HashOut

Start with a record

2008-02-19T09:59:00.000-08:00

How did you welcome the New Year this time? G. Navakumar of Vellore, India ushered in 2008 by painting the flags of 102 countries on two rows of paper -- each 185 feet long. He then inserted a new year greeting between the parallel rows. The Indian flag had a picture of a white dove, indicating peace. He plans to add flags of another 90 countries for a place in the Limca Book of Records.

Ad industry looks at 'cyberia'

2008-02-17T10:40:00.000-08:00

The face of Indian advertising is changing. The action has shifted to 'cyberia' and advertising firms are reorienting themselves for a toehold on the digital domain. Industry insiders say the country's ad landscape will see more "integration and people-oriented nice campaigns" in the digital age."This is the age of online communities, messengers, blogs and searches. Advertising agencies will have

Daughter speak

2008-02-16T10:59:00.000-08:00

One person who was seen in Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign trail is her daughter Chelsea. Though she mixes with the crowd after Hillary's speech, she is out of bounds for the press. In Iowa recently, a kid reporter of Scholastic News, nine-year-old Sydney Rieckhoff, asked her, "Do you think your dad would be a good 'first man'?" Chelsea brushed her question aside, saying, "I'm sorry, I don't

Conman in uniform

2008-02-08T10:27:00.000-08:00

Conmen love playing the role of a policeman, with whom they interact the most. Loorthanathan from Bangalore, India is no different. He specializes in duping the gullible wearing police uniform. When he was arrested recently, the license plate of his bike had the letter 'G', which suggests that it belongs to the government. Loorthanathan, who the police claim cheated over 70 people, even had a

Go slow, baby!

2008-02-06T09:47:00.000-08:00

According to health officials in Satara district of Maharashtra (India), the family way should not be treated as expressway. The officials are reportedly offering prizes to couples who take their feet off the libido accelerator. If a couple delays their first baby by two years, the prize is INR 5,000; a three-year gap will give them INR 7,500. Does infertility merit a jackpot?

Screened over

2008-02-05T09:37:00.000-08:00

Beijing now boasts the largest LED screen in Asia. The recently unveiled 'skyscreen' stretches 250m above the pedestrian walkway at a newly opened shopping mall in the central business district.One can sip coffee and watch the various crafty videos on show. And surprisingly, there is no advertising, at least as yet. As of now, the only 'advertising' on the skyscreen are the propaganda videos

Save up to £547 per year on shopping

2008-02-04T02:09:00.000-08:00

The average household could save up to £547 every year by switching the five financial basics to the best deals on the market, new research from MoneyExpert.com shows.And financial comparison websites are the ideal way to shop around for the best deals on car insurance, home insurance, personal loans, credit cards and mortgages.MoneyExpert.com commissioned researchers Canvasse Opinion to audit

What a bummer!

2008-02-03T09:27:00.000-08:00

Pull up your pants or be pulled up by cops. Youth who walk with their pants half-down in Atlanta had better watch out. On August 30, a ban was imposed on low-slung pants, or any clothing that exposes underwear in public. Very low-slung trousers are already banned in Delcambre in Louisiana, where cheeky offenders can be fined US$500 or up to six months in jail.

Google policing Gmail

2008-02-01T07:17:00.000-08:00

Google has been well known for policing click fraud on its AdSense service. But Digital Inspiration has recently unearthed information about Google policing its Gmail service.Google decides how many people you can send an email at a time. 100 from POP or IMAP clients and 500 from the web client. Also, Google will penalize your account if a lot of emails you send bounce back due to failed

Bettercaring discover new trends in care home diets

2008-02-01T06:39:00.000-08:00

In light of new nutritional government guidelines from the UK Department of Health and members of the Nutrition Summit stakeholder group, Bettercaring has discovered that there are many positive changes being implemented across care homes in the UK.Bettercaring undertook some research this month to try and discover what sort of systems care homes were trialling in order to provide nutritionally

Know your health, online

2008-01-31T06:46:00.000-08:00

The invitation on a website reads: "Use nutrition tools to assess your health risks." Enter your height, weight, waist and hip measurements. And it will tell whether you are overweight or not!The website, nutritionvista.com, recommends visitors to contact its online dieticians to analyse steps to improve their health parameters."You are what you eat," says US-based gatroenterologist and

Duchess of dregs

2008-01-30T10:28:00.000-08:00

Next time you drink coffee, don't drain it to the dregs. Leave some behind for Nawal Gani of Bangalore (India) to tell you something about what lies ahead.44-year-old Gani reads the future from the left overs in a coffee cup, and claims she gets it at least 60 per cent right. "I don't predict. I guide people to know themselves better," she says. The patterns formed on the interior of the cup are

