Monday, 11 June 2012


Swearing On One’s Testicle

To "testify" was based on men in the Roman court swearing to a statement made by swearing on their testicles.

The word “testify” in a normal sense was taken from the Latin word testis, which is normally translated “witness”. But the presumed story of the origination of this word was rather unusual. It was said that in Roman courts, men had to swear on their testicles; or according to some sources, swear by putting their hands on testicles to confirm the truth of the statement. Linguists are not convinced about this story because when they broke the word to its core, they noticed that etymologically, it means “third (person) standing by”: the te– part comes from an older tri–, a combining form of the word for “three,” and –stis is a noun derived from the Indo-European root stā- meaning “stand.”
According to some experts, the words testify, testimony and testicle all come from the Latin testis and ancient Israelites and Roman men consider testicles as a sacred body part. It is stated that under Roman law only virile men were allowed to give witnesses, or to testify in legal matters which makes many historians conclude that the Roman law was male-dominated, where women could not stand as witnesses. The perception regarding this word was spiced up even more when a feminist magazine published a statement which stated,
“I protest the use of the word ‘testimony’ when referring to a woman’s statements, because its root is ‘testes’ which has nothing to do with being a female. Why not use ‘ovarimony’?”
[Source: WORLDWIDEWORDS]

China; Heaven of Pirated Products

China makes up about 70% of the World’s pirated products, hence becoming a heaven for pirated product traders.

The country that has revolutionized the production industry around the world, and has attracted billions of dollars of investment from the economic giants has shocked the world throughout the last decade by not taking adequate steps to eliminate knock-off products and pirated media.
According to statistics of 2003, counterfeited products produced in China were estimated to be somewhere between 19 to 24 billion dollars. According to a leading newspaper, the majority of the buyers are foreigners. In many cases some provinces are specialized in counterfeiting one line of products such as Wengang for pens; Taizhou for auto parts; Chaozhou for cosmetics. But even more alarming is that the quality of counterfeiting is improving day by day and has now reached a point where even marketing professionals can be deceived. According to a report, 95% of CDs in China are pirated and according to another report of 2007, 93% of DVDs are pirated.

In 2010, the shopping malls in China were hit with fake versions of the IPhone 4 even before the real IPhone4 was released! Even more astounding was that the fake one had some features which were not even included in the original one. The vendor who was selling the fake IPhone challenged the correspondent of the Washington post as saying,
“You can’t tell the difference between this and the real thing”.
Although the market of pirated products has created thousands of jobs and pays billions of dollars, it is affecting the global market as a whole. The businesses of elite companies are also suffering a great deal from rip off products, as they are already injected into the market even before the original products hit the shelves.
[Source: TAIPEITIMES]

Flooding Facebook with Status Updates

Social networking giant, Facebook, has a whopping tally of 1,851,000 status updates every 20 minutes!

For an average website it may look like a spam attack but for Facebook it’s normal. Facebook is a social networking website which was launched in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and his college roommates and fellow students, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes.
Within the eight years of its creation, Facebook has attracted almost 800 million active users with USA leading the way with 155 million people. With users of this enormity, one can begin to think that these mass statuses aren’t much of a big deal for Facebook. Valued at approximately 80 billion dollars, Facebook has hooked people from all parts of the globe, and has the second largest online traffic, being just behind Google.

This blizzard of status updates is not the only thing which is tolerated by Facebook’s servers. Every status update invites a storm of comments which according to statistics, rise to a tally of 10.2 million every 20 minutes on the website. The amount of interactive tools, like pages, groups, events and community pages, prove to be one of the major reasons why the world collectively spends 700 billion minutes on Facebook every month.
Facebook was originated with a mere file sharing service as one of its early functions, and has since then revolutionized the world of social networking and thrashed its rivals in terms of traffic, popularity, business and users. The traffic and users on Facebook are growing by the day thus; more people are utilizing the wide services it has to offer, allowing Facebook to achieve newer heights.
[Source: JEFFBULLASGARETHCASE]

Most Expensive Hollywood Fight Scene

In a famous science fiction movie, "The Matrix Reloaded", a 17 minute battle scene cost over $40 million to produce.

