Britney Spears Strips Down For V Magazine

By PopEater Staff

From  http://www.popeater.com/

Sultry and half-clothed on the cover of V Magazine, Britney Spears declares, "The b***h is back and better than ever!" The fierce pop singer, whose seventh studio album, 'Femme Fatale,' lands March 29, talks openly about her album, boys and fame, adding that she has moved past the media scrutiny that plagued parts of her career.

"I try to block it all out and not pay attention to anything they write about me in the magazines or online. I'm done with that," Spears told V Magazine. "I have learned to always stay true to myself and never let what other people say about me change who I am. It's a really important lesson that took me a long time to learn."

On her new album: I think 'Femme Fatale' speaks for itself... I wanted to make a fierce dance record where each song makes you want to get up and move your body in a different way. That's what I want from the music I listen to. This record is for the clubs, or something you play before you go out at night. It's definitely my edgiest and most mature sound yet.

Why she's more guarded about her personal life: I think it's easier to let people in when you're younger, but when I became a mother I wanted more privacy for myself and my children.

On her talents and interests that might surprise people: I love to cook, especially for my boys. I also make a mean Southern sweet tea from a recipe my mom passed on to me. It's really good. I love it. I make it for my boys all the time.

What she'd do if she gave up show businesses: I'd be a full-time mom, which would be cool. I'd miss my fans and all of the love the most, but I definitely would not miss having my picture taken everywhere I go.

Secrets behind McDonald’s Shamrock St. Patrick’s Day milkshake - SEE VIDEO

The charitable background to the St. Patrick's Day special

By CATHY HAYES, Staff Writer

From IrishCentral.com

 

The much loved McDonald's Shamrock Shake

 

Finally the secrets behind the McDonald's best-selling Shamrock Shake have been revealed. Strangely, the bright green minty treat dates back to the 1970, and its story is based on charity.

The Shamrock Shake was developed in 1970, according to McDonald's. However, according to reports on Delish.com, Harold Rosen, who owned a McDonald's in Connecticut, claims he invented the popular holiday drink  in 1966.

The McDonalds website says, "It all began with a little girl, a football team, and a visionary doctor."

The Philadelphia Eagles tight end Fred Hill's daughter was diagnosed with leukemia and began treatment. The Hill family were camping out in waiting rooms in hospitals and saw other families doing the same. They realized that many families travelling long distances to visit their sick family members had nowhere to stay and could not afford hotel rooms. The Hill family did something about it.

Hill and his team decided to raise some funds. The team's general manager, Jim Murray, called a friend in McDonald's advertising and suggested the team on the next promotional push. It just happened to be St. Patrick's Day.

The Shamrock Shake raised enough money to buy a four-story house which was the first Ronald McDonald House Charity.

Imagine -- the Shamrock Shake now has 21,500 fans on Facebook and is second in popularity only to the McRib, and that sandwich had a "Simpsons" episode dedicated to it!

Here’s a hilarious ad for the Shamrock Shake from 1983:

Put your thinking cap on and type with your mind (w/ Video)

by Katie Gatto
from http://www.physorg.com/

(PhysOrg.com) -- Guger Technologies, an Austrian-based company, has developed a computer interface that can work directly with the human brain. The interface allows a user to "type" short messages by staring at letters on the screen. Those messages can then be translated with text to speech software, giving a voice to those who cannot speak for themselves, a funky, robot voice. If speech isn't on the users mind the messages can be sent the same way any other text would be over the web.

 

Since the system only requires the movement of the eyes in order to function it could be used by people with severe spinal cord injuries or other conditions have the rendered arm movement and vocal cord use impossible or impractical.

The device, which has been named intendiX, was shown off at Cebit.Labs. For those of you who are not familiar with the event Cebit.Labs is a section of the Cebit trade show that is devoted exclusively to showing off research projects.



IntendiX features a tight-fitting skull cap that has a number of electroencephalograph (EEG) electrodes attached to it. These are the Wet style of electrodes, so they do require a gel to function properly, though there is a dry version of the cap in the works. There is also a pocket-sized brainwave amplifier, and a Windows-based application that is designed to analyze the brainwaves received and translate them into letters on the screen. The setup can be connected via a Bluetooth wireless signal.

Currently the fastest in-lab time has been .9 of a second per character, but that is after the users have been trained on the system. Untrained users testing the device have been a slow as 40 seconds per character. No word yet on when the device will be available to the public.

More information: http://www.intendix.com/
© 2010 PhysOrg.com

Caribbean Cave Art Myths Revealed

From: http://science.nationalgeographic.com/

Panorama: Rock Art of Hoyo de Sanabe

A Window Into the Past 
Hoyo de Sanabe in the Dominican Republic is known for having some of the best rock art in all the Caribbean. 

Hundreds of pictographs painted in black can be found in the cave with the majority located on the north wall within the first 50 meters of the east entrance. About one dozen petrogyphs are located inside the west entrance. 

Many pictograph motifs seem largely to be associated with the themes of healing and childbirth as described by the early chroniclers of indigenous life, Fray Ramón Pané and Bartolomé de las Casas. 

To explore this hi-definition GigaPan, use the controls located at the left of the image, click-and-drag and scroll with your mouse, or use your keyboard's arrow keys to navigate left or right and the plus and minus keys to zoom in and out. Click "View All" to see the entire image. Click on individual snapshots to highlight specific scenes in the images and reveal fascinating information about the myths and meanings behind them.

