Christian, The Lion

0 comments   Wednesday, July 30, 2008

hristian was a lion purchased in 1969 by two Australians living in London, John Rendall and Anthony 'Ace' Bourke (sometimes erroneously cited as Ace Berg) from Harrods department store.^[1] They had discovered him for sale in Harrods' exotic pets department and, concerned for his conditions and fate, decided to buy him.

However, Christian's increasing size and the cost of looking after him led them to the realization that they could not keep him in London for much longer. Thanks to a chance meeting with Bill Travers (who had starred in the movie Born Free), they hit upon the idea of sending Christian to Africa to live as a wild lion.

A year later, the duo traveled to Kenya to check on Christian’s progress and they were uncertain if the lion would recall them. They put themselves in the open, waiting to see how Christian reacts. The lion did remember them and jumped playfully on them in the manner of their old days back in London. Very touching tale to be told indeed - between Man & Animal.


.. read more here

Pig + Monkey

0 comments   Friday, July 25, 2008

Piglet with monkey's face

Villagers were shocked after a monkey-like piglet was born in China.



Curious locals flocked to the home of owner Feng Changlin after news of the piglet spread in Fengzhang village, Xiping township.

"It's hideous. No one will be willing to buy it, and it scares the family to even look at it!" Feng told Oriental Today.

He says the piglet looks just like a monkey, with two thin lips, a small nose and two big eyes. Its rear legs are also much longer than its forelegs, causing it to jump instead of walk.

Feng's wife said the monkey-faced piglet was one of five newborns of a sow which the family had raised for nine years.

"My God, it was so scary. I didn't known what it was. I was really frightened," she said.

"But our son likes to play with it, and he stopped us from getting rid of it. He even feeds it milk."

Neighbours have suggested the couple keep the piglet to see how it looks as it matures.

read more here

Contact lens firms are 'ripping us off'

0 comments

Contact lens firms are 'ripping us off'

Millions Of Britons who wear disposable contact lenses are the victims of a £250million annual rip-off, it has been claimed.

Industry insiders have revealed that expensive 'long-life' disposable lenses are exactly the same as cheap 'one-day' lenses.

The long-life lenses, which are sold to be reused for a week or a month, cost around £2.41 each - close to £5 a pair.

However, the daily disposable lenses, which are effectively the same lens, sell for 50p each - around £1 a day.

All these lenses are made of the same material in exactly the same proportions - 42 per cent polymer and 58 per cent water.

The only difference is that the daily versions have fractionally different diameters and curves. This has no bearing on whether they can be reused and makes little or no difference to the wearer.

The near identical nature of the lenses is one of the industry's best kept secrets, at least as far as Britain and Europe are concerned.

However, in the U.S. the contact lens companies Johnson & Johnson and Bausch & Lomb have both faced legal action over the issue.

Both have made multi-million dollar payments to disgruntled customers, who argued they had been misled, in order to settle the cases. In Britain, Johnson & Johnson sells the 1-day Acuvue, to be thrown away each day, the Acuvue, to be reused for one or two weeks, and the Sureview, to be reused over one month.

The company admitted to the Daily Mail that there is no medical reason why the daily lenses could not be reused and worn as long as the other brands, provided they were disinfected in the same way.

.. read more here

Batman "Dark Knight" Spoof

0 comments

GIC Makes Big Mistake With UBS

0 comments

Singapore Investment Arm To Sink Billions Into UBS

The Swiss bank is raising a total of 13 billion Swiss francs ($11.48 billion) in fresh capital from two investors. The Government of Singapore Investment Corp., which invests the city-state’s foreign-exchange reserves, will contribute 11 billion Swiss francs ($9.75 billion); the other investor was not identified, but was said by Reuters to be the government of Oman, which has been attempting to diversify its economy away from reliance on oil production.

.. read more here

UBS hit with New York auction-rate security suit

N.Y. State AG Andrew Cuomo files civil suit against Swiss banking giant for falsely marketing and selling investment to retail investors.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo Thursday brought a multi-billion dollar civil lawsuit against the Swiss banking giant UBS for allegedly pushing everyday investors into buying troubled auction-rate securities.

The lawsuit charges UBS (UBS) with falsely marketing and selling auction-rate securities as safe, cash-equivalent investments at a time when the market for these securities was under severe strain.

...

