The ultimate in recycled bottles - a catamaran sailing from San Francisco to Sydney...

The ultimate in recycled bottles - a catamaran that can sail from San Fransisco to Sydney...

Eco-adventurer David de Rothschild is set to sail from San Francisco in America to Sydney in Australia, in a catamaran made from 12,500 recycled bottles and with a mast made from an old aluminium irrigation pipe.

De Rothschild is a 31 year old descendant of England's banking dynasty, and his five crew will drink water recycled from their urine and eat vegetables grown hydroponically during the three month sea journey.

Now this has to be the ultimate in recycling and green in application.

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A rape trial aborted because judge went on holiday...

A rape complainant will be forced to give evidence twice after the trial of her alleged attacker was aborted because the judge went on an overseas holiday.

The 50-year-old woman took the witness stand in the Auckland District Court on Monday for what was originally set down as a four-day trial.

She was part-way through giving evidence when the trial was aborted as it became clear the case would not finish before Judge Philippa Cunningham flew to Australia yesterday for a pre-booked holiday.

Don't provide too much info on your Twitter account...

Image via CrunchBase

Don't provide too much info on your Twitter account...

Don't provide too much information on your Twitter account. You could actually provide burglars with enough information to rob your place.

Hey I'm down the pub this evening. You won't find me at home until about 9pm. Yeah right!

A few things could be discovered missing after 9pm too!

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The history of post-war generations in profile...

Image via Wikipedia

The history of post-war generations in profile...

First published at Qondio:

The history of post-war generations in profile...

The Builders: 1920-1945 The Great Depression and World War2 produced a generation with a strong work ethic, financial conservatism and respect for authority.

The Baby Boomers: 1946-1964 Born in era of financial prosperity, they are vocal on social issues and liberal in outlook.

Generation X: 1965-1079 Cunical about authority and open to new forms of spirituality, but in secure about their financial future.

Generation Y: 1980-1994 Labelled as flighty and transient, they are known as the "me now" generation.

Generation Z: 1995-2009 Tech-savvy, creative, confident and with strong work ethic - the result of more mature parents and the economic downturn.

Acknowledgements: Peter Petterson

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Commercial blogging on community blogs

Commercial blogging on community blogs...

When it comes to commercial blogging, I don't have a problem when it is made completely transparent and obvious from the word go.

But when they post a short piece on climate change for instance, a popular subject these days, and link to sunglasses - that is splogging in my book.

I don't know whether the people responsible are ignorant, too clever by half or just plain stupid, but they get right up my proverbial nose!

But whatever, they become prime candidates for the delete button; they have been warned!

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• Blog Action Day (osocio.org)

http://huttsblogesphere.blogspot.com/

http://huttsblogesphere.blogspot.com/

A beer a day, keeps the doctor away...

A beer a day keeps the doctor away. Or, more correctly, the orthopaedist.

That's right drink up — beer is good for your bone health.

A regular pint has been shown to help strengthen bones and prevent fractures in old age, according to media reports.

Cheers to that.

The key health ingredient in beer is silicon which has been linked to improved bone mineral density.

But you have to be selective about which brew you use to wet your whistle.

The best beers for silicon are the pale malted ales and lagers.

Dark bitters and stouts aren't as beneficial as they are made with roasted barley, which has a lower silicon content.

Wheat beers contain even less silicon than barley, so steer clear of them for bone health.

The findings have been published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture

Al qaeda jihad call in Yemen illegal...

Al Qaeda jihad call in Yemen illegal...

The Yemen - based wing of al Qaeda called on the internet yesterday for Muslims in the Arabian peninsula to wage holy war against Christians and Jews."You have no other way out from this plight than to wage jihad." the wing's deputy leader, Saeed al Sheri said.

This is actually illegal under the terms set out in the Koran. Muslims can only inflict what has been inflicted on them. The Yemeni based deputy leader has no authority to call a jihad, only Allah can do that, according to Muslim spokesmen.

