The Link Between Regression & Smoking

The prevalence of smoking reaches in great numbers and nowadays even kids in the age of 12 are already puffing this cancer stick. What makes people smoke? The top 3 reasons that I always get are the following:

1. To alleviate stress
2. Builds instant rapport
3. Smoking is cool (okay, scratch that)

To Alleviate Stress

How do you even alleviate stress by sucking up nicotine and smoke into your system? The effect of the nicotine gives that distinct feel but it makes you even more dependent because it’s addictive. If smoking would be your resort in reducing stress, there are better alternatives.

Builds Instant Rapport

I must say, this is probably the most annoying and yet true. I get left out when my friends smoke because I don’t, and out of nowhere, they get to have instant friends with random strangers. Smoking makes people connect, or the shared action would likely to mirror the stranger’s behavior creating an air of rapport. We can always establish rapport in different ways, but must I suggest not on their cigarette break.

Smoking is Cool

Okay, this is just silly. What made it cool? Oh, because of what the media hyped it up to be. I noticed that people who easily conforms to their own groups would be the ones susceptible to smoking. It’s not just that it is cool, but the people they look up to is acting it out, and this somewhat admiration of that person translates into their behavior. “If I smoke like what popular people do, I get to feel better about myself because at least on the shallowest form, I imitate what that cool person is doing” kind of thing. Really now? 

Aside from the 3, we also have to look at the socio-cultural aspect, starting from the very cell of a society which is the family. We form our habits in the comfort of our own home and with the people who conditions us on the things we do. Some families are okay with smoking and some are not, but the greater the number in the family that smokes, the higher the chance that one in the family will participate in it as well. It’s more about what fits.

But what exactly made the older family members smoke? One would think it’s a chain of inherited habits, but I know people who do not smoke even if being surrounded by smokers. It has something to do with our ego defense mechanisms, specifically Regression.

Regression, according to psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, is a defense mechanism leading to temporary or long-term reversion of the ego to an earlier stage of development rather than handling unacceptable impulses in a more adult way.

To simply say, you revert back to your childhood behavior where you lacked or overly-indulged in something. Aside from that, it’s closely linked to the psychosexual stages, Oral stage in particular. 

The term Oral Stage denotes the first psychosexual development stage where in the mouth of the infant is his or her primary erogenous zone. 

One becomes Orally fixated when during their infancy, the infant is either deprived or overly-indulged via mouth, having that as the case, it would manifest in the infant’s adult life.

It may very well explain the idea on why people smoke. Linking these two ideas, Regression and Oral Fixation. One of the evident things that backs up this conjecture is the idea of alleviating stress. As what I’ve said earlier and now we come to realize—this is the sole or the first reason why people smoke.

When we are going through something difficult that causes significant increase in our stress levels, our ego defenses are summoned to protect us against the bombardment of stress and anxiety. People, who are orally fixated or wasn’t able to find resolution on that stage, somehow commit regression—in a more subtle and sophisticated way of course—and this is done through smoking; it is socially acceptable in most places, a lot of people are doing it, and there’s an acceptance in smoking that makes people enjoy it. 

The next time you smoke, try to think of the reason on why you do the way you do, why you smoke and what made you to do so. You never know, you may be orally fixated, others would bite their nails, pencils, and even commit oral sex for the most over others, since these are not usually done for the most part, smoking is the viable way to express this oral fixation when they regress. 

I’m not telling you to stop smoking, but being mindful of the reasons on why you smoke (on a psychodynamic perspective) would be a big help when the time comes that you need to quit. The awareness itself would help you tolerate the withdrawal effects when you’re on your way to quitting since dependency of the mind to habitual consumption and intake of chemicals is a difficult feat to overcome.

Five Things You Should Know About Body Language

Excerpts taken from the book, “What Every Body Is Saying" by Joe Navarro. 

1. EYES 

“When we like something we see, our pupils dilate; when we don’t, they constrict. We have no conscious control over our pupils, and they respond both to external stimuli (for example, changes in light) and internal stimuli (such as thoughts) in fractions of a second.”

“When we become aroused, are surprised, or are suddenly confronted, our eyes open up—not only do they widen, but the pupils also quickly dilate to let in the maximum amount of available light, thus sending the maximum amount of visual information to the brain… Once we have a moment to process the information and if it is perceived negatively… in a fraction of a second the pupils will constrict.”

“Any decrease in the size of the eyes, whether through squinting or pupillary constriction, is a form of subconscious blocking behavior. And all blocking behaviors are indicative of concern, dislike, disagreement, or the perception of a potential threat.”

2. SHOULDERS

“We use shoulder shrugs to indicate lack of knowledge or doubt. Look for both shoulders to rise; when only one side rises, the message is dubious.”

“Partial shoulder shrugs indicate lack of commitment or insecurity.”

“If you see a person’s shoulders only partially rise or if only one shoulder rises, chance are the individual is not limbically committed to what he or she is saying and is probably being evasive or even deceptive.”

3. HANDS

“Hand steepling may well be the most powerful high-confidence tell. It involves touching the spread fingertips of both hands, in a gesture similar to “praying hands,” but the fingers are not interlocked and the palms may not be touching.”

