HAPPY BIRTHDAY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRO......
Neremal Singh is now 24 years young..HE HE

Visit to dentist

Finally the last visit for my tooth's root canal treatment.


I find it extremely cheap compared to doing it in KL. To everyone out there I would like to promote this dentist. Root cannal or Crowning can cost less then RM500. Seriously!!! The only sad thing that it is located near Rawang. I saved a lot even though I travelled there for a few treatments. If anyone interested, you can get more details about the location from me.

Just For Laughs

Health - Toning your tush

What's the best way to firm up your buttocks? And how do you get rid of back fat? Smart Fitness answers your queries. Have an exercise question? To e-mail us, click here. We’ll post select answers in future columns.

Q: I have been trying to tighten my glutes but nothing is working. I would like to get a little lift. Any advice?

A: "The best exercises for really building the mass of the gluteus maximus — which helps to lift it — are squats and lunges," says personal trainer Rob Glick, an Orange County, Calif.-based spokesperson for the IDEA Health and Fitness Association and program director for Crunch gyms.

If you've been doing squats and lunges and not seeing results, Glick advises intensifying your program by adding additional weight (using hand-held dumbbells for lunges, and dumbbells or a barbell for squats) so that the resistance is greater but you're still able to keep good form.

Proper technique for a squat is to stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and then lower your body as if you're sitting back in a chair, keeping your weight over your heels to mid-foot and your knees at no more than a 90-degree angle, according to the American Council on Exercise (ACE). Hold this position briefly and then return to the starting position.

For forward lunges, start in the same position and lunge forward with your right leg, keeping your weight over the back of your right foot. Your spine should be straight, with your shoulders over your hips, ACE notes. Your left (back) leg should be bent at no more than a 90-degree angle. Return to the starting position and then repeat with the other side.

Glick recommends doing three sets of 12 to 16 repetitions of both squats and lunges two to three times a week. On a perceived-exertion scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being easy and 10 being very difficult, beginners should aim for a 6 or 7, he says, and start with no weight. When the activity becomes easier, add more weight.

Beyond squats and lunges, Gregory Joujon-Roche, a Los Angeles-based trainer to celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire, says Pilates, martial arts and ballet are other great ways to tone your tush.

Of course, an important factor in firming up your backside is losing any excess fat. Your buttocks won't look taut if there's a layer of fat jiggling on top of your glutes.

For burning the fat and helping to give the buttocks a lift, Joujon-Roche, an MSNBC.com contributor to The Fit List, recommends elliptical training and outdoor runs on the beach or grass, for some added resistance.

Q: I seem to have accumulated "back fat" this past year. How do I get rid of it?

A: There's no single exercise you can do to get rid of fat only on your back, or anywhere else. "There's just no spot reducing," Glick notes.

To lose fat on your back, you'll have to burn calories and lose fat all over. In doing so, you should shrink the fat on your back, too.

Since you've been gaining fat over the past year, take a look at your diet and exercise routine. Are you eating more and/or exercising less? If so, something has to change. To lose a pound of fat, you need to create a deficit of 3,500 calories by eating less and exercising more.

What exercises are best? Whichever ones you like, says Glick.

"The rule of thumb is that if you're enjoying an activity, you'll stick with it," he says, "and the No. 1 thing is adherence."

Taken From http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10909523/

Records shatter as arctic weather grips Europe

VIENNA, Austria - Vienna’s subway tracks cracked, German authorities shut a key canal to ships after it iced up, and a zoo moved its penguins indoors Tuesday as a deadly deep freeze tightened its arctic grip on much of Europe.

The killer cold wave, which has been blamed for more than 50 deaths in Russia, claimed at least 13 lives in the past five days in the former Soviet republic of Moldova, where authorities said another 30 people — many of them homeless — were hospitalized with hypothermia.

Romanian authorities reported 15 deaths in the past few days, five of them homeless people, after temperatures dropped as low as minus 22 degrees.

Parts of Austria felt more like Siberia, with the mercury plunging well below zero. The bitter cold hit an all-time low of minus 24 degrees in the Lower Austria town of Gross Gerungs, while in the beer-making town of Zwettl, it was minus 12 — the chilliest Jan. 24 since 1929.

Vienna’s subway system operator said morning rush-hour service was interrupted in some areas of the capital because the severe cold — which hit a low of minus 2 — caused small tears in the welds on sections of track.

Austria’s largest automobile club, OEAMTC, said it responded to hundreds of calls from motorists whose cars wouldn’t start because of dead batteries — along with dozens more from drivers who could not pry their way into their vehicles because the doors were frozen shut.



