Sedlec Ossuary - chapel made of real bones

A walk in the ossuary in Sedlec

Have you heard of a temple that is completely made of sea shells? In the hills close to San Chih in the northern part of Taiwan, there is a small temple known as the Sea Shell temple. The temple got this name because it’s covered almost entirely with seashells. Pei Khe Miao is the Chinese name of the temple.

The temple has a small tunnel lined with Buddhist gods at the backside. This tunnel gives an underwater feel. The pictures on the wall of the temple are made of Seashells and Corals. The whole temple is so beautifully decorated with seashells.

Good news to all of us.

UNESCO announces INDIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM as the BEST National Anthem in the World.
Please forward this to all PROUD Indians.
http://weeksupdate.com/2008/09/unesco-announces-indian-national-anthem.html
UNESCO Announces Indian National Anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’ as the Best National Anthem
Friday, September 19, 2008
Indian National Anthem “Jana Gana Mana” written and composed by Rabindra Nath Tagore has been chosen as the World’s Best National Anthem by UNESCO.

Jana Gana Mana Written in Sanskritised Bengali, it is the first of five stanzas of a Brahmo hymn composed and scored by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

It was first sung at the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress,on 27 December 1911. Jana Gana Mana was officially adopted by the Constituent Assembly as the Indian national anthem on January 24, 1950. The music for the “current version” is said to be derived from a composition for the song by Ram Singh Thakur, although some dispute this.

A leading neuroscientist says processing digital information can rewire your circuits. But is it evolution?

A new study by UCLA neuroscientist Gary Small says that technology change our brains. And according to Small’s new book, “iBRAIN: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind,” he writes. “As the brain evolves and shifts its focus towards new technological skills, it drifts away from fundamental social skills.”

The more time you devote to a specific activity, the stronger the neural pathways responsible for executing that activity become. So it makes sense that people who process a constant stream of digital information would have more neurons dedicated to filtering that information.

To see how the Internet might be rewiring us, Small and colleagues monitored the brains of 24 adults as they performed a simulated Web search, and again as they read a page of text. During the Web search, those who reported using the Internet regularly in their everyday lives showed twice as much signaling in brain regions responsible for decision-making and complex reasoning, compared with those who had limited Internet exposure. The findings, to be published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, suggest that Internet use enhances the brain’s capacity to be stimulated, and that Internet reading activates more brain regions than printed words. The research adds to previous studies that have shown that the tech-savvy among us possess greater working memory (meaning they can store and retrieve more bits of information in the short term), are more adept at perceptual learning (that is, adjusting their perception of the world in response to changing information), and have better motor skills.

Small says these differences are likely to be even more profound across generations, because younger people are exposed to more technology from an earlier age than older people. He refers to this as the brain gap. On one side, what he calls digital natives—those who have never known a world without e-mail and text messaging—use their superior cognitive abilities to make snap decisions and juggle multiple sources of sensory input. On the other side, digital immigrants—those who witnessed the advent of modern technology long after their brains had been hardwired—are better at reading facial expressions than they are at navigating cyberspace. “The typical immigrant’s brain was trained in completely different ways of socializing and learning, taking things step-by-step and addressing one task at a time,” he says. “Immigrants learn more methodically and tend to execute tasks more precisely.”

But whether natural selection will favor one skill set over the other remains to be seen. For starters, there’s no reason to believe the two behaviors are mutually exclusive. In fact, a 2005 Kaiser study found that young people who spent the most time engaged with high-technology also spent the most time interacting face-to-face, with friends and family. And as Small himself points out, digital natives and digital immigrants can direct their own neural circuitry—reaping the cognitive benefits of modern technology while preserving traditional social skills—simply by making time for both.

In the meantime, modern technology, and the skills it fosters, is evolving even faster than we are. There’s no telling whether future iterations of computer games, online communities and the like will require more or less of the traditional social skills and learning strategies that we’ve spent so many eons cultivating. “Too many people write about this as if kids are in one country and adults are in another,” says James Gee, a linguistics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. What the future brain will look like is still anybody’s guess.

ICICI Bank
**********

Dear Customer,

We are aware that you are being misled by numerous malicious and
baseless rumors. Many of these are via SMSes. Many of our customers
have written in to us expressing solidarity and confidence in our
relationship, and have mentioned they have dismissed these rumors, for
which we are grateful. Still we know that these rumors may cause you
distress and doubts. You are our valued customer and we would not like
you to have any of these feelings. So we have now chosen to write to
you directly to allay your concerns if any.

