TeleGeography Research.

Skype is available in over 28 languages and is used in almost every country around the world.

30% of Skype users use Skype for business purposes.

More than 25% of Skype-to-Skype calls include video.

Downloads of the Skype application surpassed 1 billion copies in 2008, making Skype one of the most popular free software applications of all time.

Skype's popularity is being fueled by an active ecosystem that includes 15,000 developers and over 50 partners. Today, there are more than 190 Skype Certified hardware products and there are over 227 software Extras for Windows, Mac and Linux users.

Skype for Windows Mobile has been downloaded more than 11 million times.

In the UK specifically, 3 has announced that over 100 million Skype minutes have been sent across its network since it launched the 3 Skypephone last year. In addition, more than 150 thousand handsets have been sold since the launch last year.

Skype adapts its bandwidth usage in order to always guarantee the best possible audio and video quality at any given time. The bandwidth Skype uses ranges from 8-50 kilobits per second for a voice call and 250-500 kilobits per second for a video call.

The worldwide communications services market opportunity is $1.7 trillion, growing at 5.5% annually (Sources: World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA), Datamonitor, Credit Suisse, Informa, Ovum).

Online conferencing revenue in the U.S. in 2008, according to the Telecommunications Industry Association's (TIA) Market Review and Forecast:

o Video conferencing - $2.2 billion
o Web conferencing - $1.5 billion
o Audio conferencing - $2.7 billion
o TOTAL - $6.05 billion online conferencing revenue in the U.S. in 2008

The predicted CAGR for Web conferencing revenue in the U.S. is 14.1% from 2008-2011 (Source: Telecommunications Industry Association's (TIA) Market Review and Forecast).

The telecom spend by consumers was 100% wireline in 1991; now, it is 50% wireless and growing (Sources: Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Trends in Telephony Service (June 2005), Primetrica's U.S. VoIP Research Service (2008)).

Telecom has remained 2% of household expenditures for 40+ years - people have always and will always pay for communications services (Sources: Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Trends in Telephony Service (June 2005), Primetrica's U.S. VoIP Research Service (2008)).

The global size of profit pools from communications services, according to Ovum, IDC and Bain:

o International calling - $70 billion
o Premium calling - $2 billion
o Conferencing services - $1.3 billion
o Mobile voice - $500 billion

IDC predicts there will be almost half a billion worldwide personal IP communications subscribers by 2012 (Source: IDC's "Worldwide Personal IP Communications Services 2008-2012 Forecast: A New Kind of Telephony Service," released in May 2008).

Personal IP communications is the future of real-time communications for the individual user. This market segment is categorized into three areas including Web-based services, portals, and mobile thin-clients. Together, IDC forecasts these categories will represent more than $5 billion in annual spending in 2012 (Source: IDC's "Worldwide Personal IP Communications Services 2008-2012 Forecast: A New Kind of Telephony Service," released in May 2008).

Interesting Facts About Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 19:42:00 +0530

Singapore consists only of one main island and 63 other tiny islands. Most of these islands are uninhabited.

Singapore is among the 20 smallest countries in the world, with a total land area of only 682.7 square kilometres. The USA is about 15,000 times bigger.

Apart from Monaco, Singapore is the most densely populated country in the world, with 6,430 people per square kilometre.

Singapore became the 117th member of the United Nations on 21 September 1965.

Symbolism of the National Flag: Red symbolises universal brotherhood and equality of man while white signifies purity and virtue. The crescent moon represents a young nation on the rise and the five stars signify the ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality.

The national flower of Singapore, Vanda Miss Joaquim, was first discovered in 1893 by Agnes Joaquim, an Armenian. The orchid is a natural hybrid between V. teres and V. hookeriana.

The Merlion, a half-fish, half-lion beast, is a fitting symbol of Singapore. The "Singa" or lion represents the animal that a Sumatran prince saw which resembled a lion, and the fish is a tribute to Singapore's history as "Temasek", the ancient sea town.

Singlish, a Singaporean patois mixing English with the odd phrase of Chinese, Malay and even Tamil, has two entries - lah and sinseh - in the online version of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Although English is the official working language and the most widely used language in Singapore, the national anthem 'Majulah Singapura' is actually sung in Malay.

The flying fox, the world's largest bat with a wingspan of up to 1.5 metres, can be found on Pulau Ubin, one of the islands off mainland Singapore.

Singapore is a stopover point for thousands of migratory birds travelling the East Asian Flyway.

The world's first night zoo, The Night Safari, is located in Singapore.

Despite being largely urbanised, Singapore is the largest exporter of ornamental fish (25% of the world market).

The Bukit Timah Nature Reserve in Singapore contains more species of trees than the entire North American continent.

The highest natural point in Singapore is Bukit Timah Hill, which is only 164 metres high (Singapore has a very flat terrain).

Buildings in Singapore cannot be higher than 280 metres. There are presently three buildings of that height: OUB Centre, UOB Plaza and Republic Plaza.

The world's highest man-made waterfall, standing at 30 metres, is located at the Jurong BirdPark.

The largest fountain in the world is located in Singapore at Suntec City. Made of cast bronze, it cost an estimated US$6 million to build in 1997.

The buildings of Suntec City have been built in the shape of a palm of a hand symbolising good "feng shui".

In 2003, Singapore's Changi Airport won the award for "Best Airport Worldwide" for the 16th consecutive year from the UK/Europe edition of the Business Traveller magazine.

The Guinness book record for the longest human domino chain was set in Singapore on 30th September 2000. Formed by 9,234 students, it measured 4.2km.

The world domino topple record (303,621 men) was set in Singapore on 18th August 2003 by a 24-year-old woman from China.

The record for the biggest ever game of pass-the-parcel was set in Singapore on 28 February 1998. It involved 3,918 students removing 2,200 wrappers from a 1.5 x 1.5 x 0.5 m parcel.

The record for the most number of people participating in line dancing was set in Singapore in May 2002 with 11,967 dancers.

The Great Singapore Duck Race, an annual event that raises funds for charity, set a new world record in 2002 when more than 123,000 toy ducks took to the Singapore River.

Russell Lee, a pseudonym for a team of ghost-writers, is the hottest-selling local author in Singapore. His 11 volumes of True Singapore Ghost Stories have sold more than 600,000 copies to date.

The fastest selling book of all time in Singapore is Hello Chok Tong, Goodbye Kuan Yew: The Untold Story. Written and drawn by political cartoonist George Nonis, it sold 40,000 copies in two months.

The highest grossing movie of all time in Singapore is Titanic, raking in S$6.65 million in 1997.

The highest grossing locally made movie of all time is Money No Enough, raking in S$6.02 million in 1998.

The first Singaporean film to be shown at the Cannes Film Festival was director Eric Khoo's 12 Storeys in 1997.

British pop violinist Vanessa Mae Nicholson was born in Singapore and moved to England when she was four.