The Matrix Reloaded is an American sci-fi movie which was released in 2003. The movie is the second instalment of Matrix Trilogy. The film was a success at the box office but it had to be a super hit movie to recoup the cash splashed on its exuberant graphics. Without any doubt, the movie stood matchless in special effects at its time but to produce such eye popping effects, the budget had to lucrative too.
It took over 100 million dollars on the complete graphics of the movie which included a 17 minute battle scene which cost over 40 million dollars alone! For the Burly Brawl scene, certain sections of the fights used digital versions of Neo and Smith. The VFX team used Sony HDR-900 High Definition cameras to scan their images to generate digital sequences and Smith clones. For live action, sequences were shot in 18 second intervals to change camera angles and because Neo has more than 250 moves to perform. Whereas a striking feature of The Matrix was the use of 300-fps slow-motion shots, the filmmakers opted for a broader range of speeds on the Reloaded version.
Being so costly, the movie had its fair share of risks. If it were to be only mildly successful, it wouldn’t have been able to recoup the money spent on the graphics, thus being a huge loss. To everyone’s relief, the Matrix Reloaded earned an excess of $735,000,000 taking the number one spot for the best R-rated movie in history.
[Source: IMDB]
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3 Effective Stretching Exercises To Increase Height(in EXERCISES)


Yoga Stretch - Height Increase Exercise
 If you are one of those people who is worried by your size and always looking for a way to increase your height help is finally here!
One of the most effective means to increase your height is through a carefully carried out height increase exercises program which is designed to strengthen core muscles, improve posture and also encourage your body to increase the levels of growth hormone it releases in to your blood stream.
It is a well proven fact that exercises of high intensity such as anaerobic activities like cycling, sprinting or swimming can have a huge impact on your body’s production of growth hormones.
Another significantly better grow taller exercise for you to carry out which will also produce results is stretching and this is what we are going to focus on in this article.
The primary aim of a stretching program is to mimic the conditions that are seen in other resistance based exercises such as weight lifting and resistance training. The effect of this is stronger back and abdominal muscles.
Why is this a positive thing?
Well quite simply put stronger muscles reduce the compression of invertebral discs. This has the effect of thickening cartilage in your spinal column thereby lengthening the spinal column and increasing your height naturally.
A good program should include a variety of exercises that will move your body through a full range of motion.  This helps your body become more flexible and makes the bone and cartilage more receptive to growth.
This article will provide you with the basics of three stretching exercises to increase height that will strengthen and lengthen your body.  These following three grow taller exercises are very effective and should be an important part of your exercise program.

Hanging

One of the biggest obstacles to growing taller is gravity.  You spend most of your day in an upright, vertical position.  All day long gravity compresses your spine and joints, which squeezes and thins the cartilage and makes you shorter.
Girl Hanging - Height Increase Exercise
However, it is easy to counteract this affect through a simple hanging exercise because it lets the weight of your lower torso stretch your spine and reduce the tension between your vertebrae.
In fact, hanging has been known to increase a person’s height by one to two inches.
You will want to have a horizontal bar that is high enough so that your body can fully extend.  If your body cannot fully extend, then bend your knees slightly until you hang freely.
When you grasp the bar, make sure your palms are facing away from you and your thumbs are almost touching.
While you are hanging, try to keep your arms, shoulders, and hips are relaxed as possible.  This helps gravity pull on your body even further.  Try to hang for at least 20 seconds and repeat the process when you are able to grip the bar again.
You should also repeat this exercise a minimum of three times.  Also, if you wear ankle weights while hanging you will get an increased benefit.

Dry Land Swim

Also known as the Alternate Leg Kick, this exercise focuses on your lower back.  You will want to start this exercise by laying down flat on your stomach with your body fully extended.
Alternate Leg Kick - Height Increase Exercise
Put your arms straight out in front of you with your palms toward the floor.  Raise your left arm higher than your right arm. Then, keep your legs straight and lift your right leg off the ground as far as you can.
Try to hold that position for at least 4 seconds before gently lowering your leg and raising the other leg.  Your goal should be to work up to holding the position for 20 seconds.  Also, adding wrist and ankle weights to your workout  will increase resistance and tone your lower back muscles even more.

