Trying To Save The World!

Looking at Hydrogen to Replace Gasoline in Our Cars

2008-07-12T08:55:00.000+05:30

Can hydrogen be generated and stored on a practical scale to replace our oil economy?

The jury is still out on whether hydrogen will ultimately be our environmental savior, replacing the fossil fuels responsible for global warming and various nagging forms of pollution. Two main hurdles stand in the way of mass production and widespread consumer adoption of hydrogen “fuel cell” vehicles: the still high cost of producing fuel cells, and the lack of a hydrogen refueling network.

Reining in manufacturing costs of fuel cell vehicles is the first major issue the automakers are addressing. While several have fuel cell prototype vehicles on the road—Toyota and Honda are even leasing them to the public in Japan and California—they are spending upwards of $1 million to produce each one due to the advanced technology involved and low production runs. Toyota hopes to reduce its costs per fuel cell vehicle to around $50,000 by 2015, which would make such cars economically viable in the marketplace. On this side of the Pacific, General Motors plans to sell hydrogen-powered vehicles in the U.S. by 2010.

Another problem is the lack of hydrogen refueling stations. Major oil companies have been loathe to set up hydrogen tanks at existing gas stations for many reasons ranging from safety to cost to lack of demand. But obviously the oil companies are also trying to keep customers interested in their highly profitable bread-and-butter, gasoline. A more likely scenario is what is emerging in California, where some 38 independent hydrogen fuel stations are located around the state as part of a network created by the non-profit California Fuel Cell Partnership, a consortium of automakers, state and federal agencies and other parties interested in furthering hydrogen fuel cell technologies.

The benefits of ditching fossil fuels for hydrogen are many, or course. Burning fossil fuels like coal, natural gas and oil to heat and cool our buildings and run our vehicles takes a heavy toll on the environment, contributing significantly to both local problems like elevated particulate levels and global ones like a warming climate. The only by-product of running a hydrogen-powered fuel cell is oxygen and a trickle of water, neither of which will cause any harm to human health or the environment.

But right now 95 percent of the hydrogen available in the U.S. is either extracted from fossil fuels or made using electrolytic processes powered by fossil fuels, thus negating any real emissions savings or reduction in fossil fuel usage. Only if renewable energy sources—solar, wind and others—can be harnessed to provide the energy to process hydrogen fuel can the dream of a truly clean hydrogen fuel be realized.

Stanford University researchers in 2005 assessed the environmental effects of three different hydrogen sources: coal, natural gas, and water electrolysis powered by wind. They concluded that we’d lower greenhouse gas emissions more by driving gasoline/electric hybrid cars than by driving fuel cell cars run on hydrogen from coal. Hydrogen made using natural gas would fare a little bit better in terms of pollution output, while making it from wind power would a slam-dunk for the environment.

10 Amazing Brain Facts

2008-06-09T23:51:00.000+05:30

What part of you is only 1% to 3% of your body's mass, yet uses 20% of all the oxygen you breathe? Your brain! Here are ten more brain facts.

- Your brain needs a continuous supply of oxygen. A 10 minute loss of oxygen will usually cause significant neural damage. Cold can lengthen this time, which is why cold-water drowning victims have been revived after as nuch as 40 minutes - without brain damage.

- Your brain uses a fifth of all your blood. It needs it to keep up with the heavy metabolic demands of its neurons. It needs not only the glucose that is delivered, but of course, the oxygen.

- Your brain feels no pain. There are no nerves that register pain within the brain itself. Because of this, neurosurgeons can probe the brain while a patient is conscious (what fun!). By doing this, they can use feedback from the patient to identify important regions, such as those used for speech, or visualization.

- The cerebellum is sometimes called the "little brain," and weighs about 150 grams (a little over five ounces). Found at the lower back side of your brain, you need your cerebellum to maintain posture, to walk, and to perform any coordinated movements. It may also play a role in your sense of smell.

- The human brain weighs an average of a little over three pounds, or 1.4 kilograms. Albert Einstein's brain may have been smaller than yours, because he was smaller than average. There is a general correlation between body size and the size of our brains.

- An elephant's brain is huge - about six times as large as a human brain. However, in relation to body size, humans have the largest brain of all the animals, averaging about 2% of body weight. A cat's brain? It weighs about one ounce, a little over 1% of body weight.

- There are about 100,000 miles of blood vessels in the brain. If they were stretched out (there's a nice thought!) they would circle the earth more than four times.

- If you have an average sized brain, you have about 100 billion neurons up there. You'll be happy about that after reading the next item.

- Approximately 85,000 neocortical neurons are lost each day in your brain. Fortunately, his goes unnoticed due to the built-in redundancies and the fact that even after three years this loss adds up to less than 1% of the total. Oh, and look at the next item.

- Recent research proves that your brain continues to produce new neurons throughout your life. It also proves that it does so in response to stimulation (do those brainpower exercises). Scientists refer to this as brain plasticity or neuro-plasticity. You may find this one the most encouraging of these brain facts.

Where is everybody?

2008-06-09T23:46:00.000+05:30

With this essay by Steven Soter, Astrobiology Magazine presents the first in our series of 'Gedanken', or thought, experiments - musings by noted scientists on scientific mysteries in a series of "what if" scenarios. Gedanken experiments, which have been used for hundreds of years by scientists and philosophers to ponder thorny problems, rely on the power of one's imagination to project these scenarios to logical conclusions. They do not involve lab equipment or, often, even experimental data. They can be thought of as focused daydreams. Yet, as in the famous case of Einstein's Gedanken experiments about what it would be like to hitch a ride on a light wave, they have often led to important scientific breakthroughs.

Soter is Scientist-in-Residence in the Center for Ancient Studies at New York University, where he teaches a seminar on Scientific Thinking and Speculation, and a Research Associate in the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History.

In this essay, Soter examines the Drake Equation, which asks how many technically advanced civilizations exist in our galaxy. He also looks at the Fermi Paradox, which questions why, if there are other technological civilizations nearby, we haven't heard from them.

If civilizations exist in our galaxy with levels of technology at least equal to our own, we might be able to detect some of them using radio telescopes. And if civilizations exist with technologies far in advance of our own, we might expect them to have colonized millions of habitable worlds in the Milky Way, and even to have visited our own planet. Yet there is no evidence in the astronomical, geological, archaeological, or historical records that extraterrestrial civilizations exist or that visitors from other worlds have ever been to Earth. Does that mean, as some have concluded, that ours is the only civilization in the galaxy? Or could there be a natural self-regulating mechanism that limits the intensive colonization of other worlds?

In 1961 radio astronomer Frank Drake devised an equation to express how the hypothetical number of observable civilizations in our galaxy should depend on a wide range of astronomical and biological factors, such as the number of habitable planets per star, and the fraction of inhabited worlds that give rise to intelligent life. The Drake Equation has led to serious studies and encouraged the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). It has also provoked ridicule and hostility. Novelist Michael Crichton recently denounced the equation as "literally meaningless," incapable of being tested, and therefore "not science." The Drake equation, he said, also opened the door to other forms of what he called "pernicious garbage" in the name of science, including the use of mathematical climate models to characterize global warming.

Crichton rightly pointed out that any numerical "answers" produced by the Drake Equation can be no more than guesses, since most of the terms in the equation are quantitatively unknown by many orders of magnitude. But he is utterly wrong to claim that the equation is "meaningless." An equation describes how the elements of a problem are logically related, whether or not we know their numerical values. Astronomers understand perfectly well that the Drake Equation cannot prove anything. Instead, we regard it as the most useful way to organize our ignorance of a difficult subject by breaking it down into manageable parts. This kind of analysis is standard, and a valued technique in scientific thinking. As new observations and insights emerge, the Drake Equation can be modified as needed or even replaced altogether. But it provides the necessary place to start.

When Drake first proposed his equation, we had no way to estimate any of its terms beyond the first one, representing the rate of star formation in our galaxy. Then in 1995, astronomers began to discover planets in orbits around other stars. These results now promise to sharpen our estimates for the second term in the equation, denoting the number of habitable worlds per star. Who knows what unforeseen discoveries will tell us about the other terms in the equation?

In Classical antiquity, when Aristarchus conceived the heliocentric view of the solar system and Democritus developed an atomic theory of matter, they had no possible way to test their ideas. The necessary observational tools and data would not exist for another two thousand years. Of course, the Crichtons of antiquity denounced such speculations as pernicious. But when the time finally came, the ancient ideas were still there, quietly waiting to inspire and encourage Copernicus and Galileo, and the pioneers of modern atomic theory, who took the first steps to test the theories. It may take centuries, but eventually the Drake Equation and all its elements will be testable.

We can express the Drake Equation in several ways, all of which are more or less equivalent. Here is one form:
N = Rs nh fl fi fc L

where N is the number of civilizations in our galaxy, expressed as the product of six factors: Rs is the rate of star formation, nh is the number of habitable worlds per star, fl is the fraction of habitable worlds on which life arises, fi is the fraction of inhabited worlds with intelligent life, fc is the fraction of intelligent life forms that produce civilizations, and L is the average lifetime of such civilizations.

The rate of star formation in our galaxy is roughly ten per year. We can define habitable worlds conservatively as those with liquid water on the surface. Many more worlds probably have liquid water only below the surface, but any subterranean life on such worlds would not be likely to produce an observable civilization. Recent discoveries of other planetary systems suggest that habitable worlds are common and that nh is at least one such planet in a hundred stars.

The remaining terms in the equation depend on the biology and social development of other worlds, and here we are profoundly ignorant. Our local experience may provide some guidance, however. We know that life on Earth arose almost as soon as conditions allowed - as soon as the crust cooled enough for liquid water to persist. This fact suggests that conditions for the origin of life on other habitable worlds are not restrictive, and that the value of fl is closer to one than to one in a thousand. But that is merely a guess. No one knows how life began on Earth, and we cannot generalize from a single case.

The conditions for intelligent life are probably more restrictive. On Earth this step first required the evolution of complex animals, which began about three billion years after the origin of life, and then the development of brains capable of abstract thought, which took another half billion years. Among the millions of animal species that have lived on Earth, probably only one ever had intelligence sufficient to understand the Drake Equation. This suggests that fi might be a small fraction.

The probability that intelligent life develops a civilization depends on the evolution of organs to manipulate the environment. On Earth, whales and dolphins may well have intelligence sufficient for abstract thought, but they lack the means to make tools. Humans, with dexterous hands, began making tools over a million years ago. Starting about ten thousand years ago, civilizations based on agriculture arose several times independently, in Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, Mexico, Peru, and New Guinea. This suggests that the value of fc is large, but again we should not generalize from the experience of only one intelligent and manipulative species.

We now come to the most intriguing term, the average lifetime L of a civilization. The Drake Equation assumes that, whatever the other factors, the number of civilizations presently in our galaxy is simply proportional to their average lifetime. The longer they live, the more civilizations exist at any given time. But what is the life expectancy of a civilization? On Earth, dozens of major civilizations have flourished and died within the last ten thousand years. Their average lifetime is about four centuries. Few if any civilizations on Earth have ever lasted as long as two thousand years.

History and archaeology show that the collapse of any given civilization causes only a temporary gap in the record of civilizations on Earth. Other civilizations eventually arise, either from the ruins of the collapsed one or independently and elsewhere. Those civilizations also eventually collapse, but new ones continue to emerge.

