OMG FACTS .

• Chocolate can help you live longer. 
• Teddy bears and other toys kill more people than REAL bears.
• If you watch early Fresh Prince of Bel-Air you can see Will Smith’s lips moving to other characters lines.
• Ants stretch and yawn when they wake up.
• The original pack of Skittles doesn’t contain the color blue. Therefore, you CAN’T actually taste the rainbow.
• It is believed that Shakespeare was 46 around the time that the King James Version of the Bible was written. In Psalms 46, the 46th word is shake and the 46th word from the last word is spear.
• Q is the only letter that never appears in the name of a US State.
• The world doesn’t take 24 hours to turn on its axis, it really takes 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds.
• The song “3” by Britney Spears is 3 minutes 33 seconds long.
• A 12-year-old’s science project showed that Fast food ice was dirtier than toilet water .
• The USA bought Alaska from Russia for 2 cents an acre , adding up to $7.2 million .
• “Eleven plus Two” and “Twelve plus One” both equal 13 and both have 13 letters. In fact they both have THE SAME 13 letters.
• When a puppy is born, it is blind and toothless.
• “Silent” and “listen” are spelled with the same letters.
• “W” is the only letter in the English alphabet that is more than one syllable.
• Cursing when you’re hurt actually helps reduce pain.
• A way you can tell if you’re whispering or not is to put your hand at your throat. If you feel vibrations, you’re talking. If you don’t, you’re whispering.
• The voice of Mickey Mouse for 32 years, and the current voice of Minnie Mouse were actually married in real life.
• In 1898, 14 years before the Titanic sank, Morgan Robertson wrote a book about a ship called the “Titan” that crashed into an iceberg and sank.
• Tomatoes and cucumbers are fruits, not vegetables.
• The Olsen twins wore FAKE TEETH on Full House episodes because their teeth began to look different.
• There’s roughly 380 sesame seeds on an average McDonald’s Big Mac bun.
• A penny is worth 1 cent but it costs 1.7 cents to make it.
• Lightning is 5 times hotter than the sun.
• At exactly 06 minutes and 07 seconds after 5 o’clock on August 9th of this year it will be 05:06:07 08/09/10. This will not happen again until the year 3010 .
• LOL isn’t just laugh out loud. LOL is also “fun” in Dutch.
• No matter how hard you squeeze the two ends of an egg, it will NEVER break.
• Huge, several hundred pound rocks in Death Valley mysteriously move really far, all on their own. No one knows how, because no one’s ever seen it happen.
• If you put two straws in your mouth: one inside a drink and one outside it, you won’t be able to drink through either straw.
• Newborn babies cry but they have no tears. Their tear ducts aren’t formed until they are a month old.
• A piece of paper can’t be folded in half more than 7 times .
• No word in the English language rhymes with purple, orange, month or silver.
• Chewing gum can keep you from crying when cutting onions.
• Months that begin on a Sunday will always have a “Friday the 13th”.
• A mosquito is more likely to bite a blonde than a brunette.
• Odds are, any memory you believe you have before the age of 4 isn’t real. They are false memories and have usually either been told to you by someone else, or you made them up without knowing it.
• There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.
• In New York, the penalty for jumping off a building more than 50 ft without a permit is death.
• Elephants are the only land mammals that cannot jump.
• If you look at the sun RIGHT NOW, you are technically looking back in time. It takes eight minutes for light from the sun to reach Earth.
• A strawberry is not an actual berry, but a banana is.
• You can’t hum while holding your nose closed.
• The sentence “The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog” uses every letter of the alphabet.
• The lion costume in the film Wizard of Oz was made from real lions.
• Eating celery is technically exercise. When you eat celery, you burn more calories than you consume.
• A toothpick is the object most-often choked on by Americans.
•  Men have nipples because, as an embryo, everyone is a female until the Y chromosome kicks in.
• A female platypus sweats milk.
• The powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake that rattled Chile likely shifted the Earth’s axis an estimated three inches and shortened the day by 1.26 microseconds.
• ‘racecar’ is spelled the same forwards and backwards.
• ‘Uncopyrightable’ is the longest word in the English language that doesn’t repeat a letter once.
• Penguins cannot walk backwards.
• In 1963, baseball pitcher Gaylord Perry remarked, ‘They’ll put a man on the moon before I hit a home run.’ On July 20, 1969, just minutes after Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, Gaylord Perry hit his first home run.
• Vending machines kill four times more people each year than sharks do.
• Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete.
• When you put a seashell next to your ear, it’s the sound of your blood surging in your veins, not the ocean.

