What's scary about Friday the Thirteenth?

The coming Friday is 13th of this month. So what? Well, I'm sure you must have heard of this belief - Friday the thirteenth is unlucky (very, actually). As you would've expected, there's no scientific logic behind it, it's just belief.

The fear of it, is actually made up of two separate fears - one for the number 13 and the other for Friday.

The number 13 is considered unlucky because it is the number of people who were present at the Last Supper (Jesus and his 12 apostles). Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th of them to arrive. The fear of Friday is related to Jesus too. It is believed that Jesus was crucified on a Friday.

There's a Britain version to this fear as well. Public hangings were usually carried out on Fridays with 13 steps leading up to the noose.

This Friday is definitely going to be a little exciting for some of us. Well, the only thing I can say is - Enjoy!

Is time flying too fast or too slow at times?

Do you get the feeling that time isn't fair at times? When you're in a boring meeting or classroom, fifteen minutes seems like an hour and when you're in a conversation with a loved one or surfing the net, one hour feels like fifteen minutes.

Time, believed to be universal, no matter the situation, day or place, time would be same for everyone although it is known that clocks aren't perfect and are subjected to errors.

Albert Einstein coined the term time dilation, that is, different speeds of time at different areas. The was known when two atomic clocks were placed at the top and bottom of a water tower. The clock at the top seemed to run fast whereas the one closer to the centre of the earth (the one at the bottom) moved slower.

Another theory by Paul Langevin, called the twin paradox, stated that if a pair twins, in which one of them lived at the top of a mountain and the other and the foot, they would age differently. The one at the top would age quickly while the one at the foot would age slower.

So, just in case you're doing something you like and want it to last, stay as close to the ground as possible. And during boring meetings, try having it in the room and the highest level.

Woman Found Living In A Closet

A Japanese woman was caught hiding in a stranger's closet for over a year in Tokyo. The woman, who claimed to be homeless and strayed into his house when he had left it unlocked and was left undetected for such a long period.

The owner of the house started to get suspicious when he discovered that food was disappearing from his kitchen on a regular basis. As the food continually started to vanish, he took a step forward in stopping it by installing security cameras in his house.

The camera had captured the stranger moving about his house. Believing it to be a burglar, the called the police to take control. The police searched every possible place they could and didn't find the woman until they slid open the top of the closet to discover the woman hiding inside.

The woman says she moved in a mattress into the closet and even took regular showers during her 'stay'.

Illegal Interview Questions

Have you been scared to go to an interview because they ask questions that either screw you up, embarrass you or leave you in a state of dejection? Well, certain questions are illegal, that is, the interviewer has no right to ask you those questions. Some of the common ones include :

• Questions related to physical or mental disabilities.
• Questions on age, sex, marital status, religion, beliefs, race etc.
• Questions about other family members.
• Questions related to previous criminal records.
• Questions on sexual preference.

It may be difficult to point out to the interviewer that he/she is not allowed to ask such questions, but since it's the right thing, it should be done. If you're a afraid, then try it in an interview which is not too important to you.

Use Vinegar As A Cosmetic

Ever wished that cosmetics and beauty would come cheaper? It actually does. Instead of running to the mall to buy your favourite brand, make your own using an inexpensive tool - vinegar.

There are quite a few methods to care for your skin using vinegar, as you'll see here

• Mixing vinegar and onion juice may help reducing the appearance of age spots on your face. Make sure you mixture contains equal amounts of vinegar and onion juice. It may take a few weeks for results, but just be patient and stick with it.
• Vinegar and water mixed to form a 50-50 solution can be used to a cleanser and toner for your face.
• Apple cinder vinegar can be used an effective aftershave which keeps the trimmed areas soft and free from bacteria.

Vinegar also helps to keep your hands "in touch" with you

• Soaking your finger tips in vinegar for a minute and then dip it in warm water before applying nail polish to help it last longer.
• A mixture of apple cinder vinegar and cool water helps to clean your hands and get rid of visible dirt.

Learn how to keep your hair healthier and better looking using vinegar

• Adding one tablespoon of vinegar to your hair works as a conditioner and keeps your hair shinier and cleaner.
• Massage vinegar into your hair before shampooing to keep your hair dandruff free.

Vinegar certainly proves to be more useful than just for cooking as some of us would have imagined.

C-4 Explosions

You read it in the news almost everyday. Bomb blasts occur very frequently in recent times especially in Central Asia. I'm sure you've heard of an explosive "C-4" playing a part in these explosives.

