It's a small world

2012 January Product Recalls

2012-01-28T21:57:00.001+05:30

+2012 January product recalls, January Recalls We're only a month into 2012 and it already has been a busy year for recalls. From sunflower seeds to high chairs to bike helmets, we're taking a look at the products pulled from shelves in January. +2012 january product recalls, dill pickle sunflower seeds recall, IKEA high chair recall, +bicycle helmet recall,

Food Products - January 2012 food recalls - Pepin Heights Orchards is asking consumers to discard half-gallon jugs of its Honeycrisp apple cider. january 2012 food recalls, apple cider + Feb 09 2012, apple cider + elevated levels of patulin, Price Chopper cakes may contain plastic fragments, Hill Country Fare Lasagna Dinner 6.4 oz recall, Hill Country Fare Lasagna Dinner tuna seasoning, bigs dill pickle sunflower seeds recall + undeclared soy, Rip Roarin' crab soup + undeclared milk, wheat and crab, rich products sponge cake + small plastic fragments, safeway snack cookies recall + undeclared milk and eggs, green valley food corp + approximately 35,159 cases, green valley food corp listeria recall, Alpine Slicing and Cheese Conversion Company, alpine slicing cheese listeria recall, guava sticks + Undeclared Milk, Wheat, Tree Nuts, and Eggs, grumpy goat shreds listeria recall,

Children's Gear - Land of Nod recalled about 1,600 of its Blake bed frames sold online and in stores due to an entrapment hazard. +january 2012 children's gear recalls, land of nod + torso can become lodged in gap between top rail and mattress, land of nod + child freed by her parents without injury, chariot bicycle trailer + no injuries have been reported, triple eight helmets do not comply with CPSC safety standards, ANTILOP High Chair restraint buckle can open,

Children's Toys & Clothing - About 3,000 children's chairs and stools have been recalled due to high levels of lead, which poses this risk. january 2012 children's clothing and toy recalls, "1 to Seven" store Puerto Rico, children's chairs and stools recall,

Pharmaceutical Products - Novartis described a recall of several of its over-the-counter products as a "precautionary measure. january 2012 pharmaceutical recalls, Excedrin + NoDoz + Bufferin + Gas-X recall, novartis products may contain stray tablets, capsules or caplets, Duet TRS Universal Straight and Articulating Single Use Loading Units, covidien duet trs + three fatalities, bedford laboratories injection recall, bedford laboratories injection + visible glass particle,

Meat & Seafood Products - Price Chopper Supermarkets recalled its gourmet stuffed clams sold from Sept. 30 to Dec. 30 due to a labeling error. january 2012 meat recalls, Price Chopper Supermarkets, stuffed clam recall, seasoned diced beef recall, sliced herring listeria recall,

Electrical Items - Honeywell recalled approximately 19,000 of its Surround Select portable electric heaters due to a possible burn hazard. +january 2012 electrical recalls, honeywell heater internal housing can detach, honeywell heaters recall + Best Buy, Meijer and Walmart,

Vehicles - BMW is recalling 235,535 Mini Coopers worldwide after several reports of water pump failures, which led to bigger problems in some cases. +january 2012 vehicle recalls, mini cooper recall, mini cooper engine fires, 2012 Chrysler 300 SRT8 tire pressure recall, ford potential sudden loss of power recall, 2012 mitsubishi outlander sport turn signal recall,

Consumer Products - january 2012 consumer product recalls - Target recalled about 55,000 of its six-piece LED flashlight sets due to possible burn hazards. LED Flashlight Set + two minor burn injuries, steelcase desk chair pivot pins control mechanism can fall out, giant bicycle recall fork can crack, big lots floor lamp recall melting shades, demdaco tealight recall fire hazard, sterno tea light recall + restaurant supply stores, 2011 forté pro carbon road pedal body can break or crack , o-grill regulator can leak gas and ignite,

The Power of Colors: How Colors Are Used in (e-)Commerce to Influence You

2012-01-10T02:44:00.001+05:30

The color theory, invented by Sir Charles Lemieiux, is a complex science involving psychology, physics, color perception, etc. Color theory tackles perceptual and psychological effects to various color combinations and contrasts.

The theory is so complex that it actually deserves the whole encyclopedia of it own, so this post won't definitely be able to cover it all. Instead, it lists some fundamentals that you will hopefully be excited to hear.

The post covers some ways you can be influenced by colors, i.e. how your shopping decisions may be controlled by the right choice of colors in stores (or on e-commerce websites): next time when you see the color tricks, you will recognize them!

Generally speaking…

How color may help influence your mood and encourage/ discourage you to act – this way your actual behavior can be controlled:

Note: this table simplifies color theory a lot: it doesn't take national and cultural differences into account and of course color may also vary based on the personality type. This table sums up the reaction to a specific color of an avarage US buyer:

Color	Makes you feel…	Implementation
Blue	Safe and secure	Good if you need people to trust you
Green	Calm and confident	Good for making people spend money
Red	Energetic and vigorous	Good if you want people to risk
Yellow	Optimistic and cheerful	Good if you want people have fun
Pink	Romantic and dreamy	Good for (young) female customers
Orange	Willing to take action	Good if you want people to act
Black	Powerful and wealthy	Good if you want people to spend money

Most generally speaking and in an effort to somehow sum-up the table above, calm colors (like green and blue) make you feel calm while warm colors (like red, orange and yellow) excite you.

Based on the above table and this article, best colors by business can be summed up as:

Industry	Colors
Beauty/ Make up	Has strong association with youth	Is associated with prosperity
Banking / finance	Makes people feel secure	Is association with US dollars and safety
Gambling	Is associated with energy, encourages people to take risks	Is associated with prosperity
Auto	Is associated with energy and speed	Is associated with luxury (black limousines)

Stats…

To support the above theory, here are some results of the color associations study which dates back to 2003:

What Look Trustworthy:

What is Most Associated with Speed:

What Looks High-Quality:

What Looks Cheap:

Advice…

If you a smart shopper, you will know that:

Red makes you feel hungry; so if you see something red and feel like buying and eating that, this may be color, not real you;
Orange makes you feel like acting; so if you want to click that pretty orange button that says "BUY NOW", this may be the button color, not your real wish;
Blue makes you trust the buyer; so if some website looks trustworthy enough to share your credit card information with it, this may be the design color choice, not your real feeling.
Green makes you want spend your money: in fact, like with blue, it makes you think the seller looks trustworthy enough to entrust him with your money.

Post images by houston web design

Tanzanian Lodge Just Named The Best Hotel In The World.

2011-11-28T22:11:00.001+05:30

A Tanzanian Lodge Named The Best Hotel In The World.

Julie Zeveloff

Travel + Leisure in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park to be the best hotel in the world.

It received a score of 98.44 out of 100 on a list based on reader surveys.

The hotel, which is made up of two lodges and a tent camp,

offers unparalleled luxury in the thick of the wild.

It is located on the migratory route traversed annually by more

than a million wildebeest, providing guests with incredible photo

opportunities from their bedroom windows.

Despite its remote location, Singita's guests are treated to five-star

service and accommodations.

Rooms in the tents and villas start at around $1,095 per person

per night; rates include daily game drives, food, and drink.

Bazo

--
Richard Belho

Taktshang Monastery in Bhutan

2011-10-31T01:30:00.001+05:30

Taktshang Taktshang is the most famous of monasteries in Bhutan. It hangs on a cliff at 3,120 metres (10,200 feet), some 700 meters (2,300 feet) above the bottom of Paro valley. Famous visitors include Ngawang Namgyal in the 17th century and Milarepa. The name means "Tiger's nest", the legend being that Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) flew there on the back of a tiger. The monastery includes seven temples which can all be visited. The monastery suffered several blazes and is a recent restoration. Climbing to the monastery is on foot or mule.

World Press Photo Winners 2011

2011-10-30T13:51:00.001+05:30

World Press Photo is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1955 the organization is known for holding the world's largest and most prestigious annual press photography contest. The awards ceremony is held in the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam. After the contest, the prizewinning photographs are assembled into a traveling exhibition that is visited by over a million people in 40 countries. A yearbook presenting all prizewinning entries is published annually in six languages.

The World Press Photo jury announced their choices for the best press photos published in 2010. A record number of 108,059 images was submitted to the contest, and the number of participating photographers was 5,847, representing 125 different nationalities.

Awesome People Hanging Out Together

2011-10-30T10:35:00.001+05:30

This Pictures are from a blog called Awesome People Hanging Out Together and it's basically just photos of famous folks having a good time with each other.
Michael Jackson & Steven Tyler

Penelope Cruz & Woody Allen

Michael Jackson & Mr. T

Salvador Dali & Walt Disney

John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Pierre Elliott Trudeau

Kurt Vonnegut, Jill Krementz, Sting, and Allen Ginsberg

Mick Jagger, Madonna and Tony Curtis by Dafydd Jones, 1997

Woody Allen and Michael Jackson

Eartha Kitt and James Dean taking Katherine Dunham's dance class

Gary Coleman and Wayne Gretzky

Anderson Cooper and Elmo

Andy Warhol and Alfred Hitchcock

Muhammad Ali and Martin Luther King Jr.

Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Eric Clapton

Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, Barbra Streisand, and Sidney Poitier

Marlon Brando and Miriam Makeba

Pelé and Sylvester Stallone

Nancy Reagan and Mr. T

Pee-Wee Herman and Regis Philbin

Micheal Jackson and Paul McCartney

GZA and Bill Murray

Barack Obama and George Clooney in the Oval Office

Michael Jackson and Freddie Mercury

David Bowie, Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon, Yoko Ono, John Lennon & Roberta Flack

Beck and Thom Yorke

Jay-Z and Kofi Annan

Stephen Fry and Lady Gaga

Jack Mcbrayer, Tina Fey, Kristen Wiig, Jon Bon Jovi, Conan O'Brien

Michael Phelps and Anderson Cooper

Salvador Dali and Coco Chanel

Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Liam Neeson

Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash

Akira Kurosawa, Sydney Pollack, Barbra Streisand and John Huston

Sonny Bono, Cher and Twiggy

Grace Slick and Janis Joplin

Claire Danes, Giancarlo Giammetti, Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Valentino and Anne Hathaway

Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Ludacris

Charles Bukowski and Mickey Rourke

Jack Nicholson, Lauren Baccall and Warren Beatty

Quentin Tarantino, Tilda Swinton and Marilyn Manson

Alain Delon, Brigitte Bardot and Eddie Barclay

Mother Teresa and Princess Diana

Paul Rudd and Paul McCartney

Neil Patrick Harris, Christina Hendricks and Stephen Colbert

Halston, Bianca Jagger, Jack Haley Jr, Liza Minnelli, Michael Jackson

Chevy Chase & John Belushi

Barack Obama and Willie Mays on Air Force One

Charlie Chaplin and Albert Einstein

Errol Flynn and wife Nora Eddington with Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles

Blake Lively & Karl Lagerfeld

Wilson Pickett and Jimi Hendrix

Ringo Starr and David Bowie

Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu

Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire

Patti Smith and Bruce Springsteen

Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly backstage at the 28th Annual Academy Awards

Elvis Presley, Joe Esposito, Frank Sinatra and Fred Astaire

Jon Hamm, Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers

Marlon Brando and Bob Hope

Kanye West, Marc Jacobs and Jay-Z

The Who and Jimi Hendrix

Robert Plant, Linda Ronstadt and Ronnie Wood

Jane Seymour and Freddie Mercury

Salvador Dali and Françoise Hardy

Michael Jackson, Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas

Paul Newman and Robert Redford playing Ping Pong

Eric Clapton and George Harrison

Sophia Loren & Jane Mansfield

Julie Andrews and Audrey Hepburn

Susan Anton, Sylvester Stallone & Andy Warhol

The Beatles and Little Richard

Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman

Richard Avedon, Gloria Vanderbilt and Sidney Lumet

Arnold Schwarzenegger & Shaquille O'Neal

John Travolta and Sylvester Stallone

Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan in the corner

Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine and Elvis Presley

Trent Reznor, Jon Stewart and Marilyn Manson

Bob Marley and Jackson Five in Jamaica

Zooey Deschanel, Jeff Goldblum and Jane Lynch

Danny DeVito and Christopher Reeve

Salvador Dali and Raquel Welch

Mick Jagger, William S. Burroughs and Andy Warhol

The Beatles & Muhammad Ali

Bill Clinton and Paul McCartney

Kate Moss, Johnny Depp & Iggy Pop

Jimi Hendrix greets Janis Joplin in San Francisco

Keith Richards, Tina Turner & David Bowie

Brigitte Bardot & Pablo Picasso

Elvis Presley with comic Lou Costello and actress Jane Russell

Sean Connery & Brigitte Bardot

Drain Pipe Hotel

2011-10-30T02:53:00.001+05:30

Dasparkhotel is a concept hotel by Andreas Strauss in which guests stay in converted drain pipe sections that are placed in a city park. Made out of sewer pipes, it holds basic accommodation with a bed for two and a light source, with ample space to store your luggage and use your electrical appliances.

