Thursday, July 29, 2010

Cell phones

Did you know


One study claims that among people who have used a cell phone for more than 10 years and who hold the phone to alternate sides of the head, listening with both the right and left ear, there is a 20 % increased risk of brain tumor; for people who hold the phone only on one side, there is a 200 % increased risk for tumor. The same researches suggest that cordless home phones are worse: holding the phone on alternate sides has been associated with a 220% increased risk of brain tumor, while holding it on one side is associated with a 470% increased risk.
~ Taken from a book titled "Dangerous or Safe?"


So, to reduce such exposure, you could:

While communicating using your cell phone, try to keep the cell phone away from the body as much as possible. Whenever possible, use the speakerphone mode or a wireless Bluetooth headset, which has less than one one-hundredth of the electromagnetic emission of a normal cell phone. Use of a hands-free earpiece attachment may also reduce exposures.

Avoid carrying your cell phones on your body at all times. You can also put it on "flight" or "off-line" mode, which stops electromagnetic emissions.

If you must carry your cell phone on you, make sure that the keypad is positioned toward your body and the back is positioned toward the outside so that the transmitted electromagnetic fields move away from you rather than through you.

When possible, communicate via text messaging rather than making a call, limiting the duration of exposure and the proximity to the body.

~Edited and taken from an article "Important Precautionary Advice Regarding Cell Phone Use" by Ronald B. Herberman, MD

Have you taken the steps needed?
What time is it?

12.37pm!!!

Wow, it has been so long since we had such an early release (except on Fridays)! Usually our days would be like:
~3pm release, or 5/6pm release if we have mock exams. This is a good and nice change!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

My wall looks so bleak after removing my anime posters


If you look closely, i bet you can see white lines on the wall, as a result of the posters being there for a year >_>

Monday, July 26, 2010

I am going through a phase

I feel as if i am going through a type of phase that will probably destroy me forever when i find out that i prefer that to my romance fiction books.

My hands now hold a *gasp* non-fiction book titled "Dangerous or Safe?"



 which is making me analyze what i am putting in my mouth. I am slightly horrified to note that i actually find this book kind of interesting. A month ago i wouldn't even spare such books a glance. Now, i am actually holding it!! (and reading it!!)

And i am using a conventional pencil. With a sharpener.

This isn't me.

Really.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt

Being told that i had no general knowledge (though i could recognise the word Cleopatra but not the history) had spurred me to Yahoo it. So, here are the basic things that i have learnt about who Cleopatra really is.




BIRTH

Cleopatra is a queen of Egypt. And a famous one at that. She was born in 69 B.C. in Alexandria, during the reign of the Ptolemy family to Ptolemy XII. And Cleopatra came to reign in 51B.C. while she was of 17 years of age.

PASSAGE

(4) Years after that, she had met, or seduced as some sources went, Julius Caesar and became his mistress. Caesarion was born soon after. It has been said that Cleopatra had loved Caesar. However, on March 15  44 BC, a crowd of conspirators surrounded Caesar at a Senate meeting and stabbed him to death.

Cleopatra met Mark Anthony.a few years later, and had an affair, which led to the birth of his twins. Anthony was very much in love with her, putting her name and face on the Roman coin and divorcing Octavia, his wife. (However, there has been suggestions that relations between Antony and Octavian had begun disintegrating for several years.) Octavian then formally declared war against Cleopatra.
 Antony committed suicide by falling on his own sword in 30 BC when his troops were defeated.
 
DEATH
 
Cleopatra, afraid of being humiliated, decided to take her life. She had an asp, which was a poisonous Egyptian cobra, brought to her hidden in a basket of figs. When the guards entered to see Cleopatra, they found the 39-year old queen dead on her golden bed. Yet, other source states that it was hidden in a vase, and that she poked it with a spindle until it got angry enough to bite her on the arm.


CHARACTER

In one source, Cleopatra was seen as a remarkable person, she had great brilliance and her devotion to her country was utmost. She had a charismatic personality, was a born leader and an ambitious monarch who deserved better than suicide.

In another source, Queen Cleopatra was thought to be a murdering, adulterous seductress who conspired in the demise of her own family, countrymen, and powerful Romans. Her death at her own hand was said to be the last desperate attempt of an immoral woman to at least control her own end, having lost all accumulated wealth, power, and lovers.