In southern Germany, officials closed the Rhine-Main-Danube canal to shipping for the first time in five years after it iced over.

Thick sheets of ice stretching about 50 miles posed a danger to ship propellers and lock systems, said Leonhard Hummel of the Office of Water and Navigation in Nuremberg. An icebreaker had to help six ships in the canal — which links waterway systems between the North Sea and the Black Sea — reach their destinations.

At the zoo in Dresden, Germany, 21 Humboldt penguins were moved from their minus 6 outdoor environment into a building where the temperature was a more comfortable 32 degrees to ensure their feet didn’t freeze, zoo director Karl Ukena said.

Power drain in Moscow
In Moscow, which was held in an icy grip for the past nine days, trolley buses and trams returned to full operation Tuesday, but record-breaking electricity consumption continued to strain the Soviet-era power system. The Russian capital “warmed” to minus 7, balmy compared with Thursday’s minus 24, but the city’s death toll rose to at least 28.

Serbia recorded its first cold casualty of the year when an elderly homeless man died in Belgrade. In Kosovo, where tens of thousands lined up outdoors to pay respects to President Ibrahim Rugova, who died Saturday, authorities urged mourners to bundle up and provided some with hot tea.

A 47-year-old man froze to death early Tuesday in the eastern Czech town of Sumperk, and in Prague, workers erected heated tents for the homeless as temperatures in some parts of the country plunged to minus 22. Tents also went up in Bratislava, the capital of neighboring Slovakia.



At least 35 towns and villages in Bulgaria were without electricity Tuesday after surging power demand led to system breakdowns, the civil defense agency said. Schools in 18 of Bulgaria’s 28 regions canceled classes, and an elderly man’s death was blamed on the cold.

In Croatia, temperatures fell to minus 1 and winds gusting to 100 mph created a fearsome wind chill factor.

Temperatures fell to 21 degrees across northern Italy early Tuesday and plummeted to a record 3 degrees in alpine areas, whipped by winds of up to 75 mph.

Snow fell on Greece’s ancient Acropolis and covered much of Athens and its outlying suburbs Tuesday. The weather cut access to dozens of remote mountain villages, police and civil defense authorities said.

Taken From http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10994127/

Recipe - Chicken Kabobs

If you're looking for something a little different to perk up your meals, be a smart cluck and whip up some fun and easy kabobs! Your chicken will scratch out a little extra kick with onion, garlic and Italian seasoning.
Serve this tasty chicken dish over brown rice for a healthy combination. Your family and friends will flock to the table!



Ingredients

5 oz. boneless chicken breast
1 small onion
1 clove garlic
1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning
4 Tbsp. white wine
1 bell pepper
2/3 Tbsp. olive oil

Directions

1. Rinse, pat dry and cut chicken breast into 1-inch cubes. Cut onion into wedges, bell pepper into 1-inch squares and mince garlic.

2. Combine oil, garlic, wine (or white vinegar if preferred) and Italian seasoning in a shallow dish. Coat chicken well on both sides with liquid mixture, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (one hour if possible), turning once. Discard marinade and alternately thread chicken and vegetables onto skewers.

3. Grill or broil on highest rack for five to six minutes; turn once and cook other side until chicken is slightly golden and vegetables are done, but still crunchy, approximately five to six minutes. Remove from skewers and serve over brown rice (optional).

Makes one serving. Nutritional values per serving: 382 calories, 15g fat (2.0g sat), 29g protein, 23g carbohydrate, 5g dietary fiber, 100 mg cholesterol, 84mg sodium and 13g sugar.

This recipe is:
Low in Sodium (approximately 800 milligrams or less of sodium)
Low in Cholesterol (approximately 100 milligrams or less of cholesterol)

Taken From http://www.ediets.com/news/article.cfm?cmi=1723915&cid=6&code=76074

Movie - Best 5 Spielberg’s Movies

"Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977): At the heart of any Spielberg film is faith – not simple religious faith, but rather faith in imagination, faith in magic, faith in the unknown. This film epitomizes that as we watch Richard Dreyfuss’ Roy Neary sculpt Wyoming’s Devil’s Tower in everything from shaving cream to mashed potatoes. Roy abandons his humdrum, suburban life to pursue the idea that perhaps there is intelligent life on other planets, and there’s a recklessness to his actions that’s invigorating – and missing from a lot of later Spielberg films. A determination to know drives him – and it’s the perfect metaphor for an artist like Spielberg, who sees visions of the fantastic in his head and strives to make them real.


