stuff.

Just a few days ago I asked a friend of mine what ‘B’ stands for when we refer to the different hardness of pencil leads. There’s HB, 2B, 3B pencils etc. I remember in primary school, we weren’t allowed to use HB pencils cos it was too light to be seen. So everyone was supposed to buy 2B pencils instead.

But what’s ‘B’?

Here’s what I found:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060903070417AArblAn

Pencil leads are graded by hardness and B stands for ‘Black’. The number/alphabet in front is the rating of hardness eg. H is for Hard while increasing numbers means increasing softness.

Interesting!

Recently I’m finding alot of rainbow flags strung all around the temples in Singapore. Earlier on, I mentioned to my mother about the rainbow flags hung in the churches of Toronto which symbolises LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual) Pride so mum thought that perhaps these flags were also similar ones. I’m not sure about Buddhist’s stand on LGBT issues but I doubt those flags had anything to do with that. =)

If you take a closer look at these flags you’ll realise that these rainbow flags aren’t of the same design nor do they have the same number of colors. They are very different in fact!

This is how the Buddhist flags look like:

the LGBT pride flag looks like this:

Pretty different I would say.

Curious about rainbow flags, I went to do a quick wikisearch and realised that there’s just so many versions of rainbow flags, each symbolising or representing different things.

There’s of course the pride flag, the buddhist flag, PACE flag (which is the italian peace flag), International cooperative movement flag and so on. (click on the links to view each one) It’s amazing to see that there is such a wide variety of rainbow flags around the world each with its own symbolic meaning.

Anyhow, back to the Buddhist flags. I wonder how many Buddhist here in SG actually know how the flag came to existence? Did you know it’s actually a pretty modern creation (designed in 1880) by a famous American Buddhist by the name of Colonel Henry Steele Olcott?  Apparently the colors on the buddhist flag represents the aura that Buddha emanated at the point of his enlightenment. I don’t know about you, but I do find it interesting.

Oh and the reason why there’s so many of these Buddhist flags hanging ard the Buddhist temples these days? Because Vesak day is coming! =) A public holiday! Hurrah!

Ever wondered why clouds can be white and fluffy like cotton on bright sunny days and dark and gloomy when it’s gonna rain?

My mum used to tell me that was cos the clouds absorbed all that dirt in the skies, turning it really dark and dirty. (That’s also why she says it’s not a good idea to get yourself wet standing in the rain)

So are the clouds dirty just before it rains? Well, not really.

The truth is, when you look at clouds, the extent of their brightness (or greyness) depends on how much light is reflected into your eyes. The more water droplets there are in the skies, the more light is absorbed such that less light can reach your eyes –> hence darker clouds. When there isn’t a lot of water droplets in the skies, most of the light can be reflected into your eyes and you see the the clouds are white.

When there is a lot of water droplets in the skies, they block off a lot of light, hence causing the clouds to look dark. And because there is a lot of water droplets in the skies, it is more likely that dark clouds signify that it’s going to rain!

I found a more scientific explanation in this site here: do read it for better insight!

It was raining again today and my feet got wet. The wet straps rubbing my feet made me think of a question I had some time back - Why is it that wet socks make it a lot easier for a person to get abrasion?

Searching online, I discovered this site which did a great job answering my question.

Heat, moisture and friction all play roles in the formation of blisters, and each heightens the severity of the others, thereby creating a Blister Cycle. Excess heat signals the body to produce sweat to lower the skin’s temperature through evaporative cooling. Wet socks increase the amount of friction (stickiness) on the skin’s surface which soften and weaken the skin. Linear or torsional movements create shearing forces which subsequently cause the skin and inner tissue to tear apart. This separation soon fills with fluid to form a blister.

Now my question is answered. =) Hurrah for the internet.

No idea? You’ll never guess it. It was Thomas Edison. Yes. The Thomas Edison.

