Hey

Hey everyone. I won't be able to update with anything cool, interesting or major for a few days as I don't have a computer at the place I am staying, and so I won't be able to access the internet or anything until about Monday. I will update some more then! If you have a free moment, don't forget to check out my graphis section!!!

We won the SOTM!

Thank-you to everyone who voted for Aashni's Blog during the SOTM!! We managed to get first place, and a whole bunch of prizes. Eta is making/sending them to me, at the moment. Here is the banner that we got from her:

The other prizes are (copied straight from her email to me...):

You have won...
1. A special award! http://i25.tinypic.com/2dhi5xf.jpg
2. Link back buttons for your site, an 88x30 and an 88x15!
3. A special graphic request of your choice. (Choices are: Welcome sign, enter sign, hiatus sign, blend, or blinkie)
4. If you have a neopets account, 10,000 NP!
5. Partnership/Sister (Your choice) With Sensei Graphics.

Graphics Section to the blog?

Well, I am back into my graphics mood, at least for a little while anyway, and all the graphics I make, I will add to my new blog (Aashni's graphics) and you are more than welcome to use them!

Here are a few samples. The images have been scaled down, so click on them to see the full version.

To get the codes for these images, just click here.

RSS FEED

I have finally managed to get a properly? set up RSS feed system on my blog. If you enjoy reading these articles, and want to know when to come back for more, then simply subscribe to my feed! You can find the RSS feed options at the top of my Nav Bar! Hope you subscribe, and that you enjoy my site!

Graphics?

Well, I thought I might try m hand at one or two new graphics, since I haven't really done many of them lately...Here is something I did, and it only took my about three minutes to do.. If you guys like it, I can try and add some more to my blog. Anyone interested in this?

Get this image? Copy this code:

<a href="http://aashnisblog.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm233/aashnisblog/colorfulsmiley.gif" /></a>

So what do you think?

The perfect Slide?

Doesn't this boy look like he is having a bundle of fun on the worlds first perfect slide? I'm sure the end of the slide won't hurt too much, and the little boy doesn't seem to mind it too much. What about you? Would you ever go on this slide? Or would you reconsider, and maybe head on over to the kiddies playground again?

Spot The Faces

Here is an interesting picture. How many faces can you spot?

The most anyone has ever found in this is 22. How many can you find?

The world is going nuts!

I received a few images in an email recently, and thought that I should share them with you.

When pouring a drink for a couple, or in two different glasses, this unique jug allows you to serve them both at the same time. Perfect for a romantic restaurant when the waiter comes to serve you and your date a glass of wine.

The best type of light a boy could ever wish for! With this unique styled light, it "closes" allowing less light through its "petals", acting as a night light. It has a built in sensor, and so when your child wakes up in the morning, the petals open up, allowing more light to escape through with the result of a brightly lit room.

This crafty invention is useful for someone working with a busy schedule, who could forget to take the tea bag out of the cup before its to late. It has a timing device with will make the nose rise up, lifting the bag out of the tea cup. This makes the perfect cup of tea.

This strange invention is a two in one deal! You can have your searing hot tea inside the pot, and the heat that comes off it will be able to heat the bread, and turn it into toast. You won't need a toasting machine (or have to pay the electricity bills) ever again!

Ever heard of "singing in the shower"? Well, this sponge/microphone will let you do just that. As you enjoy your nice warm bath, you can hang onto the microphone, and sing to an imaginary audience!

With this kind of a chest, there's no need to grow up! Getting a shirt like this could fool just about any woman into thinking that you are older than you seem. Just make sure you don't have too many hairs on your chest!

Walking on a sunny day with your date when all of a sudden it starts to rain. This umbrella allows you to remain cute and cuddly with her, while avoiding the chance of getting wet!

Never really knew where to put my biscuits when drinking my tea. This cup has a littly dip in it, allowing you to store all your biscuits there as you drink your tea!

Taking a pitcure of you and your date has never been easier with this camera!

Its as if the tray was molded for your hand! Ever scared that you might fall while holding a tray, making you spill all the contents onto an unsuspecting victim? This tray reduces the risk of you spilling anything by having it molded into the shape of your hand!

Holding a glass has never been easier! Just follow the dents made in this glass, and you will know the trick forever!

What neat little inventions these are! If you have any, send them along and I can add them onto here.

New Layout!

Hey everyone! I thought that I should make a new layout, so here it is! I hope you like it! Please leave behind some comments on what you think about it so that I know if I should change it in any way. Your feedback is much appreciated!

Please Vote For Me!

Hey everyone. I will be a little busy over the next few days, but will try and add some stuff onto the site asap :)

If you have a second, and would like to do me a huge favor, then please vote for me in the following SOTM's:





All you need to do is click on the images to go to the page, click on Aashni's Blog, and then click on Submit! I will be really grateful if you do! Thanks a bunch in advance.

Also, if you have any suggestions for my blog, like things I should add, or stories I should tell, then please post a comment in the comments section, and I will try to add to the site as soon as possible. Someone suggested that I add graphics to the site. Do you like this idea? I might be going on holiday (away from my home and computer) for two months, so I might not be able to add too many graphics up here straight away, but I will definatley be able to start adding some up. Please put some input into this, and post you replies in the comments of this post. I will really appreciate it!

Soulja Boy Videos!

Ok. I know that i said I had exams and all, so I can't put too many things up until they are done (only a few more days for that!!! yay!!!) But I found these videos, and just HAD to pass them along! Most of you have heard of the song Soulja Boy, and if you haven't, then you are just really sad. Well, here are some very cool video remixes of the song, and there are many more! If you go to YouTube and type in Soulja Boy, you will find many more like this. If you find a really good one, why not post it here for us to see it as well. Anyway, here are two that I really like.

SpongeBob Squarepants version:

Winnie the Pooh Version:

Tasty human foods OR harmful animal treats!

Ever thought that if you give your dog a piece of chocolate, then nothing bad will happen? Or maybe a few nuts? Well, here are a list of foods that are BAD for your pet, and you should avoid giving them at all costs. If your pet does accidently digest them, then rush them to the vet immediately.

• Avacados
• Beer
• Nuts
• Chocolate
• Candy
• Caffeine
• Grapes and Raisins
• Onions
• Medicine

Bad Food

Avocados
They contain a toxic component called persin, which can damage heart, lung and other tissue in many animals. This fruit is very toxic to dogs, cats and most animals.

Beer
Alcoholic beverages can cause the same damage to an animal's liver and brain as they cause in humans. But the effects can be deadly on animals since they are much smaller than us. The smaller the animal, the more deadly the effects can be. Even a small amount of alcohol may cause vomiting and damage the liver and brain.

Nuts
Walnuts and macadamia nuts are especially toxic. Effects can be anything from vomiting to paralysis to death. Within 12 hours of eating the nuts, pets start to develop symptoms such as an inability to stand or walk, vomiting, hyperthermia (elevated body temperature), weakness, and an elevated heart rate. These symptoms can be even worse if your dog eats some chocolate with the nuts. The effect can cause kidney failure, often leading to death.

Chocolate
Chocolate contains theobromine, which can kill your pet if eaten in large quantities. Dark and unsweetened baking chocolates are especially dangerous. Giving your pup a piece of chocolate cake or even letting him lick the chocolate icing on the cake could cause him to become ill. Theobromine can also cause a dog or cat's heart to beat very rapidly or irregularly, which could result in death if the pet is exercising or overly active.

Candy
Candy or anything containing Xylitol (a common sweetener found in some diet products) can cause a sudden drop in an animal's blood sugar, loss of coordination and seizures. If left untreated, the animal could die.