McDonald’s fries are made with beef extract

This isn't even something they're trying to hide. The nutrition facts for the fries mention that they have a "natural beef flavor". Strangely enough, the fries also contain wheat and milk.

This was actually the subject of some controversy in 2001. A class action suit was filed against McDonald's for causing emotional distress to vegetarians who mistakenly ate the fries without knowing that they contain beef.

Discovery of Phosphorus

German alchemist Hennig Brand discovered phosphorus while trying to make gold from pee.

In 1669, in attempt to create the Philosopher's Stone, Brand boiled down a vat of urine until the leftover substance was red-hot. The refuse then liquefied and burst into flames! Once this residue cooled and hardened, it continued to give off a pale greenish glow. He named his new substance “phosphorus,” from the Greek for “light bearer. ”In the end, Brand boiled nearly 5,500 liters of urine in order to produce only 120 grams of phosphorus!

(Sources: 1, 2)

The novel Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written in 3 to 6 days

The novel Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written in 3 to 6 days, allegedly on a cocaine binge.

The whole process is quite convoluted, but the author of the novel, Robert Louis Stevenson, allegedly wrote his first draft in about 3 days. Soon after finishing, Stevenson became bedridden with a hemorrhage, but was assisted by his wife’s critiques of the draft.

His wife noted that he had been writing somewhat of an allegory. Since Stevenson had not intended for this, he supposedly burned the first draft and started over from scratch! This second draft was rewritten in three to six days, allegedly with the help of cocaine!

(source)

‘Mega Man Legend 3′ is in need of new heroine

Capcom has posted on their website that they will be having a ‘project‘ related to the ‘Mega Man Legend 3‘ game. This ‘project’ turns out to be “participation of players in deciding which female heroine will join Roll and Tron Bonne in the game“.

The heroine will be named ‘Lily‘. She appears to be smaller than Roll and Tron Bonne and doesn’t have any specific skill. She’s not very street smart either. However, she’s described as lively, cheerful and positive.

For this project, fans/players all over the world can vote for the heroine’s design. Simply go to their official website, either the one in Japanese or in English, and vote for the design you like best. The Japanese site is more detailed, though if you can’t understand it, stick to the English one. Voting will end on October 25th and the results will be posted on the official site.

Source+ Photo: Gantayat@Andriasang

Moonbows

Moonbows are rainbows produced by light reflected off the surface of the moon.

As you would expect, true moonbows only occur at night because that is the only time no sunlight is present. Because the light is first reflected off the moon, moonbows are typically much fainter than your average rainbow. Many times they are too faint to excite the cones in your retina (optical cells that detect color), so moonbows frequently appear to be white!

(source)

The Philippines has the answer: Why P. Sherman? (Finding Nemo)

The name ‘P. Sherman’ in Finding Nemo was chosen because it sounds like the word ‘fisherman.’

A good portion of the production crew on the movie were from the Philippines, and apparently ‘P. Sherman’ sounds like the word ‘fisherman’ spoken with a Filipino accent.

There is another fun Filipino easter egg in the movie, though! Apparently, Nemo’s temporary home in the dentist’s fish tank is a nipa hut, or bahay kubo – a type of house indigenous to the Philippines!

(Sources: 1, 2)

Longest Full Name Ever

The longest full name ever is Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Jack Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorft, Sr.

Adolph Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorft, Sr. was born in 1904 near Hamburg, Germany.

(Sources: 1, 2)

Why Facebook is blue -- six facts about Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook are the subject of an upcoming film, "The Social Network."

(CNN) -- The relatively private life of Facebook's founder -- or at least a fictionalized version of it -- is about to get much more public.

A movie called "The Social Network," based on the life of Facebook's sweatshirt-wearing co-founder, Mark Zuckerberg, hits theaters on October 1. 

Truly biographical or not, the film is sure to thrust the 26-year-old Zuckerberg further into the spotlight, making him a household name if he's not already. His site, after all, is used by a half-billion people around the world.

We searched the Internet for info about Zuckerberg and created this list of six fun and little-known facts about the man behind Facebook. Much of it is pulled from a notable profile of Zuckerberg in The New Yorker, which has had the Internet buzzing since it published online earlier this month.

Take a look and let us know what you think. What choice details did we miss? You can leave us a note in the comments section, or send a reply to the @cnntech account on Twitter.

The king of public is private in real life

Zuckerberg is a fan of saying that, with Facebook, he wants to make the world a more open and honest place -- where people share details about themselves with the world. So it could be perceived as ironic -- if not hypocritical -- that Zuckerberg keeps some details private on his own Facebook page.