For example, in the eastern Mediterranean at the end of the Bronze Age, the prevailing Mycenaean civilization suffered widespread catastrophic collapse around 1100 BC. During a few centuries of "darkness" that followed, the population was illiterate, impoverished and relatively small -- but not extinct. Classical civilization gradually arose and flourished, and gave rise to the Roman Empire, which itself collapsed in the fifth century AD. Another period of impoverished Dark Ages followed, but eventually trade and literacy revived, leading to the Renaissance. Each revival of civilization was stimulated in part by the survival of relics from the past.

Our global technological civilization, with its roots in the Mediterranean Bronze Age, is now arguably headed for collapse. But that will not be the end of civilization on Earth -- not as long as the human species survives. And the biological lifetime of our species is likely to be several million years, even if we do our worst.

We should therefore distinguish between the longevity of a single occurrence of civilization and the aggregate lifetime of a sequence of civilizations. Almost all discussions of the Drake Equation have overlooked this distinction and therefore significantly underestimated L.

The proper value of L is not the average duration of a single episode of civilization on a planet, which for Earth is about 400 years. Rather, L is much larger, being the sum of recurrent episodes of civilization, and constitutes a substantial fraction of the biological lifetime of the intelligent species. The average species lifetime for mammals is a few million years. Suppose the human species lasts another million years and our descendants have recurrent episodes of civilization for more than 10 percent of that time. Then the average effective lifetime of civilization on Earth will exceed 100,000 years, or 250 times the duration of a single episode. Other factors being the same, this generally neglected consideration should increase the expected number of civilizations in our galaxy by at least a hundredfold.

While the aggregate lifetime of civilization on a planet may be only a hundred thousand years, we should allow the possibility that a small minority of intelligent life forms, say one in a thousand, has managed to use their intelligence and technology to survive for stellar evolutionary timescales -- that is, on the order of a billion years. In that case, the average effective lifetime of civilizations in our galaxy would be about a million years.

If we now insert numbers in the Drake Equation that represent the wide range of plausible estimates for the various terms, we find that the number N of civilizations in our galaxy could range anywhere from a few thousand to about one in ten thousand. The latter (pessimistic) case is equivalent to finding no more than one civilization in ten thousand galaxies, so that ours would be the only one in the Milky Way. In the former (optimistic) case, the nearest civilization might be close enough for us to detect its radio signals. Estimates for N thus range all over the map. While this exasperates critics who demand concrete answers from science, it does not invalidate the conceptual power of the Drake Equation.

If many civilizations have arisen in our galaxy, we might expect that some of them sent out colonies, and some of those colonies sent out still more colonies. The resulting waves of colonization would have spread out across the Milky Way in a time less than the age of our galaxy. So where are all those alien civilizations? Why haven't we seen them? The physicist Enrico Fermi first posed the question in 1950. Many answers have since been proposed, including (1) ours is the first and only civilization to arise in the Milky Way, (2) the aliens exist but are hiding, and (3) they have already been here and we are their descendants. In his book Where is Everybody? Stephen Webb considers fifty proposed solutions to the so-called "Fermi Paradox" but he leaves out the most thought-provoking explanation of all, one that I call the Cosmic Quarantine Hypothesis.

In 1981, cosmologist Edward Harrison suggested a powerful self-regulating mechanism that would neatly resolve the paradox. Any civilization bent on the intensive colonization of other worlds would be driven by an expansive territorial impulse. But such an aggressive nature would be unstable in combination with the immense technological powers required for interstellar travel. Such a civilization would self-destruct long before it could reach for the stars.

The unrestrained territorial drive that served biological evolution so well for millions of years becomes a severe liability for a species once it acquires powers more than sufficient for its self-destruction. The Milky Way may well contain civilizations more advanced than ours, but they must have passed through a filter of natural selection that eliminates, by war or other self-inflicted environmental catastrophes, those civilizations driven by aggressive expansion. That is, the acquisition of powerful technology ultimately selects for wisdom.

However, suppose an alien civilization somehow finds a way to launch the aggressive colonization of other planetary systems while avoiding self-destruction. It would only take one such case, and our galaxy would have been overrun by the reproducing colonies of the civilization. But Harrison proposed a plausible backup mechanism that comes into play in the event that the self-regulating control mechanism fails. The most evolved civilizations in the galaxy, he suggested, would notice any upstart world that showed signs of launching a campaign of galactic conquest, and they would nip it in the bud. Advanced intelligence might regard any prospect of the exponential diffusion throughout the Milky Way of self-replicating colonies very much as we regard the outbreak of a deadly viral epidemic. They would have good reason, and presumably the ability, to suppress it as a measure of galactic hygiene.

There may be many highly evolved civilizations in our galaxy, and some of them may even be the interstellar colonies of others. They may control technologies vastly more powerful than ours, applied to purposes we can scarcely imagine. But Harrison's regulatory mechanisms should preclude any relentless wave of colonization from overrunning and cannibalizing the Milky Way.

By most appearances, the dominant civilization on our planet is of the expansive territorial type, and is thus headed for self-destruction. Only if we can intelligently regulate our growth-obsessed and self-destructive tendencies is our civilization likely to survive long enough to achieve interstellar communication.

Steven Soter is Scientist-in-Residence in the Center for Ancient Studies at New York University, where he teaches a seminar on Scientific Thinking and Speculation, and a Research Associate in the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History.

My Gemstone is Amber

2008-01-30T23:22:00.001+05:30

Your Gemstone is Amber

Creative, happy, and logical.
You shine in any intellectual endeavor

What Gemstone Are You?

Your Favorite Color BLUE Says About You:

2008-01-30T23:18:00.001+05:30

What Your Favorite Color Blue Says About You:

Emotional --- Affected --- Sensitive
Peaceful --- Tranquil --- Connected
Spiritual --- Experimental --- Deep

What Does Your Favorite Color Say About You?

I'm an Apple Mac

2008-01-30T23:17:00.001+05:30

You Are a Mac

You are creative, stylish, and super trendy.
You demand the best - even if it costs an arm and a leg.

Are You a Mac or a PC?

My Love Song Is

2008-01-30T23:14:00.000+05:30

Your Love Song Is

Wonderwall by Oasis

"I'm sure you've heard it all before
But you never really had a doubt
I don't believe that anybody feels
The way I do about you now"

You know what you want - but does that person want you?

What Love Song Are You?

I Should Rule Jupiter

2008-01-30T23:10:00.000+05:30

You Should Rule Jupiter

Huge and hot, Jupiter is a quickly turning planet with short days and intense gravity.

You are perfect to rule Jupiter, because you are both dominant and kind.
You have great strength and confidence, but you never abuse your power.

You are always right. Even if you make mistakes, you compensate for them... before anyone knows it.
Headstrong and ambitious, you always have a goal in mind. You are optimistic and believe thing things will always work out.

What Planet Should You Rule?

My Expression Number is 11

2008-01-30T23:08:00.000+05:30

Your Expression Number is 11

You tend to be associated with idealistic concepts and spiritual issues.

You have high potentials that are somewhat difficult to live up to.

You have very strong intuition and you can be a bit psychic at times.

Highly inspirational, you can lead merely by your own example.

You have an inborn inner strength and awareness that helps you advise others.

Although you have what it takes for a successful career, you belong outside the business world.

Overly sensitive and temperamental, you tend to have a lot of nervous tension.

You dream a lot, so much so that you may be more of a dreamer than a doer.

Fantasy and reality tend to get intermingled for you, and that leads to impracticality.

What's Your Expression Number?

My Element is Air.

2008-01-30T23:07:00.001+05:30

Your Element Is Air

You dislike conflict, and you've been able to rise above the angst of the world.
And when things don't go your way, you know they'll blow over quickly.

Easygoing, you tend to find joy from the simple things in life.
You roll with the punches, and as a result, your life is light and cheerful.

You find it easy to adapt to most situations, and you're an open person.
With you, what you see is what you get... and people love that!

What's Your Element?

I'm a Mermaid.

2008-01-30T23:03:00.000+05:30

You Are a Mermaid

You are a total daydreamer, and people tend to think you're flakier than you actually are.
While your head is often in the clouds, you'll always come back to earth to help someone in need.
Beyond being a caring person, you are also very intelligent and rational.
You understand the connections of the universe better than almost anyone else.

What Mythological Creature Are You?

You are Kind of Honest

2008-01-30T23:01:00.001+05:30

You Are A Little Honest

Sometimes you do the right thing, but not often
You prefer to look out for yourself most of the time
But sometimes honesty does get the better of you
Here's hoping you answered this quiz honestly

How Honest Are You?

What's My Power Element?

2008-01-30T22:56:00.000+05:30

Your Power Element is Metal

Your power colors: white, gold, and silver

Your energy: contracting

Your season: fall

You are persistent (and maybe even a little bit stubborn).
If you see something you want, you go for it.
You have a lot of strength, and it's difficult to get you down.
Very logical, you tend to analyze everything going on in your life.

What's Your Power Element?

Am I Psychic?

2008-01-30T22:55:00.001+05:30

You Are 60% Psychic

You are pretty psychic.
While you aren't Miss Cleo, you've got a little ESP going on.
And although you're sometimes off on your predictions...
You're more often right than wrong
So go with your instincts - you know more than you think

Are You Psychic?

What I think Of My Friends

2008-01-30T22:50:00.000+05:30

What You Really Think Of Your Friends

Hiran is your soulmate.

You truly love Ikshula

You consider Lasith your true friend.

You know that Saranga is always thinking of you.

You'll remember Hansanee for the rest of your life.

You secretly think Yasiru is creative, charming, and a bit too dramatic at times.

You secretly think that Themiya and Chathura is colorful, impulsive, and a total risk taker.

You secretly think that Sarukkali is loyal and trustworthy to you. And that Sarukkali changes lovers faster than underwear.

You secretly think Themiya is shy and nonconfrontational. And that Themiya has a hidden internet romance.

What Do You Think of Your Friends?

My Seduction Style: The Natural

2008-01-30T22:45:00.001+05:30

Your Seduction Style: The Natural

You don't really try to seduce people... it just seems to happen.

Fun loving and free spirited, you bring out the inner child in people.

You are spontaneous, sincere, and unpretentious - a hard combo to find!

People drop their guard around you, and find themselves falling fast.

What Is Your Seduction Style?

My Cell Phone Etiquette is 44% Bad, 56% Good

2008-01-30T22:41:00.000+05:30

Your Cell Phone Etiquette is 44% Bad, 56% Good

Your cell phone manners are simply okay. Sometimes you can be very considerate.
But when you are in the middle of an important conversation, all rules go out the window!

How's Your Cell Phone Etiquette?

What Sould I Be Studying?

2008-01-30T22:38:00.000+05:30

Your Learning Style: Practical and Cooperative

You like to test out what you learn, and you excel when you can jump right in and try something.

You Should Study:

Dentistry
Environmental Science
Fashion Merchandising
Interior Design
International Studies
Marketing
Medicine
Music
Nursing
Criminal Justice
Physical Therapy

What Should You Study?

Am I in Love? Yes, You Are.

2008-01-30T22:36:00.001+05:30

How You Are In Love

You take a while to fall in love with someone. Trust takes time.

You give completely and unconditionally in relationships.

You tend to get very attached when you're with someone. You want to see your love all the time.

You're secretly hoping your partner will change for you.