More Singaporeans are born in the month of October than any other month of the year.

The first population census taken in 1824 revealed that the total population was 10,683.

The 2000 census showed that the population of Singapore is 4.2 million.

Nearly 9 out of 10 Singaporeans live in public housing flats.

The most common Chinese surnames in Singapore are Tan, Lim and Lee.

Singapore has more than 3,000 kilometres of roads. Stretched end to end, they can cover the distance from Singapore to Hong Kong.

8 in 10 people in Singapore own cell phones. In fact, telecom companies issue new numbers at the rate of 30,000 to 40,000 per month.

Singapore's best showing in the Olympic Games: Silver medal won by weightlifter Tan Howe Liang in Rome (1960) followed by a Silver Medal won by the women’s table tennis team in Beijing (2008).

Swimmer Ang Peng Siong was ranked world number one in the 50m Freestyle in 1982.

The Singapore Sling was first served in 1915 at the Long Bar of the Raffles Hotel. The ingredients are gin, Cointreau, cherry brandy, Dom Benedictine, pineapple juice, Grenadine, Angoustura bitters and limes.

Interesting Facts About Snails

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:52:00 +0530

Snails' bodies produce a thick slime. Because of this slime, they can crawl across the edge of a razor and not get hurt.

Some snails have been known to live up to 15 years.

Snails are hermaphrodites which means that they have both male and female reproductive organs.

Snails usually travel in irregular paths, often traveling in a circle.

Snails reply mainly on their sense of touch and smell when finding food because they have very poor eyesight.

Snails cannot hear.

Snails can retract one or both of their tentacles at a time.

Because of the suction created by their slime, a snail can crawl upside down.

Snails are nocturnal animals which means they are more active at night.

Garden Snails mainly eat garden plants and vegetables, but they will also eat decaying plants and soil.

The fastest snails are the speckled garden snails which can move up to 55 yards per hour compared 23 inches per hour of most other land snails.

Garden snails hibernate during the winter and live on their stored fat.

Garden snails breathe with lungs.

Garden snails evolved from sea snails about 600 million years ago.

The garden snail is cooked and eaten as a delicacy called escargot

May 24th is National Escargot Day

World's largest snail is the Australian trumpet (Syrinx aruanus), a sea species from the shores of northern and western Australia which can grow up to 77.2 cm (30 inches) in shell length, while the flesh

weighs up to 18 kg (40lbs).

The longest snail is Parenteroxenos doglieli, a parasite in the body cavity of the sea cucumber.

Cymbium proboscidalis, from the shores of West Africa, grows up to 7-8 kg (15-17 pounds) and the body is so large that the shell remains like a beanie. Brought on ground, the snail's weight decreases to a quarter. Locals make from this snail a dish called tibuden, adding rice and fish. Some sea rabbits (which are sea snails lacking a shell) can be 30 cm (1 ft) long and weigh 6.5 kg (14 pounds).

The largest snail you could see in your garden is the Giant African Snail or Tiger Snail (Achatina achatina), which can be 30 cm (1 ft) long. Giant Apple Snail (Pomacea maculata) is the largest freshwater snail, with a shell 15 cm (0.5 ft) and weighing 600 g (1.5 pounds).

Garden snails have up to 14,175 teeth! They are all located on their tongue (radula).

The snails Littoraria irrorata on the eastern shores of US farm! They bite the stems of sea grass to weaken them, and then they fertilize the place with their feces. This way they favor the development of a fungus on which they feed.

French researchers discovered that the digestive secretions of the garden snail are effective against stomach ulcer. 10 mg of this powder led to a decrease by 42 % of the human stomach acidity. The product was also effective against chronic bronchitis.

The snail slime was found by American researchers to be an excellent scaring factor. Snail slime is also used in some beauty products...

Most ground snails are peaceful veggies (well, not exactly all), but the marine species can be top predators of the sea. They are armed with a harpoon like weapon (named toxoglossan radula, snails modified "tongue") injecting a deadly venom into their victims.

This way, they can catch in a fraction of a second fish "for dinner". Some of these venoms are the most potent on the planet, like in the case of the predatory marine snail Conus magus, from coral reefs. They can grow up to 23 cm in length and eat from marine worms, small fish, mollusks (clams and other marine snails, including other cone snails.

Its poison has a greater power than morphine, but it acts in an entirely different way. Some cone snails can kill a human being with their venom.

The snail venom impairs a particular type known as N-type calcium channels, crucial in determining some kinds of pain sensations. A pharmaceutical company has developed synthetic chemicals that also inhibit N-type calcium channels, decreasing pain. These new drugs could be employed to shut off persistent acute pain where other painkillers have not succeeded, or are not recommended, like in the case of patients with cancer or other very severe conditions.

In some areas, like New Guinea, the shells of sea snails were used for long as currency!

Some sea snail produce sulfuric acid which they use for dissolving the shells of the clams on which they feed... No need the mentions this is the most potent acid of all.

Because of their moist skin, common snails are most active in damp weather and at night.

Common snails have pale grey moist skin. At the front end are four tentacles, the shorter two are for feeling and the longer pair are eye stalks. The shell of these snails is light brown with darker brown bands following the spiral of the shell. The shell colouration varies in its intensity from pale yellow to almost black.

They are common and widespread in Britain and Europe.

Common snails live in varied habitats. They are often found in gardens, parks, forests and dunes.

They are herbivores and feed on decaying vegetation, algae, fungi, lichens and plant leaves. As a part of their herbivorous diet they often feed on garden plants and are considered by some to be pests. Common snails have a symbiotic bacteria in their crop that enables them to digest cellulose - they have been known to feed on damp paper and cardboard.

Because of their moist skin, common snails are most active in damp weather and at night. When conditions become too dry, the snail will retreat into its shell and seal the entrance with a parchment-like barrier known as an epiphragm. Snails can often be found in this state under rocks in gardens or on a wall in a sheltered corner. When sealed away like this the snail goes into a state of suspended animation and can survive for several months without water.

Common snails feed by scraping a ribbon-like tongue covered in horny teeth called a radula, over their food. This allows them to scrape algae and lichen from the surface of rocks and walls. You can sometimes see the trails they leave behind as they eat their way through the algae on a damp wall.

Common snails, like all land snails, are hermaphrodites. This means that they possess both male and female reproductive organs. Despite this they still need to find another snail to mate with. When two snails meet during the breeding season (late spring or early summer), mating is initiated by one snail piercing the skin of the other snail with a calcified 'love dart'. The exact purpose of the 'love dart' is not fully understood but it seems to stimulate the other snail into exchanging small packets of sperm. After mating is complete the snails will produce eggs internally, which are fertilised by the sperm that has been exchanged.

Up to about a month after mating the snail lays about a hundred small white eggs in a nest underground in damp soil. If the conditions remain suitable for the eggs, snails will begin to hatch after about 14 days. Newly hatched snails have a small fragile shell and it takes two years for them to reach maturity.