There are currently two hotels, one near Essen, Germany, and another in Ottensheim, Austria. Dasparkhotel accepts online reservations from May to October and is sliding scale.

[tags Architecture]

2011 International Photography Award Winners

2011-10-30T02:45:00.001+05:30

The International Photography Awards is an annual competition that was created to salute the achievements of the world's finest photographers, to discover new and emerging talent, and to promote the appreciation of photography.

Recently, the category winners were announced. Out of the thousands of entries IPA received this year, only the main category winners will move on as finalists to compete for IPA's top award of International Photographer of the Year. The winner will be announced at the annual Lucie Awards which is held at the Lincoln Center, New York on October 24th, 2011. That person will earn the coveted Lucie Statue and a cash prize of $10,000.

Advertising: Fashion, 2nd Place Winner John Wright

Advertising: Fashion, 1st Place Winner Peter Lipmann

Advertising: Music, 2nd Place Winner Poras Chaudhary

Advertising: Other Ad, 1st Place Winner Adam Taylor

Advertising: Product, 3rd Place Winner Adam Balcerek

Architecture: Other, 2nd Place Winner Kacper Kowalski

Book: Nature, 1st Place Winner Thorsten Milse

Book: Nature, 2nd Place Winner Alex Bernasconi

Editorial: Photo Essay and Feature Story, 2nd Place Winner Zhe Chen

Editorial: War/Conflict, 3rd Place Winner Jorge Dirkx

Fine Art: Collage, 2nd Place Winner Dean West

Fine Art: Other, 3rd Place Winner Alex Bernasconi

Nature: First Category Winner Marsel van Oosten

Nature: Flowers, !st Place Winner Tom D. Jones

Nature, Landscapes, 1st Place Winner Mitch Dobrowner

Nature, Landscapes, 2nd Place Winner Peter Lik

Nature, Seasons, 2nd Place Winner John Scanlan

Nature, Sunset, 1st Place Winner Rafael Rojas

Nature, Sunset, 3rd Place Winner Bali & Albanese

Nature, Trees, 2nd Place Winner Alex Bernasoni

Nature, Underwater, 1st Place Winner Bartosz Strozynksi

Nature, Underwater, 2nd Place Winner Chuck Bradley

Special, Moving Images, 1st Place Winner Tyler Stableford

Special, Night Photography, 1st Place Winner David Bowman

Special, Pets, 1st Place Winner Lennette Newell

Source: mymodernmet

Chlorophyll Printing Art by Binh Danh

2011-10-25T01:14:00.001+05:30

Vietnamese-born photographer and artist Binh Danh has created a body of work using leaves as his canvas. referred to as 'chlorophyll printing', the natural process involves a negative of a photograph being placed over a leaf which is then exposed to sunlight for a period of days. The green pigments of the plant will darken accordingly, resulting in a ghostly and monochrome image that are preserved in a block of resin.

Exploring his vietnamese heritage especially as it pertains to war and death, Danh's work evokes a haunting sense of loss and mortality. By recording the images on the surface of leaves, the historical narrative is emblazoned into the natural world, resulting in an exceptionally moving collection of work.

source: http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/10/view/16411/binh-danh-chlorophyll-printed-photographs.html

Presidential Homes Around The World

2011-10-23T14:46:00.001+05:30

Kremlin (Russia)

The Moscow Kremlin is a historic fortified complex at the very heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River (to the south), Saint Basil's Cathedral (often mistaken by westerners as the Kremlin) and Red Square (to the east) and the Alexander Garden (to the west). It is the best known of kremlins (Russian citadels) and includes four palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall with Kremlin towers.

The first recorded stone structures in the Kremlin were built at the behest of Ivan Kalita in the late 1320s and early 1330s, after Peter, Metropolitan of Rus had moved his seat from Kiev to Moscow. By 1475, the principalities of medieval Russia were united under Grand Prince Ivan III, who assumed the title of the Grand Prince of All Rus, envisioning Moscow as the only legitimate successor to Rome and Constantinople. In order to illustrate his imperial ambitions, Ivan organised the reconstruction of the Kremlin, inviting a number of skilled architects from Renaissance Italy, like Pietro Antonio Solari and Marco Ruffo. During Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812, the French forces occupied the Kremlin from 2 September to 11 October. When Napoleon fled Moscow, he ordered the whole Kremlin to be blown up. The Kremlin Arsenal, several portions of the Kremlin Wall and several wall towers were destroyed by explosions and fires damaged the Faceted Chamber and churches. Explosions continued for three days, from 21 to 23 October. Fortunately, the rain damaged the fuses, and the damage was less severe than intended. After that, it took the Soviets to take the government from Petrograd to Moscow again on 1918. The complex now serves as the official residence of the President of Russia.

Palac Prezydencki (Poland)

The Palac Prezydencki in Warsaw, Poland, is the elegant classicist latest version of a building that has stood on the Krakowskie Przedmiescie site since 1643. Over the years, it has been rebuilt and remodeled many times. For its first 175 years, the palace was the private property of several aristocratic families. In 1791 it hosted the authors and advocates of Poland's May 3rd Constitution, Europe's first modern codified national constitution, and the world's second after the U.S. Constitution.

It was in 1818 that the palace began its ongoing career as a governmental structure, when it became the seat of the Viceroy of the Polish (Congress) Kingdom under Russian occupation. Following Poland's resurrection after World War I, in 1918, the building was taken over by the newly reconstituted Polish authorities and became the seat of the Council of Ministers. During World War II, it served the country's German occupiers as a Deutsches Haus and survived intact the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. After the war, it resumed its function as seat of the Polish Council of Ministers. In July 1994 it replaced the much smaller and more difficult to protect. Belweder palace as the official residence of the Polish President.

Palácio do Planalto (Brazil)

The Palácio do Planalto (English: "Palace of the Plateau") is the official workplace of the President of Brazil. It is located at the Praça dos Três Poderes in Brasília, Brazil. As the seat of government, the term "o Planalto" is often used as a metonym for the executive branch of the government.

The architect of the Palácio do Planalto was Oscar Niemeyer, the "creator" of most of the important buildings in the new capital of Brasília. The idea was to project an image of simplicity and modernity using fine lines and waves to compose the columns and exterior structures. The Palace is four stories high, and has an area of 36,000 m². Four other adjacent buildings are also part of the complex.

Presidential Palace (Vietnam)

The Presidential Palace of Vietnam, located in the city of Hanoi, was built between 1900 and 1906 to house the French Governor-General of Indochina. It was constructed by Auguste Henri Vildieu, the official French architect for Vietnam. Like most French colonial architecture, the palace is pointedly European- the only visual cues that it is located in Vietnam at all are mango trees growing on the grounds.

When Vietnam achieved independence in 1954, Ho Chi Minh refused to live in the grand structure for symbolic reasons, although he still received state guests there, and he eventually built a traditional Vietnamese stilt house and carp pond on the grounds. Today, Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum stands nearby and the Presidential Palace remains part of Hanoi's cultural core. The palace hosts government meetings.

Palazzo del Quirinale (Italy)

The palace, located on the Via del Quirinale and facing onto the Piazza del Quirinale, was built in 1573 by Pope Gregory XIII as a papal summer residence. It was also used as the location for many papal conclaves. It served as a papal residence and housed the central offices responsible for the civil government of the Papal States until 1870. In September, 1870, what was left of the Papal States was overthrown. About five months later, in 1871, Rome became the capital of the new Kingdom of Italy. The palace was occupied during the invasion of Rome and became the official royal residence of the Kings of Italy, though in reality some monarchs, notably King Victor Emmanuel III (reigned 1900-1946) actually lived in a private residence elsewhere, the Quirinale being used simply as an office and for state functions. The monarchy was abolished in 1946 and the Palace became the official residence and workplace for the Presidents of the Italian Republic.

Grassalkovich Palace (Slovakia)

The Grassalkovich Palace is a palace in Bratislava and the seat of the President of Slovakia. It is situated next to the Summer Archbishop's Palace. The building is a Rococo/late Baroque summer palace with a French garden. It was built in 1760 for Count Antal Grassalkovich, a Hungarian noble of Croatian origin serving as the head of the Hungarian Chamber (a sort of ministry of economy and finance for the Kingdom of Hungary), by architect Anton Mayerhofer. It features many beautiful rooms and an impressive staircase.

Rashtrapati Bhavan (India)

Rashtrapati Bhavan is the official residence of the President of India, located in New Delhi. Until 1950 it was known as "Viceroy's House" and served as the residence of the Governor-General of India.

During the Delhi Durbar year of 1911, it was decided that the capital of India would be shifted from Calcutta to Delhi. This was announced on December 12 by King George V. As the plan for New Delhi took shape, the Governor-General's residence was given an enormous scale and prominent position. The British architect Edwin Landseer Lutyens, a key member of the city-planning process, was also given the prime architectural opportunity of designing the building. The Viceroy declared that the palace was to be classical, but with an Indian motif.

Schloss Bellevue (Germany)

Schloss Bellevue is a château in the centre of Berlin. It is situated on the north edge of the Tiergarten park, beside the Spree, near the Berlin Victory Column, with the address "Spreeweg 1". It has been the principal residence of the German President since 1994. Its name derives from its beautiful view over the Spree. It was built in 1786 for Prince Ferdinand of Prussia, the younger brother of King Frederick II of Prussia, and was designed by architect Philipp Daniel Boumann as a summer residence, on the site of a house built in 1743 by Knobelsdorff. It was the first Neoclassical building in Germany, and has three main elements: a central building of 19 bays, with a central pediment supported by Corinthian columns, with wings on either side (the "ladies' wing" and the "Spree wing"). It is surrounded by a park covering 20 hectares.

It served as the official residence of the Crown Prince of Germany until 1918. The treaty ending the Franco-Prussian War was signed here on 3 September 1870. In the mid-1930s, it was used as a museum of ethnography, before being renovated as a guest house for the Third Reich. It was damaged in May 1945, at the end of the Second World War, and refurbished substantially in the 1950s. From 1957, it was a secondary residence of the President of Germany, a pied a terre in Berlin in addition to his primary residence at the Villa Hammerschmidt in Bonn. It was refurbished again in 1986/7, and Richard von Weizsäcker moved the primary residence of the President of Germany here in 1994, after the German reunification. It was reconstructed from 2004 to 2005 to remedy defects in earlier renovations. The President of Germany used Schloss Charlottenburg for representative purposes during this period. Schloss Bellevue became his primary residence again in January 2006.

The White House (USA)

The above is the White House in 1860. The architect of the White House was chosen in a competition, which received nine proposals, including one submitted anonymously by Thomas Jefferson. President Washington traveled to the site of the new federal city on July 16, 1792 to make his judgment. His review is recorded as being brief and he quickly selected the submission of James Hoban, an Irishman living in Charleston, South Carolina. The building Hoban designed is verifiably influenced by the first and second floors of Leinster House, a ducal palace in Dublin, Ireland, which is now the seat of the Irish Parliament. Construction began with the laying of the cornerstone on October 13, 1792. A diary kept by the District of Columbia building commissioner records that the footings for the main residence were dug by slaves. The foundations were also built by slave labor. The initial construction took place over a period of eight years, at a reported cost of $232,371.83 ($2.4 million in 2005 dollars). Although not yet completed, the White House was ready for occupancy on or about November 1, 1800.

Casa Rosada (Argentina)

La Casa Rosada (Spanish for "the Pink House"), is the official seat of the executive branch of the government of Argentina. The Casa Rosada was built at the eastern end of the Plaza de Mayo, a large square which since the founding of the city of Buenos Aires has contained the top political institutions of Argentina. The current building, however, dates back only to 1873 and was constructed over the foundations of an earlier customs house, post office, and fortress. Its balcony, which faces the square, has served as a podium for many figures, including Eva Perón, who rallied the descamisados from there, and Pope John Paul II, who visited Buenos Aires in 1998. Madonna sang her filmed rendition of the song "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina," for the movie Evita, from the balcony after a meeting with the then President Carlos Menem.

Unusual Churches Around The World

2011-10-23T14:23:00.001+05:30

The Church of Hallgrímur, Reykjavík, Iceland

The Church of Hallgrímur is very very unusual, never seen anything like that.
This Lutheran parish church is also a very tall one, reaching 74.5 metres (244 ft) height. It is the fourth tallest architectural structure in Iceland.

It took incredibly long to build it (38 years!) Construction work began in 1945 and ended in 1986. The Architect of this building is Guðjón Samúelssondesign.

Cathedral of Brasilia in Brasilia, Brazil

This is a very famous Cathedral of Brasília designed by Oscar Niemeyer. It looks really modern but somehow childish to me. These columns, having hyperbolic section and weighing 90 t, represent two hands moving upwards to heaven.

The construction was finished in 1970.

Paoay Church (St. Augustine Parish) in Philippines

Paoay Church reminds me of Aztec architecture. It looks very massive and strong. The walls of the church are 1.67 meters thick and are supported by 24 carved and massive buttresses.