"Jaws" (1975): Spielberg never had a better collaborator than Richard Dreyfuss (sorry, Tom Hanks). The two invigorated each other – with Dreyfuss’ wound-up personality the on-screen equivalent of Spielberg’s lofty ambition. Here, the two usher in the era of the blockbuster in this story of three men who go in search of a great white shark on a boat that’s not quite big enough. The movie terrifies with what it doesn’t show, and yet it never abandons its characters for the sake of plot. One of the film’s best moments comes when Quint (Robert Shaw) tells the story of the sinking of USS Indianapolis. It’s a horrifying, human moment that makes this more than a simple horror film. Yeah, ultimately Bruce the shark looks pretty fake, but with three strong performances (Dreyfuss, Shaw and Roy Schneider), Spielberg proves that effects come in second place to great acting.


"Schindler’s List" (1992): Though it would have been nice if Spielberg’s Holocaust story centered on a character who was Jewish, it’s still hard not to be moved by this story of Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), a man who finds his own humanity in one of history’s darkest hours. Unlike some of his attempts at dramatic films ("Saving Private Ryan," "The Color Purple"), this film avoids becoming simple melodrama, primarily because Spielberg starts with a character who is flawed to begin with – and because he uses actors like Ben Kingsley and Ralph Fiennes, who layer their performances so they are not simple pictures of good and evil. You can feel Spielberg’s heart in this film, but luckily none of the characters wears it on their sleeves.


"E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" (1982): This boy-meets-alien story comes across like a modern fairy tale – and feels told specifically from a child’s point of view. The decisions Elliot (Henry Thomas) makes, from drawing the alien out with Reese’s Pieces to dressing him up for Halloween are ideas only a boy his age would come up with. With the film’s single mom and absentee dad, it also felt like the perfect picture of suburban middle-class life in the 1980s. And if you didn’t cry when you thought E.T. might not make it, you’re made of stronger stuff than I was at age 14. Yes, Spielberg blatantly pulls heart strings in this film, but he does it with such panache that your only choice is to lean back and let him have his way with you.


"Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981): Before we found out he was named for the family dog or met the truly annoying Short Round, Indiana Jones was cool. He fought thoroughly-acceptable and non-controversial villains (the Nazis). He taught archeology, while running from giant boulders for his side gig in artifacts recovery. This film (unlike those that followed) thrives on imagination, wit and great performances from Harrison Ford, and especially Karen Allen as the feisty Marion Ravenwood. Allen showed that female characters could do more than scream (yes, Kate Capshaw, that means you) and she proved the perfect counterpart for Ford. Though this film barely beats out "Catch Me If You Can" and "Munich," it makes the list simply because it revels in its own sense of fun and adventure.

Taken From http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10723946/

Actor - Heath Ledger

Date of birth : 4 April 1979
Place of birth : Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Actor - filmography :
Untitled Stacy Peralta Project (2005) (announced)

Casanova (2005/I)
Brokeback Mountain (2005)

The Brothers Grimm (2005)
Lords of Dogtown (2005)
Candy (2005)

The Order (2003)

Ned Kelly (2003)

The Four Feathers (2002)
Monster's Ball (2001)

A Knight's Tale (2001) The Patriot (2000)
Two Hands (1999)

10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
"Home and Away" (1988) TV Series
"Roar" (1997) TV Series
Paws (1997)
Blackrock (1997)
"Sweat" (1996) TV Series
"Ship to Shore" (1993) TV Series
Clowning Around (1992)

Health - The 10 Absolute Worst Foods You Can Eat

Q: Dear Sue:

Would you please send to me a list of the 10 absolute worst foods you can eat? Thanks,

Leslie

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



A: Dear Leslie:

There are so many products that belong on the list that I couldn't limit it to 10, so rather than focus on individual brands I stuck to food categories. Foods and ingredients on this list don't need to be avoided entirely. Just be sure to eat them sparingly if you eat them at all.

Hydrogenated fats

These are mostly man-made fats that are used in bakery items and stick margarine. Studies show that it isn't so much how much fat there is in your diet that causes problems, as what kind of fat, and hydrogenated fats are the worst. Avoid buying cookies, crackers, baked goods or anything else that has hydrogenated oil on the ingredient list. Fortunately, the FDA now requires that food manufactures identify the amount of hydrogenated fats in their products—look for trans fats on the nutrition panel.

Olestra

Olestra is a fake fat, used to make non-fat potato chips and other snacks. You'd think, with all the bad rap fat has gotten, a non-fat fat would be great. But Olestra has been shown to bind with fat-soluble vitamins A, E, D and K and carotenoids—substances thought to keep the immune system healthy and prevent some cancers—and to eliminate them from your system. Proctor and Gamble, the company that produces olestra, has acknowledged the problem with vitamins A, E, D and K and is now fortifying it with them.