You would have seen the categorical endorsement of the soundness of
Indian banking as well as ICICI Bank’s sound financial health from the
RBI and the Finance Minister. You would have also read about the
unequivocal certificate of confidence reposed on us by S&P an
independent rating agency of repute. We have categorically and in a
transparent manner disclosed that

-We have ZERO exposure, directly or indirectly, to US sub-prime

-We have 150% more capital than what Banks are required to have, and we
 are one of the highest capitalized banks in the country

-We have a AAA rating

-We have sound liquidity to meet your needs whenever you need and in
 what ever amounts you may need

Your bank has grown and achieved its status of pre-eminence due to the
patronage and trust you have reposed thus far in us. We have made many
an Indian smile with a house, car and every banking need dreamed of by
Indians. I am sure nothing factually or otherwise has changed in our
relationship that we should let baseless rumors cast doubts in your
mind. We once again want to reaffirm to you that the bank you have
built and assisted to grow to pre-eminence will be with you day and
night. We take pride in serving you and being the bank of your first
choice.

We desire and request the continuance of your unwavering trust and
relationship. We promise to you that not only your deposits but all
your interests are safe and secure with us. In case you need to reach
us, kindly write to us at customer.care@icicibank.com.

Sincerely

V. Vaidyanathan
Executive Director
ICICI Bank Ltd

To view the HTML version of this mailer, click on the link below
http://retail.icicibank.com/cgi-bin16/DM/y/eBiRT0U63cY08bp0RKx60EN

Some tear quotes:

I laugh because I must not cry. That is all. That is all. - Abraham Lincoln
What soap is for the body, tears are for the soul. -  Jewish proverb 

Behind the smile is a dry tear …

Behind a strong saying is a weak girl.

Behind the lighten eyes is a broken heart

A faith … will be hard to get back again,
A true love … will be a luxurious gift to me.

Friends are all I have now.
Smile …
Leave everything behind

Just walk away.
From the mess called ” LOVE ”

Science of Tears.

Tears flow from tear glands called lacrimal glands into your eyes through tiny tear ducts. The tear glands are located under your upper lids, and when stimulated, produce tears to form a thin film over your eyeballs. Human is the only kind who is supposted to have experienced emotional tears. The salty fluid is always flowing from the tear glands irrespective of our emotions.

Apart from emotional or Psychic tears we also have another format of tears named the reflective tears. When our eyes are irritated by a dust or hurt.

Used tears then drain down into two tiny openings on the brim of your upper and lower eyelids at the inner edge of your eyes, If there are too many tears, they will overflow your lower lid and run down your cheeks.

Perhaps our eyes need to be washed by our tears once in a while, so that we can see Life with a clearer view 
The tears fall, they’re so easy to wipe off onto my sleeve, but how do I erase the stain from my heart?

There are a lot of revised versions since today from the original Aesop fables - The Ant and the grasshopper. Though I don’t remember the author, this is my most favourite lesson in prose in my 10th standard.

The story starts with a briefing of the original story of the ant and the grasshopper. Then it tells about the story of two brothers relative to the ant and the grass hopper story.

The younger brother being the black sheep of the family, while the elder brother being the most dedicated and hard working. He is in a Government Job with a decent salary with which he can manage the family. The younger brother is the lazy pig. But he had a charm to melt peoples heart and get money from them or make them fund him for all his needs.

Inspite of the elder brother warning him several times, he goes around hanging this way. Finally the elder brother retires builds a small house outside the city and lives happily with his family with the small pension amount he gets. Thats not all our villian gets a double happiness, when he marries a wealthy elderly widower in thought of acquiring her yacth and her huge posssession. Guess what, as destined the younger brother’s wife dies after a few days they got married. And he enjoys all the riches.

HEALTHY JUICES

Carrot + Ginger + Apple - Boost and cleanse our system.


Apple + Cucumber + Celery - Prevent cancer, reduce cholesterol, and eliminate stomach upset and headache.


Tomato + Carrot + Apple - Improve skin complexion and eliminate bad breath.


Bitter gou rd + Apple + Milk - Avoid bad breath and reduce internal body heat.


Orange + Ginger + Cucumber - Improve Skin texture and moisture and reduce body heat.


Pineapple + Apple + Watermelon - To dispel excess salts, nourishes the bladder and kidney.


Apple + Cucumber + Kiwi - To improve skin complexion.


Pear & Banana - regulates sugar content.


Carrot + Apple + Pear + Mango - Clear body heat, counteracts toxicity, decreased blood pressure and fight oxidization .


Honeydew + Grape + Watermelon + Milk - Rich in vitamin C + Vitamin B2 that increase cell activity and str engthen body immunity.


Papaya + Pineapple + Milk - Rich in vitamin C, E, Iron. Improve skin complexion and metabolism.


Banana + Pineapple + Milk - Rich in vitamin with nutritious and prevent constipation

A man’s salaray is Rs. 1,020 of which he spends Rs. 900. What would be the

a) ratio between his salaray and expenses

b) ratio between his expenses and savings

The heights of A and B are in the ratio 2:3. If A’s height is 130 cms what would be B’s height

A man divides his property between his wife and son in the ratio 8:9. If son’s share is Rs 4,590, find his wife’s share.

Lets learn some logical maths. I will tell you how to work out these along the answers.