You stay in love for a long time, even if you aren't loved back. When you fall, you fall hard.

How Are You In Love?

I Have Changed 44% in 10 Years!

2008-01-30T22:33:00.000+05:30

You've Changed 44% in 10 Years

You've done a good job changing with the times, but deep down, you're still the same person.
You're clothes, job, and friends may have changed some - but it hasn't changed you.

How Much Have You Changed in 10 Years?

Am I Scary? Nope!

2008-01-30T22:30:00.000+05:30

You Are Not Scary

Everyone loves you. Isn't that sweet?

How Scary Are You?

Who Was I In a Past Life?

2008-01-30T22:27:00.001+05:30

In a Past Life...

You Were: An Albino Magician.

Where You Lived: Ukraine.

How You Died: In Childbirth.

Who Were You In a Past Life?

What Should I Be When I Grow Up?

2008-01-30T22:25:00.000+05:30

You Should Be a Doctor

You are practical, sharp, and very intuitive.
Optimistic and energetic, you are a problem solver who doesn't get discouraged easily.
You are also quite compassionate and caring. You make people feel hopeful.
You're highly adaptable and capable. You do well with almost any curve ball life throws at you.

You do best when you:

- Are always learning new subjects
- Use your knowledge to solve problems

You would also be a good therapist or detective.

What Should You Be When You Grow Up?

Would I be a Cool Parent?

2008-01-30T18:14:00.000+05:30

You Will Be a Cool Parent

You seem to naturally know a lot about parenting, and you know what kids need.
You can tell when it's time to let kids off the hook, and when it's time to lay down the law.
While your parenting is modern and hip, it's not over the top.
You know that there's nothing cool about a parent who acts like a teenager... or a drill sergeant!

Would You Be a Cool Parent?

Am I Addicted to the Internet?

2008-01-30T18:08:00.000+05:30

You Are 39% Addicted to the Internet

Internet? Please. You're definitely not geeky enough to be that addicted.
You have a full life off your computer - and the internet is just a small pastime.

Are You Addicted to the Internet?

My Personality quiz

2008-01-30T18:07:00.001+05:30

Your Personality Is

Artisan (SP)

You are both grounded and flexible. You adapt well to new situations.
You are playful and free spirited - but you are also dependable and never flaky.

You don't do well in conservative, stuffy situations.
It's probably very hard for you to keep a normal job or stay in school.

You are always up for fun and adventure. Most people are too boring for you.
You take risks and bend the rules. And if things don't work out, you chock it up to life experience.

In love, you tend to take things quickly - but you have a huge problem with commitment.

At work, you need to make your own rules. You're best suited to be an entrepreneur.

With others, you are animated and physical. You prefer doing something with friends to just hanging out.

As far as your looks go, you tend to be buff and in good shape. Your spend more time on your body than your clothes.

On weekends, you need to keep active. From cooking up a storm to running a 5K, you wear yourself out.

The Three Question Personality Test

You Could Maybe Be a Vegetarian

2008-01-30T18:03:00.000+05:30

You Could Maybe Be a Vegetarian

You may think being vegetarian is a great idea, but you don't have all the tools to get started.
Find a local vegetarian group or buy a few vegetarian books.
Even if you don't go completely veggie, you can introduce more vegetarian foods into your diet!

Could You Be a Vegetarian?

What makes me a good friend.

2008-01-30T17:58:00.000+05:30

You Are a Good Friend Because You're Loyal

You stick with your friends no matter what, even if you feel like they're doing the wrong thing.
You believe in letting people figure out their own path in life. It's not your place to interfere.

And part of your loyalty means that you'll do a lot for your friends. You definitely go the extra mile.
You'll even do great things for friends without them asking. After all, that's what friendship is all about.

You are truly a friend for life. And you have friends you've known since you were a kid.
Your friends can count on you to do a favor, remember a birthday, or just be there to listen.

Your friends need you most when: They can't turn to anyone else

You really can't be friends with: Fickle people who change friends quickly

Your friendship quote: "Friendship doubles your joys, and divides your sorrows."

What Makes You a Good Friend?

What colour car should I drive?

2008-01-30T17:53:00.000+05:30

You Should Drive a Black Car

You're the type of driver who's totally dominant and even a bit aggressive.
You see the road as a "dog eat dog" world... and you're not about to get eaten!
You like to drive a vehicle that conveys power. Big engine. Big price tag.
You rule the road - and you like everyone to know it.

What Color Car Should You Drive?

What does my birthday means.

2008-01-30T17:49:00.000+05:30

Your Birthdate: June 12

You're a dynamic, charismatic person who's possibly headed for fame.
You tend to charm strangers easily. And you usually can get what you want from them.
Verbally talented, you tend to persuade people with your speaking and writing.
You are affectionate and loving, but it's hard for you to commit to any one relationship.

Your strength: Your charm

Your weakness: Your extreme manipulation tactics

Your power color: Indigo

Your power symbol: Four leaf clover

Your power month: December

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

A good hearted friend!

2008-01-27T18:46:00.000+05:30

Hi everyone from Yahoo Answers and etc, this is my new friend...I had him for about 3 hours. I helped him to find his mom today! Finally he found his my. (I did actually).

Thanks to everyone who helped me with the question. Thanks! You can see more info here on Yahoo Answers.

Thanks again!
I'm extremely happy!

First Look: 2009 Cadillac CTS-V

2008-01-13T09:06:00.000+05:30

First Look: 2009 Cadillac CTS-V

Cadzilla! Meet the fastest, most powerful Cadillac ever built

By Angus MacKenzie
Photography by Wesley Allison, the manufacturer

This is it. The fastest, most powerful Cadillac ever built. The fastest, most powerful American sedan in history, for that matter. Locked, loaded, and gunning for Europe's heavy-hitting sport sedans-BMW M5, Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG, Audi RS6. Read all that again. Now pinch yourself. No, you're not dreaming. Motown-well, GM at least-has its mojo back. Meet Cadillac's monster new CTS-V. Cadzilla, if you will.Here are the raw numbers: 550 horsepower at 6200 rpm. 550 pound-feet of torque at 4000 rpm. They're only official "estimates," but as the engine under the new CTS-V's power-domed hood is fundamentally the same as the supercharged V-8 that's credited with 620-plus horsepower and at least 600 pound-feet in the hot new Corvette ZR1, you can safely assume the real SAE-certified figures will be close. "I'm confident we'll disappoint nobody with the numbers," says Ed Piatek, the CTS-V's program engineering manager.

There are no performance figures yet, but by way of context, AMG's E63 Benz nails 60 mph in 4.3 seconds. The new CTS-V weighs about the same and has at least 43 more horses and 85 pound-feet more torque. Draw your own conclusions: The car also has been extensively tested on the legendary Nrburgring Nordschliefe, and while insiders are tight-lipped on the actual lap time-for now-they will admit Cadzilla has terrorized factory hotshoes from Munich out on the daunting 13-mile road course. "People who've never been passed by a Cadillac have now had that experience," smiles Piatek.Piatek works for the GM in-house hot-shop, High Performance Vehicle Operations, headed by John Heinricy, and was the man tasked with overseeing the transformation of the COTY-winning CTS into Cadzilla. He had good raw material to work with: Unlike the previous model, the new CTS was engineered from the outset with the high-performance V-series model in mind, with extra stiffening and strengthening built in. "That was a lesson we learned with the first CTS-V," says Piatek. "If you start with this [idea] going in, there may be a small mass penalty on the base car, but there's less cost and tooling needed to do the V."

As a result, the basic CTS body structure is little altered. Most of the changes that have been made-mainly around the front and rear suspension cradles and the suspension links-are purely to handle the much higher cornering loads induced by the specially developed 19-inch Michelin Pilot Sport 2 tires and the prodigious torque output from the engine. On that last point, everything rear of the front transmission flange has been beefed up. There's a larger-diameter prop shaft, and asymmetric halfshafts (one side is a 55mm-diameter unit, the other 35mm) to help reduce wheelhop under full power launches).

Supercharged 6.2-liter V8 is closely related to Corvette ZR1 engine and pumps out 550 horses and 550 pound-feet.

Suede-like finish on steering wheel and shifter, Recaro seats, black trim. CTS-V cabin means business.

Galaxy evolution in cyber universe

2008-01-13T08:51:00.000+05:30

Scientists at the University of Chicago have bolstered the case for a popular scenario of the big bang theory that neatly explains the arrangement of galaxies throughout the universe. Their supercomputer simulation shows how dark matter, an invisible material of unknown composition, herded luminous matter in the universe from its initial smooth state into the cosmic web of galaxies and galaxy clusters that populate the universe.
Previous studies by other researchers had already verified the main features of this scenario, called the cold dark matter model. The Chicago team further extended this work by comparing the results of their supercomputer simulations to the newest, most detailed astronomical observations available today. They found an excellent fit, and they did so without basing their simulations on a lot of complex assumptions.

"The model we use is really, really simple," said Andrey Kravtsov, Associate Professor in Astronomy & Astrophysics. "We want to see how well this framework can do with a minimum number of assumptions."

A paper co-authored by Kravtsov, Charlie Conroy and Risa Wechsler describing these findings will be published in the June 20 issue of the Astrophysical Journal. The research was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, with additional support from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Simulations that Kravtsov's team conducted two years ago had predicted that galaxies of different luminosity or brightness would cluster differently when the universe was young than they do today. The team's Astrophysical Journal paper verifies that prediction and shows that similar differences appear in the recent data.

"In the early stages of evolution of the universe, each galaxy has a high probability of having a close neighbor of similar luminosity," Kravtsov said, much more so than galaxies today. "That was what was predicted and that's what the observations now seem to show us."

The data that Kravtsov's team compared to its simulations came from the Deep Extragalactic Evolutionary Probe 2 (DEEP2) survey, and from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.

Using the Keck 10-meter telescopes in Hawaii, DEEP2 took detailed observations of how galaxies were clustered seven billion years ago, when the universe was approximately half its current age. The Sloan Survey, meanwhile, provided additional data regarding galaxy clustering from more recent epochs in the history of the universe.

"We essentially have data on the distribution of galaxies over most of the evolution of the universe, and the data are accurate," Kravtsov said. "Although the measurements at earlier epochs have larger errors, due to smaller data sets, their accuracy and power to constrain theoretical models is quite remarkable."

The Chicago scientists based their supercomputer simulations on the assumption that galaxies form in the center of dark-matter halos.

According to this scheme, gravity causes the dark matter in these regions to collapse into halos. These halos provide a central location where normal matter consisting of hydrogen, helium and a small amount of heavier elements would collect in gaseous form. Once this gas had cooled and condensed, it achieved sufficient density for star formation to begin on a galactic scale.

When the Chicago team compared the distribution of galaxies in its cyber universe to the real one, "that scheme turned out to work extremely well," Kravtsov said. "It wasn't guaranteed that it would actually work so well in reproducing the data."

Some fields of astrophysics are less fortunate: they have a large body of data but no way to explain it. "The data just kind of hang there. Nobody quite understands what it's telling us or how to interpret it."

But the Chicago simulations further support the idea that the universe behaves the way the cold dark matter scenario tells them it should, that galaxies tend to form in high-density regions of dark matter.

"We understand the distribution of these dark-matter halos, and the implication of this analysis is that we also understand how the properties of these halos are related to galaxy luminosity, how bright the galaxy is," Kravtsov said.

