Does a Full Moon Influence Human Behavior?

The Moon is known to have a huge effect on the ocean's tides. The mechanism, in simple terms, goes like this: While the moon's gravitational force causes the water to rise up, the earth is also pulling downwards, causing tides. Water levels are dependent upon the force of the moon. So with a full moon comes the high tide. And from this observation, the concept of the moon affecting human behavior evolved. This is because the human body is 80 percent water. It is believed that just like the ocean, when the moon is full, there will also be an upset of water balance in the human body, causing a person to behave irrationally... more >>

Pica: An Eating Disorder that Involves Ingestion of Non-Food Items

There are people who love experimenting with their food. Like mixing popcorn with ice cream for example, or bananas on bread topped with ketchup. It's kind of unusual but they do enjoy it. Odd cravings and food combinations are typical, especially for pregnant women. No matter how you blend the food together as long as it's edible, there is nothing wrong with that.

However, in a condition called Pica, cravings go beyond normal... more>>

Issue Resolved

So the issue with the UniSIM site seems to be resolved already... after about a week or s. And even than the method of delivering (admitting that the site was attacked) was in a peculiar way. It's a scrollling marquee across the top saying " Important Notice" and you can download the file only when you click on the moving text... which is so... not user friendly.... -_-"

UNISIM has left me speechless

Trying to log into the school's portal for the past 1 week, and what I and many others (as I googled) discovered that it appeared to either be hacked in someway or the other.

Using FireFox to get to the website and this appears:












While a Google search displays:













Among many others. Just try search terms like “unisim attack site”, “unisim firefox problem”, etc... and you'll get loads of interesting serach results... Not so helpful when you have notes to download and assignments to handup. The school did not even bother to inform the students of what is happening!

The school finally sent an email today saying:

IT dept has resolved the issue. Please use Microsoft Internet Explorer & access www.unisim.edu.sg directly.

However, as to most of the forum posts, have noted that while you will be able to access the site using Internet Explorer, their AVs (Avira, NOD32, among others) detected a virus on the site... which leaves me somewhat baffled... if it's really safe..

So what works:
IE
Safari

What doesn't:
FF

Authentic Mexican Dessert Recipes

If you love Mexican food then authentic Mexican dessert recipes should be part of your repertoire. For the most part they are not difficult to make, use ingredients that are easy to find, and just add that perfect ending to a great meal of Mexican food... more>>

The Shopping Seach Engine

ShopWiki.com is one the places that have made shopping online a breeze, and unlike conventional shopping sites which will only show you store that have paid for placement. And that means that it offers more by showing everything for sale on the web. The way it works is just like Google, except that it's for the sole purpose of shopping. And the possibilities seem endless!

Searching for a new wireless router has never been simpler. With just a simple search text of wireless router, many search results were displayed. And that was certainly useful! A tool I definitely use when looking for things to buys online.

The art of the toilet in Japan

source

Duncan Bartlett discovers how, when it comes to lavatories, Japan is a step ahead of the rest of the world.

No country takes toilets quite so seriously as Japan. Machines with heated seats, built-in bidets and a dynamic range of flushing options are almost ubiquitous in homes and public buildings.

A poem recently published by a stressed-out salary man captured their comforting appeal with haiku-like brevity. "The only warmth in my life is the toilet seat," he mourned.

But lavatories here can do much more than keep you warm. One even sends a tiny electrical charge through the user's buttocks to check their body-fat ratio.
The master of the modern convenience is the Panasonic Corporation.

Booming market
At its Tokyo showroom, located in a skyscraper near the BBC's office, a group of smart young women, dressed in uniforms resembling flight attendants, showed me the company's latest wares.

The lids lifted up when I approached. If I stood in front of one, it took a guess at my gender and lifted up the seat as well.

There was a loo that glowed in the dark and another that had built-in loudspeakers.
With manicured fingernails, the demonstrator pushed the control panel beside the seat and gentle light classical music began to play.

Pleasant enough, I thought, although I preferred a pastoral sound effect that provided the impression one was seated upon a white plastic throne surrounded by songbirds in a springtime meadow. Kyoko Ishii, who heads up the public relations department for Panasonic, explained to me that most of the people who choose luxury loos are older women, so this is a booming market in rapidly ageing Japan.

Kyoko says that for this core customer group, the emphasis now is less on the gadgetry and more on convenience and cleanliness.

A new flush has been invented which does away with the need for a tank and saves dramatically on water.

The device costs about £1,950 ($3,000) including installation. But it is not easy to sell outside Japan as bathrooms in other countries are rarely fitted with the right mixture of sophisticated plumbing and electronics.

Clean culture
A visitor to Tokyo recently told me that he was surprised to find Japanese women rather than foreigners cleaning the toilets in his hotel.

It is of course often immigrants who take on such jobs in rich countries. But foreign-born workers are rare here as only about 1.5% of the population are made up of non-native Japanese.

However, the low immigration level is only part of the explanation. Japanese people do not see cleaning as a demeaning or shameful job.

School children are trained from a young age to sweep their classrooms and scour the playground for litter.

Lorry drivers wash their trucks at the end of every day. No restaurant ever serves a meal without first offering the customer a cleansing towel.

Recently, I visited a small technology company in Osaka. The president, Mr Sugimoto, is trying to inspire his staff to work harder as recession takes hold.
He is noted for his drive and enthusiasm and that came across in a punchy presentation which he showed me on his laptop.

It included photographs of his staff on their knees scrubbing the urinals.

His point was that in preparation for a new project, the whole team had mucked in to clean up the workplace and this was clearly a source of pride to be included in the company's publicity.

Source of comfort
But toilets can raise a smile, too. Television comedies sometimes include scenes of pranksters luring people into loos whose walls then collapse, and the embarrassment this causes the victim is a source of great hilarity.

The Japanese - like the British - do not seem to mind too much when comedians sink into vulgarity and joke about scatological matters.

But there is also a dark underground trade in DVDs filmed in ladies' toilets by hidden cameras, and only last week a man was arrested for placing "spycams" in the lavatories of a girls' school.

Most of the time, though, the Japanese are happy to think of a toilet as their comfort and their friend.

The other day, while catching a commuter train to work, I found myself transfixed by an advertisement which was being screened on a TV inside the carriage. A young girl slowly walked towards a loo, which automatically raised its lid to greet her.

The toilet then appeared to give a welcoming robotic smile and its seat began to glow an inviting orange colour as it heated up, ready for action. Fortunately, the advertisement ended there. But not before a broad and appreciative smile broke out across the face of the girl.