Avenue Odd

 

(This is reportedly based on an actual experiment conducted in the U.K.)

Put eight monkeys in a room. In the middle of the room is a ladder, leading to a bunch of bananas hanging from a hook on the ceiling.

Each time a monkey tries to climb the ladder, all the monkeys are sprayed with ice water, which makes them miserable. Soon enough, whenever a monkey attempts to climb the ladder, all of the other monkeys, not wanting to be sprayed, set upon him and beat him up. Soon, none of the eight monkeys ever attempts to climb the ladder.

One of the original monkeys is then removed, and a new monkey is put in the room. Seeing the bananas and the ladder, he wonders why none of the other monkeys are doing the obvious.

But undaunted, he immediately begins to climb the ladder.

All the other monkeys fall upon him and beat him silly. He has no idea why.
However, he no longer attempts to climb the ladder.

A second original monkey is removed and replaced. The newcomer again attempts to climb the ladder, but all the other monkeys hammer the crap out of him.

This includes the previous new monkey, who, grateful that he's not on the receiving end this time, participates in the beating because all the other monkeys are doing it. However, he has no idea why he's attacking the new monkey.

One by one, all the original monkeys are replaced. Eight new monkeys are now in the room. None of them have ever been sprayed by ice water. None of them attempt to climb the ladder. All of them will enthusiastically beat up any new monkey who tries, without having any idea why.

And that is how most of corporate culture is established.

Picture taken off Flickr.com. Originally Uploaded on July 16, 2008, by law_keven

Read an article about what the way you sleep says about you as a person, and thought it might be fun to share, so here goes

Foetus

Those who curl up in the foetus position are described as tough on the outside but sensitive at heart. They may be shy when they first meet somebody, but soon relax. This is the most common sleeping position, adopted by 41% of the 1,000 people who took part in the survey. More than twice as many women as men tend to adopt this position.

Log

Lying on your side with both arms down by your side. These sleepers are easy going, social people who like being part of the in-crowd, and who are trusting of strangers. However, they may be gullible.

Yearner

People who sleep on their side with both arms out in front are said to have an open nature, but can be suspicious, cynical. They are slow to make up their minds, but once they have taken a decision, they are unlikely ever to change it.

Soldier

Lying on your back with both arms pinned to your sides. People who sleep in this position are generally quiet and reserved. They don't like a fuss, but set themselves and others high standards.

Freefall

Lying on your front with your hands around the pillow, and your head turned to one side. Often gregarious and brash people, but can be nervy and thin-skinned underneath, and don't like criticism, or extreme situations.

Starfish

Lying on your back with both arms up around the pillow. These sleepers make good friends because they are always ready to listen to others, and offer help when needed. They generally don't like to be the centre of attention.

The joke’s good.

Oh the CLUTTER.

In my search for a thumb drive that would appreciate an experience that is an intimate peek into the life of a tennis ball on the Wimbledon’s Centre Court on match day, the Sandisk Cruzer Titanium 16GB, trapped in its little plastic enclosure, winked at me.

I thought to myself, a 16GB thumb drive? What on earth am i going to put on it? For a moment (something like two seconds, to be precise), i had an inkling doubt.

Now, this thumb stick has (still is) worked hard for me, enduring seemingly endless lectures without failing, and keeping a small collection of my favourite applications at my fingertips, Over the months, I have assembled a little plethora of portable applications that I simply cannot live without. Considering the widespread use of USB thumb drives nowadays, i thought perhaps i would share my little selection.

Firefox Portable

Firefox is, hands down, the best browser i have ever used. In terms of speed, it is but a tad slower than the simple-looking-but-downright-mean-under-the-hood Google Chrome, but the addons! Oh the addons, what would i do without them. There is nothing worse than getting to say, an internet cafe, and realising that it has only Internet Explorer 6. This is by far, the most used application on my drive. Click here to download.

 

Screamer Internet Radio

For access to tons of internet radio stations, this is my application of choice. Click here to download.

GreatNews RSS Reader

You don't tear newspaper into pieces to read them. Why should reading rss news articles be any different? GreatNews is optimized for full page reading, so you can scan through rss articles quickly. Combined with functions like "Open Next Unread Channel", you don't need to waste any time to find where all the unread articles are.
GreatNews is extremely fast. Even with hundreds of rss feed subscriptions, GreatNews's response is always instantaneous. You can opt to show news from all channels on the same page. And you have full control over how many articles can be displayed at once. Click here to download.

WordWeb: Free English Dictionary/Thesaurus

WordWeb is a one-click English thesaurus and dictionary for Windows that can look up words in almost any program. It works off-line, but can also look up words in web references such as the Wikipedia encyclopaedia. Click here to download.

Foxit Reader 3.0

For all the times you need to view a .pdf file and realise that the local computer does not have Acrobat, there is Foxit Reader. It is a small and fast PDF viewer. 50 million users can’t be wrong. Okay, sure they can, but this would be my PDF reader of choice anyway. Click here to download.

7-Zip

 

Many computers are not capable of opening .zip or .rar (both relatively popular formats). 7-zip is the Open-Source (read FREE) alternative to propriety software such as Winzip and Winrar. A portable version is available specifically for carrying around in a thumb drive. Very, very handy. Click here to download.

All of the above software are available for free, do feel free to comment with other portable applications you cannot live without!

At the time of this publishing, the Bush administration would have transited out of the White House to live their post-presidential life.

The inauguration of the Obama administration would mark the start of a new chapter in not only in the United States’ history books, but in those of the the world over.

The African-Americans of the United States have played such a large part in shaping the country’s history, but never once, a role as powerful as this, never, as the President of United States. Never, the leader of the western world.

May the world listen, to this man who promised change, and give him what support we can. Daunting would be his task, in these times of political and social crisis. May he rule with a clarity of mind that many before him lacked, guided by the vision of the late Martin Luther King, and the collective wisdom of his predecessors. For he will need all of that, and then some.

For all that he was, President Bush was most remembered in the role of Commander-in-Chief. His strong stand of Good versus Evil constituted the making and breaking of his administration. There really is nothing above or below the war in Iraq.

The inauguration speech by Barak H. Obama, was peppered with words like prudence, humility and restraint. He makes clear that America is not entitled to do as it pleases. Which is in stark contrast with all that was the Bush administration.

May Mr. Obama bring the United States, and with her, the rest of the world, to a new era of peace, prosperity, and above all, justice. Quoting his words, “so help me God”. So help him God.

diz cat ownz.