St. Valentine's Story

Let me introduce myself. My name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during the third century. That was long, long ago! At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. I didn't like Emperor Claudius, and I wasn't the only one! A lot of people shared my feelings.

Claudius wanted to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their wives and families. As you might have guessed, not many men signed up. This made Claudius furious. So what happened? He had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his new law was cruel. I thought it was preposterous! I certainly wasn't going to support that law!

Did I mention that I was a priest? One of my favorite activities was to marry couples. Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, I kept on performing marriage ceremonies -- secretly, of course. It was really quite exciting. Imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and groom and myself. We would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of soldiers.

One night, we did hear footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple I was marrying escaped in time. I was caught. (Not quite as light on my feet as I used to be, I guess.) I was thrown in jail and told that my punishment was death.

I tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit me. They threw flowers and notes up to my window. They wanted me to know that they, too, believed in love.

One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit me in the cell. Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours. She helped me to keep my spirits up. She agreed that I did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. On the day I was to die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. I signed it, "Love from your Valentine."

I believe that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine's Day. It was written on the day I died, February 14, 269 A.D. Now, every year on this day, people remember. But most importantly, they think about love and friendship. And when they think of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand in the way of love, and they laugh -- because they know that love can't be beaten!

Seven reasons the world will end in 2012

Scientific experts from around the world are genuinely predicting that five years from now, all life on Earth could well finish.Some are saying it'll be humans that set it off. Others believe that a natural phenomenon will be the cause. And the religious folks are saying it'll be God himself who presses the stop button...

1. Mayan Calendar

The first mob to predict 2012 as the end of the world were the Mayans, a bloodthirsty race that were good at two things: Building highly accurate astrological equipment out of stone and
Sacrificing Virgins.

Thousands of years ago they managed to calculate the length of the lunar moon as 329.53020 days, only 34 seconds out. The Mayan calendar predicts that the Earth will end on December 21, 2012. Given that they were pretty close to the mark with the lunar cycle, it's likely they've got the end of the world right as well.

2. Sun Storms

Solar experts from around the world monitoring the sun have made a startling discovery: our sun is in a bit of strife. The energy output of the sun is, like most things in nature, cyclic, and it's supposed to be in the middle of a period of relative stability. However, recent solar storms have been bombarding the Earth with so much radiation energy, it's been knocking out power grids and destroying satellites. This activity is predicted to get worse, and calculations suggest it'll reach its deadly peak sometime in 2012

3. The Atom Smasher

Scientists in Europe have been building the world's largest particle accelerator. Basically its a 27km tunnel designed to smash atoms together to find out what makes the Universe tick. However, the mega-gadget has caused serious concern, with some scientists suggesting that it's properly even a bad idea to turn it on in the first place. They're predicting all manner of deadly results, including mini black holes. So when this machine is fired up for its first serious experiment in 2012, the world could be crushed into a super-dense blob the size of a basketball.

4. The Bible says...

If having scientists warning us about the end of the world isn't bad enough,religious folks are getting in on the act aswell. Interpretations of the Christian Bible reveal that the date for Armageddon, the final battle between Good an Evil, has been set down for 2012. The I Ching, also known as the Chinese book of Changes, says the same thing, as do various sections of the Hindu teachings..

5. Super Volcano

Yellowstone National Park in the United States is famous for its thermal springs and Old Faithful geyser. The reason for this is simple - it's sitting on top of the world's biggest volcano, and geological experts are beginning to get nervous sweats. The Yellowstone volcano has a pattern of erupting every 650,000 years or so, and we're many years overdue for an explosion that will fill the atmosphere with ash, blocking the sun and plunging the Earth into a frozen winter that could last up to 15,000 years. The pressure under the Yellowstone is building steadily, and geologists have set 2012 as a likely date for the big bang.

6. The Physicists

This one's case of bog-simple maths mathematics. Physicists at Berekely Uni have been crunching the numbers. and they've determined that the Earth is well overdue for a major catastrophic event. Even worse, they're claiming their calculations prove, that we're all going to die, very soon - while also saying their prediction comes with a certainty of 99 percent- and 2012 just happens to be the best guess as to when it occurs.