Ambitious John Key's tax reforms lamblasted by critics....

Ambitious John Key's tax reforms lamblasted by critics....


John Key's tax reforms lamblasted by critics. But did they really expect anything different? AS PM John Key has really done nothing. His job is to get National re-elected and then hand over the reins to Bill English, because National knows he couldn't get elected as prime minister. And John Key wants to follow Helen Clark out into the big world yonder.

Economic commentator Bernard Hickey says the Prime Minister rightly pointed out there is a big hole in New Zealand's tax system, but he has done nothing to plug it.

He says Mr Key has ruled out a capital gains or land tax, sending a grim message to those not already owning a home.

"John Key was essentially saying to those people who don't own property now, that there isn't much hope, he isn't going to change the tax system in any major - and if you want to buy a house, you may as well buy a one-way ticket to Australia or somewhere else."

Mr Hickey says Mr Key has decided to take the easy way out to make sure he is re-elected in 2011.Re-elected to hand over the reins to the unelectable Bill English.

Labour's on the warpath over suggestions GST may rise, after Mr Key signaled the idea is under consideration for this year's Budget. A 2.5 percent rise would earn the Government an extra $2 billion, money that could be used to reduce top tax rates.

Labour leader Phil Goff is damning of any move to increase GST.

"What New Zealander that he's met out in the street has told him that they want the price of their bread to go up? The price of their milk? The price of their power? The price of their kids' shoes and their back to school needs?"

Mr Goff says no-one asks for an increase in GST except those in the top income bracket, who will take it in exchange for tax relief for the high incomes they are earning.

Mr Goff says the speech delivers no real action plan for the country and it was more like "tiptoe Tuesday" than the "big Tuesday" National's spin doctors made it out to be.




Acknowledgements: © 2010 NZCity, NewsTalkZB

Infant sleep apnea can be confused with SIDS...

Infant sleep apnea can be confused with SIDS...

First published at Qondio:

I wrote this a couple of years ago and thought I might repost it here for discussion. I also published a short article about SIDS(Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)in a couple of my blogsites, and after noting the comments of two unrelated bloggers who had each lost a child to the terrible and heart breaking condition, I wondered if there was any connection between SIDS and sleep apnea, both of which cause the stoppage of breathing. As a consequence I have done a little research
and have come up with the following.

Many people think of sleep apnea as a disease of adulthood, and especially of middle aged adults over the age of 50 years. It is also believed to be more prevalent in men. But the truth of the matter is that anybody can get sleep apnea, from little premature babies to aging senior citizens.

It is common among premature infants whose apnea is caused by brain messages failing to reach the nerves and muscles that control breathing. Their respiratory centres are not yet mature; it is also common for them to have brief episodes of apnea while sleeping.

Infant sleep apnea applies to infants over 37 weeks of age and can be a frightening experience for parents because the infants can stop breathing while asleep. They can become very pale or even bluish in colour and the muscles become very limp. These episodes of sleep apnea are often mistaken for the onset of SIDS; they may well be related but as yet there is no proof of this.

A palindrome birthday reminder for you...

A palindrome birthday reminder for you...


United Staes recreational mathematician and puzzle maker Martin Gardner's two palindrome birthdays coincided with two palindrome years: his 77th was in 1991 and 88th in 2002.

The year 2002 marked the 171st anniversary of Michael Faraday's discovery of electromagnetic induction. The next palindrome year, 2112, will mark Mother Teresa's 202nd birthday.

The 535th anniversary of the publication of the first edition of Isaac Newton's natural philosophy book PRINCIPIA will take place in 2222. Benjamin Franklin's 626th birthday will happen in 2332, and 2442 will mark the 686th birthday of Austrian composer Wolfgang Arnadeus Mozart, the 636th birthday of British mathematician Augustus De Morgan, and Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan's 555th birthday.

And what is a palindrome, you may ask? Something that reads the same backwards and forwards. I hope I made your day!

Source: Aziz Inan