Simple Browser: 12/1/07

Dec 30, 2007

Woman arrested for wiping nose!

Arrested for wiping nose! A woman in West Virginia was charged with battery on a police officer, after the officer said she wiped her nose on the back of his shirt. Battery on a police officer is defined as intentionally making physical contact of an insulting or provoking nature with an officer.

Cpl. S.E. Elliott said he had arrested the 36-year-old woman last week after seeing her slap a man, bite him on the elbow and spit in his face.

The police officer said the woman wiped her nose on him as he led her into the police station for booking on a charge of domestic battery. Link

Dec 29, 2007

Gene that controls Brain size

A team of scientists in Edinburgh have identified a gene that controls the size of the brain. This finding will give an insight into what it means to be human. Humans have extraordinarily large and complex brains, compared with our close relatives. Scientists have found that, when the newly identified gene is faulty, the brain and body shrinks as a result.

Andrew Jackson of the Medical Research Counci, MRC, Human Genetics Unit, Edinburgh and colleagues at the MRC Genome Damage And Stablity Centre studied families who have members with Seckel syndrome, which retards growth in the womb, leading to short stature and a markedly reduced brain size (microcephaly).

They report in the journal Nature Genetics that small brain size is linked to faults in a gene called PCNT and find that this gene works with another gene linked to the condition, called ATR, which is involved in DNA repair.

The PCNT gene is responsible for the manufacture in the body of a protein called pericentrin, a component of the centrosome, an organ in cells (organelle) that is essential for the process of cell division that encourages growth.

When comparing different species, brain size does present a correlation with intelligence. Among human, modern studies using brain scans have shown that brain size shows a rough correlation with IQ among adults of the same sex. Link

Asteroid to hit Mars: Chance increases

The chance of a football field-sized asteroid plowing into Mars next month has been increased to 4 percent, NASA scientists said on Friday after analyzing some data.

"I think it'll be cool," said Don Yeomans, who heads the Near-Earth Object Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "Usually when an asteroid is headed toward Earth, I'm not rooting for an impact."

The space rock, known as the nondescript 2007 WD5, was discovered in late November by the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona. Based on the latest information available, scientists said last week there was a 1-in-75 chance the asteroid could hit Mars on Jan. 30.

The odds were increased to 1-in-25 this week after a Ph.D. student pored through the archives and plotted the asteroid's motions before its official discovery. The new information allowed scientists to improve their calculations of the asteroid's orbit and flight path.

Still, the asteroid poses no threat to Earth and is closing in on the Red Planet at 27,900 mph. The collision would likely blast a half-mile-wide crater north of where the rover Opportunity has been exploring since 2004. Link

Hiccups of Chris Sands

Chris Sands, 24, a Lincoln man suffered non-stop hiccups for the past 11 months. He has tried everything including holding his breath, drinking from the wrong side of a glass and getting a fright since the hiccups started last February.

So far nothing has worked and the singer has been left unable to perform with his band; during the more intense bouts he struggles to sleep, eat or even breathe properly. He has had a brain scan, abdomen scan, chest scan and CT scan all in an effort to uncover the reason behind his mystery hiccupping, but so far there has been no diagnosis.

In his most recent effort to get to the root of the problem, Chris tried an oxygen chamber, where he was placed in a large metal tank with an oxygen mask over his mouth, despite suffering from claustrophobia.

After admitting defeat, doctors are now sending him to a psychologist because they believe his body has now simply just got used to hiccupping. Chris also runs a blog at MySpace. Watch the video.

But this is nothing compared to Charles Osborne, of Anthon, Iowa! Charles Osborne holds the record for the longest ever bout of hiccups, which lasted for 68 years from 1922 until 1990.

Hummer and Rotten Eggs!

A Hummer owner from St. Petersburg, Russia has given antiglobalists the green light to pelt his oversized vehicle with rotten eggs, Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday.

"Peter Antiglobalist" activists told news agency RIA they found a driver willing to let them express their dissatisfaction with consumerism by throwing things at his luxury sport utility vehicle, a spokesman said.

"Luxury is a false value, clouding modern society's vision. Advertising posters, TV shows and slick marketing constantly tells us that buying things is the most important value in our society," RIA quoted the spokesman as saying.