Caffeine
Coffee, tea or any product that contains caffeine stimulates an animal's central nervous and cardiac systems. This can lead to restlessness, heart palpitations and death, depending on how much the animal consumes.

Grapes and raisins
Grapes and raisins can lead to kidney failure in dogs. As little as a single serving of raisins can kill them. And the effects are cumulative, which means that even if a dog eats just one or two grapes or raisins regularly, the toxin that builds in his system will eventually kill him.

Onions
Onions are another common food that can be highly toxic to pets. They can destroy an animal's red blood cells and lead to anemia, weakness and breathing difficulties. Their effects are also cumulative over time.

Medicine
Hide medicine from your pets just like you would from your children. The most common cause of pet poisoning is from animals ingesting a medicine or drug normally prescribed for humans.

And this is not just because furry pals are getting into their pet parent's medicine cabinets. In many cases, pet owners give their feline and canine friends an over-the-counter medication to ease an animal's pain. But acetaminophen and ibuprofen, the active ingredients in many common pain relievers, are extremely toxic to dogs and cats. They can cause gastric ulcers, liver damage, kidney failure and sometimes death.

Good news foods

These foods are ok for your pet to take, but make sure they are taken in moderation, and if your pet seems to react at any point, you should consult a veterinarian as soon as possible.

• Lean Meats
• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Baked Potatoes
• Bread
• Rice and Pasta

Lean meats
Any cooked lean meat should be fine for most dogs. High-fat meats, chicken skin and fat from steaks or roasts are not recommended. Ingestion may lead to gastrointestinal upset or even pancreatitis. This can be a very painful condition for dogs. In addition, most companion animals do not need extra fat in their diets. Never give your pet meat with the bone in it. Animals can choke on the bones, and they can splinter as well.

Vegetables
Carrot sticks, green beans, cucumber slices and zucchini slices are all OK.
It's a jungle out there!

Fruit
Apple slices, orange slices, bananas and watermelon are all OK. Make sure the seeds have been taken out; seeds are not good for your pet!

Baked potatoes
Plain baked potatoes are fine, but make sure they are cooked — no unripe potatoes or potato plants.

Bread
Plain cooked bread is fine; just make sure there are no nuts or raisins added.

Rice and pasta
Plain, cooked pasta and white rice are OK. Often veterinarians recommend plain rice with some boiled chicken when gastrointestinal upset is present.

Have something missing from this list? Please tell us so that I can add it onto here as soon as possible. I got this list from here.

VOTE FOR US!

Hey everyone! Lifzfun, one of our proud affies are having an SOTM and I was hoping that you could vote for us. All you have to do is click on the banner below, and then choose the option that has Aashni's Blog written next to it. I will be really grateful! Thanks.

Yay! Another Award! and an upcoming Agony Aunt site?

Hey everyone! We got another award from Sensai Graphics. Isn't it cute?

Also, there is an up and coming Agony Aunt blog site that you should definatley check out! Here is the link. If you have any types of problems, visit the site, and see what they can do for you!

Uni-Motorbikist.. WTH??

Ok, so I have heard of motor-bikists, cyclists, and even the odd uni-cyclist here or there, but I have never heard of a uno - motorbikist, have you? Well, some genius person decided to make one, and I think its just crazy! Would you ever ride one if you had the chance? Consider these things:

1. You need serious balance so that you won't fall flat onto your face...
2. Normal motor-biking is pretty dangerous, but what happens when we take it up a notch, and turn it to extreme biking?
3. You must be completley insane!

22 Man Fooseball!

I don't know about you guys, but I love to play fooseball with my friends. Normally we have two people on each team, and play until we win, and then we swap partners, to give everyone a chance to play. Well, some crazy people have decided to do things a little differently! They have created a 22 man fooseball table, allowing 22 different people to play at the same time! Won't that be a lot of fun? Here are some pictures for proof. 

COCA COLA

Well everyone, what do you think about this picture? It is showing the different types of bottles that Coca Cola^TM have designed over the years. Which is your favorite style?

What would you like?

Hey! So, I am not sure what you would like me to write about. Please comment on this post, and give your opinion of what you want me to post about, and I will try and write up about it. It can be just about any kind of topic, and if possible, make it as spcific as you can - movie reviews (which movie), current news, celeb gossip, or something else all together. Please comment on this post, and tell me what you would like me to post about.

Thanks.

Through a Rapist's Eyes

This is an email I got a while back. A lot of you might have it as well, but due to the last post I wrote (73 year old man kidnapped and raped his daughter), I thought that I should put it up here for all women to read.

A group of rapists and date rapists in prison were interviewed on what they look for in a potential victim and here are some interesting facts:

1) The first thing men look for in a potential victim is hairstyle. They are most likely to go after a woman with a ponytail, bun, braid or other hairstyle that can easily be grabbed . They are also likely to go after a woman with long hair . Women with short hair are not common targets.

2) The second thing men look for is clothing . They will look for women who's clothing is easy to remove quickly . Many of them carry scissors around specifically to cut clothing.

3) They also look for women on their cell phone , searching through their purse, or doing other activities while walking because they are off-guard and can be easily overpowered.

4) Men are most likely to attack & rape in the early morning, between 5:00a.m. and 8:30a.m.

5) The number one place women are abducted from/attacked is grocery store parking lots . Number two: is office parking lots/garages. Number three: is public restrooms.

6) The thing about these men is that they are looking to grab a woman and quickly move her to another location where they don't have to worry about getting caught.

7) O nly 2% said they carried weapons because rape carries a 3-5 year sentence but rape with a weapon is 15-20 years.

8) If you put up any kind of a fight at all, they get discouraged because it only takes a minute or two for them to realize that going after you isn't worth it because it will be time-consuming.

9) These men said they would not pick on women who have umbrellas , or other similar objects that can be used from a distance, in their hands. Keys are not a deterrent because you have to get really close to the attacker to use them as a weapon. So, the idea is to convince these guys

you're not worth it.

10) Several defense mechanisms he taught us are: If someone is following behind you on a street or in a garage or with you in an elevator or stairwell, look them in the face and ask them a question , like what time is it, or make general small talk: 'I can't believe it is so cold out here,' 'we're in for a bad winter.' Now you've seen their face and could identify

them in a line-up; you lose appeal as a target.

11) If someone is coming toward you , hold out your hands in front of you and yell STOP or STAY BACK! Most of the rapists this man talked to said they'd leave a woman alone if she yelled or showed that she would not be afraid to fight back .

Again, they are looking for an EASY target.

12) If you carry pepper spray (this instructor was a huge advocate of it and carries it with him wherever he goes) , yell I HAVE PEPPER SPRAY and holding it out will be a deterrent.

13) If someone grabs you , you can't beat them with strength but you can by outsmarting them If you are grabbed around the waist from behind, pinch the attacker either under the arm (between the elbow and armpit) OR in the upper inner thigh VERY VERY HARD . One woman in a class this guy taught told him she used the underarm pinch on a guy who was trying to date rape her and was so upset she broke through the skin and tore out muscle strands - the guy needed stitches. Try pinching yourself in those places as hard as you can stand it - it hurts.

14) After the initial hit, always GO for the GROIN . I know from a particularly unfortunate experience that if you slap a guy's parts it is extremely painful . You might think that you'll anger the guy and make him want to hurt you more, but the thing these rapists told our instructor is that they want a woman who will not cause a lot of trouble. Start causing trouble and he's out of there.

15) When the guy puts his hands up to you , grab his first two fingers and bend them back as far as possible with as much pressure pushing down on them as possible . The instructor did it to me without using much pressure, and I ended up on my knees and both knuckles cracke audibly.