Olestra has also caused digestive upset in some people, especially when they eat a lot of it. Often, it's not just fat in the potato chips that causes problems for people; it's the fact that they are displacing healthier foods, such as fruit, so Olestra can just perpetuate an unhealthy habit.

Nitrates

Many foods, especially cured meats such as bacon and hot dogs, use nitrates to preserve color and maintain microbial safety. Nitrate is harmless, but it can convert to nitrite, which can form nitrosamines, a powerful cancer-causing chemical, in your body. Whenever possible, look for nitrate-free preserved meats. When you do eat foods containing nitrates, have a glass of orange juice at the same time (for instance, orange juice with your morning bacon). Vitamin C is known to inhibit the conversion to nitrosamines in your stomach.

Alcohol

This one item has created more problems than all the rest put together. Of course, it is possible to consume alcohol wisely and safely and enjoy it immensely, such as a fine glass of wine with a delicious dinner. But even if you exercise caution in no other area of your diet, this is the area where you should.

Raw oysters

Raw oysters can carry deadly bacteria that can cause severe illness or death. Because it is strictly "buyer beware" when buying them, you take a big risk every time you do. To date, no government or independent body inspects seafood for safety or will guarantee its quality. Oysters are a nutritious food, and are great to include in your diet, but if you do, cook them first!

Saturated animal fats

That means fatty meats, especially beef and pork, or the skin on poultry. It also includes full-fat dairy products such as cheese, milk and cream. Fatty meat and dairy products do have some contributions to make to a diet, but none that can't be found elsewhere.

Soda

Drinking soda is a poor way to get fluids. They are full of sugar or artificial sweeteners and often contain caffeine, artificial colors and flavors. Substitute homemade soda by mixing sparkling water with fresh, 100 percent juice.

Low-acid home-canned foods

Home canning can be dangerous for foods low in acid such as green beans, carrots or other garden vegetables. The potential of botulism is high because home canners often do not reach the temperatures and pressures necessary to kill the botulism spores that may contaminate the food. Low-acid home-canned foods are one of the main causes of food poisoning.

High-fat snacks, chips

Even if they are made with vegetable oil, they should be minimized. The balance of fat in our diets has shifted too far to the omega-6 variety, found in most processed vegetable oils. It is thought that too many of these fats may be leading to certain chronic diseases. Instead, focus on fruits and non-fat whole grains for snacking.

Liquid meals

They aren't inherently bad for you, but they do keep you from eating whole, natural foods that contain more nutrients and fiber and disease-fighting phytochemicals. They may be okay for people who are too sick to eat, but don't let them displace the real foods in your diet.

Taken Form http://g.msn.com/0NL66737/805

Health - Men - 12 Steps to a Healthier Lifestyle

Step 1: Walk, Man

Since exercise doesn't have to be intense to be beneficial, brisk walking is an ideal choice for beginners. It's inexpensive, it's easy on the joints, it's enjoyable, and it works! Ask a friend to join you for a "walkie-talkie" session.

Step 2: Laugh More Often

Did you know that 100 hearty, good laughs burn the same amount of calories as ten minutes of rowing? Looks like more giggling leads to less jiggling!

Step 3: Learn Label Lingo

A healthy eating plan begins at the grocery store. Nowadays, food labels contain all the information we need to make smarter choices.

Step 4: Follow the 80/20 Rule

Eighty percent of the time, choose foods that are nutritious, low in fat, and high in fiber. Twenty percent of the time, allow yourself an indulgence. This way, you'll never feel deprived, and no foods will be off limits or taboo.

Step 5: Think Fitness, Not Thinness

Throw unrealistic notions of becoming pencil thin or perfectly chiseled out the window. Anyone, of any body type, of any age, of any height, can become fit through regular exercise and a healthy diet. It's fitness that matters most in the long run.

Step 6: You Booze, You Lose

If you drink regularly, say, two beers or two glasses of wine each day, that's over 1,400 calories per week, or over 73,000 calories per year -- enough to create 20 pounds of excess flab!

Step 7: Kick the Habit

It's second nature to add butter to toast, mayonnaise to sandwiches, and fat-laden dressings to salads. Try replacing these high-fat habits with new low-fat ones, like putting jam on toast, low-fat mayonnaise or honey mustard on sandwiches, and low-fat dressings on salads.