The antiglobalists said throwing eggs and tomatoes at the Hummer will help draw attention to their cause. The vehicle's owner will sell it after the event and will donate the proceeds to an orphanage. A Moscow car dealer puts the base price of a Hummer H3 at $49,500. Link

'Gotta Digg' - Digg it!

Are you a Digger? Do you love Digg.Com? If yes, you must watch this video "Gotta Digg". It is a nice song by Kina Granis. Watch it, love it and vote for her!

The Lyrics:
When I'm feeling lazy, at school or when I work
I sneak to my computer, and then I like to shirk
I don't go online shopping, I don't email with my mom
I open up my browser, and go to digg-dot-com

Chorus: Gotta digg, gotta digg, gotta digg
Gotta make this story big!
Did you hear that awful sound?
Another server's down!

I always dig up Apple, and I bury Microsoft
But when I said I was a girl, all the diggers scoffed
And when I see those stories about Senator Ron Paul
I don't even RTFA; I just digg them all!

Chorus: Gotta digg, gotta digg, gotta digg
Gotta make this story big!
Did you hear that awful sound?
Another server's down!

The fanboys can be tiresome, they always are outspoken
And if you're listening Kevin Rose, the comment system's broken!
I know digg isn't perfect, but be thankful for what we've got
It's just like daddy always says: "At least it's not Slashdot!!!"
Chorus: Gotta digg, gotta digg, gotta digg
Gotta make this story big!
Did you hear that awful sound?
Another server's down!

Driving Volvo on Ice

Fan of Volvo cars? You gonna love this video. ispo, the world's largest Sports Equipment and Fashion Trade Fair, invited European media to experience the Swedish tradition of outdoor activities and design. Volvo Car offered the participants the chance to test drive cars on ice. Volvo was trying to demonstrate that their cars are both stylish and practical in this unique and extreme environment. And they proved it again! Watch the video from YouTube.

Dust Pillars inTrifid Nebula

Amazing space! In the above picture, you can see the end of a huge gas and dust pillar in the Trifid Nebula. According to NASA, Dust pillars are like interstellar mountains. They survive because they are more dense than their surroundings, but they are being slowly eroded away by a hostile environment.

The pink dots are newly formed low-mass stars. A star near the small pillar's end is slowly being stripped of its accreting gas by radiation from a tremendously brighter star situated off the above picture to the upper right. The jet extends nearly a light-year and would not be visible without external illumination. As gas and dust evaporate from the pillars, the hidden stellar source of this jet will likely be uncovered, possibly over the next 20,000 years. NASA

Smallest passenger helicopter!

Think about a flying helicopter for one, that can be folded down and carried by just one person. Is it possible? Look at the images. It is Ka-56 “Wasp” helicopter. Developed by Russia in 1971, it is fully functional and could be used to carry one man.

In 1971 Communist government of Soviet Russia has order a development of the smallest possible passenger helicopter in the world that could carry one person and can be folded in the tube that can be carried also by one person. They had plans to use it on the benefit of Soviet Army and Russian intelligent service.

And the result was this Ka-56 “Wasp” helicopter. What you think? Want to take a risk to fly it? Link

Dec 25, 2007

Four Candles script sold for £48,500

The original script for one of the Two Ronnies most famous sketches has sold for £48,500 in an online auction. The classic Four Candles sketch, penned by Ronnie Barker and first shown in 1976, showed Barker attempting to buy fork handles in a hardware store.

A private buyer outbid eight or nine other fans to take home a slice of television history. The Original Memorabilia Company, which handled the auction, confirmed the deal.

"We had literally hundreds of telephone calls about the auction, but because of the price of the script, only a few of those were in a financial position to place bids," memorabilia department manager Chris Atkins said.

The popular Two Ronnies ran for 98 episodes over 12 series between 1971 and 1987, attracting up to 18 million viewers. In the sketch, Barker tries to buy fork handles - but Ronnie Corbett gives him four candles. Link

Spider attacks flats in Plymouth

When Spider attacks! Residents had to be evacuated from a block of flats in Plymouth, Devon, after it was infested by spiders from the black widow family.

Called false widows, the creatures were spotted running around stairwells near homes. Pest controllers were called in to get rid of the spiders.

Resident Gareth Williams, 25, said: "It was very disturbing." False widows have a painful bite similar to a bee sting. Link

Dinosaurs will roam again!

Dinosaurs will roam again in this World! Restless Planet, a colossal project in Dubai will see hi-tech animatronic dinosaurs — including the dreaded Tyrannosaurus Rex wandering freely among visitors.

