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29 January 2011

World’s Oldest Working Microwave

They are part and parcel of most kitchens now. But in the Swinging Sixties, microwave ovens were cutting-edge technology. Frederick Stephens was among the first in Britain to buy one and 150,000 meals later, it is still going strong. The 78-year-old believes it is the country’s oldest still in everyday use. He paid $300 – equivalent to more than $3,900 in today’s money – for the brown Panasonic NE-691 and has used it every day in the four decades.


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26 January 2011

World’s Oldest Joke

You might think your dad’s joke about what you call blood-sucking referrees (”vumpires” haha) is old, but that’s nothing. A team of academics from the University of Wolverhampton have discovered the world’s most ancient gag. Guess what it’s about? Yep. Farts.
“Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband’s lap,” goes the joke, which apparently dates back to ancient Sumeria circa 1900 BC.

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23 January 2011

World’s Oldest Flute

 According to archaeologists, offering the latest evidence that early modern humans in Europe had established a complex and creative culture. A team led by University of Tuebingen archaeologist Nicholas Conard assembled the flute from 12 pieces of griffon vulture bone scattered in a small plot of the Hohle Fels cave in southern Germany. Together, the pieces comprise a 8.6-inch instrument with five holes and a notched end. Conard said the flute was 35,000 years old.


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20 January 2011

5 Things You Didn't Know about Google

Google was originally called BackRub

Like many other booming internet companies, Google has an interesting upbringing, one that is marked by a lowly beginning. Google began as a research project in January 1996 by cofounder Larry Page, a 24-year-old Ph.D. student at Standford University. Page was soon joined by 23-year-old Sergey Brin, another Ph.D. student, forming a duo that seemed destined for failure. According to Google's own corporate information, Brin and Page argued about every single topic they discussed. This incessant arguing, however, may have been what spurred the duo to rethink web-searching and develop a novel strategy that ranked websites according to the number of backlinks (i.e., according to the number of web pages that linked back to a web page being searched), and not based on the number of times a specific search term appeared on a given web page, as was the norm.

Because of this unique strategy, another thing you didn't know about Google is that Page and Brin nicknamed the search engine BackRub. Thankfully, in 1998, Brin and Page dropped the sexually suggestive nickname, and came up with “Google,” a term originating from a common misspelling of the word "googol," which refers to 10100.

The word “google” has become so common, it was entered into numerous dictionaries in 2006, referring to the act of using the Google search engine to retrieve information via the internet.

Google scans your e-mails5 Things You Didn't Know about Google

Nothing in life is perfect -- or without controversy -- and Google is no exception. Google scans your e-mails (at Gmail) through a process called “content extraction.” All incoming and outgoing e-mail is scanned for specific keywords to target advertising to the user. The process has brewed quite a storm of controversy, but Google has yet to back down on its stance.

Google has remained similarly headstrong about other criticisms; in an attempt to remain partisan to local governments, Google removes or does not include information from its services in compliance with local laws. Perhaps the most striking example of this is Google's adherence to the internet censorship policies of China (at Google.cn) so as not to bring up search results supporting the independence movement of Tibet and Taiwan, or any other information perceived to be harmful to the People's Republic of China.

Google Street has further been cited for breaching personal privacy. The service provides high-resolution street-view photos from around the world and has, on numerous occasions, caught people committing questionable acts. Moving from street to satellite, Google Earth has also come under fire from several Indian state governments about the security risks posed by the details from Google Earth's satellite imaging. When all is said and done, there are a lot of criticisms about Google and these few examples merely scratch the surface.

Google spends $72 million a year on employee meals
Seventy-two million dollars a year -- that works out to about $7,530 per Googler (a term Google uses to identify employees). While the exact details vary depending on location (the Google empire spans the globe), employees at Google's California headquarters, aptly entitled the Googleplex, are welcome to at least two free meals a day from 11 different gourmet cafeterias. As if that weren’t enough, another thing you didn’t know about Google is that in addition to the cafeterias, Google offers numerous snack bars that are chock-full of healthy morsels to munch on.