Step 8: Don't Be a Frequent Fryer

Choose cooking methods that don't add fat to your foods: baking, broiling, grilling, roasting, poaching and steaming. Use nonstick cooking spray in place of oil and save 14 grams of fat.

Step 9: Give Your Spuds Some New Duds

Forget the butter when mashing potatoes. Every tablespoon has 11 grams of fat. Instead, use low-fat sour cream or buttermilk to get the creamy taste and texture you're after. Try salsa on baked potatoes—it's fat-free.

Step 10: Plan Menus in Advance

When you know what you're going to eat ahead of time, you avoid impulsive high-fat, high-calorie food selections. Try to plan weekly menus on the weekend and shop for the ingredients you'll need. This will make weekday mealtimes a lot less hectic.

Step 11: Kill Two Birds With One Stone

Doing two things at once may be just the way to fit exercise into a hectic schedule. Wear running shoes when you take your kids to soccer practice, so you can walk around the field instead of just sitting for an hour. Catch up on the latest gossip with your best friend while hiking, biking or golfing.

Step 12: Prepare Yourself for a Snack Attack

Keep healthy snacks on hand, like skim milk puddings, baked tortilla chips, low-fat cereal bars, pretzels, fresh fruit, veggies with low-fat dip, and frozen yogurt. Leave the high-fat snacks at the supermarket. Out of sight, out of mind.

Taken From http://health.msn.com/womenshealth/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100118669

Recipe - Waffles With Ricotta 'n Walnut

Ready to invest your appetite in a hearty breakfast that won't break the calorie bank? These delightful whole wheat waffles will leave you feeling guilt-free and full -- kind of like your diet has awakened to a bran' new day!
Ricotta cheese is the key ingredient here. Never had the delight of tasting ricotta? It's a fresh, moist, slightly sweet Italian-style cheese.

For your waffle, it's mixed with crunchy walnuts for an awesome topping! Drizzle lite syrup over that and you have a sinfully decadent, yet low-calorie breakfast!

Round out this bountiful breakfast with fruit cocktail and milk to get your day started on the right foot.



Ingredients

1/2 cup low-fat or nonfat ricotta cheese
1/2 Tbsp. walnuts
1/3 cup fruit cocktail, juice packed
1/2 Tbsp. lite syrup
1 cup low-fat or nonfat milk
2 whole wheat waffles

Directions

1. Mix the ricotta and walnuts together and set aside.

2. Toast the waffles, the spread the ricotta mixture over the waffles. Drizzle syrup over the top.

3. Serve with fruit cocktail and milk. Enjoy!

Makes one serving. Nutritional values per serving: 540 calories, 20g fat (8.0g sat), 30g protein, 67g carbohydrate, 6g fiber, 45mg cholesterol, 740mg sodium and 33g sugar.

Taken Form http://www.ediets.com/news/article.cfm?cmi=1706366&cid=6&code=76074

Capsule of comet dust lands back on Earth

DUGWAY PROVING GROUND, Utah - After a seven-year, 2.9 billion-mile round trip, NASA's Stardust space capsule floated down to a landing in the Utah desert early Sunday, bringing back interstellar dust and comet samples that scientists hope will yield clues to the origins of the solar system.

"All stations, we have touchdown," declared Stardust project manager Tom Duxbury, dressed in a navy blue NASA pilot's jumpsuit for the occasion. That sparked a roomful of smiles and a round of applause from mission controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

The Stardust mission came to a climax in the middle of the night, starting with the sample return capsule's release from its mothership when it was 69,000 miles (110,000 kilometers) away from Earth. The shuttlecock-shaped capsule streaked through the atmosphere at about 29,000 mph (46,000 kilometers per hour), representing the fastest re-entry of any human-made probe.

NASA said the falling capsule could be seen as an orange fireball by observers in Nevada and Utah. Parachutes eased the final phase of the descent, and the capsule hit the ground at just 10 mph (16 kilometers per hour) at about 3:10 a.m. MT (5:10 a.m. ET). The recovery team said the capsule bounced three times before coming to rest on its side.

“It’s an absolutely fantastic end to the mission,” said Carlton Allen of NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

Stardust's principal investigator, Donald Brownlee of the University of Washington, said he sneaked out from his post on the Dugway Proving Ground to watch the capsule and its fiery trail. “It's ironic that we have a comet mission that ends producing a ‘comet,’” he told reporters at a post-landing news briefing.



The $212 million mission marked the first time a spacecraft flew into deep space and brought back tiny fragments of a comet. Most of the granules are so small that a microscope will be required to study them.

The Stardust mothership will remain in orbit around the sun, and Duxbury said NASA is considering sending it to another comet or asteroid.