The creatures are so advanced that their breath will stink and they will react to visitors’ movements and even their clothing colour. The pterodactyls are designed to swoop, huge amphibians will power through lakes and herds of diplodocus are all set to roam the landscape.

The Restless Planet is due to open in Dubai in 2010. The Natural History Museum has been approached to make the dinosaurs because of its ground-breaking work in animatronics.

Director Audrey O’Connell said: “We want to create a hybrid of a theme park and a museum that will allow people to experience a Jurassic-era habitat.”

Palaeontologist Jack Horner, a consultant on Steven Spielberg’s 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park, is advising the museum. He said: “Jurassic Park was a drama. This time everyone wants it to be accurate.”

Restless Planet is set to be the size of around ten football pitches with two climate-controlled buildings, grassland and woodland divided into different time periods. Link

read more “Dinosaurs will roam again!”

Dec 24, 2007

Newton Crater of Mars

This is Newton Crater - a large crater on Mars, with a diameter close to 300 km. It is located in the south of the planet's equator in the heavily cratered highlands of Terra Sirenum. The crater was named in 1973 in honour of Sir Isaac Newton.

The impact that formed Newton Crater likely occurred more than 3 billion years ago. The Crater contains smaller craters within its basin and is particularly notable for gully formations that are presumed to be indicative of past liquid water flows. NASA

Mars Scout mission delayed till 2013

NASA has postponed the target date for the launch of its Mars Scout mission by two years, till 2013. The launch is posponded due to an undisclosed organizational conflict of interest between the final two team’s proposals. Earlier the launch was planned for 2011.

Revised proposals for the mission are now set for August 2008, and the assessment and selection will take place in December 2008. The delay is expected to increase the cost of the $475 million project by a further $40 million. This was the shortest delay possible for the mission as planetary alignment between earth and Mars occurs once every 26 months.

However, it should be noted that this is only the first time since 1994 that NASA will miss an opportunity to send a mission to Mars. With a European probe also, already being postponed to 2013, Russia is the only nation expected to send a Mars mission in 2011. Link

No toilets! 100 arrested in Uganda

At least 100 Ugandans were arrested by the local authorities, for failing to build toilets in their homes. This action was taken in the midst of a cholera epidemic in the country. Cholera has already killed 8 people and infected 164 in Uganda.

"We cannot watch as people die (of cholera)," northwestern Bulisa district administrator Norbert Turyahikayo told the New Vision daily, justifying the arrest of Ugandans found to have huts with no pit latrines Tuesday. Link

Boy banned from School Christmas Party

Teachers of Cluny Primary, a council-run school in Buckie, Banffshire, banned a nine-year-old boy from his class Christmas party because his parents had barred him from RE lessons. Douglas Stewart was forced to stay at home while his friends received presents from Santa and tucked into ice cream and jelly.

His parents were told he was not welcome at the celebration because they had pulled him out of religious eduction classes earlier in the year. Headmaster Ian Davidson said that because the youngster had no interest in religion he could not celebrate the birth of Christ.

Furious mother Dawn Riddell, 38, said yesterday: "I've helped out at the Christmas party before and it's got absolutely nothing to do with Jesus. Douglas was heartbroken he couldn't go. It was cruel." Link

Bar inside a 6,000 years old Tree

This is not just another tree! It is a bar in the trunk of a Baobab. It has been created in a huge 72ft high tree in this garden in Limpopo, South Africa, to keep thirsty locals happy. But tourists flock to see the amazing bar inside the hollow 155ft circumference of the trunk.

More than 7,000 visitors from all over the world come to see the majestic Baobab each year and have a drink in its bar, which has four metre high ceilings and comfortably seats up to 15 people. The tree even has its own cellar, with natural ventilation to keep the beer cool.

Carbon-dating, which can determine the age of organic materials, has shown the anicent tree is about. "This tree is likely to be older than the Giza Pyramids of Egypt," said Heather van Heerden, owner of Sunland Farm. link

Dec 23, 2007

Queen Elizabeth goes YouTube

YouTube got a Royal touch! Britain’s Queen Elizabeth has just launched her own channel on this popular video-sharing site. The YouTube channel is named as “The Royal Channel“. The Christmas Broadcast or ‘Queen’s Speech’ for 2007 will appear on this channel at approximately 3pm GMT on Christmas Day.