16) Of course the things we always hear still apply. Always be aware of your surroundings , take someone with you if you can and if you see any odd behavior, don't dismiss it, go with your instincts!!!

You may feel a little silly at the time, but you'd feel much worse if the guy really was trouble.

1 . Tip from Tae Kwon Do : The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do!

2. Learned this from a tourist guide in New Orleans . If a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM . Toss it away from you....chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you, and he will go for the wallet/purse. RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!

3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car, kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy. The driver won't see you, but everybody else will. This has saved lives.

4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc.) DON'T DO THIS! The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go.

AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR CAR, LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE. a. If someone is in the car with a gun to your head DO NOT DRIVE OFF, repeat: DO NOT DRIVE OFF! Instead gun the engine and speed into anything, wrecking the car. Your Air Bag will save you. If the person is in the back seat they will get the worst of it. As soon as the car crashes ba il out and run. It is better than having them find your body in a remote location.

5 A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot or parking garage:

A.) Be aware: look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side floor, and in the back seat.

B.) If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.

C.) Look at the car parked on the driver's side of your vehicle, and the passenger side. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out.

IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)

6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs. (Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot. This is especially true at NIGHT!)

7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS RUN! The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times. And even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN, preferably in a zigzag pattern!

8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: STOP! It may get you raped or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well-educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked 'for help' into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.

9. Another Safety Point: Someone just told me that her friend heard a crying baby on her porch the night before last, and she called the police because it was late and she thought it was weird. The police told her 'Whatever you do, DO NOT open the door.'

The lady then said that it sounded like the baby had crawled near a window, and she was worried that it would crawl to the street and get run over. The policeman said, 'We already have a unit on the way, whatever you do, DO NOT open the door.' He told her that they think a serial killer has a baby's cry recorded and uses it to coax women out of their homes thinking that someone dropped off a baby. He said they have not verified it , but have had several calls by women saying that they hear baby's cries outside their doors when they're home alone at night.

Please pass this on and DO NOT open the door for a crying baby ----This should be taken seriously because the Crying Baby theory was mentioned on America's Most Wanted this past Saturday when they profiled the serial killer in Louisiana.

What do you think? Have any other helpful tips for me to add onto here? They could save someone's life, so why not read them, and pass them on to a friend.

73 Year old man kidnapped and raped own daughter

This story has been circulating the news for the past few days. It is extremly sad, and hard to believe that the 73 year old man could actually commit such a heanous act. I hope that nothing like this ever happens again. Below is a copy of the story taken from CNN NEWS. Please leave your comments about this inhumane action.

73-year old Josef Fritzl taken into custody.

Photo of Elisabeth Fritzl, seen before she wen't missing 24 years ago.

AMSTETTEN, Austria (CNN) -- A 73-year-old man accused of holding his daughter captive underground for 24 years often spent entire days and nights in the cellar where he kept a secret family imprisoned, his sister-in law said in an interview published Thursday.

Police say Josef Fritzl confessed to keeping his daughter Elisabeth in his basement for 24 years, where he repeatedly raped her and fathered seven children with her -- six of whom survived.

"Every day at nine in the morning Joseph would go into the cellar. He said he was drawing engineering plans that he would sell to companies," Fritzl's sister-in-law -- identified as Christine R. as told Austria's Oesterreich newspaper.

"Often he would stay there all night" and his wife was not even allowed to bring him coffee, said the woman that the newspaper identified as Christine R. She is the sister of Fritzl's wife.

Austrian authorities said the imprisoned children, who for years had not seen the light of day, were slowly adapting to sunlight. Officials also debunked reports in a few British newspapers that some of the children could not walk or speak in sentences.

The story of the family's imprisonment began to unravel a week ago, when Elisabeth Fritzl's oldest daughter, Kerstin Fritzl, fell seriously ill with convulsions and was hospitalized.

The 19-year-old girl, who was locked in the basement along with her mother and two brothers, remains in an artificially-induced coma in an Amstetten clinic. She is suffering from a kidney ailment that worsened because she did not receive medial treatment sooner, authorities said.

"We cannot expect any dramatic changes in her condition in next few days," Dr. Albert Reiter said. "We will make every effort to help as best as we can, perhaps in a few weeks we hope some positive change for the better."

Fritzl has yet to be charged, but he can be held by police for 14 days without formal charges while the investigation is under way. That amount of time can be extended by a judge.

A spokesman for the prosecution, Gerhard Sedlacek, said Fritzl had stopped talking to police since making his initial confession. Investigators intend to begin questioning him again next week, Sedlacek said.

Austrian police spokesman Franz Polzer said the investigation would likely last a couple of months. Police plan to interview at least 100 people who lived in the same apartment building as the Fritzls over the past 24 years.

"Investigation officials will go back as far as they can in order to discover what his behavior and actions were at that time ... but it is not very easy to reconstruct 24 years," Polzer said.

Authorities are also looking into media reports that Fritzl may have had a prior rape conviction in the 1960s, but have no information because criminal records are expunged after a certain number of years under Austrian law.

However, Austrian police spokesman Franz Polzer denied reports that authorities were looking into Fritzl's ties to the unsolved murder of a young woman more than 20 years ago.

During the time Fritzl owned a hotel and restaurant at a lake in Austria, a woman was found murdered at the other end of that lake, Polzer said.

Police are aware of the media reports and may investigate possible links in the future, but at this time, Polzer said, there is no investigation.

The investigation will also examine whether any accomplices were involved in the case after police revealed they had received an anonymous tip-off that Fritzl had imprisoned his daughter. But Polzer said there were "neither technical nor biological traces of any other person in cellar" other than Fritzl.

On Sunday, Elisabeth and her two sons, ages 18 and 5, met the three children who were raised by Josef and Rosemarie Fritzl, unaware that their mother and siblings were kept prisoners in the basement.

"It is astonishing how easy it worked, that the children came together and also it was astonishing how easy it happened that the grandmother and the mother came together," clinic director Berthold Kepplinger told reporters Tuesday.

Authorities are looking into the possibility of giving new identities to the Fritzl family. District Governor Hans Heinz Lenze said Tuesday that the Fritzl name had been "muddied" by the case.

On Wednesday, a German tabloid released video of Fritzl, laughing on a Thai beach and receiving a massage -- apparently as his daughter and three of their children remained locked up in his basement.

The newspaper Bild posted the video on its Web site, and said it was taken and provided to the newspaper by Fritzl's friend, a retiree from Munich.

---

Timeline

1977: Elisabeth Fritzl claims she was first abused by her father Josef when aged 11.

1984: Elisabeth is allegedly lured into house cellar, drugged and handcuffed by her father. She is forced to write letters saying she has run away.

1988: Her first child, Kerstin, is born.

1989: Elisabeth gives birth to her first son, Stefan.

1993: Nine-month-old Lisa is left on the doorstep of the Fritzl house.

1994: Another child, Monika, arrives and is adopted by the Fritzls.

1996: Elisabeth gives birth to twins, but one dies after three days. Josef allegedly burned the body.

1997: Alexander, the surviving twin, joins the children upstairs.

2003: A letter from Elisabeth arrives saying she had a second son, Felix, the previous year. He is raised in the cellar.

2008:

April 19: Kerstin is taken to that hospital after falling serious ill. Doctors discover that her grandfather is her father.

April 20-27: Josef releases Elisabeth, Stefan and Felix and tells his wife they are returning.

April 26: Police pick up Josef and Elisabeth near the hospital where Kerstin is being treated.

April 27: Josef admits his guilt after Elisabeth's statement.

April 28: Police search house and discover cramped cellar with special security door.

April 29: Josef appears in court.