Brighter galaxies also are found in more pronounced large-scale structures. "If you look at fainter galaxies, their distribution becomes more diffuse. We can still see structure, but it's not as pronounced."

Additional data continues to become available. For example, the Sloan Survey has gone beyond mapping the galaxies to include measurements of the dark matter that surrounds them. And other new, high-quality data regarding the distribution of galaxies from the very early stages in the evolution of the universe are becoming available. The first comparisons of the theory's predictions with that data indicate good agreement over the span of about 12 billion years, Kravtsov said.

NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer explained:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/jpl/missions/galex.html

Robotics: Ant Navigation

2008-01-13T08:33:00.000+05:30

I found this cool invention on the net. So I Copy Pasted it here for you.
Next time you find yourself lost despite having a map and satellite navigation, spare a thought for the unfortunate ant that must take regular trips home to avoid losing its way. Dr Markus Knaden, from the University of Zurich, will report that a visit back to the nest is essential for ants to reset their navigation equipment and avoid getting lost on foraging trips. "Knowledge about path integration and landmark learning gained from our experiments with ants has already been incorporated in autonomous robots. Including a 'reset' of the path integrator at a significant position could make the orientation of the robot even more reliable", says Dr Knaden who will speak on Tuesday 4th April at the Society for Experimental Biology's Main Annual Meeting in Canterbury, Kent [session A4]

Ants that return from foraging journeys can use landmarks to find their way home, but in addition they have an internal backup system that allows them to create straight shortcuts back to the nest even when the outbound part of the forage run was very winding. This backup system is called the 'path integrator' and constantly reassesses the ant's position using an internal compass and measure of distance travelled. Knaden and his colleagues hypothesised that because the path integrator is a function of the ant's brain, it is prone to accumulate mistakes with time. That is, unless it is regularly reset to the original error-free template; which is exactly what the researchers have found.

When they moved ants from a feeder back to a position either within the nest or next to the nest, they found that only those ants that were placed in the nest were able to set off again in the right direction to the feeder. Those left outside the nest set off in a feeder-to-home direction (i.e. away from the nest in completely the opposite direction to the source of food) as if they still had the idea of 'heading home' in their brains. "We think that it must be the specific behaviour of entering the nest and releasing the food crumb that is necessary to reset the path integrator", says Knaden. "We have designed artificial nests where we can observe the ants after they return from their foraging trips in order to test this."

What next? The group plan to study other ant species that live in landmark rich areas. "Maybe we will find that such ants rate landmarks more highly and use them, not the nest, to reset the path integrator", explains Knaden.

Timmy (mine) and Koowa (next door)

2008-01-10T00:29:00.000+05:30

My Tour to the US (pictures)

2008-01-10T00:25:00.001+05:30

Which is the best day?

2008-01-09T23:31:00.000+05:30

The constant demands of office life can make one day seem much like the next. In fact, there is a rhythm to the working week – one that savvy employees can use to their advantage. In a study, psychology professor Debbie Moskowitz of McGill University in Montreal found that “People begin the week all fired up, but as Friday draws nearer they realise they will have to compromise.”

Monday finds office workers more demanding and aggressive, so this is the best day for delegating, organising and setting goals, following your boss’s direction and avoiding conflict.

Tuesday can be the peak day for output and efficiency, although a study by fish4jobs suggests that Tuesday afternoon is the top time for online job-hunting. “We see a spike in traffic just after 3 pm,” says chief executive Joe Slavin.

Wednesday Workers are relaxing into the week, but are not yet exhausted. According to business coach Gladeana McMahon, it’s the best day for creative thinking. “Hold brainstorming meetings and think about the future.”

Thursday Professor Moskowitz thinks “it’s the best day to ask people to do things” because workers are relatively more submissive and open to negotiation. So it might be the best day to ask for a pay rise!

Friday Go carefully – workers take more risks and have more accidents today. It’s a good day to confront colleagues with a grievance, suggests business psychologist Alastair Hamill: “They can come to terms with what you’ve said before seeing you on Monday.”

The Weekend Are you one of those people who manage high stress all week and succumb to illness at weekends? Try exercising on a Friday night to help the transition from work to leisure.

Harry Potter 5 International Trailer

2007-10-05T23:35:00.000+05:30

Where does the expression “a cat has nine lives” come from?

2007-08-21T09:56:00.000+05:30

Cats are often invoked for their surprising ability to survive adversity. It is from this physical hardiness that, according to etymologists, the idea that a cat has nine lives originates.

Although the exact reasons for this choice of number have long ago been forgotten, University of Winnipeg English professor Mark Morton offers three possibilities: “First, it’s pretty clear that it would have to be one of the many numbers that has traditional significance in Western culture, of which nine is among the most resonant.

“While seven, for example, is almost always positive and 13 is almost always negative, nine can have both positive and negative connotations: for example, cloud nine versus the nine rivers of hell. I think this may reflect our ambivalent cultural attitude towards the cat.

“Third, assonance often plays a role in such idioms. In this case, the long ‘i’ in both nine and lives functions as a near rhyme, as is even more clear in ‘a stitch in time saves nine.’ ”

Fuel ur Brain with food not junk

2007-08-21T09:55:00.000+05:30

Stuck late in the office? Bypass the biscuit tin and choose a snack that will satisfy your stomach rumbles for longer.

If you’re starving because you didn’t eat lunch. Make something small to tide you over until dinner. Try peanut butter on wholewheat crackers or a handful of nuts.

If you still have a long night ahead of you. Eat a light meal that won’t slow you down. Try a turkey sandwich on wholegrain bread or cheese on toasted brown bread.

If you’ve had a coffee and are now past the point of being hungry. Try to nibble on a piece of fruit, a yoghurt, a boiled egg or a slice of ham. That way you won’t wake up in the middle of the night famished.

If the vending machine is your only option. “The occasional packet of chips is fine,” says Ursula Arens from the British Dietetic Association. “But don’t reach for them every time you work late.”

Spiderman 3 Trailer

2007-08-21T09:53:00.000+05:30

Who's Googling What?

2007-08-21T09:52:00.000+05:30

Ever wondered what netizens from Pakistan to the Philippines search for while surfing the Internet? For an insight into which topics interest people in different parts of the world, all you need to do is type a keyword into Google Trends.

The site provides the number of searches on a particular topic relative to each country's Google usage since 2004. A quick search produced these surprising results.

Keyword: Sex
Top countries: Pakistan, Egypt, Vietnam, Iran, Morocco

Keyword: Health
Top countries: Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Philippines

Keyword: Wealth
Top countries: Singapore, Australia, India, South Africa, New Zealand

Keyword: Technology
Top countries: India, Pakistan, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore

Do your own search at www.google.com/trends

Your Old Rig...Just Like A Brand New

2007-08-21T09:50:00.000+05:30

The PC you bought 18 months ago probably felt like the leading edge of technology. Yet today you're bombarded by ads ramming home the point that you can now buy more computing power, more extras and more memory or less than you paid.
That's the way with computer technology. It changes quickly, with components getting better and cheaper all the time. Economy of scale, intense competition, and economic factors in the producing countries also force prices down.
Here's the good news: you don't need the latest go-faster PC. What you've got will almost certainly do what you want. And even if you could use some more oomph, it is possible to give your system a boost on a modest budget. Here's what you can do to keep your PC trim:

• Regularly delete the temporary files that clutter up your disk. Remove fonts you don't use – they have to be loaded at every start up. Use a disk defragmenter every week.

• Check out the latest version of every bit of software you use. As well as bug fixes, the later versions usually offer performance improvements.

• Invest in a disk maintenance utility that extends and automates the housekeeping process.

• Open the hood and get out the screwdriver. Add more memory, a second hard drive, a faster graphics card, even a new processor.

Chris Angel's Magic Video

2007-08-21T00:59:00.000+05:30

Britney News

2007-08-21T00:51:00.001+05:30

Get more celebrity news, photos, and videos at omg.yahoo.com »

+ add omg! to your page

J.K. Rowling writing crime novel

2007-08-19T10:23:00.000+05:30

J.K. Rowling has been spotted at cafes in Scotland working on a detective novel, a British newspaper reported Saturday.

The Sunday Times newspaper quoted Ian Rankin, a fellow author and neighbor of Rowling's, as saying the creator of the "Harry Potter" books is turning to crime fiction.

"My wife spotted her writing her Edinburgh criminal detective novel," the newspaper, which was available late Saturday, quoted Rankin as telling a reporter at an Edinburgh literary festival.

"It is great that she has not abandoned writing or Edinburgh cafes," said Rankin, who is known for his own police novels set in the historic Scottish city.

Rowling famously wrote initial drafts of the Potter story in the Scottish city's cafes. Back then, she was a struggling single mother who wrote in cafes to save on the heating bill at home.

Now she's Britain's richest woman — worth $1 billion, according to Forbes magazine — and her seven Potter books have sold more than 335 million copies worldwide.

In an interview with The Associated Press last month, Rowling said she believed she was unlikely to repeat the success of the Potter series, but confirmed she had plans to work on new books.

"I'll do exactly what I did with Harry — I'll write what I really want to write," Rowling said.

The office of Rowling's literary agent, Christopher Little, was not immediately available to comment late Saturday.

My Humps (Sims 2 Video)

2007-08-19T10:22:00.000+05:30

Total Fun

2007-08-18T07:37:00.000+05:30

The Amazing IPhone (Funny)

2007-08-18T07:32:00.002+05:30

Funny Commercial

2007-08-18T07:32:00.001+05:30

Don't try cleaning

2007-08-18T07:22:00.000+05:30

Funny Car Incident

2007-08-18T07:20:00.002+05:30

VW

2007-08-18T07:20:00.001+05:30

BMW M5

2007-08-18T06:33:00.001+05:30

A joke for fun

2007-08-07T01:22:00.000+05:30

One day, the general noticed a soldier behaving oddly. He would pick up every piece of paper he saw, read it, frown and say, ''That's not it,'' and drop it.

After a month of this, the general finally arranged to have the soldier tested. The psychologist found that the soldier was deranged, and wrote out his discharge from the army.

The soldier picked it up, smiled and said, ''That's it.''

hi5 - Waruna

2007-06-02T23:00:00.000+05:30

hi5 - Waruna

My First Vision

2007-04-30T00:04:00.000+05:30

For me meditation has become something that is essential to my daily life. Not everyday, but I meditate when I feel like doing it at least four times a week. Usually when I meditate, I focus on something that has an aromatic feeling...such as a wind chain, a picture, a 3D cube or a candle. But today I chose the wooden texture of my dresser.

It was exactly 9PM after talking to my friend Yasiru on the phone I sat on a cushion which was on the floor turning my face to the dresser. I kept starring at it. The wooden surface had never ending circles on it which I had never noticed before. I kept starring at them making my back straighter and straighter for me to be relaxed and easy to breathe. Everything was silent there was only the sound of mere rain drops falling on the roof. I closed my eyes.

During next 3or 4 minutes, I could focus my mind on that wooden texture I made up in my mind. I changed it in order to have a better view of the circles. Now the background turned pure white and the rings are still in wooden brown. I took one of the most clear and large rounds and tried to converge the middle of the circle...deep...deeper...deepest... (This is from where the trance started).