And that's certainly not all. Is your car in a bit of a rut? Not to worry; Google offers on-site car washes and oil changes. The list of perks for working at Google is never-ending, making it no surprise that it's considered the No. 1 place to work, offering: on-site haircuts, full athletic facilities, massage therapists, language classes, drop-off dry cleaning, day cares, and on-site doctors, just to name a few. Oh, and if your dog is stuck at home and feeling a little lonely, just bring him to work -- Google doesn't mind.
Google loses $110 million a year through "I'm Feeling Lucky"

There's not much to see on Google's main search page, and perhaps simplicity is one of the keys to Google's success. When searching Google, you are given two options: “Google Search” or “I'm Feeling Lucky.” By clicking the former, you are given that familiar list of search results; by clicking the latter, however, you are automatically redirected to the first search result, bypassing the search engine’s results page.

besides the fun factor, the idea behind the “I'm Feeling Lucky” feature is to provide the user with instant connection to the precise page they are searching for, thus saving them time that would normally be spent perusing endless search results. Sounds harmless enough, right? Not so fast. Because “I'm Feeling Lucky” bypasses all advertising, it is estimated that Google loses about $110 million per year in advertising- generated revenue. So why in the world would any Fortune 500 company not patch such a gaping leak? "It's possible to become too dry, too corporate, too much about making money. I think what's delightful about 'I'm Feeling Lucky' is that it reminds you there are real people here," Google Executive Marissa Mayer told Valleywag, an online tech-blog.

Google has a sense of humor

Google also offers full language support for Pig Latin, Klingon and even Elmer Fudd. Anyone else still feeling lucky? Try typing, “French military victories” and clicking “I'm Feeling Lucky.” Behold the result.

Some might remember the “miserable failure” fiasco when one typed those words and clicked “I'm Feeling Lucky,” and they were instantly connected to a biography of President George W. Bush on the White House website. Now, before you jump to conclusions, this trick -- which no longer works -- was carried out by members of the online community through the art of “Google bombing.” Google bombing works because of Google's backlink search strategy.
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14 January 2011

Japanese man aged 74 scoops bodybuilding championships

Most men who reach their 70s are happy to sit back and reflect on their earlier years when they were finer physical specimens. But Japanese weightlifter Tsutomu Tosuka proves that despite being 74 years old, you are never too old to have a great body. Tsutomu was crowned champion in the senior category of the Japan Masters Bodybuilding Championships at the weekend.


Silver-haired success: Tsutomu Tosuka is crowned winner in the senior category of the Japan Masters Bodybuilding Championships 2009. With his heavily bronzed physique, the Japanese has a body that would be the envy of millions of men more than half his age.

At 74 years old, Tosaka is not your typical bodybuilder. But he is well known in the Japanese bodybuilding circuit for his mastery at such an advanced age. Unlike most competitors, he didn’t begin bulking up until age 40 when a friend introduced him to the sport. He hasn’t stopped since. Here, silver-haired Tsutomu flexes his muscles on stage and shows he still has plenty of pecs appeal despite his declining years.

Tsutomu was joined by dozens of other equally toned competitors for the competition in Tokyo on Sunday - the 21st anniversary of the championships. And he scooped first prize in the over 70s category. This week statistics revealed that more than a quarter of all women and one fifth of all men living in Japan are over the age of 65.

This has huge implications for the country, which has the second biggest economy in the world. Many forecasters are predicting a crisis in management over caring for the elderly as more and more Japanese reach retirement age with birth rates declining.

But if Japan wants to stay in shape in the 21st century, its elderly citizens could do a lot worse than take a leaf out of Tsutomu’s weighty book.

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11 January 2011

Tips to Search Better in Google

This is an old one, but very important: Put quotes around phrases that must be searched together. If you put quotes around "electric curtains," Google won't waste your time finding one set of Web pages containing the word "electric" and another set containing the word "curtains."

         Similarly, put a hyphen right before any word you want screened out. If you're looking up dolphins, for example, you'll have to wade through a million Miami Dolphins pages unless you search for "dolphins - Miami."

         Google is a global White Pages and Yellow Pages. Search for "phonebook:home depot norwalk , ct," Google instantly produces the address and phone number of the Norwalk Home Depot. This works with names ("phonebook: robert jones las vegas, NV") as well as businesses.