Fritzl had told his wife that Elisabeth, who is now 42, ran away from home aged 18, police say. The Fritzls adopted three of the children who Josef said were left on his doorstep as infants by his runaway daughter. Fritzl has confessed to incinerating the body of the infant that did not survive, according to police

Friendship

Friends. A word that you use on a daily basis. You are surrounded by them, and you have some that you dont even know about! But what exactly are friends?

Friends are the family you choose for yourself, a famouse quote that is written across one of my hot chocolate mugs! But what does this mean?

Family are the people that you are stuck seeing everyday. You can never truly run away from them, and are bound to have fights and quarels with them (especially your annoying younger siblings!!!) But you still love them. Friends are the people that you get to choose to see and talk to everyday. They are the people you choose to surround yourself with, and they are the people that your rely on to help you when you are stuck, and to trust you no matter what.

If you have a good friend, do whatever it takes to hold onto them, and show them that they mean the world to you! Show them that you are really happy that you guys are friends, and when the going gets tough...Remember the good times, and get through them! If you have a really close friend, keep them as close as possible, because if they ever leave, you will miss them...

To all of my great friends out there, just wanna say thank-you for being such good friends, keeping up with all my "crap" and staying by me when the going went tough...Just wanna say that i love you guys, and you mean the world to me!!!

Facebook - Watch Out!!!

Warning! There are some facebook hackers about. My account, as well as a couple of my friends accounts have been hacked into. It might have something to do with us being careless, and logging on from random computers in school or something, but still. A lot of bad things happened because someone hacked into my facebook account.


When you finish using your facebook (no matter where it is) make sure that you log out of it properly. Dont save your password, unless its your computer, and even then it still isn't a wise choice.
Check and change your password regulary, this makes it harder for someone to guess your password, and try and make it complex, using numbers as well as letters.
Check your email address. The person who hacked into my account had changed the email address. Fortunatly whoever it was hadnt changed my password yet, and I managed to change the email back. You might be thinking why is this important, but if the hacker changed your email and password, then you would have no way of getting your account back.

I hope none of your accounts get hacked into! Just thought that I should warn you guys - when mine got hacked, it made me and a few people fight (because things were being said about the hacker, and msg's were being sent by the hacker to my friends, as if they were from me), and it was just really bad.

One Universal Language

Well, a few weeks ago (ok, maybe it was a week and a half ago) our school had a Speech competition, and everyone had to take part in the first few rounds... I some how made it throught to the finals (even though i didnt win). There were only three people for each grade group. I chose the topic One Universal Language, and managed to say the speech without too many mistakes. Here is a copy of my speech (even though I might have changed a couple of the lines and stuff while I spoke...) Please leave some feedback as to what you thought about it. Thank-you.

**It has the bibliography and parenthetical references...just ignore the stuff in the brackets if they dont make any sense... **

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Bonjour, Ciao, Angyong, Kemcho, Hola, Jambo, Saluton, Hello. What are these you may ask? Well, they are all the same greeting said in different languages. But why do we have so many languages? Why can’t we all just talk in one language? Does it make us cooler to talk in all these different languages? The definition of language is “communication by voice in the distinctively human manner, using arbitrary sounds in conventional ways with conventional meanings;” (Language – Definition from dictionary). Language is supposed to aide communication, not complicate it. So there should only be one language that we speak in, making the communication aspect of this easier.

This speech is being spoken in English, but what if I were to speak in Kiswahili? Una fahamu wile ame aleziwa? Maybe a little French? comprenez-vous ce que je dis ? Or maybe gujurati? Thune Kuburche hu su keyuchu? Unless you already knew these languages, you would have no idea what I was trying to say. I just asked, in all three languages, Do you understand what I am saying?

There was actually an attempt at creating a Universal Language. L.L. Zamenhof, later known as Dr. Esperanto, spent many years creating the artificial language of Esperanto (Harold, Donald J.). He learned the rules and laws of many European languages, like French, Spanish, English, German or Italian, and then had to understand the common roots in order to create newer versions of the words for Esperanto. This took many years of research, but eventually he was done. In Esperanto, Esperanto means “One with Hope” (Harold, Donald J.). This was a good way to describe Dr. Esperanto, as he was a hopeful man in believing that everyone would pick up on his idea for Esperanto, the Universal Language (Harold, Donald J.). Unfortunately, he was wrong. The idea of this language did not pick up as well as hoped, and only a mere two million actually speak the language (Harold, Donald J). Esperanto failed because by the time it had been created, many schools were being taught in English, or the native language in that region (Harold, Donald J.). The two most common languages are English and Chinese Mandarin, with more than a billion speakers for each, and so it was impossible for Esperanto to compete with them.

But where did all these different languages come from? No one is sure, but there is a very interesting bible story. It is called the “Towers of Babel” (Tower of Babel – Genesis 11). Many of God’s people were gathered at one place, and so they all started to talk, and through talking with one another, they came up with the decision to build a tower that was high enough to reach god, and where he stayed (Tower of Babel – Genesis 11).. God came down to see the tower, and thought that if these people could build a tower because they could speak the same language, then they could do anything they want, because they can speak the same language (Tower of Babel – Genesis 11).. God didn’t like the idea of them being able to do whatever they wanted, and so he gave each and every one of them a different language, and put them in their own part of the world to live in (Tower of Babel – Genesis 11).. This is just one theory as to why there are so many different languages in the world. Another theory is that because many people lived in different locations, they had to learn how to communicate in their own way (Tower of Babel – Genesis 11).. Because they didn’t have Internet, or telephones at this time, and so they had no idea what other people were saying (Tower of Babel – Genesis 11).

This obviously led to problems in the later years. Once people started to interact, there were many communication problems. People had different meanings for different words, and sometimes when they tried to say something nice, they would be insulting another tribe, and vice-versa. A good example of this is when Bob wanted some eggs in Nairobi. He went to the kiosk down the road, and asked for some. Here I should mention that Bob speaks English, and no Kiswahili, while Mwangi (the man who runs the kiosk) only speaks Kiswahili. Bob went up to Mwangi and asked “Please can I have some eggs?” Mwangi had no idea what he was saying, and so ignored Bob. Bob kept asking Mwangi for some eggs, and after half an hour of trying, he gave up and went home. The next day he came back and asked for eggs. Again Mwangi didn’t understand what he was saying, and ignored him. The next day, Bob decided to try shouting at Mwangi, and Mwangi did not appreciate this. He punched Bob in the eye, and then laughed at him. In all of Bob’s pain, he could only shout out “My Eye! My Eye!”. In Kiswahili, “Mayai” means eggs. Mwangi then said “Oh, na taka mayai?” and gave him some eggs.

What do you think? Wouldn’t it just be easier if we had one language, instead of the thousands that we currently do? If we could all speak the same language, and not have any problems with communication. Everyone could be understood, and like Bob, no unnecessary pain will have to be felt. Dr. Esperanto had a great idea of trying to create a universal language for all of mankind to communicate in. Unfortunately his plan did not work as the leading languages were English and Chinese Mandarin with more than one billion people speaking each of them (KryssTal). Compare this to the world’s total population of six billion, and you can see that the numbers are very high. There is still a long way to go if the whole world were to adopt one universal language, and now the ultimate question, is this possible in our lifetime?

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So...honestly, tell me what you thought about my speech.

AWARD :)

Hey everyone... Sorry for the momentary lapse of posting...

We got an award from our proud affie Kristy from Glamo Designs! Here it is:

Hopefully I will be able to post masses of messages again :) Thanks to all the people who kept on checking back on my blog :)

Hilarious Funny Falls Videos

Here are some hilarious Funny Fall Videos that you MUST watch

Here is another

And here is the third...

