Link this blog and be a winner of DVD ripper software

Hobbies and hobbies is now 4 plus with a tag of more than 300 posts. It is getting more than 10, 000 page views monthly. First post which I wrote at this blog was published on 17th March 2008.

I am happy to announce a contest or giveaway for the readers of this blog.

Link this blog to win a PC compatible software:               
10 winners will be selected to get full version pc compatible software WinX DVD Ripper Platium' .
The price of this software is '$35.95 but winners of this giveaway can download this software for free.

1- You need to place this blog link at your blogroll.
2- Like this blog at your face book page.
3- Tweet this post
4- Then post that link at comments section of this post.
5- Remember that depending on the quality of back links, 10 persons will be selected to download this amazing software for FREE.

 This giveaway will end on April 10th, 2012.
10 winner will be chosen and announced soon after it.
I will contact the winners on e-mail with the key to unlock the application.
Hurry up and get the chance to win and download free software.

Features of WinX DVD Ripper Platinum

• You can rip all DVDs regardless of DVD copy protections and region locks, including DVD CSS, region code, RCE, Sony ArccOS, UOPs, Disney X-project DRM. 
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• It brings you three Copy modes - clone DVD to ISO image; copy full title/main content of a DVD to hard drive with original Video and 5.1 Channel AC3/DTS Dolby Audio within 5 minutes.

Disclosure: This is part of a promotional campaign from www.winxdvd.com. All opinions remain my own.

HURRY UP and be a winner. The contest starts from today March 22, 2012

History of yo-yo

For new generation yo-yo may seem a newly discovered toy but history of this fun toy says that it is one of the oldest toys of the world. Yo-yo have been a favorite toy of children since the days of ancient Greece. During the 1800s, it was used as a weapon in the Philippines for more than 400 years.
There are ancient Greek yo-yos made of terra cotta in museums in Athens and yo-yos are pictured on the walls of Egyptian temples. The Yo-Yo is known to have been popular with such important warriors as Napoleon and the Duke of Wellington. First patented in 1866 by James L. Haven and Charles Hettrich, the Yo-Yo has enjoyed periods of popularity for generations with kids from 1 - 100.

Original Duncan Yo-Yo "
O-Boy Yo-Yo Toy" circa 1930 

 The modern story of the yo-yo starts with a young gentleman from the Philippines, named Pedro Flores. In the 1920s, he moved to the USA, and worked as a bellhop at a Santa Monica hotel. Carving and playing with wooden yo-yos was a traditional pastime in the Philippines, but Pedro found that his lunch break yo-yo playing drew a crowd was the first appearance of the name "yo-yo," which means "come-come" in the at the hotel.
He started a company to make the toys, calling it the Flores Yo-Yo Company.

The first modern yo-yos were introduced in the United States by Donald F. Duncan in the late 1920s.  In 1929, Donald F. Duncan bought the company from Flores, acquiring not only a unique toy, but also the magic name "yo-yo." About this time, Duncan introduced the looped slip-string, which allows the yo-yo to sleep - a necessity for advanced tricks. He is credited with popularizing (though probably not inventing) the slip-string yo-yo, which enables a yo-yo to "sleep."

The yo-yo first became popular in the 1930s, when Duncan sent out teams of traveling yo-yo men (not women, mind you) who would spend three, four, and five weeks in cities and towns across America, teaching tricks, selling yo-yos, and running contests.                          

The 1970s and 1980s saw a number of innovations in yo-yo technology, primarily dealing with the connection between the string and the axle.

In 1978, dentist and yo-yo celebrity Tom Kuhn patented the “No Jive 3-in-1” yo-yo, creating the world's first "take-apart" yo-yo, which enabled yo-yo players to change the axle.
Swedish bearing company SKF briefly manufactured novelty yo-yos with ball bearings in 1984.
Tom Kuhn introduced the SB-2 yo-yo that had an aluminum transaxle, making it the first successful ball-bearing yo-yo. In all transaxle yo-yos, ball bearings significantly reduce friction when the yo-yo is spinning, enabling longer and more complex tricks. Subsequent yo-yoers used this ability to their advantage, creating new tricks that had not been possible with fixed-axle designs.


Useful links:
* Fascinating facts about the invention of the Yo-Yo

* Lucky's History of the Yo-Yo

Grandmaster of origami

I was just amazed to see today's google's home page as it was showing origami shapes and butterflies on it. I am a lover of origami from my childhood. Now as an educator I teach origami to my students and believe that it helps enhance skill development among kids.

Anything relating to origami inspires me. Today's image which is a tribute to master of origami Yoshizawa.

Today, Google is celebrating the 101st anniversary of the late Yoshizawa’s birth with a pleated “Doodle” adorned with ready-to-flutter butterflies so associated with the artist.

Yoshizawa is credited with turning origami from a children's pastime into a serious art form and was known for his innovative folding techniques. His achievements have been recognised in the Google logo with each letter being turned into a paper folding design to mimic the famous traditional art form.

Akira Yoshizawa (14 March 1911 – 14 March 2005) was an origamist, considered to be the grandmaster of origami. He is credited with raising origami from a craft to a living art. According to his own estimation made in 1989, he created more than 50,000 models, of which only a few hundred designs were presented as diagrams in his 18 books. Yoshizawa acted as an international cultural ambassador for Japan throughout his career.
His work has since been exhibited around the world and he has published more than a dozen books on the art form.
He folded graceful peacocks with lush fanned tails. He folded lumbering gorillas with protruding jaws and sunken eyes. He folded huge flying dragons, and an elephant so small it could stand atop a thimble. His origami was not so much folded paper as sculptural art, usually made from a single sheet of paper, always without glue, scissors or extraneous embellishment.