Garden snails evolved from sea snails about 600 million years ago.

The largest land snail ever found was 15 inches long and weighed 2 pounds!

Snails' bodies produce a thick slime. Because of this slime, they can crawl across the edge of a razor and not get hurt.

The largest land snail ever found was 15 inches long and weighed 2 pounds!

Interesting Facts About Red Color

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:16:00 +0530

Red also means "Beautiful" in Russian.

The word "ruby" comes from the Latin word rubens, meaning "red".

The color red doesn't really make bulls angry; They are color-blind.

There are at least 23 different shades of red crayons.

The red stripes on the United States Flag stand for courage.

Chinese brides traditionally wear red wedding dresses for good luck.

Seeing the color red can make your heart beat faster.

As few as two percent of people in the United States have red hair.

The color red is most often associated with power and passion. It is a fierce and emotionally intense color. Red symbolizes speed, sexuality, and style. Fast cars are red. Beautiful women wear red clothes and red lipstick. Red is also the color of romance and love. If you want to express your love for a woman with flowers, the flowers must be red. In all cases, whether red is worn by a woman, or used in home décor, it will always attract attention.

Red often gives conflicting messages. Red means "stop" when used on a street light, but it means "go" when worn as lipstick or given as flowers. Red means danger when used on signs and fire extinguishers. Red means both romantic love and sexual lust. Red is the color of Communism, but it also symbolizes Christmas when mixed with the colors green, white, and gold.

There are many variations of red: scarlet and vermilion are the shocking and extreme reds, while pink, maroon, and crimson are subtler reds.

Fashion experts always recommend at least a splash of red when dressing for a job interview or any other important meeting, because red symbolizes power, decisiveness and leadership. In home décor, red is rarely used as a base color but often as highlights. One wall of a room may be painted red to create a feature wall that attracts attention. A sofa may be splashed with red cushions. A centerpiece of red flowers may be used for a special dinner event.

Red is so intense a color that it doesn't suit everyone. A rule of thumb: drive a red car, but wear black. Red clothing has the effect of making a person look fuller than they really are. In all instances, red is an extreme color and should be chosen with caution.

Light red represents joy, sexuality, passion, sensitivity, and love.

Pink signifies romance, love, and friendship. It denotes feminine qualities and passiveness.

Dark red is associated with vigor, willpower, rage, anger, leadership, courage, longing, malice, and wrath.

Reddish-brown is associated with harvest and fall.

Interesting Facts About J.K.Rowling

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Sun, 9 Nov 2008 20:13:00 +0530

Joanne "Jo" Rowling (born 31 July 1965), who writes under the pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author, best known as the creator of the Harry Potter fantasy series, the idea for which was conceived whilst on a train trip from Manchester to London in 1990. The Potter books have gained worldwide attention, won multiple awards, and sold more than 400 million copies

Joanne Kathleen (Kathleen is her favorite Grandma's name and is not actually her middle name) Rowling, brain behind the world famous "Harry Potter" lived in Chipping Sodbury from an early age and was born on July 31st 1965.

JK Rowling wrote her first story at the age of six it was about a rabbit who gets the measles.

From an early age all she ever wanted to do was write. She wrote her first book when she was 6 years old, called Rabbit but never finished anything.

At present, she lives in Edinburgh, Scotland with her daughter Jessica, now age seven.

She moved twice while growing up. The first move was from Yate to Winterbourne, just outside Bristol. In Winterbourne she was friends with a brother and sister whose surname was Potter. She says she always liked the name, and preferred it to her own because the children always made annoying jokes about rolling pins!

The second move was when she was nine years old. Her family moved to Tutshill near Chepstow in the Forest of Dean. After attending Tutshill Primary School, she went to Wyedean Comprehensive School.. She describes herself as having been 'quite freckly, short-sighted and rubbish at sports'. Her favorite subject was English and foreign languages. At her school in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, she passed all her exams and was made head-girl. Her parents wanted her to be involved with foreign languages. She studied languages, more notably French, and Classics at Exeter university and became a French teacher. She still pursued her writing though in her spare time.

In 1990, at the age of 26, she moved to Portugal to teach English. She says that she loved teaching English. She taught in the afternoons and evenings, leaving the mornings free for writing. At this time she was starting work on her third novel (the first two were never finished because she says they were 'very bad'). The new book was about a boy who found out he was a wizard and was sent off to wizard school.

While in Portugal she met and married Portuguese journalist, Jorge Artantes. Their daughter, Jessica, was born in 1993. After her marriage ended in divorce, Rowling and her daughter moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, to be close to her younger sister, Di.

She began the first Harry Potter book in 1990, it was finished in 1995 and it was finally published in 1997. Some publishing companies would not accept it until Bloomsbury took her on. Before she tried to get the first book published she mapped out the first seven books to get an idea of the events to come. J.K Rowling has made around millions from the series and they are her only published works.

The Scottish Arts Council gave her a grant to finish the book and, after a number of rejections, she eventually sold Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone $4,000 to Bloomsbury Publishing Company.

The book was published in the UK by Bloomsbury Children's Books in June 1997 (at the time of writing 1st editions of this book are on the market for upwards of 12,000 UK pounds/ USA $20,000!). Thereafter the accolades began to pile up. Harry Potter won The British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year, and the Smarties Prize.

In the USA, the title of the book was changed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The book was published in the USA in September 1998 by Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic Press.

In 1997 she got her big break with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which won the 1997 Smarties Gold Award. It immediately topped the British and American charts and J.K. Rowling earned enough money to quit teaching and write full-time. She then had success with the second installment of Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. This won the 1998 Smarties Gold Award. The 3rd book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was also a huge success for J.K. Rowling. The 4th book was released on July 8th 2000, and has been one of the eagerly anticipated books of the year. Records have been broke for the number of books printed and sold on the first day of release.

The sequel, Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets was published in the UK in July 1998 and in the USA in June 1999. The third book Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban was published in the UK in July 1999 and in the USA in September 1999.

By Summer 2000, the first three books had sold over 35 million copies in 45 languages and earned approximately $480 million.

In July 2000, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire had a first printing of 5.3 million copies with advance orders of over 1.8 million.

This book of course is Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. She is to produce 2 more books in the Harry Potter series, one for each of the years Harry has remaining at Hogwarts. The fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, was released on June 21st 2003 and was even more anticipated than the last. Over 200 million copies have now been sold of all the books in over 200 countries and in 55 languages. There is no release day at the moment for the sixth book.

Rowling was first writer to become billionaire.

One joy of Rowling is not the originality of her ideas -- there are plenty of other novels with boy wizards and boarding schools -- but what she does with them. This is the story of an ethnic community in which everyone knows everyone else and where enmities formed at school are still there years later. The adult characters are every bit as interesting as the young protagonists and she constantly reminds you that they, too, were once children. Apart from a few over-the-top caricatures, such as the Dursleys, most of the characters, adult and child alike, are three-dimensional. In this one, even Aunt Petunia is presented more sympathetically than usual.