7. Slip-Slop-Slap- BANG!

We all know the Earth is surrounded by a magnetic field that sheilds us from most of the sun's radiation. What you might not know is that the magnetic poles we call north and south have a nasty habit of swapping places every 750,000 years or so - and right now we're about 30,000 years overdue. Scientists have noted that the poles are drifting apart roughly 20-30kms each year, much faster than ever before, which points to a pole-shift being right around the corner. While the pole shift is underway, the magnetic field is disrupted and will eventually disappear, sometimes for up to 100 years. The result is enough UV outdoors to crisp your skin in seconds, killing everything it touches

Christmas Holiday Facts

There's no other holiday like Christmas. Many of us celebrate the holidays without knowing how our traditions got started or what they signify. Christmas is much more fun when you know some facts behind the holiday.

Most of these facts are very interesting and reminds us that there is quite a bit of history behind our family customs. Try using the Christmas Holiday Facts to make your own Christmas quiz for holiday parties and add a unique touch with personal favorites.

Christmas Holiday Facts: (World Amazing Facts)

• The word Christmas is Old English, a contraction of Christ's Mass.

• The first president to decorate the white house Christmas tree in the United States was Franklin Pierce.

• Electric lights for trees were first used in 1895.

• The first Christmas cards were vintage and invented in 1843, the Victorian Era

• "It's a Wonderful Life" appears on TV more often than any other holiday movie.

• "Rudolph" was actually created by Montgomery Ward in the late 1930's for a holiday promotion. The rest is history.

• "The Nutcracker" is the most famous Christmas ballet.

• "Jingle Bells" was first written for Thanksgiving and then became one of the most popular Christmas songs.

• If you received all of the gifts in the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas", you would receive 364 presents.

• The poinsettia plant was brought into the United States from Mexico by Joel Poinsett in the early 1800's.

• Holly berries are poisonous.

• Contrary to common belief, poinsettia plants are non-toxic.

• In 1843, "A Christmas Carol" was written by Charles Dickens in just six weeks.

• The first state to recognize the Christmas holiday officially was Alabama

• Christmas became a national holiday in America on June, 26, 1870.

• Coca Cola was the first beverage company to use Santa for a winter promotion.

• An angel told Mary she was going to have a baby.

• Clearing up a common misconception, in Greek, X means Christ. That is where the word "X-Mas" comes from. Not because someone took the "Christ" out of Christmas.

• Traditionally, Christmas trees are taken down after Epiphany.

• More diamonds are sold around Christmas than any other time of the year.

• In Mexico, wearing red underwear on New Year's Eve is said to bring new love in the upcoming year.
  

Audi Locus : 2007

The name Locus means a condition that defines a continuous figure which is a curve.

The main characteristics of the design are the way its surface shapes are formed with a continuous flow from front until the back of the car. Inspiration for that was obviously the Mother Nature we deal with daily but somehow we usually do not realize that everything in the nature has somehow its specific curves and flowing lines it is very rarely to spot perfectly straight lines. The main goal was to implement this design aspect into a car which creates a relaxing, energetic, vibrant and confident feeling.

It is clear to see a curved sharp edged line that starts at the very front, flowing through the middle section, slightly curved down after the A pillar and then going back up again at the rear wheel arches to follow its way back until the diffuser. This same curve language is also applied to the greenhouse and the way windows are shaped. The front is somehow aggressive looking with the traditional AUDI grill and air intakes that are shaped very much like the headlights to create a coherent feeling. The rear section is obviously very organic with defined curves and subtle details, tail lights are designed to have integrated air outtakes underneath them to avoid any unnecessary details. With dual exhaust and fairly empty rear section, it creates a feeling of subtleness. Another feature is the air intake at the end of the roof which is designed to avoid any distracting design elements on the top of the car combining elegance with functionality.