Got that info from here:

According to a 1911 policy with the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, Edison had five dots tattooed on his left forearm. No one knew what the dots meant.

Interestingly, Edison was credited for inventing the basic tattoo machine. In 1876, he patented the Stencil-Pens, an engraving device that many years later was modified by Samuel O’Reilly to make the world’s first tattoo machine.

Though it would’ve been a neat thing, there was simply no evidence that Edison used his invention to give himself a tattoo.

I found this website long ago and it just came up in a conversation i had recently so here’s the site: http://www.ultrasonic-ringtones.com/

These ringtones, also known as mosquito ringtones, are popular amongst teens nowadays because of their purported usefulness - teens can hear the phone ring but adults can’t.

This is true to some extent since teens have a better hearing ability (most of the time) and can therefore hear a wider range of sounds so when the ringtones reach a certain high frequency, only those whose  hearing abilities are good enough can hear the ringtones.

You can click through the various ringtones in the website to see how good your ears are. A word of warning though, some sounds can be so high pitched that your ears might throb a long time after you stopped listening to it. =p I learnt this the hard way. =p

Anyway, just another trivia: These ringtones were initially used in certain shops to deter teens and kids from loitering near the shops as the high pitch sound irritates and repels these youngsters but not the adults with purchasing power (since adults can’t hear a thing).

A transplant patient adopted her donor’s immune system and blood group after a liver transplant.

Sounds amazing! Read on http://www.physorg.com/news120396291.html.

http://www.neatorama.com/2008/01/17/10-smurfiest-facts-about-the-smurfs

Brings back loads of memories. =)

Most sharks are harmful to people — FALSE
Of the more then 350 shark species, about 80 per cent are unable to hurt people or rarely encounter people.

Sharks will eat anything — FALSE

Most sharks prefer to eat certain types of invertebrates, fish and other animals. Some sharks eat mainly fish. Others eat other sharks or marine mammals. Some sharks are even plankton-eaters.
Whale sharks, the largest species of sharks, are voracious predators — FALSE
Whale sharks, which are the largest fish that ever lived, are plankton feeders like the great whales, thus the name.
The great white shark is a common, abundant species found off most beaches visited by humans — FALSE
Great whites are relatively uncommon large predators that prefer cooler waters. In some parts of their range, great whites are endangered.

Sharks are hard to kill — FALSE

Stress of capture weakens a shark, and so some sharks are easily killed in hook-and-line or net fishing.

Sharks aren’t the killing machine they are made out to be in Jaws. They are really just shy creatures who would tend to swim away from you. I encountered sharks while snorkelling once, and they really are more scared of you than you are of them. I know cos I tried to take pictures of them and they kept swimming away!

(taken from here)

Alot of sharks are being killed in a cruel manner every day because of their valuable fins.. Sadly, because many Asians love to eat shark fins, the fins industry is very big. And I’m very sad to be a part of the asian community who feeds this industry…

For those who do not understand why eating shark fin is cruel or for those who do not believe that sharks are shy creatures, do watch Sharkwater and find out for yourself.

Here’s one thing though:

“The oceans are the most important ecosystem on the planet, containing life that absorbs most of the carbon dioxide (global warming gas) that we put into the atmosphere, converting it to 70% of the oxygen we breathe. That life sits below sharks in the food chain, and shark populations have already dropped 90%. ” - Rob Stewart

When that happens, the delicate balance of the ocean’s ecosystem would be disrupted… we are really destroying our life support system..

I’ve pledged not to eat shark fin dishes and I hope more would follow. Together, we make a difference. Save the sharks and save yourselves!

Warning: this is just going to be a random set of instructables I saw the past few days.

An easy to make IQ paper toy cube

DIY Magnetic stirrer with hot plate for less than US$30 

A different kind of made of paper toy cube

DIY sterling engine 

And another paper toy 

Origami Ball 

And Oooh look! your very own wooden gear clock 

Now your job is to decide what kinda of theme (if any) I had for this bumper set. =)