Another delight is that in the midst of Wizard World War II, there is normal teen angst -- exams, friendships, the opposite sex (Harry gets his first kiss), who's on the team, who's going out with whom.

She will be 39 years old this July and married Dr Neil Murray on Boxing Day 2001 at their home in Killiechassie House, Aberfeldy. Seven-bed roomed Killiechasse House has an estimated value of £1.5 million, it's own library (understandably) and a self-contained house in it's west wing. Jo also owns a London property in trendy Kensignton. She has one younger sister, Di, who is her biggest fan along with her daughter, Jessica, aged 10. She previously lived with Jessica in Edinburgh, having first moved there in 1993. Jo and Neil celebrated an addition to their family, when on March 23rd 2003, Jo gave birth to David Gordon Rowling-Murray at an Edinburgh hospital.

JK Rowling reveals that Her favorite passage from the books is the chapter on the Mirror of Erised in Philosopher's Stone and the ending of Goblet of Fire is the part that she is most proud of. Her favorite book though is Chamber of Secrets but she thought Prisoner of Azkaban was the most fun to write.

Though the seeds of Harry had been sown as early as 1990, Rowling didn't put all of the pieces together and start writing in earnest until the mid-1990s when she was living in Edinburgh, Scotland, raising her daughter, Jessica, alone. Not able to afford even a used typewriter -- let alone a computer -- Rowling wrote the earliest drafts of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in longhand. "I knew I wanted to get published. And, in truth, writing novels is something you have to believe in to keep going. It's a fairly thankless job when no one is paying you to do it. And you don't really know if it's ever going to get into the bookshops so I really did believe in it. But I was also very realistic. I knew the odds were not on my side because, an unknown author, you know? It's tough. It's tough the first time to get published, so I persevered. I loved writing it and I felt that I just had to try."

The author has encouragement for others who would follow her path. "My feeling is, if you really want to do it, you will do it. You will find the time. And it might not be much time, but you'll make it. Obviously if you have homework or other activities, you're not going to have huge amounts of time but if you really want to, you'll do it."

About her own writing, Rowling says that, in some ways, she just writes what she sees in her mind. "I have a very visual imagination. I see a situation and then I try to describe it as vividly as I can. And I do love writing dialog. Dialog comes to me as though I'm just overhearing a conversation."

In 2007, J.K. was named 'Entertainer of the Year' by Entertainment Weekly on their 'Entertainers of the Year: 25 Top Stars of 2007' list.

In 2006, J.K. was ranked 2nd on Forbes magazine's 'Top 20 Richest Women in Entertainment' list.

J.K. was ranked #83 on the "Greatest Briton" list in a BBC poll.

Interesting Facts About Tsunami

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 19:14:00 +0530

A tsunami (pronounced soo-nah-mee) is a series of waves that is very long and occurs over a long period of time.

Tsunami are often caused by earthquakes orunder water landslides. The word ‘tsunami’ is a Japaneseword that means ‘harbour wave’.

A tsunami can travel great distances - 17,000km or more - a tsunami can be more than 100km in length. It can also travel very fast, atabout 400 km an hour in some cases.

Everything about the tsunami is big, fast andwide. Tsunami are not normal waves and are not tidalwaves either; they are giant waves that move separatelyfrom the tides. Tsunami can occur at any time, day ornight.

An earthquake began in the ocean. Two parts of the earth moved and ground against each other. This caused part of the earth to drop down and all the water dropped as well. The movement caused a big wave to start. The wave as so-o-o-o big that it traveled thousands of kilometers and got bigger and bigger and wider and wider until it began to hit countries and coastlines.

There is usually more than one wave in a tsunami. Sometimes after the first wave has hit, people think it is allover and head back to the beach; this is a dangerous thing to do. More waves will keep on a coming for a few hours.

All low lying coastal areas can be affected by tsunami.

A tsunami is recorded on average in Australia every two years but they are usually too small to be noticed by people.

Tsunamis occur frequently in Japan and over the centuries, many thousands of Japanese have been killed by them. Tsunamis are sometimes incorrectly called tidal waves but have nothing to do with tides.

A tsunami can also be generated by an enormous meteor impact with the ocean. Scientists have found traces of an asteroid-collision event that they say would have created a giant tsunami that swept around the Earth several times, inundating everything except the mountains 3.5 billion years ago. The coastline of the continents was changed drastically and almost all life on land was exterminated.

A tsunami is not a single wave but a series of waves, also known as a wave train. The first wave in a tsunami is not necessarily the most destructive.

When the ocean is deep tsunamis can travel unnoticed on the surface at speeds up to 500 miles per hour (800 kilometers per hour), crossing the entire ocean in a day or less. Scientists are able to calculate arrival times of tsunamis in different parts of the world based on their knowledge of when the event that generated them occurred, water depths, and distances.

Flooding can extend inland by a thousand feet (300 meters) or more. The enormous energy of a tsunami can lift giant boulders, flip vehicles, and demolish houses.

While a tsunami cannot be prevented; it can be anticipated by being wary about the signs. Earthquakes are the main cause of this surge, so if you are near a body of water and a strong earthquake has occurred, chances are a tsunami is already building up.

It is a common occurrence that if a tsunami does occur, a trough, or a draw back occurs first, then a dramatic receding of the water happens in the shoreline exposing even those parts not normally seen during low tides. After this event expect a dramatic surge in the form of fast climbing of the tides to maximum heights, this is the main wave and the best way to avoid it is, to get to a higher ground.

Today, tsunami warning devices are already in use and are constantly worked on, for improvement. The most common device in use now is the bottom pressure sensors. These are attached to buoys and measure the pressure of the water. This is an accurate device that conveys if a tsunami is really on the way or if the earthquake did not do any shift in the water to produce a tsunami.

A number of national and international organizations cooperate to provide tsunami information and early warnings of tsunamis, including the United Nations and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.

Many communities on the Pacific Coast of the United States participate in early warning systems like the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii.

Interesting Facts About Coal

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 18:46:00 +0530

Coal was formed about 300 million years ago.

Coal is a combustible mostly black sedimentary rock composed mostly of carbon and hydrocarbons.

Coal takes a million years to create and therefore it belongs to non-renewable energy sources.

Coal mining uses two methods: surface or underground mining where surface mining is more dominant method because it is less expensive than the underground mining.

Coal is mostly transported by train.

Coal as the other fossil fuels as well isn't ecologically acceptable because of CO2 and global warming.

Coal is classified into four main types: lignite, subbituminous, bituminous, anthracite and the coal value is determined by the amount of the carbon it contains.

Coal is mined in 27 US states.

