40 Interesting Facts
2. Kangaroos can not walk backwards.
3. 'Jedi' is an official religion, with over 70,000 followers, in Australia.
4. According to a recent survey, more than half of British adults have had sex in a public place!
5. Most alcoholic beverages contain all 13 minerals necessary to sustain human life.
6. Nachos is the food most craved by pregnant women.
7. Each year, 24,000 Americans are bitten by rats!
8. Most dreams last only 5 to 20 minutes.
9. The hair of an adult man or woman can stretch 25 percent of its length without breaking.
10. On average, the life span of an American dollar bill is eighteen months.
11. Non-dairy creamer is flammable.
12. The first domain name ever registered was Symbolics.com.
13. Americans collectively eat one hundred pounds of chocolate every second.
14. U.S. President Calvin Coolidge liked to eat breakfast while having his head rubbed with Vaseline.
15. When a giraffe's baby is born it falls from a height of six feet, normally without being hurt.
16. Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise.
17. The creator of the NIKE Swoosh symbol was paid only $35 for the design.
18. How does a shark find fish? It can hear their hearts beating.
19. Penguins can convert salt water into fresh water.
20. In ten minutes, a hurricane releases more energy than all the world's nuclear weapons combined!
21. The IRS employees tax manual has instructions for collecting taxes after a nuclear war.
22. During WWII, because a lot of players were called to duty, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles combined to become The Steagles.
23. Nearly 22,000 checks will be deducted from the wrong account over the next hour.
24. More than 50% of the people in the world have never made or received a telephone call.
25. There are more fatal car accidents in July than any other month.
26. There are more bacteria in your mouth than there are people in the world.
27. More than 2 million documents will be lost by the IRS this year.
28. Bats always turn left when exiting a cave.
29. Washington, D.C. has one lawyer for every 19 residents!
30. Avocados have more protein than any other fruit.
31. The average car produces a pound of pollution every 25 miles!
32. Cranberries are sorted for ripeness by bouncing them; a fully ripened cranberry can be dribbled like a basketball.
33. In 1980, a Las Vegas hospital suspended workers for betting on when patients would die!
34. The most powerful electric eel is found in the rivers of Brazil, Columbia, Venezuela, and Peru, and produces a shock of 400-650 volts.
35. If the population of China walked past you in single file, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.
36. Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country.
37. In India, people are legally allowed to marry a dog!
38. You are more likely to get attacked by a cow than a shark.
39. Half of all identity thieves are either relatives, friends, or neighbors of their victims.
40. One in three male motorists picks their nose while driving.
Source
Labels: nteresting Facts
More Japanese women afflicted with "persistent sexual arousal syndrome"
Mainichi Daily News is reporting that a growing number of Japanese women are being afflicted by a disease that gives them orgasms virtually 24 hours a day.
Read that sentence again. 24 hours a day. One woman’s testimony was, “If a guy simply taps me on the shoulder, I just swoon. Even when I go to the toilet, my body reacts. I’m a little bit scared of myself.” Another woman said, “Even the vibration of my mobile phone is enough to set me off.”
Apparently what they’re talking about is something called Persistent Sexual Arousal Syndrome. Women in Japan call this “Iku Iku Byo,” or “Cum Cum Sickness.” Essentially, this is a result of either a malformation of blood vessels that go to the clitoris/penis, or it can be a side effect of the drug trazodone, which is used with treating depression, sleep problems, or nightmares.
The problem, though, isn’t necessarily linked with sexual arousal. So, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll be horny if you find a woman with this condition. In fact, since it causes such a drain on the person, it can lead to depression and suicide. So, it’s not all fun and games.
News Source
Labels: girls, Iku Iku Byo, japanese, persistent sexual arousal syndrome, women
Ahead of Iraq Deployment, 37 Korean Troops Convert to Islam
The soldiers, who cleansed their entire bodies in accordance with Islamic tradition, made their conversion during the Friday group prayers at the mosque, with the assistance of the "imam," or prayer leader.
With the exception of the imam, all the Muslims and the Korean soldiers stood in a straight line to symbolize how all are equal before God and took a profession on faith.
They had memorized the Arabic confession, " Ashadu an La ilaha il Allah, Muhammad-ur-Rasool-Allah," which means, "I testify that there is no god but God (Arabic: Allah), and Muhammad is the Messenger of God."
Moreover, as the faithful face the "Kaaba," the Islamic holy place in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, all Muslims confirm that they are brothers.
For those Korean soldiers who entered the Islamic faith, recent chances provided by the Zaitun Unit to come into contact with Islam proved decisive.
Taking into consideration the fact that most of the inhabitants of Irbil are Muslims, the unit sent its unreligious members to the Hannam-dong mosque so that they could come to understand Islam. Some of those who participated in the program were entranced by Islam and decided to convert.
A unit official said the soldiers were inspired by how important religious homogeneity was considered in the Muslim World; if you share religion, you are treated not as a foreigner, but as a local, and Muslims do not attack Muslim women even in war.