Akira's work

Two of Yoshizawa’s key contributions to modern origami were the technique of “wet-folding,” by which thicker moistened paper can add a soft sculptural feel to a figure; and his notational diagrams that explained how to fold a model in the universal language of arrows and dotted lines. Yoshizawa said he created tens of thousands of origami models, only a fraction of which were diagrammed.

“Instead of trying to be as lifelike as possible, he tried to make it as 'living' as possible,” Origami USA member June Sakamoto, speaking of Yoshizawa’s art, told the New York Times upon the grandmaster’s death in 2005. “If he was going to make a rooster, you really felt it was crowing, but you didn't have to see every detail of the feathers.”
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Interesting places around us - Giraffe Manor

Nairobi is the capital city of Kenya. It is one of the largest and fastest growing cities in Africa. Nairobi is the destination of an interesting place which is called 'Giraffe Manor'

What is unique about his place?
Giraffe Manor offers guests the chance to interact with the rare Rothschild Giraffe. It is the place where giraffes can and do literally poke their head into open windows in the morning.
You can feed them, pet them, even give them a "kiss."

Giraffe Manor offers you a unique experience of the giraffes, with them vying for your attention at the breakfast table, the front door and even your bedroom window. 
Built in 1932 and modelled on a Scottish hunting lodge, Giraffe Manor offers a pleasing mixture of traditional and modern elegance. There are six double bedrooms with large four poster beds, antique furnishing, striking art decor and spacious bathrooms. The Karen Blixen suite is ideal for families and has direct access to the courtyard which opens onto the giraffe sanctuary .

Manor House is also home to many characters including warthogs, bushbuck, dik dik and more than 180 species of birds and has a striking view of the Ngong hills.

Built in the 1930, the property turned into a giraffe sanctuary after it was purchased by Betty Leslie-Melvilles in 1974 and she learned that the last remaining Rothschild giraffes in Kenya were in danger; the manor was transformed into a boutique hotel by her family in 1983.

Benefits of playing yo-yo

There are many benefits of play for children as well as adults, although the category of play is different according to age level. As we are talking about benefits of playing yo-yo, it is one of those toys which is favorite among all age groups. It remains a popular pastime of many generations and cultures.

Play is essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth.
A yo-yo is a perfect toy for learning skills that involve coordination, balance, eye-hand coordination, and dexterity.
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Benefits of yo-yo play:                                                                   

1. Development of fine motor skills
2. Improved hand-eye coordination
3. Enhance physics learning as they learn about gravity, inertia, rotational energy & centrifugal force
4. Develops acute spatial awareness
5. Relieves mental stress
6. Yo-yos are perfect for taking along on a trip.
7. It is a cheap toy as compare to other toys for kids or youth

Yo-yo playing is also beneficial for children having learning disabilities, such as ADHD. Children or teens gain self-confidence and self-esteem as they learn to do tricks with their yo-yos. 

Useful links:  


'Yoyologist' is a resource site offering information about his unique play.

* Importance of play and humor in our lives

* Interesting yo-yo designs and shapes

Feng shui and house cleaning

House cleaning starts with removal of dust, trash and clutter.

Do you know that physical clutter leads to visual clutter and that causes a person a great deal of stress?
Using Feng Shui to organize or clean our homes also sweeps and scrubs the confusion from our minds. Offices and houses filled with clutter, dirty carpet, finger printed mirrors, dirty dishes and gummy appliances amplify distraction, depression and hopelessness.

Feng shui can help you in maximizing the flow of positive energy through your house and at the same time you can manage to keep your house clean and clutter free.
You are not only cleaning the house, but clearing your space for maximum creative energy focus.


Feng shui for a organized and clean house:
1- Physically clean the house. Begin a thorough house cleaning – vacuuming, sweeping, washing the floors, cleaning the windows etc. You should keep your house clean by taking all the clutter out for positive energy flow into your house. If you have trashy lying around or clothes that need to go to get rid of, do it now. When chi energy in our home or workplace doesn't flow properly, and becomes stagnant, it can cause problems such as feelings of depression, lots of arguments, ill health, financial loss, unseen tension between people and family, feelings of frustration and lack of motivation.

2- Remove clutter: If there is clutter around, such as things that are broken, are no longer of any use to anyone, or there are old newspapers and magazines lying around, this would be a great time to find a new home for them or take them to the recyclers.
                        
3- Space clearing: Look at the way that people move through your home. Can they move in straight lines or do they need to take detours around poorly placed furniture? This is something that can make a huge difference in the way that you clean your home, and at the end of the day, you will find that simply  rearranging your furniture so that you can access the room more comfortably can make a big difference.

4- You can also set up a special area to attract harmonious energy. On a table top or some suitable place, collect together items that represent peace, goodwill and harmony to you. For example, you can lay down a beautiful cloth as the foundation. You might place photographs of your family where everyone is happy. Or if none exist, find a picture in a magazine of a family that looks like they are enjoying each other's company and use that to represent how you would like your family to be. You can also use crystals, plants and flowers, incense, candles, etc. – anything that reminds you of peace, harmony and loving family connections. Once you set all this up, remember to keep it fresh and clean so that it will continue to attract harmonious energy.

One fairly common Feng Shui trick that you can use involves using wind chimes to bring positive energy into your home.

Plants are a great way to freshen up the air and you can bet that they will help open up the look of your home.

Decluttering your kitchen:

To improve your health, get rid of all the items that are cluttering and blocking the energy flow in your kitchen, your cupboards and the freezer. The state of your kitchen is the state of your health, so thoroughly clean the kitchen. De-clutter the refrigerator; clean the stove and all the pots and pans. Clean out all the drawers, surfaces, light fixtures, etc - create a fresh pathway for strong vibrant Chi to flow and nourish your energy

Useful links:

* Daily Quick Cleaning Checklist