I started feeling dizzy. I heard my heart beat slowing down. I tried to open my eyes but I didn’t know how to. The feeling of being happy and scared came into my mind. Then it washed away by itself. Then, I came to a really, really and really lighten up state of my mind...it was like, I could smell something mint and I could taste something mint and I felt so cold...not with any of my five senses but by some other mean. All of a sudden I felt free and I was being lift up in the very method of sitting without changing a bit. I was being raised slowly and slowly constantly getting faster and faster. After few moments I was in a very loosen state just like I had no body. Even though I had a body it didn’t weight an mg! I can’t express in words but that magnificence can be called the best happiness in the universe! I floated up and up like a kite but I felt I was connected to something and I was not totally free (may be it was my body). I didn’t feel a thing...everything was as simple and harmonious as slowly blowing wind. I can’t squeeze out how I felt, I’m lost for words. The only word that might match would be ‘Magical’. I waited a bit trying to catch something physical by my eyes. But there was nothing but blank...a huge white blank! But I couldn’t hold it anymore, once again I was being moved up faster than the speed of light, heading to something similar to a gigantic sand bank. Then I was flying over it.....hundreds of miles over it at lightning speed. I wondered...sand at such a distance up in the sky? I couldn’t finish thinking...I had passed it...then I was able to see a flourishing, exquisite flower garden. Actually, it wasn’t a garden like we see usually. It had the feeling of a garden but it was only pleasing and colourful, charming flowers of various types. Three waterfalls were there starting at a height almost similar to the height I was. They were so wide like Niagara. When I looked forward, the sight was not clear due to the mist. The mist was spreading very dense. It didn’t take lot of seconds to pass that part as I was traveling so fast. Next thing I could see was a very bright red colour. Only that red was able to fill my screen completely! That colour of red was such a breathtaking colour...so brilliant, fantastic and astonishing! I’ve never seen a colour like that before. It was such an amazing colour! I was about to explode into laughter reaching the acme of happiness! Bit by bit...things changed back into white and the taste of mint in my mind swept away as I entered into the red colour. Next instant I slipped...somewhere. And with a shock I was back in the real world sitting on the cushion straight in the very manner I was an hour ago! The only change occurred to my body was, I was full of sweat...top to bottom!

Proud to be an Anandian

2007-04-25T00:16:00.001+05:30

Proud to be an Anandian

2007-04-25T00:16:00.000+05:30

23 Reasons Why Guys Like Girls

2007-04-24T23:29:00.000+05:30

23 Reasons Why Guys Like Girls

1. They always smell good, even if it’s just shampoo.

2. The way their hands always find the right spot on your shoulder.

3. The ease with which they fit into your arms.

4.The way they talk to you and all of sudden everything is right in the world.

5. How cute they are when they eat.

6. The way they take hours to dress but at the end, it’s all worthwhile.

7. Because they are always warm, even if it’s minus thirty Celsius out side.

8. The way they look good, no matter what they wear.

9. The way they fish for compliments.

10. How cute they are when they argue.

11. The way their hands always find yours.

12. The way their lips go when they smile.

13. The way you feel when you see their names on the caller ID, after you just had a big fight.

14. The way they say, “Let’s not fight anymore,” even though you know an hour later.

15. The way they hug when you do something nice for them.

16. The way they say that you are so good.

17. The way they fall on to your arms, shoulder or lap when they cry.

18. The way they apologize for crying over for something silly.

19. The way they hit you and expect it to hurt.

20. The way they say, ”I miss you,”

21. The way you miss them.

22. How they comb for your faults to hurt you.

The way their tears make you want to change the world so that it doesn’t hurt them anymore

Be my friend on MySpace

2007-04-24T23:26:00.000+05:30

Find me on MySpace and be my friend!

My Blogthings Results

2007-04-24T23:18:00.000+05:30

Go to www.blogthings.com

Your Love Type: INTJ

The Scientist

In love, you tend to be very private and withdrawn - even when things are going well.
For you, sex is important in a happy relationship. Less important when things aren't going well.

Overall, you are confident, intelligent, and serious about commitment.
However, you tend to hold back and not show your emotions.

Best matches: ENFP and ENTP

Your Dominant Thinking Style: Visioning

You are very insightful and tend to make decisions based on your insights.
You focus on how things should be - even if you haven't worked out the details.

An idealist, thinking of the future helps you guide your path.
You tend to give others long-term direction and momentum.

Your Ideal Relationship is Serious Dating

You're not ready to go walking down the aisle.
But you may be ready in a couple of years.
You prefer to date one on one, with a commitment.
And while chemistry is important, so is compatibility.

In 1989 (the year you were born)

George H.W. Bush becomes president of the US

The largest oil spill in US history occurs after the Exxon Valdez strikes Blight Reef in Alaska's Prince William sound

In Liverpool, England a soccer stadium barrier collapses killing 94 people

Hurricane Hugo causes 71 deaths and $4.2 billion in damage

A massave earthquake hits the San Francisco Bay area minutes before the World Series between the Giants and A's

The Berlin Wall comes down, symbolically ending the Cold War

Serial killer Ted Bundy is executed in Florida's electric chair

Ayatollah Khomeini places a three-million-US dollar bounty for the death of author Salman Rushdie

Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor is arrested in Beverly Hills, California after slapping a motorcycle police officer

Nintendo released its popular handheld video game player, Game Boy

Oakland Athletics win the World Series

San Francisco 49ers win Superbowl XXIII

Calgary Flames win the Stanley Cup

Batman is the top grossing film

"Look Away" by Chicago spends the most time at the top of the US charts

Talk show host, Geraldo Rivera's nose is broken during a taping of his show, when a fight erupts on the set between guests

The Arsenio Hall Show and The Simpsons premiere

Dragonball Z premieres on Japanese television

Your Mommy Is Ayn Rand

What You Call Her: Big Mama

What people say about yo momma: Yo momma teeth are so rotten, when she smiles they look like dice.

The True You

You want your girlfriend or boyfriend to do more for you.

With respect to money, you spend whatever you have.

You think good luck depends on maintaining good relationships with others.

The hidden side of your personality tends to be methodical in your ways - with trouble adapting to the rules of society.

You care more about world trends and fashions than you do about well formed opinions.

When it comes to finding a romantic partner, you base your search on information from your friends.

Your Pickup Line Is

You smell kinda pretty. Wanna smell me?

You Should Paint Your Room Yellow

Bright and bold, yellow is truly the color of inspiration.
Your yellow room will drive you to think clearly, develop new ideas, and be organized.
Yellow is also energizing and very powerful. So don't expect to rest in there!

Your Mexican Name Is...

Don DeMario

You Are 30% Weird

Not enough to scare other people...
But sometimes you scare yourself.

You Are Dr. Bunsen Honeydew

You take the title "mad scientist" to the extreme -with very scary things coming out of your lab.
And you've invented some pretty cool things, from a banana sharpener to a robot politician.
But while you're busy turning gold into cottage cheese, you need to watch out for poor little Beaker!
"Oh, that's very naughty, Beaker! Now you eat these paper clips this minute."

Your Japanese Name Is...

Shuichi Rokujochigusa

You Are An ISFJ

The Nurturer

You have a strong need to belong, and you very loyal.
A good listener, you excell at helping others in practical ways.
In your spare time, you enjoy engaging your senses through art, cooking, and music.
You find it easy to be devoted to one person, who you do special things for.

You would make a good interior designer, chef, or child psychologist.

You Are a Lime Margarita

Realistic and grounded, you have the energy to tackle any obstacle that stands in your way.
Hyper and driven, you despise lazy behavior of all kinds... especially lazy drunks too tired to dance!

What Your Underwear Says About You

You like to think of yourself as innocent, even though you're not!

You're not afraid to lay around resting your hand in your pants.

Your Ideal Pet is a Cat

You're both aloof, introverted, and moody.
And your friends secretly wish that you were declawed!

You Are 80% Gentleman

You are definitely a gentleman. You're very considerate and you have excellent manners.
Occasionally, you slip and do something foolish... but usually no one notices!

Star Wars Horoscope for Sagittarius

You are superbly wise and have been known to spread your wisdom widely.
You are impatient and pushy when people take your teachings too lightly.
And your philosophical side always peeks through.

Star wars character you are most like: Yoda

In a Past Life...

You Were: A Redhead Priest.

Where You Lived: Austria.

How You Died: Consumption.

People Envy Your Ingenuity

You're a person with unique ideas, big plans, and a zany outlook on life. Many people look to you for inspiration.
People envy your creativity and "who cares?" attitude. They feel very ordinary next to you - and they usually are!

My new found interest towards Math.

2007-04-04T22:26:00.000+05:30

You know it’s really amazing how it happened, because usually I really didn’t like math just like I like bio. The things changed like this. It’s worth remembering Yasiru (one of my school mates + a math ultra genius.) at this moment as he was the one who made me feel in this particular way for math. You can visit his blog by clicking ME! So what I did was just starring at his higher math calculations trying to focus on them. Even though I didn’t get most of the stuff he worked with I got some of them. Really it was so impressive how my mind generated a cool image for the subject, finally. And now thanks to him and my unique mind, I’ve started to love Math just like I love Bio. Here’s a nice quote I found in the Season 1 of ‘Numbers’ I borrowed from him today…

“We all use math every day: to forecast weather; to tell time; to handle money…we also use math to analyze crime, reveal patterns, and predict behavior with the help of logic. Using numbers, we can solve the biggest mysteries we know!!!”

Finally, numbers mean every thing and every thing is numbers! Wicked, right? By the way try to get Numbers the season. It’s really good for anyone. Even though you are an Archimedes-type person or a stupid piece of lump who hate math! In less than 20 minutes, it’ll make you look upon some equations…really!

Afterlife

2007-04-04T22:19:00.000+05:30

In that inequity unlawful reality

Where I possessed a blurry weary life

With what they call it the quality vitality

Irreality is what it meant, I’ve got to know.

Man made titles artificial esteem

Were the only aspirations I earnestly urged.

Supreme arena where the authority held

Did equal to zilch as nothing’s so impure

Now I’m at liberty where there’s no captivity

Confined to the fences of swelling grand light

I feel the eternity of the great prosperity

And the life I inherit wasn’t joy now I know

What emotional distress what fleshly cramps

Miraculous…they’re not to be felt

Colors are x-out only few stains to be seen

Portal due to my upright deeds is the welcomest of the rest.

Sims 2 - My Favorite PC game

2007-03-22T00:07:00.000+05:30

pic013.jpg (JPEG Image, 1024x768 pixels) - Scaled (77%)

My latest modern dream!!! (year 2024)

2007-02-25T22:18:00.000+05:30

Last night i slept with my iRiver's ear buds on. So while I was listening, I wondered if there is anyway to have this song played at every time I enter my home. i felt truly asleep.

To do that I need new apparatus such as a light sensor or a DNA senser or something like that. So in the vision, I was 21+ i guess. I had owned this huge 3 story house on a big terrain somehow in New York. It's outer walls were made with glass completely, framed with Al stripes which were coated in white. No windows though, (who needs, since its AC?). The roof was pure white and the whole house was like nothing but like a frame worked-diamond!!!