         Don't put any space after "phonebook." And in all of the following examples, don't type the quotes I'm showing you here.

         Google is a package tracker. Type a FedEx or UPS package number (just the digits); when you click Search, Google offers a link to its tracking information.

         Google is a calculator. Type in an equation ("32+2345*3- 234=").

         Google is a units-of-measuremen t converter. Type "teaspoons in a gallon," for example, or "centimeters in a foot."

         Google is a stock ticker. Type in AAPL or MSFT, for example, to see a link to the current Apple or Microsoft stock price, graphs, financial news and so on.

         Google is an atlas. Type in an area code, like 212, to see a Mapquest map of the area.

         Google is Wal-Mart's computer. Type in a UPC bar code number, such as "036000250015, " to see the description of the product you've just "scanned in." (Thanks to the Google Blog, http://google. blogspace. com , for this tip and the next couple.)

         Google is an aviation buff. Type in a flight number like "United 22" for a link to a map of that flight's progress in the air. Or type in the tail number you see on an airplane for the full registration form for that plane.

          Google is the Department of Motor Vehicles. Type in a VIN (vehicle identification number, which is etched onto a plate, usually on the door frame, of every car), like "JH4NA1157MT001832" to find out the car's year, make and model.

          For hours of rainy-day entertainment, visit http://labs. google.com . Here, you'll find links to new, half-finished Google experiments- like Google Voice, in which you call (650) 623-6706, speak the words you want to search for and then open your browser to view the results. Disclaimer: It wasn't working when I tried it. (Ditto a lot of these experiments.)

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08 January 2011

Bomb finder Rat

Staff at Porfell Wildlife Park and Sanctuary near Liskeard, Cornwall, have been teaching Gambian poached rat Kofi to alert handlers when he detects a mine.
Kofi is too small to set off the booby-traps but his acute sense of smell can pick up the scent of the bomb casing.


Rats have been trained in Africa to hunt for land mines but Kofi is the first to undergo the program in Britain. Handler Wendy Winstanley now plans to contact the Army and the police anti-terror unit to offer her rats' services for use both home and abroad. She said: "Kofi is amazing, his sniff ability is really incredible. People think of rats as vermin but they are highly intelligent creatures.

"They have a more heightened sense of smell than dogs and because they are so much lighter they have less chance of setting off an explosive.

"Obviously we don't have land mines in this country but I'm so happy with his development that I would be happy to send him to the Gambia if he was required.
"In this country these rats would be excellent at sniffing out bombs. If the anti-terror police wanted me to I would interested and more than happy to train them."

The bomb sniffing training process begins when rats are five weeks old and are weaned from their mothers. Trainers begin socialising the young rats to the sights, sounds, and textures of the world by walking them on wet grass, going for a ride in a lorry and interacting with humans.

Then the sniffer rats are taught to recognise the smell of metal land mine casings in return for a food reward. Thirty sniffer rats are already being used in Mozambique, Africa, and have proved incredibly successful for the detection and removal of land mines.

The rodents are fitted to a leash before scrambling their way over a piece of ground, sniffing out any explosives. A trained rat can clear 100 metres square in 30 minutes, equivalent to two days work for a manual de-miner. The rats are about 75 cm long (30 inches) and weigh about 1.35 kilograms (3 lbs) which means they can scamper across a minefield without detonating the charges.

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06 January 2011

Learn About Barcode Numbers

The whole world is scared of China made "black hearted goods" Can you differentiate which one is made in Taiwan or China? Let me tell! u � the first 3 digits of barcode 690.691.692 is made in CHINA. Do not ever buy it for your own health.



471 is Made in Taiwan

This is a human right to know, but the government and related department never educate the public, therefore we have to rescue ourselves. Remember.