New Celeb Gossip Place

Hey...Since I want to add a lot of celeb gossip, as well as other stuff, I decided to have a celeb gossip blog...it's not got a lot of stuff atm...but its there, and its waiting to be read...have a look at what some of our crazy friends are up to!

Here is the link to my Celeb Blog

Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz are engaged!

This is from her official site:

"We know there had been a lot of speculation recently about Pete and I, and we wanted our fans to be the first to know, because you guys are the best. Yes, we are thrilled to share that we are happily engaged. Thank you for all of your support and well wishes - it means the world to us. We consider this to be a very private matter, and we wanted to be the first to tell you and to hear it straight from us."

How sweet!

Ashlee Simpson and her Fall Out Boy boyfriend Pete Wentz have finally agreed to get married. Pete Wentz proposed to Ashlee right after his Live Earth Performance in New Jersey, and Ashlee immediatley said yes. Ashlee learnt from her older sister Jessica's mistakes for her not to let people know about their wedding until the last possible minute. This will allow the happy couple to keep their wedding from turning into a circus freekshow, like her sisters unfortunatley did.

Chuck Norris

Ok, this is a rather short post about Chuck Norris. If you visit Google.com and type in Find Chuck Norris, and then click on "I'm Feeling Lucky". It won't let you. I have no idea why, but it just won't. Instead, you get a message saying:

Google won't search for Chuck Norris because it knows you don't find Chuck Norris, he finds you. No standard web pages containing all your search terms were found. Your search - Chuck Norris - did not match any documents. Suggestions: Run, before he finds you Try a different person

Apparently some clever guy managed to work the I'm feeling lucky search for Chuck Norris to lead to this page, but hasn't figured out how to get it to work for the actual google search engine. Have any more like this? Add them into the comments section.

Here are some screenshots of it.

Mathematitious

Ok, so I was just having a browse at YouTube (not really sure why, but hey), and I found this video. It is HILARIOUS! You have to watch it when you get a chance.

This is the link in case it doesn't appear above.

It is a parody of Fergie's song Fergalicious, and a very good one at that. It has been made into a geeky math redo. It is really funny to watch. Post a comment, and tell me what you thought about it!

A poem I wrote

Here is a poem I wrote. I didn't spend that much time on it, but it's here nonetheless. Tell me what you think about it :)

These Feelings

These feelings I have for you
They're impossible to describe
As impossible as the moon outshining the sun during the day
And the sun beaming light down to us at night

No one can explain this impossible feeling to me
They all say that you know when you are in love
And you'll know who the right person is
Even if they seem wrong at the begining

The feeling of love is when you can plead complete insanity
While testifying for why you were killing to get his attention
To see him stare at you with his eyes
And feel his love right beside you

Describing it in one word is as hard as describing it with many
You could write a love song on how you feel
But keep changing it because deep down you know
That there is no way to write how you feel

By Aashni S

Tell me what you think about it, and if I should try and write some more poems...

16 Worst Place to...

The 16 worst places to stash your stuff

1. The worst place for your toothbrush: on the bathroom sink
2. The worst place to set your handbag: the kitchen counter
3. The worst place for your sneakers and flip-flops: in the bedroom closet
4. The worst place to try to fall asleep: under piles of blankets
5. The worst place to cool leftovers: in the refrigerator
6. The worst stall to pick in a public restroom: the one in the middle
7. The worst place for a workout reminder: stuck on your post-it laden fridge
8. The worst place to sit on an airplane: the rear
9. The worst place to pick up a prescription: the pharmacy drive-thru
10. The worst place to stand during your first few fitness classes: front and center
11. The worst place for a nighttime reading light: overhead
12. The worst place to keep medicine: the medicine cabinet
13. The worst place to set fruit before washing it: the kitchen sink
14. The worst place to use earbuds or headphones: on an airplane, train, or subway
15. The worst place for your TV: wherever you dine

The worst place for your toothbrush: on the bathroom sink
There's nothing wrong with the sink itself — but it's awfully chummy with the toilet. There are 3.2 million microbes per square inch in the average toilet bowl, according to germ expert Chuck Gerba, PhD, a professor of environmental microbiology at the University of Arizona. When you flush, aerosolized toilet funk is propelled as far as 6 feet, settling on the floor, the sink, and your toothbrush. "Unless you like rinsing with toilet water, keep your toothbrush behind closed doors — in the medicine cabinet or a nearby cupboard," Gerba says.

The worst place to set your handbag: the kitchen counter
Your fancy handbag is a major tote for microbes: Gerba and his team's swabs showed up to 10,000 bacteria per square inch on purse bottoms — and a third of the bags tested positive for fecal bacteria! A woman's carryall gets parked in some nasty spots: on the floor of the bus, beneath the restaurant table — even on the floor of a public bathroom. Put your bag in a drawer or on a chair, Gerba says — anywhere except where food is prepared or eaten.

The worst place for your sneakers and flip-flops: in the bedroom closet
Walking through your house in shoes you wear outside is a great way to track in allergens and contaminants. A 1999 study found that lawn chemicals were tracked inside the house for a full week after application, concentrated along the traffic route from the entryway. Shoes also carry in pollen and other allergens. Reduce exposure by slipping off rough-and-tumble shoes by the door; store them in a basket or under an entryway bench. If your pumps stay off the lawn, they can make the trip to the bedroom — otherwise, carry them.

The worst place to try to fall asleep: under piles of blankets
Being overheated can keep you from nodding off, researchers say: A natural nighttime drop in your core temperature triggers your body to get drowsy. To ease your way to sleep, help your body radiate heat from your hands and feet, says Helen Burgess, PhD, assistant director of the Biological Rhythms Research Laboratory at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Don socks to dilate the blood vessels in the extremities — then take the socks off and let a foot stick out from under the blankets.

The worst place to cool leftovers: in the refrigerator
Placing a big pot of hot edibles directly into the fridge is a recipe for uneven cooling and possibly food poisoning, says O. Peter Snyder Jr., PhD, president of the Hospitality Institute of Technology and Management in St. Paul, MN. The reason: It can take a long time for the temperature in the middle of a big container to drop, creating a cozy environment for bacteria. You can safely leave food to cool on the counter for up to an hour after cooking, Snyder says. Or divvy up hot food into smaller containers and then refrigerate — it'll cool faster.

The worst stall to pick in a public restroom: the one in the middle
The center stall has more bacteria than those on either end, according to unpublished data collected by Gerba. No, you won't catch an STD from a toilet seat. But you can contract all manner of ills if you touch a germy toilet handle and then neglect to wash your hands thoroughly.

The worst place for a workout reminder: stuck on your post-it laden fridge
A visual nudge can help — but only if you notice it, says Paddy Ekkekakis, PhD, an exercise psychologist at Iowa State University. In one study, a sign urging people to use the stairs rather than the nearby escalator increased the number of people who climbed on foot by nearly 200 percent. Put your prompt near a decision point, Ekkekakis says — keep your pile of Pilates DVDs next to the TV; put a sticky note on your steering wheel to make sure you get to your after-work kickboxing class. Just remember: The boost you get from a reminder is usually short-term, so change the visuals often.

The worst place to sit on an airplane: the rear
Avoid this section if you're prone to airsickness, says retired United Airlines pilot Meryl Getline, who operates the aviation Web site fromthecockpit.com. "Think of a seesaw," Getline says. "The farther from the center you are, the more up-and-down movement you experience." Because the tail of the plane tends to be longer than the front, "that's the bumpiest of all," she says. "The smoothest option is sitting as close to the wing as you can."

