Clipmarks | hitchhiker08's 'africa' clips

The world's real shape(s): see these images...

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 06:52:59 GMT

clipped by: mugofcoffee
clipper's remarks: so informative, a fresh thinking.. excerpts

How the world really shapes up

Rather than defining each country by size, these computer-generated modified maps - or cartograms - redraw the globe with each country's size proportionate to its strengths, or weaknesses, in a whole series of categories.

For instance, when it comes to military spending, the U.S. appears bloated, but Africa is huge when HIV prevalence is mapped.

The cartograms were produced in a unique collaboration between the universities of Michigan in the U.S. and Sheffield. Here are images and more details on some of the most fascinating...

Alcohol Consumption (2001)

HIV Prevalence

House Prices

Military Spending

War and death

Toy Imports

Toy Exports

Wealth of Nations (1500)

Wealth of Nations (2002)

Tags: world, countries, divisions, cartograms.

Top 13 Worst Slogan Translations Ever

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 17:39:18 GMT

clipped by: rocker
clipper's remarks: Hilarious Translations!

Clip Source: moronland.net

Top 13 Worst Slogan Translations Ever

1) The Coca-Cola name in China was first read as "Kekoukela", meaning "Bite the Wax Tadpole" or "Female Horse Stuffed with Wax", depending on the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000 characters to find a phonetic equivalent "kokoukole", translating into "Happiness in the Mouth."

3) The Dairy Association's huge success with the campaign "Got Milk?" prompted them to expand advertising to Mexico. It was soon brought to their attention the Spanish translation read "Are You Lactating?"

8) When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging as in the US, with the smiling baby on the label. Later they learned that in Africa, companies routinely put pictures on the labels of what's inside, since many people can't read.

9) Pepsi's "Come Alive With the Pepsi Generation" translated into "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back From the Grave" in Chinese.

Tags: slogans, translations, coca cola, baby food, humour, funny, idiotic

The 10 Most Puzzling Ancient Artifacts

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 00:08:43 GMT

clipped by: smagnolia

Clip Source: www.ancientx.com

The Grooved Spheres
Over the last few decades, miners in South Africa have been digging up mysterious metal spheres. Origin unknown, these spheres measure approximately an inch or so in diameter, and some are etched with three parallel grooves running around the equator. Two types of spheres have been found: one is composed of a solid bluish metal with flecks of white; the other is hollowed out and filled with a spongy white substance. The kicker is that the rock in which they where found is Precambrian - and dated to 2.8 billion years old! Who made them and for what purpose is unknown.

Tags: science, artifacts

Africa is big. Really big.

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:30:53 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.doobybrain.com

The African continent is apparently big enough to fit the United States, India, Argentina, Western Europe, and most of China in it’s space! In fact, all together, these 5 countries still do not make up the total square kilometers of Africa.

Five Million People Annihilated: not news.

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 16:34:36 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: As ever, the government and mass media determine what we talk about.

Clip Source: munaeem.blog-city.com

"A human death toll that approaches the Nazi's annihilation of Jews in World War Two unfolds without a whiff of complaint from the superpower."

Possibly a quarter million people have lost their lives in Darfur, western Sudan, in ethnic conflict. The U.S. government screams its head off in denunciation of genocide, in this case. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as many as five million have died since 1994 in overlapping convulsions of ethnic and state-sponsored massacre. Not a word of reproach from Washington. A human death toll that approaches the Nazi's annihilation of Jews in World War Two - an ongoing holocaust - unfolds without a whiff of complaint from the superpower.

Why is

Congo unworthy of mention? The answer is simple: in Sudan, the U.S. has a geopolitical nemesis to confront: Arabs, and their Chinese business partners. In the Congo, it is U.S allies and European and American corporate interests that benefit from the slaughter.

Tags: congo, genocide, africa, news

Extreme Nature Pics

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 19:09:46 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: bbs.keyhole.com

Colca Canyon, Peru : Deepest Canyon on the Earth

Vredefort Crater, South Africa : Largest impact crater on the Earth

ScoresbySund Fjord, Greenland : Longest & Deepest Fjord on the Earth

Mera Peak, Nepal : Highest Vertical Drop

Dead Sea, Israel & Jordan : Lowest Elevation on the Earth

Angel Falls, Venezuela : Tallest water fall on the Earth

Wilkes land, Antartica : Thickest Ice Sheet on the Earth

Tags: photography, nature, science

Spectacular formation remains a puzzle

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 04:07:09 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.darkroastedblend.com

The Richat Structure, Oudane, Mauritania, is not really a structure but a huge circular formation (50 km in diameter - 30 miles), that resembles an eye when looked upon from space. Originally thought to be a crater, this volcanic dome is most likely a product of erosion, an ancient geological artifact in the middle of featureless Maur Adrar desert, in Africa's Western Sahara. The earliest space missions used it as a landmark, the adventurous 4x4 enthusiasts consider it to be their playground, and scientists are still debating its origin.