Coal is mainly used for generating electricity (more than 90 % of US coal).

Coal usually has a negative impact on environment, mining can damage ground and surface waters and when coal burns as the fuel it releases CO2 which is the main greenhouse gas that causes global warming.

Coal is so called "dirty" energy source because of its negative effect on environment.

Coal could be the world's most attractive fuel in years to come thanks to the methods of coal purification which are resulting in more cleaner coal, removing sulfur and other dangerous elements.

Coal is used on the large scale in China and USA.

Coal can be answer for future only if technology will enable "ultra-clean" coal.

Coal must be relatively dry before it can be burned successfully.

World coal consumption is more than 5.3 billion tons annually of which three quarters are used for generating electricity.

Coal was already used in the Bronze age (Britain).

Coal's share in the total world electricity production is about 40 %.

Coal deposits could be enough to satisfy current world energy needs for the next 300 years.

Coal is getting more attention because of the increased prices of oil and natural gas.

Coal can be converted like to gasoline or diesel by couple of different processes like for instance the Fischer-Tropsch process, Bergius process and Karrick process.

Coal is the official state mineral of the Kentucky and official and the official state rock of Utah.

Coal total reserves are approximately about 1 × 1015 kg or 998 billion tons.

Coal is mined in more than 100 countries.

Coal is the main reason for China's economic boost as for China's environmental problems.

Coal is a combustible mineral formed from the remains of trees, ferns and other decayed plants that existed and died up to 400 million years ago in some cases.

Coal has been used as an energy source for hundreds of years and was part of international trade in as long ago as the Roman Empire.

Coal provided the energy which fueled the Industrial Revolution of the 19th Century and also launched the electric era in the 20th Century.

37% of the electricity generated worldwide is produced from coal.

Coal is by far the cheapest source of power fuel per million Btu, averaging less than half the price of petroleum and natural gas.

The world's iron and steel industry depends on the use of coal.

The value of coal produced in the United States each year is nearly $20 billion.

Coal is directly responsible for the existence of more than 90,000 U.S. jobs and nearly one million jobs directly and indirectly.

Coal mining has a combined direct and indirect impact of $161 billion annually on the U.S. economy. This is $596 for every U.S. citizen.

The federal government receives more than $11 billion annually in taxes and fees from the coal industry.

State and local governments receive nearly $9 billion each year in revenues.

Developing countries' demand for coal will double through 2020, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Coal reserves are spread over almost 100 countries. Proven coal reserves are estimated to last over 200 years with current production rates. In contrast, proven oil and gas reserves are equivalent to around 40 and 60 years.

America's coal is used primarily for the production of electricity.

There were 315,000 Megawatts (net) of coal-based electrical generating capacity in the United States.

Some 965 million tons of coal were consumed for the generation of electricity. This amounted to 86% of total U.S. coal production.

Many large countries contain significant proven reserves of coal. While data quality varies widely, the countries with the greatest estimated recoverable reserves of coal are --

United States 273 billion tons
Russia 173 billion tons
China 126 billion tons
India 93 billion tons

Australia 90 billion tons

Coal was first discovered in what is now West Virginia in 1742 by John Peter Salley in what is now Boone County.

McDowell County has produced more coal than any other county in West Virginia.

The coal industry pays approximately $70 million in property taxes annually.

The Coal Severance Tax adds approximately $214 million into West Virginia's economy.

Twenty-four million dollars of coal severance taxes collected each year goes directly into the Infrastructure Bond Fund.

All 55 counties, even the non-coal producing counties receive Coal Severance Tax funds.

The coal industry payroll is nearly $2 billion per year.

Coal is responsible for more than $3.5 billion annually in the gross state product.

The United States produces about 20%, or 1.1 billion tons, of the world's coal supply—second only to China.

The United States has about a 245-year supply of coal, if it continues using coal at the same rate at which it uses coal today.

Montana is the state with the most coal reserves (119 billion tons). But Wyoming is the top coal-producing state—it produced about 400 million tons in 2004.

Texas is the top coal-consuming state. It uses about 100 million tons each year.

Coal ash, a byproduct of coal combustion, is used as filler for tennis rackets, golf balls, and linoleum.

U.S. coal deposits contain more energy than that of all the world's oil reserves.

Each person in the United States uses 3.8 tons of coal each year.

Coal is the world's most abundant fossil fuel - more plentiful than oil and natural gas. It is second only to oil as a source of energy that we use. Coal is widely used because it's easily obtained, there's lots of it, it's well distributed throughout the world, and it has a high energy content.

Coal has many important uses, but most significantly in electricity generation, steel and cement manufacture, and industrial process heating.

Coal provides over 23% of global primary energy needs. It generates around 39% of the world's electricity. Almost 70% of total global steel production is dependent on coal.

There are four main types of coal and all are found in Canada: anthracite, bituminous, sub-bituminous, and lignite.

There is more stored energy in Canadian coal than all the country's oil, natural gas, and oil sands combined.

Canada exports about 28 million tonnes of coal annually to more than 20 countries.

Canada ranks tenth in the world in total coal reserves with 4 billion tonnes of bituminous coal. That's coal covering a football field to a height of about 4,500 kilometers!

U.S. coal deposits contain more energy than that of all the world’s oil reserves.

Coal ash is used as filler for tennis rackets, golf balls, and linoleum.

Interesting Facts About Nile River

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 20:20:00 +0530

The Nile is famous as the longest river in the world. The river got its name from the Greek word Neilos, which means valley. The Nile floods the lands in Egypt, leaving behind black sediment. That's why the ancient Egyptians named the river Ar, meaning black and "Rivers of Life".

The River Nile is about 6,670 km (4,160 miles) in length and is the longest river in Africa and in the world. Although it is generally associated with Egypt, only 22% of the Nile’s course runs through that country.

The River Nile runs through Egypt, creating a fertile green valley across the dessert.

It was by the banks that one of the oldest civilizations in the world began. The ancient Egyptians lived and farmed along the Nile, using the soil to produce food for themselves and their animals.

The Nile and its tributaries flow through 10 distinct African nations: Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Eritrea and Burundi.

The vast river system of the Nile includes two main tributaries: the White Nile (so named for its milky, silt-filled appearance), and the Blue Nile, which joins the White Nile in Sudan on its way to the sea.

The source of the White Nile is the springs of Mount Bigugu in Rwanda. The source of the Blue Nile is Sakala Springs above Lake Tana in Ethiopia, which contributes to more than 50 percent of the river’s flow. The water’s volume from the Blue Nile increases tremendously in the monsoon season, from July to September.

The Nile flows south to north, beginning in the highlands of Ethiopia and Rwanda heading toward the Mediterranean Sea at Alexandria, Egypt.

Around 5000 B.C., the first great Egyptian civilization was founded in the northern Nile Valley. The Egyptians came to rely heavily on the Nile and its annual summer floods for irrigation, agriculture and transportation.