Comets are frozen bodies of ice and dust that formed soon after a gaseous disk collapsed to create the sun and planets 4.6 billion years ago. Comets formed from what was left over, and studying them could shed light on the solar system’s birth.

The cosmic samples were gathered in 2004 from Comet Wild 2, a frozen body of ice and dust believed to have been formed billions of years ago. The Stardust spacecraft used a tennis racket-sized collector mitt to snag the particles in a porous material and stored them in the capsule.

Dust from birth of solar system
Scientists say Stardust's collectors should contain about a million samples of comet and interstellar dust — most tinier than the width of a human hair. The dust grains, believed to be pristine leftovers from the birth of the solar system, contain many of the organic molecules necessary for life.

A helicopter recovery team located the capsule within an hour after landing, then brought it to Michael Army Air Field in Dugway for processing in a clean room. From there, the capsule will be flown to the Johnson Space Center in Houston on Tuesday, where experts will open an inner canister, cut the aerogel collectors into thin slices and start analyzing the grains themselves.

Brownlee said researchers around the world would be studying the grains for years to come. "Much of the science in this mission hasn’t been done yet," he told reporters. Eventually, the findings from the Stardust mission will wind up in textbooks that address the origins of the solar system, Brownlee said.

Sunday's landing came as a relief for scientists after the 2004 Genesis mission, when the returning craft carrying solar wind particles slammed into the Utah desert and cracked open, exposing the solar atoms to contamination.

Scientists had to spend days picking through the wreckage to salvage the fragile wafers containing the samples.

The crash was caused by the faulty installation of gravity switches designed to trigger the parachute release on Genesis. Engineers reviewed Stardust’s blueprints and rechecked its systems to make sure it wouldn’t happen again.

Genesis and Stardust were the first robotic retrievals of extraterrestrial material since 1976, when the unmanned Soviet Luna 24 mission brought back lunar rocks and soil.

Seven years, almost 3 billion miles
Launched in 1999, the Stardust spacecraft traveled nearly 3 billion miles (4.6 billion kilometers), looping around the sun three times.

In 2004, it flew through the comet’s coma, a fuzzy halo of gas and dust. Outfitted with armored bumpers, the spacecraft survived a hail of debris to trap comet dust with a collector mitt packed with aerogel, a porous material made up of mostly air. The cosmic particles were then tucked inside the capsule for the trip home.

Along with the comet dust, the spacecraft also captured interstellar dust — tiny particles that stream through the solar system thought to be from ancient stars that exploded and died.

The spacecraft also beamed back 72 black-and-white pictures showing broad mesas, craters, pinnacles and canyons with flat floors on the surface of Wild 2, a craggy comet about 500 million miles (800 million kilometers) from Earth at Stardust’s launch.

Stardust’s sample return is the latest mission designed to study comets up close.

Six months earlier, NASA sent a probe called Deep Impact into the path of an onrushing comet. The high-speed collision with Comet Tempel 1 set off a celestial fireworks display in space and exposed the comet’s primordial interior. Scientists have been analyzing the voluminous debris hurled from the comet’s belly and are trying to figure out the size of the crater caused by the impact.

NASA's New Horizons mission, due for launch on Tuesday, is aimed at studying Pluto and other "icy dirtballs" on the solar system's fringe — and Brownlee noted that Pluto may not be all that different from Comet Wild 2.

"It’s the same class of body as the planet Pluto, except that it's small," Brownlee said.

Health - Cough Syrup

Doctors discourage use of cough medicine

CHICAGO - Despite the billions of dollars spent every year in this country on over-the-counter cough syrups, most such medicines do little if anything to relieve coughs, the nation’s chest physicians say.

Over-the-counter cough syrups generally contain drugs in too low a dose to be effective, or contain combinations of drugs that have never been proven to treat coughs, said Dr. Richard Irwin, chairman of a cough guidelines committee for the American College of Chest Physicians.

Drugstore shelves are crowded with cough syrups promising speedy, often non-drowsy relief without a prescription.

But “the best studies that we have to date would suggest there’s not a lot of justification for using these medications because they haven’t been shown to work,” said Irwin, a professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Mass.

The group’s new cough treatment guidelines discourage use of over-the-counter cough medicines. Irwin said that not only are such medicines ineffective at treating coughs due to colds — the most common cause of coughs — they can also can lead patients to delay seeking treatment for more serious coughs, including whooping cough.

The guidelines strongly recommend that adults receive a new adult vaccine for whooping cough, approved last year.

