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The first caveman didn't fight dinosaurs with a bag of lithium in his hand, he had a spear! He used his brain on how he could out wit the dinosaur and capture it for a feast. Studies do not prove that medication even works properly but one thing it does for certain is that it hooks you. Once you take that medication and continue it you need a long period of detoxification to completely free yourself. Click here to continue reading..|
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Oh sure, you may sit there nodding smugly but when you think about it - how well do we really know the world? Many probably know about the popular American TV show, "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth-Grader?" - but I think fifth graders are so overrated in an age of information and technology where even 2-year-olds can use the Internet. Without going any further click here to take this quick quiz and see how many countries you can you name in under 5 minutes, then come back to this post. On the other hand, keep reading if you are scared.
- There are 195 official countries in the world.
- 45 nations are landlocked, ie having no seacoast.
- 44 nations in the world are officially monarchies.
- The United Nations charter was ratified in 1945 by its 51 members.
- English was an official language in 87 nations and territories by 1994.
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Irregardless, could you care less? A bunch of Oxford researchers got together and compiled a list of the Top 10 most irritating expressions in the English language. "The scholars in question keep track of linguistic mangling and overused buzzwords in a database called the Oxford University Corpus. The voluminous record keeps track of books, magazines, broadcast, online media and other sources, watching for new overused, tiresome phrases and retiring those that fade from use (or misuse)." Here is the Top 10 list they came up with:10. It's not rocket science
9. 24/7
8. Shouldn't of
7. It's a nightmare
6. Absolutely
5. With all due respect
4. At this moment in time
3. I personally
2. Fairly unique
1. At the end of the day
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Digital images of a "falling star" or a "shooting star" shows that it actually has nothing at all to do with a star! These amazing streaks of light you can sometimes see in the night sky are caused by tiny bits of dust and rock, in other words, meteoroids, falling into the Earth's atmosphere and burning up. The short-lived trail of light the burning meteoroid produces is called a meteor. If any part of the meteoroid survives burning up and actually hits the Earth, that remaining bit is then called a meteorite.
At certain times of year, you are likely to see a great number of meteors in the night sky. These events are called meteor showers and they occur when the Earth passes through the trail of debris left by a comet as it orbits the Sun. These showers are given names based on the constellation present in the sky from which they appear to originate. For example, the Leonid Meteor Shower, or Leonids, appear to originate in the constellation Leo. It is important to understand that the meteoroids (and therefore the meteors) do not really originate from the constellations or any of the stars in the constellations, however. They just seem to come from that part of the sky because of the way the Earth encounters the particles moving in the path of the comet's orbit. Associating the shower name with the region of the sky they seem to come from just helps astronomers know where to look!
The dust and rocks that cause meteor showers come primarily from the Earth passing through the debris stream left behind by a comet as it orbits the Sun. Usually, the Earth's orbit and the comet's orbit are slightly tilted relative to one another. So the paths only intersect on one side!| Name | When They Occur |
| Quadrantids | January 1-6 |
| April Lyrids | April 19-24 |
| Eta Aquarids | May 1-8 |
| Delta Aquarids | July 15- August 15 |
| Perseids | July 25 - August 18 |
| Orionids | October 16-27 |
| Taurids | October 20-November 30 |
| Leonids | November 15-20 |
| Geminids | December 7-15 |
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In compiling past and current research, it has been determined that thousands of identified animal species have demonstrated homosexual behavior. "Homosexuality has been observed in more than 1,500 species, and the phenomenon has been well described for 500 of them," according to Petter Bockman, project coordinator of the University of Oslo's Natural History Museum's exhibition display. "Against Nature?" Let's look at some specific examples.
Monkeys (both Old World and New World) use sex as a tool to solve struggles between each other. Unlike humans, they do not have any sexual taboos; nor are they concerned with age or numbers of partners. The only practice that is "disallowed" are sexual unions between mother and son.