The ancient Egyptians worshiped the Nile as one of their gods (the god Hapi) and made sacrifices solely for the Nile’s sake.

The first dams were built on the Nile in 1861 in order to raise the river levels for easier navigation and increased irrigation. Major dams on the Nile today include Aswan Dam, Roseries Dam, Sennar Dam and Owen Falls Dam.

Today the Nile remains a vital pathway that is essential to millions of African farmers. Egypt still imports 40 percent of its grain by means of the Nile.

The entire Nile River Delta is estimated to drain an area of 1,293,000 square miles. This area is so vast that is has a number of different climate areas. North, in Egypt and Sudan, rainfall is sparse. More to the south, in and around Ethiopia, rainfall is heavy, contributing to the floodwaters that rush downstream and eventually create the wonderfully fertile soil that supports so much of life in Egypt and Sudan. Dams, the most notable being the Aswan High Dam, have been built along the route to prevent massive flooding of populated areas.

The Nile River Delta is home to many species of animals, including crocodiles, turtles, baboons, wildebeest, and more than 300 species of birds, including fishing eagles, ibis, and the Nile Valley Sunbird.

The people who lived along the Nile in ancient times used the river for agriculture and transportation. That hasn't changed, although the methods of agriculture and transportation have. Steam ships are still used in Egypt and Sudan, to transport goods.

Only 22% of the river passes through Egypt, the other countries through which Nile passes are Sudan, Burundi, Ethiopia, Zaire, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania.

The cities that Nile flows past are Cairo, Khartoum, Gondokoro, Aswan, Karnak, Thebes and the town of Alexandria.

The source of the river is debatable since it is commonly known that the source of the river is Lake Victoria, which is the biggest lake in Africa, but it is observed that on the northern side of the lake there is a waterfall called Ripon Falls, which has a small opening and seemingly that is where the water in the River Nile comes from but then this cannot be held as the ultimate truth since there are many rivers that flow into Lake Victoria therefore which one of these or if all of them are the sources of The Nile. Presently River Kagera and its tributary, which is called Ruvubu whose headwaters are in Burundi, are considered to be the source of the River Nile.

Nile also played an important in the building if the famous Pyramids since the blocks of stone, which were used to make these pyramids, were actually transported from the source to the site with the help of Nile.

Its average discharge is 3.1 million litres (680,000 gallons) per second.

Interesting Facts About Michael Phelps

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:35:00 +0530

Michael Fred Phelps (born June 30, 1985) is an American swimmer and 14-time Olympic gold medalist (the most by any Olympian), who currently holds seven world records in swimming.

Michael Phelps holds the record for the most gold medals won at a single Olympics; a total of eight, surpassing Mark Spitz

Michael Phelps comes from a broken home in Baltimore. His policeman father Fred and school teacher mother Debbie separated when he was only seven. Elder sister Whitney, also a swimmer, has written that she used the swimming pool as a refuge from the yelling.

When he was 10, Phelps attended the 1996 Olympic Trials to support sister Whitney. She finished sixth in the 200m butterfly final and failed to make the team. The family cried in the stands. Whitney's career was cut short by four herniated discs.

In November 2004, at the age of 19, Michael Phelps was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in Salisbury, Maryland. He pleaded guilty to driving while impaired the following month and was granted probation before judgment and ordered to serve 18 months probation, fined $250, obligated to speak to high school students about drinking and driving and had to attend a Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) meeting.

Michael Phelps started swimming at the age of five. As a kid, Michael was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). At the age seven, he started swimming partly because he could release all that extra energy in the pool. At first, Michael was scared to even put his face in the water but before long he was swimming competitively. When he was 11,Michael Phelps met his long-time swimming coach, Bob Bowman, who knew right away that Phelps had what it took to be an exceptional athlete.

Michael Phelps made history by qualifying for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, when he was just 15-years-old. By qualifying for the 2000 Olympics, Michael Phelps became the youngest member of the US Olympic team since 1932. Phelps finished fifth in the 200 meter butterfly and shattered the 15-16 National Age Group record. Five months after the Olympics,Phelps became the youngest world record holder in history by setting a new record in the 200 meter butterfly at the World Championships in Japan.

When Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe said he did not think anyone could win eight races at a single Olympics, Phelps memorized the quote to motivate him for Beijing. He hung a poster of Ian Crocker above his bed after his team mate beat him at the 2003 world championships, to help motivate him for Athens.

Overall, Phelps has won 16 Olympic medals: six gold and two bronze at Athens in 2004, and eight gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In winning these medals, he has twice equaled Soviet gymnast Alexander Dityatin's record of eight medals (of any type) at a single Olympics (Dityatin: Moscow 1980; Phelps: Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008). Out of his eight gold medals from Beijing, five were won in individual events, tying the record for individual gold medals at a single Games originally set by Eric Heiden in the 1980 Winter Olympics and equaled by Vitaly Scherbo at the 1992 Summer Games. Phelps ranks second in total career Olympic medals, after Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina, who won a total of 18 medals (nine gold) spanning three Olympic Games.

Michael Phelps received the 2004 Sullivan Award.

Michael Phelps is the proud holder of 27 U.S. National Titles.

Michael Phelps is the first male swimmer to break two world record in separate events in the same day.

Michael Phelps is 6'4" tall and weighs 200 pounds.

Michael Phelps' nicknames are "MP" and "Gomer".

Michael Phelps needs to wolf down a lot of calories to have the energy for all his swimming. For breakfast, he often eats two egg-and-cheese sandwiches, a bowl of grits, a large omelet and a tall stack of chocolate chip pancakes.

Michael Phelps comes from a family of swimmers. His sister, Hilary, swam for the University of Richmond and his sister, Whitney, swam at the 1996 Olympic Swimming Trials.

Michael Phelps is sponsored by Visa, Speedo, PowerBar, At&T Wireless, Omega and Kellogg's.

Micahel Phelps listens to hip hop and rap to help him get focused before a race, downloading tracks on his MP3 player. Among his favourites is American rapper Young Jeezy.

Michael Phelps attends the University of Michigan, studying sports marketing and management.

Phelps' international titles, along with his various world records, have resulted in him being awarded the World Swimmer of the Year Award in 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2007 and American Swimmer of the Year Award in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2007. Phelps has won a total of 48 career medals thus far: 40 gold, six silvers and two bronze. This includes all of theChampionships in which he has competed: The Olympics, the World Championships, and the Pan Pacific Championships.

Interesting Facts About Pencils

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:05:00 +0530

A pencil will write in zero gravity, upside down, and under water!

More than 14 billion pencils are produced in the world every year - enough to circle the globe 62 times.

One pencil will draw a line 70 miles long.

Pencils don't really contain lead.That gray matter is graphite and clay.

Two billion pencils are made in the United States each year.

The pencil was invented more than 400 years ago, in 1565.