In a recent profile of Zuckerberg, Jose Antonio Vargas of The New Yorker writes that the CEO of the world's largest online social network is rather shy and private.

"He doesn't like to speak to the press, and he does so rarely," Vargas writes. "He also doesn't seem to enjoy the public appearances that are increasingly requested of him."

The interests he lists on Facebook are bizarre

From Shakira to "ending desire," the interests Zuckerberg lists on his private Facebook page are certainly unexpected if not plain bizarre.

Under interests, he lists the following: "Eliminating Desire, Minimalism, Making Things, Breaking Things, Information flow, Revolutions, Openness."

His favorite musicians include Daft Punk and Lady Gaga.

Among his favorite TV shows, he lists "The West Wing," which, as The New Yorker's profile of Zuckerberg points out, was written by Aaron Sorkin, the man who wrote the screenplay for the upcoming movie about Facebook.

He's a classics buff with an "imperial tendency"

Zuckerberg grew up in Dobbs Ferry, New York, and graduated from high school at Phillips Exeter Academy. There, he studied Latin and became a fan of the classics. At Harvard University, which he attended for two years before dropping out to pursue Facebook, Zuckerberg "was known for reciting lines from epic poems such as "The Iliad,'" writes Jessica Vascellaro in The Wall Street Journal.

Zuckerberg also built games with classical themes.

"The first significant program Zuckerberg ever designed was a game based on the living room classic Risk," Michael Grynbaum, then of the Harvard Crimson, wrote in 2004.

"It was centered around the ancient Roman Empire," Zuckerberg told the college paper at the time. "You played against Julius Caesar. He was good, and I was never able to win."

A friend told The New Yorker that Zuckerberg has an "imperial tendency."

'Zuck' has at least a few nicknames

Friends and co-workers call him "Zuck." For proof, check out this memo on Facebook's blog, called "Working with Zuck," in which Facebook software engineer Andrew Bosworth (or "Boz") rattles off a bunch of notes about what it's like to work with Zuckerberg. "Zuck expects debate ... Zuck isn't sentimental ... Zuck pushes people," and so-on, the blog post says. 

But Zuckerberg has earned other nicknames, too. The Wall Street Journal says his mom used to call him "Princely" when he was young. When he joined the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity at Harvard, his friends took to calling him "Slayer," writes Rebecca Davis O'Brien, who attended Harvard with Zuckerberg and wrote a piece about him in The Daily Beast.

The reason Facebook is blue: Zuckerberg is colorblind

According to The New Yorker, Zuckerberg is red-green colorblind, which means the color he can see best is blue. That also happens to be the color that dominates the Facebook website and mobile app.

"Blue is the richest color for me," he told the magazine. "I can see all of blue."

Money doesn't matter much to Zuckerberg

Zuckerberg doesn't seem to care that much about money. One big piece of evidence to support this idea: Zuckerberg hasn't sold Facebook despite the fact that he's reportedly been offered at least $1 billion for it.

Terry Semel, the former CEO of Yahoo! who reportedly offered Zuckerberg that sum, told the New Yorker that he'd never met a person who would turn down a $1 billion offer. "He [Zuckerberg] said, 'It's not about the price. This is my baby, and I want to keep running it, I want to keep growing it,'" Semel said, recalling his conversation with Zuckerberg in 2006. "I couldn't believe it." 

The Harvard newspaper picked up on the same sentiment.

"That's just like not something we're really interested in," he told the paper in 2004, referring to offers from companies wanting to buy Facebook. "I mean, yeah, we can make a bunch of money -- that's not the goal."

(source)

John Lennon Google Doodle

First illumination of the Tokyo Sky Tree

Although it’s not supposed to be in operation until 2012, it was announced that on October 13th, the Tokyo Sky Tree will be illuminated for 3 hours. This will be the first and last light up activity of the tower before its grand opening on 2012.

 The light up will start at 6:30 pm, however, if in case the weather is bad, the illumination will take place another day. The said illumination is not really intended for the public to view, but as many people are really excited to see it, the builders of the tower made sure that everything will be under control on that day.

The tower will be lit in two colors – light blue for the ‘Edo’ sprit and white, which depicts the Japanese aesthetic ideal ‘miyabi’.


Source: breitbart
Photo: glasssteelandstone

Thai government blames K-pop girl groups for rise in Dengue fever cases

On October 5th, MBC’s “News Today” reported that Thailand has been enjoying the popularity of Korean girl groups immensely, particularly by copying their fashion styles. Nicknamed the “Korean Style,” hot pants have become a staple item among Thailand’s youth.