“I see women steepling under the table or very low, undermining the confidence they genuinely possess. I hope that as they recognize the power of the steeple as an indicator of self-assurance, competence, and confidence—traits most individuals would want to be recognized as possessing—more women will embrace this gesture and display it above the table.”

4. THUMBS

“Often seen with high-status individuals, the thumb sticking out of the pocket is a high-confidence display.”

“When individuals carry their thumbs high, it is a sign that they think highly of themselves and/or are confident in their thoughts or present circumstances. Thumbs up is another example of a gravity-defying gesture, a type of nonverbal behavior normally associated with comfort and high confidence.”

“Feelings of low confidence can be evidenced when a person (usually a male) puts his hands in his pocket and lets the fingers hang out on the side… this signal says, ‘I am very unsure of myself.’”

5. LEGS

“Leg crossing is a particularly accurate barometer of how comfortable we feel around another person…We normally cross our legs when we feel comfortable. The sudden presence of someone we don’t like will cause us to uncross our legs.”

“When people sit side-by-side, the direction of their leg crosses becomes significant.”

“Here’s an interesting feature of leg crossing. We usually do it subconsciously in favor of the person we like the most.”

There you have it. The five things you should know and pay attention to when you’re studying body language. Focusing on these five will help you pay attention to even the most subtle of movements.

Reference

Navarro, J. (2008). What Every BODY is Saying. America: HarperCollins.

Cool Way to Hide Files Behind Image Using CMD and WINRAR

Today, I will teach you a way to hide some of your file behind image. What I mean is, you will actually put your files behind an image. This is a very effective way to hide any file with use of WinRAR and CMD.
To start off, first you need WinRAR. You can use Google to download it. After you download it, install it to you system. After that we are ready to go.

Learn To Hide Files Behind The Images...
 
1. Select an image to be used as a "hideout" image. This is where you will hide your file.

2. Now, select your file to hide behind the image and make it in .RAR format (the add to archive option),with the help of the WinRAR.

3. Next, put the image and your file on your desktop. You may do this anywhere instead of desktop if you have some basic understanding of command line.

4. Now open CMD by going to Start > Accessories > Command Prompt or press Windows Key on you keyboard plus R (WinKey + R) and type CMD then enter and type following commands in it.

         cd desktop

5. CD stands for change directory by typing above command you change your directory to desktop. After that type command

copy /b imagename.jpg + filename.rar finalimage.jpg

Replace "imagename.jpg" with the name of the image you're going to use. Don't forget to add image format (Eg: .jpg,.png,.gif)

Replace "filename.rar" with name of your file you want to hide. It must be in .rar format.

Finally Replace "finalimage.jpg" with whatever name you want your final image with hidden files should be. This is the image where your file will be hidden.

This is how it goes...

Now for extracting your files inside the image...

When you  try to open this newly created image it will open as normal image, but you can observe that the image size was changed into the size of the file you hid. Now, to get your hidden file all you need to do is:

How To Access Hidden File ?
1. Open WinRAR
2. Now locate your image (the final image produced.)
3. Extract the file and done.


That's it. As simple as that you now hide you important file inside an image. This is very useful in hiding confidential files.

This is one of my favorite trick. :)

Panthera Hybrid

Panthera 

   There are four living species of Panthera genus, namely: Panthera Leo (Lion), Panthera Tigris (Tiger), Panthera Onca (Jaguar), and Panthera Pardus (Leopard). These species can produce hybrid crosses which means, an offspring resulting from the mating of two genetically distinct individuals. 
   Names of these hybrids are produced either by compounding the names of the two species or sometimes by associating it with some traditional name. Below here are the list of hybrid cross between the four living Panthera genus.

(Photo source: Wikipedia)

Male Tiger

 • Tigon a hybrid cross between a male tiger and a lioness.   
 • Tiguar the crossbreeding of a male tiger and a female jaguar. 

 • Tigard the crossbreeding of a male tiger and a female leopard.

 • Taliger the crossbreeding of a male tiger and a female  liger.

 • Titigon the crossbreeding of a male tiger and a female tigon. 

Male Jaguar

 • Jagger produced by crossbreeding a male jaguar and female tiger. There has been no report of the birth of this hybrid.

 • Jaglion or jaguon is the offspring between a male jaguar and a female lion (lioness).

 • Jagupard, jagulep, or jagleop, is the hybrid of a jaguar and a leopardess. A single rosetted, female jagupard was produced at a zoo in Chicago. 

Male Leopard

 • Leoger or Dogla is a natural hybrid offspring of a male leopard and female tiger or possibly a leopard with aberrant patterns.

 • Leopon is a hybrid resulting from the crossing of a male leopard with a lioness. The head of the animal is similar to that of a lion while the rest of the body carries similarities to leopards.

 • Leguar is a hybrid resulting from the crossing of a male leopard with a female Jaguar.

 • Leoliguar is the result When the fertile offspring of a male lion and female jaguar (Liguar) mates with a leopard.

Male Lion

• Ligers, crossbreed between male lion and female tiger, can be over 4m long and are the largest cats in the world.

• Lipard or Liard is the proper term for a hybrid of a male lion with a leopardess. It is sometimes known as a reverse leopon. The size difference between a male lion and a leopardess usually makes their mating difficult.

• Liguar an offspring of a male lion and a female jaguar.

• Liliger an offspring of a male lion and a female liger.

• Litigon an offspring of a male lion and a female liger.