Guidelines disputed
The Consumer Healthcare Products Association, a trade group for makers of over-the-counter medications, disputed the guidelines and said over-the-counter cough medicines provide relief to millions of people each year.

The guidelines were published in the January issue of Chest, the American College of Chest Physicians’ journal, released Monday. The recommendations have been endorsed by the college, the American Thoracic Society and the Canadian Thoracic Society.

Many popular over-the-counter cough medicines proudly advertise that they don’t cause drowsiness, but Irwin said that is because they do not contain older antihistamine drugs that do help relieve coughs that are due to colds.

These antihistamines, including diphenhydramine — an active ingredient in Benadryl — are also available over the counter but are not marketed as cough medicines, he said.

Some over-the-counter cough syrups contain two drugs that have been shown to help relieve coughs caused by colds — codeine and dextromethorphan — but generally the doses are too small to be effective, Irwin said.


Vote
Do you think over-the-counter cough syrups work?



Dextromethorphan is in Robitussin, a top-selling over-the-counter cough syrup. It is among Robitussin ingredients that the Food and Drug Administration has found to be safe and effective, said Francis Sullivan, a spokesman for Wyeth Consumer Healthcare, which makes Robitussin.

Sullivan said Robitussin “wouldn’t be a top brand if people didn’t feel it was efficacious.”

Coughs can have numerous underlying causes, including asthma, allergies, severe heartburn, postnasal drip and bronchitis.

Dr. Edward Schulman, an American Thoracic Society representative on the guidelines panel, said patients should see their doctors for coughs that linger longer than three weeks or are accompanied by shortness of breath, which could indicate pneumonia or other serious conditions.

Coughs due to colds usually last less than three weeks. Drinking lots of fluids can help relieve these coughs, and so can chicken soup, Schulman said.

Taken from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10777506/

Recipe - Lemon Fish Salad

If you're tired of eating bland fish, it may be time to do some sole searching. This dish is high in healthy omega-3 fatty acids and taste. You'll love the cilantro.

Ingredients

1/2 cup white wine
1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. fresh cilantro (coriander)
1 green onion
1/2 tbsp. olive oil
4 oz. sole

Directions

Rinse and pat dry fish fillet. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place fish in an oven safe dish. In a small bowl mix together wine, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice; pour over fish. Bake for 10-12 minutes; add water if you see liquid drying out. Remove from oven; let cool and flake fish in a medium size bowl. Rinse and chop cilantro and onion; sprinkle over fish. Drizzle oil on top and mix everything until well blended.

Nutritional values per serving: 200 calories (70 from fat), 8.0g fat (1.0g sat.), 55mg cholesterol, Calories 200, 180mg sodium, 4g carbyhydrate, 1g sugars, 22g protein, 4 percent RDA of vitamin A, 20 percent of RDA of vitamin C.

This recipe is:
Low in Sodium (approximately 800 milligrams or less of sodium)
Low in Cholesterol (approximately 100 milligrams or less of cholesterol).

Taken From http://www.ediets.com/news/article.cfm?cmi=1717000&cid=6&code=76076

Recipe - Linguine with Tofu

Hungering for a great way to serve tofu? We've placed a yummy, modern spin on an old Italian favorite. You'll get all of the flavor of the original, but less than half the fat!
Onion, mushroom and garlic -- darlings of Italian cooking -- infuse the tofu with their delectable charms.
We've even helped you with cleanup: a foil-lined pan saves sink time!

Ingredients

2 1/2 oz. (dry, uncooked) pasta
1/2 small onion
2 oz. fresh mushrooms
8 oz. tomato sauce, low sodium
4 oz. firm tofu
1 cup frozen spinach
2 egg whites
1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 clove garlic
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 tbsp. olive oil

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Spray a foil-lined pan with cooking spray. Choose pasta that you prefer, such as linguini, penne or spaghetti. Bring water to a boil over high heat, using at least twice as much water as the amount of pasta. Add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender but not soft, about eight minutes. Drain pasta and place in prepared pan.

3. Wipe mushrooms with a damp paper towel and slice; mince garlic and chop onion. Cook spinach according to package directions and drain well. In a nonstick skillet, heat oil on medium and sauté onions and garlic until translucent, about five to six minutes. Add mushrooms and crumbled tofu and cook covered, an additional four to five minutes. Add to pasta with drained spinach and stir to mix.

4. In a small bowl, lightly beat egg whites; stir in tomato sauce, oregano and seasoning. Pour over linguini mixture; cover with foil and bake for 20-25 minutes until set, and serve.

