British people find 'accommodation' the most difficult word to spell

Accommodation is the word that British people find the most difficult to spell.

Internet search engine Ask.com looked at which words received the most queries requesting a correct spelling.

Top of the list was accommodation, which was often misspelled as acommodation, accomodation and accomadation.

Accessory, opportunity and guarantee were also high on the list of words we find most difficult to grasp.

Spellers also commonly thought that embarrass was written as embarass, embarras and embaress.

Hundreds of people are also confused by the letter order of eighth and the silent "p" in receipt.

The word restaurant, which is of French origin, also tripped up many British people.

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World’s first electronic ABS motorcycle

Honda’s new CBR600RR is a 599cc, water-cooled four-cylinder bike that features computer-controlled anti-lock braking for the first time ever, while a 999cc version called the CBR1000RR will also be available from next week.

The company says the bikes, which start at ¥1.1 million ($12,200) allow for more solid and better braking control and are, therefore, safer than standard models in some conditions.

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Pensioner drinks nothing but Coke for 40 years

A Croatian man claims he has drunk nothing but Coca-Cola for the past 40 years – because he promised his mother he would not touch alcohol.

Pero Ajtman, 71, said he promised his mother he would stop drinking alcoholic beverages four decades ago.

"My mum didn't like me drinking when I was a young man as she was very religious," he explained to the Croatian tabloid 24 Sata.

"She made me promise never to drink again and Coca-Cola was the only thing that tasted as good as wine so I started drinking that.

"Now I have a glass in the morning, before and after lunch, with my dinner and then before I go to bed. I never drink anything else."

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The Credit Crisis Visualized

If you are not from a finance background but still like to understand the whole credit crisis, just watch this video that explains the entire story of the Credit Crisis in Plain English.

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Oops: "Obama bin Laden" Error Hits Yahoo's Homepage

It's not just angry rightwingers who mix up "Obama" and "Osama." Yahoo News has joined CNN and the Associated Press in confusing the most powerful man in the world with his terrorist enemy.

Here's the latest goof:



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Feeling frazzled? 8 ways to decrease stress

Here are eight surprising ways to invoke it — and in some cases, cut your cortisol levels almost in half.

Cut cortisol 20 percent
Say "Om." Subjects who practiced Buddhist meditation significantly decreased both cortisol and blood pressure in a six-week Thai study. Similarly, participants who meditated daily for four months decreased the hormone by an average of 20 percent in a study at Maharishi University, while levels in the nonmeditating control group actually went up slightly.

Cut cortisol elevation 66 percent
Make a great iPod mix. Music can have a calming effect on the brain, especially while you're facing down a major stressor. When doctors at Japan's Osaka Medical Center played tunes for a group of patients undergoing colonoscopies, the patients' cortisol levels rose less than those of others who underwent the same procedure in a quiet room.

Cut cortisol 50 percent
Hit the sack early — or take a nap. The recommended eight hours of nightly shut-eye allows your body enough time to recover from the day's stresses, study found. When you fall short of the mark, take a nap the next day — Pennsylvania State University researchers found that a midday snooze cut cortisol levels in subjects who'd lost sleep the previous night.

Cut cortisol 47 percent
Sip some black tea. When volunteers at University College London were given a stressful task, the cortisol levels of those who were regular black-tea drinkers fell by 47 percent within an hour of completing the assignment, while others who drank fake tea experienced only a 27 percent drop.

Cut cortisol 39 percent
Hang out with a funny friend. The pal who keeps you in stitches can do more than distract you from your problems — her very presence may help temper your hormonal stress response. Simply anticipating laughter is enough to reduce cortisol levels by nearly half, according to researchers at Loma Linda University.

Cut cortisol 31 percent
Schedule a massage. A little pampering can rub your stress levels the right way. After several weeks of massage therapy, subjects' cortisol levels decreased by nearly one-third, on average, according to studies at the University of Miami School of Medicine and elsewhere.