Clip Source: maps.google.com

Clip Source: www.darkroastedblend.com

The meteorite impact theory could not explain the flatness of the "crater"'s floor, so the most accepted explanation is the erosion of the initial volcanic dome, which gradually peeled away the layers of rock, creating the present onion-like form.

Johnnie Shannon image-enhanced the satellite image, clearly showing an eroded circular anticline (structural dome) of layered sedimentary rocks:

there is also a hotel smack in the middle of the Richat Structure

Tags: geology, interesting, science

How to Write Aphorisms

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 19:43:09 GMT

clipped by: Kore7
clipper's remarks:

Delacroix, Eugene (France, 1798-1863)

To be a poet at twenty is to be twenty; to be a poet at forty is to be a poet.

According to James Geary, editor of the compendium Geary's Guide to the World's Great Aphorists, a truely memorable, quotable aphorism satisfies five laws:

It must be brief. It must be definitive. It must be personal — that's the difference between an aphorism and a proverb. It must be philosophical — that's the difference between an aphorism and a platitude, which is not philosophical....

And the fifth law is it must have a twist. And that can be either a linguistic twist or a psychological twist or even a twist in logic that somehow flips the reader into a totally unexpected place.

Now you know, so get to work!

Clip Source: www.npr.org

Hubbard, Frank McKinney (United States, 1868-1930)

A good listener is usually thinking about something else.

Nobody ever forgets where he buried the hatchet.

Roosevelt, Eleanor (United States, 1884-1962)

A woman is like a teabag — only in hot water do you realize how strong she is.

Tutu, Desmond (South Africa, 1931- )

When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said, "Let us pray." We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.

Bunsch, Karol (Poland, 1898-1987)

Honest conceit is better than false modesty.

Morandotti, Alessandro (Italy, 1909-1979)

The kiss is an ingenious invention that prevents lovers from uttering too many inanities.

You recognize a true friend by how he lies to you.

Chekhov, Anton (Russia, 1860-1904)

Any idiot can face a crisis. It is this day-to-day living that wears you out.

Sato, Issai (Japan, 1772-1859)

There are always people who make big declarations. These are always people of little consequence.

Tags: aphorisms, writing, history, quotes, pithy, how-to, be famous!

Beautiful Africa

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 04:05:12 GMT

clipped by: abbysname

Clip Source: www.frogview.com

Beautiful Air Scenes of Africa [Michael Poliza's photos]

Sender: ajuchacko

Rating:

Tags: africa, photography, beautiful

Top 13 Worst Slogan Translations Ever

Tue, 19 Dec 2006 12:32:27 GMT

clipped by: amberella

Clip Source: moronland.net

Top 13 Worst Slogan Translations Ever

13) When Parker Pen marketed a ball-point pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to have read, "It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you." The company thought that the word "embarazar" (to impregnate) meant to embarrass, so the ad read: "It won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant."

10) Coors put its slogan, "Turn It Loose," into Spanish, where it was read as "Suffer From Diarrhea."

9) Pepsi's "Come Alive With the Pepsi Generation" translated into "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back From the Grave" in Chinese.

6) Frank Perdue's chicken slogan, "It takes a strong man to make a tender chicken," was translated into Spanish as "it takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate."

4) An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market which promoted the Pope's visit. Instead of "I saw the Pope" (el Papa), the shirts read "I Saw the Potato" (la papa).

Tags: humor, slogans

Diamond star thrills astronomers

Sat, 06 Jan 2007 05:13:49 GMT

clipped by: chriswwt
clipper's remarks: The greatest diamond mine found ever!!

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Twinkling in the sky is a diamond star of 10 billion trillion trillion carats, astronomers have discovered.

The cosmic diamond is a chunk of crystallised carbon, 4,000 km across, some 50 light-years from the Earth in the constellation Centaurus.

It's the compressed heart of an old star that was once bright like our Sun but has since faded and shrunk.

The diamond star completely outclasses the largest diamond on Earth, the 530-carat Star of Africa which resides in the British Crown Jewels.

The huge cosmic diamond - technically known as BPM 37093 - is actually a crystallised white dwarf. A white dwarf is the hot core of a star, left over after the star uses up its nuclear fuel and dies. It is made mostly of carbon.

The white dwarf is not only radiant but also rings like a gigantic gong, undergoing constant pulsations.

"By measuring those pulsations, we were able to study the hidden interior of the white dwarf, just like seismograph measurements of earthquakes allow geologists to study the interior of the Earth.

"We figured out that the carbon interior of this white dwarf has solidified to form the galaxy's largest diamond," says Metcalfe.