The launch of “The Royal Channel” marks the 50th anniversary of the Queen’s first televised festive address in 1957. Presently the channel features recent and historical footage of the monarch and other members of the Royal Family in 18 different videos. Link

Same Christmas cards for 29 years

A couple have been sending the same Christmas card to each other for the past 29 years. Can you imagine this? Stephen and Glynis Woolner first sent the cards in 1978. They packed the card away with the decorations and came across them the following year.

Stephen decided to give it to Glynis again as a joke. She decided to do the same and now they do it every year. Each year they write a new message on the card.

Glynis told: "We are going to have to glue a sheet of paper in so we can carry on." Link

Dec 22, 2007

Santa delivers thousands of copies of Constitution to Bush

Santa Claus (in the person of noted constitutional lawyer Bill Goodman) drove his sleigh to the White House to deliver thousands of copies of the U.S. Constitution to President Bush. Americans from all over the country - more than 37,000 of them - asked that a copy of the Constitution be delivered to the President in their name and cordially requested that he make time in his busy schedule to read it.

"While I was going over the list of who's been naughty and nice," Mr. Claus said, as he prepared for his visit to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, "I heard from many people who feel the President hasn't been doing a very good job of upholding his oath to 'preserve, protect and defend' the Constitution."

Responding to an urgent request from the Center for Constitutional Rights, Claus stepped in to bring messages from Americans who felt the President might need a refresher course in the Constitution. Citizens want to remind President Bush that the Constitution forbids torture and spying on Americans without a warrant, requires that prisoners get a fair hearing of the charges against them before a real court and makes the government's treaty obligations, such the Geneva Conventions, the law of the land. link

Asteroid to hit planet Mars

An asteroid similar to the one that flattened forests in Siberia in 1908 could plow into Mars surface next month, scientists said on Thursday. Researchers related to NASA's Near-Earth Object Program, have been tracking the asteroid since its discovery in late November.

The scientists, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, said that the newly discovered asteroid known as 2007 WD5 has a one in 75 chance of colliding with the planet on January 30.

If 2007 WD5, which is about 100 metres in diameter, does strike Mars on January 30, it would cause an explosion equivalent to several megatonnes of TNT.

The asteroid would probably hit a spot near the Martian equator, close to the point where Nasa's Opportunity rover has been exploring since 2004.

read more “Asteroid to hit planet Mars”

Dec 21, 2007

Astronaut mourns from Orbit

Astronaut Daniel M. Tani's 90-year-old mother died in an auto accident this week, but he has no way of getting home until late January. He must grieve from more than 200 miles away — in orbit, aboard the international space station.

It's a heartbreaking situation no other American astronaut has experienced. And it's made all the more tragic by Tani's devotion to his mother, Rose, who raised him and his siblings alone in suburban Chicago after their father died when he was 4. Tani's wife and a flight surgeon on the ground broke the news in a video conference call with the 46-year-old astronaut. But phone calls and e-mails from space are as close as Tani can get to the loving embrace of his family.

Tani has been on the space station since late October and had been scheduled to return to Earth as early as Monday of this week aboard space shuttle Atlantis, but fuel gauge problems delayed the Dec. 6 launch until January.

Tani's mother was struck and killed by a train in Lombard, Ill., on Wednesday. Police said she was stopped behind a school bus at a railroad crossing and decided to drive around the vehicle and the lowered gate. Link

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Dec 20, 2007

Beautiful Rings of Saturn

How old are the Saturn's beautiful rings? No one is quite sure. One possibility is that the rings formed relatively recently in our Solar System's history, perhaps only about 100 million years ago when a moon-sized object broke up near Saturn. Evidence for a young ring age includes a basic stability analysis for rings, and the fact that the rings are so bright and relatively unaffected by numerous small dark meteor impacts. New evidence, however, raises the possibility that some of Saturn's rings may be billions of years old and so almost as old as Saturn itself.

Inspection of images by the Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft indicates that some of Saturn's ring particles temporarily bunch and collide, effectively recycling ring particles by bringing fresh bright ices to the surface. In the picture above, Saturn's rings were imaged in their true colors by the robotic Cassini in late October. Icy bright Tethys, a moon of Saturn likely brightened by a sandblasting rain of ice from sister moon Enceladus, is visible in front of the darker rings. NASA

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Giant rats in 'Lost World'

A giant rodent five times as big as a common rat has been discovered in the mountainous jungles of New Guinea. The 1.4kg Mallomys giant rat is one of two species of mammal thought to be new to science found on a trip to the "lost world". They also found a pygmy possum - one of the world's smallest marsupials

"The giant rat is about five times the size of a typical city rat. With no fear of humans, it apparently came into the camp several times during the trip, " said Kristofer Helgen, a scientist with the Smithsonian Institution.