Firstly, explosives are substances which burn quickly producing a lot of heat and light. Most explosives have a detonator which produces shock waves to induce the combustion of the material to emit high amounts of pressure causing heat and light.

Talking specifically about what C-4 is, the 'C' stands for 'Composition'. The C-4 is mainly composed of cyclotrimethylene-trinitramine, popularly known as RDX which makes up 91% of the explosive. RDX is mainly available in the powdered form.

Large amounts of energy is required to set of the explosive. Lighting it with a match stick would take more time than you would imagine to set it of. Even using a gun to trigger it of would not do much. Use of a detonator or a blasting cap is compulsory.

The detonator transfers the shock from the control to the explosive to set it of. The explosion is caused by the expansion of gases mostly nitrogen and carbon dioxide. The gases expand at the rate of a whooping 26,400 feet per second (approximately).

Unfortunately, ever since the discovery of C-4, it's been continuing to make the headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent years.

Sleep Patterns

According to a recent poll held by us, 66% of the people sleep for 6-8 hours a day. That is a pretty ideal time to sleep. Sleep is an extremely important 'activity' in our life. It's got a lot of uses :

• Sleep reduces our energy consumption. So, since we don't do much in the night anyways, we might as well sleep and save the energy.
• Sleep repairs our tissues and helps builds our muscles.
• Sleep gives rest to our brain and controls the brain power

I'm not sure whether you were part of the poll, but if you sleep for 6-8 hours a day, then give yourself a pat on the back. You've taken one step forward in your life.

Protect Yourself from Pickpockets

It's never easy to protect yourself from a pickpockets. Pickpockets are usually extremely cautious people who camouflage themselves while performing their 'art'. They can dress up like anyone, rich businessmen, mothers with babies or anyone else who is least suspected.

The best you can do is to make it hard for pickpockets to gain access to your valuables. Instead of carrying your wallet in your back pocket where it is easy for pickpockets to sneak up behind you, use your side pocket which is more under your eye. Also, if you've got any valuables which are small enough to fit in your pocket, use the pocket instead of a backpacks. Backpacks are more vulnerable to pickpocketing that pockets.

Pickpockets usually know who is a vulnerable 'target'. They look for people who look confused, lost, distracted or involved in deep conversation with other people. Remember to always be conscious of the surroundings to avoid the pickpockets getting any ideas.

Remember to take immediate action if any important things are stolen. If your credit card is stolen, call your bank straight away and cancel your card. The same thing should be done with your license, your social security card and other important articles. Remember to also file a report with the police.

Sign-up Troubles? Don't worry

Ever had trouble signing up at a website? They ask you for your email address to sign up for an account at their site and you do it because their offer is too good to refuse? Then, they fill your email inbox with spam and other 'Once in a lifetime offers' ?

Now, there's a new method to tackle this problem. It's called NowMyMail.com

NowMyMail.com is a website that offers you a free disposable email address. All you have to do is click on the 'Click here to get your disposable email' tab and a random but unique email address with the suffix @nowmymail.com appears.

All you have to do is enter that email address at the site you want to sign up. Then, enter the very same disposable email address at NowMyMail.com and click on the 'Check mail' tab to check the registration mail. Confirm the registration and then your account at that site would probably be active and ready for you to use without revealing your real email address.

NowMyMail.com has received several complaints from a few forum directors that users are posting highly offensive content in their forums using NowMyMail.com's disposable email service. To tackle this problem, NowMyMail.com keeps all disposable account activated for only 60 minutes and so you cannot use that email address permanently. Also, the computer generated email address makes it an odd and unique named email address which ensures no duplication or spam.

This site gives us the facility to sign up at websites without the fear of spam.

And importantly, don't forget to check out it's blog for important updates.

Click here to visit NowMyMail.com

The History of April Fool's Day

We all play pranks on our friends on April Fool's Day, but have you ever wondered why people choose this day to poke at others?

Well, it goes all the way back to the year 1582. New Year used to be celebrated annually on the 1st of April by people until that year. Then, the Gregorian calender was introduced, which moved New Year's day from April 1st to January 1st.

There weren't many means of communicating in those days and the news of the change of date traveled very slowly. Certain people, though were informed of the news, decided to stick to tradition and refused to celebrate New Year on the 1st of January. Those people were considered to be 'fools' by the general public, were mocked at and were sent invitations to non-existing parties.

This practice continued over the years, and as you can see, it still continues with all of us joining the fun!