Its construction started in 1704 and was completed in 1894 by the Augustinian friars led by Fr. Antonio Estavillo. It is said, that Its construction primarily was intended to withstand earthquakes. And it could test the strength of the walls very soon, because the church was damaged by an earthquake in 1706 and 1927.

The design of the church is a mixture of Gothic, Oriental and Baroque influence.

Duomo (Milan Cathedral) in Italy

Duomo looks incredibly tall and majestic. It even has an evil and scary look in this picture. After checking the Wikipedia for more info I found there were more photos of this cathedral, but they don't look as cool as this photo here. Maybe its just an illusion made by a good photographer that this building is so amazing.

On the other hand, Mark Twain said the following of the Duomo in Milan in his work, Innocents Abroad:
"They say that the Cathedral of Milan is second only to St. Peter's at Rome. I cannot understand how it can be second to anything made by human hands."

Church Ruins in Goreme, Turkey

The rock cut ruins of a church by persecuted Christians.
Not sure when it was built, but definitely look very ancient. How did those guys carved the inside of these rocks?

The Cappadocia valley, where this church stands, is very popular for its rocks that the people of the villages at the heart of the Cappadocia Region carved out to form houses, churches, monasteries.

There are an estimated 150 churches and several monasteries in the canyon between the villages of Ihlara and Selime.

Those rocks are volcanic deposits, so that means they are soft rocks, making it possible to carve such structures.

Green church, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Don't have info about this church, nevertheless it's very unusual. I have never seen a church so green, have you?

Michael: "a parish church in Buenos Aires, Argentina known as the "Huerto de Olivos", or "Garden of Olives," most likely a reference Gethsemane, on the Mount of Olives"

Borgund Stave Church, Lærdal, Norway

Stave churches may have been very usual all over medieval northwestern Europe but now you can only find them in Norway. Well ok, there is one one in Sweden, but nowhere else.

Borgund stave church located in Borgund, Lærdal, Norway is the best preserved of Norway's 28 extant stave churches. This wooden church, probably built in the end of the 12th century, has not changed structure or had a major reconstruction since the date it was built.

Interesting fact: the church is also featured as a Wonder for the Viking civilization in the video game Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings.

Paraportiani Church, Mykonos, Greece

I will just cite, what the author of this picture wrote about it:

"Paraportianí Church is one of the most famous architectural structures in Greece. Its name means secondary gate, because it was built on the site of one of the gates of the Medieval stone walls. Some parts of this beautiful church date from 1425 and the rest was built during the 16th and 17th centuries. "

Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain

I have never seen anything as incredible as this building! Never been to Spain, but if I ever happen to do so, I will definitely include Sangrada Família on the must-see list. I wonder, how does it look in reality?

Sagrada Família is a very massive Roman Catholic basilica under construction in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Construction began in 1882 and continues to this day. A very famous architect Antoni Gaudí worked on the project for over 40 years, devoting the last 15 years of his life entirely to this endeavour.

In the center there is going to be a tower of Jesus Christ, surmounted by a giant cross; the tower's total height will be 170 m (557,7ft).

There is so much info on this one, that you should check Wikipedia.

St. Basil's Cathedral, Moscow, Russia

Cathedral of Saint Basil the Blessed , is a multi-tented church which stands on the Red Square in Moscow.

This church looks really cool, because It has very unusual onion domes which look playful and colorful. Sometimes people even say, that they remind them of lollypops.

The cathedral was built in 1555 -1561 by Ivan IV (a.k.a Ivan the Terrible) to celebrate the capture of the Khanate of Kazan.

A legend says that Ivan had the architect, Postnik Yakovlev, blinded to prevent him from building a more magnificent building for anyone else. In fact, Postnik Yakovlev built a number of churches after Saint Basil's.

More info: Saint Basil's Cathedral

Basilica de Higuey, Dominican Republic

Basilica de Higuey is located in the city of Higuey, Dominican Republic. Its unusual look reminds me of a basket.

The church is one of the most respected monuments of the Dominican Republic. The basilica was inaugurated on January 21, 1971, and was built by French architects.

Grace Fellowship Baptist Church, Baltimore, MD, USA

This strange building is actually a church. Once it was famous for being "Detroit's most beautiful Chinese-American restaurant". Later it closed down and became the Omega Baptist Church and then the Grace Fellowship Baptist Church. Located at 265 Baltimore, MD, USA.
14.

Las Lajas Cathedral in Columbia

Las Lajas Cathedral looks unusual to me because one side of it seems to be a part of a bridge across the river and the other side rests on the hill. The overall look is really fascinating.

Built in 1916 inside the canyon of the Guaitara river where, according to local legend, the Virgin Mary appeared.

You can find this church in southern Colombian Department of Nariño, municipality of Ipiales, near the border with Ecuador.

Jubilee Church in Rome, Italy

Jubilee Church has very distinctive curved walls which look like sails to me. Designed in 1996 by architect Richard Meier, the church has curved walls which serve the engineering purpose of minimizing thermal peak loads in the interior space.

The walls are made from a special cement, which contain titanium dioxide, so it destroys air pollution.

According to Borgarello "When the titanium dioxide absorbs ultraviolet light, it becomes powerfully reactive, breaking down pollutants that come in contact with the concrete."

St Joseph Ukrainian Catholic Church in Chicago, IL, USA

Maybe I'll better don't tell what those domes remind me (haha). Very very unusual looking building I must say. Its massiveness and gray color looks like Soviet architecture. I was amazed when I read that it was actually in USA and not somewhere In Soviet Union.

St. Joseph Ukrainian Catholic church is a is most known for its ultra-modern thirteen gold domed roof symbolizing the twelve apostles and Jesus Christ as the largest center dome.

It is celebrating its 52 years, so it was built in 1956 (if my calculations are right).

Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp, France

Someone told that the roof of this building looks like Elvis' hair.

Informally known as Ronchamp, the chapel of Notre Dame du Haut was completed in 1954 and is considered one of the finest examples of architecture by the late French/Swiss architect Le Corbusier.

Most interesting fact to me is that, when it rains, water pours off the slanted roof onto a fountain, creating a dramatic waterfall.

Odd Church in Huntington Beach, CA, USA

Don't have info on that one, only this photo and the location: Huntington Beach, CA, USA.

As far as I understand it must be sponsored by Shell, because it has a huge SHELL logo on it (this statement can be absolutely different from the reality). Looks terrible overall.

Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro looks like a Pyramid of Egypt or Aztecs.

It was built between 1964 and 1979. Conical in form it has internal diameter of 96 metres (315 ft) and an overall height of 75 metres (246 ft). The church has a standing-room capacity of 20,000 people.

Four rectilinear stained glass windows soar 64 metres (210 ft) from floor to ceiling.

A small Lesson.

2011-10-23T12:11:00.001+05:30

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, A 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and Sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in Front of him.

"How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked.
"Fifty cents," replied the waitress.
The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and Studied the coins in it.
"Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired.

By now more people were waiting for a table and the Waitress was growing impatient.
"Thirty-five cents," she brusquely replied. The little boy again counted his coins.
"I'll have the plain ice cream," he said.

The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on The table and walked away The boy finished the ice Cream, paid the cashier and left.. When the waitress Came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the Table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, Were two nickels and five pennies..

You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had To have enough left to leave her a tip.

How Life Changed

2011-10-23T01:46:00.001+05:30

Here i am sitting in my office @ night…
Thinking hard about life
How it changed from a maverick college life to strict professional life…...

How tiny pocket money changed to huge monthly paychecks
but then why it gives lesss happiness….

How a few local denim jeans changed to new branded wardrobe
but then why there are less people to use them

How a single hotdog changed to a full Pizza or burger
But then why there is less hunger…..

Here i am sitting in my office @ night…
Thinking hard about life
How it changed…..

How a bike always in reserve changed to bike always on
but then why there are less places to go on……

How a limited prepaid card changed to postpaid package
but then why there are less calls & more messages……

Here i am sitting in my office @ night…
Thinking hard about life
How it changed…..

How a general class journey changed to Flight journey
But then why there are less vacations for enjoyment….

How a old assembled desktop changed to new branded laptop
but then why there is less time to put it on……….

How a small bunch of friends changed to office mate
But then why we always feel lonely n miss those college frnz.….

Here i am sitting in my office @ night…
Thinking hard about life
How it changed

Things Are To Be Used And People Are To Be Loved

2011-10-23T01:44:00.001+05:30

"While a man was washing his new car, his 4 yr old son picked stone & scratched lines on the side of the car.

In anger, the man took the child's hand & hit it many times, not realizing he was using a wrench.

At the hospital, the child lost all his fingers due to multiple fractures. When the child saw his father.... with painful eyes he asked 'Dad when will my fingers grow back?'

The man was so hurt and speechless. He went back to car and kicked it a lot of times.
Devastated by his own actions..... . Sitting in front of that car he looked at the scratches, child had written 'LOVE YOU DAD'.

Choose carefully between Anger and Love....

New York in 1940′s - Photography by Charles Weever Cushman

2011-10-07T15:58:00.001+05:30

Thanks to : Indiana University Archives / Digital Library Program

Paris - Once upon a time..

2011-09-30T10:49:00.001+05:30

Funny Pictures

2011-09-15T21:19:00.001+05:30

Spell Checker

2011-09-03T15:21:00.001+05:30

I halve a spelling checker,
It came with my pea see.
It plainly marks four my revue
Mistakes I dew knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait aweigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the era rite
Its rarely ever wrong.

I've scent this massage threw it,
And I'm shore your pleased too no
Its letter prefect in every weigh;
My checker tolled me sew.

Medical Terms

2011-09-03T15:19:00.001+05:30

Benign - What you be, after you be eight.
Artery - The study of paintings
Bacteria - Back door to cafeteria
Barium - what doctors do when patients die
Cesarean section - a neighborhood in Rome
Cat scan - searching for kitty
Cauterize - made eye contact with her
Colic - a sheep dog
coma- a punctuation mark
D & C - Where Washington is
Dilate - to live long
Enema - Not a friend
Fester - quicker than someone else
Fibula - a small lie
Genital - a non-Jewish person
GI series - world series of military baseball
Hangnail - what you hang your coat on
Impotent - distinguished, well-known
Labor pain - getting hurt at work
medical staff - a doctor's cane
Morbid - a higher offer
Nitrates - cheaper than day rates
Node - I knew it
Outpatient - a person who has fainted
Pap Smear - A fatherhood test
Pelvis - second cousin to Elvis
Post Operative - a letter carrier
Recovery room - place to do upholstery
Rectum - darn near killed him
Secretion - hiding something
Seizure - a Roman emperor
Tablet - a small table
Terminal Illness - getting sick at the airport
Tumor - one plus one more
Urine - opposite of you're out
Varicose - nearby / close by

Beer...All you need to know

2011-05-14T22:41:00.001+05:30

All about cats

2011-05-14T21:56:00.001+05:30

--
Richard Belho

Top 25 persons who changed the global internet

2011-04-24T09:28:00.001+05:30

Larry Page and Sergey Brin – Google Inc.

David Filo and Jerry Yang – Yahoo! Inc

Bill Gates – Microsoft
Steven Paul Jobs – Apple Inc.
Mark Zuckerberg – Facebook
Kevin Rose – Digg
Bram Cohen – BitTorrent
Mike Morhaime – Blizzard Entertainment
Jimmy Wales – Wikipedia

Jeff Preston Bezos – Amazon
Shawn Fanning – Napster, Rupture
Pierre Omidyar – eBay
Jack Ma – Alibaba

Matt Mullenweg – WordPress
Thomas Anderson – MySpace
Garrett Camp – StumbleUpon
Linus Torvalds – Linux
Jon Postel – Internet Pioneer
Caterina Fake – Flickr
Stewart Butterfield - Flickr
Marc Andreessen – Netscape
Jack Dorsey – Twitter
Orkut Büyükkökten – orkut

Green School, Bali, Indonesia : Go Green

2011-04-24T09:19:00.001+05:30

Green School is an amazing project, pioneering sustainability within education. It is pushing boundaries in schooling at a time when the world must review whether more of the same is acceptable.

"I love to be a student again, it's such an amazing school" – Chicco and Lahra Tatriele, Italy

Visit Here for More : http://www.greenschool.org

Inside the MTV Headquarters, Berlin

2011-04-24T09:11:00.001+05:30

Inside the MTV Headquarters, Berlin

Beautiful Places in China

2011-04-24T09:07:00.001+05:30

House built on Mango Tree

2011-04-24T09:04:00.001+05:30

House built on Mango Tree – Limca Record

A house on a Mango tree. Conceived and designed by a Civil Engineer Mr. K. P. Singh from UDAIPUR (Rajasthan),India. Mr. K.P.Singh and his family is living in the house since 2000.His house is listed in the Limca Book of Records also.