Investment by sovereign wealth funds has also emerged as a counterbalance to global private equity funds, particularly welcomed by companies whose owners insist on retaining control. GIC, for its part, told reporters in Singapore Tuesday afternoon that it is not seeking management control at UBS.

GIC’s deal with UBS is larger than the $7.5 billion investment the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority agreed to make in Citigroup (nyse: C - news - people ) on Nov. 26. Depending on the eventual conversion price, GIC would get about a 9% stake in UBS.

Last year, another Singaporean state investment agency, Temasek Holdings, agreed to spend about 2.2 billion pounds to buy an 11.55% stake in Standard Chartered Bank held by the Singapore-based Khoo family, becoming its largest shareholder.

Throughout its 26-year history, GIC has been headed by Singapore’s founder Lee Kuan Yew, who now holds the official title of “minister mentor,” as chairman of the board. It recently appointed as group managing director Lim Siong Guan, a career bureaucrat who doubles as chairman of the country’s Economic Development Board. Lim succeeded Lee Ek Tieng in September, after Lee retired from managing the company’s investments for 18 years.

.. read more here

UBS Under-Promises, Under-Delivers

LONDON - It was even worse than UBS had warned.

The Swiss bank spent most of October warning investors of an impending third-quarter loss of between 600 million and 800 million Swiss francs ($516.8 million-$689.0 million), but when the precise figure of 726 million Swiss francs ($625.3 million) finally hit on Tuesday it still managed to top gloomy expectations.

..

UBS first issued a profit warning in early October, blaming investments in the beleaguered American asset-backed securities market. Its losses are mirrored by U.S. counterparts like Merrill Lynch (nyse: ML - news - people ), which lost its chief executive on Tuesday following a $2.3 billion loss for the third quarter, which was tied to an $8.4 billion writedown.

.. read more here

Desert™ Cubes

0 comments   Thursday, July 24, 2008

i'm 80% done with my OpenGL assignment that I'm supposed to hand up on the 28th this month, and gotta rush my linux assignment AND tutorial asap which is to be due on 1st August...

speaking of which, i think i need to drink more water (my lips are cracking).. here's an interesting site that I came across !

Urine is not the culprit

Surprisingly, urine itself is not the main source of the problem. Urine is almost 98% water, mild in odour and is usually sterile.
The problems begin when bacteria bind with the solids found in urine.

The offensive smell we associate with urinals occurs when faecal bacteria digest uric proteins to give off toxic ammonia-based gases. Humans have a poor tolerance to the smell of ammonia, even at low concentrations.

Washrooms are covered with bacteria originating from faecal matter. Faecal bacteria become airborne when toilets are flushed. Eventually, bacteria settle on washroom surfaces and form bacterial colonies wherever there is a wet or damp environment, a food source, and protection from direct light.

A flushing urinal provides precisely these conditions.

Naturally, hygiene suffers in a wet washroom. The flushing mechanisms of urinals, for example, readily transfer pathogens to hands and spread infection.



Desert™ Cubes use microbial technology to interfere with the bacterial digestion that produces unpleasant odours, and the Desert ™Cube System contributes to better hygiene by turning your existing trough or bowl facilities into a touch-free waterless urinal.

Water creates an ideal environment for bacteria

Excessive flushing creates permanently damp surfaces on which bacterial colonies grow. The huge volume of water used to flush urinals adds to the problem by depositing calcium, salt, silica and lime scale (water scale).

Water scale coats fledgling bacterial colonies in a protective shell. Like a coral formation, bacteria and water scale continue to build up until they form virtually insoluble lumps of uric scale, which is the chief source of offensive odours in urinals. Uric scale also creates unsightly stains and can grow large enough to block pipes.

The presence of both faecal bacteria and urine solids is unavoidable in a washroom, as is the presence of dark areas like drains. However, Desert™ Waterless Urinal Cubes can disrupt the process of uric scale formation by reducing water usage dramatically.

Dragon Champion

0 comments   Wednesday, July 23, 2008

well, was looking a for book to read over the weekend when I stumbled upon this book. It tells of a tale of a young dragon named Aurel, and his encounters with siblings and the harse life filled with blighters, elves, dwarves and of course - the human race.

It's interesting to view the story in a dragon's perspective. There are different types of dragons - gold, black, red, green. Aurel was a grey, scaleless and that makes him vulnerable. But trading the weight of these scales blessed him with agility and speed that the others lack.

Can't wait to get my hands on the second book now.



* NEW * Click on the image view the enlarge version !