http://realideal.com/forum/ Portal J Repository » Recent Topics en Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:50:15 +0000 http://realideal.com/forum/topic/966#post-1114 Sun, 05 Feb 2012 07:45:40 +0000 admin 1114@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> The video shows Russian Navy Commandos on a Somalian pirate ship shortly after the pirates had captured a Russian oil tanker...<br /> <br /> <center><object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TruV3sxS9Zw?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TruV3sxS9Zw?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></center><br /> <br /> All explanations are in Russian with a single exception of when a wounded pirate says something in English and the Russian soldier says "Why do you lie to me? - this is not a fishing boat". All conversations between the commandos are in Russian. If you don't understand Russian, the pictures speak for themselves.<br /> <br /> The soldiers freed their compatriots and the tanker.<br /> <br /> The Russian Navy Commandos moved the pirates back to their own (pirate) ship, searched the pirate ship for weapons and explosives and then they left the ship and decommissioned it with all remaining pirates hand-cuffed to it.<br /> <br /> Without any court proceedings, lawyers etc. That is, they used the anti-piracy laws of the 18th and 19th centuries where the captain of the rescuing ship has the right to decide what to do with the pirates. Typically, pirates were hanged.</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/947#post-1088 Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:45:01 +0000 admin 1088@http://realideal.com/forum/ <img class="editorial above" width="300" title="Regrow Scallions in a Cup of Water" alt="Regrow Scallions in a Cup of Water" src="http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/f3faf3a8a62957fd14aa8258713cc574.jpg" style="margin-top: -2px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 20px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; float: right; position: relative; z-index: 2; line-height: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><div class="alternates modfont" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font-family: proxima-nova-condensed-1, proxima-nova-condensed-2, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; width: 320px; height: 18px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; line-height: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></div><div class="post-body" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">If you like to cook with&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scallion" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); ">scallions</a>&nbsp;(aka green onions or green shallots) did you know you can keep the white root ends from purchased scallions in a glass of water and they will regrow almost indefinitely?</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">Household weblog Homemade Serenity shares how scallion ends can regrow in in a glass of water. Just put the root ends in a glass of water and put that glass in a sunny window. After a few days you should be able to begin harvesting the green ends of the scallions. Make sure you change the water every so often and cut what you need with scissors before cooking.</p></div> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/960#post-1103 Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:09:18 +0000 admin 1103@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> <center><img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/7/2012/01/a9fc347b37434171d59399cfd5966ec8.jpg"/></center><br /> <br /> Above is a picture of a female Burmese python caught in 2009 by a ranger in the Everglades National Park. All those sacs are embryonic pythons—59 potential hungry baby pythons in all.<br /> <br /> Looking at that, it's not surprising that a new report found the python infestation in the Everglades, caused by lazy pet owners releasing their snakes there, has decimated nearly all of the most common animals: A recent count found 99 percent of raccoons and 88 percent of bobcats had vanished, along with practically all the rabbits and foxes. You try feeding 59 babies on a python's salary.</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/964#post-1109 Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:34:08 +0000 admin 1109@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> RFID chips can beam data wirelessly. The guys at Mythbusters wanted to make an episode about how trackable and hackable RFID chips were. Sounds amazing! Everyone would've learned more about the technology that's invisibly invading our lives. But, nope. Credit Card companies banned 'em.<br /> <br /> <center><object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hq7kBhts9a8?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hq7kBhts9a8?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></center><br /> <br /> Specifically, it looks like the lawyers of Visa, American Express, Discover and all the other bigwig debt slurpin' credit card companies got in immediate contact with Discovery and told 'em if Savage and crew did the episode, the credit card companies would pull its advertisements and commercials from Discovery. Discovery caved and the RFID episode was axed.</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/965#post-1110 Sun, 05 Feb 2012 03:31:53 +0000 admin 1110@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> What you're looking at here are two incredible examples of a phenomenon known as <i>fano flow</i>, which show non-newtonian fluids appearing to defy the laws of physics...<br /> <br /> <center><object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aY7xiGQ-7iw?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aY7xiGQ-7iw?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></center><br /> <br /> What these fluids are defying are the forces of gravity. Both of the fluids in the video have been treated with a water-soluble chemical compound known as polyethylene oxide (PEO). PEO is a polymer, meaning it's made up of a bunch of identical molecules that fit together to form a much larger molecule, sort of like metal links fitting together to form a chain.<br /> <br /> In the so-named ''tubeless'' syphon, a fluid can be made to flow up through an unsupported liquid column above the free surface of the liquid. One way to achieve this is by slowly withdrawing and raising a syringe from a pool of the liquid below.<br /> <br /> In the so-named ''open channel'' syphon, after initially commencing the flow of an elastic fluid from say a beaker, the fluid will continue to flow up the side and over the lip of the beaker for sometime despite the level of its free surface having fallen considerably below the top of the beaker. In this way the slightest spill will cause the beaker to partially empty in what is commonly referred to as a ''self-syphoning'' effect.</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/963#post-1108 Sat, 04 Feb 2012 03:08:23 +0000 admin 1108@http://realideal.com/forum/ <div><img alt="text" align="left" src="http://www.brimg.net/images/secrets-ss-wont-tell-you-1.jpg" width="260" height="200" title="Slide 1 - That FICA guy wont be your buddy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/></div><div><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">In the first season of "Friends," Rachel Green looks at her first paycheck as a waitress and asks, "Who's this FICA guy, and why is he getting all my money?"</p><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">That's one hard lesson about Social Security. Another is that when it's time to claim, you can't depend on the Social Security Administration to be your personal adviser.</p><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">In an effort to save time and cut costs, Social Security employees generally don't give case-specific advice. So that means you are on your own to make the most important financial decision of a lifetime. You have to read the rules and do the research yourself.</p><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">William Meyer, whose website, Social Security Solutions, gives Social Security advice for a fee, says you also can't depend on Social Security to follow instructions you give them electronically. If you have a request that is not the most common choice, you'll need to go to the Social Security office and make the request in person, he says.</p><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Read on to brush up on Social Security benefits that are not commonly known.</p><div style="text-align: left;"><h5 style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">300 ways to claim the goodies</h5><img alt="text" align="left" src="http://www.brimg.net/images/secrets-ss-wont-tell-you-2.jpg" width="260" height="200" title="Slide 2 - 300 ways to claim the goodies" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">There are more than 300 ways a married couple can decide to take their Social Security benefits, according to Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. You can't ask Social Security to list them all, so what's the right choice?</p><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Munnell says it's hard to beat waiting until you're 70 to begin benefits because the monthly payment is 76 percent higher than it would be if you had started to take benefits at 62 and 32 percent higher than it would be if you claimed at age 66.</p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /><br /></span><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></font></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></font></div><div style="text-align: left;"><h5 style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Betting against death</h5><img alt="text" align="left" src="http://www.brimg.net/images/secrets-ss-wont-tell-you-3.jpg" width="260" height="200" title="Slide 3 - Betting against death" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">On the other hand, some people advocate drawing Social Security benefits at the first opportunity.</p><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Doug Carey, who founded the financial planning software firm WealthTrace, says Social Security doesn't see itself as an odds maker, but it does require you to bet on your longevity. He offers this chart as proof. It graphs the break-even point for a person who earned the inflation-adjusted equivalent of $70,000 per year for 35 years. If this person waits until 70 to claim Social Security and lives until at least age 90, he'll accumulate almost $162,000 more in benefits than he would if he had claimed at 62. But there's a possibility of losing the bet and getting nothing.</p><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Retired law professor and Social Security expert Merton Bernstein says the longevity bet odds are bad, so claim early. "You never know when the bell will ring. I subscribe to the Woody Allen principal: 'Take the money and run.'"</p><h5 style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">A reward for delaying divorce</h5><img alt="text" align="left" src="http://www.brimg.net/images/secrets-ss-wont-tell-you-4.jpg" width="260" height="200" title="Slide 4 - A reward for delaying divorce" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">If you're not happy in your marriage after nine and a half years, hold off before hiring a divorce attorney.</p><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"Stay married for at least 10 years," says San Francisco-based Bank of America personal banker Raphael Gilbert.</p><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Why? That's what it takes to stake a claim to your ex-spouse's Social Security benefits. If you terminate the marriage after nine years and 11 months, you're out of luck.</p><p class="clear" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">If you make it for 10 years, you can collect a Social Security benefit based on up to half of your ex's earnings or on the basis of your own earnings -- whichever is higher.</p><h5 style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Bigger reward if ex has 'departed'</h5><img alt="text" align="left" src="http://www.brimg.net/images/secrets-ss-wont-tell-you-5.jpg" width="260" height="200" title="Slide 5 - Bigger reward if ex has departed" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">And we have another dirty little secret for you. If you haven't remarried, chances are your ex-spouse is worth more to you dead than alive -- especially if he or she was a high earner. Once an ex-spouse passes away, you'll be treated just like a widow or widower. If you are at least 60, you'll be able to collect your late-spouse's benefit and allow your own benefit to grow unclaimed until you reach age 70, when you can switch if your own is higher, according to Carol Thomas, who worked for the Social Security Administration for 28 years and answers questions about Social Security at RetirementCommunity.com.</p><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Assuming your ex will dwell on Planet Earth to a ripe old age, the longer your ex-spouse delays claiming Social Security, the better it is for you. So, if you get a chance, encourage your ex to work until age 70. Then, when it's all over, you'll get to claim half of his or her maximum Social Security. Or once you and your ex-spouse reach full retirement age -- usually 66 -- you can claim half your ex's benefit and let your own grow untouched until you're 70, says Thomas. Consider it payback.</p><h5 style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">More flexibility for widows and widowers</h5><img alt="text" align="left" src="http://www.brimg.net/images/secrets-ss-wont-tell-you-6.jpg" width="260" height="200" title="Slide 6 - More flexibility for widows and widowers" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Social Security does a good job of explaining widow and widower benefits, but Ken Luck, a spokesman for TIAA-CREF Financial Services, says it doesn't clearly spell out a key difference between widow/widower benefits and spousal benefits. A widow/widower can begin benefits based on his or her own earnings record and later switch to survivors benefits or begin with survivors benefits and later switch to benefits based on his or her own record -- even if the surviving spouse is filing before full retirement age. You can't do that with spousal benefits.</p><p class="clear" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">In other words, a widow can begin drawing the full amount of her late husband's Social Security when she is as young as 60. Then she can choose to leave her own Social Security alone, allowing it to grow in value until her full retirement age -- or even age 70. This works for widowers, too.</p><h5 style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">SSDI Step 1: Hire help</h5><img alt="text" align="left" src="http://www.brimg.net/images/secrets-ss-wont-tell-you-7.jpg" width="260" height="200" title="Slide 7 - SSDI Step 1 Hire help" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">When you apply for disability insurance, Social Security doesn't tell you that your first step ought to be hire a lawyer or other expert adviser. Allsup, a private firm that advises people about how to get SSDI, says Social Security doesn't even make it clear that an applicant can have representation from the very beginning of the application process. As a result, lots of people don't get help until they've been initially denied, and that slows down the process unnecessarily, according to Allsup spokeswoman Mary Jung.</p><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Jung also warns SSDI applicants to be accurate and precise on the application. Small mistakes can make a big difference. Minimizing how much exertion was required to perform the person's job is a common mistake that frequently results in denial of a claim.</p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><h5 style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">35 Years is the Magic Number</h5><img alt="text" align="left" src="http://www.brimg.net/images/secrets-ss-wont-tell-you-8.jpg" width="260" height="200" title="Slide 8 - 35 years is the magic number" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The Social Security website offers an explanation of how your benefits are calculated, but it's a little hard to follow. You can find a simpler explanation at myretirementpaycheck.org, a website sponsored by the National Endowment for Financial Education.</p><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Your Social Security payment is figured using a complex calculation based on a 35-year average of your covered wages. Each year's wages are adjusted for inflation before being averaged. If you worked longer than 35 years, the government will use the highest 35 years. If you worked for less than 35 years, they'll average in zeros for the years you are lacking. You don't have to be a math genius to figure out the impact of that -- it drags down your average. If you can avoid zeros by working a couple of years longer, you'll increase your Social Security payment.</p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></span></div> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/962#post-1107 Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:35:10 +0000 admin 1107@http://realideal.com/forum/ <div style="text-align: center;"><div class="imgwrap abovewrap" title="Technologies that we've lost - and the quest to find them again" style="margin-top: -13px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 13px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; position: relative; width: 640px; height: 360px; z-index: 0; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div class="lyteboxContainer left editorial" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 640px; height: 360px; "><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"/><img src="http://cache.io9.com/assets/images/8/2012/02/bigpic_39c554f14daca9569ad8348d4a9ec5a3.jpg" width="640" height="360" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "/></div></div></div><div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Greek fire. Damascus steel. These are two technological innovations whose secrets are said to be lost to time. Even the original schematics for the Apollo missions have disappeared into the mists of history, forever hidden inside hopelessly obsolete computers. How do we lose technologies that were once so important? Some say that they aren't really lost, and are working on rediscovering them.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Certainly, the specific techniques and materials required to construct some of the famed inventions of the ancient world (and the late 1960s) can be lost. And it's definitely true that people can forget how some ancient invention works for hundreds, even thousand of years. But the history of technology is very much the history of ideas, and as you'll see, ideas are pretty much indestructible - even in the face of truly terrible record keeping.</p><h4 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 19px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The Fiery Savior of the Byzantines</h4><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">It's useful to think of the famous examples of lost technology in terms of a few distinct categories. First, let's consider the most famous lost technology of them all, the ancient Byzantine incendiary weapon Greek fire, a unique chemical formula that produced inexhaustible flames. This terrible weapon was a closely guarded military secret of the Eastern Roman Empire, and its fearsome effectiveness in battle arguably extended the life of the empire by over 500 years.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The first mention of Greek fire in combat comes from the early 9th century historian Theophanes, who in his&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Chronography</em>&nbsp;tells of its use against invading Arab forces about 150 years before. At the time, the once mighty Byzantine Empire was falling to the invaders, with enemy navies besieging the capital of Constantinople for five years. According to Theophanes, the desperate emperor Konstantinos IV was approached by a Greek architect - and, presumably, chemist - named Kallinikos, who had fled his home in Syria to escape the invading Arab armies. Kallinikos showed the Byzantine armies how create Greek fire, which was put to use in a naval battle around 678 CE.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">As Theophanes tells it, the Eastern Roman forces found themselves overwhelmed by the vast Arab fleet under the command of Khalif of Syria. But the Byzantine ships piped their Greek fire through the newly attached siphons out onto the water, where it burned and consumed everything in its path. The enemy found that nothing could extinguish the flames of this strange fire, except sand, vinegar, or urine, preferably old. The Arab navy was crushed, and the imperial capital of Constantinople survived its brush with destruction. Greek fire would save the empire from Syrian invaders once again in 717, and the Empire - and perhaps all of Europe along with it - was once again secure.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">While the basics of the story are probably true, the Phoenician architect Kallinikos probably didn't invent Greek fire, and it's entirely possible that he didn't even exist. Greek fire was more likely the product of many people with knowledge of chemistry working over decades, perhaps even centuries to refine it into the perfect formula. There's evidence of chemical-based incendiary weapons going all the way back to the 9th century BCE, and plenty of other ancient powers had chemical weapons along the same lines. But the Byzantine version was easily the most fearsome of all, and the one whose secrets of production were the most jealously guarded.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><a rel="lytebox" href="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2012/02/a792c9b98f22fb974669320a84b00fde.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); "><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2012/02/medium_a792c9b98f22fb974669320a84b00fde.jpg" width="300" class="image_1 v10_medium" alt="Technologies that we've lost - and the quest to find them again" title="Technologies that we've lost - and the quest to find them again" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px !important; float: left; max-width: 300px; "/></a></p><h4 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 19px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The Best Kept Secret of All Time</h4><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Part of the reason that Greek fire has passed into legend is that it was a great mystery even in its own time. Although the Greek fire deployed by the Byzantines in later centuries probably was not precisely the same thing as the original formula attributed to Kallinikos, Greek fire was always a devastating weapon that could turn the tide of any naval battle. This gave Constantinople a terrific advantage over any foe, and there's no question that every other great power coveted Greek fire and yearned to know its secrets.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">And yet, for over five hundred years, nobody ever learned its secrets, until even the original keepers of the knowledge died out. What's more, Greek fire never even fell into enemy hands. In 814 the Bulgar nomads captured thirty-six siphons and enough Greek fire to devastate an enemy force. And yet all the evidence suggests this captured fire lay unused because the Bulgars couldn't even figure out how to make it work.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Indeed, a formula for Greek fire was actually published around the late 13th century in the rather awesomely named&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Book of Fires for the Burning of Enemies</em>, and yet even then nobody could figure out the precise trick needed to unlock the full force of Greek fire. Writing in<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Technology and Culture</em>, historian Alex Roland explains just why Greek fire remained so perfectly mysterious:</p><blockquote style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 20px; padding-top: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 10px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 4px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: ''; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); color: rgb(81, 100, 120); line-height: 22px; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">Greek fire was not just an incendiary. It was a weapon system, composed of dromon, tube, caldron, and liquid. To steal the secret it was necessary to steal all the components. But people with knowledge of the components were never in the same place at the same time. Shipwrights built the dromons at shipyards in Constantinople and other ports. Smiths who installed the caldrons and perhaps the siphons worked in different parts of those same shipyards. Most probably the workers in bronze who made the siphons were different from the ironworkers who made the caldrons. None was in touch with the chemists in the main arsenal of Constantinople who brewed the liquid. It is possible that none of these artisans ever met the siphonators who were trained to work this weapon system at sea. The Byzantines compartmentalized knowledge of their system so that no one likely to fall into enemy hands would carry more than a fraction of the secret.</p></blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The traditional accounts say that the complete secret was known only to two families, that of the ruling imperial dynasty and a second, otherwise unknown family referred to as Lampros. Such monopolies of knowledge were common in Constantinople, and it likely protected the knowledge of Greek fire from ever reaching wider circulation, but it also had a major vulnerability - if anything happened to the transmission of the secret from one generation to the next, Greek fire would be lost forever.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Much like its western counterpart, the Eastern Roman Empire was notorious for the short reigns, violent deaths, and constant overthrows of its emperors, and the these constantly interrupted successions meant the knowledge of Greek fire was lost by 1204, if not long before. The mysterious Lampros family also likely perished in these constant intrigues and rebellions.</p><h4 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 19px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The Eternal Flame Of Greek Fire</h4><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Whether Greek fire is still a lost technology or not is, to some extent, a matter of interpretation. Certainly, the precise formula, materials used, and methods used to unleash Greek fire are lost, and it's unlikely they will ever be recovered. But the fact is, historians and scientists know enough about Greek fire to make some pretty shrewd guesses about what Greek fire was, and the chances are that one of the many attempts to recreate it have more or less stumbled on the secret. And anyway, the underlying technology of Greek fire has been reinvented many times since Kallinikos.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Let's back up a moment. The ancient accounts all seem to agree on a few crucial points. The fire burned on water - some claimed the water actually ignited it - and it was only those old standbys of vinegar, sand, or urine that could put it out. There's general agreement that Greek fire was a liquid of some sort, and that when it was released it created a loud noise and some smoke. Assuming those descriptions are all accurate - and there's nothing generally consistent ancient accounts for us to feel confident on that score - then we've already narrowed down the possibilities as to what Greek fire could be, at least in terms of its primary ingredients.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">To have all those qualities, Greek fire almost certainly used crude oil, which could be found in wells all around the Byzantine-controlled Black Sea. Other chemicals were likely mixed in with the petroleum to give Greek fire its unique characteristics, and of course that still leaves the crucial matters of its production and handling that helped to make the weapon so baffling to Constantinople's enemies. Those are important details, to be sure, and if ever there was a technology that we could call lost, then Greek fire is as good a choice as any.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">But it's only the very specific details of Greek fire that are lost - we long ago rediscovered how to make a devastating, petroleum-based fire that will burn on water. That would be napalm, and for better or worse it does its job just as well and in much the same way as Greek fire did.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></p><div class="lyteboxContainer left editorial" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; position: relative; z-index: 1000; width: 300px; height: 200px; "><div class="lyteboxLink" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px; height: 200px; text-indent: -1000em; position: absolute; "><a href="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2012/02/a44e06c2c906c870dd994139578821e3.jpg" class="noHrefOverride" rel="lytebox" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); display: block; height: 200px; text-indent: -100em; width: 300px; background-image: url(http://cache.io9.com/assets/base.v10/img/lytebox/blank.gif?rev=20120202_2); background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Full size</a></div><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2012/02/medium_a44e06c2c906c870dd994139578821e3.jpg" width="300" height="200" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; "/></div><p></p><h4 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 19px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The Elusive Damascus Steel</h4><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Greek fire is the clearest example of what we could call a lost technology, but it's hardly the only one. For 2,000 years, the finest steel in the world was known as Damascus steel, which were known for their distinctive patterns, extreme toughness, and ability to be honed to the sharpest of edges. The legends that sprang up around Damascus steel claimed it cut a strand of silk in half as it fell to the ground and even cut through other swords without losing its sharpness. These stories outstripped the steel's actual abilities, but not by much.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The exact method of producing Damascus steel was a trade secret among Middle Eastern swordsmiths, although we're fairly sure the steel was made from ore deposits originating in India and Sri Lanka. These deposits likely began to run out in the early 1700s, bringing an unceremonious end to a metalworking tradition that dated back twenty centuries. Exactly&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">why</em>the knowledge of how to make Damascus steel disappeared so completely and totally is difficult to determine, but researchers have suggested the unique properties were the result of very precise trace impurities of elements like tungsten or vanadium in those specific ores, and there was no point trying to make Damascus steel with anything else.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">If that's the case, then Damascus steel is a good example of a second big category of forms of lost technology, which are those that rely on materials that are no longer available. An other example, funnily enough, might be the Stradivarius violins, the perfect harmonics of which have been attributed not just to the master craftsmanship of Antonio Stradivari and his two sons, but also to the wood they were made from. Researchers Lloyd Burckle and Henri D. Grissimo-Mayer&nbsp;<a href="http://web.utk.edu/~grissino/downloads/burckle%20grissino%202003.pdf" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">argued in 2003</a>&nbsp;that the wood was unusually dense because it grew during&nbsp;<a href="http://io9.com/5880600/volcanoes-caused-a-little-ice-age-in-europe-500-years-ago-say-scientists" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">the Little Ice Age</a>, a centuries-long period of unusual cold in Europe in particular. That's one possible explanation for the perfection of these violins -&nbsp;<a href="http://io9.com/5862912/ct-scanners-can-perfectly-recreate-the-legendary-stradivarius-violins" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">modern reproduction attempts</a>&nbsp;may reveal more.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Returning to Damascus steel, this is another case where, like Greek fire, the underlying technology is already broadly understood, and arguably better understood now than it was by its makers. Indeed, one theory to explain the unusual toughness of this steel is&nbsp;<a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/11/061116-nanotech-swords.html" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">the presence of tiny nanowires and carbon nanotubes</a>&nbsp;that formed inside the swords, which would have added tremendous strength to the swords but likely would not have been a well understood phenomenon hundreds of years ago. The particular combination of source material and steel-working technique has been lost in time, but we now know how to make steel that matches and indeed far exceeds its Damascus predecessor. Under those circumstances, it's again a matter of opinion whether we're really looking at a lost technology.</p></div> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/961#post-1105 Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:45:17 +0000 admin 1105@http://realideal.com/forum/ <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">These were my stove burner/grates.</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-bAzkZErdjP8/ThIKMNeeRqI/AAAAAAAAEuU/7lqAEuGMfwM/s1600-h/DSCN4215%25255B7%25255D.jpg" style="color: rgb(50, 50, 50); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><img alt="grease, dirt, stove grate, stove burner" border="0" height="480" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-UJ8CwSlV834/ThIKMmhGUZI/AAAAAAAAEuY/Jrg_pOJ5qjA/DSCN4215_thumb%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" title="grease, dirt, stove grate, stove burner" width="640" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 4px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; display: inline; "/></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">&nbsp;</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Yep.&nbsp; They were so bad that I am almost embarrassed to put a watermark on this photo.&nbsp;&nbsp; You cook... oil and grease spatter... they get heated and reheated and then pretty soon you have a disgusting coating that will not. scrub. off. ever.</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">What to do...?&nbsp; Stop. Scrubbing.</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Remember ammonia?&nbsp; Basic ammonia? &nbsp;&nbsp;Take about 1/4 cup of ammonia and seal it up with one of the burners in a large ziploc bag.&nbsp; You only need a little amonia in the bag.&nbsp; You are not trying to soak the burner… you just want to seal it up with the ammonia fumes.</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-PiJj6tD5WW0/ThIKNNNJa2I/AAAAAAAAEuc/riswrA03_2o/s1600-h/DSCN4220%25255B8%25255D.jpg" style="color: rgb(172, 88, 111); text-decoration: none; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><img alt="DSCN4220" border="0" height="480" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-XofByy-8fWM/ThIKN6-fB9I/AAAAAAAAEug/pr7WAx0cd0k/DSCN4220_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" title="DSCN4220" width="640" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 4px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; display: inline; "/></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">&nbsp;</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">I leave it outside on a cookie sheet overnight.&nbsp;</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: xx-small; ">&nbsp;(You can leave it inside, but I move it outside just in case the bag springs a leak or something.&nbsp; Stinky.)&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">It is the</span><em style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">&nbsp;fumes</em><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">&nbsp;from the ammonia that dissolves all of the grease and hardened oil. You don't need to soak it, it just needs to be sealed up with the ammonia fumes.</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">When it’s done sitting, it should wipe clean with a sponge.</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-M1ZphUkiVeE/ThIKOBNeNEI/AAAAAAAAEuk/u7naW2WUGRM/s1600-h/DSCN4217%25255B6%25255D.jpg" style="color: rgb(172, 88, 111); text-decoration: none; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><img alt="clean " border="0" height="480" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-8TkxFvV7JZM/ThIKO-5tVzI/AAAAAAAAEuo/8EagGt3XmX0/DSCN4217_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" title="clean " width="640" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 4px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; display: inline; "/></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">&nbsp;</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">See how amazing?&nbsp; It’s the same burner. &nbsp;Easy peasy, no more greasy.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-1LlRwdueaNI/ThIKPP1d6SI/AAAAAAAAEus/w1yPtyNVJVE/s1600-h/DSCN4219%25255B8%25255D.jpg" style="color: rgb(172, 88, 111); text-decoration: none; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><img alt="cleaning stove burners, grates" border="0" height="640" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Y3LSeDCFzYo/ThIKP35xUSI/AAAAAAAAEuw/-0Ixxrd06vk/DSCN4219_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" title="cleaning stove burners, grates" width="480" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 4px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; display: inline; "/></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">&nbsp;</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Why buy expensive cleaners and/or use a lot of elbow grease?&nbsp; Cheap ammonia and 12 hours = totally clean.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">This will work in a stove as well...a flat pan filled on the bottom and leave overnight(perhaps a bit longer in certain cases) and bingo! Wipes clean for me every time!</span>&nbsp;<br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">You. Are. Welcome.</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "/><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">*****Updated: Never, EVER mix ammonia with anything that has bleach in it. &nbsp;It creates toxic fumes. &nbsp;(In general, I suggest you don't play chemist and try to mix ammonia with anything, period.)*****</span> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/951#post-1092 Tue, 31 Jan 2012 07:58:36 +0000 admin 1092@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> <center><img src="http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/70da7b0cbe7ddffc1b36077e85ece976.jpg"/></center><br /> <br /> The classic cast-iron skillet ranks high on the list of must-have kitchen tools, and is an excellent alternative to non-stick chemical-bond cookware that contaminates the food you eat with Teflon particulates or similar (e.g. <a href="http://realideal.com/forum/topic/48#post-60" target="0">Dupont Teflon: It's in Your Blood)</a>. The catch to cast iron: You've got to know how to properly season it to reap the benefits.<br /> <br /> Luckily it's not a terribly difficult task, and weblog Apartment Therapy's kitchen tips section offers up a simple step-by-step for seasoning your cast iron. As Wikipedia puts it, "Seasoning is used to protect bare cast iron from rust and to create a non-stick surface." The post points out that "the pan has years of its own seasoning ahead of it until it reaches that perfect deep black finish," but until then, using a seasoning technique like this one will get you started on the right track.<br /> <br /> More than a few people suggest using flax seed oil to get the ultimate in non-stick, rust-protective seasoning and gorgeous shine.<br /> <br /> The trouble with flax seed oil is that it can be pretty expensive, and difficult to come by, especially if you don't have a health or gourmet food store in your vicinity. If you do, however, Instructables user noahw claims it's the best way to season your cookware, and he has the shine to prove it. After doing some research into the topic, we turned up a number of people who agree, including an article in February 2011's issue of Cooks Illustrated and this Sheryl Canter piece that inspired it. To use this method, you'll need a few ounces of flax seed oil, a 500 degree oven, and a few hours to rub down the cookware with the oil, bake it in the oven. The process of seasoning is the same as using any other oil: Give your cookware a light coating on all sides with the oil, bake it in a hot oven for a half-hour, remove the cookware, re-coat it with oil, return it to the oven, and repeat the process several times (noahw suggests 4-7 times.) The use of flax seed oil reportedly offers additional protection and shine.</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/955#post-1097 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:51:08 +0000 admin 1097@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> What you're seeing here is a hibernating dormouse filmed by Dave Williams of the <i>Surrey Wildlife Trust Mammal Project</i>. Despite his log-sawing, this slumbering little guy isn't in any trouble — he's just an unusually stentorian sleeper.<br /> <br /> <center><object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DlS3w1GGE8g?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DlS3w1GGE8g?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></center><br /> <br /> Dormice hibernate in the winter in nests that they make hidden away on the ground. In Britain the dormouse may spend up to a third of its life in hibernation. Dormice usually enter hibernation at the time of the first frost, when nearly all food is gone. Dormice rely upon fat reserves gathered in the summer and autumn, and during hibernation they lose about a quarter of their body weight They wake up in the springtime (minus one-quarter of their fatty body mass) to mate.</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/959#post-1101 Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:36:06 +0000 admin 1101@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> <i>Italianamerican</i> is a 1974 documentary directed by Martin Scorsese. Martin Scorsese's parents, Catherine and Charles Scorsese, feature in this homemade documentary acting as themselves. The Scorseses talk about their experiences as Italian immigrants in New York among other things, while having dinner at their flat on Elizabeth Street. <br /> <br /> <center><object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/p/E25D10788F24A6F0?hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/p/E25D10788F24A6F0?hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390" allownetworking="internal" saveembedtags="true" enablehref="false" enablejsurl="false"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param></embed> </object></center><br /> <br /> Scorsese's mother also instructs how to cook her meatballs, a recipe later featured in the credits of the film. Among the subjects discussed in the film are family, religion, their origins, Italian ancestors, life in Italy after the war, the hardships of poor Sicilian immigrants in America striving to make ends meet.</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/958#post-1100 Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:47:07 +0000 admin 1100@http://realideal.com/forum/ <div style="text-align: center;"><div class="imgwrap abovewrap" title="10 Frightening Facts You Probably Didn't Know About Ants" style="margin-top: -13px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 13px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; position: relative; width: 640px; height: 360px; z-index: 0; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div class="lyteboxContainer left editorial" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 640px; height: 360px; "><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"/><img src="http://cache.io9.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/83d27e181beb580990fc185c15252f03.jpg" width="640" height="360" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "/></div></div></div><div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">We all know ants are incredibly capable creatures. They live in vast, interconnected colonies, can lift several times their own body weight, and coordinate their activity with incredible precision.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">But many of the things that make ants impressive would also make them formidable foes. Perhaps it's time we took a look at some of these strengths in greater detail. Remember: it's important to know your enemy - erm, I mean your new insect overlords.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">10) Ants are as old as the dinosaurs</strong><br />In 2006, Scientists from Harvard and Florida State University collaborated to conduct&nbsp;<a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/312/5770/101.abstract" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">a massive genetic analysis</a>&nbsp;on ants from 19 out of 20 known subfamilies. Their findings suggested that ants first arose in the mid-Cretaceous period — about 110—130 million years ago. And yes, that means:</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><a rel="lytebox" href="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/8c7b87ab5ddb429859ceb703c01c30f6.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); "><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/medium_8c7b87ab5ddb429859ceb703c01c30f6.jpg" width="300" class="image_1 v10_medium" alt="10 Frightening Facts You Probably Didn't Know About Ants" title="10 Frightening Facts You Probably Didn't Know About Ants" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px !important; float: left; max-width: 300px; "/></a><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">9) Ants have already survived a mass extinction event</strong><br />The Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event (still commonly referred to as the Cretaceous-Tertiary — or "K-T" — extinction event) is thought to have occurred approximately 65 million years ago following an absolutely massive impact event. Widely regarded as the downfall of the dinosaurs (and, incidentally, the rise of mammals), the years following the KT-extinction event are actually believed to have been a time of incredibly rapid speciation and worldwide expansion for ants, marking what researchers&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_H%C3%B6lldobler" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">Bert Hölldobler</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_O._Wilson" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">Edward O. Wilson</a>&nbsp;— authors of the Pulitzer-prize winning book&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ants-Bert-Holldobler/dp/0674040759?tag=gmgamzn-20" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">The Ants</a></em>&nbsp;— call "<a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/102/21/7411.full" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">a rise to ecological dominance.</a>" [Illustration by Don Davis&nbsp;<a href="http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/undergrad/classes/spring2011/Hubbard_206/Lectures4/Apr19.htm" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">via</a>]</p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); clear: both; "></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">8) Ants have conquered almost the entire globe</strong><br />The success of the ants all those millions of years ago continues to this day. In an article published in&nbsp;<a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/97/26/14028.full" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">a 2000 issue of&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">PNAS</em></a>, entomologist&nbsp;<a href="http://entomology.si.edu/StaffPages/schultz.htm" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">Ted Schultz</a>&nbsp;calls the rise of the ants "arguably the greatest success story in the history of terrestrial metazoa" ( i.e. pretty much any multicellular animal on Earth — and yes, that includes humans), and rightfully so.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">With the exception of Antarctica, the Arctic, and a handful of islands, just about every piece of land on Earth harbors at least one native ant species; the ones that don't host&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">invasive</em>&nbsp;species. Take the Hawaiian islands, for instance — not one of their more than 50 established ant species is believed to be native to the archipelago.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><a rel="lytebox" href="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/e1c7ee8d921a6ed1320a297722368dc0.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); "><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/medium_e1c7ee8d921a6ed1320a297722368dc0.jpg" width="300" class="image_2 v10_medium" alt="10 Frightening Facts You Probably Didn't Know About Ants" title="10 Frightening Facts You Probably Didn't Know About Ants" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px !important; float: left; max-width: 300px; "/></a><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">7) One group of ants conquered six continents</strong><br />Take the Argentine ant,&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Linepithema humile</em>, for example. In 2000, biologists Andrew Suarez and his colleagues at UC Davis<a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/98/3/1095" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">reconstructed the invasion history of the&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">L. humile</em></a>. The team revealed that in the last century alone, the species has become established in at least 15 countries throughout the world — including a number of isolated, oceanic islands (including Hawaii) — spanning six continents. Shown here is the world distribution of the Argentine ant. [figure&nbsp;<a href="http://www.calacademy.org/science/citizen_science/ants/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">via</a>]</p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); clear: both; "></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">6) The total ant population makes our 7 billion look weak</strong><br />In their Pulitzer-prize winning book&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ants-Bert-Holldobler/dp/0674040759?tag=gmgamzn-20" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">The Ants</a></em>, researchers&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_H%C3%B6lldobler" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">Bert Hölldobler</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_O._Wilson" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">Edward O. Wilson</a>&nbsp;estimate that there are upwards of 10,000,000,000,000,000 individual ants alive on Earth at any given time.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><a rel="lytebox" href="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/de11c7227139846500ba4b25933007b1.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); "><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/medium_de11c7227139846500ba4b25933007b1.jpg" width="300" class="image_3 v10_medium" alt="10 Frightening Facts You Probably Didn't Know About Ants" title="10 Frightening Facts You Probably Didn't Know About Ants" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px !important; float: left; max-width: 300px; "/></a><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">5) Some ants are quite large</strong><br />Of course, even at numbers exceeding 10,000 trillion, ants are small, right? Well, that depends entirely on what you consider small. The largest ant ever discovered was actually a fossilized specimen belonging to<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanomyrma" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">Titanomyrma giganteum</a></em>, was about 2.4&nbsp;inches long and had a wingspan of almost six inches. Granted,&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">T. giganteum</em>isn't around anymore, and many ants are less than a millimeter long — but there are still species like the African driver ant,&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Dorylus wilverthi</em>, that&nbsp;<a href="http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/73880/description/Giant_ants_once_roamed_Wyoming" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">exceed two inches in length</a>. Does that sound small to you?</p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); clear: both; "></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">4) Ants have a hive mind</strong><br />Truth be told, it doesn't matter if it sounds small to you or not. When 50-million of them come together to form a single, eerily coordinated superorganism (and yes — large, self-organized ant colonies&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ulb.ac.be/sciences/use/publications/JLD/221.pdf" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">are commonly referred to as "superorganisms"</a>) you can bet your ass you'll think it looks a lot bigger than a single, 2-inch ant.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></p><div class="lyteboxContainer left editorial" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; position: relative; z-index: 1000; width: 300px; height: 260px; "><div class="lyteboxLink" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px; height: 260px; text-indent: -1000em; position: absolute; "><a href="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/f9ac978a30a1fe9dc02f64badd8dc523.jpg" class="noHrefOverride" rel="lytebox" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); display: block; height: 260px; text-indent: -100em; width: 300px; background-image: url(http://cache.io9.com/assets/base.v10/img/lytebox/blank.gif?rev=20120131_5); background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Full size</a></div><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/medium_f9ac978a30a1fe9dc02f64badd8dc523.jpg" width="300" height="260" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; "/></div><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">3) In some regions of the world, ants can account for over a quarter of the animal biomass</strong><br />But a 50-million ant superorganism, believe it or not, doesn't even&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">begin</em>&nbsp;to capture the true extent of the global ant presence. We're talking about worldwide ant domination, after all — so how much of the Earth's biomass do ants really account for? [Ant attack&nbsp;<a href="http://www.freshbrainz.com/2009_03_01_archive.html" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">via</a>]<p></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">In&nbsp;<a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/97/26/14028.full" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">an article published in 2000 in<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em></a>, entomologist&nbsp;<a href="http://entomology.si.edu/StaffPages/schultz.htm" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">Ted R. Schultz</a>&nbsp;writes that on average, ants "monopolize 15—20% of the terrestrial animal biomass, and in tropical regions where ants are especially abundant, they monopolize 25% or more."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Granted, it would be misleading to say that ants have the largest biomass of any individual species on Earth (ants are actually a taxonomic&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Family</em>&nbsp;that comprises over 20,000 known species) — but that's not to say they couldn't potentially set aside their interspecies differences. After all:</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">2) Ants cooperate with other species</strong><br />There are over 200 known species of so-called fungus growing ants. Scientists had long assumed that fungi cultivated by these ants were simply passed on between generations&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">within</em>&nbsp;individual species. But in a study conducted in 2000,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.uni-konstanz.de/FuF/Bio/neuroetho/index/Adams%20et%20al.%202000a.pdf" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">researchers at the University of Texas at Austin</a>discovered that the ants' cultivars are occasionally transferred&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">between</em>&nbsp;species, as well.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Interspecies cooperation would be one of the biggest hurdles along the path to establishing a global ant empire — but if fungus-growing ants can get along, perhaps other species could as well.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Then again, maybe cooperation&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">wouldn't</em>&nbsp;be necessary, because:</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></p><div class="lyteboxContainer left editorial" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; position: relative; z-index: 1000; width: 300px; height: 219px; "><div class="lyteboxLink" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px; height: 219px; text-indent: -1000em; position: absolute; "><a href="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/d998e2fd3fe0c6467e199d117540a20f.jpg" class="noHrefOverride" rel="lytebox" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); display: block; height: 219px; text-indent: -100em; width: 300px; background-image: url(http://cache.io9.com/assets/base.v10/img/lytebox/blank.gif?rev=20120131_5); background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Full size</a></div><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/medium_d998e2fd3fe0c6467e199d117540a20f.jpg" width="300" height="219" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; "/></div><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">1) Ants practice slavery</strong><br />Many species of ants are&nbsp;<a href="http://www.springerlink.com/content/cj1arl0gqb2amw7h/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">known to raid neighboring colonies and steal eggs or larvae in a practice known as "dulosis"</a>. The forcibly acquired young are then either eaten or put to work.<p></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Species that practice dulosis are called, quite simply, "<a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08927014.1990.9525415" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">slave-making ants</a>," and they rely on this practice to support their colonies. In fact, some species of ants are thought to be<a href="http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&amp;pid=S1519-69842005000300008&amp;lng=en&amp;nrm=iso" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); ">incapable of feeding themselves in the absence of slave labor</a>&nbsp;—&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">to pillage and enslave is all they know</strong>.</em></p></div> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/957#post-1099 Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:26:25 +0000 admin 1099@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> Fred Armisen is an American actor, comedian and musician best known for his work as a cast member on <i>Saturday Night Live</i>, and is the co-creator and co-star of the IFC sketch series <i>Portlandia</i>.<br /> <br /> <center><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="640" height="380" id="viddler_jackmichaelson_190"><param name="movie" value="//www.viddler.com/simple/d2926dcc/"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"/><param name="allowFullScreen"value="true"/><param name="flashVars" value="f=1&openURL=50190450&autoplay=f&loop=0&nologo=0&hd=0"/><embed src="//www.viddler.com/simple/d2926dcc/" width="640" height="380" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" allowNetworking="internal" name="viddler_jackmichaelson_190" flashVars="f=1&openURL=50190450&autoplay=f&loop=0&nologo=1&hd=0"></embed></object></center></font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/956#post-1098 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:48:40 +0000 admin 1098@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> <br /> CHEETOS<br /> <center><object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RxWpU2IIzXI?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RxWpU2IIzXI?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></center><br /> <br /> <br /> SKITTLES<br /> <center><object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/p/4482070C0ED97EA4?hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/p/4482070C0ED97EA4?hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390" allownetworking="internal" saveembedtags="true" enablehref="false" enablejsurl="false"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param></embed> </object></center><br /> <br /> <br /> SNICKERS<br /> <center><object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/p/D90D3FE84F674419?hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/p/D90D3FE84F674419?hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390" allownetworking="internal" saveembedtags="true" enablehref="false" enablejsurl="false"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param></embed> </object></center></font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/954#post-1096 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:40:42 +0000 admin 1096@http://realideal.com/forum/ <div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/images/4/2012/01/a2efffc0d9d9f941b4c6f7f438a666a0.jpg" alt="NDM-1: The Bacterial Gene That's Resistant to 15 Different Antibiotics"/>&nbsp;<br /></div><div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Standing as the most densely populated city in the world, New Delhi has plenty of public health issues to deal with on a constant basis. But now health officials have some very urgent matters to deal with:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/01/the-super-resistant-bacteria-that-has-india-hell-scared/251731/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(54, 151, 179); ">new strains of super-bacteria</a>, the most destructive of which contain the gene dubbed NDM-1 and are resistant to 15 widely used antibiotics.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">According to the Atlantic, these super-resistant bacteria have been showing up not only in puddles around New Delhi's but the water supply. 13 percent of these germs have the NDM-1 gene. Patients have been showing up at hospitals infected with the NDM-1 bug, and doctors have been able to do little to treat them. In the worst case scenarios for bacterial infections, a group of antibiotics called carbapenems are generally used. These NDM-1 bacteria are virtually impervious.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Because there's no prescription law for anti-biotics in India, misuse has been widespread. The rich use them when they're not needed , while the poor use whatever they can get, in whatever quantity they can get (which generally means they're not taking them for a proper length of time. As a result, bacteria have been able to get stronger and more potent by surviving and adapting.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">And while living conditions and the state of health care in India are facilitating the spread of these bacteria, political and corporate motivations are preventing the implementation of any sort of fix to the problem. Officials and political figures, aside from organizing advisory committees, have been denying the severity of the problem, claiming that outsiders are conspiring against their tourism industry. And pharmaceutical companies don't see the financial benefit of developing drugs for non-western countries.</p><blockquote style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 20px; padding-top: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 10px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 4px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: ''; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 19px; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">There are few new drugs in development to treat the microbes that NDM-1 plagues. In Western hospitals, "gram-positive" bacteria, which are structurally vulnerable to antibiotics and disinfectants, tend to dominate. In hospitals in India and other tropical countries "gram-negative" bacteria, which are encased in tough outer membranes that can repel antibiotics and antiseptics, are more common. With most drug industry research and development focused on Western markets, "places like India will just have to wait for new drugs for gram-negatives" while the death toll from untreatable infections inevitably rises, says Public Health Foundation of India's Ramanan Laxminarayan.</p></blockquote></div> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/953#post-1095 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:32:44 +0000 admin 1095@http://realideal.com/forum/ <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div class="imgwrap abovewrap" title="10 Real-Life Lost Voyages That Would Make Amazing Science Fiction Novels" style="margin-top: -13px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; position: relative; width: 640px; height: 360px; z-index: 0; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><div class="lyteboxContainer left editorial" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; top: -36px; width: 640px; height: 431px; "><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"/><img src="http://cache.io9.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/bigpic_c7e8b4f6e7c13f881213259971ce1e53.jpg" width="640" height="431" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "/></div></div></p><p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Many an expedition has gone out into the Great Unknown seeking Adventure. And who knows? They may even have found it.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Many expeditions are lost entirely, or all of their members died. And since nobody came back, there's no telling how their adventure turned out, or what they found. So these real-life stories are crying out for a novelist to make them better, by adding zombies or strange forgoten realms to the mix. Here are 10 real-life journeys that would make terrific science fiction or fantasy books.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><strong style="font-family: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">10. Henry Every</strong><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">This list is full of tragedy and so it should start out with a person who ends up happy. Or should it? Henry Every was a notorious pirate, in the decidedly uncomedic and unromantic sense of the word. Inside one year of piracy, Every ruled the seas around The Cape of Good Hope, with a pirate fleet of as many as five boats. His biggest catch was the Gang-i-Sawai, part of the Grand Mogul of India's convoy. Every's ship fought for half a day, before the other vessel surrendered. Henry's crew then came aboard and did various horrible things to the passengers, including torturing them for information about where the loot stashes around the ship were. In the end, Every and his crew sailed away with 600,000 pounds worth of for-real, gold-and-silver treasure. They bribed governors and tried to barter for pardons, and a few were caught and hanged. In the end, despite a huge bounty put on their heads, Every and many of his crew disappeared. Some say they set up their own country somewhere. Some say they lived as fake aristocrats. Some say Every died, penniless, a year later. Whatever their actual fate, what we have is a sociopath with a lot of ill-gotten gold.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">This could set the stage for a morality play, in which the Devil comes to get his due, or a dark, fantastical drama in which Every tries to bribe his way into heaven, or standard cursed gold fantasy fare.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/medium_7ebf2395638b1a271f65261de7503988.jpg" width="300" class="image_1 v10_medium" alt="10 Real-Life Lost Voyages That Would Make Amazing Science Fiction Novels" title="10 Real-Life Lost Voyages That Would Make Amazing Science Fiction Novels" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px !important; float: left; max-width: 300px; "/><br /><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">9. Lawrence Oates</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">If you thought 'Keep Calm and Carry On,' was the best example of Brits stiffening their upper lips, you have never heard Lawrence Oates' last recorded words. He was part of Captain Robert Scott's ill-fated race to the South Pole. They found that Roald Amundsen's team made it there first, and on the way back encountered one difficulty after another. The team and their dogs died off one by one, until at last four men were in a tent, in a blizzard, with dwindling resources. Oates had weakened severely, and recognized that his weakened state was holding up the other men in their attempt to reach a supply station. They refused to leave him, so he decided to leave them.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Seeing the blizzard outside, he got up from his sleeping bag, didn't bother with his boots, since his feet were too frost-bitten to be able to put them on without pain, and walked out of the tent with the words, "I am just going outside, and may be some time." I will have a few choice words about the Scott expedition further down, but even I have to recognize that, if there were an award for dying nonchalantly, Oates would have won it twice. Once for the words he uttered when he left the tent, and once for the fact that his body was never found. No doubt he felt it would have been 'carrying on about it too much,' to have his body turn up months after the fact. Fantasy is too florid for this guy. He had to have walked into a crack in reality and disappeared into some other realm. He was suited for that. I think, no matter what weirdness the universe threw at him, he would have considered it 'a bother' to get riled up about it, and would have just cooled his way around spacetime, exploring things and being casually heroic.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">8. Ninth Legion</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">The 4,000 men in the legion were raised near Pompeii to fight for Rome. The Ninth Legion was a well-disciplined and well-traveled group that went up from Pompeii, that fought across Europe, and that ended up in Scotland, where it disappeared in 109 AD. Although the Ninth Legion had been continuously in records from 65 BC, suddenly all mention of it vanished. This legion's story has been imagined many times, but usually, it's little more than the Picts wiping out most of the men while the last survivor finds love with a comely Scottish woman who displays remarkably little body hair during the love scenes.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">This story cries out for an alien abduction, a time warp, a wormhole which leads to New Rome being established on an alien world, or any other type of crazy science fiction spin. I'd even take them being exposed to some early form of asteroid, mutating, going subterranean, and running an underground empire that lasts to this day. Just not another comely Scottish love story, please.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/medium_e33ac5b8f1c6987b0dfa5cd9c2c23b87.jpg" width="300" class="image_2 v10_medium" alt="10 Real-Life Lost Voyages That Would Make Amazing Science Fiction Novels" title="10 Real-Life Lost Voyages That Would Make Amazing Science Fiction Novels" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px !important; float: left; max-width: 300px; "/><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">7. Roald Amundsen</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">I'm putting Roald Amundsen at seven and Lawrence Oates at nine because there just have to be some lists, somewhere, in which the guy who actually made it to the South Pole outranks the guys who didn't make it to the South Pole. Amundsen's team was the first to make it to the South Pole. He is constantly overshadowed by Scott's team because a tragic death often is more interesting than actual achievement. (I suspect that he's also overshadowed because if you're able to read this language, you share a cultural link to a nation that has an interest in Scott over Amundsen.)</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">But if you want a tragic story, try this one on for size. Amundsen made it back from the South Pole. He spent his life hearing complaints that it wasn't fair that he didn't let Scott know that he was racing him to the Pole (and you can bet that if he had let Scott know, 'the competition drove Scott to his death,' would have been the story of the day). In June of 1928, a team of different explorers went missing near the North Pole. Amundsen could have shrugged and gone back to his tea. Those guys were his competition, after all. Instead he grabbed a plane and flew off to find them and bring them back safely. He wasn't seen again. Since then, debris thought to be from his voyage has been found in the area. A map with a mark showing where the missing team was meant to have been. A single board. Nothing more. A novel should be written about Roald, maybe, flying off to somewhere where they could appreciate his achievement. Valhalla, maybe?</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">6. Felix Moncla and Robert Wilson</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">In 1953, Lieutenants Moncla and Wilson were sent off in a F-89-C Scorpion to chase after an unknown aircraft come down from the Canadian border. They were over Lake Michigan. Wilson was the radar operator, and tried to track the UFO, but was unable to. Radar operators at Truax Air Force Base near Madison, Wisconsin tried to guide the Scorpion to the flying object. The two dots on the radar screen merged, and both faded away. Other planes were dispatched, but no trace could be found of anything. The Air Force's statement was that Moncla got vertigo and crashed, and that the plane he was after was a Canadian Air Force plane. Canada denied that any plane of theirs was in the area. What really happened, whether it's in the sky or under Lake Michigan, is up to the novelist.</p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); text-align: -webkit-auto; clear: both; "></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; "></p><div class="lyteboxContainer left editorial" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; position: relative; z-index: 1000; width: 300px; height: 169px; "><div class="lyteboxLink" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px; height: 169px; text-indent: -1000em; position: absolute; "><a href="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/95b9c55cfcaf651f8776ebb3cccc9c8c.jpg" class="noHrefOverride" rel="lytebox" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(121, 18, 101); display: block; height: 169px; text-indent: -100em; width: 300px; background-image: url(http://cache.io9.com/assets/base.v10/img/lytebox/blank.gif?rev=20120131_5); background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Full size</a></div><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/medium_95b9c55cfcaf651f8776ebb3cccc9c8c.jpg" width="300" height="169" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; "/></div><br /><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">5. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry</strong><p></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Well, this one just flat-out writes itself. He's the author of&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">The Little Prince</em>, a story about an intergalactic traveler who mysteriously appears and disappears into the stars. The entire point of this book is that the world depends almost entirely on how you choose to look at it. And on July 31, 1944, the flying ace took off on a spy mission for the Allies and was never seen again. They claim to have found the wreckage of his plane, sixty years later, but even if that is the plane, they don't know why it went down, nor why there was no attempt at communication before it did. And of course there's no body. What happened? Look at the stars, figure out if they're bells or tears, and decide what you believe. Then write it down.</p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); text-align: -webkit-auto; clear: both; "></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/medium_39de2675cd5dfb6d200d604aaa800bb7.jpg" width="300" class="image_4 v10_medium" alt="10 Real-Life Lost Voyages That Would Make Amazing Science Fiction Novels" title="10 Real-Life Lost Voyages That Would Make Amazing Science Fiction Novels" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px !important; float: left; max-width: 300px; "/><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">4. Glenn Miller</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">This, being one of the more modern disappearances, deserves a more modern, science fictional approach. Glenn Miller was a band leader and jazz musician. His most famous recordings, like&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">In the Mood</em>,<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Chattanooga Choo-Choo</em>, and&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Pennsylvania 6-5000</em>, have been heard by people in every generation, if only in the trailers for movies of a certain time period. And that time period was drawing to a close at the end of World War II, when Glenn Miller was flying, along with a few other people, in a plane from England to the recently liberated France to entertain the troops. He never arrived in France.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">There were many rumors. One was that Allied planes, unloading their bombs at a certain area accidentally caused so much air disruption that they crashed Miller's plane. Another tale claims he died in a French brothel and the military made it look like a mysterious plane crash to cover it up. Whatever it was, his plane was never found. This would be an excellent time-travel novel, with Miller kept in an era that needed him, brightening spirits, righting wrongs, and fighting Nazis. Alternately, he could flash around time to every era, seeing the differences in the way society worked over time, and bringing the best (or worst) of the wartime spirit to each time period he visited.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">3. Sir John Franklin</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">In 1845 Europeans were still looking for ways around that pesky continent known as North America. Looking for The North West Passage, Sir John Franklin lead a crew of 128 men off through the Arctic. The first bodies were found in 1854. Over the next century and a half, other relics from the expedition were found, but the final indication of what happened to the crew wasn't discovered until the 1980s, when actual preserved bodies were found frozen in the ice. The largest intact find was a group of bodies beside a sled loaded with curtain rods, button polish, handkerchiefs, and a writing desk.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">The most widely-held theory is that the lead that had been used to solder the cans of food on the expedition leached lead into the food supply. Lead poisoning causes hallucinations. That might explain the miscellany on the sled. Another theory holds that the distilled water supply they used had been contaminated by some hallucinogen. Either way, the men were not in their right mind when they loaded up a sled with button polish, and so they were seeing something. The intersection of madness, a harsh environment, and the fact that most of the wreckage and crew were never recovered could be turned into a humdinger of a fantasy novel. What if, in their delirium, they were seeing things that other people couldn't? What if they saw things that were manifestations of their personal truth, or their secret religious convictions? There are a dozen ways this novel could go.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/medium_ba4a76691443815d8c5bdb5b1cde9ee5.jpg" width="300" class="image_5 v10_medium" alt="10 Real-Life Lost Voyages That Would Make Amazing Science Fiction Novels" title="10 Real-Life Lost Voyages That Would Make Amazing Science Fiction Novels" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px !important; float: left; max-width: 300px; "/><br /><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">2. Theodosia Burr Alston</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Here's a great American mystery in which pirates and curses intersect, but not quite in the traditional way. Pirates may have kidnapped Theodosia, but she was the one to bring the curse. She was the daughter of Aaron Burr, the man who shot Alexander Hamilton in a duel. While being the Vice President. Dueling, by the way, was a crime in New York, the state both Hamilton and Burr were in at the time. Burr was charged, but fled the state, and eventually returned to Washington DC to finish his term as VP. Now that's the stuff that riles up a ghost. Theodosia was the apple of her father's eye, and by all accounts something of an intellectual prodigy, learning many languages by age twelve. She was married to James Alston, but still very much acted as her father's agent and in his interests.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">In 1812 she boarded&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">The Patriot</em>, a steamer going from South Carolina to New York. The boat, and everyone on it, disappeared. The curse angle is set out quite clearly. The pirate angle? Well, the theory was that Theodosia became the mistress of a pirate captain (you know the loose morals of those intellectual prodigies), whose ship also disappeared into the blue. That's how amazing this story is. It has a person on a ship that disappears going on to board another ship . . . that also disappears. Actually, forget pirates and curses. This is some&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Inception</em>-grade stuff.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/medium_1a6ef6a709c11fa628f373e54b7cd5aa.jpg" width="300" class="image_6 v10_medium" alt="10 Real-Life Lost Voyages That Would Make Amazing Science Fiction Novels" title="10 Real-Life Lost Voyages That Would Make Amazing Science Fiction Novels" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px !important; float: left; max-width: 300px; "/><br /><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">1. Percy Fawcett</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">In 1925, Colonel Percy Fawcett, who had explored extensively in South America, went off into the Brazilian jungle to find The Lost City of Z. He didn't know exactly where it was, but he was sure, after studying old records and listening to legends, that it was in there somewhere. He was so sure that he took his son, Jack, along to help look for it. At the last outpost that maintained contact with the western world, he wrote a letter to his wife telling her they were moving into new territory. They didn't come back.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Over the ensuing decades, people have searched for the lost city, for Fawcett, and for both. Some claimed to have found them. There have been sightings of Fawcett, and some of his possessions were recovered from several different local tribes, which fueled rumors that he had been killed by them or had gotten amnesia and joined them. In 1996 an expedition went out to find Fawcett's remains, only to encounter a group of locals who weren't interested in people exploring near them. The expedition was held for weeks until they were let go, minus tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment. One archaeologist, Michael Heckenberger, claimed to have found the remains of the city. Three other scientists, using Google Earth, claimed that they found the city somewhere else. A reporter, David Grann, travelled into Brazil and found a person who claimed to be the last person to see Fawcett. The person told him a simple tale about Fawcett: He went over the hill and never came back.</p> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/636#post-747 Wed, 24 Aug 2011 09:16:06 +0000 admin 747@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> Randall's wildlife video narration offers a welcome contrast to David Attenborough's nature documentaries. Randall's YouTube narrative on the honey badger has generated nearly 15 million views and trademarked his "Honey Badger Don't Care" T-shirt.<br /> <br /> <center><object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4r7wHMg5Yjg?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4r7wHMg5Yjg?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390" allownetworking="internal" saveembedtags="true" enablehref="false" enablejsurl="false" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></center><br /> <br /> In an interview with Randall, the quasi-real narrator of the “<i>Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger</i>” video was asked why he thought the African badger was so popular and he replied, “I think it goes back to society’s obsession with nasty lil’ things.”<br /> <br /> It's true. But what’s not so nasty is how hard Randall, and his “assistant” Christopher Gordon, have worked to parlay the meme into multiple ventures, and he quite logically continues to narrate videos about animals. He talked Oscar nominees for moviefone. He made a commercial for Grasshopper. He writes a blog for Huffington Post.<br /> <br /> <i>Hi HuffPo</i> column is priceless. During the debt ceiling crisis, Randall went off on the politicians in his own special way: “‘Raise high the debt ceiling, carpenters!’ I say — give us ’nuff room to dance! ‘Member how we used to always dance on the ceiling? Those were the salad days.”<br /> <br /> <center><img src="http://www.aalfie.com/images/randall.jpg" width="250"/></center><br /> <br /> It’s becoming clear that making viral videos is a lot like having hits on the music charts: some create a one-hit wonder, others take that first hit and keep growing their brand. Randall is now a star.</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/952#post-1093 Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:14:03 +0000 admin 1093@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> <center><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2012/01/53910ac1d8d879991c2e0567278fd19a.jpg" width=660/></center><br /> <br /> We use polyurethane to make just about everything—garden hoses, furniture, the entirety of my local 99-cent store. It's easy to produce, durable, and dirt cheap. What it isn't is recyclable—there isn't a single natural process that breaks it down. That is until a newly-discovered Amazonian fungus takes a bite.<br /> <br /> Pestalotiopsis microspora (not shown) is a resident of the Ecuadorian rainforest and was discovered by a group of student researchers led by molecular biochemistry professor Scott Strobel as part of Yale's annual Rainforest Expedition and Laboratory. It's the first fungus species to be able to survive exclusively on polyurethane and, more importantly, able to do so in anaerobic conditions—the same conditions found in the bottom of landfills. This makes the fungus a prime candidate for bioremediation projects that could finally provide an alternative to just burying the plastic and hoping for the best.</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/950#post-1091 Tue, 31 Jan 2012 07:41:17 +0000 admin 1091@http://realideal.com/forum/ <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">We've all met a person who is&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">always right</em>, and we know how annoying they can be because they're often wrong. There's little that's more annoying than arguing with somebody who is clearly mistaken but won't admit it. The problem is, sometimes we're the ones in the wrong and we don't realize it. Everyone has the capacity to become stubborn and unyielding, but you can also notice when that happens and stop. Here's what you can do to recognize and admit fault when it is your own.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-size: 21px; line-height: 1.2; ">Find the Common Denominator</span><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/lifehacker/2011/09/0800-idea-clinging.jpg" class="image_1 right v10_medium" alt="How to Know When You're Wrong (and What You Can Do About It)" title="How to Know When You're Wrong (and What You Can Do About It)" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 40px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px !important; float: right; max-width: 300px; "/>When an argument arises, it generally isn't pleasant—especially when people are disagreeing with what you believe is right. But if they are correct and you are not, you're going to see these arguments resurface again and again in different forms. You'll continue to believe you're correct, but others will try new things to change your mind. If you notice you're repeatedly making the same argument again and again, you're the common denominator in this situation.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">If you make the discovery that the problem is consistently revolving around you, it's time to consider that you may be wrong. Look at why you're making the argument you're making and try to look at it objectively. Does it make sense, or are you just holding on to it because you don't want to let go of&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">your</em>&nbsp;idea? When we&nbsp;<a href="http://youarenotsosmart.com/2011/03/25/the-sunk-cost-fallacy/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); ">become emotionally invested in an idea we have a very hard time letting it go</a>&nbsp;even if the idea is terrible. Every time you have an argument, the best thing you can do is look at&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">why</em>&nbsp;that argument happened. You might not discover the reason initially, but if you make a habit of considering why you might be at fault (in addition to considering the other possibilities), you'll be more likely to see when you are actually the one who is wrong.</p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); clear: both; "></div><h3 style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-size: 21px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Look at a Situation's Potential Outcomes</h3><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/lifehacker/2012/01/1200-goat.jpg" class="image_2 right v10_medium" alt="How to Know When You're Wrong (and What You Can Do About It)" title="How to Know When You're Wrong (and What You Can Do About It)" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 40px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px !important; float: right; max-width: 300px; "/>Right and wrong are a matter of opinion, or a product of hindsight. They really don't exist outside of our opinion of the current moment or as an analysis of the past. When you're considering what's right, you sometime have to look more towards the desired outcome rather than your personal beliefs. For example, your own convictions may lead you towards the argument that it's always wrong to kill a living creature. But let's say the death of one goat could prevent a small village from starving. Would it be wrong in that case? Some might argue it is still wrong because it can't sustain a village who will ultimately starve, and others will argue that it is right because it will preserve more life.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">This is not the sort of situation you're likely to come upon in your daily life, but it illustrates the point: your beliefs are just your opinions no matter what, but the outcome is where people tend to settle on what's right and wrong. If you're engaging in an argument and you're simply arguing what you believe, think about where your beliefs will lead. Do you like the outcome? Will your way lead to a better result, or will you simply uphold your ethics but create a poor result? Any of the possible outcomes you imagine may not coincide with the beliefs that you hold. Be sure to consider this when asserting that you are in the right.</p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); clear: both; "></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-size: 21px; line-height: 1.2; ">Don't Try to Change Someone Else's Behavior</span><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/lifehacker/2012/01/1200-screaming-kid.jpg" class="image_3 right v10_medium" alt="How to Know When You're Wrong (and What You Can Do About It)" title="How to Know When You're Wrong (and What You Can Do About It)" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 40px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px !important; float: right; max-width: 300px; "/>If you're trying to change someone else's behavior, there's a big chance you're wrong. This is hard to accept because often times people will behave poorly, or at least not according to the way you feel they should conduct themselves. That said, while you can encourage people to change you are most likely taking the wrong approach by trying to change them.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">As discussed in the previous section, consider the outcome. What do&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">you</em>&nbsp;want to gain by changing their behavior? If your answer is "I want them to stop being mean" or "stop stealing my parking spot at work" or anything that's still about&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">them</em>, you are not looking deeply enough. In the first example, what you really want is to be surrounded by people who appreciate you, so figure out a way that&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">you</em>can achieve that goal because you have control of it. You can choose to surround yourself with good people and spend less time with the mean ones. In the second example, you want to be able to park close to the door. Obviously you do want to ask the person who is stealing your parking spot to stop because they may just be unaware. But if the problem persists and they won't change, you need to consider alternatives. Talk to the person who assigns the parking spots and find out if you can get another reserved spot for the person. If you prefer a more vindictive path, find out the building's towing policy. The point is to concentrate on things you can do to change your behavior rather than insisting that the person is wrong. They may be wrong, but so are you if you're trying to force them to adhere to your beliefs. Nobody wins in that situation.</p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); clear: both; "></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-size: 21px; line-height: 1.2; ">Consult the Facts</span><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/lifehacker/2012/01/1200-green-newspaper.jpg" class="image_4 right v10_medium" alt="How to Know When You're Wrong (and What You Can Do About It)" title="How to Know When You're Wrong (and What You Can Do About It)" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 40px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px !important; float: right; max-width: 300px; "/>One an idea enters our minds it can be difficult to let it go. Not only do we&nbsp;<a href="http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/06/23/confirmation-bias/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); ">seek out evidence that supports our existing beliefs</a>, rather than making an attempt at objectivity, but we will&nbsp;<a href="http://lifehacker.com/5822265/why-you-think-youre-never-wrong-and-what-to-do-about-it" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); ">defend that information even if we know it's incorrect</a>.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=lingering-lies" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); ">Scientific American points to a study</a>&nbsp;that demonstrated this phenomenon:</p><blockquote style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 20px; padding-top: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 10px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 4px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: ''; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 19px; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">Psychologists asked college stu­dents to read an account of an ac­cident involving a busload of elderly passengers. The students were then told that, actually, those on the bus were not elderly. For some students, the information ended there. Others were told the bus had in fact been transporting a college hockey team. And still others were warned about what psychologists call the continued influence of misinformation-that people tend to have a hard time ig­noring what they first heard, even if they know it is wrong-and that they should be extra vigilant about getting the story straight.</p></blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The important thing to remember is this: when someone tells you that you are wrong, you need to override your defense instinct and consider what they are saying. While there will be many times in your life when you'll be told that you're wrong when you are, in fact, right, that won't always be the case. When someone makes you feel defensive, this is one of the most important times to consider what they are saying. You don't have to agree, and you might just discover that you really are correct after all, but being a little more self-aware can go a long way in avoiding a drawn-out, stubborn argument.</p> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/949#post-1090 Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:09:44 +0000 admin 1090@http://realideal.com/forum/ T<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; ">he check engine light is one of the most frustrating and confusing facets of owning a vehicle. It's just a light with no information telling you what the problem is. It's a cry from a baby with no explanation. But you can do a few things yourself before heading into the shop for costly repairs.</span><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Unless your car starts smoking or stalls completely head over to an auto parts store and have them run a diagnostic to find the cause of the check engine light. Call ahead and make sure they can handle your make and model, since some cars have special computers. Once you're at the store, they'll come out and plug a small computer underneath your dashboard and read back a code stating what happened to the car.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">According&nbsp;<a href="https://static.carmd.com:444/CMSResources/file/pdf/CarMD_VehicleHealthIndexDebutPR_042711.pdf" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); ">study conducted by CarMD</a>, five common malfunctions cause the check engine light to come on, and several of them are simple to fix yourself. Let's take a look at the most common issues.</p><h3 style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-size: 21px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">One: Replace Oxygen Sensor</h3><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></p><div id="obj_5873" class="videoContainer video_300" style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; width: 300px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8_CvimZdG3k?wmode=Opaque&amp;rel=0&amp;showinfo=0" type="text/html" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" width="300" height="200" scrolling="no" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; "></iframe></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">An oxygen sensor is a part that monitors the unburned oxygen from the exhaust. It helps monitor how much fuel is burned. A faulty sensor means it's not providing the right data to the computer and causes a decrease in gas mileage. Most cars have between two and four oxygen sensors and the code you get from the scanner will tell you which one needs replacing.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>What causes it:</b>&nbsp;Over time, the sensor gets covered in oil ash and it reduces the sensors ability to change the oxygen and fuel mixture. A faulty sensor not only reduces gas mileage, it also increase emissions.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>What you should do:</b>&nbsp;Not replacing a broken oxygen sensor can eventually lead to a busted catalytic convertor which can cost upwards of $2,000. Taking your car into a shop will cost you around $200 depending on the car. However, an oxygen sensor is easy to replace on many cars and is usually detailed in the owner's manual. If you know where the sensor is, you only have to unclip the old sensor and replace it with a new one. Regardless of how you approach it, you should get this fixed right away.</p><h3 style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-size: 21px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Two: Loose or Faulty Gas Cap</h3><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></p><div class="lyteboxContainer left editorial" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; position: relative; z-index: 1000; width: 300px; height: 225px; "><div class="lyteboxLink" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px; height: 225px; text-indent: -1000em; position: absolute; "><a href="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/51cb20d6ae85c4aaf6868b108a2b18e7.jpg" class="noHrefOverride" rel="lytebox" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); display: block; height: 225px; text-indent: -100em; width: 300px; background-image: url(http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/base.v10/img/lytebox/blank.gif); background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Full size</a></div><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/medium_51cb20d6ae85c4aaf6868b108a2b18e7.jpg" width="300" height="225" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; "/></div>You wouldn't think a gas cap would be that important, but it is. When it's loose or cracked, fuel vapors leak out and can throw the whole fuel system off. This causes a reduction in gas mileage and increases emissions.<p></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>What causes it:</b>&nbsp;If you get an error pointing to the gas cap it means fuel vapors are leaking out of your cap. This means the cap is either cracked or just wasn't tightened well enough.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>What you should do:</b>&nbsp;If your car isn't feeling jerky or strange when the check engine light comes on the first you should check is the gas cap. Pull over, retighten it, and take a look at the cap to see if it has any cracks in it. Continue driving and see if the check engine light turns off. Alternately, you can purchase a gas cap for about $3 at an auto parts store. All you need to do is take the old one off and screw on the new one. If you've already made it to the store, you might as well just replace it. While not car-threatening, it's good to take care of this right away to improve gas mileage.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><i style="font-size: 12px; ">Photo by&nbsp;<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/crazytales562/2207289807/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); ">Chris Chan</a></i>.</p><h3 style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-size: 21px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Three: Replace Catalytic Convertor</h3><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></p><div class="lyteboxContainer left editorial" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; position: relative; z-index: 1000; width: 300px; height: 161px; "><div class="lyteboxLink" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px; height: 161px; text-indent: -1000em; position: absolute; "><a href="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/60396d26b9bd446012a231a8c12c03d9.jpg" class="noHrefOverride" rel="lytebox" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); display: block; height: 161px; text-indent: -100em; width: 300px; background-image: url(http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/base.v10/img/lytebox/blank.gif); background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Full size</a></div><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/medium_60396d26b9bd446012a231a8c12c03d9.jpg" width="300" height="161" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; "/></div>The catalytic convertor works to reduce exhaust gases. It converts carbon monoxide and other harmful materials into harmless compounds. If your catalytic convertor is failing, you'll notice a decrease in gas mileage or your car won't go any faster when you push the gas.<p></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>What causes it:</b>&nbsp;Catalytic convertors shouldn't fail if you're keeping up on regular maintenance. The main cause of failure is related to other items on this list, including a broken oxygen sensor or deteriorated spark plugs (we'll get to those in a second). When it fails, it stops converting carbon monoxide into less harmful emissions.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>What you should do:</b>&nbsp;If your catalytic convertor fails completely, you eventually won't be able to keep the car running. Your gas mileage will also be terrible, so you should try and fix it as soon as you can. Unfortunately, the average replacement cost is around $2,000 and you can't do it yourself unless you're an experienced mechanic.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><i style="font-size: 12px; ">Photo by&nbsp;<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/noricum/172776264/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); ">noricum</a></i>.</p><h3 style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-size: 21px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Four: Replace Mass Airflow Sensor</h3><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></p><div id="obj_7704" class="videoContainer video_300" style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; width: 300px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xM05yyxGng8?wmode=Opaque&amp;rel=0&amp;showinfo=0" type="text/html" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" width="300" height="200" scrolling="no" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; "></iframe></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The mass airflow sensor tells the car's computer to add the proper amount of fuel based on the air coming through to the engine. A faulty one can increase emissions, cause the car to stall, and decrease gas mileage.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>What causes it:</b>&nbsp;Most mass airflow sensors fail because of a improperly installed (or never replaced) air filter. You should replace the air filter at least once a year to help prevent the airflow sensor from failing.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>What you should do:</b>&nbsp;Theoretically you can drive for a few weeks or even months with a broken MAF sensor. You will notice a decrease in gas mileage and over time the car will eventually start stalling a lot. At a shop, the replacement cost is between $200-$300 depending on the car, but that's usually the cost of parts because the labor is relatively simple. It's not terribly difficult to do on your own, but the process is quick enough you may want to let a mechanic handle the project in case the sensor doesn't end up being the issue.</p><h3 style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-size: 21px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Five: Replace Spark Plugs and Wires</h3><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></p><div id="obj_5330" class="videoContainer video_300" style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; width: 300px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/R85RuA4siJ4?wmode=Opaque&amp;rel=0&amp;showinfo=0" type="text/html" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" width="300" height="200" scrolling="no" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; "></iframe></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The spark plug seals the combustion chamber and provides a gab for a spark to jump across and initiates combustion in your engine. When the plugs are failing, the spark plugs misfire. You'll feel a little jolt in your car's acceleration when this happens.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>What causes it:</b>&nbsp;Most spark plugs in cars from before 1996 should be replaced every 25,000-30,000 miles. Newer ones can last up to 100,000 miles. Still, plugs fail over time and there's not much you can do about it.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>What you should do:</b>&nbsp;Get them replaced right away. It's easy and cheap and your car will run better for it. If your spark plugs fail and you've made your way to the auto parts store, you can replace them easily following the video above. Since this is part of your vehicles regular maintenance, the spark plugs are usually easily accessible from the hood of the car. It's simple enough that I've seen people doing this in the auto parts parking lot on several occasions.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Plenty of other possibilities for a check engine light are out there, but the above five are the most common.</p> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/948#post-1089 Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:01:43 +0000 admin 1089@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> <center><img src="http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/e89f094db12a1b8078f15c9a94edc2ff.jpg"/></center><br /> <br /> Online meeting services run the gamut from expensive, feature-filled, and designed for businesses to individual solutions made for people who work on remote teams, or just want an easy way to collaborate with a few coworkers of a vendor without spending a ton of money on an enterprise product. Last week, we polled for which services people used to share screens, work on documents, or even conference face to face with colleagues. Then we took a look at the top five online meeting services and put them to a vote. Now it's time to highlight the winner.<br /> <br /> <b>Google+ Hangouts</b> took the top prize by a wide margin with 47% of the votes cast, thanks to the fact that it's completely free, and its recently added document collaboration and screen sharing. In second place was free troubleshooting and online meeting tool <b>TeamViewer</b> with 22% of the vote. Right on its heels in third was the pricey but feature-packed Cisco <b>WebEx</b> with just under 12% of the vote. In fourth place with 10% of the vote was <b>Join.Me</b>, and bringing up the rear in fifth place was <b>GoToMeeting</b>, with just over 9% of the vote.</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/943#post-1083 Fri, 27 Jan 2012 06:18:23 +0000 admin 1083@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> Ross L. Beck, author of <i>The Gartley Trading Method: New Techniques to Profit From the Market's Most Powerful Formation</i> shows the evolution of the Gartley Pattern over time and how it replaces most of today's overused technical analysis methods.<br /> <br /> <center><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="640" height="374" id="viddler_jackmichaelson_188"><param name="movie" value="//www.viddler.com/simple/3a2a77f8/"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"/><param name="allowFullScreen"value="true"/><param name="flashVars" value="f=1&autoplay=f&loop=0&nologo=0&hd=0"/><embed src="//www.viddler.com/simple/3a2a77f8/" width="640" height="374" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" allowNetworking="internal" name="viddler_jackmichaelson_188" flashVars="f=1&autoplay=f&loop=0&nologo=1&hd=0"></embed></object></center><br /> <br /> In 1935, legendary trader H.M. Gartley described a unique trade set up that he called "One of the Best Trading Opportunities". 75 years later, this opportunity continues to create profit potential for traders willing to learn about this pattern.</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/946#post-1086 Sun, 29 Jan 2012 07:46:02 +0000 admin 1086@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> Gooding was born in New York City, the son of Shirley Gooding, a singer with the <i>Sweethearts</i>, and Cuba Gooding, Sr., a lead vocalist of soul group <i>The Main Ingredient</i>. His performance in the film <i>Jerry Maguire</i> (1996) earned him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, and his "Show Me the Money" line in the film became a nationwide catch phrase.<br /> <br /> <center><object width='640' height='441' classid='clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000' id='ep'><param name='allowfullscreen' value='true' /><param name='allowscriptaccess' value='always' /><param name='movie' value='http://i.cdn.turner.com/v5cache/TBS/cvp/teamcoco_drupal_embed.swf?context=teamcoco_embed_offsite&videoId=24001' /><param name='bgcolor' 'value='#000000' /><embed src='http://i.cdn.turner.com/v5cache/TBS/cvp/teamcoco_drupal_embed.swf?context=teamcoco_embed_offsite&videoId=24001' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' bgcolor='#000000' allowfullscreen='true' allowscriptaccess='always' width='640' height='441'></embed></object></center></font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/945#post-1085 Sat, 28 Jan 2012 04:09:38 +0000 admin 1085@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> Rich Maloof for MSN Health & Fitness<br /> <br /> <b>"First, do no harm."</b><br /> That's the numero uno credo of physicians around the world, and a reminder that medical intervention can sometimes do more harm than good. The human body has a remarkable ability to function as its own pharmacy and even its own emergency room. Sometimes, wise doctors know, we need to step aside and let the body conduct its own repairs.<br /> <br /> Several of the conditions listed here can be difficult to endure, and perhaps the future of medicine will save us the pain and speed the healing. Until then, always consult your doctor but don't be surprised if you are told that time is the balm that will heal all of these wounds.<br /> <br /> <b>Broken Rib</b><br /> For years, physicians would wrap a patient's chest tightly in bandages to immobilize a rib fracture—until it was understood that the practice led to increased instances of pneumonia. Bandaging a torso inhibits deep breathing, which can lead to respiratory infection. Your upper body's muscles and skeleton adequately form a de facto cast of their own. Unfortunately, all you can do for a broken rib is try not to laugh or cough too much; the force of either is very painful and can even re-fracture a healing break.<br /> <br /> <b>Food Poisoning</b><br /> So you thought the deli's tuna salad was supposed to be brown, and now you can't be more than eight feet from a toilet. A wave of vomiting and three or four hours of diarrhea is not the best way to spend an afternoon, but it's the best way to clear your body of the bacteria you've ingested. "The more you try to stop it, the more trouble you're going to get into," warns Dr. Thom Horowitz, chairman of family medicine at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. "Your body is trying to clean itself out. Our rule is, 'The first couple of hours of diarrhea are your friend.'" When you're finally ready to eat again, find a new deli. And a new friend.<br /> <br /> <b>Conjunctival Bleed</b><br /> This condition sounds and looks far worse than it is. When tiny blood vessels burst in the eye, blood gets trapped beneath the eye's clear surface (the conjunctiva), leaving red splotches in the white part (the sclera). Your doctor may want to check your blood pressure and discuss blood-thinning medications, but a conjunctival bleed can occur with no apparent cause—and there's no treatment necessary. The blood will disappear, absorbed into your eye, within two weeks.<br /> <br /> <b>Hematospermia</b><br /> hey say one of the few times a man pays full attention is when he's talking about himself. Another is when blood is coming out of his penis. Traces of blood in the semen, known as hematospermia, seems nightmarish but is typically the harmless result of blood vessels breaking in the testicle or along the urethra. The condition often follows sexual exploits that are a bit too, er, vigorous. "It happens when someone's into indoor sports," Horowitz adds dryly. "Men almost always panic when they see that but it's not associated with any bad diseases. Unless it keeps bleeding, get a good night's sleep. And be a little more gentle next time."<br /> <br /> <b>Coughing</b><br /> A cough that results from an upper respiratory infection is one of the body's protective mechanisms; expelling air prevents secretions from getting into the lungs. Though very annoying to the patient (and to others in their vicinity), coughing can and should last the six or so weeks it takes to completely clear the infection. Says Horowitz, "As long as a person is not having fevers or bringing up large amounts of colorful phlegm—or getting exhausted because they can't get any rest—it is actually counterproductive to stop a cough."<br /> <br /> <b>Sheared-off Nail</b><br /> Having a fingernail or toenail torn off can be torturous, there's no question about it. But once the nail comes sliding off its bed, there's little to do other than cover the area and wait for it to start growing back from the cuticle. If there's blood under a nail and the patient is desperate to save it, a doctor can sometimes drill a small hole to drain the blood.<br /> <br /> <b>Fractured Skull</b><br /> When you break an arm or a leg, the fractured bone needs to be immobilized (with a splint, cast and/or sling) so that it can heal in its proper position. When the dome of bone around your brain is cracked, though, only rarely will movement cause the fissure to open or worsen. Short of a second blow to the head, the fracture most likely will stay aligned and heal on its own. "There can be a problem if the fracture is out of place, putting pressure on a nerve, or if there's bleeding underneath it," Horowitz says. "The issue is not whether the skull is broken but whether it's out of alignment."<br /> <br /> <b>Ruptured Eardrum</b><br /> The eardrum is a thin membrane that can be breached by loud noise, air pressure (e.g., on an airplane or while scuba diving), infection, or by having a friend stick a pencil in there. A perforation of the membrane is like a tear in fabric, but the hole will usually close on its own as the delicate tissue grows back. One of the worst things you can do for a ruptured eardrum is to use ear drops, because the ear needs to remain dry and free of infection to repair itself. When a rupture worsens or won't heal, a doctor may patch it in a simple office or outpatient procedure.<br /> <br /> <b>Missing Recommended Sleep</b><br /> "People get very concerned if they're not getting eight hours of sleep because they see the commercials on TV and the propaganda," asserts Horowitz. "Getting people into a coma for a full eight or nine hours has turned into a multimillion-dollar business." It's an oppositional view in the age of Ambien and Lunesta, but people vary tremendously in the amount of sleep they require. When assessing your own requirements, separate the concepts of sleep and of rest. Are you functioning properly in the daytime? Are you alert and clear-headed, or were you fired for napping in a board meeting? As long as you regularly feel rested and healthy, there's not a pressing need to spend a third of your life in your pajamas.</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/944#post-1084 Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:57:07 +0000 admin 1084@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> Adam Winrich is a sophisticated, high-energy whip cracking performer at Old West events and Renaissance Faires. Adam is also a skilled whip maker.<br /> <br /> <center><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="640" height="378" id="viddler_jackmichaelson_189"><param name="movie" value="//www.viddler.com/simple/e22433a7/"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"/><param name="allowFullScreen"value="true"/><param name="flashVars" value="f=1&autoplay=f&loop=0&nologo=0&hd=0"/><embed src="//www.viddler.com/simple/e22433a7/" width="640" height="378" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" allowNetworking="internal" name="viddler_jackmichaelson_189" flashVars="f=1&autoplay=f&loop=0&nologo=1&hd=0"></embed></object> <br /> <br /> <object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/p/8E0491F938FD74BB?hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/p/8E0491F938FD74BB?hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390" allownetworking="internal" saveembedtags="true" enablehref="false" enablejsurl="false"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param></embed> </object></center></font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/936#post-1073 Sun, 22 Jan 2012 05:41:22 +0000 admin 1073@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> If you were the kid to sit around burning ants with a magnifying glass, the idea will be familiar to you. You use the water inside a jar to focus the sun's rays on kindling until you get glowing embers. Once you have the small spark, give a few gentle blows and you have a fire. <br /> <br /> Obviously this only works during daylight, but it's still a good trick to know. The physics of this method should explain the cause of a number of past mysterious daytime fire incidents wherever glass and trash may be laying together outdoors.<br /> <br /> <center><img src="http://img.wonderhowto.com/images/gfx/gallery/634620058085073121.jpg" width=660/></center></font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/940#post-1077 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 04:14:12 +0000 admin 1077@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> <center><img src="http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/images/4/2012/01/174bb4c8d48786e496706da9046e72a7.gif" width=660/></center><br /> <br /> This is really bad. NASA has published an image of the pollution haze taking all over the North China Plain. Yes, it's so bad that you can see it taking over thousands of square miles from space.<br /> Things were so bad that visibility dropped to 200 meters. The Chinese capital's airport had to cancel 43 flights and delayed 80 more.<br /> <br /> The first image—taken by NASA's Aqua satellite—shows the situation on January 10. The entire North China Plain was covered with a gray pollution haze. You can also see white patches: that's normal fog hanging below the haze. On the second image, you can see the skies on the next day: the heaviest pollution is mostly gone, moved by the wind.<br /> <br /> According to NASA's Earth Observatory, the haze is mostly made of two kinds of particles, PM10 and PM2.5. The number refers to their size: 10 micrometers and 2.5 micrometers. They are made of "dust, liquid drops, and soot from burning fuel or coal." Most of the pollution is made of PM2.5. These are highly reflective, which is why we can see them from space when their concentration is high enough.<br /> <br /> The 10-micrometer particles enter the lungs and cause respiratory problems. The 2.5-micrometer particles can embed themselves deep in the lungs and occasionally enter the blood stream. These particles can cause cancer and extreme respiratory problems.<br /> <br /> The problem is extremely bad. The PM10 density was 560 micrograms per cubic meter of air. In the US, concentrations of 150 micrograms per cubic meter of air are considered beyond the limit. But the PM2.5 concentration is even worse. On January 10, the concentration was literally off the scale. Things are so bad that the US Embassy in Beijing reports on the PM2.5 concentration level every hour.<br /> <br /> This winter haze is caused by a combination of pollution and temperature inversion: cold air gets trapped by a blanket of warmer air above, causing a pocket that gets filled with pollution. In the case of China, it builds up pretty fast.<br /> <br /> Apparently, China is planning to monitor the concentration of PM2.5 in 2016. That may be too late for much of the population, who is deeply affected by the situation. It's no coincidence that their architects are obsessed by air quality control inside their buildings.</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/942#post-1079 Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:54:04 +0000 admin 1079@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> <center><img SRC="http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/images/4/2012/01/e3d147bef74319a0e2292c0a8829df9d.jpg"/></center><br /> <br /> Apparently, robbing McDonald's has become a thing in Australia. McRobbery's are so rampant down under that McDonald's locations in Aussieland are taking measures to protect themselves by spraying criminals with an invisible mist of DNA. The DNA seeps into the criminal's skin and is visible under blacklight for two weeks.<br /> <br /> According to McDonald's, this is how the <i>SelectDNA</i> system works:<br /> <br /> "<i>Once there has been a security breach, the hi-tech spray unit will douse fleeing robbers with an invisible, synthetic DNA solution. The solution is invisible to the naked eye and unique to each location. It stays on clothing for up to six months and on skin for up to two weeks</i>."<br /> <br /> Police would then scan suspects under UV light to see if they carry the DNA on their body and clothes. And then presumably make fun of them for hours and hours for robbing a McDonald's. SelectDNA was developed in the UK (where it's being used already) and is currently being tested for use in select Aussie Mickey D's. The spray of invisible mist DNA is composed of 60 variable chromosomes and is non-toxic, non-allergenic and totally safe.<br /> <br /> So take note thieves: If you rob a Mickey D's, you will wear the scarlet letter of shame in your skin.</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/941#post-1078 Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:13:18 +0000 admin 1078@http://realideal.com/forum/ <div class="ss-container" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 30px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); float: left; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(218, 218, 218); border-right-color: rgb(218, 218, 218); border-bottom-color: rgb(218, 218, 218); border-left-color: rgb(218, 218, 218); width: 300px !important; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; "><div class="slideshow" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; "><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-14643" title="Fresh salmon" src="http://article-admin.agilesands.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Salmon_veggies_lemon_ORIGINAL-300x199.jpg" alt="Fight fat with a healthy diet of omega-3 rich foods." width="300" height="199" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; "/></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 14px; "></p></div><span style="color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; "></span><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; "><a href="http://article-admin.agilesands.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Salmon_veggies_lemon_ORIGINAL.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: none; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(0, 128, 0); text-decoration: none; font-size: 14px; "></a><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; ">Essential fatty acids (like those found in fish) help activate fat-burning genes. Nicholas Perricone, M.D., author of&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; "><a href="http://shop.simonandschuster.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ISBN=9781439177341&amp;CouponCode=TIPSHEALTHY1" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: none; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(0, 128, 0); text-decoration: none; font-size: 14px; ">Forever Young: The Science of Nutrigenomics for Glowing, Wrinkle-Free Skin and Radiant Health at Every Age</a></em>, explains how.</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; ">When I was young, I could&nbsp;<a href="http://www.tipsonhealthyliving.com/diet-and-fitness/7-quick-cooking-tricks-for-single-dieters" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: none; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(0, 128, 0); text-decoration: none; font-size: 14px; ">eat</a>&nbsp;as much as I wanted and not gain any weight. My body would throw off a tremendous amount of<a href="http://www.tipsonhealthyliving.com/diet-and-fitness/17-ways-to-burn-more-calories-without-jogging" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: none; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(0, 128, 0); text-decoration: none; font-size: 14px; ">body heat</a>&nbsp;after a meal. This process is known as postprandial thermogenesis, which means the production of heat after eating. It is no coincidence that overweight people have very little postprandial thermogenesis. I noticed that as I got older, I started to put on weight; at the same time, the amount of heat my body dissipated after a meal decreased significantly. I began a quest to understand what was happening on a biochemical level.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; "><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; ">Breaking Up Is Hard to Do</strong><br style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; "/>I learned that&nbsp;<a href="http://www.tipsonhealthyliving.com/diet-and-fitness/avoid-6-common-overeating-triggers" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: none; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(0, 128, 0); text-decoration: none; font-size: 14px; ">food calories</a>&nbsp;can be burned in the mitochondria for production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a high-energy phosphate molecule used to store and release energy for work within the body. This entire process is known as oxidative phosphorylation.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; ">Food can be stored as body&nbsp;<a href="http://www.tipsonhealthyliving.com/diet-and-fitness/17-low-fat-no-sugar-ways-to-flavor-your-meals" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: none; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(0, 128, 0); text-decoration: none; font-size: 14px; ">fat</a>&nbsp;(triglycerides in adipose tissue) or stored as glycogen in the liver and muscles. Glycogen is the form in which foods are stored in the body as energy. If we can “uncouple” the oxidation from the phosphorylation, food calories can be burned off by thermogenesis.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; ">Thermogenesis (body heat) bypasses the ATP-mediated energy. If the majority of the food we eat can be transformed into body heat, we stay thin with low body fat stores.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; ">When I entered medical school, I was searching for a natural agent to uncouple the oxidation from the phosphorylation as a possible strategy for weight loss. Unfortunately, the uncoupling agents that I found were toxic — but I never gave up trying.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; ">Eventually I found that essential fatty acids, such as the omega-3s found in fish oil, chia seeds, and cold-water fish such as&nbsp;<a href="http://www.tipsonhealthyliving.com/diet-and-fitness/6-reasons-why-protein-is-a-powerful-fat-torcher" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: none; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(0, 128, 0); text-decoration: none; font-size: 14px; ">salmon</a>&nbsp;and sardines, could uncouple oxidative phosphorylation. They do this through the PPARs discussed above, which partition energy so that it is not stored as fat. They also downregulate enzymes that synthesize fat. Thus, essential fatty acids can affect gene expression by activating PPARs that turn on the fat-burning genes.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; ">Omega-3s produce a protein known as<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; ">&nbsp;uncoupling protein</em>&nbsp;3, which uncouples oxidative phosphorylation.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; "><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; ">ABOUT THE AUTHOR</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; "><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; "><font color="#404040" face="Verdana, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 15px; "><i>Nicholas Perricone, M.D., author of Forever Young: The Science of Nutrigenomics for Glowing, Wrinkle-Free Skin and Radiant Health at Every Age, is also the author of #1 New York Times bestseller: The Perricone Prescription.</i><b>&nbsp;</b></span></font><br /></span></p> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/939#post-1076 Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:25:54 +0000 admin 1076@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> Jean-Marie Delbes and Hatim El Hihi are photoshopping dead band members out of famous album covers. Eternity was never so ephemeral.<br /> <br /> <center><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2012/01/206bf98f9a2ba3d3fd81c95eeea32cf2.jpg"/><br /> <br /> <img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2012/01/5a689b503753f733c127926f8e613d43.jpg"/><br /> <br /> <img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2012/01/b7292043c5bb6977f50891778a8b4176.jpg"/><br /> <br /> <img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2012/01/a1fbe268d670ecdd00d048d10d4256df.jpg"/></center></font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/938#post-1075 Sun, 22 Jan 2012 06:19:29 +0000 admin 1075@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> Comedian Jon Dore finds one basketball league that treats both players and fans alike with respect.<br /> <br /> <center><object width='640' height='441' classid='clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000' id='ep'><param name='allowfullscreen' value='true' /><param name='allowscriptaccess' value='always' /><param name='movie' value='http://i.cdn.turner.com/v5cache/TBS/cvp/teamcoco_drupal_embed.swf?context=teamcoco_embed_offsite&videoId=22805' /><param name='bgcolor' 'value='#000000' /><embed src='http://i.cdn.turner.com/v5cache/TBS/cvp/teamcoco_drupal_embed.swf?context=teamcoco_embed_offsite&videoId=22805' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' bgcolor='#000000' allowfullscreen='true' allowscriptaccess='always' width='640' height='441'></embed></object></center></font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/937#post-1074 Sun, 22 Jan 2012 05:46:54 +0000 admin 1074@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> <center><img src="http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/a5f3b4bfe13a57734c0ee6a6ba1b79db.jpg"/></center><br /> <br /> "Keep Giving Them You, Until You Is What They Want"<br /> <br /> This quote comes from Dennis Palumbo, a former screenwriter-turned-psychotherapist, writing about rejection. He says it as a reminder that rejection is often arbitrary and impersonal, so if you take it as a reason to be somebody you're not, you are making a mistake.<br /> <br /> Dennis offers an anecdote from his days as a screenwriter in which he and others were casting a young woman for a small guest spot on a show. After seeing a handful of options, they made a decision and moved on. He later overheard many of the young women concerned that they weren't sexy enough, didn't dress correctly, or didn't make the best acting choices. In reality, the actress they decided to cast was chosen for a completely arbitrary reason:<br /> <br /> What made [the decision] even more ironic in this case was the fact that we'd cast this particular actress because it was getting close to lunch-time and we were all hungry. As it turned out, all the actresses had been attractive and competent, so we just picked the next one who wasn't taller than the show's star and made tracks for the studio commissary. Our agenda—in this case, hunger—could never have been known or predicted or prepared for by the other women auditioning.<br /> <br /> The point of the story is this: you're going to be rejected a lot if you have lofty goals you want to achieve, but often times that rejection will have nothing to do with you. Many of us take a single rejection as an opportunity to focus on what we can change and how we can improve, but what good is change if we have no concrete reason for it? When you don't know why you were rejected, don't bother to speculate. Let it go, and continue being yourself. Who else are you going to be, anyway?</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/935#post-1072 Sun, 22 Jan 2012 05:31:38 +0000 admin 1072@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> <center><img src="http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/medium_f180b79cd5d21935f585d0b319f3aa2a.jpg"/></center><br /> Need some triple-A batteries but have only a 9-volt on hand?<br /> <br /> Armed with a pair of needlenose pliers, you peel open the 9-volt's metal casing. Inside you'll find half a dozen 1.5-volt batteries. Separate the cells and you should be able to use them in place of AAAs (or AAAAs, which is what these things actually are).<br /> <br /> Although this goes against everything I've ever heard about batteries (they'll spray you with deadly acid if you so much as look at them wrong!), the photos don't lie. This could come in really handy if you're in a pinch for AAAs.</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/934#post-1069 Sat, 21 Jan 2012 16:20:06 +0000 admin 1069@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> Have you ever felt like a customer service rep or friend was lying to you over the phone? It's hard to detect deception without visual cues, but <i>Psychology Today</i> suggests it's not impossible if you listen closely for a few specific words.<br /> <br /> <center><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="640" height="503" id="viddler_jackmichaelson_187"><param name="movie" value="//www.viddler.com/simple/204fd7fa/"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"/><param name="allowFullScreen"value="true"/><param name="flashVars" value="f=1&autoplay=f&loop=0&nologo=0&hd=0"/><embed src="//www.viddler.com/simple/204fd7fa/" width="640" height="503" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" allowNetworking="internal" name="viddler_jackmichaelson_187" flashVars="f=1&autoplay=f&loop=0&nologo=1&hd=0"></embed></object></center><br /> <br /> Psychologist John R. Schafer suggests a good way to sniff out a lie is to listen for word fillers. These are words like "umm," "ah," or in case of replying to a direct yes or no question, "well." These are traditionally used to buy a liar a little more time to come up with a response. It's also good to listen for a silent delay between your question and the answer. Be careful not to jump to conclusions if a response takes a while. Often it may be in relation to a person's control of privacy. These clues don't mean anything in isolation, but if you hear these words repeatedly, it's a good sign the person isn't being truthful with you.</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/882#post-1003 Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:05:10 +0000 admin 1003@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> <center><img src="http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/images/4/2011/12/aa1a86ff0d767204739bf3218bda14ae.jpg"/></center><br /> <br /> Wow, GoDaddy finally does the right thing. After initially defending their stance, they've just announced that they're no longer supporting the awful, anti-internet bill known as SOPA because though 'fighting' online piracy is important, GoDaddy feels they "can clearly do better". Maybe they were scared off by Leave GoDaddy Day?<br /> <br /> Warren Adelman, GoDaddy's CEO, explains the company's reasoning for ditching SOPA:<br /> <br /> "<i>Fighting online piracy is of the utmost importance, which is why Go Daddy has been working to help craft revisions to this legislation—but we can clearly do better. It's very important that all Internet stakeholders work together on this. Getting it right is worth the wait. Go Daddy will support it when and if the Internet community supports it</i>."<br /> <br /> They probably did it because Ben Huh threatened to pull more than 1000 I Can Haz Cheeseburger domains from the service, but If a sleazeball company like GoDaddy can ditch SOPA because of pressure from the Internet, you bet other companies currently supporting SOPA will cave too. Let yourself be heard and let's freaking <a href="https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/petition/veto-sopa-bill-and-any-other-future-bills-threaten-diminish-free-flow-information/g3W1BscR" target="0">kill this bill</a>.<br /> <br /> SOPA is terrible—it threatens the existence of the internet we know and love. You can call one of the dozens of companies backing it and give them a piece of your mind. Or, <a href="https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/petition/veto-sopa-bill-and-any-other-future-bills-threaten-diminish-free-flow-information/g3W1BscR" target="0">try the White House</a>.<br /> <br /> Over 40,000 people have expressed their rightful opposition to the bill. Most online petitions are sad and futile, but WhiteHouse.gov petitions often receive official responses from the administration —so let's hop on this one together. Ask Obama to veto SOPA <a href="https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/petition/veto-sopa-bill-and-any-other-future-bills-threaten-diminish-free-flow-information/g3W1BscR" target="0">here</a>.</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/933#post-1068 Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:29:33 +0000 admin 1068@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> Some members of the studio audience had pending craigslist ads out before the SOPA blackout. We helped them get the word out.<br /> <br /> <center><object width='640' height='441' classid='clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000' id='ep'><param name='allowfullscreen' value='true' /><param name='allowscriptaccess' value='always' /><param name='movie' value='http://i.cdn.turner.com/v5cache/TBS/cvp/teamcoco_drupal_embed.swf?context=teamcoco_embed_offsite&videoId=23203' /><param name='bgcolor' 'value='#000000' /><embed src='http://i.cdn.turner.com/v5cache/TBS/cvp/teamcoco_drupal_embed.swf?context=teamcoco_embed_offsite&videoId=23203' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' bgcolor='#000000' allowfullscreen='true' allowscriptaccess='always' width='640' height='441'></embed></object> <br /> </center></font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/923#post-1057 Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:08:30 +0000 admin 1057@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> The "Metal Storm" pistol, which can never jam, is the fastest firing and most powerful handgun in the world. This video also covers the larger <i>Metal Storm</i> weapons, which can fire 16,000 9mm rounds per second and 250,000 40mm grenades in a minute. <br /> <br /> <center><object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OqW5bG2M3x4?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OqW5bG2M3x4?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></center></font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/932#post-1066 Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:02:52 +0000 admin 1066@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> Some Georgia textbooks are teaching math with slavery equations, Deon Cole makes sure they get it right.<br /> <br /> <center><object width="640" height="441" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" id="ep"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://i.cdn.turner.com/v5cache/TBS/cvp/teamcoco_drupal_embed.swf?context=teamcoco_embed_offsite&videoId=22881" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000" /><embed src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/v5cache/TBS/cvp/teamcoco_drupal_embed.swf?context=teamcoco_embed_offsite&videoId=22881" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="640" height="441"></embed></object></center></font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/931#post-1065 Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:26:23 +0000 admin 1065@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> Ricky Dene Gervais is an English comedian, actor, director, radio presenter, producer, musician, and writer. He has won multiple awards and honours, including seven BAFTA Awards, five British Comedy Awards, two Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and the 2006 Rose d'Or.<br /> <br /> <center><object width="640" height="441" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" id="ep"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://i.cdn.turner.com/v5cache/TBS/cvp/teamcoco_drupal_embed.swf?context=teamcoco_embed_offsite&videoId=22883" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000" /><embed src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/v5cache/TBS/cvp/teamcoco_drupal_embed.swf?context=teamcoco_embed_offsite&videoId=22883" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="640" height="441"></embed></object></center></font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/930#post-1064 Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:55:38 +0000 admin 1064@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> Okay to put it in perspective (I'm a Marine): There are stupid Marines that do these things that make the rest of us look bad. You won't see much press when a Marine does something good because that's expected, but when there's bad press it gets overblown. This was a few marines that messed up not all Marines. - <i>mikeslemonade</i><br /> <br /> <center><object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rOY6BpuW1tY?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rOY6BpuW1tY?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></center><br /> <br /> it doesnt enrage me what they did because they are on our side. but wut if you saw a video of a group a hajjis pissin on your best friend. you have to think with an open mind. its videos like this that put lives at risk MINE included so next time i go out on patrol it just makes it that much more difficult. now all im saying is AT LEAST DONT TAPE IT FOR EVERYONE TO SEE JEEZE LOL - <i>rsfowlerjr1</i></font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/929#post-1063 Wed, 11 Jan 2012 09:56:52 +0000 admin 1063@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> Protandim is a patented dietary supplement marketed by LifeVantage Corporation (OTCBB: LFVN. The manufacturers of Protandim claim the product can indirectly increase antioxidant activity by upregulating endogenous antioxidant factors such as the enzymes <i>superoxide dismutase</i> (SOD) and <i>catalase</i>, as well as the tripeptide <i>glutathione</i>, and by activation of Nrf2, which induces the expression of various genes including those that encode for several antioxidant enzymes.<br /> <br /> <center><object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/p/CF4CABE1296D4C39?hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/p/CF4CABE1296D4C39?hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390" allownetworking="internal" saveembedtags="true" enablehref="false" enablejsurl="false"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param></embed></object> <br /> <br /> <b><a href="http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/lifevantage-protandim-scam/" target="0">is Protandim a scam?</a></b></center><br /> <br /> Protandim was invented by Paul R. Myhill and William J. Driscoll, and is produced under a manufacturing agreement with The Chemins Company of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The product consists mainly of a blend of 5 ingredients:<br /> <br /> Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) extract (225 mg)<br /> Bacopa (Bacopa monniera) extract (150 mg)<br /> Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) root (150 mg)<br /> Green tea (Camellia sinensis) extract (75 mg)<br /> Turmeric (Curcuma Ionga) extract (75 mg)<br /> <br /> According to the manufacturer, the side effects of Protandim may include allergic responses, gastrointestinal disturbances (stomach ache, diarrhea, vomiting), headache, and rash of the hands and feet.<br /> <br /> A non-randomized, non-controlled trial in human subjects, reported that Protandim increased the levels of the antioxidant enzymes SOD and catalase while reducing TBAR levels. The second study, conducted in isolated cells in vitro, demonstrated that Protandim increased glutathione levels.<br /> <br /> A 2003 study showed that Nrf2 and heme oxygenase 1 are induced by low doses of curcumin (one of the principal ingredients in Protandim) in isolated kidney epithelial cells.<br /> <br /> A 2008 review article noted that Protandim is one of many supplements that claim to act as antioxidants, but that changes in TBARS levels and increases in the levels of antioxidant enzymes in response to a treatment do not provide a reliable indication that the treatment has an antioxidant effect, since the same responses are produced by pro-oxidant compounds that induce oxidative stress. The authors suggested that measurement of isoprostanes might be a better indication of lipid peroxidation and oxidative damage to DNA.<br /> <br /> A review by <i>Science-Based Medicine</i> of eight peer-reviewed studies found insufficient evidence to support its usefulness. Dr. Harriet Hall states, "We simply don’t know enough at this point to recommend Protandim for treatment or prevention of any disease, for anti-aging, for making people feel healthier or more energetic, or for anything else."<br /> <br /> In 2009, LifeVantage was sued by Utah-based Zrii LLC, a marketer of nutritional fruit drinks endorsed by Deepak Chopra, based on allegations that LifeVantage had conspired with former Zrii executives to “ruin the company” and take it over “on the cheap” following a “mass exodus” of Zrii distributors to LifeVantage. The case was closed in December 2009 following LifeVantage’s settlement payment of $400,000 to Zrii.<br /> <br /> On September 15, 2011, LifeVantage entered into an agreement with entertainer Donny Osmond to act as a spokesperson for the company’s products. The 2-year contract stipulates that the company will pay Osmond for various promotional appearances and video recordings and commissions for sales of LifeVantage products.<br /> </font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/922#post-1056 Mon, 09 Jan 2012 06:53:26 +0000 admin 1056@http://realideal.com/forum/ <div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/7/2011/10/111003campbell.jpg" alt="Meet Missouri's Scariest-Looking Sex Offender"/>&nbsp;<br /></div><div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Meet Michael Campbell. Back in 1995, at the age of 20, he was&nbsp;<a href="http://www.springfieldcrimealert.com/so/michael_eugene_campbell-1090.htm" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(215, 81, 72); ">convicted</a>&nbsp;for the attempted sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl. He has been arrested several times since,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/scary-face-busted-again-876543" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(215, 81, 72); ">most recently</a>&nbsp;for going within 500 feet of a playground or public pool.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">I'm guessing people freak out and call the cops every time he goes anywhere, so he should really be careful about that whole playground thing.<br clear="all"/></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></p><div class="lyteboxContainer left editorial" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; position: relative; z-index: 1000; width: 300px; height: 169px; "><div class="lyteboxLink" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px; height: 169px; text-indent: -1000em; position: absolute; "><a href="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/7/2011/10/111003campbell2.jpg" class="noHrefOverride" rel="lytebox" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(215, 81, 72); display: block; height: 169px; text-indent: -100em; width: 300px; background-image: url(http://cache.gawker.com/assets/base.v10/img/lytebox/blank.gif); background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Full size</a></div><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/7/2011/10/medium_111003campbell2.jpg" width="300" height="169" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; "/></div>At left, images from Campbell's 2003 arrest for theft. As you can see, the now 36-year-old man has been working hard to fit back into civilized society.<p></p></div> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/921#post-1055 Mon, 09 Jan 2012 06:44:50 +0000 admin 1055@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face="arial" size="3"><br /> <center><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/12/2011/12/04e4d250ec8777d182b1131d3a349f06.jpg" width="660/"/></center><br /> <br /> Fourteen people just got out of that car. It's an Indian-built Maruti-Suzuki 800 and it's just under 11 feet long at 131.5 inches. That's just under a foot longer than an original Mini.<br /> <br /> Here in America, this car would be classified as a four seater. In India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, nestled in the Himalayas, people are thin enough and cars are expensive enough that this city car will have to fit a very full family.</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/920#post-1054 Mon, 09 Jan 2012 06:38:00 +0000 admin 1054@http://realideal.com/forum/ <div style="text-align: center;"><div class="imgwrap abovewrap" title="Did a man intentionally wreck this Lamborghini six hours after he won it?" style="margin-top: -13px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 13px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; position: relative; width: 640px; height: 360px; z-index: 0; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div class="lyteboxContainer left editorial" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 640px; height: 360px; "><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"/><img src="http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/images/12/2011/12/xlarge_1f5d2e96881013d426349486883891d7.jpg" width="640" height="360" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "/></div></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"/></div><div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">New evidence suggests David Dopp, the man who won a Lamborghini Murcielago and then crashed it six hours later speeding on an icy road, had a motive to intentionally crash the supercar.&nbsp;Amazingly, it turns out he asked Jay Leno to buy it from him well before he took delivery of the prize.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">It only took an hour after we first posed the question&nbsp;for our crack-team of&nbsp;readers to unearth more suspicious evidence that Dopp was displaying a motive to intentionally crash the supercar he'd just won. And strangely, it involves Jay Leno.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Apparently, after the announcement was made that he'd won the car back in November, and then upon learning he'd owe $100,000 in taxes upon delivery, Dopp&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/jayleno/posts/10150568984388294" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(65, 127, 185); ">wrote</a>&nbsp;on Jay Leno's Facebook page&nbsp;on November 28th:</p><blockquote style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 20px; padding-top: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 10px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 4px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: ''; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 22px; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">Hi, I do not know if Jay sees these post but I have a problem on my hands. I know that Jay is a big car guy. I recently won a 2008 Lamborghini 2DR ROADSTER<br />Verde Ithaca. The stupid government wants around $100,000 dollars in taxes and so I am forced to sell it to pay the taxes. Plus as a father of six It is a very impractical car. I was wondering if anyone knew where the best place was to sell it? Thank you for any help that can be given. Sincerely David</p></blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><a rel="lytebox" href="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/12/2011/12/4b39aa59894665b3f3a83c10a356e468.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(65, 127, 185); "><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/12/2011/12/medium_4b39aa59894665b3f3a83c10a356e468.jpg" width="300" class="image_1 v10_medium" alt="Man who crashed Lamborghini six hours after winning it asked Jay Leno to buy it" title="Man who crashed Lamborghini six hours after winning it asked Jay Leno to buy it" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px !important; float: left; max-width: 300px; "/></a>Is this proof Dopp intentionally crashed the car for the insurance money? No. But it certainly does provide more evidence that the crash needs some serious investigation on the part of both authorities and the insurance company.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; "><i>Come on guys! Stop putting him on the spotlight and saying things like "the crash needs some serious investigation on the part of both authorities and the insurance company." I would do the same if I was forced to pay $100k, for a car that was supposedly free, in taxes. This man doesn't make that in a year, have some pity on him, don't instigate an investigation. I would have probably landed in the same situation, I didn't know these taxes were so extreme. If I got a notice saying I had to pay the government $100k for a car that was gifted to me I would panic.</i></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; "><i>Having said that, these taxes seem to be excessive in every sense of the word. When a private company gives away a car to a private individual the government shouldn't be charging the individual for it, it's basically stealing. If they're going to get involved anyway, why the hell charge $100k? I would say $1k max, this is ridiculous. Who do I have to vote for that is against this?</i> &nbsp;-&nbsp;Type R- Loves his 'New Formula Red' s2000</p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; "><i><span style="color: rgb(37, 37, 37); ">It's suckage because the car counts as income at whatever level the government decides the car is worth. It's not a specific get-the-little-guy tax; it's merely a crappy side effect of income tax. Every game show winner is also subject to the same problem — if you go on&nbsp;</span><span style="color: rgb(37, 37, 37); ">Wheel of Fortune</span><span style="color: rgb(37, 37, 37); ">and wind up winning a $6,000 trip to Hawaii and a new $30,000 car and $2,000 in cash, then you now owe income taxes on an extra $38,000 of income, which amounts to way more than the $2,000 cash you just won. (That's why it's always better to make it onto&nbsp;</span><span style="color: rgb(37, 37, 37); ">Jeopardy!</span><span style="color: rgb(37, 37, 37); ">)</span></i>&nbsp; -&nbsp;zerobandwidth<br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; "></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; "><i>As a one percenter (Screw all you people, counting my gold, thank you!) I can assure you, the 35% is actually our NORMAL INCOME TAX.</i></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; "><i>Yes, because I was successful and got a little lucky, my business isn't collapsing, worked my ass off and sacrificed time with my family, my personal financial freedom, and took insane risks, I get to pay 670,000 in taxes this year total. I only took home ~2 million. Of that, I get to keep 1.3 million or so. Which I will invest about 1 million of into another business. The US govt is very nice, and forces me to write them a check for 167,500 quarterly.</i></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; "><i>Do you know how many people my little business could hire for 670,000/yr? I need 15 decent people right now, badly. I am honestly, truly sorry I cant hire them. Enough bitching though.</i></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; "><i style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; ">Either way, he won 300,000 as far as the IRS is concerned. He is now being taxed on his windfall. -&nbsp;</i><font color="#333333" face="Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">Hadaken</span></font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; "></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; "><i>Think how many ditch diggers your $670,000 pays for. And then, think about how many ditch fillers it pays for as well. It's called progress, friend. Get with the times.</i></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; "><i>P.S. In the same way that some people thank troops for their service to the country, I want to sincerely thank you for your service to the economy, and to the world. </i>- zyodei<cite style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 20px; "></cite></p></div> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/906#post-1036 Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:49:34 +0000 admin 1036@http://realideal.com/forum/ <div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/a340864e5d8f0a483d9977420087c15d.jpg" alt="What the Common Grocery Store Product Labels Mean and When They Matter"/>&nbsp;</div><div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></p><p style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; ">The grocery store can be a confusing place. Labels are applied to nearly every product boasting any number of health benefits ranging from heart healthy to fortified, but what does it all mean, and is there really a benefit from any of it?</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; "><span style="font-size: 15px; ">Walking through a grocery store, we took a look at some of the most common labels you'll find on foods and broke down what they typically mean, when it matters, if the claims are regulated, and most importantly, if the labels are worth paying more for.</span><br /></p><h3 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-size: 21px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); ">Enriched and Fortified</h3><p style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; "><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/medium_7d9aa6a4913f8f4462a75222780f4321.jpg" width="300" class="image_1 right v10_medium" alt="What the Common Grocery Store Product Labels Mean and When They Matter" title="What the Common Grocery Store Product Labels Mean and When They Matter" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 40px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px !important; float: right; max-width: 300px; "/><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">What it means:</strong>&nbsp;If a product is labeled as enriched or fortified, it means vitamins and minerals were added to the food, but the two terms have different meanings. Fortified means the maker added more of the same types of vitamins and minerals already found in its natural state. Enriched means vitamins and minerals are added back that were lost in the refining process.<br /><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">How it's regulated:</strong>&nbsp;Fortification and enrichment are&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10872&amp;page=48" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); ">both regulated by the FDA</a>. The goal of both is to provide nutrients many people are lacking in foods that might lose it during refining.<br /><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">When it matters:</strong>&nbsp;Fortification has been around since at least 1924 when iodine was added to salt to help prevent goiter. It's an important nutritional supplement to many diets because it can add nutrients like thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, and iron that many Americans otherwise lack.<br /><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Does it make a difference?</strong>&nbsp;Fortified and enriched are important, but it's not an end-all solution. It helps you get more of the nutrients you need, but it's important to note that it doesn't make a food healthy. Most sugary cereals, for instance, are fortified, but they're still packed with sugar. Enriched and fortified foods are merely a means to get your vitamin and mineral intake up to recommended levels.<br /><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Is it worth paying more for?</strong>&nbsp;Not really, as most foods that should be fortified and enriched already are. You shouldn't have any trouble finding a cheap option for the common fortified foods like breads, flour, or cereal.</p><h3 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-size: 21px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); ">Gluten Free</h3><p style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; "><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/medium_044b8976b4eba5eb3a6eabb576d9d849.jpg" width="300" class="image_2 right v10_medium" alt="What the Common Grocery Store Product Labels Mean and When They Matter" title="What the Common Grocery Store Product Labels Mean and When They Matter" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 40px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px !important; float: right; max-width: 300px; "/><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">What it means:</strong>&nbsp;Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and their bi-products. An autoimmune illness called&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001280/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); ">Celiac disease</a>exists in&nbsp;<a href="http://www.uihealthcare.com/reports/internalmedicine/020812celiac.html" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); ">around 1 in 200 people</a>&nbsp;and causes the digestive system to see wheat as an invader. This causes a number of problems later on, including failure of the digestive tract and cancer. The gluten free label is primarily for Celiac sufferers and those with an allergy to wheat. When a product is gluten free, it typically means it's not made with any wheat, barley, or rye.<br /><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">How it's regulated:</strong>&nbsp;At the moment, regulation is still being decided.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.boston.com/Boston/dailydose/2011/08/when-foods-labeled-gluten-free-aren/5QNQfeP7SnNKizcwwJ6IsI/index.html" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); ">According to the Boston Globe</a>, a food product is free of gluten if it has 100 parts per million gluten, which according to some is high enough to trigger discomfort in celiac suffers. The FDA is working on refining the requirements.<br /><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">When it matters:</strong>&nbsp;If you suffer from Celiac disease, the label is an important way to track your intake so you don't suffer problems. If you don't, gluten free is not usually needed.<br /><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Does it make a difference?</strong>&nbsp;Since many products use wheat for flavoring or as a thickening agent, the sticker is important on certain types of products that may often use gluten but aren't obvious by glancing at the box.<br /><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Is it worth paying more for?</strong>&nbsp;By default, if you're forced to eat a gluten free diet, it's more expensive because wheat is often the cheapest source of nutrients on the shelf. You can, however,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.celiaccentral.org/shopping/Tax-Deduction-Guide/421/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); ">claim part of your diet as a medical expense</a>&nbsp;on your tax forms.</p><h3 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-size: 21px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); "><span style="line-height: 1.2; ">Local</span><br /></h3><p style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; "></p><div class="lyteboxContainer right editorial" style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 40px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: right; position: relative; z-index: 1000; width: 300px; height: 400px; "><div class="lyteboxLink" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px; height: 400px; text-indent: -1000em; position: absolute; "><a href="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/15f0b6717b8a8e24dc04d36991c59625.jpg" class="noHrefOverride" rel="lytebox" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); display: block; height: 400px; text-indent: -100em; width: 300px; background-image: url(http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/base.v10/img/lytebox/blank.gif); background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Full size</a></div><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/medium_15f0b6717b8a8e24dc04d36991c59625.jpg" width="300" height="400" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; "/></div><strong style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">What it means:</strong><span style="font-size: 15px;">&nbsp;It is&nbsp;</span><a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:h2419:" style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); ">generally accepted</a><span style="font-size: 15px;">that the term "local" means it's grown, or produced within around 400 miles of the consumer's point of purchase.</span><br /><strong style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">How it's regulated:</strong><span style="font-size: 15px;">&nbsp;Technically,&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/ERR97/ERR97_ReportSummary.pdf" style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); ">the use of the label is not regulated</a><span style="font-size: 15px;">, but you should be able to tell where most products come from by looking at the label on meats or the containers on fruits and vegetables.</span><br /><strong style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">When it matters:</strong><span style="font-size: 15px;">&nbsp;Locally grown food can reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions because it travels a shorter distance than other foods, so ethically, you might find it a better option.</span><br /><strong style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Does it make a difference?</strong><span style="font-size: 15px;">&nbsp;No&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/ERR97/ERR97_ReportSummary.pdf" style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); ">health benefits</a><span style="font-size: 15px;">&nbsp;have been proven, but we've seen evidence that buying and developing local food options can increase employment and income in a community.</span><br /><strong style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Is it worth paying more for?</strong><span style="font-size: 15px;">&nbsp;Theoretically, it should be the cheaper option, because it has less distance to travel and less storage cost. However, depending on where you live, local farms may be smaller and need to charge more. This one's a personal preference if you want to support local farmers instead of a farm on the other side of the country.</span><p style="font-size: 15px; "></p><h3 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-size: 21px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); "><span style="line-height: 1.2; ">Natural or Organic</span><br /></h3><p style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; "></p><div class="lyteboxContainer right editorial" style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 40px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: right; position: relative; z-index: 1000; width: 300px; height: 225px; "><div class="lyteboxLink" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px; height: 225px; text-indent: -1000em; position: absolute; "><a href="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/7d199ae4332512ce6da780c6c6d44815.jpg" class="noHrefOverride" rel="lytebox" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); display: block; height: 225px; text-indent: -100em; width: 300px; background-image: url(http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/base.v10/img/lytebox/blank.gif); background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Full size</a></div><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/medium_7d199ae4332512ce6da780c6c6d44815.jpg" width="300" height="225" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; "/></div><strong style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">What they means:</strong><span style="font-size: 15px;">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm094536.htm#confusing" style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); ">According to the FDA</a><span style="font-size: 15px;">, organic means the food meets the standards set by the Department of Agriculture meaning its grown without chemical fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, or growth hormones. Natural, however, only means the product doesn't include synthetic or artificial ingredients.</span><br /><strong style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">How it's regulated:</strong><span style="font-size: 15px;">&nbsp;Both claims are regulated by the FDA using&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=ORGANIC_CERTIFICATIO" style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); ">standards set by the USDA</a><span style="font-size: 15px;">.</span><br /><strong style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">When it matters:</strong><span style="font-size: 15px;">&nbsp;There is no evidence that eating organic or natural food is healthier for you, but it likely doesn't hurt. This is more of a personal choice if you don't want food with unnatural ingredients mixed in.</span><br /><strong style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Does it make a difference?</strong><span style="font-size: 15px;">&nbsp;From a nutrition point of view, no. Neither the FDA nor most physicians recognize&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/organic-food/NU00255" style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); ">health benefits from organic or natural food</a><span style="font-size: 15px;">&nbsp;and a product being organic doesn't automatically make it healthy (a pint of ice cream is still a pint of ice cream). However, you might find organic and natural foods ethically more in line with your ideas of what constitutes food.</span><br /><strong style="font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Is it worth paying more for?</strong><span style="font-size: 15px;">&nbsp;This is the trickiest of the questions, because farmers need to pay for the organic certification to ensure everything from the producers to the retailers follow the correct rules for the organic food label. So, smaller farms often do not pay for the organic label, even if they would otherwise qualify. For the most part, this is a personal preference, but be aware that some food (especially local) is often organic or all-natural even if doesn't have the&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 15px; ">farming.</span><h3 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-size: 21px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Trans Fat</h3><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></p><div class="lyteboxContainer right editorial" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 40px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: right; position: relative; z-index: 1000; width: 300px; height: 164px; "><div class="lyteboxLink" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px; height: 164px; text-indent: -1000em; position: absolute; "><a href="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/2b983a579df572fa378ec6379935d459.jpg" class="noHrefOverride" rel="lytebox" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); display: block; height: 164px; text-indent: -100em; width: 300px; background-image: url(http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/base.v10/img/lytebox/blank.gif); background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Full size</a></div><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/medium_2b983a579df572fa378ec6379935d459.jpg" width="300" height="164" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; "/></div><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">What it means:</strong>&nbsp;Trans fats are formed when liquid oil found in the likes of shortening or margarine are turned into solid fats. During a process called hydrogenation, hydrogen is added to the vegetable oil in order to increase shelf life, with the result being food filled with trans fats.<br /><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">How it's regulated:</strong>&nbsp;There is no definition of "low in trans fat" or "trans fat free" provided by the FDA because the FDA doesn't have a recommended daily allowance of it. Essentially, trans fat is not good for you in any way.<br /><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">When it matters:</strong>&nbsp;Trans fats behave like saturated fats in that too much of them will increase your cholesterol and increase your risk for heart disease. If you're at risk for heart disease, watching your trans far intake an important detail to make note of.<br /><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Does it make a difference?</strong>&nbsp;Fat is good for you, trans fat is not in any way, so if you can cut it from your diet, you should.<br /><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Is it worth paying more for?</strong>&nbsp;Probably not, but only because foods that are free of trans fat shouldn't be more expensive. The fact the FDA doesn't recognize the labeling also means they can't be trusted completely, so it's best to pay attention to the nutrition label instead.<p></p><h3 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-size: 21px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Whole Grain</h3><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></p><div class="lyteboxContainer right editorial" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 40px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: right; position: relative; z-index: 1000; width: 300px; height: 400px; "><div class="lyteboxLink" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px; height: 400px; text-indent: -1000em; position: absolute; "><a href="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/debed224c2b84bebc0c6dc69e3f26f7f.jpg" class="noHrefOverride" rel="lytebox" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); display: block; height: 400px; text-indent: -100em; width: 300px; background-image: url(http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/base.v10/img/lytebox/blank.gif); background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Full size</a></div><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/medium_debed224c2b84bebc0c6dc69e3f26f7f.jpg" width="300" height="400" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; "/></div><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">What it means:</strong>&nbsp;The term whole grain only directly refers to the fact the food has all three major components of a grain kernel: bran, germ, and endosperm. When grains are milled, they lose the bran and germ, but the shelf life is increased.<br /><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">How it's regulated:</strong>&nbsp;The FDA doesn't&nbsp;<a href="http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20060215/fda-scale-back-whole-grain-labels" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); ">have anything to do with the whole grain</a>&nbsp;label you often find on food. Instead, that usually goes through the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wholegrainscouncil.org/%22" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); ">Whole Grain Council</a>. Still, the dietary guidelines for Americans recommends&nbsp;<a href="http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/whole-grains/NU00204" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); ">at least half of your grain diet should be whole grains</a>.<br /><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">When it matters:</strong>&nbsp;Whole grains have been linked to lowering the risk of heart disease, diabetes, certain cancers, and other health problems, but no empirical evidence has been provided yet. If you're at risk for any of these, the label is important.<br /><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Does it make a difference?</strong>&nbsp;The biggest thing you'll notice with whole grain foods is a decrease in the shelf life. They are, however, typically better sources of nutrients like potassium and magnesium than their non-whole grain counterparts.<br /><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Is it worth paying more for?</strong>&nbsp;Whole grain foods aren't always more expensive. Sources like oatmeal and rice are cheap. However, since the shelf life on many foods, like bread, is decreased for whole grain, they're often more expensive. Whole grain is probably worth the cost, even if the FDA doesn't officially recognize the health benefits because most doctors recommend eating whole grains whenever possible.<p></p><h3 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-size: 21px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Zero Calories</h3><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></p><div class="lyteboxContainer right editorial" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 40px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: right; position: relative; z-index: 1000; width: 300px; height: 400px; "><div class="lyteboxLink" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px; height: 400px; text-indent: -1000em; position: absolute; "><a href="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/cef41ba6d2d8e957f86b52b0c488de77.jpg" class="noHrefOverride" rel="lytebox" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); display: block; height: 400px; text-indent: -100em; width: 300px; background-image: url(http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/base.v10/img/lytebox/blank.gif); background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Full size</a></div><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/medium_cef41ba6d2d8e957f86b52b0c488de77.jpg" width="300" height="400" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; "/></div><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">What it means:</strong>&nbsp;Zero calories means, rather oddly, that a food has less than five calories per RACC and per labeled serving.<br /><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">How it's regulated:</strong>&nbsp;The FDA ensures the claim of zero calories is true and the food or beverage has to meet the above requirements in order to use the label.<br /><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">When it matters:</strong>&nbsp;A bunch of fruits and vegetables have zero calories, but the most common place you'll find this label is on soda. Typically, cutting calorie intake is related to weight loss.<br /><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Does it make a difference?</strong>&nbsp;Possibly not. In a&nbsp;<a href="http://news.menshealth.com/the-truth-about-diet-soda/2011/07/07/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); ">recent study comparing zero calorie diet soda with its regular counterpart</a>, researchers found those drinking the diet soda were more likely to have an increase in weight. This doesn't mean that zero calorie soda causes weight gain directly. Instead, researchers believe it has more to do with the subjects other eating habits, or the fact that the artificial sweetness might trigger other cravings. What's more, if you're going for the zero calorie soda because it doesn't have sugar and you want to protect your teeth, consider the fact it still has phosphoric acid, which is known to erode tooth enamel.<br /><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Is it worth paying more for?</strong>&nbsp;No, most zero calorie products are the same price. In the case of soda, there's little evidence diet is better for you than regular.<p></p><h3 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-size: 21px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><p></p></h3></div> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/909#post-1039 Thu, 05 Jan 2012 09:36:04 +0000 admin 1039@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> <center><img src="http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/images/4/2012/01/f8eacbecbf40bc17b5be311f2e0fab6e.jpg"/></center><br /> <br /> To promote the re-release of <i>The Phantom Menace</i> in 3D, French fast food chain <i>Quick</i> is making a Darth Vader Burger complete with a black bun. A BLACK BUN. on a burger!<br /> <br /> There's also a Jedi Burger, but whoever wants the snoozefest of a regular bun when the other option is way more revoltingly appealing? The 'Dark Vador' (haha, Frenchies) Burger is available until March 1st in France. Why can't America have weird, crazy, Euro things like this!</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/917#post-1047 Sun, 08 Jan 2012 09:23:34 +0000 admin 1047@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> <center><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2012/01/14213e6e54d1b4f663952792fe1a5a70.jpg" width=660/></center><br /> <br /> There were those who said man would never make it to the moon. They were wrong. There were those who threw up their hands in anguish, saying the large round waffle and the chicken wing could never unite. Wrong again.<br /> <br /> Miniaturizing the classic chicken and waffles combo to an extent that will continue Moore's Law for centuries, clever amateur chefs have devised this: the waffle wing. No robotics laboratory or Large Hadron Collider was necessary for the culinary hybrid: just a waffle iron, a bunch of batter, and some damn wings, my man. Get that wing, dip it in some batter, stick 'er in the iron, and let the union of physics and technology press forward. Do you smell progress? It smells like chicken on a waffle iron. Do you dare put chocolate chips in that iron? If you're brave, young alchemist. A wise man would say no —but he who dares, wins.<br /> <br /> <i>Chicken and waffles is awesome, but I'd probably remove the bone or just use white meat strips instead, for more efficient noms. </i> - Kaiser-Machead<br /> <br /> <i>My Mom found the secret to amazing Chicken 'n Waffles and I was lucky enough to grow up with it. We normally keep it a family secret but I'm feeling generous today ;) Buy a rotisserie chicken, strip all the meat off and break it into bite-size pieces (you can use any kind of chicken, even try different seasonings). Next, make up a batch of a good savory/salty chicken gravy, Knorr's works REALLY well, and mix in the "pulled chicken", let that warm over the stove. Now make up a batch of good Belgian waffles, top with the chicken and gravy mixture, and enjoy :) When you're ready for dessert, swap the chicken and gravy for strawberries that you quartered and mixed with sugar and let sit in the fridge for a few hours, the sugar sucks some of the juices out of the strawberries and makes a great syrupy waffle topping. Oh god now I'm hungry... </i> - imperfectsense<br /> <br /> <i>I'm so confused. I've never heard of such a thing as chicken and waffles. Do you use syrup? What about ketchup? I'm not putting down yet, I just don't see the connection. Is it something I just have to try? </i> - bglaszcz <br /> <br /> <i>You don't HAVE to, but if you like both, chances are fairly good that you'll like them combined, and yes, syrup is definitely good. I have tried ketchup, but it doesn't do it for me. </i> - Kaiser-Machead<br /> <br /> <i>I'm gonna guess that you don't frequent a lot of soul food joints. Roscoe's in LA pioneered the chicken & waffles combo, but it's become standard fare; Atlanta has Gladys and Ron's Chicken and Waffles (Gladys is Gladys Knight).</i> - Notgruntled</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/919#post-1049 Sun, 08 Jan 2012 10:37:21 +0000 admin 1049@http://realideal.com/forum/ <div style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://cache.io9.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/df737d40050b3acabd786bc8aad35313.jpg" width="660" height="275" alt="The Star Trek-X-Men crossover that no one remembers"/>&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; ">Many remember the comic book where Mr. Spock does the Vulcan nerve pinch on Wolverine (see below)</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; ">, but what about the</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; ">&nbsp;</span><u style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; ">other</u><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; ">&nbsp;</span><em style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; ">Star Trek/X-Men</em><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; ">&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; ">crossover?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; "><br /></span></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The impossible-to-punctuate&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Star Trek: The Next Generation, X-Men: Planet X</em>, by Michael Jan Friedman, was a delicious little novel in the late nineties that stands out for its prune juice, its characterization of Wolverine as a guy who says "Yer darn tootin'," and its prescience about Jean-Luc Picard becoming Charles Xavier's doppelganger.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Here's what happens in this overlooked gem: On the planet Xhaldia, regular men and women are developing strange powers. They're feared and hated by the population, and a strange powerful force seems to be after them. Sound familiar? It does to a group of the X-Men, who are suddenly sucked into this world and hitch a ride on the Starship Enterprise. What follows is a good deal of explanation about who the X-Men are and what the Federation is, and then a jumble of personalities. Picard bonds with Storm over tea, and they talk about the problems of leadership, but he finds Archangel too reckless for his tastes. Nightcrawler and Geordi seem to hit it off. Wolverine and Worf fight enemies on the holodeck and drink prune juice together.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Yes, prune juice. It all begins after the first work out on the holodeck when Wolverine comes sauntering into the lounge and orders a drink from Guinan.</p><blockquote style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 20px; padding-top: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 10px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 4px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: ''; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); color: rgb(81, 100, 120); line-height: 22px; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">Geez louise, he said. "You call this a drink?"</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">"Actually," she replied, "It's the strongest stuff we serve around here."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">. . .</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">"This may be fine for yer Starfleet types, but I'm in the market for something with a kick . . . . The sort of stuff yer friend Worf might cozy up to."</p></blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Guinan leads him on, telling him that maybe he can handle the stuff Worf likes, and then pours him a mug of 'Worf's favorite drink.'</p><blockquote style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 20px; padding-top: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 10px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 4px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: ''; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); color: rgb(81, 100, 120); line-height: 22px; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">"What is it?" he demanded.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">"Prune juice," Guinan said, smiling. "A warrior's drink. . . . Unless, of course, you're not the warrior you say you are."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">"You&nbsp;<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">are</em>&nbsp;feisty," he told her, with just a hint of admiration.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">"Takes one to know one," the bartender noted.</p></blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/medium_0b21e82f54403af54667b4cf344a4376.jpg" width="300" class="image_1 v10_medium" alt="The Star Trek-X-Men crossover that no one remembers" title="The Star Trek-X-Men crossover that no one remembers" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px !important; float: left; max-width: 300px; "/></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">So now we know that Wolverine was extremely regular for the rest of his trip. Maybe that's why he seems like he's always in a good mood. Through a mix of mutant powers an futuristic technology, they figure out why exactly 'mutants' are turning up on alien planets and derail the forces that come after them. The mutants on Xhaldia are saved. Captain Picard and Archangel learn to respect each other. Data sings duets with Banshee. Storm drinks more tea.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">But the real centerpiece of the book is when Beverly Crusher learns to use the brain scans she took from the mutants to make a holodeck Professor X, and at the end, Captain Picard comes to meet him.</p><blockquote style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 20px; padding-top: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 10px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 4px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: ''; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); color: rgb(81, 100, 120); line-height: 22px; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">He turned his gaze on the Captain, and a flicker of something like amusement crossed his features. Nor was it difficult for Picard to see why. As the doctor had warned him, he and the Professor bore a passing resemblance to each other.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">Xavier . . . studied Picard more closely.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">"Mon semblable, mon frere," the Professor said.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">The Captain raised an eyebrow, "<em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">The Wasteland</em>, I believe."</p></blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">They talk a little about Eliot and how awesome the Professor is, and then Picard ends the conversation to head to the bridge and shout 'engage,' at anyone who'll listen. The day has been saved, there's a cameo by Q and The Watcher, and life continues on as normal for both continuities.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Except for one thing.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The Professor's hologram, at the end of the conversation with Picard, tells him to feel free to access the program again at any time.</p><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div><p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2011/11/6c221fbbe8317a7e844e9a6e1423890b.jpg"/>&nbsp;<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p></div> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/918#post-1048 Sun, 08 Jan 2012 10:21:58 +0000 admin 1048@http://realideal.com/forum/ <div style="text-align: center;"><div class="imgwrap abovewrap" title="The odd genius who showed that one infinity was greater than another" style="margin-top: -13px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 13px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; position: relative; width: 640px; height: 360px; z-index: 0; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div class="lyteboxContainer left editorial" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; left: -1px; width: 641px; height: 360px; "><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"/><img src="http://cache.io9.com/assets/images/8/2012/01/xlarge_4671c23336b8d775a662a075645f6c2f.jpg" width="641" height="360" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "/></div></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"/></div><div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">This problem of infinity was pondered by Georg Cantor. What he concluded started him down a road that wound through infamy, through respectability, and wound up in theology. Find out more than anyone ever cared to consider about the infinite.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Imagine a thin line, almost a thread, stretching to infinity in both directions. It runs to the end of the universe. It is, in essence, infinite. Now look at the space all around it. That also runs to the end of the universe. It's also infinite. Both are infinite, yes, but are they the same? Isn't one infinity bigger than the other?</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">That's the question that Georg Cantor, a German mathematician who died shortly before World War I ended, grappled with throughout his life. Infinity was supposed to be an absolute number, especially in mathematics, where dividing infinity by a billion or multiplying it by a billion results, invariably and always, in infinity. Cantor thought about it and came up with aleph-nought, a 'number' that counts all the integers — whole numbers without fractions — that there are in existence. Aleph-nought has to be infinity, since there are an infinite quantity of whole numbers. But then what about real numbers? Real numbers include rational numbers, and irrational numbers (like the square root of five), and integers. This has to be a greater infinite number than all the other infinite numbers.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/io9/2012/01/150px-aleph0.svg.png" class="image_1 v10_medium" alt="The odd genius who showed that one infinity was greater than another" title="The odd genius who showed that one infinity was greater than another" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px !important; float: left; max-width: 300px; "/><br />This was when mathematicians started, metaphorically, booing and hissing when Cantor went by. The idea simply didn't make sense to them. Infinity was infinity. That was the end of it. Cantor called his various sets of different quantities of infinity 'transfinite' numbers — they are also known as cardinal numbers — and designated aleph-nought as the smallest transfinite number in existence. The controversy his views stirred up cost him an appointment at the University of Berlin. It also cost him his sanity on many different occasions. Throughout his later life he stayed in mental hospitals regularly.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">When he felt his depression coming on, he often stopped pursuing mathematics. To fill his time, he had other obsessions. He was sure, for example, that Francis Bacon wrote Shakespeare's plays. He would study Elizabethan literature for months, looking for some connection between the two. He searched through the writings of both Bacon and Shakespeare, believing that he found mathematical codes and riddles that showed that Bacon was the author of both. In 1896 and 1897, Cantor published pamphlet after pamphlet about the idea, before moving on to something wilder.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Just after the turn of the century, Cantor, newly convalesced after another stay in an institution, asked that he be allowed to teach philosophy instead of mathematics. It was lucky for many philosophy students that he didn't. He based his ideas about God on set theory, and published works that said that any universe that didn't include infinite numbers showed a limit to God's power. Returning to his ideas about transfinite numbers, he named God the Absolute Infinite - the only concept so infinite that it could not be surpassed by other sets.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Cantor's life did not have a happy ending. The First World War put more stress on him and reduced the ability of those around him to care for his mental health. He eventually died in a sanatorium, his nation still at war. His ideas about infinity, and set theory, are still studied and honored today.</p></div> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/916#post-1046 Sat, 07 Jan 2012 06:52:11 +0000 admin 1046@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> <center><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2011/12/fdfc49563c0cd0119cce57316c8ad7cb.jpg"/></center><br /> <br /> "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" This question has been posed in many situations. It has been pondered by great minds. It is the most unanswerable famous riddle of all time, and it has an answer.<br /> <br /> Well, technically this riddle has many answers. People have had a lot of time to think up something clever. It first appeared in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, a famously creepy children's book which Lewis Carroll wrote in 1865. Alice falls asleep one day, follows a white rabbit down a rabbit hole, and ends up in a world of crazy logic which Carroll based on what he considered the nonsensical logic that was piling up in his chosen field of mathematics. Arguably the craziest characters are the Mad Hatter and the March Hare. Alice ends up at a tea party with them, and the Mad Hatter asks her the now-famous question, "Why is a raven like a writing desk?"<br /> <br /> Alice asks him why, and he admits he doesn't know. He was just asking. Alice chides him with, "I think you might do something better with the time than wasting it in asking riddles that have no answers." Ha ha! Take that you upstart mathematics punks! Get a job!<br /> <br /> The unanswered riddle, which many people were exposed to in their formative years, got under people's skin. In their attempt to adequately extricate it, they've come up with answers over the years. A satisfying, but meta, answer is, "Poe wrote on both," given by puzzle enthusiast Sam Lloyd. More in the spirit of nonsense genre, Aldous Huxley ventured, "Because there is a 'b' in both and an 'n' in neither." Beautifully bizarre.<br /> <br /> The unanswerable riddle has been answered, though, and has been answered for many years. Lewis Carroll himself wrote the answer, after being badgered by people nonstop since the book's original publication. He said that, in the original book, there was no answer. To end the pain of ceaseless inquisitive fan letters, though, he went ahead and thought up an adequate response that he put in preface to later editions. Carroll's answer to why a raven is like a writing desk? "Because it can produce a few notes, tho they are very flat; and it is never put with the wrong end in front!" I'm sure your thighs are now sore from the repeated slapping they took after you read that line. Originally, it was supposed to be a little funnier than that. Carroll spelled 'never,' as 'nevar' — 'raven' spelled backwards — but a proofreader erased the inverted pun before it was published.<br /> <br /> Carroll's answer was less popular than his question. People have persisted in coming up with their own answers to the heavily-pondered riddle. I'll take my own shot at it. "Why is a raven like a writing desk? Because neither is ever approached without caws." Eh? Eh??</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/915#post-1045 Sat, 07 Jan 2012 06:46:02 +0000 admin 1045@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face="arial" size="3"><br /> <center><img src="http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/7350e6a2b1f274e5576840a93cd91024.png"/></center><br /> <br /> Three Roman legions were strung out in a long line at least 20 kilometers long. It's been raining and conditions are generally miserable. The trail through the forest is muddy, everything's wet, the food isn't great, and life generally sucks for a soldier walking deep in a foreign land on an improbable mission of conquest.<br /> <br /> Suddenly, screams and battle cries come from nowhere. Out of the forest flies a vicious attack along the entire length of the march. With light swords, large lances, and narrow-bladed short spears, Germanic tribesmen pound the legionnaires, sweeping in from the forest, hacking and thrusting their way down the line.<br /> <br /> Rome's finest fight back in a doomed attempt to save themselves. Although the battle takes 2 days, in the end the three Roman legions, around 20,000 men, were utterly destroyed.<br /> <br /> Even now, 2000 years later, you can still find bits of Roman military equipment at the battleground, scattered along 20 kilometers from one end of the long line to the other.<br /> <br /> In the battle, all of the three Legions' standards, their Eagles, were lost.</font><div><font face="arial" size="3"><br /></font></div><div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Who found the three lost eagles?&nbsp;</strong>&nbsp;This is a bit of trick question.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></p><div class="lyteboxContainer left editorial" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; position: relative; z-index: 1000; width: 300px; height: 418px; "><div class="lyteboxLink" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px; height: 418px; text-indent: -1000em; position: absolute; "><a href="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/951b2f4236235a616b8242812fbd86a9.png" class="noHrefOverride" rel="lytebox" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(113, 150, 2); display: block; height: 418px; text-indent: -100em; width: 300px; background-image: url(http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/base.v10/img/lytebox/blank.gif); background-attachment: scroll; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Full size</a></div><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/medium_951b2f4236235a616b8242812fbd86a9.png" width="300" height="418" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; "/></div>Two of the eagles were found by&nbsp;<strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Germanicus</strong>&nbsp;in 15/16 AD. (aka&nbsp;<strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Germanicus Julius Caesar</strong>&nbsp;who lived from May 24, 15 BC until October, 19 AD) and the third eagle was found by Publius Gabinius in 42 AD, more than 50 years after it was lost.<p></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">2. Someone gave one of the eagles' finders a posthumous honor in September. What was the honor and who bestowed it?</strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The emperor Caligula did many things to honor Germanicus (who was, after all, his father), but the only honor that was "...in September" was to rename the month of September to Germanicus. Obviously, the change didn't stick long term, but it WAS a September honor! (And it's worth knowing that changing the names of months to honor someone was fairly common in Ancient Rome; September was changed to Germanicus twice by different emperors!)</p></div> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/914#post-1044 Sat, 07 Jan 2012 06:40:02 +0000 admin 1044@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> <center><img src="http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/fc5b5d2630497b5f09bdb910a112777d.jpg"/></center><br /> <br /> When things aren't working the way you want them to, or you feel you're surrounded by problems, it can be tempting to look outward and try to change the things that you feel are causing issues. Chances are the issues you're facing aren't so cut and dry. The solution to the problem might just be your attitude. That's what pastor and educator Charles R. Swindoll believes:<br /> <br /> <i>The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company...a church...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes.</i><br /> <br /> Good advice.</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/913#post-1043 Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:41:28 +0000 admin 1043@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> <center><img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/7/2012/01/1652a48bb8fc9f9bc5e0b977771babf4.jpg"/></center><br /> <br /> A billionaire tycoon from China named Long Liyuan died suddenly and mysteriously two days before Christmas. The only clue: a still-steaming bowl of half-eaten cat stew. Could it be? No, it's simply too easy, too dastardly, altogether too meowtrageous! But it's true: The cat stew was poisoned.<br /> <br /> Huang Guang, an agriculture official in Bajia, took Long, the owner of a forestry company, to visit a piece of woodland, according to an official police statement. The two men had a troubled history: Huang had allegedly embezzled money from Long. That should have been reason enough for Long to become suspicious of Huang's later invitation to a local restaurant to indulge in a regional delicacy: slow-boiled cat-meat stew.<br /> <br /> Hours after gorging himself on feline goulash, Long began complaining of dizziness; he died of cardiac arrest hours later. Police initially detained the restaurant owner for an extreme case of food poisoning, but Long's family urged them to investigate further, and they were right. They now suspect Huang dosed the dish with the poisonous plant Gelsemium elegans.<br /> <br /> The moral here is obvious: Only eat slow-boiled cat-meat when you prepare it yourself.<br /> <br /> <center><img src="http://www.aalfie.com/images/catstew.jpg"/></center></font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/912#post-1042 Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:16:03 +0000 admin 1042@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> Ideally, it would be easy to make sure we all got the exercise our bodies need every day, but in reality it can be difficult, what with competing demands and obligations at work and at home. If you're looking for a way to get started making a positive change for your health, this visual lecture explains why the one small change you can make with the most impact is to walk for a half-hour every day.<br /> <br /> <center><object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aUaInS6HIGo?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aUaInS6HIGo?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></center><br /> <br /> Dr. Mike Evans, the lecturer, is founder of the Health Design Lab at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, an Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of Toronto, and a staff physician at St. Michael's Hospital. His video speaks for itself, but some of the most important highlights are the fact that even if you're overweight or obese, the difference between being obese and getting no exercise and being obese and getting even some activity can be significant when it comes to reducing your risk factors for various illnesses. Plus, even some brief regular activity has been shown to reduce your risk for heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension, and has also been shown to alleviate symptoms of depression.<br /> <br /> Best of all, starting with some regular activity, even if it's a half-hour walk every day, can lead to more exercise that can help you progress towards other health and weight loss goals. Sciencebase points out that a half-hour walk is good, but once you've reached that goal, you definitely shouldn't stop there. Ultimately, if you find a way to squeeze in a half-hour of activity when you currently get none, it gets easier from there.</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/911#post-1041 Fri, 06 Jan 2012 08:57:23 +0000 admin 1041@http://realideal.com/forum/ <script type="text/javascript"> <!-- var omitformtags=["input", "textarea", "select"] omitformtags=omitformtags.join("|") function disableselect(e){ if (omitformtags.indexOf(e.target.tagName.toLowerCase())==-1) return false } function reEnable(){ return true } if (typeof document.onselectstart!="undefined") document.onselectstart=new Function ("return false") else{ document.onmousedown=disableselect document.onmouseup=reEnable } --> </script><!--StartFragment--><a href="http://www.lombokdiving.nl/airlinesoft.php?q=67"></a><br /> <br /> <center><img src="http://www.alsearsmd.com/newnews/title.gif"/><img src="http://www.alsearsmd.com/img/alsears-picture-crop.JPG"/></center><br /> <font face=Arial color=#000000 size=3>Al Sears, MD<br /> 11903 Southern Blvd., Ste. 208<br /> Royal Palm Beach, FL 33411<br /> January 6, 2012<br /> <br /> <br /> Dear J.S.,<br /> <br /> The world’s biggest and most powerful agricultural companies are still trying to convince you that their soy products are healthy… but there’s a problem.<br /> <br /> It’s not traditional soy.<br /> <br /> You see, Asian farmers used to consider soy to be a type of fertilizer, not a food. They recognized that most of what’s in a soybean is indigestible to people.<br /> <br /> They only started eating soy after discovering that natural fermentation processes make soy okay to eat. That’s why – to this day – Asian cultures ferment their soybeans in a traditional way to make soy foods like natto, miso, tempeh, edamame and tofu.<br /> <br /> It’s made by a simple process that Asian cultures have been following for thousands of years.<br /> <br /> But this is a far cry from the soy foods made from the genetically modified, heavily processed ingredients that are in nearly every product you can buy at the market.<br /> <br /> Instead of “soak, steam, ferment,” most food manufacturers follow an industrial crushing process called cracking that breaks down the raw, genetically modified bean to thin flakes. Then the flakes are “defatted” by percolating them like coffee in a petroleum-based hexane solvent to extract the soy oil.<br /> <br /> The remains of the flakes are toasted and ground into meal.<br /> <br /> For soy flour, the oil then goes through a process of cleaning, bleaching, degumming and deodorizing – all to remove the harmful solvents and soy’s horrible stench.<br /> <br /> The sludge that forms in the oil during storage used to be considered to be a waste product. Now you know it as <i>soy lecithin</i>.<br /> <br /> In other words, the part of the soy that’s left over as garbage after the petroleum processing and bleaching is the heart-destroying oil that makes up the trans fats in every kind of junk food you can think of.<br /> <br /> Sound like something you want to eat?<br /> <br /> When processed like that, soy products have huge amounts of natural toxins that block food digestion, and also absorption of essential vitamins and minerals.<br /> <br /> But when they’re fermented in the traditional way, they retain powerful lignans that may help reduce your risk of cancer.<br /> <br /> In fact, the average woman living in East Asia eats about 10 times the quantity of soy foods as the average woman in the United States. Yet East Asian women have lower rates of hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer than women in the United States.<br /> <br /> There’s no sure way to know why this is true, but the speculation is that it’s because of what they eat. And they do eat a lot of traditionally made soy products.<br /> <br /> You can make traditional soy foods too. It’s easy to do. All it takes is three simple steps: soak, steam, ferment. That’s it.<br /> <br /> For example, to make natto, you simply:<br /> <br /> soak the soybeans in water, until the beans stop swelling.<br /> steam them so the beans become soft but don’t lose their skin.<br /> lay the cooked beans on cooked rice straw<br /> tie the package shut<br /> leave it out and let a little heat and oxygen ferment the soy naturally<br /> <br /> The Chinese have been doing this for thousands of years. And they discovered that mashing up the soft soybeans and mixing them with certain minerals would make a sort of curd… now known as tofu.<br /> <br /> To Your Good Health,<br /> <br /> <img src="http://www.alsearsmd.com/img/sig.JPG"/><br /> <br /> Al Sears, MD</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/910#post-1040 Thu, 05 Jan 2012 09:50:33 +0000 admin 1040@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> <center><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2012/01/124f7b983cb44f2903a6857908ca2ce8.jpg" width=660/></center><br /> <br /> A couple of summers ago I came to a country house after dinner. It was a beautiful warm night and all the lights were off. We saw a weird glow behind the trees, from the distance. We knew there was an endless prairie.<br /> <br /> When we reached the edge of the forest, we saw what the glow was. A sea of light that extended all through the fields. It moved like the sea, with waves that came and went seemingly moved by the wind. But it was fireflies. Tens of thousands, moving in the quiet summer night.<br /> <br /> It was the most magical moment I've ever experienced in my life.<br /> <br /> These photos —captured in Japan —are not as magical, but they are beautiful. After all, there are experiences that you can't capture in a photo or a painting. I mean, you can do it, but it will always be rubbish compared to the real thing.<br /> <br /> <center><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2012/01/309ba89cbbe10cd99f4e60ebe6a6dce1.jpg" width=660/></center></font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/908#post-1038 Thu, 05 Jan 2012 07:15:50 +0000 admin 1038@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> <center><img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/io9/2011/12/dino.jpg"/></center><br /> <br /> Outside of the 20,000-person Chinese town of Erlian on the Mongolian border, you can find this statue of two amorous sauropods making out for all the world to see. Built to showcase the region's reputation as a fossil hotspot, this reptile snog session instead is a stark reminder that if you build a tourist trap, it's never guaranteed that anyone will show.<br /> <br /> The area around Erlian is chock full of weird dinosaur sculptures, namely the Dinosaurs Fairyland theme park. The Fairyland is terminally uncrowded, despite its thrilling juxtaposition of stark desert views and random prehistoric models. Explains Atlas Obscura of this vacation destination:<br /> <br /> <i>Dinosaurs Fairyland is never crowded, probably due to its remote location, about 20km outside the town of Erlian in Outer Mongolia. However, this means you will have the park all to yourself, except for the occasional men in military uniform that use the park as a thoroughfare to the bus station.<br /> <br /> From the top of a nearby hill, you can see the words Dinosaurs Fairyland written in giant letters, in the same style as the iconic Hollywood sign, spelled out across the ground in both English and Mandarin.</i></font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/907#post-1037 Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:07:01 +0000 admin 1037@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> <center><img src="http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/images/17/2012/01/f9430514c1f18442e1128ebcdc89cf2a.jpg"/></center><br /> <br /> Credit-tracking site Credit Karma has long been a really useful service for getting your credit score for free, and now the company is offering free daily credit monitoring to notify you of any important changes to your credit.<br /> Credit monitoring services are typically overpriced products (up to $180 a year) not worth the cost, but keeping a close eye on your credit reputation is really important. Improving your credit score can save you thousands of dollars in interest on a loan and even influence whether or not you get a job.<br /> <br /> In the past, Credit Karma had limited enrollment promotions for its free credit monitoring, but now the service is free for everyone. The service proactively monitors your credit report from TransUnion and sends you an email if it finds any big changes, such as new credit inquiries, new credit accounts, new public records, and so on. The monitoring can help protect you from fraud or ID theft, and also alert you of any delinquent payments you make that could lower your credit score.<br /> <br /> To get the service, sign up for a free Credit Karma account and opt-in to the free credit monitoring, or, if you're already a member, go to your profile section and select "Notify me about important changes on my credit report."</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/903#post-1032 Sun, 01 Jan 2012 08:17:07 +0000 admin 1032@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> May your new year be filled with <i>Blue Skies</i> (1946) with many a good cause for song, dance, and celebration.<br /> <br /> <center><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="640" height="448" id="viddler_jackmichaelson_183"><param name="movie" value="//www.viddler.com/simple/ad814e31/"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"/><param name="allowFullScreen"value="true"/><param name="flashVars" value="f=1&autoplay=f&loop=0&nologo=0&hd=0"/><embed src="//www.viddler.com/simple/ad814e31/" width="640" height="448" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" allowNetworking="internal" name="viddler_jackmichaelson_183" flashVars="f=1&autoplay=f&loop=0&nologo=1&hd=0"></embed></object></center><br /> <br /> Engage the gravity of your situations with agility and grace<br /> <br /> Master the force and wield instruments of peacemaking and art<br /> <br /> Facing any mirror, may you be conscious and beholden to The One<br /> <br /> Strive to put forth your very best, as a means to shine rather than reflect<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/904#post-1033 Tue, 03 Jan 2012 09:05:28 +0000 admin 1033@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> <center><img src="http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/images/4/2012/01/a17d0cd22a608bea4bc53de0d6dfbfee.jpg"/></center><br /> <br /> An eagle-eyed Walmart cashier in Lexington, North Carolina somehow managed to foil Michael Anthony Fuller's attempt to pay for a purchase with a $1 million bill he made.<br /> <br /> Maybe he didn't get the watermarks exactly right? And it's not like Fuller attempted to buy a million dollars worth of merchandise. Instead, he got to the checkout with a vacuum, a microwave, and a few other items totaling just $476.<br /> <br /> The store called the police, and later Fuller was charged with two felonies: attempting to obtain property by false pretense, and uttering a forged instrument. Unknown to him, in 1969 the US government had discontinued the $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 bills. And the largest bill ever produced was a $100,000 note used by Federal Reserve Banks.<br /> <br /> So maybe if he had instead tried to pay with a homemade $1 million Walmart gift card he would have gotten away with his scam.</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/902#post-1031 Sat, 31 Dec 2011 13:26:18 +0000 admin 1031@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> Time. We waste it, save it, kill it, make it. The world runs on it. Yet ask physicists what time actually is, and the answer might shock you: They have no idea.<br /> <br /> <center><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="640" height="381" id="viddler_jackmichaelson_182"><param name="movie" value="//www.viddler.com/simple/bba4f753/"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"/><param name="allowFullScreen"value="true"/><param name="flashVars" value="f=1&autoplay=f&loop=0&nologo=0&hd=0"/><embed src="//www.viddler.com/simple/bba4f753/" width="640" height="381" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" allowNetworking="internal" name="viddler_jackmichaelson_182" flashVars="f=1&autoplay=f&loop=0&nologo=1&hd=0"></embed></object> </center><br /> <br /> Even more surprising, the deep sense we have of time passing from present to past may be nothing more than an illusion. How can our understanding of something so familiar be so wrong?<br /> <br /> In search of answers, Brian Greene takes us on the ultimate time-traveling adventure, hurtling 50 years into the future before stepping into a wormhole to travel back to the past. Along the way, he will reveal a new way of thinking about time in which moments past, present, and future —from the reign of T. Rex to the birth of your great-great-grandchildren —exist all at once.<br /> <br /> This journey will bring us all the way back to the Big Bang, where physicists think the ultimate secrets of time may be hidden. You'll never look at your wristwatch the same way again.</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/901#post-1030 Sat, 31 Dec 2011 06:03:11 +0000 admin 1030@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> <br /> <center><object width="640" height="441" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" id="ep"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://i.cdn.turner.com/v5cache/TBS/cvp/teamcoco_drupal_embed.swf?context=teamcoco_embed_offsite&videoId=22239" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000" /><embed src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/v5cache/TBS/cvp/teamcoco_drupal_embed.swf?context=teamcoco_embed_offsite&videoId=22239" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="640" height="441"></embed></object></center></font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/900#post-1029 Fri, 30 Dec 2011 07:24:15 +0000 admin 1029@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> If you are cooking this holidays (or ever) you will love this MAGIC tip: how to peel a whole head of garlic in less than ten seconds. It just requires two bowls and some shaking. Aaaah-mazing.<br /> <br /> <center><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="640" height="382" id="viddler_jackmichaelson_181"><param name="movie" value="//www.viddler.com/simple/ee5cf40e/"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"/><param name="allowFullScreen"value="true"/><param name="flashVars" value="f=1&autoplay=f&loop=0&nologo=0&hd=0"/><embed src="//www.viddler.com/simple/ee5cf40e/" width="640" height="382" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" allowNetworking="internal" name="viddler_jackmichaelson_181" flashVars="f=1&autoplay=f&loop=0&nologo=1&hd=0"></embed></object></center></font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/899#post-1028 Fri, 30 Dec 2011 06:59:49 +0000 admin 1028@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> <center><img SRC="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/7/2011/12/7edc3ad25d437595eb2745cf6ecb0c31.jpg"/></center><br /> <br /> If you die in a horrific train accident, be sure to aim your severed body away from any bystanders. That's the lesson from the sad, bizarre case of Hiroyuki Joho, whom a court has ruled may be sued for injuries caused by his flying body parts when he was struck and killed by a train.<br /> <br /> When 18-year-old Hiroyuki Joho recklessly ran in front of an Amtrak barreling along at 70 mph in Chicago 2008 to catch a train, a part of his body flew onto a nearby platform, knocking 58-year-old Gayane Zokhrabov to the ground, breaking her leg and wrist. An appellate court just ruled Zokhrabov can sue Joho: "If you do something as stupid as this guy did, you have to be responsible for what comes from it," said the lawyer who handled the case.<br /> <br /> There will likely be no countersuit.</font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/898#post-1027 Fri, 30 Dec 2011 04:27:37 +0000 admin 1027@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> <center><img src="http://blog.craftzine.com/walkingtaco01.jpg"/></center><br /> <br /> When the weather gets hot, sometimes you just need an extra-easy, extra-portable meal. So, if my childhood trips to summer camp taught me one thing about mobile food, it's this: there's nothing quite as satisfying as a walking taco on a lazy day. You just throw your favorite taco ingredients into a single-serve bag of corn chips (the smallest size, or you'll be overwhelmed by chips), grab a fork, and go! It doesn't get much simpler than that. <br /> <br /> Corn chips are very salty - I personally enjoy homemade taco salad using the following foodstuffs, the bulk of which being a heaping mound of finely shredded lettuce topped with the remaining ingredients:<br /> <br /> finely shredded iceberg lettuce<br /> white corn tortilla strip-style chips<br /> diced fresh tomatoes<br /> dollops of canned chili with beans<br /> grated cheddar cheese<br /> sliced black olives<br /> red or green salsa<br /> chopped ripe avocado<br /> </font> http://realideal.com/forum/topic/897#post-1026 Fri, 30 Dec 2011 03:55:22 +0000 admin 1026@http://realideal.com/forum/ <font face=arial size=3><br /> <center><img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2011/02/fixcokesplashimg.jpg" width=660/></center><br /> <br /> The secret recipe of Coke has been hidden and locked down for 125 years. But apparently, not anymore. This American Life says they've found the ingredients that make up the delicious bubbly cola and have revealed it to our delight. <br /> <br /> The story starts with John Pemberton, a Civil War veteran who's credited with inventing Coca-Cola. His original recipe was written down in a recipe book of various ointments and medicines that was passed down from generation to generation.<br /> <br /> A photograph of that recipe, from that very recipe book, was taken in the Feb. 18, 1979, edition of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution and only recently came to light when Ira Glass from This American Life stumbled upon it. Glass tracked down other people who claimed to have discovered the recipe as well and though they didn't match up exactly, they were so strikingly similar that Glass concluded th