00-13: USA & Canada
20-29: In-Store Functions
30-37: France
40-44: Germany
45: Japan (also 49)
471: Taiwan
474: Estonia
475: Latvia
477: Lithuania
479: Sri Lanka
480: Philippines
482: Ukraine
484: Moldova
485: Armenia
486: Georgia
487: Kazakhstan
489: Hong Kong
49: Japan (JAN-13)
520: Greece
528: Lebanon
529: Cyprus
531: Macedonia
535: Malta
539: Ireland
54: Belgium & Luxembourg
560: Portugal
569: Iceland
57: Denmark
590: Poland
594: Romania
599: Hungary
600 & 601: South Africa
609: Mauritius
611: Morocco
613: Algeria
619: Tunisia
622: Egypt
625: Jordan
626: Iran
64: Finland
690-692: China
70: Norway
729: Israel
73: Sweden
740: Guatemala
742: Honduras
743: Nicaragua
750: Mexico
759: Venezuela
76: Switzerland
770: Colombia
773: Uruguay
775: Peru
777: Bolivia
779: Argentina
780: Chile
784: Paraguay
785: Peru
786: Ecuador
789: Brazil
80 - 83: Italy
84: Spain
850: Cuba
858: Slovakia
859: Czech Republic
860: Yugoslavia
869: Turkey
87: Netherlands
880: South Korea
885: Thailand
888: Singapore
890: India
893: Vietnam
899: Indonesia
90 & 91: Austria
93: Australia
94: New Zealand
955: Malaysia
977: International Standard Serial Number for Periodicals (ISSN)
978: International Standard Book Numbering (ISBN)
979: International Standard Music Number (ISMN)
980: Refund receipts
981 & 982: Common Currency Coupons
99: Coupons

With more and more milk products from China and Taiwan having problem. We really got to check where the things are produced. Here is a way to differentiate Taiwan made products and China made products : by looking at first three digits of its Bar Code.

If the 1st 3 digits are 690, 691 or 692 - China made
If the 1st 3 digits are 471 � Taiwan made

Nowadays, China businessmen know the consumers do not prefer products "made in china", so they won't show made from which country. However, you may now refer to the barcodes, if the first 3 digits is 690-692 then it is made in China

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05 January 2011

Useful Keyboard Shortcuts

Start + M: Minimizes all open windows 
Start + Shift + M: Maximizes All Windows 
Start + E: Runs Windows Explorer 
Start + R: Open the RUN Dialog Box 
Start + F: Open the Search Results Dialog box 
Start + CTRL + F: Opens the Search Results-Computer dialog Box (if the computer is connected to a network) 
Start + Pause (Break): Opens the System Properties Dialog Box

Windows System Key Combinations: 
F1: Help 
CTRL + ESC: Open Start menu 
ALT + TAB: Switch between open programs 
ALT + F4: Quit program 
SHIFT + DELETE: Delete item permanently 

Windows Program Key Combinations: 
CTRL + C: Copy 
CTRL + X: Cut 
CTRL + V: Paste 
CTRL + Z: Undo 
CTRL + B: Bold 
CTRL + U: Underline 
CTRL + I: Italic

Mouse Click/Keyboard Modifier Combinations for Shell Objects: 

SHIFT + right click: Displays a shortcut menu containing alternative commands
SHIFT + double click: Runs the alternate default command (the second item on the menu) 
ALT + double click: Displays properties 
SHIFT + DELETE: Deletes an item immediately without placing it in the Recycle Bin

General Keyboard-Only Commands: 
F1: Starts Windows Help 
F10: Activates menu bar options 
SHIFT + F10: Opens a shortcut menu for the selected item (this is the same as right-clicking an object 
CTRL + ESC: Opens the Start menu (use the ARROW keys to select an item) 
CTRL + ESC or ESC: Selects the Start button (press TAB to select the taskbar, or press SHIFT+F10 for a context menu
ALT + DOWN ARROW: Opens a drop-down list box 
ALT + TAB: Switch to another running program (hold down the ALT key and then press the TAB key to view the task-switching window) 
SHIFT: Press and hold down the SHIFT key while you insert a CD-ROM to bypass the automatic-run feature 
ALT + SPACE: Displays the main window's System menu (from the System menu, you can restore, move, resize, minimize, maximize, or close the window)
ALT +- (ALT + hyphen): Displays the Multiple Document Interface (MDI)child window's System menu (from the MDI child window's System menu, you can restore, move, resize, minimize, maximize, or close the child window) 
CTRL + TAB: Switch to the next child window of a Multiple Document Interface (MDI) program 
ALT + underlined letter in menu: Opens the menu 
ALT + F4: Closes the current window 
CTRL + F4: Closes the current Multiple Document Interface (MDI) window 
ALT + F6: Switch between multiple windows in the same program (for example, when the Notepad Find dialog box is displayed 
ALT + F6: switches between the Find dialog box and the main Notepad window)