Famous novelists Ernest Hemingway and JohnSteinbeck used pencils to write their books.

Pencils didn't have erasers on them until 100 years ago because teachers felt they would encourage children to make mistakes.

It would cost $50 in labor and materials for a person to make a 10-cent pencil.

One million pencils are used annually on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

The average pencil can be sharpened 17 times, write 45,000 words or draw a line 35 miles long.

A good-size tree will make about 300,000 pencils.

In 1908 A.C. Steward developed a press that could imprint round pencils.

Seeing a pencil in your dream indicates that you are making a temporary impact in a situation. It may also suggest that a relationship may not last long.

Dreaming that you are sharpening a pencil, suggests that you need to be more flexible in your way of thinking.

More than 2 billion pencils are used in the United States every year, and most of them have erasers! However, most pencils sold in Europe do not have erasers!

Interesting Facts About Mangos

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:09:00 +0530

The mango is known as the 'king of fruit' throughout the world.

The name 'mango' is derived from the Tamil word 'mangkay' or 'man-gay'. When the Portuguese traders settled in Western India they adopted the name as 'manga'.

Mangos originated in East India, Burma and the Andaman Islands bordering the Bay of Bengal. Around the 5th century B.C., Buddhist monks are believed to have introduced the mango to Malaysia and eastern Asia - legend has it that Buddha found tranquility and repose in a mango grove. Persian traders took the mango into the middle east and Africa, from there the Portuguese brought it to Brazil and the West Indies. Mango cultivars arrived in Florida in the 1830's and in California in the 1880's.

The Mango tree plays a sacred role in India; it is a symbol of love and some believe that the Mango tree can grant wishes.

In the Hindu culture hanging fresh mango leaves outside the front door during Ponggol (Hindu New Year) and Deepavali is considered a blessing to the house.

Mango leaves are used at weddings to ensure the couple bear plenty of children (though it is only the birth of the male child that is celebrated - again by hanging mango leaves outside the house).

Hindus may also brush their teeth with mango twigs on holy days (be sure to rinse well and spit if you try this at home - toxic).

Many Southeast Asian kings and nobles had their own mango groves; with private cultivars being sources of great pride and social standing, hence began the custom of sending gifts of the choicest mangos.

The Tahis like to munch mango buds, with Sanskrit poets believing they lend sweetness to the voice.

Burning of mango wood, leaves and debris is not advised - toxic fumes can cause serious irritation to eyes and lungs.

Mango leaves are considered toxic and can kill cattle or other grazing livestock.

In India, a certain shade of yellow dye was attained by feeding cattle small amounts of mango leaves and harvesting their urine. Of course as stated above, this is a contraindicated practice, since mango leaves are toxic and cattle are sacred. It has since been outlawed.

Mangos are bursting with protective nutrients. The vitamin content depends upon the variety and maturity of the fruit, when the mango is green the amount of vitamin C is higher, as it ripens the amount of beta carotene (vitamin A) increases.

There are over 20 million metric tons of mangos grown throughout the tropical and sub-tropical world. The leading mango producer is India, with very little export as most are consumed within the country. Mexico and China compete for second place, followed by Pakistan and Indonesia. Thailand, Nigeria, Brazil, Philippines and Haiti follow in order.

According to the Foreign Agricultural Organization, the top mango exporters reported in 1997 are as follows in order: Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Haiti, Guatemala, Venezuela, Peru, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic.

The fruit of the mango is called a Drupe - consisting of the mesocarp (edible fleshy part) and endocarp (large woody, flattened pit).

The mango is a member of the Anachardiaceae family. Other distant relatives include the cashew, pistachio, Jamaica plum, poison ivy and poison oak.

The over 1,000 known mango cultivars are derived from two strains of mango seed - monoembryonic (single embryo) and polyembryonic (multiple embryo). Monoembryonic hails from the Indian (original) strain of mango,polyembryonic from the Indochinese.

Dermatitis can result from contact with the resinous latex sap that drips from the stem end when mangos are harvested. The mango fruit skin is not considered edible.

Every part of the mango is beneficial and has been utilized in folk remedies in some form or another. Whether the bark, leaves, skin or pit; all have been concocted into various types of treatments or preventatives down through the centuries. A partial list of the many medicinal properties and purported uses attributed to the mango tree are as follows: anti-viral, anti-parasitic, anti-septic, anti-tussive (cough), anti-asthmatic, expectorant, cardiotonic, contraceptive, aphrodisiac, hypotensive, laxative, stomachic (beneficial to digestion)....

Mangiferin - rich in splenocytes, found in the stem bark of the mango tree has purported potent immunomodulatory characteristics - believed to inhibit tumor growth in early and late stages.

As the mango became cultivated, as early as 2000 BCE, its flavor, size, and texture developed into the exotic, richly flavored succulent treat we enjoy today.

Mangos are an excellent source of vitamins A and C, and for those who are physically active, whether working out or constantly on the go, mangos are a great way to replenish that lost potassium.

An average sized mango can contain up to 40% of your daily fiber requirement. If you are eating your mango-a-day, irregularity is not a problem for you and so we'll spare the gruesome details regarding constipation, piles and spastic colon.

Research has shown that dietary fiber has a protective effect against degenerative diseases, especially with regards to the heart; may help prevent certain types of cancer, as well as lowering blood cholesterol levels.

The Mango is one of the finest and most popular tropical fruits and has been cultivated in India since 2000 BC or earlier. There are over 400 varieties of Mango throughout the world.

Mangoes are available late December through August.

Mangoes should be eaten when soft, and will ripen at room temperature.

Only 10 percent of all mangoes are grown in the United States.

To choose a Mango gently squeeze the 'nose' of the fruit. If there is slight give then the mango is ripe. Color is not the best indicator of ripeness.

A Mango stored at 55 degrees will last for up to two weeks. Do not refrigerate.

The two most widely available varieties of Mango in the UK are 'Kent' - a green fruit with a red blush and a rich, sweet flavour and 'Keitt' - a green Mango with a non fibrous flesh and a mild, sweet flavour.

Over 20 million tons of mangoes are grown in the tropics and sub tropics.

Top Mango exporters are India, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Brazil, Israel, South Africa and Peru.

Mangoes can range from 2 - 10 inches in length.

Interesting Facts About Hitler

noreply@blogger.com (Govindarajan M) — Wed, 9 Jul 2008 17:28:00 +0530

Born on the 20th of April, 1889, in Brannau, a town in Austria, Adolf Hitler was the 4th child of Klara Hitler and Alois Schickelgruber.

Adolf Hitler’s early life was spent in Austria. He liked drawing; however, he was unsuccessful in passing the examination at the academy of arts. He then went to Munich and joined the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment of World War I, wherein he was gassed and wounded, and was also given an award for bravery in action.