The worst place to pick up a prescription: the pharmacy drive-thru
In a survey of 429 pharmacists, respondents ranked drive-thru windows high among distracting factors that can lead to prescription processing delays and errors, says survey author Sheryl Szeinbach, PhD, professor of pharmacy practice and administration at Ohio State University. If you don't want to give up the convenience of a rolling pickup, be sure to check that both drug and dose are what the doctor ordered.

The worst place to stand during your first few fitness classes: front and center
You might think that you'd want to be near the mirrors so you can check your form, but your sweat session will be more motivating if your view is obstructed, suggests a 2003 study at McMasters University. In that research, 58 sedentary women all exercised at similar intensity levels. But those who did it in a mirrored room reported feeling more anxious about their body's imperfections after their workout than women who sweated without mirrors distracting them.

The worst place for a nighttime reading light: overhead
These fixtures put out relatively bright light — enough to significantly delay the body's secretion of melatonin, showed a 2000 study. That can wreck your night, since rising melatonin levels are a major cue for your body to prepare for sleep. A low-power light clipped to your novel will let you read but leave the room dark enough for your brain to transition into sleep mode. Try the LightWedge ($25 to $35; lightwedge.com) or the "Itty Bitty" Slim Book Light ($40; zelco.com).

The worst place to keep medicine: the medicine cabinet
It's not uncommon for the temp in a steamy bathroom to reach 100°F — well above the recommended storage temperatures for many common drugs. The cutoff for the popular cholesterol drug Lipitor, for instance, is around 77°F. To stay out of the red zone, store your meds in a cool, dry place, such as the pantry.

The worst place to set fruit before washing it: the kitchen sink
Of all the household germ depots, the kitchen sink sees the most bacterial traffic — even more than the toilet, says Kelly Reynolds, PhD, a professor and environmental microbiologist at the University of Arizona. If the perfect berry drops while you're washing it, pop it in the trash — not your mouth.

The worst place to use earbuds or headphones: on an airplane, train, or subway
Sure, music's a better traveling companion than your seatmate's cell phone conversation. But studies show that if you listen through a headset in a noisy environment, you probably crank the volume too high. Harvard researchers found that in reasonably quiet surroundings, volunteers tended to keep the volume at an ear-friendly level. But when the researchers added background noise — the loud rumble of an airplane cabin — 80 percent boosted the volume as high as 89 decibels, a level that risks long-term hearing damage. If you must have music, consider noise-canceling headphones — only 20 percent of listeners in the study who used a set got close to the danger zone. Two good options: Sony MDR-EX51LP ($40; sonystyle.com) and Etymotic Research ER-6i ($149; etymotic.com).

The worst place for your coffee: the refrigerator or freezer
Think that you're preserving freshness by stashing it in the fridge? Think again. Every time you take it out of the fridge or freezer, you expose it to fluctuating temperatures, which produces condensation. "The moisture leeches out flavor — it's like brewing a cup of coffee each time," says John McGregor, PhD, a professor in the department of food science and human nutrition at Clemson University. The best spot to store beans or grounds: in an opaque, airtight container kept on the counter or in the pantry.

The worst place for your TV: wherever you dine
Studies show that distraction is your waistline's enemy — it can keep you from noticing how much you're eating. In a 2006 study, volunteers ate faster when watching TV than while listening to music — consuming 71 percent more macaroni and cheese when watching a show. If you have the tube on while cooking, turn it off before dinner at the kitchen table, and avoid being tempted into eating in front of the TV in the living room. The best place for your television: up or down a flight of stairs, so you have to "work" to get a snack — you'll be much less likely to munch.

Picked up this article from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23727879/ and thought that it was very interesting. What do you think? Any good? Have something else to add onto the list?

Tree Man - Half Man, Half Tree

I found this article on the internet. Its really interesting, and very sad. Go to the site to have a look at the pictures if you would like to.

The Man Who Turned into a Tree

by Sara on November 14th, 2007

tree man

A 35-year-old Indonesian man named Dede suffered a simple cut as a teenager and thereafter began growing tree-like warts all over his body. The warts soon worsened into mossy, branching growths, virtually incapacitating him. His wife left him, he was out of a job, and he was made the village freak. Doctors could never figure out what Dede’s condition was, and the growths worsened with each passing year. It wasn’t until an American dermatologist traveled to see Dede’s odd growths and cutaneous horns that the proper diagnosis was made: Dede was simply suffering from HPV, or human papilloma virus. HPV causes warts (frequently of the genital variety) and is quite common in humans. Unfortunately for Dede, he happens to have a rare genetic flaw that causes his immune system to be as weak as someone with AIDS. The chances of this genetic fault? Less than one in a million. Fortunately for Dede, proper treatment and several surgeries offer the promise of a normal life. The doctor is also trying to get more American support for this special patient. Good luck, Dede! (Check out the video here.)

So What did you think? I found this to be really sad. This man has had to put up with so much while he was a child, and if you do have a look at his picture, you will see that it has not been easy. I wonder what kind of a life he must live, and how he manages to eat and drink and ho the nutrients and stuff from the food and water are used in his body. It is amazing that for such an exquisite mutation, it is possible for the person to be cured. I think that the level of medicine we have today (although not perfect, and with flaws) is amazing. I wish Dede the best of luck! What about you? Post a response in the comments section. If you would like to know more about the Tree Man, google Tree man, and you will find a lot of stories, as well as some videos about him.

Twenty Best April Fool's Day Jokes

Even though I had wanted to put this up before April Fool's Day, I couldn't, and thought I might as well just put it up now. These are the twenty best April Fool's Day Jokes ever played. I got them from the site http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/. I think that they are rather funny, post a comment if you have something else you think should be on here.

#1: The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest

In 1957 the respected BBC news show Panorama announced that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees. Huge numbers of viewers were taken in. Many called the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this the BBC diplomatically replied that they should "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."

#2: Sidd Finch

In its April 1985 edition, Sports Illustrated published a story about a new rookie pitcher who planned to play for the Mets. His name was Sidd Finch, and he could reportedly throw a baseball at 168 mph with pinpoint accuracy. This was 65 mph faster than the previous record. Surprisingly, Sidd Finch had never even played the game before. Instead, he had mastered the "art of the pitch" in a Tibetan monastery under the guidance of the "great poet-saint Lama Milaraspa." Mets fans celebrated their teams' amazing luck at having found such a gifted player, and Sports Illustrated was flooded with requests for more information. But in reality this legendary player only existed in the imagination of the author of the article, George Plimpton.

#3: Instant Color TV

In 1962 there was only one tv channel in Sweden, and it broadcast in black and white. The station's technical expert, Kjell Stensson, appeared on the news to announce that, thanks to a new technology, viewers could convert their existing sets to display color reception. All they had to do was pull a nylon stocking over their tv screen. Stensson proceeded to demonstrate the process. Thousands of people were taken in. Regular color broadcasts only commenced in Sweden on April 1, 1970.

#4: The Taco Liberty Bell

In 1996 the Taco Bell Corporation announced that it had bought the Liberty Bell and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds of outraged citizens called the National Historic Park in Philadelphia where the bell was housed to express their anger. Their nerves were only calmed when Taco Bell revealed, a few hours later, that it was all a practical joke. The best line of the day came when White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale. Thinking on his feet, he responded that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold. It would now be known as the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.

#5: San Serriffe

In 1977 the British newspaper The Guardian published a special seven-page supplement devoted to San Serriffe, a small republic located in the Indian Ocean consisting of several semi-colon-shaped islands. A series of articles affectionately described the geography and culture of this obscure nation. Its two main islands were named Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse. Its capital was Bodoni, and its leader was General Pica. The Guardian's phones rang all day as readers sought more information about the idyllic holiday spot. Few noticed that everything about the island was named after printer's terminology. The success of this hoax is widely credited with launching the enthusiasm for April Foolery that gripped the British tabloids in subsequent decades.