Yoga Vs Beer

2011-03-20T02:19:00.001+05:30

Weird Jewelry Designs

2011-03-14T19:58:00.001+05:30

In case you are bored

funny

2010-12-17T17:38:00.001+05:30

--
Richard Belho

Longest Password

2010-10-26T20:55:00.001+05:30

During a recent password audit, it was found that a blonde was using the following password:

"MickeyMinniePlutoHueyLouieDeweyDonaldGoofySacramento"

When asked why she had such a long password, she said she was told that it had to be at least 8 characters long and include at least one capital.

A letter from a son at school to his father ..

2010-07-13T09:16:00.001+05:30

$chool i$ really great. I am making lot$ of friend$ and $tudying hard. With all my $tuff, I $imply can't think of anything I need, $o if you like, you can ju$t $end me a card, a$ I would love to hear from you.

Love,Your $on.

A week later....the response from Dad arrived:

Dear Son,

I kNOw that astroNOmy, ecoNOmics and oceaNOgraghy are eNOugh to keep even an hoNOr student busy. Do NOt forget that the pursuit of kNOwledge is a NOble task and you can never study eNOugh.

Love, Dad.

Bell Legends

2010-07-13T09:07:00.001+05:30

BELL LEGENDS

Church-bells are beginning to awake a regard that has long slumbered. They have been deemed, too, recently, fit memorial of the mighty dead. Turrets, whose echoes have repeated but few foot-falls for a century, have been intrepidly ascended, and their clanging tenants diligently scanned for word or sign to tell their story. Country clergy-men, skewing the lions of their parishes to archaeological excursionists, have thought themselves happy in the choice of church-bells as the subject of the address expected of them. And it will be felt that some of the magic of the International Exhibition was due to the tumultuous reverberations of the deep, filling, quivering tones of the many bells.

In monkish medieval times, church-bells enjoyed peculiar esteem. They were treated in great measure as voices, and were inscribed with Latin ejaculations and prayers, such as—Hail, Mary, full of grace, pray for us; St. Peter, pray for us; St. Paul, pray for us; St. Katharine, pray for us; Jesus of Nazareth, have mercy upon us; their tones, swung out into the air, would, ecstatically, appear to give utterence to the supplication with which they were inscribed. A bell in St. Michael's church, Alnwick, says, in quaint letters on a belt that is diapered with studs, 'Archangel Michael, come to the help of the people of God.' A bell at Compton Basset, which has two shields upon it, each bearing a chevron between three trefoils, says, 'Blessed be the name of the Lord.' Many bells are found to have identical inscriptions; there is, however, great variety, and further search would bring much more to light.

In those old times, pious queens and gentle-women threw into the mass of metal that was to be cast into a bell their gold and silver ornaments; and a feeling of reverence for the interceding voices was common to gentle and simple. At Sudeley Castle, in the chapel, there is a bell, dated 1573, that tells us of the concern which the gentle dames of the olden time would take in this manufacture. It says, 'St. George, pray for us. The Lathe Doratie Chandos, Widdowe, made this.' They were sometimes cast in monasteries under the superintendence of ecclesiastics of rank. It is written that Sir William Corvehill, 'priest of the service of our Lady,' was a 'good bell-founder and maker of frames;' and on a bell at Sealton, in Yorkshire, we may read that it was made by John, archbishop of Graf. One of the ancient windows on the north side of the nave of York minster is filled with stained-glass, which is divided into subjects representing the various processes of bell-casting, bell-cleaning, and bell-tuning, and has for a border a series of bells, one below another; proving that the associations with which bells were regarded rendered them both ecclesiastical and pictorial in the eyes of the artists of old.

The inscriptions on ancient bells were generally placed immediately below the haunch or shoulder, although they are sometimes found nearer the sound bow. The legends are, with few exceptions, preceded by crosses. Coats of arms are also of frequent occurrence, probably indicating the donors. The tones of ancient bells are incomparably richer and softer, more dulcet, mellow, and sufficing to the ear than those of the present iron age.

King Henry VIII, however, looked upon church-bells only as so much metal that could be melted down and sold. Hence, in the general destruction and distribution of church-property in his reign, countless bells disappeared, to be sold as mere metal. Many curious coincidences attended this wholesale appropriation. Ships attempting to carry bells across the seas, foundered in several havens, as at Lynn, and at Yarmouth; and, fourteen of the Jersey bells being wrecked at the entrance of the harbour of St. Male, a saying arose to the effect, that when the wind blows the drowned bells are ringing. A certain bishop of Bangor, too, who sold the bells of his cathedral, was stricken with blindness when he went to see them shipped; and Sir Miles Partridge, who won the Jesus bells of St. Paul's, London, from King Henry, at dice, was, not long afterwards hanged on Tower Hill.

Not-withstanding the regal and archiepiscopal disregard of bells, they did not, altogether, pass from popular esteem. Within the last half century, at Brenckburne, in Northumberland, old people pointed out a tree beneath which, they had been told when they were young, a treasure was buried. And when this treasure was sought and found, it turned out to be nothing more than fragments of the bell of the ruined priory church close by. Tradition recounts that a foraging-party of moss-trooping Scots once sought far and near for this secluded priory, counting upon the contents of the larders of the canons. But not a sign or a track revealed its position, for it stands in a cleft between the wooded banks of the Coquet, and is invisible from the high lands around. The enraged and hungry marauders—says the legend—had given up the search in despair, and were leaving the locality, when the monks, believing their danger past, bethought themselves to offer up thanksgivings for their escape. Unfortunately, the sound of the bell, rung to call them to this ceremony, reached the ears of the receding Scots in the forest above, and made known to them the situation of the priory. They retraced their steps, pillaged it, and then set it on fire.

After the Reformation, the inscriptions on bells were addressed to man, not to Heaven; and were rendered in English. There is an exception to this rule, however, at Sherborne, where there is a fire-bell, 1652, addressed conjointly to Heaven and man: 'Lord, quench this furious flame; Arise, run, help, put out the same.' Many of the legends on seventeenth-century bells reflect the quaint times of George Herbert:

'When I ring, God's prayses sing;
When I toule, pray heart and soule;'
and, 'O man be meeke, and lyve in rest;''
Geve thanks to God;'
I, sweetly tolling, men do call
To taste on meate that feeds the souk,'

are specimens of this period. More vulgar sentiments subsequently found place. 'I am the first, although but small, I will be heard above you all,' say many bells coarsely. A bell at Alvechurch says still more uncouthly, 'If you would know when we was run, it was March the twenty-second 1701. "God save the queen,' occurs on an Elizabethan bell at Bury, Sussex, bearing date 1599; and on several others of the reign of Queen Anne, in Devonshire, and on one in Magdalen College, Oxford. 'God save our king,' is found first written on a bell at Stanford-upon-Soar, at the date of the accession of James I., 1603; it is of frequent occurrence on later bells; and the same sentiment is found produced in other forms, one of which is Feare God and honner the king, for obedience is a vertuous thing.'

'We have one bell that is dedicated to a particular service. It is the great bell of St. Paul's, London, which is only tolled on the death of sovereigns. The ordinary passing bell, now commonly called the dead-bell, used to be rung when the dying person was receiving the sacrament, so that those who wished to do so could pray for him at this moment; but it is now only rung after death, simply to inform the neighbourhood of the fact. In the same way the sanctus-bell used to be rung in the performance of mass, when the priest came to the words 'Sancte, Sancte, Sancte, Deus Sabaoth,' so that those persons unable to attend, might yet be able to bow down and worship at this particular moment. For this reason, the bell was always placed in a position where it might be heard as far as possible. In the gables of the chancel arches of ancient churches, are seen small square apertures, whose use few people can divine. It was through these that the ringers watched the services below, so as to be able to ring at the right time.

The great bell of Bow owes its reputation to the nursery legend of 'Oranges and lemons, said the bells of St. Clement's;' not to any superior characteristics, for it is exceeded in size and weight by many others. English bells, generally, are smaller than those of foreign countries; perhaps for the reason that scientific ringing is not practised abroad; and all effect must be produced by the bells themselves, not by the mode in which they are handled. The more polite the nation, it is argued, the smaller their bells. The Italians have few bells, and those that they have are small. The Flemish and Germans, on the other hand, have great numbers of large bells. The Chinese once boasted of possessing the largest bells in the world; but Russia has since borne off the palm, or in others, carried away the bell, by hanging one in Moscow Cathedral, measuring 19 feet in height, and 63 feet 11 inches round the rim. By the side of these proportions our Big Bens and Big Toms are diminutive. The great bell of St. Paul's is but 9 feet in diameter, and weighs but 12,000 lbs. The largest bell in Exeter Cathedral weighs 17,470 lbs.; the famous Bow Bell but 5800 lbs. York, Gloucester, Canterbury, Lincoln, and Oxford, can also eclipse our familiar friend.

France possesses a few ancient bells; some of them are ornamented with small bas-relievos of the Crucifixion, of the descent from the Cross, fleurs-de-lis, seals of abbeys and donors; and others have inscriptions of the same character as our own, each letter being raised on a small tablet more or less decorated. There was a bell in the abbey-church of Moissac (unfortunately recast in 1845), which was of a very rare and early date. An inscription on it, preceded by a cross, read, Salve Regina misericordiae Between the two last words was a bas-relief of the Virgin, and after them three seals; then followed a line in much smaller characters, Anno Domini millesimo cc' LXX. tercio Gofridus me fecit et socios meos. Paulus vocor. French bells were sometimes the gifts of kings and abbots; and were in every way held in as great esteem as those of our own country. In the accounts of the building of Troyes Cathedral, there is mention of two men coming to cast the bells, and of the canons visiting them at their work and stimulating them to perform it well, by harangues and by chanting the Te Deum. The canons finally assisted at the consecration of the bells.

Bells have their literature as well as legends. Their histories are written in many russet-coloured volumes, in Latin, in French, and in Italian. These have been published in different parts of Europe, in Paris, in Leipsic, in Geneva, in Rome, in Frankfort, in Pisa, in Dresden, in Naples, in the fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. They take the forms of dissertations, treatises, descriptions, and notes. Early English writers confined themselves more especially to elucidating the art of ringing in essays bewilderingly technical. The names of the different permutations read like the reverie of a lunatic—single bob, plain bob, grandsire bob, single bob minor, grandsire treble, bob major, caters, bob royal, and bob maximus; and the names of the parts of a bell are quite as puzzling to the uninitiated. There are the canons, called also ansa, the haunch, otherwise cerebrum vel caput, the waist, latus, the sound-bow, the mouth, or labium, the brim, and the clapper. There is a manuscript in the British Museum of the 'Orders of the Company of ringers in Cheapside, 1603,' the year of Queen Elizabeth's death. And a work published in 1684, the last year of the reign of Charles I, called The School of Recreation, or Gentleman's Tutor, gives ringing as one of the exercises in vogue. There are, besides these, True Guides for Ringers, and Plain Hints for Ringers, a poem in praise of ringing, written in 1761, by the author of Shrubs of Parnassus, and other curious tracts of no value beyond their quaintness. Schiller has sung the song of the bell in vigorous verse; and in our own day the subject has received much literary care at the hands of more than one country clergyman.

There is another bell legend to be told. On the eve of the feast of Corpus Christi, to this day, the choristers of Durham Cathedral ascend the tower, and in their fluttering white robes sing the Te Deum. This ceremony is in commemoration of the miraculous extinguishing of a conflagration on that night, A.D. 1429. The monks were at midnight prayer when the belfry was struck by lightning and set on fire; but though the flames raged all that night and till the middle of the next day, the tower escaped serious damage and the bells were uninjured—an escape that was imputed to the special interference of the incorruptible St. Cuthbert, enshrined in the cathedral. These bells, thus spared, are not those that now reverberate among the house-tops on the steep banks of the Wear. The registry of the church of St. Mary le Bow, Durham, tells of the burial of Thomas Bartlet, February 3, 1632, and adds, 'this man did cast the abbey bells the summer before he dyed.'

The great bell in Glasgow Cathedral, tells its own history, mournfully, in the following inscription: 'In the year of grace, 1583, Marcus Knox, a merchant in Glasgow, zealous for the interest of the Reformed Religion, caused me to be fabricated in Holland, for the use of his fellow-citizens of Glasgow, and placed me with solemnity in the Tower of their Cathedral. My function was announced by the impress on my bosom: ME AUDITO, VENIAS, DOCTRINAM SANCTAM UT DISCAS, and I was taught to proclaim the hours of unheeded time. One hundred and ninety-five years had I sounded these awful warnings, when I was broken by the hands of inconsiderate and unskilful men. In the year 1790, I was cast into the furnace, refounded at London, and returned to my sacred vocation. Reader! thou also shalt know a resurrection; may it be to eternal life! Thomas Mears fecit, London, 1790.'.