Cut cortisol 25 percent
Do something spiritual. Religious ritual fortifies many people against everyday pressures, and it can also lower cortisol secretion, report University of Mississippi researchers. Churchgoing study subjects had lower levels of the stress hormone, on average, than those who did not attend services at all.

Cut cortisol 12 percent to 16 percent
Chew a piece of gum. Next time you feel frazzled, try popping a stick of gum into your mouth to instantly defuse tension, suggest new findings from Northumbria University in the United Kingdom. While under moderate stress, gum chewers had salivary cortisol levels
that were 12 percent lower than nonchewers and also reported greater alertness than their gum-deprived counterparts.

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The hilarious examples of mangled English

Mr Friendly: A cheery warning to just stay away, ok?


Honest: A worrying warning at this Chinese supermarket


Take the plunge: A step-by-step guide to drowning - how handy


Don't feed the cleaners: Every precaution is taken to keep the window cleaners safe... and hungry

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Japan's Pioneer to cut 10,000 jobs globally

Japanese electronics company Pioneer Corp. will cut 10,000 jobs globally to cope with sinking sales of car audio equipment and flat-screen TVs. It will also withdraw from its money-losing plasma display business.

The massive job cuts, announced Thursday, are the latest from Japanese corporate giants, which are slashing their payrolls worldwide, reducing production and forecasting annual losses amid a global economic slump. Sony Corp. is shedding 8,000 workers while Nissan Motor Co. and NEC Corp. are each cutting 20,000.

Hit by the collapse in demand for car audio equipment and plasma TVs, Pioneer said its net loss in the current fiscal year to March will swell to 130 billion yen ($1.4 billion) from its previous estimate of a 78 billion yen net loss. It would be the fifth straight annual net loss for Pioneer.

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The Mom Song

I feel sorry for her children!

Thanks to Joyce!

Heart-shaped island spotted by Google Earth

The 130,000 square yard islet of Galesnjak came to prominence after its unusual shape was highlighted on Google Earth.

Even the owner of the uninhabited island - now known as Lovers' Island - didn't realise how perfectly heart-shaped the island off the Croatian coast was until he was swamped with requests from couples to stay there.

It seems many lovers from around the world consider it the ideal spot for a romantic Valentine's Day break.

Vlado Juresko said: "It has been incredible. We think it is the most perfect heart-shaped island in the world. Nobody lives there so if lovers really do want to spend time alone it's the perfect desert island.

"We always thought it looked a bit like a heart but since it's been on Google Earth everyone else has seen it too and the whole world seems to want to stay here."

The island is located in Zadarski Kanal between Zadar and the Island of Pasman.

Croatia is ranked as the 18th most popular tourism destination in the world, proving especially busy during the summer months.

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"Viva la Vida" wins Grammy for song of the year

The Coldplay tune "Viva la Vida" won the Grammy for song of the year on Sunday.

The prize goes to the songwriters, in this case the members of Coldplay.

The other nominated songs were "American Boy," performed and co-written by Estelle and Kanye West; "Chasing Pavements," performed and co-written by Adele; "I'm Yours," performed and written by Jason Mraz; and "Love Song," performed and written by Sara Bareilles.

The 51st annual Grammy Awards, the music industry's top honors, were handed out at the Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles.

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Nissan to slash 20,000 jobs, sees annual loss

Nissan is slashing 20,000 jobs, or 8.5 percent of its global work force, to cope with what Japan's third-largest automaker expects will be its first annual loss in nine years.

"The global auto industry is in turmoil, and Nissan is no exception," Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn told reporters Monday in Tokyo.

Nissan Motor Co. now expects a 265 billion yen ($2.9 billion) net loss for the fiscal year through March — joining a raft of other Japanese corporate giants, including Toyota, Toshiba and Sony, in slashing jobs and projecting annual losses.

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French fighter planes grounded by computer virus

French fighter planes were unable to take off after military computers were infected by a computer virus, an intelligence magazine claims.

The aircraft were unable to download their flight plans after databases were infected by a Microsoft virus they had already been warned about several months beforehand.

Microsoft had warned that the "Conficker" virus, transmitted through Windows, was attacking computer systems in October last year, but according to reports the French military ignored the warning and failed to install the necessary security measures.