The Foja Mountains, part of the Mamberamo Basin, contain the largest pristine tropical forest in the Asia Pacific region. In 2005, the area was dubbed a "lost world" after scientists discovered dozens of new plants and animals in the dense jungle. Link

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Dec 19, 2007

Mom in jail after coaxing toddler to smoke!

Alerted to the video on MySpace police arrested a mother who gave her two-year-old daughter to smoke a cigarette! Virginia Beach police in US charged her with "contributing to the delinquency of a minor".

Margie Long, of Virginia Beach police said: "The MySpace video was depicting a two-year-old toddler attempting to smoke a cigarette and using profanity. In the same video there's a voice of an adult female trying to coax the child to do this."

Sandra Venery, the misguided mother is behind bars and MySpace has taken down the video. Link

Walking over car resulted in arrest!

A pedestrian has been charged with damaging property after walking over a car that was parked illegally on the sidewalk in Athen's congested capital. The owner of the vehicle saw Tasos Pouliasis walking over his car. And called police who arrested Pouliasis and his girlfriend and briefly detained them in a police cell.

"I could not get past the vehicle, a four-wheel drive, which had been parked right on the pavement so I got angry and just walked over it, slightly denting its hood," Tasos Pouliasis told a state television.

"Now I will be tried for property damage but police did not even bother giving the car owner a parking ticket," Pouliasis said.

Greeks are notoriously unruly drivers leaving their cars on sidewalks, wheelchair ramps and even hospital entrances. Link

Police arrested French Spiderman

A man who scaled a 20-storey building in central London, has been arrested for wasting police time! Hundreds of workers stopped to watch as Alain Robert, dubbed the French Spiderman, scaled the 101 metre-tall building, near a shopping centre without ropes.

The 45-year-old said he did the climb to publicise the fight against climate change. He yelled "greenhouse gases are climbing and so am I," as he clambered up the building. There were cheers from the crowd as he waved from the top.

But police taped off the area and later arrested him for criminal damage and wasting police time.

Alain Robert has climbed over 70 giant structures around the globe and this stunt was carried out to promote energy-saving website The Solution is Simple.org.

He said: "I'm risking my life for what I believe in. World leaders need to be brave too. We need ambitious targets - not two more years of hot air." Link

Dec 18, 2007

The "Friendly Alien"

Take a look at "Friendly Alien"! The The Kunsthaus Graz, Grazer Kunsthaus, or Graz Art Museum was built as part of the European Capital of Culture celebrations in 2003 and has since become an architectural landmark in Graz, Austria. Its exhibition program specializes in contemporary art of the last four decades.

Its unusual form differs radically from conventional exhibition contexts, many of which maintain the traditions of the modernist "White Cube". The team of architects used an innovative stylistic idiom, known as blob architecture within the historical ambiance of the Murvorstadt. Thus, the gigantic building affectionately called the "Friendly Alien" by its creators Peter Cook and Colin Fournier, in form and material, stands out consciously against the surrounding baroque roof landscape with its red clay roofing tiles but nevertheless integrates the façade of the 1847 iron house. Wiki

Cartoon characters in the Court!

An Italian court ordered the animated bird, Tweety along with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and his girlfriend Daisy, to testify in a counterfeiting case. In what lawyers believe was a clerical error, a court in Naples sent a summons to the characters ordering them to appear Friday in a trial in the southern Italian city, officials said.

The court summons cites Titti, Paperino, Paperina, Topolino -- the Italian names for the characters -- as damaged parties in the criminal trial of a Chinese man accused of counterfeiting products of Disney and Warner Bros.

Instead of naming only the companies and their legal representatives, clerks also wrote in the witness list the names of the cartoons that decorated the toys and gadgets the man had reproduced, said Fiorenza Sorotto, vice president of Disney Company Italia.