Did You Know That? (Other uses for common products)

2010-05-29T17:40:00.001+05:30

Did you know that Colgate toothpaste makes an excellent salve for burns.
Before you head to the drugstore for a high-priced inhaler filled with mysterious chemicals, try chewing on a couple of curiously strong Altoids peppermints. They'll clear up your stuffed nose.
Achy muscles from a bout of the flu? Mix 1 Tablespoon of horseradish in 1 cup of olive oil. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes, then apply it as a massage oil, for instant relief for aching muscles.
Sore throat? Just mix 1/4 cup of vinegar with 1/4 cup of honey and take 1 tablespoon six times a day. The vinegar kills the bacteria.
Cure urinary tract infections with Alka-Seltzer . Just dissolve two tablets in a glass of water and drink it at the onset of the symptoms. Alka-Seltzer begins eliminating urinary tract infections almost instantly -- even though the product was never been advertised for this use. (Note: Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold Medicine is not the same, and contains aspirin, which can cause stomach bleeding if you have ulcers.)
Honey remedy for skin blemishes... Cover the blemish with a dab of honey and place a Band-Aid over it. Honey kills the bacteria, keeps the skin sterile, and speeds healing. Works overnight.
Listerine therapy for toenail fungus... Get rid of unsightly toenail fungus by soaking your toes in Listerine mouthwash. The powerful antiseptic leaves your toenails looking healthy again.
Easy eyeglass protection... To prevent the screws in eyeglasses from loosening, apply a small drop of Maybelline Crystal Clear nail polish to the threads of the screws before tightening them.
Coca-Cola cure for rust... Forget those expensive rust removers. Just saturate an abrasive sponge with Coca Cola and scrub the rust stain. The phosphoric acid in the coke is what gets the job done.
Cleaning liquid that doubles as bug killer... If menacing bees, wasps, hornets, or yellow jackets get in your home and you can't find the insecticide, try a spray of Formula 409. Insects drop to the ground instantly.
Smart splinter remover...just pour a drop of Elmer's Glue-All over the splinter, let dry, and peel the dried glue off the skin. The splinter sticks to the dried glue.
Hunt's tomato paste boil cure....cover the boil with Hunt's tomato paste as a compress. The acids from the tomatoes soothe the pain and bring the boil to a head.
Balm for broken blisters...To disinfect a broken blister, dab on a few drops of Listerine ... a powerful antiseptic.
Heinz vinegar to heal bruises... Soak a cotton ball in white vinegar and apply it to the bruise for 1 hour. The vinegar reduces the blueness and speeds up the healing process.
Kills fleas instantly. Dawn dish washing liquid does the trick. Add a few drops to your dog's bath and shampoo the animal thoroughly. Rinse well to avoid skin irritations. Goodbye fleas.
Rainy day cure for dog odor... Next time your dog comes in from the rain, simply wipe down the animal with Bounce or any dryer sheet, instantly making your dog smell springtime fresh.
Eliminate ear mites... All it takes is a few drops of Wesson corn oil in your cat's ear. Massage it in, then clean with a cotton ball. Repeat daily for 3 days. The oil soothes the cat's skin, smothers the mites, and accelerates healing.
Quaker Oats for fast pain relief....It's not for breakfast anymore! Mix 2 cups of Quaker Oats and 1 cup of water in a bowl and warm in the microwave for 1 minute, cool slightly, and apply the mixture to your hands for soothing relief from arthritis pain.

Psalm for Obama

2010-04-18T10:18:00.001+05:30

Obama is the shepherd I did not want
He leadeth me beside the still factories
He restoreth my faith in the Republican Party
He guideth me in the path of unemployment for his party's sake
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the bread line
I shall fear no hunger, for his bailouts are with me
He has annointed my income with taxes
My expenses runneth over
Surely, poverty and hard living will follow me all the days of my life
And I will live in a mortgaged home for ever and ever

Genderwise Defn

2010-03-08T23:46:00.001+05:30

1. THINGY (thing-ee) n.
Female......Any part under a car hood.
Male...........The strap fastener on a woman's bra.

2. VULNERABLE (vul-ne-ra-bel) adj.
Female......Fully opening up one's self emotionally to another.
Male...........Playing football without a cup.

3. COMMUNICATION (ko-myoo-ni-kay-shon) n.
Female......The open sharing of thoughts and feelings with one's partner.
Male............Leaving a note before taking off on a fishing trip with the boys.

4. COMMITMENT (ko-mit-ment) n.
Female.......A desire to get married and raise a family.
Male...........Trying not to hit on other women while out with this one.

5. ENTERTAINMENT (en-ter-tayn-ment) n.
Female......A good movie, concert, play or book.
Male..........Anything that can be done while drinking beer.

6. FLATULENCE (flach-u-lens) n.
Female......An Embarrassing byproduct of indigestion.
Male...........A source of entertainment, self-expression, and male bonding.

7. MAKING LOVE (may-king luv) n.
Female......The greatest expression of intimacy a couple can achieve.
Male............Call it whatever you want just as long as we do it.

8. REMOTE CONTROL (ri-moht kon-trohl) n.
Female.......A device for changing from one TV channel to another.
Male.............A device for scanning through all 375 channels every 5 minutes.

Heaviest Element Yet Known to Science Discovered!

2010-03-08T23:40:00.001+05:30

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California has now identified with certainty the heaviest element known to science. The new element, Pelosium (PL), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

Pelosium is inert, and has no charge and no magnetism. Nevertheless, it can be detected because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A tiny amount of Pelosium can cause a reaction that would normally take less than a second, to take from 4 days to 4 years to complete.

Pelosium has a normal half-life of 2 years. It does not decay, but instead undergoes a biennial reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. Pelosium mass will increase over time, since each reorganization will promote many morons to become isodopes. This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Pelosium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass.

When catalyzed with money, Pelosium becomes Senatorium, an element that radiates just as much energy as Pelosium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.

Why Men give better advice...

2010-01-15T00:04:00.001+05:30

First issues first

Children describes the ocean world..

2010-01-14T23:57:00.001+05:30

1) - This is a picture of an octopus. It has eight testicles.
(Kelly, age 6)

2) - Oysters' balls are called pearls.
(Jerry, age 6)

3) - If you are surrounded by ocean you are an island.

If you don't have ocean all round you, you are incontinent.
(Wayne , age 7)

4) - Sharks are ugly and mean, and have big teeth, just like Emily Richardson .
She's not my friend any more.
(Kylie, age 6)

5) - A dolphin breaths through an asshole on the top of its head.
(Billy, age

6) - My uncle goes out in his boat with 2 other men and a woman and pots and comes back with crabs.
(Millie, age 6)

7) - When ships had sails, they used to use the trade winds to cross the ocean. Sometimes when the wind didn't blow the sailors would whistle to make the wind come. My brother said they would have been better off eating beans.
(William, age 7)

- Mermaids live in the ocean. I like mermaids. They are beautiful and I like their shiny tails, but how on earth do mermaids get pregnant? Like, really?
(Helen, age 6)

9) - I'm not going to write about the ocean. My baby brother is always crying, my Dad keeps yelling at my Mom, and my big sister has just got pregnant, so I can't think what to write.
(Amy, age 6)

10) - Some fish are dangerous. Jellyfish can sting. Electric eels can give you a shock. They have to live in caves under the sea where I think they have to plug themselves into chargers.
(Christopher, age 7)

11) - When you go swimming in the ocean, it is very cold, and it makes my willy small.
(Kevin, age 6)

12) - Divers have to be safe when they go under the water.. Divers can't go down alone, so they have to go down on each other.
(Becky, age

13) - On vacation my Mom went water skiing. She fell off when she was going very fast. She says she won't do it
again because water fired right up her big fat ass..
(Julie, age 7)

14) - The ocean is made up of water and fish. Why the fish don't drown I don't know.
(Bobby, age 6)

15) - My dad was a sailor on the ocean. He knows all about the ocean.
What he doesn't know is why he quit being a sailor and married my mom.
(James, age 7)

The Best Country in the World

2010-01-14T23:55:00.001+05:30

IF YOU CROSS THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET 12 YEARS HARD LABOUR.

IF YOU CROSS THE IRANIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU ARE DETAINED INDEFINITELY.

IF YOU CROSS THE AFGHAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET SHOT.

IF YOU CROSS THE SAUDI ARABIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE JAILED.

IF YOU CROSS THE CHINESE BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU MAY NEVER BE HEARD FROM AGAIN.

IF YOU CROSS THE VENEZUELAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE BRANDED A SPY AND YOUR FATE WILL BE SEALED.

IF YOU CROSS THE CUBAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE THROWN INTO POLITICAL PRISON TO ROT.

IF YOU CROSS THE U.K. BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET
FREE HEALTHCARE
AN UNEARNED INCOME*
A HOME
FREE EDUCATION FOR YOUR KIDS
FURNISHINGS FOR YOUR HOME
FREE DENTISTRY
FREE USE OF AN INFRA-STRUCTURE PAID FOR BY THE TOIL AND TAXES OF PREVIOUS GENERATIONS
THE FREE USE OF ALL SOCIAL FACILITIES
FREE TRANSLATION SERVICES
AGENCIES THAT WILL HELP YOU SETTLE IN
FREE ROUND THE CLOCK POLICE PROTECTION
THE LAW WILL FIND THE LAW IS WEIGHED IN YOUR FAVOUR

* ONLY GENUINE CITIZENS ARE ALLOWED TO WORK. THEY HAVE TO PAY FOR YOU. NO WONDER THEY QUEUE. BEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.

a bad day

2009-12-29T04:04:00.001+05:30

when things go wrong...

10 Truths..

2009-12-28T03:10:00.001+05:30

10 Truths Black And Hispanic People Know, But White People Won't Admit:

1. Elvis is dead.
2. Jesus was not White.
3. Rap music is here to stay
4. Kissing your pet is not cute or clean.
5. Skinny does not equal sexy.
6. Thomas Jefferson had black children.
7. A 5 year child is too big for a stroller.
8. N' SYNC will never hold a candle to the Jackson 5
9. An occasional BUTT whooping helps a child stay in line.
10. Having your children curse you out in public is not normal.

10 Truths White And Black People Know, But Hispanic People Won't Admit:

1. Hickey's are not attractive.
2. Chicken is food, not a roommate.
3. Jesus is not a name for your son.
4. Your country's flag is not a car decoration.
5. Maria is a name but not for every other daughter.
6. "Jump out and run" is not in any insurance policies.
7. 10 people to a car is considered too many.!
8. Buttoning just the top button of your shirt is a bad fashion statement.
9. Mami and Papi can't possibly be the nickname of every person in your family
10.Letting your children run wildly through the store is not normal.

10 Truths White And Hispanic People Know, But Black People Won't Admit:

1. O. J. did it.
2. Tupac is dead.
3. Teeth should not be decorated.
4. Weddings should start on time.
5. Your pastor doesn't know everything.
6. Jesse Jackson will never be President.
7. RED is not a kool-aid flavor, it's a color.
8. Church does not require expensive clothes.
9. Crown Royal bags are meant to be thrown away.
10.Your rims and sound system should not be worth more than your car

A New Year Jack Daniel Recipe

2009-12-28T03:04:00.001+05:30

1 cup of water
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup or brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup nuts
2 cups of dried fruit
1 bottle Jack Daniel's Whiskey.

Sample the Jack to check quality. Take a large bowl,
Check the Jack again, to be sure it is of the highest quality,
Pour one level cup and drink.

Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter
In a large fluffy bowl.

Add one peastoon of sugar. Beat again. At this point
it's best to make sure the whiskey is still ok, try another
Cup just in case.

Turn off the mixerer thingy.

Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup
Of dried fruit.

Pick the frigging fruit off the floor.

Mix on the turner.

If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaters just pry
It loose with a drewscriver.

Sample the Jack to check for tonsisticity.

Next, sift two cups of salt, or something. Who geeves
A sheet. Check the Jack Daniel's. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.

Add one table.

Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can
Find.

Greash the oven.

Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall
Over.

Don't forget to beat off the turner.

Finally, throw the bowl through the window, finish the
Dack Janiel's and make sure to put the stove in the wishdasher.
nappy yew hear!

10 Hangover Myths Debunked

2009-12-27T01:42:00.001+05:30

Myth 1: Aspirin or ibuprofen while you drink can allay the headache

FACT: Aspirin while you drink or after a hangover is a strict no-no. Asprin increases acid secretion in the stomach and does nothing to help eliminate alcohol from the body. On the contrary, aspirin was found to increase blood alcohol levels by 26% when taken before drinking. This was found in a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Ibuprofen while you are drinking is also not advised as it may increase the risk of side effects, such as bleeding in your stomach or intestines when combined with large amounts of alcohol.

TIP: Ibuprofen the next day - about an hour before you need to be functional - will help.

Myth 2: Wine does not give a hangover, vodka does

FACT: No, in fact, red wine can leave you with more of a hangover than vodka. It's all got to do with something known as 'congeners' that are present in the alcohol. Congeners are toxic substances in the alcohol, and when you drink, these toxins are dispersed through your system. The level of congeners varies between different beverages. More expensive alcohol contains fewer congeners, as it undergoes a more rigorous distillation process and filters out a higher percentage.

Dark colored drinks, such as brandy, whiskey and red wine, have more congeners than clear drinks such as gin, vodka, and white wine. So red wine can actually leave you with a hangover that is as bad as, or possibly worse than, a hangover from vodka.

