Lasik surgery, 2.5% fury, 2.5% despair.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

One of the issue as I understand, having read it in detail elsewhere, is that there is no way that the eyeball can be kept totally still with current technology, amongst other things. Better to stick to specs or contacts.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C352587%2C00.html Read more on this article...

Posted by Pithaly at 1:56 AM 0 comments  

"You really do believe, this talk of God is true

Friday, April 25, 2008

Carly Smithson might be the first "American Idol" contestant to be voted off the show for blasphemy.

Online chat boards devoted to "American Idol" have been abuzz since Ms. Smithson performed the title song from "Jesus Christ Superstar" -- the 1970 rock opera, which many Christians consider offensive -- on Tuesday's episode. Ms. Smithson received the fewest votes of the six remaining contestants following her Tuesday performance. Her elimination was announced on Wednesday night's episode. The week's performances were drawn from the works of Andrew Lloyd Webber, who wrote "Jesus Christ Superstar" with Tim Rice.

Since its debut, and particularly following the release of the 1973 film version, "Jesus Christ Superstar" has been railed against by some Christians for its portrayal of Jesus as confused and at times unwilling to accept his role, and because it hints that he had a sexual relationship with Mary Magdalene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHcFBjj5FNE&feature=related Read more on this article...

Posted by Pithaly at 11:34 PM 0 comments  

Mobile phones 'more dangerous than smoking'

Monday, April 21, 2008

Brain expert warns of huge rise in tumours and calls on industry to take immediate steps to reduce radiation

By Geoffrey Lean
Sunday, 30 March 2008

Mobile phones could kill far more people than smoking or asbestos, a study by an award-winning cancer expert has concluded. He says people should avoid using them wherever possible and that governments and the mobile phone industry must take "immediate steps" to reduce exposure to their radiation.

The study, by Dr Vini Khurana, is the most devastating indictment yet published of the health risks.

It draws on growing evidence – exclusively reported in the IoS in October – that using handsets for 10 years or more can double the risk of brain cancer. Cancers take at least a decade to develop, invalidating official safety assurances based on earlier studies which included few, if any, people who had used the phones for that long.

Earlier this year, the French government warned against the use of mobile phones, especially by children. Germany also advises its people to minimise handset use, and the European Environment Agency has called for exposures to be reduced.

Professor Khurana – a top neurosurgeon who has received 14 awards over the past 16 years, has published more than three dozen scientific papers – reviewed more than 100 studies on the effects of mobile phones. He has put the results on a brain surgery website, and a paper based on the research is currently being peer-reviewed for publication in a scientific journal.

He admits that mobiles can save lives in emergencies, but concludes that "there is a significant and increasing body of evidence for a link between mobile phone usage and certain brain tumours". He believes this will be "definitively proven" in the next decade.

Noting that malignant brain tumours represent "a life-ending diagnosis", he adds: "We are currently experiencing a reactively unchecked and dangerous situation." He fears that "unless the industry and governments take immediate and decisive steps", the incidence of malignant brain tumours and associated death rate will be observed to rise globally within a decade from now, by which time it may be far too late to intervene medically.

"It is anticipated that this danger has far broader public health ramifications than asbestos and smoking," says Professor Khurana, who told the IoS his assessment is partly based on the fact that three billion people now use the phones worldwide, three times as many as smoke. Smoking kills some five million worldwide each year, and exposure to asbestos is responsible for as many deaths in Britain as road accidents.

Late last week, the Mobile Operators Association dismissed Khurana's study as "a selective discussion of scientific literature by one individual". It believes he "does not present a balanced analysis" of the published science, and "reaches opposite conclusions to the WHO and more than 30 other independent expert scientific reviews". Read more on this article...

Posted by Pithaly at 10:43 PM 0 comments  

Recipe: Mud patties

In Haiti, where three-quarters of the population earns less than $2 a day and one in five children is chronically malnourished, the one business booming amid all the gloom is the selling of patties made of mud, oil and sugar, typically only consumed by the most destitute.

"It's salty and it has butter and you don't know you're eating dirt," said Olwich Louis Jeune, 24, who has taken to eating them more often in recent months. "It makes your stomach quiet down." Read more on this article...

Posted by Pithaly at 10:40 PM 0 comments  

Friday, April 18, 2008



"Rice is a staple food," Chardonnay is not." Read more on this article...

Posted by Pithaly at 7:39 PM 2 comments  

Make ink from tea

Thursday, April 10, 2008

To make ink from tea, all you need is:

* a strong cup of black tea
* unsoaped steel wool
* vinegar
* a small saucepan (or beaker)
* 3% hydrogen peroxide (from chemist or drugstore)


To make ink from tea:

1. Make a third of a cup of strong black tea with a tea bag, or use the strained dregs from a teapot. The tea contains tannic acid.
2. Dissolve some unsoaped steel wool by warming it in a quarter of a cup of vinegar in a small saucepan. The solution will be greenish-blue due to indigo. (If you don't know about ions yet, don't worry.)
3. Add the iron solution to the tea. Black iron (III) tannate will be formed. Be careful, this is indelible and will stain clothes.

Try writing with the ink. You may need to thicken it by adding a thickening agent such as gum arabic or kudzu. Read more on this article...

Posted by Pithaly at 9:49 AM 0 comments  

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Posted by Pithaly at 9:39 PM 0 comments