Pelvic Shift

This exercise is a favourite of fitness instructors all over.  It is simple, but you will quickly feel the stretching that occurs up and down your spine and in your hips.
Pelvic Shift - Height Increase Exercise
You will want to begin the exercise by lying on your back with your shoulders and arms planted firmly on the floor.  Bend your knees and draw your feet as close to your buttock as you can.  Next, arch your back so that your pelvis thrusts upward.
Hold this position for at least 20 seconds and try to work up to holding it for 30 seconds.  As you repeat this move, you should feel more and more stretching in your front hips.
It is always a good idea to check with your doctor before beginning any exercise regiment to make sure your body is healthy enough for this activity.
Strenuous exercises, like these grow taller exercises to increase height, should be done consistently but you should start slowly if you are a beginner.  You can increase the intensity of your workout as your body becomes accustomed to each new exercise.
When you develop a disciplined grow taller exercise program, you will help you body raise and sustain the levels of growth hormone in your body.  Therefore, the more effectively and regularly you exercise the better your chance to increase your height.
The height exercises discussed in this article will help you start a good exercise program. However, the ebookGrow Taller 4 Idiots will give you a more in-depth look at these height increasing exercises and many more that will help you reach your full height potential.
With help from Grow Taller 4 Idiotsyou will be able to create the height increase exercise regiment that is just right for your body.

How Our Stomach Defends Itself Against Protein Digesting Enzymes

Our stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus regularly after every two weeks or else it will digest itself.

Our stomach has to perform a very important and difficult task of digesting food which involves the secretion of powerful acids and enzymes. The stomach is the most dilated part of the digestive tube, and is situated between the end of the oesophagus and the beginning of the small intestine.
The stomach is made up of proteins and astonishingly, it contains powerful protein-digesting enzymes. So if the stomach wall doesn’t have any protection, the enzymes will digest the stomach itself. The mucus membrane itself is very thick and velvety. It has a peculiar honeycomb appearance with shallow depressions and it is made of water and protein.

All mucous producing membranes are termed as mucosa(s), and the epithelium of the stomach is called the Gastric mucosa. The mucosa generates so much mucus that this layer insulates itself from the stomach thus saving it from digestive enzymes. This layer of mucus can protect the stomach pretty well but it is not impermeable, as the cells of the mucosa are constantly being damaged and have an average lifespan of only few days. The basal layer beneath the epithelium must produce enough new cells to replace the entire gastric mucosa every week.
If the rate of destruction is too high, perhaps because of insufficient mucus or the rate of replacement is too low, the acid and pepsin may begin to destroy the underlying tissues of the stomach wall, causing an ulcer.
[Source: WIKIPEDIA]

900th Time Lighter Then The Mother

Newly born panda is about the size of an I-pod and weighs about 4 ounces which grows to about 1.5 meters long and can attain the weight of upto 135 kg.

Baby panda born without hairs and was white in color and doesn’t looks like cute and cuddly, black and white animal which we all adore. Baby pandas are extremely sensitive and open their eyes after 45 days. Mother panda take tremendous care of their babies as young babies need to be nursed for atleast 12 times a day but still young pandas has high infant mortality rate. The mortality rate is high because of illnesses and predators like leopards, wild dogs and eagles. At birth, pandas have white skin. Cubs have panda fur coloration within one month after birth.

The white skin of baby panda changes into gray within 2 weeks where eventually black hair grows. The cub starts to craw at the age of 75 to 90 days as he starts playing with the mother panda. Cubs start to eat bamboo at 5 months and are weaned at 6 months. The cub weighs 35 kilograms (80 pounds) at one year and lives with its mother until 18 months. Panda reach sexually maturity when they are 4.5 to 6.5 years old. This tiny panda has a potential to attain the height of about 1.5 meters and gain weight upto 75 to 135 kg. The physical change pandas undergo during their 18 to 25 years of life is exceptional and is considered really weird in mammals. Only kangaroos can match this extraordinary change in body in world of mammals.
[Source: CHINAUNIQUEBEARLIFE]