The British Medical Journal did tests that showed drinking bourbon whiskey is twice as likely to cause a hangover than the same amount of vodka.

TIP: Stick to wine, beer or clear alchohol drinks in moderation

Myth 3: Beer before liquor - never sicker

FACT: There's nothing about the chemistry of these drinks interacting with each other that makes you sick the next day. What tends to happen is that once you start drinking beer your reluctance to drink more disappears and when you move onto the 'harder' stuff you are likely to drink faster.

TIP: Sticking to beer means that you don't get drunk as quickly due to the lower alcohol content. But ultimately, it's the amount you drink and your pace that will determine how you feel, not the order in which you do it.

Myth 4: Not to worry ladies, a hangover won't hit you that hard

FACT: With an equal quantity of drinks, alcohol is likely to leave a woman twice as tipsy as her male partner. The constitution of a woman's body, typically lower body weight with lesser water content and more fat, makes her more susceptible to getting drunk than a man.

Besides increased alcohol absorption, men have higher levels of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase, which allows guys to metabolize alcohol better.

TIP: Ladies - know your limits - there's no need to keep up with your male counterparts.

Myth 5: Drinking helps get over stress and helps you sleep.

FACT: If you are drinking to relieve stress or get sleep, think again. If the amount of alcohol in your blood is high, the brain is unable to enter the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) stage of sleep, which is the relaxed state. Ultimately, you sleep all night and often all day to beat your headache, albeit without giving your mind and body the rest you really wanted.

TIP: Rather than drinking to relieve stress try excercise or techniques like yoga and meditation. See the section on insomnia for more advice.

MYTH 6: I can sober up quickly if I need to

FACT: If you think that taking a shower and drinking 5 cups of coffee will help you sober up - think again. The only thing your body needs is time — depending on your weight, it takes about three hours to eliminate every two drink you've had that night. All these techniques are likely to do is create a cold and alert drunk, the experts say.

TIP: If you are set for a big night try and make sure there's nothing that can arise that will need clear thinking, either during the night or the following day.

Myth 7: Drink lots of water the morning after

FACT: While it's certinly true that drinking water the next day will help, it's more important to drink water while you are drinking and before your hangover sets in. Alcohol dehydrates your body by being flushed out along with water in the form of urine. This water has to be replenished. If you don't drink water while drinking alcohol, your body will use the water needed by other vital organs, including the brain. This is one reason why you experience headaches.

TIP: Try to match a glass of water for every couple of alcoholic drinks.

Myth 8: Eat before you go to sleep

FACT: Well, actually, it's better you eat before you drink rather than before going to sleep. After a meal the food in your stomach slows the absorption of alcohol in the bloodstream. And strangely, fried foods go well with drinking because fatty foods stay for a longer time on the stomach lining. If you are busy digesting a steak your body has time to process the alcohol and byproducts, thereby helping to prevent a hangover. So drink slowly and on a full stomach.

TIP: Make sure you have a good meal prior to your night out.

Myth 9: Eat light after an hangover

FACT: More than eating light, it's important to eat the right foods that will rehydrate and energize you. Some examples are eggs, fruit juices and bananas. Apart from proteins, eggs contain large amounts of cysteine, the substance that breaks down the hangover-causing toxin acetaldehyde. Therefore, eggs can help cleanse your body off alcohol. It's also a good idea to eat bananas in the morning after a night of heavy drinking – they not only provide lost electrolytes, but, more importantly, replenish the potassium lost because of alcohol's diuretic (producing urine) properties. Other potassium rich foods or sports drinks are also good alternatives.

TIP: Make sure you have the ingredients for a healthy breakfast the morning after. Boiled eggs, a banana and fruit juice are a great option.

Myth 10: Hair of the dog

FACT: Don't believe the folklore remedy that drinking more alcohol will cure your hangover. All the 'hair of the dog' will do is delay your hangover into later on in the day. More alcoholic drinks will only boost the existing toxicity of the alcohol already in your body, and according to research, may lead to further drinking.

TIP: Just don't do it! The best morning after drink would be a Gatorade to replace lost electrolytes and water.

Source: The Internet...Don't blame me :-)

The inevitable compromise

2009-12-27T01:34:00.001+05:30

This is an old image signifying the brotherhood of man and the compromise needed for world peace!

Life..

2009-12-11T15:16:00.001+05:30

It is more exciting this way!

must have won something..

2009-12-03T19:39:00.001+05:30

A few minutes after going to bed, the dog begins snoring, as usual. The
wife tosses and turns, unable to sleep.
Muttering to herself, she goes to the closet and grabs a piece of red
ribbon and ties it carefully around the dog's testicles. Sure enough,
the dog stops snoring! The woman is amazed!

Later that night, her husband returns home drunk from being out
drinking with his buddies. He climbs into bed, falls asleep and begins
snoring loudly.

The woman thinks maybe the ribbon might work on him. So she goes to the
closet again, grabs a piece of blue ribbon and ties it around her
husband's testicles. Amazingly, it also works on him! The woman sleeps
soundly.

The husband wakes from his drunken stupor and stumbles into the
bathroom. As he stands in fro nt of the toilet, he glances in the mirror
and sees a blue ribbon attached to his privates. He is very confused and
as he walks back into the bedroom he sees the red ribbon attached to his
dog's testicles.

He shakes his head and looks at the dog and whispers,
"I don't know where we were, or what we did, but, by God, we took first
and second place!

tiger woods

2009-12-03T18:08:00.001+05:30

The latest family snap

Most amazing Optical Image Ever

2009-11-23T00:41:00.001+05:30

check this out

The 10 Most Puzzling Ancient Artifacts

2009-11-23T00:37:00.001+05:30

There is a great deal of archeological evidence that the history of life on earth might be far different than what current geological and anthropological texts tell us. Consider these astonishing finds:

The Grooved Spheres

Over the last few decades, miners in South Africa have been digging up mysterious metal spheres. Origin unknown, these spheres measure approximately an inch or so in diameter, and some are etched with three parallel grooves running around the equator. Two types of spheres have been found: one is composed of a solid bluish metal with flecks of white; the other is hollowed out and filled with a spongy white substance. The kicker is that the rock in which they where found is Precambrian - and dated to 2.8 billion years old! Who made them and for what purpose is unknown.

The Dropa Stones

In 1938, an archeological expedition led by Dr. Chi Pu Tei into the Baian-Kara-Ula mountains of China made an astonishing discovery in some caves that had apparently been occupied by some ancient culture. Buried in the dust of ages on the cave floor were hundreds of stone disks. Measuring about nine inches in diameter, each had a circle cut into the center and was etched with a spiral groove, making it look for all the world like some ancient phonograph record some 10,000 to 12,000 years old. The spiral groove, it turns out, is actually composed of tiny hieroglyphics that tell the incredible story of spaceships from some distant world that crash-landed in the mountains. The ships were piloted by people who called themselves the Dropa, and the remains of whose descendents, possibly, were found in the cave.

The Ica Stones

Beginning in the 1930s, the father of Dr. Javier Cabrera, Cultural Anthropologist for Ica, Peru, discovered many hundreds of ceremonial burial stones in the tombs of the ancient Incas. Dr. Cabrera, carrying on his father's work, has collected more than 1,100 of these andesite stones, which are estimated to be between 500 and 1,500 years old and have become known collectively as the Ica Stones. The stones bear etchings, many of which are sexually graphic (which was common to the culture), some picture idols and others depict such practices as open-heart surgery and brain transplants. The most astonishing etchings, however, clearly represent dinosaurs - brontosaurs, triceratops (see photo), stegosaurus and pterosaurs. While skeptics consider the Ica Stones a hoax, their authenticity has neither been proved or disproved.

The Antikythera Mechanism

A perplexing artifact was recovered by sponge-divers from a shipwreck in 1900 off the coast of Antikythera, a small island that lies northwest of Crete. The divers brought up from the wreck a great many marble and and bronze statues that had apparently been the ship's cargo. Among the findings was a hunk of corroded bronze that contained some kind of mechanism composed of many gears and wheels. Writing on the case indicated that it was made in 80 B.C., and many experts at first thought it was an astrolabe, an astronomer's tool. An x-ray of the mechanism, however, revealed it to be far more complex, containing a sophisticated system of differential gears. Gearing of this complexity was not known to exist until 1575! It is still unknown who constructed this amazing instrument 2,000 years ago or how the technology was lost.

The Baghdad Battery

Today batteries can be found in any grocery, drug, convenience and department store you come across. Well, here's a battery that's 2,000 years old! Known as the Baghdad Battery, this curiosity was found in the ruins of a Parthian village believed to date back to between 248 B.C. and 226 A.D. The device consists of a 5-1/2-inch high clay vessel inside of which was a copper cylinder held in place by asphalt, and inside of that was an oxidized iron rod. Experts who examined it concluded that the device needed only to be filled with an acid or alkaline liquid to produce an electric charge. It is believed that this ancient battery might have been used for electroplating objects with gold. If so, how was this technology lost... and the battery not rediscovered for another 1,800 years?

The Coso Artifact

While mineral hunting in the mountains of California near Olancha during the winter of 1961, Wallace Lane, Virginia Maxey and Mike Mikesell found a rock, among many others, that they thought was a geode - a good addition for their gem shop. Upon cutting it open, however, Mikesell found an object inside that seemed to be made of white porcelain. In the center was a shaft of shiny metal. Experts estimated that it should have taken about 500,000 years for this fossil-encrusted nodule to form, yet the object inside was obviously of sophisticated human manufacture. Further investigation revealed that the porcelain was surround by a hexagonal casing, and an x-ray revealed a tiny spring at one end. Some who have examined the evidence say it looks very much like a modern-day spark plug. How did it get inside a 500,000-year-old rock?

Ancient Model Aircraft

There are artifacts belonging to ancient Egyptian and Central American cultures that look amazingly like modern-day aircraft. The Egyptian artifact, found in a tomb at Saqquara, Egypt in 1898, is a six-inch wooden object that strongly resembles a model airplane, with fuselage, wings and tail. Experts believe the object is so aerodynamic that it is actually able to glide. The small object discovered in Central America (shown at right), and estimated to be 1,000 years old, is made of gold and could easily be mistaken for a model of a delta-wing aircraft - or even the Space Shuttle. It even features what looks like a pilot's seat.

Giant Stone Balls of Costa Rica

Workmen hacking and burning their way through the dense jungle of Costa Rica to clear an area for banana plantations in the 1930s stumbled upon some incredible objects: dozens of stone balls, many of which were perfectly spherical. They varied in size from as small as a tennis ball to an astonishing 8 feet in diameter and weighing 16 tons! Although the great stone balls are clearly man-made, it is unknown who made them, for what purpose and, most puzzling, how they achieved such spherical precision.

Impossible Fossils

Fossils, as we learned in grade school, appear in rocks that were formed many thousands of years ago. Yet there are a number of fossils that just don't make geological or historical sense. A fossil of a human handprint, for example, was found in limestone estimated to be 110 million years old. What appears to be a fossilized human finger found in the Canadian Arctic also dates back 100 to 110 million years ago. And what appears to be the fossil of a human footprint, possibly wearing a sandal, was found near Delta, Utah in a shale deposit estimated to be 300 million to 600 million years old.

Out-of-Place Metal Objects

Humans were not even around 65 million years ago, never mind people who could work metal. So then how does science explain semi-ovoid metallic tubes dug out of 65-million-year-old Cretaceous chalk in France? In 1885, a block of coal was broken open to find a metal cube obviously worked by intelligent hands. In 1912, employees at an electric plant broke apart a large chunk of coal out of which fell an iron pot! A nail was found embedded in a sandstone block from the Mesozoic Era. And there are many, many more such anomalies.

What are we to make of these finds? There are several possibilities:

* Intelligent humans date back much, much further than we realize.
* Other intelligent beings and civilizations existed on earth far beyond our recorded history.
* Our dating methods are completely inaccurate, and that stone, coal and fossils form much more rapidly than we now estimate.

In any case, these examples - and there are many more - should prompt any curious and open-minded scientist to reexamine and rethink the true history of life on earth.

Unusual

2009-11-19T20:41:00.001+05:30

This is an unusual paragraph. I'm curious as to just how quickly you can find out what is so unusual about it. It looks so ordinary and plain that you would think nothing was wrong with it. In fact, nothing is wrong with it! It is highly unusual though. Study it and think about it, but you still may not find anything odd. But if you work at it a bit, you might find out. Try to do so without any coaching!

Cool Pussy

2009-11-15T11:41:00.001+05:30

much easier to handle..

Dream Big

2009-11-15T11:37:00.001+05:30

If you have the will, then you have made it.

Make your own road

2009-11-15T11:33:00.001+05:30

You just have to dream it

What Obama is upto right now?

2009-11-15T11:31:00.000+05:30

It's not so easy, Mr. President.