Although it may be hard to believe, American Bisons perform more homosexual intercourse than heterosexual intercourse. The females only have a relationship once when they are on heat, but bulls have homosexual sex multiple times during this period and mating among young males is 55 percent more likely to be with other males.
Homosexuality is also apparent among dolphins. The Bottlenose Dolphin is known as a species which experiences a homosexual period of time and is reputed for this characteristic. Males have oral sex between each other: one dolphin caresses the other dolphin’s penis with his nose and they also rub their penises upon each others’ body.
Kob Antelopes experience lesbian sex twice every hour (wow!) and 8 percent of their activities during mating is homosexual orientated. One female approaches the other female from behind and touches the other female by lifting her leg between the other antelope’s legs.
25 percent of all Australian Black Swans are homosexual and the activities between such pairs can last years. During this period a male may partner another female but then the other male may chase her away after she has laid her eggs. Sometimes homosexual couples may steal the eggs of heterosexual couples or even claim the nest for their own.
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What is the meaning of open source software freedom? The interesting thing is that these open source software are written by many people without any expectations (financial at least). I'm starting to think that so many people from so many different countries have never before actively cooperated and shared like this before.|
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Unfortunately designers' calmness might not last too long. What if you wake up one day to find out that the virtual model of your newly finished building (or just marketed piece of furniture) is available to be downloaded for free at Bit Torrent and it was downloaded few thousands times already? Some would say that you should be quite happy. It's a good design - few thousand downloads in few hours in not a common thing. But I wouldn't be surprised if you would feel the opposite asking where the heck will I get money from now?|
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Finding an apartment in one of the world's most expensive cities is a grave matter, but some savvy renters in Tokyo have more than a ghost of a chance of finding prime digs – they seek to rent where someone else bought the farm. Imagine lying awake at night in your new apartment, restless and not yet accustomed to the usual night noises. Your mind drifts, then settles on the great deal you got on this place – and WHY you got it. A creak; a sigh; is it just the evening breeze, or something more sinister?
The so-called suicide discount is an unwritten rule adhered to by most Tokyo real estate agents and doubtless by realtors worldwide. In Japan at least, the law compels real estate agents to make potential tenants aware if a death occurred in the unit being offered. One small catch is that the law applies only when the unfortunate event concerned the occupant immediately previous, but as one realtor admitted, "Even if we didn’t, neighbors would certainly tell new residents about the gruesome details."
One curious point brought up by a Tokyo real estate company owner was that young women are the most typical renters of apartments with shady histories. "Men, rather than women, tend to be superstitious and think the place will be haunted by the victim or something," he stated. Women are also well-connected with the online real estate scene. "They exchange information on the availability of such places and what the rent is likely to be with each other online."|
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We are pleased to announce that we overcame the technical difficulties and are back to regular publishing of posts on eccentric topics. As you might already know, we've also been publishing interesting posts from guest thinkers in the past such that The Thinking Blog went multi-author about 10 months ago. One of our regular contributors, Steve Levenstein, who also happens to be the Japanese Innovations Writer at InventorSpot, is now an Associate Editor here at TTB - bringing the craziest ideas from where else but Japan!
Here is Steve in his own words:I live in Canada and I’m married to a lovely and charming Japanese woman. Between our visits to Japan, watching Japanese TV at home and listening to my wife for more than 15 years, I’ve really gained an appreciation for the many ways Japan is different from the rest of the world.
Some of the best things about Japan and Japanese culture, though, are their embrace of modern technology and the effortless way they have made the latest gadgets & gizmos a part of their daily lives. Especially interesting are the ways that Japanese sensibilities have affected the design of the gadgets, such as the need for “cuteness” and, as you well know, the power of high status as exemplified in “Born Rich”.
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We are not gone, just having some technical problems. Will be back soon with a bang!
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Botanically, a tomato is the ovary, together with its seeds, of a flowering plant: therefore it is a fruit or, more precisely, a berry. However, the tomato is not as sweet as those foodstuffs usually called fruits and, from a culinary standpoint, it is typically served as part of a salad or main course of a meal, as are vegetables, rather than at dessert in the case of most fruits. As noted above, the term "vegetable" has no botanical meaning and is purely a culinary term.