Interior was really nice. Since I said, it's outer walls were fully glass, the walls in the middle were cement-made, but were also white. So as I came to the front door after getting off my chromed Murcialago+ (more than that), a soft female voice echoed in the front door which was titanium in look. The door opened slowly and the carpet I was standing on was rolling like of a treadmil, taking me inside. Mean-while the voice said, "Have a very good morning sir and welcome back to your home. I've already scanned your DNA to identify you and from now on the security status of this property (house) is put to high from very-high. The settings of your house is restored according to you and the time is synchronized according to the universal time plus the virus vault and the firewall is now upgraded"

By then I was inside and the door behind me had closed itself. As I looked back I noticed my car gone! At once, the house said, "Your car has been parked in the underground garage as you don't have any events scheduled in the next 6:45hrs. (A long pause), Sir, if any emergency need of your vehicles occurred, just order me or you can access the garage using the elevator. And sir, your health status says, you may need some rest before lunch. You better take some rest sir." The house's name was Elena. Elena had a human body...a body that was holographic...a holographic body that could be anywhere I wished and also in my car's wind shield.

The house was some-what filled with most wanted electronics but not too much. Among them, a 62inch LCD TV, a total Dolby digital 3D sound system, simple artistic lamp shades and some other hi-tech, self function able stuff were in...such as a frige that can order food from the local super market over the internet! Among all the custom tunable furniture, the big, velvet-silver sofa attracted my mind tightly. It was really comfortable. The time was 10:30 in the morning. So it was time to have a nap as Elena said. Having myself stepping up to the upper floor reaching my bedroom through all those cool automated doors (the color of the room had changed into light yellow according to my tired mood) and removing my clothes in the bathroom next to it, I asked Elena,"Er...Elena, any phone calls?" "No sir, you have no new calls. I would have read them already if there were any,sir. Do you want me to play the previously heard calls, sir?" "No, not really, thanks" "You are welcome sir."

I had a nice cold warm bath. Elena knew i like having cold water bath, that's why the water was cold. And then after i stepped back in to my room to get the nap i already planned, I got THRILLED by the human-like figure I saw in my room next to my table where the PC was. It was my house-maid (made in USA). Name: Jane. I blamed her, "What's wrong with you Jane? This is the 17 millionth time I'm telling you not to burst in to my room without letting me know!" Her face turned sad and she said,"I'm so sorry sir, my internal memory is tight and cranky after having myself turned off for the last few weeks while you weren't here. I'm really sorry sir. It's my fault!" Oops, I remembered the guide lines, 'Robots are not supposed to be too badly treated or highly criticized, it may cause malfunction.' (ha ha funny though). I said, "Then it's ok Jane, i understand. So if you are here to ask me what to prepare for lunch, make my favorite (Chicken burger + apple juice), ok? wake me up around 12:30. you may go now" "I'll do my best sir...[pause]...sir, I'm grateful about having a master like you sir." I just gave her a flirty smile and she left the room for the kitchen. I heard her talking to Elena. They were really good friends to me and to each other as well. I smelled the smell of the food. Mean while I saw my room changing in to pale green. Elena's face on the screen kept examining me. There were some charts like of a ECG machine in the same portrait sized monitor. Madonna's 'Frozen.AAC' faded in "Your favorite,sir". That was the last dialogue I heard in my dream...I was waken up.

Thanks god I was a multi-billionaire at least in my dream!!! Planing to continue tonight!
So let's wish this high quality dream may become true!!!

Most Wanted

2007-02-11T00:26:00.000+05:30

Ode To My True Friend

2007-02-11T00:15:00.000+05:30

The day I met you
I found a friend -
And a friendship that
I pray will never end.

Your smile - so serene
And so bright -
Kept me going
When day was as dark as night.

You never ever judged me,
You understood my sorrow.
Then you told me it needn't be that way
And gave me the hope of a better tomorrow.

You were always there for me,
I knew I could count on you.
You gave me advice and encouragement
Whenever I didn't know what to do.

You helped me learn to love myself
You made life seem so good.
You said I can do anything I put my mind to
And suddenly I knew I could.

There were times when we didn't see eye to eye
And there were days when both of us cried.
But even so we made it through:
Our friendship hasn't yet died.

Circumstances have pulled us apart,
We are separated by many miles.
Truly, the only thing that keeps me going
Is my treasured memory of your smile.

This friendship we share
Is so precious to me,
I hope it grows and flourishes
And lasts unto infinity.

You are so extra-special to me
And so this to you I really must tell:
You are my one true friend,
My best best pal.

Our friendship is one-in-a-million
So let's hold on to it and each other.
We cannot let this chance of pure bliss fly away
For there will never be another.

I'm Someone

2007-02-11T00:06:00.000+05:30

I am someone
I walked past a dead face
even though the person was alive
I saw my eyes in the mirror
and cried at the sight
I looked at a person I didn¹t know
and I met a friend
I got heads to turn
when I walked past
I learned a lot about myself
when I lost a new friend
I cried every tear in my body
when I thought about love
I got hit bad
then got back in the ring
I climbed a mountain of rocks
and saw an eagle fly over- head
I heard terrible things about myself
when no one thought I was listening
I realized I was strong
when I didn¹t cry when it hurt
I found out who I was
when I was with someone else
I thought I was lost forever
when a friend found me
I held a life in my hand
and it was my own
I was a pawn in someone else's game
so I surrendered to a brook
I walked the fine line between surviving
and not wanting to survive
I still am
I am someone

2006-12-10T00:08:00.000+05:30

Good Food to Boost Your Mood

2006-12-10T00:01:00.000+05:30

For a mood pick-me-up, ditch the doughnuts. The British Dietetic Association says lack of important vitamins may be the cause of your blue feelings. Eating more of foods rich in vitamin B, folic acid and iron is a healthy way to improve your mood. If you want a feel-good snack, up your vitamin B intake by eating marmite on wholegrain toast or a handful of dried fruit. Grab an orange, which is rich in folic acid, or choose a breakfast cereal fortified with iron. The association also points to studies that suggest a low intake of selenium may affect your mood. A handful of brazil nuts, one boiled egg or grilled fish are all excellent sources.

Male Chromosome on the Way Out

2006-12-09T23:56:00.000+05:30

The Y chromosome’s days are numbered and its demise could lead to the creation of a new human species, predicts Jenny Graves, a professor of comparative genomics at the Australian National University. The Y chromosome started with about 1400 genes – but has lost about 1350 over the last 300 million years, says Graves, who believes the degrading chromosome will eventually be replaced by new male-determining genes on other chromosomes. She has been intrigued by studies of Y-less rodents who appear male and have not lost their ability to reproduce. They have replaced the SRY gene – the only “strong” male gene – with something else, but we don’t know what it is yet, Graves says. Should this gene replacement occur in one human population, two groups with different reproductive systems could not mate and would gradually become different species.

The Formula for Staying Together

2006-12-09T23:54:00.000+05:30

Next time you have an argument with your partner and you can’t reach an easy conclusion, agree to disagree and move on. Apparently you’ll have a better chance of staying together in the long term. According to Sydney University mathematician Dr Clio Cresswell, couples who compromise the least usually stay together the longest. She says that a conversation between a couple will always be bursting with patterns, just like in mathematics. “Studying newlyweds’ conversations revealed a similarity in the equations of the couples that were still together six years down the track.” Mathematics is showing that those who stand their ground in those early disputes will have a better outcome.

The link

2006-12-06T09:42:00.000+05:30

You came into my life as an unwelcome face,
Not ever knowing our friendship, I would one day embrace.
As I wonder through my thoughts and memories of you,
It brings many smiles and laughter so true.

I love the special bond that we beautifully share,
I love the way you show you really care,
Our friendship means the absolute world to me,
I only hope this is some thing I can make you see.

Thank you for opening your mind and your soul,
I will do all I can to help heal your heart’s little holes.
Remember, you secrets are forever safe within me,
I will keep them under the tightest lock and key.

Always remember…If you are ever in need,
I will try to be, the best friend I can possibly be.

Thank you for trusting me right from the start.
You truly have got a wonderful heart
I am now so happy I felt that embrace
For now I see the beauty of my best friend’s link…

You Will Lose Everything!!!

2006-12-06T09:41:00.000+05:30

Cloning (satan or angel?)

2006-12-06T09:32:00.000+05:30

Since I am majored in biology, I will mainly talk about the topic of human cloning today.

Four billion years ago, life arose on the earth. Four billion years later, human beings begin to look into the secrets hidden in the genes, which are the most delicate structure of life. A little over a year ago, scientists completed the Human Genome Project, which is one of the three most important advances in scientific history.

Cloning is the major technique developed in the research of genes. To clone means to make genetically identical copies. As for human cloning, it is achieved by putting the genetic material from a donor’s somatic cell into a woman’s egg, which has already had its nucleus removed. That’s to say, the cloning cells share the same genetic materials with the donor.

Actually, Scientists have long been studying animal cloning, even earlier than the birth of the sheep Dolly. But when it comes to human cloning, people begin to diverse in their opinions. Some think human cloning as the angel while the others regard it as the Satan.

The proponents for human cloning are right. Human cloning gives hope to the couples who can not have their own children. Before the invention of human cloning, they have either to get eggs or sperms from donors or adopt a child, but with human cloning, they could use their somatic cells to create a child of their own.

Human cloning also gives rise to the production of stem cells. Stem cells have the ability to develop into all kinds of cells, for example, neuron cells, kidney cells or liver cells, thus stem cells can be used to culture human tissues and organs. Therefore, stem cells are essential materials for both medicine and biology. Stem cells are derived from embryos produced by human cloning.

However, the opponents of human cloning are also right. As a student of biology, I know clearly that one success of animal cloning is built on thousands of failures. Most of the embryos die at an early age and many of the survivals are born with serious physiological defects. Most important of all, life is a creation, not a commodity. Children are gifts to be loved and protected, not products to be designed or manufactured, not to be engineered to custom specifications.

Then, human cloning with the goal to yield stem cells is not acceptable to most people, because it requires the destruction of the embryo, which is a nascent human life. It’s not ethical because it contradicts with the most fundamental principle of medical ethics, that is, no human life should be exploited or extinguished for the benefit of another. Some people also fear that permitting this kind of human cloning would eventually create a massive market for eggs, egg donors and surrogate mothers, and exploitation of women’s bodies, because people who need designer tissues will need an embryonic clone of his or her own to avoid the repel against foreign tissues from the immune system.

We all believe in the promise of modern medicine, but we wonder where science may take us, for we also believe in the ethical principles of science, especially in medical science, which involves the quality of human life.

Our age may be known to history as the age of genetic medicine, a time when many of the most feared illnesses were overcome.

Our age must also be defined by the care and restraint and responsibility with which we take up to these new scientific powers.

We are not only seeking ways to improve human life, we are seeking ways to preserve human dignity as well. Advances in biomedical technology must never come at the expense of human conscience. As we seek what is possible, we must always ask what is right, and we must not forget that even the noblest ends do not justify any means.

Thus human cloning is a two-folded weapon. If guided by the ethical principles and restricted by responsibilities and sound laws, it would do much good to us human beings.

People are wondering where science may take us. Scientists are wondering how to make the best out of human cloning and reduce the disadvantages of human cloning to the least. I believe we can push the limits of medical science. I believe we can achieve great things. I truly believe that we are going to bring hope and healing to countless lives around the world with the development and progress of science. And as we do, we shall always maintain the highest of ethical standards.

I hold this belief that one day, with science and the ethical standards all achieving their peaks, all the human beings will live a healthy and peaceful life.

Man's best friend ever!