Cool Bike

2009-11-15T11:29:00.001+05:30

More interesting than funny

Hope

2009-11-15T11:27:00.001+05:30

There is always hope at the next corner.

Wife

2009-11-15T11:25:00.000+05:30

Something you eventually learn to live with...

inspired

2009-11-15T10:51:00.002+05:30

If a Picture could inspire the next generation....

Short and funny

2009-11-15T10:39:00.001+05:30

A drunkard was brought to court.
Just before the trial there was a commotion in the gallery.
The judge pounded the gravel on his table and shouted, 'Order, order.'
The drunkard immediately responded, 'Thank you, your honor, I'll have a scotch and soda.'
~~~~~~~

Customer : Waiter, do you serve crabs?
Waiter : Please sit down sir, we serve everyone.
~~~~~~

Little Susie came running into the house after school one day,shouting,
'Daddy! Daddy! I got a 100 in school today!'
'That's great, Sweetheart,' said her daddy.
'Come in to the living room and tell me about it.'
'Well,' began the confession, 'I got 50 in spelling, 30 in math's and 20 in science.'
~~~~~~

Waiter : I've stewed liver, boiled tongue and frog's leg.
Customer : Don't tell me your problems. Give the menu card.
~~~~~~~

1st thief : Oh ! The police is here. Quick! Jump out of the window!
2nd thief : But this is the 13th floor.
1st thief : Hurry! this is no time for superstitions .
~~~~~~~~

Man : How old is your father?
Boy : As old as me.
Man : How can that be?
Boy : He became a father only when I was born.
~~~~~~~~~

Teacher : Peter, why are you late for school again?
Peter: Well, Miss, I dreamed that I was playing football and the game went into extra time.
~~~~~~~

Wife : Do you want dinner?
Husband : Sure, what are my choices?
Wife : Yes and no.
~~~~~~~~

Call Centres

2009-11-15T10:26:00.001+05:30

Telesales agent getting the customer's credit card info:
Agent: Can I have your expiration date, sir?
Customer: My what?!!
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- -
Agent verifying info from the customer:
Agent: Is that a P for Ping-Pong?
Customer: No, it's B.
Agent: Oh, B, like Bing-Bong...
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- -------
Agent answering a call:
Agent: Thank you for calling Dish Network Department, my name is Vince..... (sees that the number called by customer is for a different client-- a DirecTV dealer).
Customer: So, I called the wrong number then?
Agent: Let me transfer you to DirecTV please dont go.... (puts the customer on hold, and then)... Thank you for calling DirecTV Department, my name is Vince...
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ------
Agent wrapping up the sale:
Agent: Our INSTALLATORS will contact you within the next 24 hours to verify your installation schedules...
Customer: Uhm.... say what, now. Who's gonna call me?
Agent: The INSTALLATORS, sir.
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --
Agent getting coupon code from customer:
Agent: Can I ask for the coupon code? It's a bunch of letters.
Customers: Like ABCs?
Agent: Yes.
Customer: Ok. ABCDEFG....
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------
Agent trying to create urgency over the available promotion:
Agent: Are you sure you don't want to take advantage of me?
Customer: Say, what?
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ----
Agent trying to upsell a warranty:
Agent: Here's an example: In California, a plane crashed into a customer's house, their dish was replaced, no questions asked!
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ------
Agent trying to upsell a TiVo to customer:
Agent: With a TiVo, you can do this and that, and you know, pretty much anything under the sun. Isn't that a great offer?
Customer: What?
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --
Agent verifying correct spelling:
Agent: Is that a B as in boy, or a B as in Bravo?
Customer: ...uhmmm... how about B as in Boy?
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --

Technical Agent: To help you out with your concern, ma'am, let me just pull out my tool here, ok? (referring to a computer program used in call centers to address the customer's concerns)
Customer: Pull out your what now?
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ----

Tech Support: Okay, Bob, just type P on your keyboard?
Customer: What? Could you repeat that?
Tech Support: 'P' on your keyboard, Bob.
Customer: No way. I'm not going to do that.
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -----
Irate Customer: F***k you!
Tech Support: Sir, we're not allowed to say "F***k you!" here...
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -------

Agent: It's C as in CAT.
Customer: what?
Agent: C as in CAT. C-A-T as in meow meow...
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --

Agent: Alright, let me verify that... Was that a "G" as in golf?
Customer (with a different accent): NO! That was a "G" as! in GEBRA! (z as in zebra)
Oh, Gebra! like the one in the Goo?!
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- -----

Tech support: We're going to perform a check disk to see if your hard drive has errors in it. Please type in C-H-K-D-S-K.
Customer: What is that again?
Tech Support: C-H-K-D-S-K. .. that is... C as in Charlie... H as in Harley... K as in Karly.. D as in Darley... S as in Sarley... and K as in Karly... got it?

New Wisdom

2009-11-12T19:54:00.001+05:30

I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

There is great need for a sarcasm font.

Was learning cursive really necessary?

Bad decisions make good stories.

You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

.I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damn it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not see anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

THE LORD IS MY PROGRAMMER

2009-11-11T20:50:00.001+05:30

The Lord is my programmer,

I shall not crash.

He installed His software on the hard disk of my heart;

all of His commands are user-friendly.

His directory guides me to the right choices

for His names sake

Even though I scroll through the problems of life,

I will fear no bugs, for he is my backup.

His password protects me.

He prepares a menu before me in the presence of my enemies.

His help is only a keystroke away.

Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life,

and my file will be merged with His and be saved forever.

Things Never to Say to a Woman During An Argument

2009-11-11T01:02:00.001+05:30

# Whoa, time out. Football is on.

# Sorry. I was just picturing you naked.

# Is there any way we can do this via e-mail?

# Don't you have some laundry to do or something?

# You are so cute when you get mad.

# You're just upset because your bottom is beginning to spread.

# Wait a minute - I get it. What time of the month is it?

# You sure you don't want to consult the great Oprah on this one?

# Looks like someone had an extra bowl of bitch flakes this morning!

# Who are you kidding? We both know that thing ain't loaded.

Can you do better?

2009-11-08T17:06:00.001+05:30

The following questions were set in last year's GCSE examination in Swindon, Wiltshire ( U.K. )

These are genuine answers (from 16 year olds)

Q. Name the four seasons
A. Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar

Q. Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink
A. Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists

Q. How is dew formed
A. The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire

Q. What causes the tides in the oceans
A. The tides are a fight between the earth and the moon. All water tends to flow towards the moon, because there is no water on the moon, and nature abhors a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins the fight

Q. What guarantees may a mortgage company insist on
A. If you are buying a house they will insist that you are well endowed

Q. What are steroids
A. Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs

Q. What happens to your body as you age
A. When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental

Q. What happens to a boy when he reaches puberty
A. He says goodbye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery

Q. Name a major disease associated with cigarettes
A. Premature death

Q. What is artificial insemination
A. When the farmer does it to the bull instead of the cow

Q. How can you delay milk turning sour
A. Keep it in the cow (Simple, but brilliant)

Q. How are the main 20 parts of the body categorised (e.g. The abdomen)
A. The body is consisted into 3 parts - the brainium, the borax and the abdominal cavity. The brainium contains the brain, the borax contains the heart and lungs and the abdominal cavity contains the five bowels: A, E, I, O and U

Q. What is the fibula?
A. A small lie

Q. What does 'varicose' mean?
A. Nearby

Q. Give the meaning of the term 'Caesarean section'
A. The caesarean section is a district in Rome

Q. What is a seizure?
A. A Roman Emperor.

Q. What is a terminal illness
A. When you are sick at the airport.

Q. Give an example of a fungus. What is a characteristic feature?
A. Mushrooms. They always grow in damp places and they look like umbrellas

Q. Use the word 'judicious' in a sentence to show you understand its meaning
A. Hands that judicious can be soft as your face.

Q. What does the word 'benign' mean?
A. Benign is what you will be after you be eight

Q. What is a turbine?
A. Something an Arab or Shreik wears on his head

On a beautiful deserted island......

2009-11-08T17:01:00.001+05:30

On a beautiful deserted island, in the middle of nowhere, the following people are stranded:

2 Italian men and 1 Italian woman
2 French men and 1 French woman
2 German men and 1 German woman
2 Greek men and 1 Greek woman
2 English men and 1 English woman
2 Bulgarian men and 1 Bulgarian woman
2 Japanese men and 1 Japanese woman
2 American men and 1 American woman
2 Irish men and 1 Irish woman

One month later, the situation is as follows:

One Italian man has killed the other Italian man for the Italian woman.

The two French men and the French woman are living happily together in a menage a trios.

The two German men have a strict weekly schedule of when they alternate with the German woman.

The two Japanese men have faxed Tokyo and are waiting for instructions.

The two Greek men are sleeping with each other and the Greek woman is cleaning and cooking for them.

The Bulgarian men, after taking one look at the Bulgarian woman, have started swimming.

The two English men are still waiting for someone to come by and formally introduce them to the English woman.

The Irish men began by dividing the island into North and South. They then quickly set up a high-volume distillery. Because they get sort of foggy after the first few liters of coconut whiskey -- causing their manhood to become quite limp -- sex never becomes a fighting issue... Anyway, they are quite satisfied knowing that at least the English men are not getting any.

The American woman keeps on bitching about her body being her own temple; the true nature of modern feminism; how she can do everything that they can do; about the necessity for her personal fulfilment; the equal division of all household chores; how her last boyfriend respected her opinion and treated her much nicer; and how her relationship with her mother is improving. The two American men are contemplating suicide.

Eye Test

2009-11-08T16:49:00.001+05:30

Look at the picture below very carefully
Have you noticed the girl in the background?
Notice her ass?

Well look at the picture carefully! If your answer is YES then go and see an OPTOMETRIST!!!
What you see is the shoulder of the girl taking the picture!!!

How Government works?

2009-11-08T16:35:00.001+05:30

Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert.

Congress said, "Someone may steal from it at night." So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job.

Then Congress said, "How does the watchman do his job without instruction?" So they created a planning department and hired two people, one person to write the instructions, and one person to do time studies.

Then Congress said, "How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?" So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people. One to do the studies and one to write the reports.

Then Congress said, "How are these people going to get paid?" So they created the following positions, a time keeper, and a payroll officer, then hired two people.

Then Congress said, "Who will be accountable for all of these people?" So they created an administrative section and hired three people, an Administrative Officer, Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal Secretary.

Then Congress said, "We have had this command in operation for one year and we are $18,000 over budget, we must cutback overall cost." So they laid off the night watchman.

How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting

2009-11-08T10:06:00.002+05:30

APPLIES TO:
o Mcft Windows XP Home Edition
o Mcft Windows XP Professional
o Mcft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
o Mcft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2002

SUMMARY:
This article describes how to recover a Windows XP system that does not start because of corruption in the registry. This procedure does not guarantee full recovery of the system to a previous state; however, you should be able to recover data when you use this procedure.

Warning:
Do not use the procedure that is described in this article if your computer has an OEM-installed operating system. The system hive on OEM installations creates passwords and user accounts that did not exist previously. If you use the procedure that is described in this article, you may not be able to log back into the recovery console to restore the original registry hives.

You can repair a corrupted registry in Windows XP. Corrupted registry files can cause a variety of different error messages. See the Mcft Knowledge Base for articles about error messages that are related to registry issues.

This article assumes that typical recovery methods have failed and access to the system is not available except by using Recovery Console. If an Automatic System Recovery (ASR) backup exists, it is the preferred method for recovery. Mcft recommends that you use the ASR backup before you try the procedure described in this article.

Note Make sure to replace all five of the registry hives. If you only replace a single hive or two, this can cause potential issues because software and hardware may have settings in multiple locations in the registry.

If you experience a repetitive occurrence of registry corruption related issues, Mcft recommends that you obtain and install the hotfix in the following article:
318159 Damaged Registry repair and recovery in Windows XP
This update is also included in Windows XP Service Pack 1.

MORE INFORMATION:
When you try to start or restart your Windows XP-based computer, you may receive one of the following error messages:
Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE
Stop: c0000218 {Registry File Failure} The registry cannot load the hive (file): \SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE or its log or alternate
System error: Lsass.exe
When trying to update a password the return status indicates that the value provided as the current password is not correct.
The procedure that this article describes uses Recovery Console and System Restore. This article also lists all the required steps in specific order to make sure that the process is fully completed. When you finish this procedure, the system returns to a state very close to the state before the problem occurred. If you have ever run NTBackup and completed a system state backup, you do not have to follow the procedures in parts two and three. You can go to part four.

Part one
In part one, you start the Recovery Console, create a temporary folder, back up the existing registry files to a new location, delete the registry files at their existing location, and then copy the registry files from the repair folder to the System32\Config folder. When you have finished this procedure, a registry is created that you can use to start Windows XP. This registry was created and saved during the initial setup of Windows XP. Therefore any changes and settings that occurred after the Setup program was finished are lost.