Big events & your memory

2008-01-28T10:08:00.000-08:00

When you experience an emotionally-charged event, it's something that is etched into your memory, and now scientists think they know why. In experiments with mice, researchers found that powerful surges of hormone norepinephrine -- surges that occur during emotional episodes -- cause a series of events that strengthen the connections between neurons, sealing these events into memory. "The

Babies can tell friend from foe

2008-01-27T09:53:00.000-08:00

Infants who have not yet learned language can still tell friend from foe. Babies aged around six months prefer people who co-operate, rather than people who hurt. This ability could be the foundation for moral thought and action later in life, say researchers.Previous studies had showed that babies prefer physically attractive people, but there has been no data on whether babies judge people

Testing times

2008-01-26T08:07:00.000-08:00

Can extra-curricular test mean chastity test, too? The West Java province's plan to carry out virginity tests on female high school students was dropped after a public outcry. The test was planned after a video of two high school students having sex was circulated via mobile phones.

Sacred fig weds Neem!

2008-01-25T09:15:00.000-08:00

People of a village near Sirumuga in Coimbatore district (India) performed an unsual wedding -- they got a 'neem' tree married to a 'pipal' (Sacred fig) tree. The knot was tied in south Indian style in the presence of a priest and amid chanting of hymns and nadaswaram recital in early August, 2007. The ceremony was to protect forests and maintain world peace.

Tub boats

2008-01-24T12:22:00.000-08:00

What would you pack when going on a vacation to Dinant, an hour away from Brussels? Take a bathtub, by all means. This city on the River Meuse hosts La Regate des Baignoires or the International Regatta of Bathtubs!The event is open to 'river-worthy' bathtubs of all classes and nationalities. More of a joke than a contest, it allows vessels of any design, but at least one bathtub must be part of

Glass mates

2008-01-22T12:05:00.000-08:00

Heard of proposals during safaris, on airplanes and during candle-lit dinners. Rebecca Savoy was surprised when a huge W popped up on the screen during her vision-test. Then came ILL and the rest followed (in pic). Her boyfriend Joseph Wachtel had roped in the optometrist to help him pop the question.

Bid Daddy

2008-01-21T11:55:00.000-08:00

Daad Mohammed Murad Abdul Rahman, 60, has already married 15 times and has two more brides lined up. He divorced 12 of them to stay within the legal norm of four wives.The father of 78 is in a bid to reach his target of 100 children by 2015. His eldest child is 36 years old and the youngest, 20 days. The 'extended family' stays in about 15 houses in Ajman (United Arab Emirates).

Serving her majesty

2008-01-20T10:11:00.000-08:00

A 552-year tradition was broken in September last year when Moira Cameron, 42, became the first female Beefeater, taking up her post as a guardian of the Tower of London.She beat five men to secure the coveted position and has undergone two months of intensive training to learn the 21 separate duties that the Beefeaters perform each day, including guarding the crown jewels, participating in the

Astronomical off-season rates

2008-01-07T10:03:00.000-08:00

Russia may be known for its bitter, long winters but what many people don't know is that its summer can be scorching. That's something wealthy Muscovites don't want to deal with. To cater to their whims is the availability of summer snow, the latest luxury fad. The really lucky ones, however, are the snow-making machine producers who are making hay, sorry snow, while the sun shines. So far, at

Clear cutter, before it kills you

2008-01-06T01:17:00.000-08:00

It's called the disease of affluenza. Too much stuff owing to too much affluence. The result is a quagmire of clutter. Living in clutter is more than just a matter of aesthetics. It can be hazardous to your health. According to lifestyle gurus, clutter and disorganisation create a negative home environment that gets the blood pulsing through the body, sending people into a stressful state that

Pep up your office without burning a hole in your pocket

2008-01-05T12:29:00.000-08:00

It's a brand new year. So why not pep up the office (or the home office) for a brand new start. May be you could get some new office furniture, office supplies, a brand new Apple Macintosh or a nice comfortable ergonomic office chair for yourself! Ah, I know what you are thinking about. Don't you worry. You don't need to burn a hole in your pocket.Just visit OfficeDeals.info to grab thousands of

Well-watered

2008-01-05T06:54:00.000-08:00

Those who drink like a fish might be stopped from sailing. Madrid is considering breathalyser tests for inebriated yacht owners. The police found revellers sailing home to avoid being arrested for drunken driving. Spain's drunken driving rate is almost double that of Netherlands and Britain.