2006-11-25T22:42:00.000+05:30

Friendlier than a pal of my own
Willing to glirify nothing but me
Need to express the honesty of his own
Morally great and very loyal.

He's my doggie with a nice kind face
He stars at me with curiosity fixed.
Not subjected to change his firm beliefs
Always clung to my emotive words

My security guard and my friend at home
Are the main roles he'd ever love to play
He knows the time though he doesn't know the clock
It's so funny see him act pasmidic.

He make my day more obvious to me
Sure I love him more that you will ever realize!

Hail to the Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford ot the White House kitchen....!!!

2006-11-25T22:35:00.000+05:30

First woman to run the White House Kitchen is ready to take the heat !!!
Hail to the Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford....!!!

After losing the chief chef of the White House last year 2005, Laura Bush combed the US looking for a new chef who can handle a big party. Let's say...a dinner for the UN guys!? So after 6 months search in last August, they found her. Lets see how she feels the White House culinary life.

" I had been a hotel chef in Washington before I joined the White House staff. In a way it's a hotel life [ the president's family ]. They stay here so I give them hot meals and make them cofortable here. But at the same time I get to know them more intimately like having your house guests...who just happen to be the world's greatest leading family of the free world, padding around your kitchen looking for a bite to eat?"

As soon as Chris (Christeta) joind the kitchen staff. She saw her new boss having a nice habit!

" Each morning after workout Mr.Bush would wander in to the 1st family's kitchen in the second floor residence for a 'Good morning' wearing his gym short and T-shirt. We would normally be finishing work on luch for his wife, Laura - typically a light entree like a salad. Seeing that, Bush would say with a wince ' No no not the salads...I'll have a BLT' or he'd choose those sandwiches : grilled cheese, yellow mustard, peanut butter and honey plus a burger. Ah ha! When Mrs.Bush leaves town the phone often rings down to the kitchen. Freed from wifely supervision, the president usually says something like this, ' Look, we've been havinh salads all week. Can I have a cheese burger now?'"

White House sounds fun sometimes...like when?
"Yeah, like when US Senator drop by for lunch and world leaders hang for dinner, ha? Not to mention, monthly feasts are often based around a theme, like Benjamin Franklin's 300th birthday? At such instances we crash each other and collaps down wish all those metal dishes and pots as we run dozens of meters in the main kitchen from one corner to the other! As the kitchen is sound proof, luckly no one outside can hear all the big-bangs that happen inside. These circumstances can normally be found in a mid sized restaurant except that SWAT teams, with rifles on their back, wave at the cooks as they walk by or crash by! That's fun."

The christmas?
"Oh, the party time? Our regular kitchen can't cope and we draw on cooks from Wasington. Sometimes about 20. Last time we catered to 9500 guests. The pastry chef baked 30,000 Christmas cookies and 950Kgs of sweet potatoes. The planing of this huge parties starts so earlier like in June...speacially on the Christman fruit cake!
They invite like 'You-All-Can-Eat-Buffet and take some home'. But we are to cook! Once King Faisel came with a cook of his own to do cooking for him while we had been finishing the dressings of the Saudi party specially prepared for him! But his mysterious stomach condition made him to refuse our food and order his cook to cook for him!"

It was yet another reminder that, even working inside such a grand and historical residence, the White House kitchen is just trying to make one family feel comfortable at home!

Me!

2006-11-18T23:13:00.000+05:30

Man, he looks so cool!!!

2006-11-18T23:08:00.000+05:30

Published to make you laugh!

2006-11-18T22:54:00.000+05:30

In a class room a teacher asked Susie, “Which part of the body enlarges 10 folds when stimulated?” Susie who was quite a chatter box said, “What kind of a teacher are you to ask a 6^th grader something like that?” Teacher was totally stunned and dumb found as Jonnie suddenly rose up and said, “Iris” The teacher said, “Good job Jonnie” and “You little missy (to Susie) haven’t studied well, has a dirty mind and will be very disappointed when you grow up!”

I got this message on my phone’s display from my service provider. It said, “Wallpaper – ‘This lady is too hot and might melt your phone!’

One day a dad found his 5 year old daughter eating chocolate in the very morning! Dad thundered saying’ “Are you eating chocolate sweets during this hour of the day?” The answer was “No dad I was just using my teeth to shape the edges!”

There once was a husband whose wife had been having a telephone mania. When ever she talked on the phone she tried to last the conversation at least 30 minutes. One day as she phoned one of her friends, she unbelievably replaced the receiver back in about 15 minutes! Seeing the unfamiliar behavior of the wife, husband was totally stunned! He asked, “What’s wrong honey? Was your friend in hurry or something?”. She replied, “No really…it was a wrong number!”

Latest ridiculous patents

2006-11-18T22:45:00.000+05:30

These patents were granted in the US last year (2005)

1. No 6644694 – Wearable folded map

2. No D476781 – Bird nappy

3. No 6587499 – Wind and insect resistant picnic system

4. No 6650243 – Pet affection indicator

2006-10-28T23:41:00.000+05:30

Justin Timberlake - Never Again

Music Code provided by Song2Play.Com

A Rainy Eve

2006-10-27T23:48:00.000+05:30

Sky's blue turned into gold
Rather than gray but now ink.
The whole world changed, gloomy, then stirred,
Drizzlings of rain drops fell on my arms.

Punctuations, of the rain tried not to live
And felt like water was pauring down sharp
Air switched to chill with the swift windy breeze
They always tried to shrink the brisky climate

It scrubbed the sky, cleansed the earth
Animated the life as well as the zing.
Birds that chirped, birches that swung
Now's gaind more delight and temperate

Enormously purified the whole yard seemed
Now just let me think...
What a fine cool bath
I just truely had.

2006-10-14T23:22:00.000+05:30

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

She

2006-10-14T22:19:00.000+05:30

The sweetest jasmine will touch the shame
The moon will dim, die behind the clouds
Sun has grace but it's exhaled
It's no wonder she has 'em all

From Joyous daybreaks to end long nights
I'm always being kept hyptonized.
Due to her silvery tone I'm spell bound
To hear her call me not by my name

I praise her eyes; I praise her face
Sweeter than a rose, softer than a wool.
Her dark ebony hair and lovesome fair mien
She's baptized as "Angel Grace"

For My Maker, I swear a royal word :
"She's so complete than a beautious day"

Honey can be bitter as well! How? See...

2006-09-25T22:33:00.000+05:30

Most of the people in the world suffer from sicknesses. Yes indeed it’s not really important here but I’ll make it a start. So sicknesses….we have at least experienced it once in our lives.

So as that, we all suffer emotionally too. Wonder? Ok then just remember a moment that you felt so depressed or heartsick. What were the reasons for them? Usually humans mutter monologs to themselves at those types of incidents…er…you know really pathetic moments!

According to researches, the reasons for forming those kinds of emotional agonies are initiated because of loosing or negative ness of people or stuff that you have firmly webbed with or so tightly embraced!

Mostly it’s hard to bear or sometimes it’s unable to bear when you loose a person that you have been tenderly attached to, than when you loose something inanimate.

For an example, think about the bond between your fiancé and you; you and your parent; you and your best buddy(s) and if you are married, think about the connection between you and your dear spouse…etc.

Don’t you get a nice cool feeling when you think? Yes, right? So that means you have a really tough interest-bearing certificate about your dearest ones. Be happy about that…you’ll have him or her when you have no one. Because the other person also has a good image about you and that’s why you got that ‘Wow’ feeling. Your comrade has a very close response to you.

But hey, although it would be hard, turn all I said into irony! Think of getting off from your loved ones. Think of being cornered or them being ____ you think! (NO!)

You sure will feel detached from everything and feel really…really sad, wouldn’t you? You he or she has played a bigger role in your life and now that person is gone and the space that you already had separated in you heart for that one would be nothing but a big hollow, vacant blank that could never be filled with anything other than the original, who deserves it.

So that’s why I say that even the sweetest thing can be turned bitter. Because the ones you love most would also be the ones to make you feel hurt and sad as you have never felt before.

So for you, to be a cure for your friends or your special friend(s)…please, be in touch for the sake of your life long, everlasting relationship or friendship!

Thanks!

Life

2006-08-15T23:30:00.001+05:30

Days and days we see them trail
Sweeping the souls that are earth bound
Swaging the least life of the left
But not the past that was decent

Diversity of Nations, Races and Believes
Are met with us in the midst of the curves
Hence the words ‘go’ ‘do’ and ‘stop’
Selves we sort intimate and spoiled

Sun flickers the sky when the Moon gets masked
Moon races the Sun and the Moon that wins
Nature of the life’s encircled as so
Life is to do sway with us

A Belitting Remark

2006-08-15T23:30:00.000+05:30

In front of me in my physics class there sat two boys at my age. Both were helping each other to take seats, drawing benches back and forth. The next moment the class began.

None of the two of them was listening to the teacher. So I had to give a pat to one of them, so as to make them concentrate on what was being taught. The names of the boys were unknown to me. So I name the tall guy as Ronald and the other one as…er…er… Sam.

Now you may remember, I gave one of them a pat and changed their focus. A few minutes later they came back to their own new chat. This time I did not do anything because there could have been something really important to talk and the other reason is that I have done the same thing so many times before! During my work, I did pay attention on them.

Ronald looked much fair in complexion than the other and also, he appeared a little bit smarter than Sam and had a well-built figure. Sam looked good as well but not as much as his friend. [No offense] This Sam guy was shorter than his friend too. As I beheld, two of them seemed like really close friends. None of the bystanders were their known pal. (Because two of them kept chatting only with each other all the time)

They were talking something clandestine pretending as if they were working really hard. Well…hardly they did but it was getting wane gradually. My friend Saranga who was sitting next to me did not know that I had become a spy! Because I also pretended as if I was working so hard too, nearly like a double agent! My mate was struggling with numbers, while I kept examining those two best friends…Ronald and Sam!

I saw them smiling, laughing, giving fives, embracing, and even bugging…which evoked the memories of the last few months of mine at school with those who I consider as true friends before I faced GCE O\Level exam.

Suddenly about one and half hour later, Sam, the short guy gave the other guy a palm full of slap which almost can not be called a slap, even. I wasn’t clear about that because I hardly saw it. Not knowing the exact reason for that, I just thought…

There can be so many reasons for such a sudden change

1. He cracked a joke

2. For retaliation

3. Quick temper.

What so ever the reason was, a deceitful slap is not a nice way even to revenge…not for an enemy at least!

Sam was kind of like knocked out at what he did. He was like “God, what the HECK did I do?” Because of the crucial slap he got from his so-called friend, Ronald became red and lowered and hid his face with his left hand, as if to cover it from the other guy, feeling ashamed of…his friend! But he never thought of revenge. That’s a really great quality.

Now just think, what would he do if someone not known to him gave the slap? Someone like you or me since he doesn’t consider any one of us as a friend. He surely would do something to gain defense, right? But this time he didn’t do anything…why?

Sam, who was Ronald’s best friend, kept saying awkwardly “I’m sorry……” all the time until the class ended up. But hence forth, I didn’t know of what happened to them. May be Ronald said “Never mind” or some thing. Please comment, what you would do if you were Ronald. Would you let you friendship die or let it rise back?