To complete part one, follow these steps:
1. Insert the Windows XP startup disk into the floppy disk drive, or insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer.
Click to select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD-ROM drive if you are prompted to do so.
2. When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.
3. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you want to access from the Recovery Console.
4. When you are prompted to do so, type the Administrator password. If the administrator password is blank, just press ENTER.
5. At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after you type each line:
md tmp
copy c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\tmp\system.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\software c:\windows\tmp\software.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\sam c:\windows\tmp\sam.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\security c:\windows\tmp\security.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\default c:\windows\tmp\default.bak

delete c:\windows\system32\config\system
delete c:\windows\system32\config\software
delete c:\windows\system32\config\sam
delete c:\windows\system32\config\security
delete c:\windows\system32\config\default

copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\repair\software c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy c:\windows\repair\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy c:\windows\repair\security c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy c:\windows\repair\default c:\windows\system32\config\default
6. Type exit to quit Recovery Console. Your computer will restart.
Note This procedure assumes that Windows XP is installed to the C:\Windows folder. Make sure to change C:\Windows to the appropriate windows_folder if it is a different location.

If you have access to another computer, to save time, you can copy the text in step two, and then create a text file called "Regcopy1.txt" (for example). To create this file, run the following command when you start in Recovery Console:
batch regcopy1.txt
With the batch command in Recovery Console, you can process all the commands in a text file sequentially. When you use the batch command, you do not have to manually type as many commands.

Part two
To complete the procedure described in this section, you must be logged on as an administrator, or an administrative user (a user who has an account in the Administrators group). If you are using Windows XP Home Edition, you can log on as an administrative user. If you log on as an administrator, you must first start Windows XP Home Edition in Safe mode. To start the Windows XP Home Edition computer in Safe mode, follow these steps.

Note Print these instructions before you continue. You cannot view these instructions after you restart the computer in Safe Mode. If you use the NTFS file system, also print the instructions from Knowledge Base article KB309531. Step 7 contains a reference to the article.
1. Click Start, click Shut Down (or click Turn Off Computer), click Restart, and then click OK (or click Restart).
2. Press the F8 key.

On a computer that is configured to start to multiple operating systems, you can press F8 when you see the Startup menu.
3. Use the arrow keys to select the appropriate Safe mode option, and then press ENTER.
4. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot system, use the arrow keys to select the installation that you want to access, and then press ENTER.
In part two, you copy the registry files from their backed up location by using System Restore. This folder is not available in Recovery Console and is generally not visible during typical usage. Before you start this procedure, you must change several settings to make the folder visible:
1. Start Windows Explorer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Folder options.
3. Click the View tab.
4. Under Hidden files and folders, click to select Show hidden files and folders, and then click to clear the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box.
5. Click Yes when the dialog box that confirms that you want to display these files appears.
6. Double-click the drive where you installed Windows XP to display a list of the folders. If is important to click the correct drive.
7. Open the System Volume Information folder. This folder is unavailable and appears dimmed because it is set as a super-hidden folder.

Note This folder contains one or more _restore {GUID} folders such as "_restore{87BD3667-3246-476B-923F-F86E30B3E7F8}".

Note You may receive the following error message:
C:\System Volume Information is not accessible. Access is denied.
If you receive this message, see the following Mcft Knowledge Base article to gain access to this folder and continue with the procedure:
309531 How to gain access to the System Volume Information folder
8. Open a folder that was not created at the current time. You may have to click Details on the View menu to see when these folders were created. There may be one or more folders starting with "RPx under this folder. These are restore points.
9. Open one of these folders to locate a Snapshot subfolder. The following path is an example of a folder path to the Snapshot folder:
C:\System Volume Information\_restore{D86480E3-73EF-47BC-A0EB-A81BE6EE3ED8}\RP1\Snapshot
10. From the Snapshot folder, copy the following files to the C:\Windows\Tmp folder:
o _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT
o _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY
o _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
o _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM
o _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM

11. Rename the files in the C:\Windows\Tmp folder as follows:
o Rename _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT to DEFAULT
o Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY to SECURITY
o Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE to SOFTWARE
o Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM to SYSTEM
o Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM to SAM

These files are the backed up registry files from System Restore. Because you used the registry file that the Setup program created, this registry does not know that these restore points exist and are available. A new folder is created with a new GUID under System Volume Information and a restore point is created that includes a copy of the registry files that were copied during part one. Therefore, it is important not to use the most current folder, especially if the time stamp on the folder is the same as the current time.

The current system configuration is not aware of the previous restore points. You must have a previous copy of the registry from a previous restore point to make the previous restore points available again.

The registry files that were copied to the Tmp folder in the C:\Windows folder are moved to make sure that the files are available under Recovery Console. You must use these files to replace the registry files currently in the C:\Windows\System32\Config folder. By default, Recovery Console has limited folder access and cannot copy files from the System Volume folder.

Note The procedure described in this section assumes that you are running your computer with the FAT32 file system.

For more information about how to access the System Volume Information Folder with the NTFS file system, click the following article number to view the article in the Mcft Knowledge Base:
309531 How to gain access to the System Volume Information folder

Part Three
In part three, you delete the existing registry files, and then copy the System Restore Registry files to the C:\Windows\System32\Config folder:
1. Start Recovery Console.
2. At the command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after you type each line:
del c:\windows\system32\config\sam

del c:\windows\system32\config\security

del c:\windows\system32\config\software

del c:\windows\system32\config\default

del c:\windows\system32\config\system

copy c:\windows\tmp\software c:\windows\system32\config\software

copy c:\windows\tmp\system c:\windows\system32\config\system

copy c:\windows\tmp\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam

copy c:\windows\tmp\security c:\windows\system32\config\security

copy c:\windows\tmp\default c:\windows\system32\config\default
Note Some of these command lines may be wrapped for readability.
3. Type exit to quit Recovery Console. Your computer restarts.
Note This procedure assumes that Windows XP is installed to the C:\Windows folder. Make sure to change C:\Windows to the appropriate windows_folder if it is a different location.

If you have access to another computer, to save time, you can copy the text in step two, and then create a text file called "Regcopy1.txt" (for example).

Part Four
1. Click Start, and then click All Programs.
2. Click Accessories, and then click System Tools.
3. Click System Restore, and then click Restore to a previous RestorePoint.

REFERENCES:
For more information about using Recovery Console, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Mcft Knowledge Base:
307654 How to install and use the Recovery Console in Windows XP
216417 How to install the Windows XP Recovery Console
240831 How to copy files from Recovery Console to removable media
314058 Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console
For more information about System Restore, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Mcft Knowledge Base:
306084 How to restore the operating system to a previous state in Windows XP
261716 System Restore removes files during a restore procedure

How to lock a folder with password.

2009-11-08T10:00:00.001+05:30

This is an interesting tip to lock your personal folders. not necessarily foolproof but at least provide a level of security.

copy the following program:-

cls
@ECHO OFF
title Folder Locker
if EXIST "Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}" goto UNLOCK
if NOT EXIST Locker goto MDLOCKER
:CONFIRM
echo Are you sure u want to Lock the folder(Y/N)
set/p "cho=>"
if %cho%==Y goto LOCK
if %cho%==y goto LOCK
if %cho%==n goto END
if %cho%==N goto END
echo Invalid choice.
goto CONFIRM
:LOCK
ren Locker "Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}"
attrib +h +s "Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}"
echo Folder locked
goto End
:UNLOCK
echo Enter password to Unlock folder
set/p "pass=>"
if NOT %pass%==password goto FAIL
attrib -h -s "Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}"
ren "Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}" Locker
echo Folder Unlocked successfully
goto End
:FAIL
echo Invalid password
goto end
:MDLOCKER
md Locker
echo Locker created successfully
goto End
:End

now go for following few steps

if NOT %pass%==password goto FAIL

Muscle-Based PC Interface Lets You Literally Point and Click, No Mouse Required

2009-11-08T01:14:00.002+05:30

By Clay Dillow

Air Guitar Hero Muscle-based interfaces could eliminate a lot of the peripherals we use to control computers, like mice and video game controllers, instead taking commands from our gestures.

A research collaboration between Microsoft, the University of Washington and the University of Toronto is developing a muscle-controlled interface enabling Minority Report-esque, gesture-driven interaction with computers. It's perhaps the most promising of the billion or so Minority-Report-aspiring prototype interfaces.

For now, the system consists of six electromyography (EMG) sensors and two ground electrodes ringing the upper right forearm that sense finger movement in the right hand. Two more sensors on the left upper-forearm sense squeezing movements in the left hand. The software must be carefully trained via machine-learning algorithms to associate specific gestures with specific electrical signals in the arm, but once set the interface works very well, recognizing gestures 85 percent of the time (up to 90 percent for some gestures). The software also continues to learn, improving accuracy over time. The training also works both ways; the researchers found that their human subjects quickly learned to make small adjustments to help the computer recognize gestures more accurately.

In the lab, the sensors are wired and placed individually, but because they don't target specific muscles, they should be equally successful at interpreting gestures if placed in an arm band that users could slip on without assistance. Rather than try to target specific muscle movements, the algorithms focus on the magnitude of muscle activity, the rate of activity, and the wave-like patterns produced across several sensors at once when the arm moves. By triangulating these three distinct data streams, the computer learns to recognize individual gestures as well as differentiate between them.

The researchers see a number of applications for the technology, from changing songs on MP3 players while occupied with tasks like jogging to playing video games like Guitar Hero without a controller. The goal is more seamless integration of computer power into our lives. While it may seem subconscious to you, all that pointing and clicking requires a good deal of your attention. New and novel interfaces like this could render such systems obsolete, replacing them with more passive, better-integrated ways to interact with the machines in our lives. Here's hoping that whatever arm band peripheral Microsoft develops for this interface is half as cool as Cruise's three-finger, light-up gloves.

Credit link:http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2009-10/muscle-based-interface-lets-you-literally-point-and-click-no-mouse-required

Burma emli Game 1 | Game

2009-11-07T03:59:00.004+05:30

Stack it in the following order
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12
13 14 15 blank
If you beat or match the top score record it under comments

Credits:
Chip used in the game

Creative Advertisements

2009-11-05T20:04:00.001+05:30

--
Richard Belho

Albert Einstein Quotes

2009-11-05T13:57:00.001+05:30

* "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction."
* "Imagination is more important than knowledge."
* "Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love."
* "I want to know God's thoughts; the rest are details."
* "The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax."
* "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."
* "The only real valuable thing is intuition."
* "A person starts to live when he can live outside himself."
* "I am convinced that He (God) does not play dice."
* "God is subtle but he is not malicious."
* "Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character."
* "I never think of the future. It comes soon enough."
* "The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility."
* "Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing."
* "Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind."
* "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."
* "Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds."
* "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."
* "Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen."
* "Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one's living at it."
* "The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
* "The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education."
* "God does not care about our mathematical difficulties. He integrates empirically."
* "The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking."
* "Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal."
* "Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding."
* "The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible."
* "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."
* "Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school."
* "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."
* "Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater."
* "Equations are more important to me, because politics is for the present, but an equation is something for eternity."
* "If A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut."
* "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe."
* "As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality."
* "Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods."
* "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."
* "In order to form an immaculate member of a flock of sheep one must, above all, be a sheep."
* "The fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears, for there's no risk of accident for someone who's dead."
* "Too many of us look upon Americans as dollar chasers. This is a cruel libel, even if it is reiterated thoughtlessly by the Americans themselves."
* "Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism -- how passionately I hate them!"
* "No, this trick won't work...How on earth are you ever going to explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love?"
* "My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind."
* "Yes, we have to divide up our time like that, between our politics and our equations. But to me our equations are far more important, for politics are only a matter of present concern. A mathematical equation stands forever."
* "The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking...the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker."
* "Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence."
* "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed."
* "A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeeded be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death."
* "The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge."
* "Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion."
* "You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat."
* "One had to cram all this stuff into one's mind for the examinations, whether one liked it or not. This coercion had such a deterring effect on me that, after I had passed the final examination, I found the consideration of any scientific problems distasteful to me for an entire year."
* "...one of the strongest motives that lead men to art and science is escape from everyday life with its painful crudity and hopeless dreariness, from the fetters of one's own ever-shifting desires. A finely tempered nature longs to escape from the personal life into the world of objective perception and thought."
* "He who joyfully marches to music rank and file, has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action. It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder."
* "A human being is a part of a whole, called by us _universe_, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
* "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." (Sign hanging in Einstein's office at Princeton)

Copyright: Kevin Harris 1995 (may be freely distributed with this acknowledgement

Real life Photoshop

2009-11-02T23:45:00.001+05:30

as real as it gets

Einstein's Theory

2009-11-02T23:34:00.001+05:30

Einstein was born March 14, 1879. He would be 130 if he were alive today.
Few people remember that the Nobel Prize winner married his cousin, Elsa Lowenthal, after his first marriage dissolved in 1919.
At the time he stated that he was attracted to Elsa because she was so well endowed.
He postulated that if you are attracted to women with large breasts, the attraction is even stronger if there is a DNA connection. This came to be known as....

Einstein's Theory of "Relative Titty."
--
Richard Belho