The French newspaper Ouest France said the virus had hit the internal computer network at the French Navy.

Jérome Erulin, French navy spokesman told the paper: "It affected exchanges of information but no information was lost. It was a security problem we had already simulated. We cut the communication links that could have transmitted the virus and 99 per cent of the network is safe."

However, the French navy admitted that during the time it took to eradicate the virus, it had to return to more traditional forms of communication: telephone, fax and post.

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YouTube clip of boy 'high' after dentist visit gets 4 million hits in a week

A seven-year-old has become a YouTube star after nearly four million people watched a clip of the boy coming home from the dentist.

David, who is strapped in to the back seat of a car, appears to be intoxicated after having a tooth taken out at the dentist.

He says: “Is this real life?”

After his dad asks if he feels alright the boy responds: “I can’t see anything.”

He then asks if he has stitches and says “I feel funny. Why’s this happening to me?”

The clip was only uploaded by David’s father on January 30 and since then more than 3,900,000 viewers have watched it.

His dad wrote: “This is my 7 year old son who had an extra tooth removed last summer, 2008. I had the camera because he was so nervous before I wanted him to see before and after.

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Papa John's boss urges customers not to eat entire pizzas

John Schnatter, founder of Papa John's Pizza, risked the wrath of shareholders by warning diners that it was unhealthy to eat more than two slices.

The 47-year-old delivered the advice, even though customers cannot buy less than a whole pizza at any of the company's 118 takeaways in the UK or 2,500 US outlets.

During an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Schnatter said: "Pizzas are healthy for you if you don't eat too much of it. You can't eat five or six slices.

"But if you eat one or two slices it's very nutritious. A slice or two is good for you."

The smallest Papa John's pizza, which costs £6.99, has six slices, the medium, at £8.99, has eight slices and the large, at £9.99, has 10 slices.

The comments came after the show's business presenter, Adam Shaw, asked whether Mr Schnatter was concerned about the government's anti-obesity campaign impacting on sales.

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Nine-year-old whiz kid writes iPhone app

While most children his age sketch on paper with crayons, 9-year-old Lim Ding Wen from Singapore, has a very different canvas--his iPhone.

Lim, who is in fourth grade, writes applications for Apple's popular iPhone. His latest, a painting program called Doodle Kids, has been downloaded over 4,000 times from Apple's iTunes store in two weeks, the New Paper reported on Thursday.

The program lets iPhone users draw with their fingers by touching the iPhone's touch screen and then clear the screen by shaking the phone.

"I wrote the program for my younger sisters, who like to draw," Lim said. His sisters are aged 3 and 5.

Lim, who is fluent in six programming languages, started using the computer at the age of 2. He has since completed about 20 programming projects.

His father, Lim Thye Chean, a chief technology officer at a local technology firm, also writes iPhone applications.

"Every evening we check the statistics e-mailed to us (by iTunes) to see who has more downloads," the older Lim said.

The boy, who enjoys reading books on programming, is in the process of writing another iPhone application--a science fiction game called "Invader Wars."

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Sharp to cut 1,500 jobs, forecasts annual loss

Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp. said Friday it will cut 1,500 contract workers in Japan by the end of March, and is headed for a billion dollar annual loss, its first in nearly 60 years.

Sharp said costs to restructure its flat-panel display business, together with losses in its stock holdings and regulatory fines would lead to a net loss of 100 billion yen ($1.1 billion) in the current fiscal year through March.

The company, which previously forecast a 60 billion yen net profit, hasn't had a net loss since 1950.

Sharp said it will cut jobs by not extending the contracts of some of its temporary workers, and the cuts will not affect the company's full-time global work force, which currently numbers about 55,900.

It plans to slash expenses by 200 billion yen over the next two years, including cutting the salaries of executives and managers. The company will also reorganize its LCD factories and reassign some workers.