Astronomers expect our Sun will become a white dwarf when it dies 5 billion years from now. Some two billion years after that, the Sun's ember core will crystallise as well, leaving a giant diamond in the centre of the solar system.

"Our Sun will become a diamond that truly is forever," says Metcalfe.

Tags: science, astronomy

Eight of the World’s Most Unusual Plants

Sat, 27 Oct 2007 03:42:34 GMT

clipped by: bioplasmik

Clip Source: divinecaroline.com

1. Rafflesia arnoldii: this parasitic plant develops the world's largest bloom that can grow over three feet across. The flower is a fleshy color, with spots that make it look like a teenager's acne-ridden skin. It smells bad and has a hole in the center that holds six or seven quarts of water. The plant has no leaves, stems, or roots.

2. Hydnora africana, an unusual flesh-colored, parasitic flower that attacks the nearby roots of shrubby in arid deserts of South Africa. The putrid-smelling blossom attracts herds of carrion beetles.

3. Dracunculus vulgaris: smells like rotting flesh, and has a burgundy-colored, leaf-like flower that projects a slender, black appendage.

4. Amorphophallus: means, literally, "shapeless penis." The name comes from the shape of the erect black spadix.

Clip Source: divinecaroline.com

5. Wollemia nobilis

They can grow up to 125 feet tall.

6. Welwitschia mirabilis

Its estimated lifespan is 400 to 1500 years.

7. Drakaea glyptodon: an orchid.

8. Wolffia angusta: the world's smallest flower.

Tags: nature, plants, weird, amazing

Must See: Unforgettable Photos - Snapshots from the not-so-happy globe

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 21:08:38 GMT

clipped by: sohil

Clip Source: www.dismalworld.com

1963. Thich Quang Duc, the Buddhist priest in Southern Vietnam, burns himself to death protesting the government's torture policy against priests. Thich Quang Dug never made a sound or moved while he was burning.

1965. A mom and her children try to cross the river in South Vietnam in an attempt to run away from the American bombs.

1972. After South Vietnam planes accidentally drop a bomb on a town.

1975. A woman and a girl falling down after the fire escape collapses.

1980. A kid in Uganda about to die of hunger, and a missionaire.

February 23, 1981. Colonel Molina ve military police seizes the Parliament building in Spain. The photographer did not expect the scene, and hid the films in his shoe.

1982. Palestinian refugees murdered in Beirut, Lebanon.

1987. A mother in South Korea apologizes and asks for forgiveness for his son who was arrested after attending a protest. He was protesting the alleged manipulations in the general elections.

An Iraqi prisoner of war tries to calm down his child

Tags: iraq, afghanistan, pictures, photos, democracy, china, civil war, africa, history, buddhism

7 Amazing Holes

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 03:17:56 GMT

clipped by: haraya

Clip Source: deputy-dog.com

(if you’re expecting filth you’ll be disappointed).

looking at photos like these scares and fascinates me in equal doses. the sheer scale of these holes reminds you of just how tiny you are.

mirny diamond mine, ~~serbia~~ siberia

largest open diamond mine in the world

kimberley big hole - south africa

the largest ever hand-dug excavation in the world

glory hole - monticello dam

a glory hole is used when a dam is at full capacity and water needs to be drained from the resevoir.

bingham canyon mine, utah

supposedly the largest man-made excavation on earth

great blue hole, belize

there are numerous blue holes around the world but none as stunning as this one.

diavik mine, canada

sinkhole, guatemala

a sinkhole is caused when water (usually rainwater or sewage) is soaked up by the earth on a large scale, resulting in the ground collapsing.

Tags: list, holes, geography, nature, construction, world, earth, photos, collection

Geographical Facts of the Sexes

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 17:36:26 GMT

clipped by: dakotayii
clipper's remarks: It's just a joke, but there is a grain of truth imo......

Clip Source: www.dysan.net

GEOGRAPHY OF A WOMAN
Between 18 and 22, a woman is like Africa; half discovered, half wild,

naturally beautiful with fertile soil.

Between 23 and 30, a woman is like America; well developed and open to

trade, especially for someone with cash.

Between 31 and 35, a woman is like India; very hot, relaxed and convinced of her own beauty.

Between 36 and 40, a woman is like France; gently aging but still warm, and a desirable place to visit.

Between 41 and 50, a woman is like Great Britain; with a glorious and all conquering past.

Between 51 and 60, a woman is like Yugoslavia; lost the war and haunted by past mistakes.

Between 61 and 70, a woman is like Russia; very wide, and borders are now un-patrolled.

After 70, she becomes Tibet. Wildly beautiful, with a mysterious past and the wisdom of the ages.... only those with an adventurous spirit and a thirst for spiritual knowledge visit there.

GEOGRAPHY OF A MAN
Between 1 and 70, a man is like Iran - ruled by a dick

Tags: jokes