Shell Objects and General Folder/Windows Explorer Shortcuts For a selected object: 
F2: Rename object 
F3: Find all files 
CTRL + X: Cut 
CTRL + C: Copy 
CTRL + V: Paste 
SHIFT + DELETE: Delete selection immediately, without moving the item to the Recycle Bin 
ALT + ENTER: Open the properties for the selected object 
To Copy a File: Press and hold down the CTRL key while you drag the file to another folder. 
To Create a Shortcut: Press and hold down CTRL+SHIFT while you drag a file to the desktop or a folder.

General Folder/Shortcut Control: 
F4: Selects the Go To A Different Folder box and moves down the entries in the box (if the toolbar is active in Windows Explorer
F5: Refreshes the current window. 
F6: Moves among panes in Windows Explorer 
CTRL + G: Opens the Go To Folder tool (in Windows 95 Windows Explorer only) 
CTRL + Z: Undo the last command 
CTRL + A: Select all the items in the current window 
BACKSPACE: Switch to the parent folder 
SHIFT + click + Close button: For folders, close the current folder plus all parent folders

Windows Explorer Tree Control: 

Numeric Keypad *: Expands everything under the current selection 
Numeric Keypad +: Expands the current selection
Numeric Keypad -: Collapses the current selection. 
RIGHT ARROW: Expands the current selection if it is not expanded, otherwise goes to the first child 
LEFT ARROW: Collapses the current selection if it is expanded, otherwise goes to the parent

Properties Control: 

CTRL + TAB/CTRL + SHIFT + TAB: Move through the property tabs 

Accessibility Shortcuts: 
Press SHIFT five times: Toggles StickyKeys on and off 
Press down and hold the right SHIFT key for eight seconds: TogglesFilterKeys on and off 
Press down and hold the NUM LOCK key for five seconds: TogglesToggleKeys on and off 
Left ALT + left SHIFT+NUM LOCK: Toggles MouseKeys on and off 
Left ALT + left SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN: Toggles high contrast on and off

Microsoft Natural Keyboard Keys: 

Windows Logo: Start menu 
Windows Logo + R: Run dialog box 
Windows Logo + M: Minimize all 
SHIFT + Windows Logo+M: Undo minimize all 
Windows Logo + F1: Help 
Windows Logo + E: Windows Explorer 
Windows Logo + F: Find files or folders 
Windows Logo + D: Minimizes all open windows and displays the desktop 
CTRL + Windows Logo + F: Find computer 
CTRL + Windows Logo + TAB: Moves focus from Start, to the Quick Launch toolbar, to the system tray (use RIGHT ARROW or LEFT ARROW to move focus to items on the Quick Launch toolbar and the system tray) 
Windows Logo + TAB: Cycle through taskbar buttons 
Windows Logo + Break: System Properties dialog box 
Application key: Displays a shortcut menu for the selected item

Microsoft Natural Keyboard with IntelliType Software Installed: 
Windows Logo + L: Log off Windows 
Windows Logo + P: Starts Print Manager 
Windows Logo + C: Opens Control Panel 
Windows Logo + V: Starts Clipboard 
Windows Logo + K: Opens Keyboard Properties dialog box 
Windows Logo + I: Opens Mouse Properties dialog box 
Windows Logo + A: Starts Accessibility Options (if installed) 
Windows Logo + SPACEBAR: Displays the list of Microsoft IntelliType shortcut keys 
Windows Logo + S: Toggles CAPS LOCK on and off

Dialog Box Keyboard Commands: 

TAB: Move to the next control in the dialog box 
SHIFT + TAB: Move to the previous control in the dialog box 
SPACEBAR: If the current control is a button, this clicks the button. If the current control is a check box, this toggles the check box. If the current control is an option, this selects the option. 
ENTER: Equivalent to clicking the selected button (the button with the outline
ESC: Equivalent to clicking the Cancel button 
ALT + underlined letter in dialog box item: Move to the corresponding item 
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