#6: Nixon for President

In 1992 National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation program announced that Richard Nixon, in a surprise move, was running for President again. His new campaign slogan was, "I didn't do anything wrong, and I won't do it again." Accompanying this announcement were audio clips of Nixon delivering his candidacy speech. Listeners responded viscerally to the announcement, flooding the show with calls expressing shock and outrage. Only during the second half of the show did the host John Hockenberry reveal that the announcement was a practical joke. Nixon's voice was impersonated by comedian Rich Little.

#7: Alabama Changes the Value of Pi

The April 1998 issue of the New Mexicans for Science and Reason newsletter contained an article claiming that the Alabama state legislature had voted to change the value of the mathematical constant pi from 3.14159 to the 'Biblical value' of 3.0. Before long the article had made its way onto the internet, and then it rapidly made its way around the world, forwarded by people in their email. It only became apparent how far the article had spread when the Alabama legislature began receiving hundreds of calls from people protesting the legislation. The original article, which was intended as a parody of legislative attempts to circumscribe the teaching of evolution, was written by a physicist named Mark Boslough.

#8: The Left-Handed Whopper

In 1998 Burger King published a full page advertisement in USA Today announcing the introduction of a new item to their menu: a "Left-Handed Whopper" specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans. According to the advertisement, the new whopper included the same ingredients as the original Whopper (lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty, etc.), but all the condiments were rotated 180 degrees for the benefit of their left-handed customers. The following day Burger King issued a follow-up release revealing that although the Left-Handed Whopper was a hoax, thousands of customers had gone into restaurants to request the new sandwich. Simultaneously, according to the press release, "many others requested their own 'right handed' version."

#9: Hotheaded Naked Ice Borers

In its April 1995 issue Discover Magazine announced that the highly respected wildlife biologist Dr. Aprile Pazzo had discovered a new species in Antarctica: the hotheaded naked ice borer. These fascinating creatures had bony plates on their heads that, fed by numerous blood vessels, could become burning hot, allowing the animals to bore through ice at high speeds. They used this ability to hunt penguins, melting the ice beneath the penguins and causing them to sink downwards into the resulting slush where the hotheads consumed them. After much research, Dr. Pazzo theorized that the hotheads might have been responsible for the mysterious disappearance of noted Antarctic explorer Philippe Poisson in 1837. "To the ice borers, he would have looked like a penguin," the article quoted her as saying. Discover received more mail in response to this article than they had received for any other article in their history.

#10: Planetary Alignment Decreases Gravity

In 1976 the British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2 that at 9:47 AM a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event was going to occur that listeners could experience in their very own homes. The planet Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, temporarily causing a gravitational alignment that would counteract and lessen the Earth's own gravity. Moore told his listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment that this planetary alignment occurred, they would experience a strange floating sensation. When 9:47 AM arrived, BBC2 began to receive hundreds of phone calls from listeners claiming to have felt the sensation. One woman even reported that she and her eleven friends had risen from their chairs and floated around the room.

#11: UFO Lands in London

On March 31, 1989 thousands of motorists driving on the highway outside London looked up in the air to see a glowing flying saucer descending on their city. Many of them pulled to the side of the road to watch the bizarre craft float through the air. The saucer finally landed in a field on the outskirts of London where local residents immediately called the police to warn them of an alien invasion. Soon the police arrived on the scene, and one brave officer approached the craft with his truncheon extended before him. When a door in the craft popped open, and a small, silver-suited figure emerged, the policeman ran in the opposite direction. The saucer turned out to be a hot-air balloon that had been specially built to look like a UFO by Richard Branson, the 36-year-old chairman of Virgin Records. The stunt combined his passion for ballooning with his love of pranks. His plan was to land the craft in London's Hyde Park on April 1. Unfortunately, the wind blew him off course, and he was forced to land a day early in the wrong location.

#12: Kremvax

In 1984, back in the Stone Age of the internet, a message was distributed to the members of Usenet (the online messaging community that was one of the first forms the internet took) announcing that the Soviet Union was joining Usenet. This was quite a shock to many, since most assumed that cold war security concerns would have prevented such a link-up. The message purported to come from Konstantin Chernenko, who explained that the Soviet Union wanted to join the network in order to "have a means of having an open discussion forum with the American and European people." The message created a flood of responses. Two weeks later its true author, a European man named Piet Beertema, revealed that it was a hoax. This is believed to be the first hoax on the internet. Six years later, when Moscow really did link up to the internet, it adopted the domain name 'kremvax' in honor of the hoax.

#13: The Predictions of Isaac Bickerstaff

In February 1708 a previously unknown London astrologer named Isaac Bickerstaff published an almanac in which he predicted the death by fever of the famous rival astrologer John Partridge. According to Bickerstaff, Partridge would die on March 29 of that year. Partridge indignantly denied the prediction, but on March 30 Bickerstaff released a pamphlet announcing that he had been correct: Partridge was dead. It took a day for the news to settle in, but soon everyone had heard of the astrologer's demise. On April 1, April Fool's Day, Partridge was woken by a sexton outside his window who wanted to know if there were any orders for his funeral sermon. Then, as Partridge walked down the street, people stared at him as if they were looking at a ghost or stopped to tell him that he looked exactly like someone they knew who was dead. As hard as he tried, Partridge couldn't convince people that he wasn't dead. Bickerstaff, it turned out, was a pseudonym for the great satirist Jonathan Swift. His prognosticatory practical joke upon Partridge worked so well that the astrologer finally was forced to stop publishing his almanacs, because he couldn't shake his reputation as the man whose death had been foretold.

#14: The Eruption of Mount Edgecumbe

In 1974 residents of Sitka, Alaska were alarmed when the long-dormant volcano neighboring them, Mount Edgecumbe, suddenly began to belch out billows of black smoke. People spilled out of their homes onto the streets to gaze up at the volcano, terrified that it was active again and might soon erupt. Luckily it turned out that man, not nature, was responsible for the smoke. A local practical joker named Porky Bickar had flown hundreds of old tires into the volcano's crater and then lit them on fire, all in a (successful) attempt to fool the city dwellers into believing that the volcano was stirring to life. According to local legend, when Mount St. Helens erupted six years later, a Sitka resident wrote to Bickar to tell him, "This time you've gone too far!"

#15: The Case of the Interfering Brassieres

In 1982 the Daily Mail reported that a local manufacturer had sold 10,000 "rogue bras" that were causing a unique and unprecedented problem, not to the wearers but to the public at large. Apparently the support wire in these bras had been made out of a kind of copper originally designed for use in fire alarms. When this copper came into contact with nylon and body heat, it produced static electricity which, in turn, was interfering with local television and radio broadcasts. The chief engineer of British Telecom, upon reading the article, immediately ordered that all his female laboratory employees disclose what type of bra they were wearing.

#16: Man Flies By Own Lung Power

In 1934 many American newspapers, including The New York Times, printed a photograph of a man flying through the air by means of a device powered only by the breath from his lungs. Accompanying articles excitedly described this miraculous new invention. The man, identified as German pilot Erich Kocher, blew into a box on his chest. This activated rotors that created a powerful suction effect, lifting him aloft. Skis on his feet served as landing gear, and a tail fin allowed him to steer. What the American papers didn't realize was that the "lung-power motor" was a joke. The photo had first appeared in the April Fool's Day edition of the Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung. It made its way to America thanks to Hearst's International News Photo agency which not only fell for the hoax but also distributed it to all its U.S. subscribers. In the original Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung article, the pilot's name was spelled "Erich Koycher," which was a pun on the German word "keuchen," meaning to puff or wheeze.