This argument has had legal implications in the United States. In 1887, U.S. tariff laws that imposed a duty on vegetables but not on fruits caused the tomato's status to become a matter of legal importance. The U.S. Supreme Court settled the controversy in 1893 by declaring that the tomato is a vegetable, based on the popular definition that classifies vegetables by use, that they are generally served with dinner and not dessert (Nix v. Hedden (149 U.S. 304)). The holding of the case applies only to the interpretation of the Tariff Act of March 3, 1883, and the court did not purport to reclassify the tomato for botanical or other purposes other than paying a tax under a tarriff act.Editor's Note: Tomato is a great source of Vitamin C with 100 grams (3.5 oz) containing 13mg, serving 22% of daily intake recommendation for adults. Speaking of personal experience, when I get the common cold I eat two mid-sized tomatos -- instantly my nose stops running and I get well (miracoulously) the next day. Highly recommendedfruitvegetablewhatever it is!
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Is the ultimate brand, no brand at all? It may seem strange, but in this world of pervasive advertising and relentless globalization a quiet movement is underway that rejects distinctive branding in favor of pure, unadulterated design. In Sweden, there is IKEA. In Canada, No Frills. In Japan there is Muji. What these three companies have in common is, outwardly at least, a single "no brand" for all the products they sell. Surely they are brands themselves. However, at the end of the day, the product comes first and foremost.
For example, No Frills' products maintain distinct design ethos: black on yellow with a set type face, regardless of the type of product. Taco mix, tuna cans and tapioca pudding are all very different on the inside yet outwardly they look the same – first among equals. Even the shopping carts at No Frills are yellow! What the "no brand" revolution seeks to project is a concept that establishes a brand from within.
Muji's lead designer, Naoto Fukasawa, labels (pardon the pun) the aesthetic "Supernormal," with a deliberate nod given to the ancient Japanese concept of shibui, or "an unobtrusive beauty." Their products' free-flowing functionality reminds one of certain futuristic Fellini films or independent, avant garde productions set in an undated time and space. In this respect, they transcend time, eschewing passing trends and in doing so, have reached what some say is the end point of historical design vectors.
Think about it... do you yearn to break free from the constant product placements, blaring "new & improved" promotions and the frantic, constant pressure to buy/sell Our Brand instead of Brand X – when both are basically the same? The alternatives – the IKEAs, the No Frills' and the Muji's of the World seem to be a cool, calm, common-sense alternative that offers society way out while still providing good looks, good products and good value.|
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Just wanted to share a nifty information I found while trying to decide whether I should quarantine or delete malwares from my computer today. Apparently, the idea of having the "quarantine" option when an antivirus detects an infected file is to avoid false positives. If by chance the antivirus software wrongly flags a file as "bad" when the file is actually something you need, like a critical program (for example Explorer.exe in Windows) such that deleting it might cause the computer to stop working, quarantine allows it to simply restore it back.|
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"Expect Emotions" goes the slogan to Euro 2008. People certainly experienced some. What no one expected was that Turkey would deliver the biggest emotional wallop. Go up a goal against "The Comeback Kings" and you will lose. Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and now Croatia. The scoreline yesterday said 4-2 but something much more was achieved as Turkey reached the semi-finals for the first time. Just six years ago they accomplished a similar feat at the World Cup in 2002.
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Guitar Hero. The legendary game series that sold over 14 million units, earning over US$1 billion, since it was first released on PlayStation 2 in 2005. The franchise has made a significant cultural impact, such that it became a cultural phenomenon, making regular appearances in parties and locales. Several bars in the United States are offering "Guitar Hero nights" as an alternative to karaoke. Even an entire South Park episode was dedicated to the game!
Are you ready to accept the Wii challenge? Play nintendo wii competitions for real money now!
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