However, with the increasing cases of Dengue fever in Thailand, the government has specifically targeted Korea’s hot pants as the reason behind the rise.

The deputy director of the Ministry of Health and Welfare stated in an interview with MBC, “The youth have been copying Korean styles and wearing shorter clothing, making them more susceptible to mosquito bites. We are suggesting that they wear longer clothing in place of shorts.”

The dengue fever has already claimed the lives of 100 in Thailand and is spread by mosquitoes.

Source + Photo: MyDaily

~~~This is my classmate's entry for the Poetry Writing Contest in our school. He actually won! Kudos to Ivan Jed Rosal.~~~
~~~I actually got his draft so I was able to post this.~~~

***I don't own this. PLEASE DON'T COPY!!!***


Upon a loving student's heart
Lies great dedication in its part

A legion of sickness spreads throughout the world
A great plague that we all must have heard

Even though it's immensely hard for sure
We must push through and seize the cure.


Two of these plagues are sloth and greed
The cure is around us, we must take heed.

It's an easy goal, we can succeed!
The steps are simple, this poem will lead

First step is BE THOUGHTFUL, dedication is of need
This step is simple, a CURE to greed.


People should always speak with poise
When speaking a language that differs from noise

Everything is now set
The motivation of one's self is nothing to regret

Well done my good reader, you have succeeded!
The things you have read, you must always take heed.

PLAGUES OF OLD that corrupts the pure
Never fear just seize the CURE.

Poem: Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Though his mind is not for rent,
Don’t put him down for he’s not conceited
He’s Tom Sawyer all the while
Riding out the day’s river of mile

Helplessly in love was this young lad

With Becky Thatcher of splendor and fad

Yet sick at the heart she grows

Upon learning of Tom’s past vow as it goes

Tom still grief-stricken, accompanied Huck

The son of the town drunk

Before their eyes was murder of the young Dr. Robinson

What a scare when they knew Injun Joe was the con

Tom, Huck, and Joe Harper ran away to an island

Wanting to become noble young brigand

Homesickness devastated their deed

Upon coming back, they were envied

Upon poor Potter’s trial

Tom spoke nothing but truth

Yet wasted as it was

Injun Joe escaped through the glass

Later on as time passed

Their destinies crossed

As their hiding place was the same as Joe

Who disguised as a deaf and mute foe

Huck sneaks to observe Joe

And heard his plan so low

Of murdering poor old Widow Douglas

Huck became a hero, once and again as a lass

Meanwhile Tom and Becky set for yet another adventure

And in the cave they got stuck, found out in the cave was Injun Joe with bad luck

As they went out they told what they saw

And locked Injun under the law

Huck was adopted by Widow Douglas

But civilized life wasn’t meant for him

He attempted to go away

But Tom persuaded him to stay

~~~This was my synopsis for the home reading report. ~~~

~~~Please ask permission if you want to copy.~~~

Content Spotlight - Optical Illusions

Red Dot

Stare long enough and strange things happen.

Grey Lines

A convincing illusion.

Birds

The colors aren't what they seem in this image.

Swimming

Here's a fishy illusion.

Arrows

Which color? Which direction?

Blue Spiral

More deceptive than it seems.

Red Balls

Afterimages in action.

So Close, So Far

Get a little distance for this illusion.

Chasm

This illusion lives on the edge.

Wavy Lines?

Is the movement real or imagined?

Cat

This one will have your head spinning.

Spirals

A moving experience.

Warp

Something's bent out of shape here.

Tangle

Can you spot the hidden word?

Sine Wave

A study in relative lengths.

Corner House

Get a new perspective in this puzzler.

Dots in a Circle

Test your spatial perception.

Cars

Scale and perspective.

Checkers

Shed a little light on this problem.

Boxes

A classic illusion.

Tokyo Tower illuminated in pink for breast cancer awareness

On October 1st, Tokyo Tower and the ”Pink Ribbon” campaign collaborated together to illuminate the tower with bright pink lights!

“Every year“, explains the official ‘Pink Ribbon’ website, “dozens of world-famous landmarks are illuminated in pink light. This is to draw attention to the importance of mammography screening for early diagnosis of breast cancer, as well as the research for finding new ways to cure and prevent breast cancer.”

This is the 11th time that Tokyo Tower has glowed for the cause, and when the Tower lit up in pink at 6:00 PM, the spectators shouted with joy.

The special light-up ended at 10:00 PM on October 1st.

Source & Photos: Oricon style, pinkribbon.org