Gigapan: Twilight zone cave paintings, Hoyo de Sanabe, Dominican Republic #3

Snapshots (click to zoom):

Gigapan

Name: Twilight zone cave paintings, Hoyo de Sanabe, Dominican Republic #3

Description:

Author: Robert Mark (rmark)

Date Taken: 2011-01-27 16:40:33

Date Added: 2011-01-27 17:07:32

Views: 441

Snapshot

Name:

Description:

Snapped By:

Date Taken:

Gigapan by Robert Mark, Rupestrian CyberServices

About the Images

Current research by Domingo Abreu and Daniel DuVall and photography by Robert Mark are bringing the ancient stories behind this art to the public like never before.

One of the pictograph panels seems to depict, in part, a myth described by Fray Ramón Pané of Deminán Caracaracol, his three brothers and their grandfather, Bayamanacoel, who spat a wad of cohoba (a hallucinogenic agent prepared from the seeds of Anadenathera peregrina) on the back of Deminán. This scene shows twin gods fighting to save the life of Deminán by cutting his back open to release a live turtle! 

Other panels depict pairs of anthropomorphs carrying a third slung between them, perhaps to a site for healing or burial. Other motifs are of masks that were used by healing shamans to frighten away illnesses and still others show figures inhaling cohoba which was also associated with healing practices. Also notable are depictions of anthropomorphs with swollen bellies, perhaps pregnant, and of turtles which were associated with fertility and motherhood in Taíno mythology. 

The most prominent figure both in terms of its size and its position in the center of the 30 meter long panel appears to be of a dog. Dogs were present here in pre-Columbian times although it is not known that they were associated with any healing or fertility themes. 

More exploration will continue to reveal rock art in the Dominican Republic, and more research will continue to reveal the possible meanings of these ancient yet still compelling scenes. Learn more on Daniel DuVall's personal website, danielduvall.com.

Tablet wars Part II: Apple iPad 2 vs Motorola Xoom vs HP TouchPad vs BlackBerry PlayBook

By: Bharat
From: http://www.gizmowatch.com/


With release of the much lighter and better, camera-equipped iPad 2, the tablet market is left awestruck again. While the first generation iPad remains to be the highest selling tablet, the iPad 2 with great features at same old price stands to gain ground over its predecessor. Google’s steadily trying to make a difference with its Android OS, and other manufacturers are constantly employing the latest versions of the Android OS to play catch-up with the iPad – that now stands even more impressive as the iPad 2. Thus, to learn which tablet plays heavier in which segment and where it actually hurts the other, we’ve compiled a face-off - Apple iPad 2 vs. Motorola Xoom vs. HP TouchPad vs. BlackBerry PlayBook for your notice, jump down for the best.

Staring at breasts increases heart health

By:Gene Lavanchy
From: http://www.myfoxboston.com/
 

GERMANY (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - Guys, listen up. A new study says it is actually healthy to stare at a woman's breasts.

Five-hundred men participated in the German study. Half were told to refrain from looking at breasts for five years, the other half were told to ogle them daily.

The study found the men who stared at breasts more often showed lower rates of heart problems, a lower resting heart rate and lower blood pressure.

The authors of the study recommend that men stare at breasts for 10 minutes a day.

Study: Staring at breasts increases heart health: MyFoxBOSTON.com

NY Man Agrees to Pay $2,000 Per Cigar Smoked in His Own Home

By Jason Beahm

From http://blogs.findlaw.com/

Smoking can be an expensive habit.

It can be really expensive when you have to pay an extra $2,000 every time you light up. But that's just what Harry Lysons, 70, of Manhattan, New York has been ordered to do, the New York Post reports.

The Post obtained papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court which state that he must pay his neighbors, Russell and Amanda Poses, $2,000 every time he smokes a cigar in his apartment, and if he doesn't pay within 15 days, he will have to pay another $1,500.

I suppose that beats $2 million, which is what Harry Lysons' neighbors were been suing him for.

Despite all that, it's possible Lysons is getting off cheap. The court order brings to an end a $2 million lawsuit Russell and Amanda Poses brought against him. His neighbors complained to the housing authority of foul and noxious odors, saying that the strong was so pungent that "you can't eat dinner."

An unpleasant odor is one thing, but the Poses took it up another notch by alleging that Lysons' cigars gave their children breathing problems and ear infections.

Lysons' attorney said that his client had no plans to quit smoking cigars: "I think when you're in your 70s you're entitled to some of the remaining pleasures in life. He's earned the right to smoke a cigar and have some brandy at night. He'll just have the cigar on the street." said attorney Jeffrey Marcus. The street may be one of the few remaining places where it is legal to smoke.

So what do you think? Should Lysons have to pay a fine to smoke in his own home?

Live the Sheen Dream: A random quote generator from Charlie Sheen's recent rants and words of wisdom.

http://www.livethesheendream.com/

Live the Sheen Dream

www.livethesheendream.com

A random quote generator from Charlie Sheen's recent rants and words of wisdom.

Charlie Sheen Venn Diagram

From: http://regretfulmorning.com/

Charlie Sheen and Jean-Claude Van Damme in the cast of Expendables 2?

According to website What Playing , actors Charlie Sheen (the series " Two and a Half Men ") and Jean-Claude Van Damme ( JCVD ) may make special appearances in "The Expendables 2". They have both been asked by Sylvester Stallone (" Rocky ") to participate in the first. Van Damme would have refused for personal reasons while the presence of Sheen was banned by the woman at the time of Stallone. The question would have been the processes that the actor faces a domestic assault.

Years later...Sylvester is asking them again to join in the sequel. lets hope their names show up at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1764651/

Original text in Portuguese here:  http://cinemacomrapadura.com.br/