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Japan's Panasonic to cut 15,000 jobs, shut plants

Panasonic Corp. said Wednesday it will slash as many as 15,000 jobs and shut 27 plants worldwide, joining a slew of major Japanese companies announcing deep cuts as the global slowdown batters the world's second-largest economy.

The world's largest maker of plasma display TVs also announced a net loss for the October-December quarter and lowered its forecast for the fiscal year through March to a net loss of 380 billion yen ($4.2 billion), its first annual loss in six years.

Panasonic blamed the dismal results on the global slowdown set off by the U.S. financial crisis, the rapid surge of the yen and sudden price drops. Sales slid in a wide range of products, including flat-panel TVs, DVD recorders, microwaves, lamps and semiconductors, it said.

The Osaka-based manufacturer plans to cut the jobs — half of which will come in Japan — by the end of March 2010. They amount to about 5 percent of its 300,000-strong global work force.

Panasonic also will shutter 14 overseas plants and 13 plants in Japan by the end of March to adjust production and cut costs, company spokesman Akira Kadota said. The company said it has 230 production sites around the world but declined to give a regional breakdown.

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GirlonBus.com Are you that girl?

He met her on the bus. They do not know each other. Now he needs your help to find her! Read more @ girlonbus.com

Obama Daughters Doll

Dolls "Sweet Sasha" (R) and "Marvelous Malia." sit on a shelf at Lamont's gift shop in the Ritz-Carlton hotel on January 22, 2009 in Chicago, Illinois. The dolls are from the Ty Girlz collection made by Ty Inc, the makers of Beanie Babies. The store quickly sold out of its first shipment of the dolls.

The World's Biggest Cheesecake

On Sunday, January 25th, KRAFT Philadelphia Presented The Biggest Cheesecake Of The World. Chef Miguel Angel Quezada along with 55 cooks spent 60 hours making the world’s biggest cheesecake cake used nearly a ton of cream cheese, the same amount of yogurt, 350 kilograms (772 pounds) of pastry, 250 kilograms (551 pounds) of sugar and 150 kilograms (331 pounds) of butter. The Guinness World Record biggest cheesecake is 2.5 meters in diameter, 55 centimeters high and weighs 2 tons.

Google: 'Human error' brings internet chaos for millions

A simple typing error brought Google's search engine to a grinding halt, preventing millions of people from finding web pages on the internet.

The search engine incorrectly labelled all other websites as potentially harmful and stopped internet users from directly clicking through to their search results.

The problem arose at around 2.30pm GMT on 31 Jan 2009 and was only fixed after 40 minutes – by which time millions of users had been affected.

The company later announced that the fault had been caused by "human error" when an internal list of harmful sites was updated. A single forward slash (/) was put on the list in place of a full web address, effectively blacklisting every website because all web addresses contain the character.

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Excessive chatting on Facebook can lead to depression

Girls can be prone to anxiety and depression by talking too much to their friends through texting, email and social networking sites such as Facebook.

Repeated conversations among adolescent girls, known as co-rumination, can be unhelpful, particularly if it is about romantic disappointments.

Frequently discussing the same problem can intensify into an unhealthy activity for those who use Facebook and other electronic means to obsess about it, according to the researchers.

Psychology professor Dr Joanne Davila and her colleague Lisa Starr, at Stony Brook University in New York, interviewed 83 girls aged around 13 - the age when risk of depression starts to increase.

They were contacted again a year later to follow them up.

On both occasions they were tested for depressive symptoms and asked about romantic experiences considered normal for early teens, such as being asked out on a date and having been kissed.

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Driving while suffering from flu raises risk of accidents

Using a driving simulator, researchers found that people who drove with heavy colds or the flu took 10 per cent longer to react than healthy drivers.

This caused them to travel up to two extra metres at 60 mph before they started to break.

The drivers "under the influenza" were also less aware of hazards on the road if they were feeling ill, the study found.

Road safety experts warned that the effects could be compounded by cold remedies, which can cause drowsiness, and by drinking alcohol.

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NEC to cut 20,000 jobs worldwide

Japanese electronics giant NEC Corp. says it plans to slash at least 20,000 jobs worldwide in an effort to cut 80 billion yen ($895 million) in costs over the next two years.

