The Scarlet Letter

An 1850 romantic work of fiction in a historical setting, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne; it is considered to be his magnum opus, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an adulterous affair and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity:


The Scarlet Letter

The full story can be found at (free):

http://www.online-literature.com/hawthorne/scarletletter/1/

Read about Nathaniel Hawthorne at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Hawthorne

Lake Victoria

Africa’s largest lake by area, it is the largest tropical lake in the world, and the world's second largest freshwater lake by surface area:


Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria is divided among three countries: Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Stringybark

Australian eucalypti with fibrous inner bark:


Stringybark

Stringybark

Ambergris

A solid, waxy, fatty, flammable substance produced in the intestines of the sperm whale and used in perfumes:


Ambergris

Ambergris

[image source: http://www.si.edu/]

Ambergris occurs as a biliary secretion of the intestines of the sperm whale and can be found floating upon the sea, or in the sand near the coast. It is also sometimes found in the abdomens of whales. Because the beaks of giant squids have been found embedded within lumps of ambergris, scientists have theorised that the substance is produced by the whale's gastrointestinal tract to ease the passage of hard, sharp objects that the whale might have eaten.
Ambergris is usually passed in the fecal matter. Ambergris that forms a mass too large to be passed through the intestines is expelled via the mouth, leading to the reputation of ambergris as primarily coming from whale vomit.
Ambergris can be found in the Atlantic Ocean and on the coasts of Brazil, Madagascar, the East Indies, The Maldives, China, Japan, India, Australia, New Zealand, and the Molucca islands. Most commercially collected ambergris comes from The Bahamas in the Caribbean, particularly New Providence [read more ...].

Share

Tweet

Erythrophobia

An irrational fear of the color red, often accompanied by hematophobia (fear of blood):


Erythrophobia

Note: Erythrophobia also means fear of blushing.

Share

Tweet

Hematophobia

An abnormal and persistent fear of blood:


Hematophobia (or Hemophobia)

Sufferers of this very common phobia dread the sight of their own blood, the sight of the blood of another person or an animal, and sometimes printed or filmed images of blood or even thoughts of blood. Blood may remind them of their own vulnerability to injury and of the eventuality of death.

Some sufferers of hematophobia experience a typical phobic reaction characterized by an increase in blood pressure and heart rate. Other sufferers experience an atypical phobic reaction characterized by a decrease in blood pressure and heart rate, causing paleness and weakness. They may even faint. Those with the latter reaction may develop a new fear: the fear of fainting.

Through the ages, writers have done little to calm the fear of blood. In Homer's Iliad, waterways run red with blood as a wrathful Achilles harvests his crop of Trojans. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, blood becomes a terrifying symbol of guilt to Lady Macbeth, and she washes her hands raw to rid them of blood, real or imagined. In Bram Stoker's Dracula blood becomes the nurture of a vampire.

"Hematophobia" is derived from the Greek "haima" (blood) and "phobos" (fear). Other English words derived from "haima" include "hemodialysis" (a procedure that removes impurities from the blood), "hemoglobin" (a blood component that transports oxygen from the lungs to other parts of the body) and "hemorrhage" (rapid blood loss).

[source: MedicineNet, Inc.,  http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=12392]

Share

Tweet

Chromophobia

An abnormal aversion to colors or to certain colors:


Chromophobia

Share

Tweet

Hinduism

The oldest religion in the world:


Hinduism

Hinduism is the religion of the majority of people in India and Nepal. It also exists among significant populations outside of the sub continent and has over 900 million adherents worldwide.

In some ways Hinduism is the oldest living religion in the world, or at least elements within it stretch back many thousands of years. Yet Hinduism resists easy definition partly because of the vast array of practices and beliefs found within it. It is also closely associated conceptually and historically with the other Indian religions Jainism,Buddhism and Sikhism.

Unlike most other religions, Hinduism has no single founder, no single scripture, and no commonly agreed set of teachings. Throughout its extensive history, there have been many key figures teaching different philosophies and writing numerous holy books. For these reasons, writers often refer to Hinduism as 'a way of life' or 'a family of religions' rather than a single religion.

Defining Hinduism

The term 'Hindu' was derived from the river or river complex of the northwest, the Sindhu. Sindhu is a Sanskrit word used by the inhabitants of the region, the Aryans in the second millennium BCE. Later migrants and invaders, the Persians in the sixth century BCE, the Greeks from the 4th century BCE, and the Muslims from the 8th century CE, used the name of this river in their own languages for the land and its people.