Random Animal Trivia

(Photo Source: Photobucket)

Random Trivia About Animals

1. If an ant was the same size as us, it would be twice as fast as a Lamborghini.

2. A rat can last longer without water than a camel can.

3. Slugs have four noses.

4. Tigers cannot purr. To show happiness, tigers squint or close their eyes.

5. Starfish is the wrong way to call a starfish, it should be 'Seastar'.

6. Jellyfish is not a fish, it is an echinoderms. The correct term is 'Seajelly'.

7. Secretariat was the first race horse to win the U.S. Triple Crown on June 9, 1973. They also made a movie about his life.

8. You can hear a Lion’s roar up to 5 miles away.

9. Small animals, like ants, cannot die by falling from any height.

10. Sarah, the fastest animal on land, is a speedy cheetah from Cincinnati Zoo who sprinted 100m in 6.13seconds. Over 3 seconds faster than Usian Bolt (9.58s).

11. There is a snake called Boomslang and its venom disables the blood clotting process and the victim may well die as a result of internal and external bleeding.

12. Elephants can die of a broken heart if a mate dies. They refuse to eat and will lay down, shedding tears until they starve to death.

13. When cats blink slowly at you, it is a sign of affection referred to as a "cat kiss."

14. To attract a female hippopotamus, the male poops and pees while spinning his tail to spray it around.

15. Lobsters resort to cannibalism while in captivity. This is why they have their claws secured with rubber bands in tanks at restaurants.

16. There are more than 260 known species of monkeys in the world.

17. Sea Otters keep rocks under their armpits. They carry their 'favorite rock' to smash open shellfish and clams, at a rate of up to 45 blows in 15 seconds.

18. Sea Otters do 'hold hands' when they sleep, so as to not drift apart in ocean currents.

19. Mother Sea Otters whose pups have died have been observed carrying the corpse for day, in apparent mourning.
 

20. Laika, originally named Kudryavka (Little Curly), is a russian street dog and the first living animal to be sent into space on November 3, 1957 at 2:30AM.

ENIGMA OF THE RAIN

(photo by summerrunner on Flickr)

ENIGMA OF THE RAIN

Tristan Noel Jamito (BrainFreeze)

Splatter, pittter-patter

The cloud seemed so angry at me

Shouting at me like I was a 4-year old

Telling me to get inside my room

Splatter, pitter-patter

The leaves rejoice to the rhythm

Insane they are dancing

A music their body wants

Splatter, pitter-patter

The beggar shaking his tin can

Clanking faintly a peso

How can he eat tonight?

Splatter, pitter-patter

Happy are the children of the streets

Time for their pool party

Free of entrance fee

Splatter, pitter-patter

Endless arguments of the cars

Yet there's no stopping this little girl

To hush them with her sampaguita

Splatter, pitter-patter

A man drenched in blood

Hugging the cold wet pavement

The rain hid the thief well

Some can be blissful as it hits

Others in pain of misery

As the rain falls carelessly

Splatter, pitter-patter, splatter, pitter-patter.

Long distance relationship? Physics it is!

It is evident that we humans prefer to go with someone who is nearly similar to us. This is also one of the basis of non-physical attraction. And if you spent more time with someone you'll not only get to know that person well but you might also be able to absorb some of that person's trait and the same goes with that person, this is what we all know as influence. Let me share you something related to physics.

In physics we have the zeroth law of thermodynamics, that is when two substance of different temperatures are placed each other they will give and receive heat and will only stop once they end up with the same temperature. This is known as thermal equilibrium.

The same idea applies at quantum scale, far smaller than subatomic particles. In this case we are dealing with vibrational frequency. I honestly don't know yet how but two particles with exactly the same frequency transfers information instantaneously, even if they are galaxies apart.

Just I have mentioned earlier, like thermal equilibrium, synchronizing frequencies is made the same way, just place 2 particles next to each other for a certain period of time. This is known as quantum entanglement, or what Einstein called as "spooky action on a distance". Well, distance is nothing on entangled particles, what one particle is experiencing will also be experienced by the other.

Now think of this, your closed friends or even best friend is always with you. I guess you have come to a certain point that similarities have been developed, a trait that isn't existing before you have met them. This is probably the same reason why many twins act as if they can read each other's mind, and also why a mother knows when her child is in danger, that sort of uneasiness.

Now, do you believe that distance is a hindrance?

Written by: CER0 of Blue Bloods

Computer 101: Binary and Measurement

Introduction

Computers have become one of the important gadgets of our life, most of our daily task heavily rely in this amazing machine. But have you ever wondered how it run and how they measure it? If you are curious on how computer works (even if your profession is not related to IT) then you came to the right blog! In this small article I will explain how computer works in simple but understandable words and explain how they measure it too that even most IT guys don't know yet.




Binary

To begin with this article let's talk about binary first, I'm sure most of you have heard about this but do you really know what it is? Well first of all binary is composed of two (2) characters only, 0 and 1 which represents on and off or open and close.

Everything you see or do in the computer is made up of millions to billions of 0's and 1's even images that you'll surely won't believe are also made up of 0's and 1's. Each pixel is represented by 8 or more 0's and 1's that's why a single image can reach up to several megabytes of memory because they are literally made up of millions of binary digit. To further picture how vast and great is this Binary System I will explain how conversion and measurement work in the binary system.