Atomic BOMB ON HIROSHIMA

THINGS YOU NEVER KNEW YOUR CELLPHONE COULD DO

                           EMERGENCY
> The Emergency Number worldwide for**Mobile** is112

> If you findyourself out of coverage area of your mobile
> network and there is an emergency, 
> dial 112
> and the mobile will search any existing network to
> establish the emergency number for you, 

> and interestingly this number 112can be dialled even if the
> keypad is locked.
> **Try it out.**

> Have you locked your keys in the car? Does you car have

> remote keys?
>
> This may come
in handy someday. Good reason to own a cell
> phone:
> If you lock your keys in the car and the spare keys are at
> home, call
> someone at home on their cell phone from your cell phone.
> Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and

> have the person at your home press the unlock button,
> holding it near the mobile phone on their end. Your car will
> unlock.
> Saves someone fro having to drive your keys to you.
> Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away,

> and if you can reach someone who has the other
> "remote" for your car, you can unlock the doors
> (or the trunk).



                Hidden batterypower

> Imagine your cell battery isvery low, you are expecting an
>
 important call and you don't have a charger. 
> Nokia instrument comes with a reserve battery.
> To activate, press the keys
> *3370# 
> Your cell will restart withthis reserve and the instrument

> will show a50%increase in battery.
> This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell
> next time AND...
>                       
     How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone? 


> To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in the
> following digits on your phone: 
> * # 0 6 #
> A 15 digit code will appear on the screen. This number is
> unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere

> safe. when your phone get stolen, you can phone your service
> provider and give them this code. They will then be able to
> block your handset so even if the thief changes the
 SIM
> card, your phone will be totally useless.
> You probably won't get your phone back, but at least
> you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either.


> Be care while using your mobile phone
> When you try to call someone through mobile phone,don't
> put your mobile closer to your ears until the recipient
> answers. Because directly after dialling, the mobile phone

> would use it's maximum signalling power, which is: 2
> watts = 33dbi, Plz Be Careful, Message as received (Save
> your brain) Please use left ear while using cell (mobile),
> because if you use the right one it will affect brain

> directly. This is a true fact from Apollo medical team.
> Please spread this useful information around
> SAFETY BY ALL FOR ALL 

Use Different Firefox Profiles For Different Browsing Habits

One of the most under-looked features of Firefox is its ability to run different profiles. This is perfect for various reasons. If more than one person is using the same computer, each person can have a different profile where he can have his own customized Firefox setting - such as extensions or bookmarks.

Another reason to use different profiles is when using FireFox for different purposes. Obviously, most people don’t use every extension every time they use Firefox. However, the fact that the extension is installed makes Firefox startup and run slower than usual. The more extensions you run, the slower Firefox will run.

Use Firefox Profiles for different browsing habits

You can create Firefox profiles for the different browsing habits that you have. For example, if you are a web developer, you can have all extensions for that on one profile, without the unnecessary ones cluttering your Firefox. Likewise, if you want to browse without leaving any trace -”private browsing” - you can have a profile with the extension distrust or stealther and noscript.

For normal browsing, you can have another profile, and so on. This will keep your Firefox neat and fast - leaving only the necessary extensions and bookmarks for their respective purposes.

To use Firefox Profiles, follow these steps:

1. Go to Start->Run and type:

Firefox -p

ffprofile.gif
2. Click on Create Profile and name it whatever you want (porn mode, work…)

3. Run each profile and set it up exactly how you want it - download the correct extensions and place the bookmarks that you need.

Place desktop shortcuts for each profile:

To create shortcuts for each Firefox profile, put a shortcut for Firefox on your desktop for each profile. So if you have 4 profiles, place 4 shortcuts to Firefox. Right click->Properties on each shortcut and go to the Shortcut tab. In the target field, it will be something like this:

“C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe”

Simply add -p name to the end where name is the name of the profile. So if the profile name is ‘private’ the Target field should look like this:

“C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe” -p private

ffprofile21.gif
Do this for every shortcut of Firefox.

Depending on how many extensions you normally use, this can speed up your firefox significantly (especially how long it takes it to start up) because the extensions are spread over more profiles. Also, it’s much less cluttered because you can spread bookmarks also.