The Tokyo-based company says its net loss widened to 130 billion yen ($1.46 billion) for the October-December quarter from a 5.2 billion yen loss in the same period a year earlier.

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The World's Biggest Boobs

SHEYLA Hershey’s massive 38KKK breasts have been declared the world’s biggest boob job.

The 28-year-old American housewife and model has undergone nine ops to get her amazing figure. And even though medics have warned that her breasts are in danger of exploding, she does not seem to care.

Sheyla, from Houston, Texas, said: “To me, big is beautiful. I don’t think I have anything to worry about.” Now Sheyla is in the record books for having the largest breast implants ever.

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German software giant SAP to cut 3,000 jobs

The world leader in professional software, Germany's SAP, said Wednesday it will cut more than 3,000 jobs this year to save up to 350 million euros (460 million dollars) as demand slumps.

The company, following the lead of many others as the global downturn bites deeper, said the job cuts will allow it to "adjust to difficult market conditions."

SAP employs 51,000, according to its website.

It added that it would not be making forecasts for this year because of "the limited visibility" in the business.

The company said its 2008 net profit fell 2.0 percent to 1.88 billion dollars as sales rose 14 percent to 8.46 billion euros.

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Starbucks to slash 6,700 jobs, close 300 stores

Starbucks said Wednesday it was slashing 6,700 jobs and closing 300 stores in a further belt-tightenting by the coffee house giant to cope with a rapidly weakening global economy.

The coffee-shop chain, which already announced a massive restructuring in July as wary consumers cut back on lattes and other specialty coffee drinks, reported revenue in the first quarter of its business year fell 6.0 percent from a year ago.

Net profit in the quarter ended December 28 plunged 69 percent to 64.3 million dollars, from 208.1 million in same period in 2007.

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Panasonic to close Malacca plant, 500 to lose jobs

Panasonic Corp said today it will cut 560 jobs in Asia due to the closure of two plants in the region, while declining to confirm a report saying the Japanese electronics giant will likely suffer its first net loss in six years.

The world's largest maker of plasma television will shut down a factory in Malaysia and another plant in the Philippines to "cope with a rapid change in the global electronics market," said spokesman Akira Kadota.

The closures come as Panasonic is in the middle of a US$9 billion (RM31.5 billion) takeover of smaller Japanese rival Sanyo Electric Co to become one of the world's biggest electronics companies.

Around 500 workers at the Malaysian electronics parts plant in Malacca will be out of work, while some 60 employees at the Philippines battery factory will also lose their jobs, Kadota said.

Panasonic also runs two electronics parts plants in Selangor. The spokesman said the company will merge them into one by September. He could not give the number of workers at the Selangor plants, but added the move will not result in job losses.

Kadota declined to confirm a report that Panasonic will likely suffer its first net loss in six years due to plummeting global demand for electronics goods and a strong yen.

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Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference

Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference is now available entirely free of charge! Written by award-winning author Keir Thomas, Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference is a totally unique and concise guide for everyday Ubuntu use.

* Focuses on core competencies and background knowledge needed to be an expert Ubuntu user;
* Readable, accessible, and easy to understand—even if you've never used Linux before;
* 100% new and original! Written from the ground-up to cover Ubuntu 8.04 and 8.10.

[Grab the PDF]

Alcohol improves men's sexual performance

Australian researchers have made the surprise discovery that alcohol improves, rather than damages, men's performance in the bedroom.

They hope the finding, which flies in the face of conventional belief, will reassure men who worry about the affects of drinking on their sex lives.

Until now, it has been widely believed alcohol consumption could cause erectile dysfunction, commonly called "brewer's droop''.

But a study of 1580 Australian men has shown the reverse may be true, with drinkers reporting as many as 30 per cent fewer problems than teetotallers.

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What cops do at night?

Solitaire!

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The Hangman Cheat

It weighs the number of occurrences of each letter in all of the words it knows
matching your criteria. It guesses whichever letter occurs in the highest percentage of words.

[Play]