BEAUTY
Cleopatra was regarded as a great beauty, even in the ancient world. In his Pensées, philosopher Blaise Pascal contends that Cleopatra's classically beautiful profile changed world history: "Cleopatra's nose, had it been shorter, the whole face of the world would have been changed.''
Cassius Dio also spoke of Cleopatra's allure: "For she was a woman of surpassing beauty, and at that time, when she was in the prime of her youth, she was most striking; she also possessed a most charming voice and knowledge of how to make herself agreeable to every one. Being brilliant to look upon and to listen to, with the power to subjugate every one, even a love-sated man already past his prime, she thought that it would be in keeping with her role to meet Caesar, and she reposed in her beauty all her claims to the throne."

However, some people have felt that though Cleopatra was very intelligent and a shrewd politician with an extraordinary charisma, she was not beautiful and had a much masculine features.

 
Which would you believe?
 
This is the watered down version (and not that accurate) but you get the gist of it.
 
So now you know the history of Cleopatra. I feel that if a book was dedicated to the whole life of her, it would be as thick as the length of my palm!

Acknowlegements:
http://www.kingtutshop.com/freeinfo/cleopatra.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleopatra_VII

Saturday, July 10, 2010

First Time ...

I saw someone doing eyebrow tattoo right in my face












Thursday, July 8, 2010

I am immensely disappointed with myself. IMMENSELY.

I can't believe that i did that! I just can't believe it... (Those whom have been in contact with me 1 hour after that has happened have already heard many times now but i still want to say: )

I AM SO DISAPPOINTED AND DISSATISFIED AT MY POOR PERFORMANCE IN THE ORAL EXAM!!!

I just ... There were so many pauses and words that i got wrong. And I'd repeated the WRONG WORDS again and again. Urg, i hate am very, extremely sad and unhappy. What was wrong with me at that time!! Why couldn't i be more calm?!!!

ARRRRRHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Monday, July 5, 2010

Articles


I've read a post on the National Geographic website about True Love and it was very interesting. It uses a first person view to tell us what the scientists have found out, instead of going all clinical. Very interesting.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Something Unique

I just received an expected phone call. I thought the person was someone else. It was fun to talk with that person. :)

Another thing that i did today that was unique:

I walked until my toes hurt. Wearing the ladies' shoes does make the outfit look prettier but it does nothing for comfort. I guess i'm just too used to wearing men's shoes that had broader toe area...

Friday, July 2, 2010

Manga Review: Olimpos, by Aki

Manga Review: Olimpos, by Aki

I am reading Olimpos and whew, let me tell you, the story is so captivating. It is not as simple as 1 + 1  but there are many complications in this manga. Not to say that there are many twists and turns but rather, it is more in the mental and emotional stance. This is the manga that i think anyone will like. It shows that humans, even gods, sometimes become twisted, not until they are evil, but just ... twisted. Their thinking is slightly different from us normal humans; after all, who will remain sane if they are immortal and just stay in a "garden" however beautiful for the rest of their lives, which is estentially forever.

What was unique about this story is that the manga is told from different perspectives, be it from the young man, Ganymede, Heinz or from the god, Apollo. It will definitely keep you interested in clicking the Next button because it is just that good.

Another plus is it's beautiful art. The artist focus more on the clothing aspect, in my opinion, but doesn't do bad at all when drawing the characters' expressions. This is probably among the most memorable manga that i've read because it really dives into the question of whether being immortal is really all that fun. And, it takes a good artist to make sure that the characters remain in the line of being twisted, and are sometimes toeing it, but not until they are completely evil and the reader can't sympathise with them.

However, the manga seemed to have lost its steam in the second volume. There was a little cliff hanger at the end and it ended quite abrutly.

I give this manga a 4 / 5 . You should go check it out, no matter what your preference is.


When Heinz goes to church to pray, he says he'll do anything to get his wish granted - as long as it's not too hard. So when someone answers his prayer, he agrees to the condition: if he convinces a shut-in to step outside, his wish will be granted. But when Heinz agrees, a beautiful man claiming to be God appears before him, kisses him, and whisks him away to a world full of flowers and everlasting night. It is there that he finds a young man trapped by his own despair and belief that he cannot leave, and Heinz must convince the boy that escape is possible in order to return to his own life and have his wish granted.

You can get your fix HERE . The series is completed.

A Teaser: