Mirror, mirror on the wall: Using the face to read one’s fate

Official poster for the upcoming film “The Face Reader”

Some people turn to psychics or crystal balls to learn their future, but many Koreans believe that all they need to see what lies in store is a mirror.

Fortune-telling has a longstanding history in Asia dating back thousands of years, yet it is not necessarily perceived as a pastime practice or mere hocus pocus folklore. Many methods of fortune-telling such as tarot card and palm reading are still a common practice in Korea ― not only among the elderly, but among young people as well.

However, aside from cards and palms, phrenological interpretation or fortune by face reading is a practice that not only determines one’s personality traits purely based on analyzing facial features: The complexities of one’s face are said to be able to determine one’s future.

“The Face Reader” is an upcoming Korean film set in the Joseon era (1392-1910) starring Song Kang-ho as Nae-gyeong, the son of a disgraced noble family, whose talents in physiognomy (known as “gwansang” in Korean) lands him in the middle of a Royal Court murder investigation. Nae-gyeong is asked to use his skills of reading people’s faces to catch the murderer as well as personally assist the king in identifying traitors.

Everyone’s face is unique. It is thought by some fortune-tellers that different aspects of the face cover different areas of the personality, and that race, culture and ethnicity are irrelevant in terms of the methods and the techniques of determining one’s fate.

In many Western cultures, there is a common perception that looking into one’s eyes can tell a lot about one’s character ― eyes are the windows to your soul. However, according to fortune-tellers in Korea, it is not the eyes, but rather the ears that actually tell the most about a person.

“Since you listen to others with your ears, you can tell through looking at the ears whether or not a person is spiteful or good-natured and if they are respectful to other’s opinions,” said Lee Heon, fortune-teller at the fortune-telling establishment Goonghap Story. “You can also tell whether they are strongly opinionated … even whether or not they have a good sex life.”

The nose, on the other hand, represents the self. For example, the nose is thought to represent a person’s ability to earn money. Therefore, the higher the bridge of one’s nose is, the more money they are expected to earn.

Contrary to popular belief, according to the practices of phrenological interpretation, one’s destiny is not set in stone and can be altered. But although some who find bad fortune may seek to change their future’s path by fixing their outer appearance, this has little to no effect on the core of one’s fortune, Lee said.

“Changing one’s outward appearance by surgery does not completely change a person’s fate, because just like trimming off a few leaves from a tree doesn’t have an effect on the roots itself, surgery is only changing the outside,” said Lee. “I have never in my career recommended anyone to get plastic surgery in order to change their fortune. One can always change their fate by personal effort.”

Unlike tarot card reading, which takes years of experience and study in the field in order to properly read someone’s fortune, anybody can learn the techniques of phrenological interpretation and be able to read a person’s face, according to fortune-teller Kim Moon-jeong.

“In face reading there is something called the ‘12 gung,’ which is a guide to how we tell one’s fortune and personality through different parts of the face,” said Kim.

For example, “myeong” is the space between the eyebrows and represents luck and hope while “nojogung” is the chin and represents what a person’s job is going to be, or what they will be doing when they are older.

“The central part of a person’s forehead represents the person’s relationship with their parents,” said Kim. “Right below the eyes, called the ‘namnyeogung,’ represents children, relationship between men and women and even one’s kidney health.

“The harmony of the features on one’s face is the most important for good fortune,” Kim explained. “Someone could have a very lucky nose, but if it is out of balance with the other features on their face, they can’t properly receive all of the blessings.”

There are no set guidelines or rules that clarify a certain-sized nose, a particular face shape, hairline or any facial features that are considered the most “ideal” or said to bring the greatest fortune to a person. But rather it is on an individual and case-by-case basis that is determined by the proportions and symmetry of one’s face that create a balance.

“I can often just look at a person’s expression, feel their energy, and gain the majority of information about them,” said the fortune teller. “The face is the ‘cave of the spirit’ and we can see what kind of life someone has lived just by looking at a person’s face.”

via http://www.koreaherald.com

Common misspelt words in English

Common misspelled words in English from Zulfir Sadat

Police dog wedding in Sri Lanka comes under heavy criticism

Police have come under severe criticism from cultural organizations as well as from the Minister of Culture and the Arts T. B. Ekanayake over a ceremony performed to wed police dogs.

The Police, as part of the Police Canine Breeding Program, held a wedding ceremony on a Poruwa, a structure used for traditional Sinhala weddings, yesterday at the Asgiriya Grounds in Kandy to wed pairs of police dogs belonging to the Asgiriya Police Kennels.

Nine pairs of dressed-up canines of different breeds were placed on the Poruwa and performed a ceremony after which the dogs were driven away for their `honeymoon` local media reported.

Veterinarians have presented `marriage certificates` to the dog couples certifying them suitable for breeding.

The Minister of Culture and the Arts, T.B. Ekanayake condemned the wedding ceremony as damaging to the country`s culture and requested the Inspector General of Police to conduct an immediate inquiry regarding the ceremony.

Several organizations including the Sihala Ravaya organization expressed condemnation saying that it was an insult to the culture of the country.

The Police Headquarters issuing a statement apologized for the event and said the Police Department had no intention of causing any insult to the Sri Lankan culture and expressed regret regarding any harm the activities of the inauguration ceremony of Police Canine Breeding Program may have caused to any cultural heritage or if it caused any person any discomfort.

Police Spokesman SP Buddhika Siriwardena told the local media the event was held to commence the new program to breed police dogs within the country to save the cost of purchasing them from other countries.

via http://tinyurl.com/ojmdo5t

Family donates eyes of two building collapse victims in Vadodara

VADODARA: Two victims of the building collapse in Vadodara couldn't see the dawn on Wednesday. But they gave hope of vision to others in their death. Eyes of two of the deceased identified as Mahadevan Nair, 42 and his 14-year-old son Vignesh Nair were donated by their family members. The duo got buried under debris of block number 11 in Madhavnagar locality in Atladara. The apartment collapsed at about 4.30 am killing eight persons and injuring three.

Mahadevan and Vignesh's bodies were recovered at 9 am, about four-and-half hours after the incident. They were rushed to Swaminarayan BAPS Hospital but were declared dead. Despite being in state of shock, Mahadevan's elder brother Mohan Nair thought of donating organs of the deceased duo. "I have been organizing blood donation camps regularly apart from spreading awareness about organ donation. When I learnt about my brother and nephew's death, I decided to donate their organs. It was painful moment for us but we had to take quick decision," Mohan told TOI.

"My brother and nephew won't come back but they can give hope of vision to some persons. The doctors decided that their eyes were fit for donation, so we gave go ahead. I hope that it changes lives of needy people," an emotional Mohan said.

Mahadevan's employer also supported Mohan's decision. "I had a word with Mahadevan's elder brother Mohan about donating Mahadevan and Vignesh's organs. It was a noble gesture from the family," said Paramveer Chhabra, managing director of Healthcare Formulations Private Ltd (HFPL) where Mahadevan had worked as administration manager for 18 years.

BJP councillor, Dr Vijay Shah said that the deceased duo was shifted from Swaminarayan BAPS Hospital for SSG Hospital for further procedures. The doctors would recover eyes of the victims and then conduct post-mortem.

via http://tinyurl.com/pj7gcbe

Chennai autos to have GPS, panic button

Soon, people in the city will get to travel in autos that have meters fitted with GPS and a panic button that passengers can press to alert officials about erring auto drivers. But this enforcement system may only be viable if there is tremendous logistical investment from the government, as recent experience in Delhi shows.

At the beginning of this year, the transport department in New Delhi had mandated that autos be fitted with panic buttons and GPS, but many users there say the panic buttons never worked. “It becomes difficult to constantly monitor 50,000 autos. With so much mapping and location information sent every minute from all of them, the maintenance costs are huge. So most times, the GPS would be off,” said a transport official.

The panic button is to ensure the safety of commuters – a passenger just needs to press it when she senses danger from stalkers or the driver himself. The GPS installed in the vehicle will immediately send details about the location and vehicle to the control room, which will send alerts to the police and transport officials.

The experience of Namma Auto, a city-based initiative that runs autos on metered charges and has panic buttons and GPS facilities, may help. 

“Considering we need at least 10 people to monitor the movement of 100 autos, for 70,000 autos, we will need a full-fledged control room with at least 400 trained professionals and secured servers that have dynamic content,” says M. Pramod, an IIT-Madras professor. “What happens if the driver switches off the panic button? There should be a way for the passengers to complain,” he says.

The transport department and police will need to decide who will take the initiative to reach the spot when they get the panic signal. “This has to be done quickly, otherwise it will be a huge failure,” said Prof. Pramod.

The system should also address complaints of passengers regarding exorbitant charges, said Smitha Sadasivan, assistant coordinator of disability legislation unit, Vidya Sagar, who feels persons with disabilities are fleeced by auto drivers and often even denied services.

According to sources here, tenders will soon be announced for meters embedded with the GPS kit that will have the GPRS facility, panic buttons and automated billing. The approximate cost of each meter will be Rs. 10,000. Auto drivers have been asked to re-calibrate their meters with the new fares before October 15.

via http://tinyurl.com/mbm2k7k

Pakistan trains to have coaches to offer prayers

PAKISTAN Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique has ordered an establishment of a prayer place in the trains for passengers so that they can offer prayers during travelling.

In a notification issued on Sunday, the PR administration has started work on designing the prayer places in passenger coaches and soon coaches will be attached to trains where passengers can offer prayers conveniently. It was felt by the minister that passengers missed their prayers due to unavailability of a prayer place in trains, so he directed the PR administration to arrange prayer places in trains.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Railways earned additional Rs 225 million during the holy month of Ramazan and Eid-ul-Fitr days as compared to the previous year after giving concession on fares to passengers.

According to PR sources, about 16,000 passengers enjoyed the low rates during the holy month of Ramazan while more than 45,000 passengers travelled on Eid days.

The railways had introduced a Ramazan package during the holy month in which fares on several sections and trains was reduced upto 60 percent while it reduced the fare by 50 percent for all trains on all the classes including air-conditioned and economy classes across the country on the direction of PR Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique.

via http://tinyurl.com/mbu3vdq

Eco cars on rise as petrol prices climb - Bangalore

As petrol prices continue to climb, a number of Bangloreans are gradually recognising the merits of using eco-friendly cars.
V K Shetty, a businessman who has been driving an electric car for some time now, spoke of the tangible financial benefits of using his eco-friendly Reva car.

“I save at least Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 on fuel per month and it is as efficient as any petrol or diesel-powered car,” he said. Shetty who owns two petrol-based cars is so convinced about his environmental-friendly method of commuting that he plans to buy a second electric car as a gift for a loved one.

As many as 150 users of electric cars participated in what has been described as the ‘largest rally of electric cars in India’ here on Saturday.

The so-called ‘Freedom Rally’ was organised by the Mahindra group.

A software professional, Anand Sawant, who participated in the rally, did not bat an eyelid when he vouched for the efficiency of electric cars. Sawant hardly uses his petrol cars these days as his electric car is more than enough for his daily commuting needs.

“I have two cars that run on petrol, but I use them only for long distance journeys,” he said. “My electric car, on a full charge, gets me through the day with ease.”

via http://tinyurl.com/kmeaeox

Same-sex pairs shake up tango comp

BUENOS AIRES--The sexy, sensual world of tango is experiencing a shake-up, as same-sex couples compete for the first time in the world championships in Argentina, where the dance was born.
The crowds in this traditionally conservative bastion of machismo culture, surprisingly, seem to embrace the change.

Enthusiastic cheers and massive applause rang out in a Buenos Aires exhibition hall for Juan Pablo Ramirez and Daniel Arroyo, as they danced to a 1940s classic.

“It takes two to tango,” Ramirez told AFP, elated after his successful performance, “but they don't necessarily have to be different sexes.”

Ramirez, a 34-year-old Argentine professional dancer, and Arroyo, 18, are among four same-sex couples — including three male pairs and one female — competing in the 11th annual world championship.

“There is a macho culture,” Arroyo conceded. “But there are older people who appreciate us.
“We aren't doing anything transgressive,” he said, adding “society isn't ready. It's a slow change, with pauses.”

The dance partners said they are trying to excel in the wider world of tango, not just a gay subculture. “Our goal is for people to say, 'what good dancing!'” Ramirez said.

A Relaxation on the Tango Circuit

Although same-sex couples are now seen as out of the ordinary in the milongas (dance halls) where tango is celebrated amid a cult of masculinity, the origins of the dance tell a different story.
Born in the brothels of the 19th century, the dance was at that time performed by pairs of men — women were initially prohibited from participating in a dance considered prostitute-like, historians say.

Gustavo Mozzi, a musician and composer and director of the tango championship, told AFP that same-sex couples were never officially barred from the competition, though they never entered in the past.

This year's entries show “there is a relaxation in the tango and milongas circuit. An opening,” Mozzi said.

The development is perhaps another sign of Argentina's increasingly open attitude on questions of gender, in a country that has been a pioneer in Latin America in legalizing gay marriage and whose capital is well-known as gay-friendly.

Most Important is Having a Good Time

Music swelled again and couples began striding and circling the stage in the deliberate tango motions as the audience cheered for Marlene Heyman and Lucia Christe.

Heyman, 31, a dancing shoe saleswoman, and Christe, 32, a violin professor, say they are not gay — both have or had boyfriends — but started dancing together for lack of partners at the milongas.
“Nobody asked us to dance. So to avoid being left sitting, drinking wine, we said, 'let's play. Let's have fun.'” Heyman explained.

“And we loved it.”

Once they figured out who was going to lead (traditionally the man) and follow (traditionally the woman), they took on the challenge of competing with the male-female pairs.

Other dancers “told us, 'what genius!' 'what courage!'” Heyman said, adding “It's not important to us if others stare. The most important thing is we have a good time.”

Nearby, Marcelo Siufe, 41, a nurse, stands with his partner Manuel Mioni, 26, a professional dancer, waiting to take the stage.

“Dance has no sex,” Siufe said. “Before, men danced with each other. I could dance with my sister or my mother.

via http://tinyurl.com/k2kczma

Mom's genes may affect how fast you age

Eating well, sleeping well and exercising may help keep people young at heart, but mutated genes passed down from mothers may also predetermine aging rates, new research suggests.

Aging manifests itself in a variety of age-associated diseases as well as changes in physical appearance , and occurs at different rates in different people. Scientists have previously attributed aging to cell damage accumulated throughout life, but have not closely considered how aging rates might be inherited.

Now, a group of researchers based at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Germany have found that damaged DNA in the mitochondria also known as
the powerhouse of the cell, because this is where sugars break down into usable energy partly control the rate of aging in experimental mice.

Mitochondrial DNA contains genes only from mothers. The researchers report their findings August 21 in the journal Nature .

"What we previously had demonstrated was that the mitochondrial DNA acquired damage as the animals age," study  researcher Nils-Gran Larsson, a researcher at Max Planck Institute, told
LiveScience. "But now, we also report that some of this damage is already present at birth, and is transmitted from mother to child."

Mitochondrial DNA differs from the DNA that resides in the nucleus of cells, which comes from both parents.

The researchers found that mitochondrial DNA becomes damaged over time, and the cell's energy production gradually becomes disabled and contributes to aging, Larsson said in a statement. To determine the effects of mitochondrial DNA damage on aging, the team bred laboratory mice with varying degrees of such DNA damage, and then estimated their aging rates by measuring aspects of
fitness such as weight, fertility and red blood cell count.

The team found that increased levels of damage in the mice correlated with reduced levels of fitness. Still, the relative influence of mitochondrial DNA damage versus environmental stressors in aging
remains unclear.

While the findings may have interesting  implications for aging rates in humans , they also require additional research, Larsson said.

"We have used a set of experimental conditions to establish our results, and we think they are applicable to humans, but of course, this has to be proven through human studies," Larsson told LiveScience. The team next plans to study the relative role of damaged mitochondrial DNA in
aging by genetically engineering flies to have decreasing levels of mutated mitochondrial DNA from one generation to the next. They hope their research will provide the groundwork for other
researchers to study the human implications of their findings, Larsson said.

Are Your Teens Sleep-Texting?

Here's a decidedly 21st-century sleep issue: "Sleep-texting" is a growing phenomenon among teens. That's right. Teens are reaching for their phones during the night, firing off messages, and waking up with no recollection of their actions.

Social media and technology are part of daily life for everyone, but especially for young people. One study suggests that U.S. teens send an average of 100 texts per day. Experts say extending the texting habit into their sleep time could lead to serious health issues.

Teen Sleep Needs

Teens have their own particular set of shut-eye needs and challenges. Most teenagers need at least nine hours of sleep per night. Unfortunately, most don't get it. Biological changes associated with puberty make it harder for teens to fall asleep and stay asleep. And with increased academic and social pressure, late nights, and sleep-in Saturday mornings -- it’s harder for them to maintain regular sleep schedules.

Unhealthy sleep habits can lead to serious sleep deprivation, posing a threat to teens' academic success and also to their physical and mental health. Sleep problems among this age group are linked to obesity, high blood pressure, depression, behavioral problems, and drug abuse. Some evidence suggests that sleep problems during adolescence can affect health well into adulthood.

Research already shows that social media can interfere with teens' sleep habits. Teens spend 53 hours per week engaged with some form of electronic media, according to a large-scale study by the Kaiser Family Foundation. That's more than seven hours per day.

The study also found that teens' daily consumption of social media is on the rise, with their use of mobile media increasing at the fastest rate. Another study indicates that teens who text and use the Internet are more likely to have trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep. More than half of kids and teenagers who text or surf the Internet at bedtime have mood, behavior, memory, and thinking problems during the day.

Bodhi tree completes one year at its ‘adopted home’

The 75-year-old Bodhi tree, which once stood majestically tall near the Tirupur railway station till last year, completed one year at its ‘adopted home’ situated on the premises of NIFT-TEA College of Knitwear Fashion on Saturday.

It was on August 24, 2012, the NIFT-TEA Institute, along with T.R. Ramanathan, a nature activist and chartered accountant, took up a Herculean task of transplanting the 30-feet tall tree which had been facing the axe to facilitate construction of a road under bridge in the area.

The almost 8-km journey of the tree, with the trunk circumference of 16 feet, to the NIFT-TEA Institute premises took nearly 24 hours. Thanks to the initiative, the tree is now there to ‘tell’ the stories it witnessed about the transformation of Tirupur from being a small dusty town into an export hub. 

“Looking back, that particular effort is now giving immense satisfaction as we have not only been able to save a gigantic tree but also succeeded in kick-starting many a similar steps in the hinterlands of Tirupur,” NIFT-TEA College chairman Raja M. Shanmugam told The Hindu. 

Commemorating the first anniversary, the students and the staff of NIFT-TEA College took out a rally near Mudalipalayam to spread the message of saving trees, planting more trees and conserve water resources among the public. 

Source: http://tinyurl.com/mntgyzr

7 UP - A Psychiatric Medication

The soft drink 7 UP used to include a psychiatric medication as one of its ingredients.

The lemon-lime flavored soda, 7-UP was created by Charles Grigg of the Howdy Corporation in 1929 and first launched two weeks before the stock market crash that spurred the Great Depression… Timing! It was originally named “Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda”, and included lithium citrate in its formula.

Lithium citrate is a mood-stabilizing drug that was popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is still used sometimes today for people with bipolar disorder, among others.

Many of the first sodas to be produced included drugs or metals and were often touted as health drinks. For instance, Coca Cola originally included coca leaves (hence contained a small amount of cocaine) in its formula and was intended to be a coca-wine cure-all, specifically targeted at curing impotence, dyspepsia, neurasthenia, headaches, nausea, and morphine addiction, the latter of which was a problem the inventor of Coca Cola, Dr. John Pemberton, suffered from.

Similar to Coca Cola, 7 UP was originally named after the primary medicinal ingredient it included, lithium citrate- “Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda”. Obviously such a lengthy name wasn’t ideal on the consumer side of things, so the beverage’s name was quickly shortened to “7 UP Lithiated Lemon Soda”, then chopped to just “7 UP” in 1936.

It’s not clear where the name “7 Up” originally came from, as Grigg never publicly said, except once joking that he invented it to cure the “7 types of hangovers” humans experience.  In 1942, a slightly less tongue and cheek origin of the name was given by a former president of the company in a speech, where he stated Grigg was reading a newspaper and saw an article about the history of cow brands, with one of the brands discussed being a 7 with a “u” slightly to the right and above the 7.  He liked the look of it, so finagled an appropriate name out of a 7 and a “u”.

Whatever the case, as for the lithium citrate, surprisingly, it stuck around in the drink all the way until 1950, when new research showed it had potentially dangerous side effects.

Top Indian Superstitions

Bangalore based matrimonial agency to pay up for not finding an alliance

A Bangalore based marriage agency will have to pay for failing to find a matrimonial alliance as promised, besides refunding the service charges it had collected from one of its clients.

The 3rd Additional Bangalore Urban District Consumer Forum has directed Sri Venkateshwara Marriage Links, Srirampura, to refund Rs. 15,000 along with 12 per cent interest, besides Rs. 3,000 to the complainant, G.H.S. Mallikarjuna Rao, a native of Kankipadu in Andhra Pradesh. 

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The complainant had paid advance service charge of Rs. 25,000 to the agency in April 2012 for finding an alliance for his daughter. However, after collecting the charges, the agency did not suggest any alliance, and later began avoiding the complainant. After a complaint was lodged with the forum in April, the agency returned Rs.10,000 in June 2013, but not the remaining amount. 

A bench of the forum, comprising its president T. Rajashekharaiah and member Subhashini, said the agency’s conduct was a “deficiency in service” and directed it to pay 12 per cent interest on Rs. 

25,000 for a 12-month period from April 2012, and return the remaining Rs.15,000 along with 12 per cent interest, with effect from April 2013 till refund date. 

Source: http://tinyurl.com/l6v2xzq

Ex-Lover Begone!

How apps can help you get over your breakup

Forget drunk dialing. These days, you need to be wary of drunk texting, drunk tweeting or (worst of all) drunk snapchatting your ex. Breaking up has always sucked, but it’s definitely worse when you and your ex are connected through a dozen different social media platforms. Exes pop up in your GChat list, on your news feed, tagged in other people’s Instagrams. It’s just so tempting to scroll through old texts, Facebook stalk and even send that tentative and ambiguous “Hi!” instant message.

“In a way losing a relationship can feel sort of like [kicking] an addiction,” says Dr. Suzanne Lachman, a clinical psychologist and blogger for Psychology Today, “You feel addicted to that person. And in the same way that you want to be able to abstain from drugs and alcohol, you need the opportunity and ability to abstain from a person. But it’s a little harder when your senses are invaded every which way with social media.”

The grieving process is longer and tougher than it used to be.

But can we combat these constant reminders? Must we go full Amish and disconnect from all of our accounts and devices to avoid finding out what new flame our ex went on vacation with? Not so fast. Maybe all the tech that’s causing the problem can help.

Enter, breakup apps—widgets that make cutting your ex out of your life simple, easy and less painful. Or at least, that’s what the creators of KillSwitch thought when they created their app after their friend found out her boyfriend was dating someone else. The friend deleted her Facebook profile to spare herself the pain of defriending the ex, untagging all their photos together and changing her relationship status to “single.” That manual process is traumatic for most people, say co-founders Erica Mannherz and Clara de Soto.

So KillSwitch was born—a program that removes all traces of your ex from Facebook with a single click. “Going through a breakup, you want the ex to be out of sight, out of mind,” says de Soto. “Getting to that point nowadays is difficult. We just wanted to take something that people already do and have done in romantic comedies for ages—burning pictures, etc.—and create digital version of that.”

The name KillSwitch, de Soto says, is meant to connote a process that’s quick and easy, much like ripping off a band-aid. After identifying the “target” (de Soto says they aimed for all the language to be playful), KillSwitch will quickly present you with all the information you share with that person on Facebook, at which point you can choose to delete permanently or (optimistically) save it to a hidden folder. The name is also gender-neutral—don’t think that women are the only ones cleansing their Facebook of their exes.

To accommodate different levels of trauma, KillSwitch will roll out a version later this year in which you can rate your breakup on a sliding scale: if the breakup was less severe, it will leave you and your ex tagged in group photos together or just delete the last six months of tags; if the breakup was terrible, it wipes your history with your ex clean.

“I personally think there’s no other recourse than this brilliant idea for an app,” says Dr. Lachman. “It’s absolutely, unequivocally necessary. It’s not only practical but also has the potential to encourage a sense of empowerment and independence.”

Many apps followed KillSwitch’s lead, creating their own means of easing out of a breakup. In fact, the writers of Girls adopted a similar concept in a plot this season. Marnie’s breakup with Charlie inspires him to create an app called Forbid that prevents users from calling their ex, charging them $10 if they break their promise to themselves.

Check out some other (not fictional) ways to use technology to make a clean break:

KillSwitch – Launched on Valentine’s day of this year, KillSwitch deletes anything on your Facebook that your ex is tagged in (photos, posts, etc.). KillSwitch donates part of the proceeds to the American Heart Association.

Ex Lover Blocker – A Brazilian company made an app in June 2012 that alerts your friends when you try call your ex. If you try to work around the alert, the app publicly shames you on Facebook for trying to reach out to your old flame.

Eternal Sunshine – Similar to KillSwitch, this Facebook extension removes unwanted status updates from your Facebook feed without defriending your ex. While Facebook’s own “hide” feature will remove your ex from your news feed, Eternal sunshine will completely remove them from all aspects of your Facebook experience (suggested friends, profile picture updates, etc.)

Never Liked It Anyway – This website is a marketplace for the brokenhearted, where you can sell your ex’s gifts and buy the remnants of other relationships. Find or pawn off engagement rings, jewelry, wedding dresses and other meaningful gifts on the cheap.

DrunkDial – Haven’t deleted your ex’s phone number from your address book or your memory? This app makes you pass a sobriety test (timed math problems) before it allows you to phone your ex, thus blocking those not-so-sober calls you’ll probably regret the next morning.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/n3dr3s7

The Story Of Jyothi Reddy - You are the creator of your own destiny

Nothing can stop a human being from becoming what he/she wants to achieve in life.
This has been proved by Mrs. Jyothi Reddy with her spectacular travel from a field laborer to the CEO of an organization in the US. This is the true story of Ms. Jyothi Reddy who now owns a software company in the United States of America and who has a great vision to change many lives of women in rural India.

Early Struggle 

Jyothi was born in 1970 and she was the youngest among the five girl children in a poor family in India. Due to her family’s financial situation, she was admitted into a welfare orphanage. To get the admission, she had to become a motherless child. It was a heart breaking situation for Jyothi as she could not see her mother during the days when she was in the orphanage. There was nobody to share her happiness and sorrow. Instead of getting down with the situation, Jyothi developed a strong will to make her future bright. She promised herself to work towards creating a better life for her. She learned the way of dealing with life in a hard and practical manner. The hardship taught her the value of life and made her think beyond the situation.

She attended a government school while at the orphanage and she also took vocational course while residing in the superintendent's house. Jyothi used to help her superintendent with their household work. She realized that to lead a beautiful life, she should get a decent job first. She started thinking for the ways to get into a job.

"Man proposes and God disposes" - Same happened to Jyothi as she had to marry at 16 to her cousin, instead of working on to make her dreams come true. After having 2 children, the situation became even worse as she had to work in the fields for a daily wage of Rs. 5 to take care of her children. These situations made her even stronger to stand and fight for life. 

Gradual Growth with Perseverance

Then came an opportunity in the form of NYK (Nehru Yuva Kendra), a Central Government scheme which sought to create awareness among the youth. She took the opportunity and became a NYK Volunteer and later started teaching. But the money she was making was not sufficient to run the family. She used to stitch petticoats at night to make more money. She also learned typewriting. Apart from her bad financial situation, she also had to fight with family and society to do what she wanted to do. She studied and obtained a BA from Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University in 1994 and studied for a postgraduate degree from the Kakatiya University on weekends and obtained it in 1997. This made her get a special teacher job for a salary of Rs. 398 per month. She used to travel for two hours to reach her school. She utilized this time to sell sarees to her co-passengers which gave her some extra income. Her struggle for life made her become conscious about the time and it showed her the ways to utilize the time available creatively.

Her job was regularized and she started making decent money. But she did not want to settle for anything, as her passion to reach a higher level always was haunting her to find the next best. A relative's visit from the US made her think about going to the land of dreams, United States. She studied computer courses to get the eligibility to work in the US. She went to US by leaving her two daughters in a missionary hostel. 

Struggle to get Foothold

It was not an easy journey for her to settle in the US. She had to work in a gas station, work as a baby sitter, load/unload goods and work at a video shop for her survival. She then joined a company called CS America as a recruiter with an aid of a close relative. Later she got another offer from a different company, but it did not stay and she had to go back to babysitting and gas station for survival. That was the beginning of her entrepreneurial dreams. She wanted to start her own business and was looking for the suitable line of business to start.

Entry into Entrepreneurial World

When she visited Mexico for stamping, she realized that she could start a consulting company as she was familiar with the paperwork involved with the Visa Processing. With her savings of $40000, she opened an office in Phoenix in 2011. She has been successfully running her company KEYSS since then.
Her two daughters moved to US and completed their education in the American schools.

Social Responsibility

Her practical experiences with a struggling life made her think about doing her part in helping the people in need. Whenever she visits India, she goes to old age homes, orphanages and provides a helping hand to them. She also visits educational institutes to inspire and empower the future generations.

Self Motives and Tireless Effort

Today, her next dream to see that every Orphan in India to get his/her own Identity, recognition and enjoy equal opportunity. Towards reaching that goal, she has been interacting and sensitizing various Government agencies, policy makers, politicians as well as Non-Government Organizations.
In this direction, she had joined hands with other likeminded NGOs Prajadharana Welfare Society, MV Foundation and Child Rights Advocacy Forum (CRAF) and formed a Pressure Group Force for Orphan Rights and Community Empowerment (FORCE). She has already organized a National Seminar at Hyderabad during December 19 - 21, 2011 and submitted a memorandum to the Central Government. She is also organizing National Consultations for Orphans Rights with Parliament Members (MPs) and other Law Makers from 16 – 21, May 2012 at New Delhi.

Need-based Support to Orphans

Through such mission, she wants to help and make all young orphans between the age group of 18 - 35 to get financial independence. Using Vocational Training, she intends to train them and enable them become self confident and self-reliant and improve their employability.
She is also working on her vision which empowers the rural women with skills and makes them self-sufficient.

This is how a girl from a village created her own destiny and went to the top of the world and started helping many.

Source: http://www.jyothireddy.com/story.php

The Voice of the Ummah against Miss World 2013 Ignored By the Deaf, Dumb and Blind Capitalist Elites

The Miss World 2013 which will be held in the largest Muslim country - Indonesia got a strong reaction from Muslims in Indonesia and Malaysia, with a significant wave of rejection. This was realized by Budi Rustanto, Director of MNC Group who stated that is not easy to hold Miss World in Indonesia (Okezone.com 21/08/2013). However, the MNC group as the holder of exclusive broadcast rights of the Miss World competition has closed its eyes and ears, and continues to disseminate the socialization to the media for the success of Miss World 2013, which will take place on 4 - 28 September in Indonesia and will involve 170 countries, including Muslim countries. At least 45 institutions and Islamic organizations in Indonesia stated firmly that they rejected the Miss World event, including Indonesia Islamic Scholar Council (MUI). Similarly, in Malaysia, the National Fatwa Council of Malaysia (JAWI) had forbidden 4 Muslim women to take part as contestants of the Miss Malaysia World pageant in August where the winner would be the official emissary for Malaysia in Miss Word 2013.

Capitalist media like MNC group as well as the Muslim rulers in Indonesia and Malaysia are not only blind and deaf to the sound waves of rejection of Muslims to this competition but also blind and deaf to the impact of this kind of pageant which capitalizes women's bodies. They are dazzled with the Western culture and want to import it into the Islamic world, and earn tons of money from the exploitation of women's beauty and body, which has blinded them of its impact on the community. It is this systematic dehumanization and degradation of women by the advertising, entertainment, beauty, fashion, and pornography industries within Western capitalist states such as the UK, US, and Australia that has proven to be a recipe for disrespect, exploitation and abuse of women, contributing to the epidemic levels of violence, sexual harassment, and rape within Western societies.

These hypocritical Western imitator Capitalist rulers in the Muslim world are clearly separated from their own people - in thinking and feeling and do not represent them in the least. They adore democracy but at the same time ignore the voice of the majority of people. They boast about the progress of the nation but at the same time let foreign culture ruin their future generations. And by agreeing to host this degrading pageant on its territory, or approving to send delegation contestants, the Muslim world regimes have demonstrated that they are willing to accept the same impact as the damage in Western societies that undermined their youth and family units.

O Muslims! We call you to fiercely oppose the staging of this pageant in Indonesia and the importing of all liberal culture into our lands, including the objectification of women and lewd entertainment culture that spreads immorality and are a source of corruption for our youth and societies. We urge you to distance yourselves from the West imitator secular-capitalist rulers who are a tumor in this Ummah because they are exactly as Allah described in His Word:

صُمٌّ بُكْمٌ عُمْيٌ فَهُمْ لَا يَرْجِعُونَ

"Deaf, dumb, blind. They will not return."

(Al-Baqara, 2:18)

O Muslim women who love this Deen! Join the noble struggle to re-establish the Khilafah which will replace man-made systems in Muslim countries. It is the only state that will nurture the pure, noble morals and values of Islam, prevent the influx of corrupt culture, and hence create youth of distinguished, exemplary personalities who embody modesty and chastity. It will also oblige men and society to safeguard the women's dignity, status and wellbeing and promote that women be valued upon their piety, character and conduct rather than their beauty.

Fika Komara

Member of Central Media Office Hizb ut Tahrir

Source: http://tinyurl.com/me4mf6l

North Korea’s luxury hotel industry

Despite being well known for food shortages, poverty and isolation, there are a growing number of luxury class hotels in North Korea – and not only in ‘affluent’ Pyongyang.

Built with facilities that even the most discerning of travelers would find appealing, these luxury hotels stand in sharp contrast to the grey and dilapidated buildings that most North Koreans call home.

Containing spa facilities, fitness centers, and banquet rooms, it’s hard to understand what role these luxury hotels play in North Korea’s supposedly egalitarian and socialist system.

For example, a $1,500 one night stay in the VIP room of the Hyangsan hotel would cost nearly 85% of the average annual income of a North Korean.

Who then stays at these hotels, and why were they built?

As with many issues in North Korea, things are not always that clear.

Despite the high prices quoted in the receptions of some of these hotels, North Korea employs a two-tier pricing system that actually makes staying cost effective – or even free – for certain well-placed locals.

Domestic sports teams and musical groups performing at local venues form a large proportion of the heavily subsidized overnight stays in North Korea’s luxury hotels, and it’s almost certain that high ranking government and military officials also enjoy perks there from time to time.

But that doesn’t mean the hotels are used that often: the few tourists who do stay in North Korea’s luxury hotels routinely report that despite being fully staffed, the buildings are often completely unoccupied.

What then are the business imperatives driving the expansion of luxury hotels in North Korea? A difficult question to answer. But in spite of the challenges in finding customers, the industry continues to grow:

Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/k4t9u93

5 Things You Didn't Know About Daydreaming

Whether it’s worrying or fantasizing, all of us daydream—or let our minds escape from the task at hand.

Now, a new computer model that simulates these periods of mental wandering may give scientists clues about how our brains work. Specifically, the model shows how our brain cells communicate when our minds are either engaged or idle.

Scientists have known since the late 1990s that our brains still fire off nerve impulses—an indicator of activity—even when they’re idle. Since then, scientists have identified several brain networks, called “resting state” networks, inside our gray matter where this phenomenon occurs. (See “Is Your Brain Sleeping While You’re Awake?”)

Since resting state networks are disrupted in the event of brain injuries and cognitive diseases, modeling them may eventually help people with these conditions, Maurizio Corbetta, of the Washington University School of Medicinein St. Louis, said in a statement.

“We can give our [computer] model lesions like those we see in stroke or brain cancer, disabling groups of virtual cells to see how brain function is affected,” said Corbetta, co-author of a study on the model published in the July 3 issue ofThe Journal of Neuroscience. “We can also test ways to push the patterns of activity back to normal.”

But wait—before you drift off into la-la land, here are some interesting facts about daydreaming you may not have known.

You daydream less as you get older.

Daydreaming is often about anticipating the future, especially in a fantasy context, notes Peter Delaney, a psychologist at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro.

For instance, young men often have “power fantasies” of what it would be like to be a superhero. But as people get older, the amount of time they spend daydreaming decreases—perhaps as the future shrinks.

Daydreaming makes you forget what you were doing.

If people are asked to daydream about the past, for instance, they tend to forget what they were doing before the daydream started, according to previous research.

The type of daydream also affects how much you forget, according to Delaney and colleagues’ research.

When people working on a task were asked to daydream about their childhood home, the older subjects forgot more of the interrupted task than the younger subjects did. That means that the further back in time the daydream reaches, the bigger the forgetting effect.

It’s not only temporal, but physical: If you daydream about a vacation abroad versus a vacation out of state, you are likely to forget more of what you were doing because your trip abroad is so out of context—it’s like “mentally transporting yourself back there,” he said.

Delaney suggests that this should be of special note for people who rely on memory, including those in careers such as medicine: If a doctor who just memorized a drug dosage is stopped in the hallway and asked about her recent vacation abroad, she may well forget the drug information, he explained.

Daydreaming turns off other parts of the brain.

Our brain has two key systems: An analytic part that helps us make reasoned decisions, and an empathetic part that allows us to relate to others.

When confronted with a cognitive task, your brain requires the empathetic area to turn off to get the job done, notes Anthony Jack, a cognitive scientist at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. (Read “Beyond the Brain” in National Geographic magazine.)

In other words, “if you are engaged in a demanding analytic task, it doesn’t leave any room for empathy.”

Yet when you are daydreaming, your mind naturally cycles through different modes of thinking, and during this time the analytic and empathetic parts of your brain tend to turn each other off.

Your brain, not your mind, controls your daydreams.

Our mind—or the consciousness that allows us to think and reason—is separate from the physical organ that is our brain.

Overall, “we tend of think of our minds in the driving seat and our brains as following,” Jack said.

But in fact, whether and how we daydream depends on the brain’s structure at any given time, since our brains’ nerve cell networks are constantly regrowing and changing. (See brain pictures.)

“Your brain naturally fluctuates in certain ways because of its structure, and that determines the structure of your daydreaming,” Jack said.

Daydreaming makes you more creative.

Many times the “dialogue” that occurs when the daydreaming mind cycles through different parts of the brain accesses information that was dormant or out of reach, notes Eugenio M. Rothe, a psychiatrist at Florida International University.

Likewise, the daydreaming mind may make an association between bits of information that the person had never considered in that particular way.

“This accounts for creativity, insights of wisdom and oftentime the solutions to problems that the person had not considered,” Rothe said by email.

“A similar process, but more random, also takes place during dreaming.”

(via National Geographic)

Muslims advised to be careful when buying leather goods online

KUALA LUMPUR: Muslim consumers are advised to be careful when buying leather goods and tableware online fearing they contain haram (prohibited) elements.

Chief activist of the Malaysian Muslim Consumers Association (PPIM) Datuk Nadzim Johan said online shopping could be deceptive because the graphics were unclear.

“For example, we know that leather goods made of pig skin have three dots but with new technologies, this is not necessarily the case,” he told Bernama here today.
Nadzim said tableware such as plates from overseas could also contain haram elements in the form of animal bones.

“The bones in question need not mean pig bones as cattle bones will be rendered haram if the cattle are not slaughtered in accordance with Islamic rituals.”

He urged Muslim consumers to buy products from valid sources because it is their right to buy goods that are clean and halal as it will affect their prayers.

“Muslims consumers should not buy goods online based on the unique design and cheap price offered.”

Nadzim said they should ask for the sellers to show certificates as proof that their goods were halal.
“It is better for Muslim consumers to buy from shops because they can interact directly with the sellers and can also examine the quality of the goods.”

Source: nst.com.my