Via this true story I just wanted to convey the message – make a best friend for you if you still don’t have. Don’t make your soul to lack such an enchanting requirement. When you get to have one or more, I assure you that you surely will feel like you have everything even though you have no penny in your pocket. You will feel you are not alone. And also make sure that the one you will choose is not an Artful Dodger like for Oliver Twist. I’m telling you all this because I have become lucky to get that feel in this life of mine. If you have any problem with your fiancé or your mate, instead of driving up the wall, try refilling him or her with tendency. The more you incline, the more you deserve love, affection and respect! Try it for my word!

Thanks.

How people explain the meaning of the LIFE!

2006-08-09T22:32:00.000+05:30

Ranga Dematampitiya says,
"Life is a continuous pain in the _____. And then you die. Depending on
your religion, you repeat this process over and over again."

Yasiru Rathnayake says,
"Life can perhaps be defined as a by product of human thought. We entertain numerous variabilities with strict or flexible decisions throughout our being, it may be worth considering that this is indeed why we 'live', a concurrent reason for an apparent result. We may not as of yet discern whether life is continuous or discreet. The implications of discreet life are fascinating, it would explain our perception of time and may pave way for prolonged existence someday."

Themiya Nanayakkara says,
"Don't u have easy questions?
life is life. L I F E
4 letters
as Lord BUDDHA is unexplanable LIFE is unexplanable.
It's a gift for you earned by thyself to do something good for the whole universe.
use it wisely.
Help and Save followmen."

What Spike says...

2006-08-09T22:31:00.000+05:30

Friends are just like plants

2006-08-09T22:24:00.000+05:30

Friends are just like plants. If you don’t interact with plant as much as frequent as enough, plants tent to die. So it’s the same with friends. If you don’t say ‘Hi’ to them at least once for two or three days, they will fade away from you and the pleasant feelings in them about you will also begin to decay.

And after few days you wouldn’t be in their list of friends…well hardly you might be if he or she is so much tenderly attached to you. But there is a limit for everything!

Always try to help yourself to be in the list. Otherwise what your friend would think about you would be like, “I thought you are a good friend but it seems like you don’t have time at least to say ‘Hi’ or to show up or to send a message…Is this what we call a friend? Being disregarded? It seems like I’ve chosen the wrong person!”

Now let me tell you something, don’t mind how much hardship you will have to face, separate a few seconds for your friend because a friend is a person attached to you by respect or affection. Or in other way, a friend is someone with whom you are united in friendship!

Hope you read this short article and added something new to your soul. If anyone of you feels like, I’ve neglected you or I’ve no time for you as shown in this prose. Just leave a comment saying about that along with your name…please. Because, I don’t want to see those who like me being hurt.

Thanks.

Quiz - How Romantic Are You?

2006-08-09T22:12:00.000+05:30

Are you romantic too? Find out if you are in step with the sleepless trend, simply check out your rating here. First, open your Ms Notepad and type down the answers you choose according to the correct number of the question. Be honest to your self. This quiz is especially for those who are in love but it helps those who are not by knowing the way you will act.

1. If your partner hugs and kisses you in the public, do you feel,

a) Embarrassed

b) Thrilled

c) Pleased

2. If you watch a romantic movie like Sleepless in Seattle, in the cinema or on the TV, do you:

a) Enjoy a good cry

b) Shed an odd tear but do your best to hide it

c) Force yourself to be dry eyed regardless of how emotionally moved you might be

3. If your friends and family and all decide that they don’t like your new partner, how do you react?

a) Refuse to speak to them until they come around to your way of thinking

b) Pretend you are not doing but do it on the sly

c) Break off your relationship because your friends and family knows the best

4. Do you believe in love at first sight?

a) Yes

b) No

5. Do you work better when you are in love?

a) Yes

b) No

6. What is your idea of a perfect night-out?

a) A lovely party with loud music and crowds of people and lot of food

b) A sophisticated dinner party with good food and fine wine shared with a few close friends

c) An expensive and highly elaborated intimate candle-lit classic dinner for just two of you in a high rated

Hotel

7. Do you carry a photograph of your partner wherever you travel all the time?

a) Yes

b) No

8. Do you and your partner share a special piece of music and regard it as your song?

a) No

b) Yes

9. You are all set to go to a party when your partner turns up looking unwell and says he or she feels ill. Do you,

a) Sympathize and do what you can to help as well as offering to call off the party

b) Mutter “Typical” and add “I suppose this means that the party is off then?”

c) Say “You’ll feel much better once we get there and get into the mood of things

10. Letters and phone calls to your beloved are,

a) Filled with the latest news and gossip?

b) Filled with passion and sweet nothing

c) Packed with instructions of jobs that needs doing around the house or on the car

11. When it’s your partner’s birthday, what sort of present do you buy?

a) Anything you can lay your hands of five minutes before the shop closes

b) Something useful that will give good service

c) Something foolish but fun

12. What do you do with old love letters?

a) Burn them once they have been read

b) Thick them in a drawer and try forgetting them

c) Tie them in a ribbon and keep them hidden in a special place

13. How often do you tell your partner that you love him or her?

a) Once a day

b) Once a week

c) Once a year

d) Never. He or she knows it without being told

14. Can you tell me where you went and what you did on your first date together?

a) Yes, every little detail

b) Yes most of it

c) No way!

Marks Sheet.

Question No	Answer A	Answer B	Answer C	Answer D
1	01	04	03	-
2	04	02	00	-
3	03	02	01	-
4	00	03	-	-
5	03	01	-	-
6	01	02	03	-
7	03	00	-	-
8	00	03	-	-
9	03	01	02	-
10	01	04	00	-
11	01	02	04	-
12	01	02	04	-
13	04	03	01	00
14	04	03	01	-

Now find out what your scores reveals about you.

If you scored 33-45,

You are a true romantic in the classic Gone with the Wind and Sleepless in Seattle mould. Sensitive loyal and caring to a ridiculous degree. Romance always plays a big part in your life and your partner through rose colored specs. You will always enjoy the warm glow that comes from romance lived at this revel – but mind you don’t mind up being emotionally hurt!

If you scored 21-34,

Romance plays a part in your life but you don’t let it run away with you. It isn’t desperately essential ingredient for your happiness and satisfaction. You can be romantic when you feel like, without feeling vulnerable or embarrassed. In short you are average in the Sleepless slush stakes.

If you scored 8-20,

You are definitely not a romantic, new or old. You are almost certainly very practical and down to earth person who thinks that showing too much emotion is a weakness. Perhaps you are afraid of being hurt or swept along in a tide of feelings that will eventually be out of your control. You are certainly in no danger of being taken advantage of – but on the other hand you could be missing out on love and affection!

If you scored 0-8,

You better learn to add numbers! You’ve miscalculated! There can'

Glorious Shine upon me!

2006-08-04T23:19:00.000+05:30

Preluded the dews with the morning sun shine

As the friendship of us bosomed up.

My heart strung to the eldest tone

That rhymed an’ signed an’ stunned me up!

Rays of Sun through the shades of Clouds,

Contrastingly divined over the deep green minds.

Neither t’was on earth nor in rainbows

Could be in the heav’n and My Maker would have been asked.

Dust out of silver swung on upon we,

And Thee carved like an axe in each molecule.

Ra’in let it…let it wind. None would fail to pierce,

The only thin that WILL prevail is ma best ship pal!

Unforeseen strength and an unforeseen soothe

Charms on every blossom of bud.

Never has it ruined wen thou say ‘YES’.

Thou never turned! So Pal just…behold!

Rise of a relations.

2006-08-04T23:10:00.000+05:30

Preluded the dews with the morning sun shine

As the friendship of us bosomed up.

My heart strung to the eldest tone

That rhymed an’ signed an’ stunned me up!

Rays of Sun through the shades of Clouds,

Contrastingly divined over the deep green minds.

Neither t’was on earth nor in rainbows

Could be in the heav’n and My Maker would have been asked.

Dust out of silver swung on upon we,

And Thee carved like an axe in each molecule.

Ra’in let it…let it wind. None would fail to pierce,

The only thin that WILL prevail is ma best ship pal!

Unforeseen strength and an unforeseen soothe

Charms on every blossom of bud.

Never has it ruined wen thou say ‘YES’.

Thou never turned! So Pal just…behold!

2006-07-25T22:44:00.000+05:30

Bug! (A stupid sonnet-just for fun)

2006-07-25T22:38:00.000+05:30

Ow ow, yeah...it is for you
else who could bug me so severe?
Things were good but this was rad;
"Do I lov being hurt?", ha?

No much care neither do I cos
your nature, you shared with me.
That's your way, never bothered that
Cos you were my dear bunny-best-bud

Remember, how we cursed each one,
Binu had bin our server-like.
You said 'peace' and laughed after all while
Shade of hardship burst my visage.

Heart thumps fast when i get you in ma'mind.
But it's so BAD
You bit me HARD!!!!!

What is a true friend.

2006-07-22T23:50:00.000+05:30

In the dictionary, a friend is defined as an aquatence. To me a friend is someone who cherishes the special moments and memories of life with another person. A friend is a trustworthy companion. Friendship is a relationship which takes time to build. There are many steps and stages to achieving a true friendship. However, one can think building a friendship is like planting a garden. For many people, planting a garden represents, devotion and leisure. It takes patience to grow a garden, frustrations and hardships are also involved in the process. Firstly the seed is planted. The seed builds the foundation of a strong and stable plant. It has to be taken care of and watered daily. Then the shoots start sprouting, the plant is finally flourishing. One can see day by day the garden maturing. Then one day the garden starts to wilt, its dying. One has to tend to it and have the patience and determination to bring it back to life. It frustrates one to see the insects and predators preying on the beautiful garden that once existed. But hard work and devotion regains the gardens beauty and gives it life again. Soon a shoots blossom a bloom into beautiful flowers. The charm and divine beauty of the garden is a wonderful enlightening sight. Building a friendship has similar characteristics. One meets a person and plants the seed of friendship. The friendship b! uilds and continues to grow stronger. It requires devotion of time and patience to achieve peak communication between the two companions. The struggle to keep a solid friendship includes many obstacles and hardships. But compromising, devotion and the willingness to endure is bound to payoff in the end. As I once read It takes a long time to grow an old friendship. Friendship has its good and bad times. There comes a time when the relationship is just not working. It is preoccupied with disagreements and quarrels. It is on the verge of destruction. One must have the patience to deal with such frustrations. The willingness and determination to get the relationship working again come within. Compromising and persistence rebuilds the friendship and is once again reestablished. As I once read Be slow to fall into friendship, but when you are in, continue firm and constant. The friendship is blooming and is finally on its peak. Its great to have a strong and stable relationship which allows the two companions to share the joys and memories of life together. If building a friendship can be compared to planting a garden then perhaps some of its frustrations and problems can be better understood. The true meaning of friendship is achieved by understanding its relativity to planting a garden. A person who builds a friendship as planting a garden can overcome the obstacles of it very easily. T! he symbolism becomes clear and precise. Friendship and planting a garden can both be said as give and take. The more effort and persistence put into them the more stronger and everlasting happiness can be accomplished.

You feel, when you lost.

2006-06-25T23:50:00.000+05:30

I maybe out of your sight,
But I would never be out of your life.
I maybe out of your reach,
But I would never be out of your heart.
I may leave but you would never be forgotten.

I may leave this place and people whom I trust
But the memories of being in this place
Would always be with me.
I may start a new life in a new place
But then, I would always keep your memories.

I promise you I'll come back
And we'll continue the friendship we had.