Measurement

Most of you are familiar with the basic Kilobyte, Megabyte or other types but do you really understand what is a byte? Byte is not really the smallest unit in computing, a byte is composed of 8 bits. A bit can be either 0 or 1. Example: 0110 1100, 0011 1110, 0101 1010, 0000 1100

Quick Fact: You might be wondering why they are divided by four, a byte can be divided into two equal parts (4 bits each) and they are called a "nibble".

Now by definition we can understand that 1 Kilobyte is 1,000 Byte or 8,000 bits or 2,000 nibbles right? So what do we call them? 1 Kilobyte is the standard unit, but sometimes we unknowingly use Kilobits for that one. So how do we differentiate them?

Byte vs Bits

Most of us don't care about this actually, especially if you're not in the field of IT. But somehow this will be helpful to you. A byte and bit are written in the same way Byte is B and Bit is b, Kilobyte is KB and Kilobit is Kb.

That's it? Just a small letter? Well actually yes, but it may somehow affect you, specially on promos. I can offer you a very cheap 8Gb USB flashdrive that you'll surely think is a big bargain, but wait a minute, "8Gb"? Whoa man! that's ridiculous because 8Gb is actually 8 Gigabits or 1Gigabyte (1GB). It is one of the biggest lies in our download speed actually, most programs show our download speed in BITS not in BYTES, so that you'll think you are downloading really fast, imagine the ability to fool you 8X just by changing "B" to "b"? I'm sure you'll be amazed to see 800Kbps than 100KBps thinking they are just the same with a little difference in the capitalized "B", but in the world of computing, that capitalization really matters.

Whoa man I think it's 1,024 not 1,000!

Oh yeah! Most IT guys will argue with this post because most of what we use is not exactly 1,000 well some of them at least, for example 1 Gigabyte of Random Access Memory (RAM) is actually 1,073,741,824 Bytes not 1,000,000,000 Bytes.

Hey! Are you trying to confuse me? Maybe that's what you are thinking right now, well, actually that is something wrong. What's wrong with it is the unit that we used, 1 Gigabyte is really 1 Billion Bytes and 1,073,741,824 Bytes is 1 GibiByte (GiB). Yes you read it right! Something new aye?

SI Unit of Digital Information Storage

You might be thinking that Kilo, Mega and Giga are already the SI (International System) Unit of Digital Information Storage, well you are wrong. Kibi (Ki), Mebi(Mi), Gibi(Gi), Tebi(Ti), Pebi(Pi), Exbi(Ei), Zebi(Zi) and Yobi(Yi) are the real SI unit for Digital Information Storage. They are defined as 1024(Ki), 10242(Mi), 10243(Gi), 10244 (Ti) and so on.

In Summary....

To summarize all of this I'll create a little chart for you.

B = Byte
b = bit

1 Byte = 8 Bits
1 Byte = 2 Nibble
1 Nibble = 4 Bits

1KB = Kilobyte [1,000 Bytes/8,000 Bits/2,000 Nibbles]
1Kb = Kilobit [125 Bytes/1,000 Bits/250 Nibbles]
1MB = Megabyte [1 Million Bytes/8 Million Bits/2 Million Nibbles]
1Mb = Megabit [125,000 Bytes/1 Million Bits/250,000 Nibbles]
1GB = Gigabyte [1 Billion Bytes/8 Billion Bits/ 2 Billion Nibbles]
1Gb = Gigabit [125 Million Bytes, 1 Billion Bits/ 250 Million Bits]

1KiB = 1024 Bytes
1MiB = 1,048,576 Bytes
1GiB = 1,073,741,824 Bytes
1Kib = 1024 Bits / 128 Bytes
1Mib = 1,048,576 Bits / 131,072 Bytes
1Gib = 1,073,741,824 Bits / 134,217,728 Bytes

That's all....

I guess this ends my little article about binary, I hope you enjoyed reading those numbers, if you want to request any future topics you can comment below and I'll try to research it.

And always remember that your 8Gigabyte game is made up of 64 Billion combinations of 0's and 1's.

Written By: SalbagSanting

Source: His memory, this article is a self-written article from his own memory, if you spot any mistake please indicate it in the comment section below.

Support the writer by visiting his facebook and their page:
www.facebook.com/TriviaManiaOfficial
www.facebook.com/SalbagSanting
www.facebook.com/AdminSalbagSanting

The Lost Panacea

Written By: BrainFreeze of Indigo League Elites

Serious wounds mostly self-inflicted
Evidence of the years I tormented
Gone into oblivion the paradise I once lived
Vanishes into mist the scent I once breathe

I stare blankly to these artful fancies
Which I used to read to sooth my animosities
I watched every clip of melodies you sang
Every notes hit me in my heart carelessly sprang

Alone I grasp into a hole of void
Thorns kept piercing through my skin I can’t avoid
But your gentle touch made me invulnerable
Every scratch were bearable

When I was frozen, you thawed me
I was fiery, you extinguished me
Bare-naked, you clothed me
Dead, you resurrected me

But chaos always lingered
With a sinister grin, my mind’s been battered
Just a single word I hastily uttered
My life has been recklessly shattered

Aftermath I regain consciousness
I am devoured by stupidity and carelessness
And now I have to brawl against the phantom paranoia
To find you, my lost panacea.