Makes one serving. Nutritional values per serving: 434 calories, 10g fat (1.0g sat), 35g protein, 111g carbohydrate, 17g fiber, 0mg cholesterol, 426mg sodium and 21g sugar.



Taken From http://www.ediets.com/news/article.cfm?cmi=1663539&cid=6&code=76074

Actor - David Krumholtz

Date of birth : 15 May 1978
Place of birth : New York, New York, USA

Actor - filmography :
Bobby (2006) (filming)
Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny (2006) (post-production)

Kill the Poor (2006)
American Storage (2006)

Serenity (2005)
My Suicidal Sweetheart (2005)
Guess Who (2005) (uncredited)

"Numb3rs" (2005) TV Series
Ray (2004)
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004)
Looking for Kitty (2004)

"The Lyon's Den" (2003) TV Series
The Lyon's Den (2003) (TV)
Sick in the Head (2003) (TV)
Scorched (2003)
Cheats (2002)

The Santa Clause 2 (2002)
You Stupid Man (2002)
Big Shot: Confessions of a Campus Bookie (2002) (TV)
According to Spencer (2001)
Two Can Play That Game (2001)
Sidewalks of New York (2001)
The Mexican (2001)
"The Trouble with Normal" (2000) TV Series
How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog (2000)
Liberty Heights (1999)
10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
"The Closer" (1998) TV Series

Slums of Beverly Hills (1998)
The Ice Storm (1997)
"Chicago Sons" (1997) TV Series
Justice League of America (1997) (TV)
"Monty" (1994) TV Series
The Santa Clause (1994)
Addams Family Values (1993)
Life with Mikey (1993)

Shower

In Singapore I had the best shower ever. This is something everyone should have in their bathrooms. ......OOOOOOHHHHH.......Rain Shower.

Health - Easy Ways to Get Fit During Lunch

You're up for work at the crack of dawn and home long after the sun has set. When you get home there are bills to pay, dogs to walk, laundry to fold. How can you get in shape when it seems you're squeezing every possible minute out of your day? Here are some valuable tips to take full advantage of your lunch hour, that oft-forgotten, golden, get-in-shape opportunity.

You need to do less than you think: If you use your time wisely and efficiently, 30 minutes of exercise can go a long way and still leave you time to get changed and have a good, balanced lunch. For instance, a recent study by the American College of Sports Medicine found that 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise three times a week offers plenty of healthy benefits including some weight loss, protection from heart disease, and bone density preservation. It also found that one concentrated weight-training session a week is enough to strengthen your muscles.

No gym cardio training: If you don't have gym at your disposal you can still take advantage of the time by quickly dressing into workout clothes and heading outdoors for a brisk walk. Walking is the most simple and basic workout you can do, and if you walk for just 30 minutes on your lunch hour you can burn 100-300 calories, depending on your body weight and pace. If you can throw in some hills, you'll not only up your overall calorie burn, you'll get a great butt- and thigh-toning workout as well.

Quick resistance: How about a couple of quick sets of forward lunges or squats to help define your lower body? These exercises take very little room to perform and can even be done at your desk. A couple of sets of pushups will go a long way in toning your upper body as well. You can also tote along some exercise tubing in your purse to do a full-body strength-training routine before you grab a quick sandwich.

Amp it up: When you have limited time, work out at a higher intensity. You'll get a higher calorie-burn bang for your buck. For example, if you weigh 135 pounds and you typically walk on the treadmill at 3.5 miles per hour for 30 minutes, you'll burn about 120 calories. But raise your speed to 4.0 miles per hour and add a 3 percent grade and you'll boost your calorie burn to 185 calories.

Higher-intensity weights: The same principle applies here. Moving through your weights faster with less rest between sets will not only help you finish up your workout in a shorter period of time, it will also burn more calories. If whipping through a weight workout is not your style, opt for heavier weights and fewer reps, a real time-saver that can also help build more muscle. For instance if you normally do 15 reps of a bicep curl with 10 pounds, try 12 or 15 pounds for 8-10 reps.

Break it up: There's no law that says you need to do your entire workout in one shot. At the beginning of your lunch hour, walk for 20 minutes and then try for an additional 10-20 minutes in the morning or the evening. You'll burn just as many calories, and studies suggest you'll get about the same benefits you would if you did all your working out at once.

Taken from http://health.msn.com/fitness/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100109576

I'm Back

Hey hey, Hi eveyone.....

~ HAPPY NEW YEAR ~


Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and new year celebration as much as I did. I very very huge gigantic thanks to all you made it fantastic. You guys rock.
So now back to the normal life and of course tomoro I'm back to work....