#17: The Sydney Iceberg

On April 1, 1978 a barge appeared in Sydney Harbor towing a giant iceberg. Sydneysiders were expecting it. Dick Smith, a local adventurer and millionaire businessman (owner of Dick Smith's Foods), had been loudly promoting his scheme to tow an iceberg from Antarctica for quite some time. Now he had apparently succeeded. He said that he was going to carve the berg into small ice cubes, which he would sell to the public for ten cents each. These well-traveled cubes, fresh from the pure waters of Antarctica, were promised to improve the flavor of any drink they cooled. Slowly the iceberg made its way into the harbor. Local radio stations provided excited blow-by-blow coverage of the scene. Only when the berg was well into the harbor was its secret revealed. It started to rain, and the firefighting foam and shaving cream that the berg was really made of washed away, uncovering the white plastic sheets beneath.

#18: Migrant Mother Makeover

In its April 2005 issue, Popular Photography ran an article titled "Can these photos be saved?" about how to remove unsightly wrinkles from photographic subjects. They chose, as an example of a photo that "needed to be saved," Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother" photo taken in 1936 during the Great Depression. Lange's photo is one of the most widely admired in the world. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe it as the Mona Lisa of photographs, and the Migrant Mother's stoic expression is what makes the image great. Nevertheless, the editors of Popular Photography erased her wrinkles, softened her gaze, and removed her kids, transforming her from an iconic symbol of endurance into a smooth-faced, worry-free soccer mom. Their readers were horrified, not realizing the article was a spoof on the way magazines routinely touch-up celebrity images to remove blemishes and wrinkles. Hundreds wrote in expressing outrage at the defacement of such a classic image. To which the editors replied: Look at the date it was published!

#19: The 26-Day Marathon

In 1981 the Daily Mail ran a story about an unfortunate Japanese long-distance runner, Kimo Nakajimi, who had entered the London Marathon but, on account of a translation error, thought that he had to run for 26 days, not 26 miles. The Daily Mail reported that Nakajimi was now somewhere out on the roads of England, still running, determined to finish the race. Supposedly various people had spotted him, though they were unable to flag him down. The translation error was attributed to Timothy Bryant, an import director, who said, "I translated the rules and sent them off to him. But I have only been learning Japanese for two years, and I must have made a mistake. He seems to be taking this marathon to be something like the very long races they have over there."

#20: Whistling Carrots

In 2002 the British supermarket chain Tesco published an advertisement in The Sun announcing the successful development of a genetically modified 'whistling carrot.' The ad explained that the carrots had been specially engineered to grow with tapered airholes in their side. When fully cooked, these airholes caused the vegetable to whistle.

New Layout :) Happy April's Fool Day

Hey everyone! I finally put up a new layout! I hope you like it. I got the codes from Pyzam.com, and edited them so that they look like they do now. Please answer the poll on whether or not you like the layout.

I have some interesting articles that I want to talk about, but I am stuck working on an essay right now, and will have to do the write ups for the articles later.

If you haven't noticed, I have put up an affilliate section to our site. If you would like to be an affilliate to my blog (that means that you put a link to my blog on your site, and I will put a link to your site on my blog), then fill out the form, and wait to be accepted. Make sure you put a link to my site onto your site first!

I have also added a chat box, and a counter. Please do not misuse the counter.

I have to go and finish my homework now, but I will try and add the other blogs on once I finish writing them up.

BTW... HAPPY APRIL'S FOOL DAY EVERYONE!!!

"Jumper" Movie Review

I went to watch this movie with my friends first. It was a rather good movie, with it's obvious ups and downs.

Title: Jumper
Cast: Hayden Christensen, Jamie Bell, Rachel Bilson, Samuel L. Jackson, Diane Lane
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Director: Doug Liman
Screenwriter: David S. Goyer, Jim Uhls, Simon Kinberg
Producer: Arnon Milchan, Lucas Foster, Jay Sanders, Simon Kinberg
Composer: John Powell


Plot: Jumper is a movie about a young boy finding out he has teleportation powers, and what he decides to do with them. His first instincts are to leave home, and get money. He lives life his own way, surfing in hawaii, having lunch in Egypt, and dinner in London. Eventually, his past catches up with him when Roland attempts to kill him. David has entered the war between the Jumpers and the Paladin's, and must now fight to stay alive and out of danger. The race is on.

Goofs (coutesy of imDB)

• Continuity: During the scene at the airport, while waiting for his girlfriend, notice that the jumper's grey t-shirt has three small holes on the upper chest. During the next scene, when he's arrived at his girlfriend's apartment, the three small holes on his t-shirt have gone.
  
  
• Errors in geography: David's home is in Ann Arbor, Michigan, but in two scenes, his father is watching NY1, a New York City local TV station.
  
  
• Factual errors: When David is perched atop Big Ben in London, the clock behind him clearly states it is half past 8, however the chimes are the same as if it were to the hour, rather than half past the hour.
  
  

• Continuity: Despite the relatively short period of time covered by the main part of the film, during various establishing shots of Manhattan, the Empire State Building is seen to be lit for two different holidays, Independence Day and Christmas.
  
  
• Crew or equipment visible: When they are in Rome, there is a wide, high-angle establishing shot of the Coliseum. On the street by the Coliseum, we can clearly see a film crew, dolly tracks and a camera.
  
  
• Continuity: When David rents a room in the apartment, the room he enters first is room 256. However, a scene later when the manager goes to knock on his door and complain about the noise, the room number is 205.
  
  
• Continuity: When Griffin crash lands the jeep in the war zone scene, there is a man clearly seen sat next to him. However, when Griffin climbs out the jeep the seat in which the man sat is empty.
  
  
• Factual errors: The Mercedes convertible Griffin steals from the showroom has its steering wheel on the left. In countries with left-hand traffic (Japan, UK, etc), such as the one where the scene takes place as apparent from the driving scenes, cars have their steering wheels on the right side for obvious reasons; it would be very unusual to have a non-standard car in a show-room.

Trivia (courtesy of imDB)

• Evan Rachel Wood turned down the role of "Millie". The part eventually went to Rachel Bilson.
  
  
• The roles of Davey and Millie were originally cast with Tom Sturridge and Teresa Palmer. After 2 months of filming and inflating production costs, Hayden Christensen and Rachel Bilson were recast as the leads.
  
  
• Eminem reportedly turned down an offer to star in the lead role. But an MTV report quoted director Doug Liman saying that his plan to have Eminem in the movie was dropped right after he met Hayden Christensen.
  
  

• The crew was allowed to film inside the Colosseum for three days under the condition that no equipment could be placed on the ground. Shooting was allowed only between 6.30 and 8.30 am and again at 3.30 pm to 5.30 pm to avoid disturbing tourists. The only lighting allowed was natural sunlight.
  
  
• The movie "Jumper" takes place in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The high school depicted in the movie is called Huron High School and area teenagers were allowed an open call to appear as extras in the movies scenes in and around the school.
  
  
• Roland Cox's name in the original novel was Brian Cox. Most likely it was changed to avoid referring to the actor Brian Cox.
  
  
• David mentions King Kong while on the Empire State Building. Jamie Bell who play Griffin in this movie, played Jimmy in the movie King Kong (2005).

What I thought:

I really enjoyed this movie. It was rather short, and filled with action straight from the begining. Shockingly it had correctly changed the time settings throughout the movie (so if it is day time in egypt, it would be night time in america) and other mistakes like this. I also thought that the cast selected were chosen well. This movie did not leave a lot of room for error, and was filmed very well. If you do watch this movie, then why don't you post a comment below and say what you thought about it.