The term 'Hindu' itself probably does not go back before the 15th and 16th centuries when it was used by people to differentiate themselves from followers of other traditions, especially the Muslims (Yavannas), in Kashmir and Bengal. At that time the term may have simply indicated groups united by certain cultural practices such as cremation of the dead and styles of cuisine. The 'ism' was added to 'Hindu' only in the 19th century in the context of British colonialismand missionary activity.

The origins of the term 'hindu' are thus cultural, political and geographical. Now the term is widely accepted although any definition is subject to much debate. In some ways it is true to say that Hinduism is a religion of recent origin yet its roots and formation go back thousands of years.

Some claim that one is 'born a Hindu', but there are now many Hindus of non-Indian descent. Others claim that its core feature is belief in animpersonal Supreme, but important strands have long described and worshipped a personal God. Outsiders often criticise Hindus as being polytheistic, but many adherents claim to be monotheists.

Some Hindus define orthodoxy as compliance with the teachings of the Vedic texts (the four Vedas and their supplements). However, still others identify their tradition with 'Sanatana Dharma', the eternal order of conduct that transcends any specific body of sacred literature. Scholars sometimes draw attention to the caste system as a defining feature, but many Hindus view such practices as merely a social phenomenon or an aberration of their original teachings. Nor can we define Hinduism according to belief in concepts such as karma and samsara (reincarnation) because Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists (in a qualified form) accept this teaching too.

Although it is not easy to define Hinduism, we can say that it is rooted in India, most Hindus revere a body of texts as sacred scripture known as the Veda, and most Hindus draw on a common system of values known as dharma.

·         Hinduism originated around the Indus Valley near the River Indus in modern day Pakistan.

·         About 80% of the Indian population regard themselves as Hindu.

·         Most Hindus believe in a Supreme God, whose qualities and forms are represented by the multitude of deities which emanate from him.

·         Hindus believe that existence is a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, governed byKarma.

·         Hindus believe that the soul passes through a cycle of successive lives and its next incarnation is always dependent on how the previous life was lived.

·         The main Hindu texts are the Vedas and their supplements (books based on the Vedas). Veda is a Sanskrit word meaning 'knowledge'. These scriptures do not mention the word 'Hindu' but many scriptures discuss dharma, which can be rendered as 'code of conduct', 'law', or 'duty'

·         Hindus celebrate many holy days, but the Festival of Lights, Diwali is the best known.

·         The 2001 census recorded 559,000 Hindus in Britain, around 1% of the population.

[source:  BBC - Religions - At a Glance: Hinduism]

Share

Tweet

Eizo

A Japanese monitor maker corporation which produced the DuraVision FDF2301-3D that is a Glasses-Free 3D Monitor:


Eizo (Eizo Nanao Corporation)

web page: http://www.eizo.com/global/products/duravision/fdf2301-3d/index.html

Share

Tweet

iRobot

An American advanced technology company founded in 1990 which designs robots such as an autonomous home vacuum cleaner, the Scooba that scrubs and cleans hard floors, and military and police robots:


iRobot Corporation

Products:

PackBot: PackBot is a series of military robots by iRobot. More than 2000 PackBots are currently on station in Iraq and Afghanistan, with hundreds more on the way [read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PackBot].

Scooba: Scooba is an automated robotic floor washer produced by iRobot [ read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scooba].

Roomba: Roomba is an autonomous robotic vacuum cleaner sold by iRobot. Under normal operating conditions, it is able to navigate a living space and its obstacles while vacuuming the floor [read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roomba].

Website: http://www.irobot.com/

Share

Tweet

---

Sharpen Your Brain! (for Kindle) [Kindle Edition]

Try Effective Brain Workouts & Exercises on Your Kindle!

Do you have an Amazon Kindle? Then in a very short free time that you have; e.g., in a break time at work or school, or in a time of leisure, just diligently spend a couple of minutes on Sharpen Your Brain! While you will have fun by doing its from very easy to very difficult brain workouts for improving cognitive skills, every next month you will find yourself smarter than last month. Do not hesitate to spend a couple of minutes of every day of your life for maintaining and improving your brain! Keep your brain sharp and healthy!