It was in 1919, after the end of the war, that Hitler joined what was known as the German Workers Party, which he later renamed as the National Socialist German Workers Party, which in turn was abbreviated to the Nazi Party. Soon, he took charge of the propaganda of the party and by the year 1921 he was made the leader.

It was in 1923 that the National Socialist German Workers Party, led by Adolf Hitler tried to seize power, from the ruling German Weimar Republic, in the famous Beer-Hall Putsch. However, Hitler was unsuccessful and was imprisoned.

It was during the nine months that he spent in prison that Adolf Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, or My Struggle, his autobiography as well as his manifesto. He then emerged from prison and became a populist spokesman for nationalistic and poor Germans.

After that, in 1932, Hitler tried to become the chancellor by challenging Paul von Hindenburg in the election that was held, but could not succeed.

Later, after the death of Hindenburg, Adolf Hitler became the Fuhrer and Chancellor, or Reichskanzler, in 1934. He at once set about establishing an absolute dictatorship, enforcing his newly formed rules with the help of the Gestapo, the brutal secret police. Concentration camps were set up for the organized killing of Jews, political opponents, and Gypsies.

He then went about invading and annexing as much territory as he could in Europe, such as the Sudetenland and Austria, in 1938, and then invading Poland on the 1st of September, 1939, whereupon France and Britain declared war on Germany on the 3rd of September, thus beginning World War II.

In the initial years of the war, Adolf Hitler, using the might of the German infantry and tanks to unleash a Blitzkrieg, had remarkable success, sweeping through large parts of Western Europe, with nations falling one by one to the great German war machine.

Hitler attacked the U.S.S.R. in 1941, ignoring a non-aggression pact he had earlier signed with them in 1939. After initial victories, Hitler’s forces suffered crushing defeats, first at Moscow in December 1941, and then later in Stalingrad, in the winter of 1942 to 1943.

It was in the month of December in 1941 that the United States of America entered the war. The Allies began their invasion of occupied Europe by landing on the French coast at Normandy Beach, in 1944. Then German cities began being bombed and destroyed and the allied troops entered Germany and made their way to Berlin by 1945. In the meantime, Italy, under the rule of the Fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini, who was an ally of Germany, also fell.

During the war, many high ranking Nazis became desperate, and a number of attempts were made to assassinate Hitler, all of which were unsuccessful. In the meantime, the forces of the Soviet Union were also closing in on Berlin, which was the place Hitler had his headquarters.

As it became quite apparent that the war was lost, and his hand-picked lieutenants went against his orders, on realizing the futility of continuing, Adolf Hitler committed suicide on the 30th of April, 1945. However, on the night before, he married Eva Braun, his long-term mistress, who also committed suicide with him. Thus came to an end both the war as well as Nazi rule.

The official name of the Nazi regime was the Third Reich, which Hitler had bragged would last 1000 years, but it collapsed within a week after the death of Hitler.

However, it can be said the Hitler was the one who was responsible for three of 20th century’s most climactic events: 1) World War II; 2) The Holocaust; and 3) The Cold War, which followed World War II. Plus, Israel would not have come into existence in the Middle East if the holocaust had not taken place.

Adolph Hitler had a half brother named Alois Hitler, he owned a bar in Germany that was frequented by prominent Nazi officials. Alois would never share his opinion on Adolph because he was afraid Adolph would revoke his liquor license!

Adolf Hitler had some Jewish heritage in him. His great great grandmother was Jewish who was a maid.

Hitler ordered tanks to be made in Michigan and told the company to not worry about sending them to Germany, he'd 'pick them up on his way through Detroit.

"Quisling," which is used to describe a traitor, was the name of Vidkun Quisling, a Norwegian fascist and supporter of Adolf Hitler, who was appointed Führer of Norway in World War II. Arrested in 1945, Quisling was so despised, Norway broke with their centuries-old policy against capital punishment and executed him.

Hitler's 3rd grade report from his teacher remarked that Hitler was...'bad tempered and fancied himself as a leader.'

Adolf Hitler was fascinated by hands. In his library there was a well-thumbed book containing pictures and drawings of hands belonging to famous people throughout history. He liked particularly to show his guests how closely his own hands resembled those of Frederick the Great, one of his heroes.

The NY phone book had 22 Hitlers before WWII. The NY phone book had 0 Hitlers after WWII.

Hitler was voted Time Magazines man of the year in 1938

Adolph Hitler kept a framed photograph of Henry Ford on his desk and Ford kept one of Hitler on his desk in Dearborn, Michigan. Hitler had used in 'Mein Kampf' some of Fords anti-semitic views, and he always welcomed Ford's contributions to the Nazi movement.

Hitler never allows anyone to see him while he is naked or bathing. He refuses to use cologne or scents of any sort on his body

No matter how warm he feels, Hitler will never take off his coat in public

In 1923, Nazi press secretary Dr. Sedgwick tried to convince Hitler to get rid of his trademark mustache or grow it normally. Hitler answered: "Do not worry about my mustache. If it is not the fashion now, it will be later because I wear it!"

While dining with the others, Hitler will allow the conversation to linger on general topics, but after a couple of hours he will inevitably begin one of his many monologues. These speeches are flawless from start to finish because he rehearses them any time he gets a moment.

His favorite topics include: "When I was a soldier," "When I was in Vienna," "When I was in prison," and "When I was the leader in the early days of the party."

If Hitler begins speaking about Wagner and the opera, no one dares interrupt him. He will often sermonize on this topic until his audience falls asleep.

Hitler has no interest in sports or games of any kind and never exercised, except for an occasional walk.

He paces frequently inside rooms, always to the same tune that he whistles to himself and always diagonally across the room, from corner to corner

Hitler’s handwriting is impeccable. When famous psychologist Carl Jung saw Hitler’s handwriting in 1937, he remarked: "Behind this handwriting I recognize the typical characteristics of a man with essentially feminine instinct."

Hitler loves the circus. He takes real pleasure in the idea that underpaid performers are risking their lives to please him.

He went to the circus on several occasions in 1933 and sent extremely expensive chocolates and flowers to the female performers. Hitler even remembered their names and would worry about them and their families in the event of an accident.

He isn’t interested in wild animal acts, unless there is a woman in danger

Nearly every night Hitler will see a movie in his private theatre, mainly foreign films that are banned to the German public. He loves comedies and will often laugh merrily at Jewish comedians. Hitler even liked a few Jewish singers, but after hearing them he would remark that it was too bad he or she wasn’t Aryan.

Hitler staff secretly made films for him of torture and execution of political prisoners, which he very much enjoyed viewing. His executive assistants also secured pornographic pictures and movies for him.

He loves newsreels - especially when he is in them.

He adores gypsy music, Wagner’s operas, and especially American college football marches and alma maters.

To excite the masses, he also uses American College football-style music during his speeches. His rallying cry - "Sieg Heil!" - was even modeled after the cheering techniques used by American football cheerleaders.