The Naples court will have to rewrite the summons, although this will probably delay the trial, said Disney lawyer Cristina Ravelli. Link

'iDiamond ear' by Thomas Heyerdahl

The world’s most exclusive earphones ever made! This is 'iDiamond ear' made of 18 karat massive gold, set with a total of 204 diamonds / 1.65 carats. “iDiamond ear” will be produced in a limited edition series of 1000 numbered pairs for exclusivity.

Designed by Mr. Thomas Heyerdahl of Heyerdahl Jewellery, Oslo, Norway. “iDiamond ear” is will be available at leading jewellery stores worldwide from February 2008. The retail price will be: 4,350 EUR / 6,400 USD + VAT. Link

'Death Star Galaxy' blasts neighbours

A fleet of space and ground telescopes has captured images of a black hole in a "death star galaxy" blasting a neighboring galaxy with a jet of radiation and energy, according to a study released Monday by NASA.

"It's like a bully, a black-hole bully punching the nose of a passing galaxy," said astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York, who was not involved in the research.

The telescope images show a stream of deadly radiation particles being shot from the one galaxy into the lower section of the other, which is about one-10th its size. The galaxies are orbiting each other about 8.2 billion trillion miles from Earth.

The larger galaxy is called the "death star galaxy" by Daniel Evans of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, one of the researchers who discovered the galactic bullying. Link

Dec 17, 2007

Cop breaks into Police HQ

A chief constable broke into his own police force's headquarters to test out security. Richard Brunstrom, 53, clambered up scaffolding and broke into North Wales Police's HQ. He did it to see how secure the building was after scaffolding was put up as part of a £3.4million refurbishment.

A spokeswoman for North Wales Police confirmed: "We can confirm that the chief constable tested the security himself."

Richard Brunstrom has previously let himself be shot with a 50,000-volt Taser stun-gun to prove they are safe. Link

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Googling your own name?

A new Pew study found that 47 percent of Internet users have searched for their own names online, up from 22 percent in 2002. The new report, co-authored by researcher Susannah Fox, also found 53 percent of Internet users have searched online for information about personal and business contacts.

The growing number of people Googling themselves coincides with the avalanche of personal information hitting the Web. Thanks to the rise of YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, blogs and other interactive Web 2.0 sites.

"As people become more aware of their digital footprint, they will be more likely to monitor it," said Fox,

Googling your name isn't vain! It is the best way to keep track of how much of your personal information has found its way onto the Internet. Link

Deep Impact headed to Comet Hartley 2

A University of Maryland team of astronomers will lead a $40 million NASA effort to use a recycled spacecraft to study a set of planets outside our solar system and then fly the craft within 620 miles of a distant comet for a close look.

The mission, known as EPOXI, will use the Deep Impact spacecraft that made international headlines in 2005 when astronomers launched a probe from it that smashed into Comet Tempel 1.

After completion of Deep Impact's first mission, the team began working to persuade NASA that the spacecraft was capable of continuing to explore space at a fraction of the cost of building and launching a new craft. The mission will be made possible by recalibrating Deep Impact's instruments.

The Deep Impact spacecraft will survey five stars that have Jupiter-size planets, looking for planets capable of supporting life. Work will begin in January and last about six months. The craft will then head toward a meeting with comet Hartley 2 in 2010; it will use its two telescopes and infrared spectrometer to study the half-mile-wide comet. Link
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Dec 16, 2007

How to write a paper in college?

How to write a paper in college/university? Need some instructions? Take a look at the list below! Cool instructions. What you think? For more, visit the link at the end. Just for some fun and inspiration!

Sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a well lit place in front of your computer.
Log onto MSN and ICQ (be sure to go on away!). Check your email.
Read over the assignment carefully, to make certain you understand it.
Walk down to the vending machines and buy some chocolate to help you concentrate.
Check your email.
Call up a friend and ask if he/she wants to go to grab a coffee. Just to get settled down and ready to work.
When you get back to your room, sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a clean, well lit place.
Read over the assignment again to make absolutely certain you understand it.
Check your email.

Know about Pirate Laws!

What to know more about 'Pirates'? Visit this site! It has a list of some cool laws that ancient pirates followed! You can also add yours! Just for fun, take a look! A nice site.

Some Pirate laws:

A pirate does not ask for directions. He relies only on his gut feeling, a compass, or a treasure map.

Parrots are the preferred pirate companion. Monkeys are an acceptable substitute, unless they fling their feces at people. Then they are an awesome substitute.