Zaitun Unit Corporal Paek Seong-uk (22) of the Army's 11th Division said, "I majored in Arabic in college and upon coming across the Quran, I had much interest in Islam, and I made up my mind to become a Muslim during this religious experience period [provided by the Zaitun Unit]."
He expressed his aspirations. "If we are sent to Iraq, I want to participate in religious ceremonies with the locals so that they can feel brotherly love and convince them that the Korean troops are not an army of occupation but a force deployed to provide humanitarian support."
New SourceLabels: Conversion, Iraq, Islam, Korea, Muslim, Soldier
PlayStation breaks sales records
The PlayStation 3 console has broken UK sales records with more than 165,000 machines sold in the first two days of release, say analysts Chart Track.
More than a million consoles were shipped across Europe on launch day last week with 600,000 sold.
Sony is hoping to retake its title as the console market leader, as Microsoft and Nintendo head the next-gen race.
Meanwhile, games firm Namco Bandai has said it is to use the PS3's Cell chip in arcade machines.
Microsoft sold 71,000 Xbox 360 consoles during its UK launch weekend, while Nintendo sold 105,000 Wii machines.
But both companies offered limited stock to retailers, which led to shortages.
Ray Maguire, managing director of Sony Computer Entertainment UK said the figures were a vote of confidence in the machine.
"Having broken the record for launch sales, we are now replenishing retail stock across the country," he said,
The first arcade title to use the PS3 microprocessor will be fighting game Tekken 6, Namco said.
While PlayStation technology has been used in arcade machines in the past it is believed to be the first time that the Cell will be used for games not running on Sony's console.
Namco Bandai has sold its PlayStation 2 arcade technology to other firms, but it is still undecided about whether to sell its PS3 Cell-based technology, a spokeswoman for the firm said.
BBCLabels: PlayStation 3, Sales Record
Dog-sized toad found in Australia
A giant cane toad the size of a small dog and nicknamed Toadzilla has been captured in northern Australia.
Toadzilla is the biggest cane toad ever found in Australia's Northern Territory and weighs just under two pounds, according to an environmental group.
Environmentalists have been trying to stop the spread of the poisonous creatures across the country's tropics.
The toads were introduced from Hawaii in the 1930s in a failed attempt to control native cane beetles.
Toadzilla was caught during a community hunt in Darwin. Residents have been urged to help stop the spread of this most unwelcome of pests.
Environmental group FrogWatch, which organises hunts to destroy the toads, said the creature measured 20.5cm (8 inches) and weighed 861g (1.9lb).
"He is huge. I would hate to meet his big sister," said FrogWatch co-ordinator Graeme Sawyer.
Cane toads were first released in Queensland and have since marched in their millions across the country.
They are prolific breeders. Some estimates put their number as high as 200 million.
What is beyond doubt is their effect on the environment.
They have poisoned countless native animals, including crocodiles which have died after eating them.
The population of some snakes, lizards and small marsupials have also suffered greatly.
A Northern Territory MP once said the toads were such a menace that people should attack them with golf clubs to keep them at bay.
Labels: Animal, Dog, Frog, Poisonous, Snake, Toads, Toadzilla
Microsoft fails second virus test
Microsoft's Live OneCare security software has failed tests which check how well it spots and stops malicious programs designed to attack Windows.
OneCare was the only failure among 17 anti-virus programs tested by the AV Comparatives organisation.
Microsoft's software only spotted 82.4% of the 500,000 viruses that the independent group subjected it to.
The test is the second in less than a month that Microsoft's anti-virus software has failed.
Minimum standard
Live OneCare is Microsoft's flagship security program that, like many other anti-virus products, is designed to help PC users keep their machine clear of malicious software.
Austria-based AV Comparatives carries out quarterly tests of top anti-virus programs to find out if they have kept up with the growing mass of viruses circulating online.
The tests see if anti-virus software can spot a variety of malicious programs including macro and script viruses, worms, backdoors and trojans.
The majority of programs tested, 14, got an advanced pass or better from AV Comparatives; two got a standard rating and OneCare failed.
OneCare fared particularly badly against so-called polymorphic viruses which regularly change their configuration in a bid to fool security software.
"Microsoft OneCare performed very low in the test, and did not reach the minimum requirements for participation," wrote Andreas Clementi, senior tester at AV Comparatives, in the report about the tests.
A Microsoft spokesman said: " We are looking closely at the methodology and results of the test to ensure that Windows Live OneCare performs better in future tests."
He added that Microsoft was trying to: "determine whether any learnings from these tests can be used to improve our services as part of our ongoing work to continually enhance Windows Live OneCare to ensure the highest level of protection and service that we can provide our customers."
The spokesman also pointed out that Windows OneCare had been certified by ICSA Labs and the West Point Checkpoint system.
In early February, security magazine Virus Bulletin revealed that OneCare failed to spot all the viruses it tested the software against.
Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6418965.stm
Labels: fail, Live OneCare, microsoft, virus, windows