We all do share some regrets in our life that thinking twice is not enough. So before everything else bursts out, don't make decisions when you're emotionally unstable. You might end up losing something you value, and you realized it when, when it's gone.

What is a year?

You gotta be kidding me..

You might be thinking that this post is hilariously stupid, of course a year is the revolution of the earth in the sun or exactly 365 and 1/4 days. Well somehow that's true, but somehow it's also incorrect in some sense. There are different types of years with different length for each years, the most common is the Tropical Year (which is the basis for most calendars) but there are more kinds of years not just two or three, but more than five excluding the other planet's year (Martian/Uranian Year).

Tropical, Sidereal and Anomalistic Year

Most of our calendars uses the Tropical Year or the Solar Year and it is also the kind of year that you know since elementary, and if you forgot what it is, Tropical Year is the total time it takes for the Sun to return to the same position in the cycle of seasons or period of time from vernal equinox to vernal equinox and summer solstice to summer solstice, the exact length of one (1) Tropical Year is 365.242 Days or 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 45 seconds.

What about Sidereal? Well Sidereal Year is the amount of time it takes for the earth to complete one revolution with respect to fixed stars (One of the most popular fixed star is the Sun itself). One Sidereal Year is equal to 365.256 Earth Days or 365 days,6 hours 9 minutes, 9.76 seconds and if you're not happy with those conversion it is 1.00003878 Tropical/Solar Year.

Another kind of year is the Anomalistic Year, it is defined as the revolution of Earth to the sun with respect to its apsides, well you might be wondering what in seven hell is an apsides. Apsides are the extreme points of the Earth's Orbit (Since Earth's orbit is elliptical), apsides are the Farthest (Aphelion) and Closest (Perihelion) distance of the Earth to the Sun. An Anomalistic Year is defined by the Perihlion Passage or the closest point of the Earth to the Sun. Anomalistic Year is not fixed however, but the average length of one Anomalistic Year is approximately 365.260 Earth Days or 365 days, 6 hours, 13 minutes, 52.6 seconds.

Yay! Atleast they're just three different years!

Relax! We're not done yet, I mean I'm not done yet making you feel bad that what you learned in highschool and even in college is somewhat inaccurate or incomplete! To complete your total confusion about these kinds of years I'll give the other kinds of years, but don't worry most of them are not that important and just for educational purpose.

Julian Year - This is the unit used for Astronomy, A Julian Year is defined as 365.25 days or 86,400 SI Seconds, and most of us only know this kind of year since we started learning things. the Julian Calendar that we use today is based on Julian Years, but what about Tropical Years?

To make things clearer, Julian Year does not follow anything, unlike the other years that counts the time span with respect to different things. However, Julian Year was intended to approximate the Tropical Year, since a tropical year was a few minutes shorter than 365.25 days, it's like rounding it off. If we use the Tropical Year for our calendars (which is the accurate measurement rather than Julian Year) we will gain about three (3) days every four centuries (Today we use the Leap Year System or one day every four years).

Draconic/Eclipse Year - The revolution of Sun with respect to the Lunar Node. One Draconic Year is equal to 346.620 Earth Days or 346 days 14 hours 52 minutes 54 seconds.

Full Moon Cycle - Complete Revolution of the Sun with respect to the perigee of Moon's Orbit. A Full Moon Cycle is 411.784 Earth Days or 411 days 18 hours 49 minutes 34 seconds.

Lunar Year - This is defined as the twelve full cycles of the Moon's Phases, Muslim's Calendars is based on Lunar Year and Ramadan is also based on this one. A Lunar Year is approximately 354.37 days.

Besselian Year - The Besselian year was named after Friedrich Bessel, a German Astronomer. A Besselian Year starts when the Sun raches 280° of ecliptic longitude. To calculate for the Besselian Year you can use this equation:

Besselian Year = 1900.0 + (Julian date in Terrestrial Time Scale/Ephemeris Time − 2415020.31352) / 365.242198781

Sothic Year - The interval between heliacal risings of a star Sirius (Current Northern Star) is called a Sothic Year. The duration of one Sothic Year is extremely close to a Julian Year (365.25 Days).

Heliacal Year - This is the interval between the heliacal risings of a star, while it is almost identical to a Sothic Year, a Heliacal Year doesn't have a specific star for its identification where a Sothic Year is based on the Sirius only.

Vague Year - Also known as annus vagus (don't laugh please), this system is mainly used in the calendars of Ancient Egypt, Armenia, Mesoamerica and Iran. This is defined as the approximation to the year equaling 365 days, typically a vague year is divided in 12 months with 30 days each plus 5 epagomenal days (days within a solar calendar that are outisde any regular month).

Gaussian Year - The Gaussian year is the sidereal year for a planet of negligible mass (relative to the Sun) and unperturbed by other planets that is governed by the Gaussian gravitational constant. Such a planet would be slightly closer to the Sun than Earth's mean distance. One Gaussian Year is 365 days, 6 hours, 9 minutes, 56 seconds or 365.256 days.

That's all..

Well I guess I ran out of source for other kinds of years, you can try including other years of your favorite game or show maybe 1 San Andreas Year or 1 Pokemon Year. Since the Full Moon Cycle is the longest year among them all you can use it in tough situation like on those projects that you need to complete at the end of the year, just say "I'm using the Full Moon Cycle Year System" then point them out to this article.

Disclaimer: I (SalbagSanting) do not take responsibility to any problem that may arise from using a different system other than the Tropical Year/Lunar Year.


Source(s):

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=53glKEPzElA
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed_star
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidereal_year
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_year
• Christopher De Pree, Alan Axelrod (2004). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Astronomy (3rd ed.). Alpha Books.
• Calendar Description and Coordination Maya World Studies Center
• http://hpiers.obspm.fr/eop-pc/models/constants.html
• Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada 
• Astronomical Almanac for the year 2011. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_year_(astronomy)
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_calendar

Written by SalbagSanting of Red Masterminds
Please support Trivia Mania by liking our Official Fan Page
You can also add/follow me at by clicking this link.

At the sky

This is a story that I heard from a senior soldier while I was in the military.

When that soldier was just a plain citizen, he used to know a really nice girl.

But suddenly one day, she started to have nightmares.

When she was sleeping, she could see a female that could only be considered a ghost who was crawling slowly down from the ceiling right down next to her.

It was too realistic to just be a dream.

As if she was stuck in sleep paralysis, the ghost would slowly come down until she could see every little detail of the ghost's skin.

Of course, she wasn't able to move or scream.

After she kept dreaming of the same thing, she finally spoke to her family about it.

Her mother decided to call a shaman to solve the problem.

The shaman came and after performing an exorcism, spoke up.

"She doesn't know where to go, so that's why she's appearing to you. So when she shows up again, point to the sky. That way, she'll be able to pass away."

So before she fell asleep, the friend kept on memorizing, 'Point to the sky, point to the sky...'

The ghost, as usual, came again that night.

She was very scared, but she remembered the shaman's words and lifted her hand.

But to point toward the sky was to point at the ghost.

She was so scared, that instead of pointing up, she pointed to the next room.

The ghost's gaze was now pointed not at her, but to the direction that she pointed in, and disappeared through the wall.

The friend finally relaxed and slept deeply...

It turns out that her father, who was in the room next to her, passed away while sleeping.

Annora Petrova

BREE, DON'T DELETE THIS! 

I know you hate me, but we were best friends once and I need you to read this. I think I'm in serious trouble and there's nothing you can do, but I need you to read this so you understand. 

I know we haven't talked since sectionals. It's been forever, but what happened to you wasn't my fault. At least it wasn't entirely my fault. I know everyone thinks it was, but I would never do anything to hurt you. 

This is going to sound crazy, but I need to tell you this so that someone knows. 

It started when we were in the 8th grade. It was the night before the Crystal Classic competition. I was at home and I couldn't sleep because I was so nervous about competing. Well, I got on the computer, just sorta surfing the web and stuff, but I couldn't concentrate on anything, I was just sitting there, so I googled myself. 

I never should have done that, Bree. At first it was all the usual stuff you find when you google yourself, then I found a link to a Wikipedia page about me. 

I thought our club made it or my dad or something, there wasn't much there, just some basic facts about skating, what city I lived in, but the thing that got me was that it said I won that year's Crystal Classic. 

I laughed, I thought for sure someone just did it to encourage me. I confronted my dad about it, but he denied it. 

When I won the competition the next day, I was so happy. That was the first competition I had ever won and it felt so good. Remember how hard I worked after that. That's when my parents hired Sergei to coach me. You know how much that must have cost. 

After that, I would check my page before every competition and it would always tell the result of how I placed. It said I would win the regionals at 15, and it all came true. After that, Sergei convinced my mom and dad that I had a real shot at the Olympics, that's when they pulled me from school. 

I skated every day, but I just wasn't progressing the way Sergei said I needed to if I wanted a shot at the Championship. I was working so hard and I was skating well, but still Sergei said it wasn't good enough. 

When the sectionals came. All I could think about was winning, so I did something I shouldn't have. Everyone was saying that you were the favorite and I felt like I had already lost the competition, so I made a Wikipedia account and tried to update my page to say that I was the winner. 

The thing is that after I tried to update the page, I checked it and all it said was: Annora Petrova is a selfish little bitch who is going to get what she deserves.” 

I broke down. That's why I looked so awful the next day. I was in a daze. I remember watching your routine and seeing your blade snap and the next thing I know, I was on the ground and my face was covered in blood from where the tip flew off and sliced my forehead. Then they told me it was my fault because I had your skates in my possession earlier. Bree, I honestly didn't do anything to your skates- I wanted to win, but I wouldn't do anything to hurt you. 

When they told me I was banned from any further competitions, everyone said that I got what I deserved. Nobody even asked for my side of the story.

I guess you heard that Sergei dropped me after that. He said I ruined him. No one would talk to me. 

Do you know what it's like to be ostracized by everyone? I couldn't even get ice time. 

And then the page got worse. Anytime I'd check it, it would say all these horrible things about me. I can't even tell you half of them, the language was so vile. I'd cry every time I read it, but I couldn't stop checking it. 

I knew I had to do something, so I made a complaint to Wikipedia. I even tried calling them, but no one there claimed to know anything about the page. 

I was home alone that Friday night and I decided to check it to see if it had been taken down. The page was still there, only this time it said: “Annora Petrova is a pathetic little orphan.” 

I freaked. I kept calling my parents to warn them, but every time I'd call, all I would hear was this horrible laughter on the other end. I must have called them a hundred times until I couldn't take the sound of the laughing anymore. 

After the accident, the police gave me their phones and there wasn't any record of my calls that night. 

I was so devastated. Before that I was so busy training all day and doing home school, I never realized just how alone I had been the whole time. I know you tried to reach out, but I was so depressed and angry I just shut everything out. 

Once I turned 18 and got the settlement money from the court, I came to Switzerland. 

I got to reinvent myself. My skating really took off. It's hasn't been a year and I feel like everything that happened was so long ago. 

That's why I shouldn't have done it, Bree. 

I'm writing you now from an old hotel outside of Prague. I'm auditioning for the Ice Circus tomorrow. I know it's the kind of thing we used to make fun of, but I really want this. I was feeling really nervous and out of an old habit I checked my page. 

It's so hard to say this, but when I checked the page to see if I'd get the job tomorrow, all it says is “Annora Petrova died friendless and alone,” and it has today's date listed as the date of my death. 

I'm sobbing so hard, I can barely type this. But I wanted you to know the truth. Please believe me, Bree. I attached a screen shot of the page so you'll believe me, it's all there just as I told you. 

I don't know what to do. I don't know anyone here and nobody speaks English. I keep refreshing the page. 

God, it's been forever, I keep refreshing but it still hasn't changed, I'm waiting for midnight, I don't know what to do, so I locked myself in my room. 

There's only a few minutes to midnight now. All I can do is refresh the page. I'm exhausted, but I can't stop. I'm afraid to leave the computer until I know what happens next. 

Time Capsule

I was accepted into a college inside a city.

My friend of 2 years and I decided to make and bury time capsules underneath a big pine tree that was behind our high school.

We promised one another to dig them up when we married each other. Contents inside each of our time capsules were to be a secret until then, and if we didn't marry each other, the capsules wouldn't be dug up.

After 1 year, the girlfriend died in a car crash.

And 10 years after, I proposed to my college girlfriend.

I told everything about my past to my fiance, without hiding anything.

She said she'll be happy for both herself and the dead girlfriend, and wanted to dig up the time capsules. 

I refused, but the fiance insisted. I guess she felt some jealously towards the previous girlfriend.

After our wedding, we went back to my home town and dug up the time capsules.

In my time capsule, I had put in a scarf that the previous girlfriend had made me.

My fiance looked uncomfortable, but dug up the girlfriend's time capsule.

There was a small, dark thing the size of a fist.

After examining it further, it had small hands and legs and looked like it had a head of a human.

Madoka

In 1997, in a small Japanese town, a girl named Madoka went missing.

That afternoon, her mother and she went to a park together to take a light walk, and when her mother had looked away for a few seconds, Madoka had disappeared.

When the mother had asked the kids Madoka was playing with...

"Hm? Madoka was playing with me in the sandbox just a few moments ago."

"I asked her to play on the slide with me, but she wanted to play in the sandbox, so I just came to the slides alone..."

Madoka's parents kept on searching the park.

When darkness came, the parents alerted the police. Since it was a small village, the response time was a little slow, but they started the searching process.

But they had no leads, and weeks passed. Then finally, a year passed.

Madoka was missing for one year, and the police told the parents that Madoka was most likely dead.

Her parents refused to accept it and went to a psychic who was famous for locating missing children.

The psychic went to the park where Madoka went missing, went to their house, touched Madoka's clothing and shoes, and after thinking for a while, he finally said,

"Madoka is alive."

At those words, her parents became excited and asked,

"Where is Madoka now?"

The psychic suddenly looked sad and replied,

"Madoka is living great. Madoka can see expensive furniture."

"She's not hungry either... Her stomach is full of expensive food."

Her mother let out a sigh of relief.

"Then where is Madoka? Please tell us!"

After some hesitation, the psychic said,

"She's everywhere around the world."

The parents didn't understand a few seconds and stood frozen, then collapsed on the floor and wept.

________________________________________________

Answer: ˙pǝʇsǝʌɹɐɥ ǝɹǝʍ suɐƃɹo ɹǝɥ puɐ pǝddɐupıʞ sɐʍ ɐʞopɐW

Rare Diseases : Dercum's Disease

Dercum's Disease

Dercum’s disease is an extremely rare disorder characterized by multiple, painful growths consisting of fatty tissue (lipomas). These growths mainly occur on the trunk, the upper arms and upper legs and are found just below the skin (subcutaneously). Pain associated with Dercum’s disease can often be severe. Pain may be caused by these growths pressing on nearby nerves. Dercum’s disease mainly occurs in adults and more women are affected than men. In some cases, affected individuals may also experience weight gain, depression, lethargy, and/or confusion. The exact cause of Dercum’s disease is unknown.

Symptoms of Dercum syndrome


The list of signs and symptoms mentioned in various sources for Dercum syndrome includes the 8 symptoms listed below: 

• Painful skin lumps 
• Asthenia 
• Headache 
• Absence of menstruation 
• Bruises 
• Reduced sweating 
• Reduced skin sensitivity 
• Fatty skin lumps

What causes Dercum disease?

The understanding of the cause and mechanism of Dercum disease remains unknown. The origin of the pain is obscure, and the disease is better known as a description of its symptoms rather than as a physiologic or metabolic process. The fatty deposits (lipomas) cause nerve compression and result in weakness and pain.

Some cases reported in the literature have suggested possible causes for Dercum disease, such as the use of corticosteroids, a disturbance of endocrine function, or a genetic cause since it seems to run in some families. Some researchers have suggested that Dercum disease is an autoimmune disorder (a condition that occurs when the body's immune system attacks normal, healthy body tissue). However, no single cause has been pinpointed.

What do we know about heredity and Dercum disease?

Dercum disease has been reported to occur in families, and in some of these cases it seems to be inherited as an autosomal dominant trait (this means that one out of a person's two copies of the gene, inherited from one parent, is altered). However, most reported cases of this condition are sporadic (the only case to occur in the family).

What is the treatment for Dercum disease?

There is no "cure" for Dercum disease. At the present time, treatment for this condition is symptomatic, meaning that it focuses on one symptom at a time rather than the whole condition. Depending on the person, options can include weight reduction, surgery for the most painful lipomas, and medications to control pain. Liposuction has been used in some cases.

Sources : 
http://health.howstuffworks.com/diseases-conditions/rare/10-rare-diseases3.htm
http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/d/dercum_syndrome/symptoms.htm
http://www.genome.gov/17516629

Rare Diseases : Paraneoplastic Neurologic Syndromes (PNS)

 Paraneoplastic Neurologic Syndromes (PNS)

Paraneoplastic neurologic syndromes (PNS) are a group of conditions that affect the nervous system (brain, spinal cord, nerves and/or muscles) in patients with cancer. The term "paraneoplastic" means that the neurological syndrome is not caused by the tumor itself, but by the immunological reactions that the tumor produces. It is believed that the body’s normal immunological system interprets the tumor as an invasion. When this occurs, the immunological system mounts an immune response, utilizing antibodies and lymphocytes to fight the tumor. The end result is that the patient’s own immune system can cause collateral damage to the nervous system, which can sometimes be severe. In many patients, the immune response can cause nervous system damage that far exceeds the damage done to the tumor. The effects of PNS can remit entirely, although there can also be permanent effects.

Epidemiology

PNS are rare diseases occurring in less than about 0.01% of patients with cancer. Only the Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome is relatively frequent, occurring in about 1% of patients with small-cell lung cancer  

Classes : 

* Endocrine - can be related to : 

                          > Cushing`s Syndrome

                          > Syndrome of Inappropriate Anti-Diuretic Hormone

                          > Hypercalcemia

                          > Hypoglycemia

                          > Carcinoid Hormone

                          > Polycythemia 

                          > Hyperaldosteronism 

* Neurological - can be related to :

                    > Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS)
                    > Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration
                    > Encephalomyelitis
                    > Limbic encephalitis
                    > Brainstem encephalitis
                    >Paraneoplastic Opsoclonus (involving eye movement)-Myoclonus
                    > Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis
                    > Polymyositis

Diagnosis and management

PNS may affect any part of the central and peripheral nervous system, the neuromuscular junction and muscle. They can be isolated or occur in association. An important point to keep in mind is that none of these disorders are specifically paraneoplastic, as each disorder can also occur in patients without cancer. The incidence of malignancy in patients with potential PNS varies depending on the disorder and ranging from 5 to 60%. In almost 80% of patients, the PNS antedates the diagnosis of cancer by several months to several years. Most tumors are diagnosed within 4–6 months. It is accepted that the risk of cancer development decreases significantly two years after diagnosing PNS and becomes very low after four years. All these data explain why it is often difficult to recognize a given neurological disorder as paraneoplastic.

Treatment

The different subtypes of PNS are defined by the presence or the absence of paraneoplastic antibodies and the type of antibodies. Management and treatment should be tailored to each subtype. For example, patients with SCLC and PCA have different course of the neurological disorder, response to treatment, tumor prognosis and cause of death, according to the presence or the absence of Hu-Ab. Patients with Ma2-Ab generally develop limbic and brainstem encephalitis with testis tumors, but patients with Ma2-Ab and additional antibodies directed against other Ma proteins develop additional cerebellar symptoms and have tumors other than testis neoplasms. The mean survival time for patients with SCLC and CV2-Ab is 2.5 times longer than for patients with the same cancer, similar neurological symptoms and Hu-Ab. All these data suggest that the type of the immunological stimulation against the tumor can determine a specific course of the neurological disorder and give information of whether the immunological response against the tumor is more or less effective.

However, PNS rarely improves with immunomodulatory treatment as in the majority of cases the neurological symptoms are due to neuronal damage. The early and non-reversible destruction of neural structures by the inflammatory process accounts for both the severity of most PNS and for the usual ineffectiveness of immunomodulatory treatments. The best chance of at least stabilizing the syndrome is to induce a complete response of the tumor. Although immunotherapy is rarely effective, the use of intravenous immunoglobulins, steroids or plasmapheresis is indicated because a few patients have been reported to improve with these treatments. Patients with Tr-Ab and Ma2-Ab and testicular cancer are more likely to improve than those with other antibodies.

Sources : 

http://health.howstuffworks.com/diseases-conditions/rare/10-rare-diseases2.htm

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/cgi/mesh/2011/MB_cgi?mode=&term=Nervous+system+paraneoplastic+syndromes

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1868710/