When fishing, a pirate uses either a sword, a knife, or his bare hands. Use of a hook is only acceptable in the event the pirate is missing a hand.

Pirates shall always wear boots, except in the case of a peg leg. Then one boot is acceptable. Flip-flops are right out.

More............

Evil Clown Generator!

Just for fun, want an evil clown? Try this cool Evil Clown Generator! Frantically mouseover the face to create an evil clown or use the game buttons to change the features one by one. Stop only when you are satisfied with the evilness of your clown face. Have some good time!

Huge cell phone bill for using Internet!

A Canadian oil-field worker, stunned to get a C$85,000 ($83,700) cell phone bill, has had the charges reduced to C$3,400, but is still fighting them. Piotr Staniaszek, a 22-year-old oil and gas well tester in rural northwest Alberta, became a figure of international media attention this week when his father went to the press to complain about the size of his son's bill.

Staniaszek's father said his son thought he could use his new phone as a modem for his computer as part of his C$10 unlimited browser plan from Bell Mobility, a division of Bell Canada. He downloaded movies and other high-resolution files unaware of the charges they would incur.

According to his invoice, the son rang up C$60,000 in charges in November, and they have since climbed to C$85,000.

A Bell spokesman said the internet plan is not intended for downloading files to a computer, and that's clear in his contract. Link

Stealing leg of a Holy Man!

An Indian holy man is recovering in hospital after two men cut off his 'magical' right leg and ran off with it. Yanadi Kondaiah, 80, claimed those who touched his leg would be cured of illness or have wishes granted. But the claims appear to have backfired, after two strangers plied him with alcohol, then cut off his leg with a sickle.

Police said Kondaiah,who lives in a village near the city of Tirupati, was approached by two men who asked him to help them with his magical powers. They took him to a deserted spot in the outskirts of the village. After the old man had passed out under the influence of liquor, they cut off his right leg from the knee. The victim was then left alone, bleeding heavily, until he was found by passing villagers and taken to hospital.

"This seems to be a case of superstition. The two people might have taken away the leg hoping to benefit from its magical powers," said Polic sub-inspector Mr Dastgiri. Link

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Dec 15, 2007

2007 among warmest years

The year 2007 is going to become one of the 10 warmest years for the contiguous U.S., since national records began in 1895, according to preliminary data from NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.

The year was marked by exceptional drought in the U.S. Southeast and the West, which helped fuel another extremely active wildfire season. The year also brought outbreaks of cold air, and killer heat waves and floods.

The global surface temperature for 2007 is expected to be fifth warmest since records began in 1880. Preliminary data will be updated in early January to reflect the final three weeks of December and is not considered final until a full analysis is complete next spring. Link

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NASA puts off Atlantis launch to Jan 10

NASA has postponed the launch of Atlantis shuttle until January 10 to let staff spend the festive season with their families, the space agency's website said on Thursday. The launch, which is due to deliver the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory to the International Space Station (ISS), has been repeatedly delayed since December 6 over technical problems.

Wayne Hale, Space Shuttle Program manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center, was quoted as saying: "Moving the next launch attempt of Atlantis to January 10 will allow as many people as possible to have time with family and friends at the time of year when it means the most. A lot has been asked of them this year and a lot will be asked of them in 2008."

The Atlantis crew consists of seven astronauts - commander Stephen Frick, pilot Alan Poindexter, mission specialists Rex Walheim, Leland Melvin and Stanley Love plus European Space Agency (ESA) astronauts, Hans Schlegel from German and French national Leopold Eyharts. Link

Diana's letters revealed at inquest

Effusive letters from Princess Diana to Dodi Fayed, suggesting the depth of her feelings about him, were read out at the inquest into her death yesterday.

The intimate notes were disclosed for the first time shortly before the hearing was told it would be given a secret recording of Dodi breaking up with his former fiancee. Both exchanges date from mid-August 1997.

More than 10 years after Diana and Dodi were killed in a car crash in the Alma tunnel in Paris, the emotional turmoil generated by their deaths was sufficient to reduce one witness to tears and bring another to the verge of distress. Link

Dec 14, 2007

Pavement drawings of Julian Beever

Julian Beever is a great artist who creates dreams on streets! Don't believe? Take a look at the pictures. All of them are works of this great artist. These art works looks like 3D and creates a good illusion! Julian Beever has made pavement drawings for over ten years. He has worked in the U.K., Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Germany, the USA and Australia.

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