Rollercoasters, great arenâ??t they? They may be something of a marmite pleasure, but if you love them dearly youâ??re always on the lookout for your next adrenaline â??fixâ??. Whether itâ??s at Alton Towers, Thorpe Park or Universal Studios, there are rollercoasters in pretty much every country in the world â?? and some are quite serious.
Take the â??fastest rollercoaster in the worldâ?? in Abu Dhabi, for instance. The Formula Rossa at Ferrari World is by far and away the fastest â??coaster on the planet with a top speed of 149mph. It gets to 62mph in just 2 seconds and riders experience around 1.7 G. In reality, the best bit of the Rossa is the start, because itâ??s just so damn fast. You feel those G-forces smack you in the face as the â??coaster accelerates, but what is a G-force? Why does this invisible force make you feel like that on a rollercoaster?
The force measured on a rollercoaster is called a G-force. Itâ??s not specifically just for rollercoasters, but you experience quite a lot of high G when riding the things, so thatâ??s why people love them so much. Have you noticed how â??heavyâ?? you can feel on a rollercoaster? Basically, a G-force is just the measurement of acceleration forces. 2 G, for instance, is double the gravity you would experience in normal life. Itâ??s a measurement of how the force is applied upon your body. F1 drivers experience around 5G when braking into some high-down-force braking areas, which puts an unbelievable strain on their head and neck â?? thatâ??s why they have to do muscle-building exercises for their upper body.
Just look at jet-fighter pilots. The G-forces they experience are so severe that they have to wear G-suits which keep all the blood in the pilotâ??s body where it should be. Without the G-suit, the pilots would pass out and crash. Thatâ??s just how strong G-forces can be.
Rollercoasters work in the same way â?? albeit with less force. A â??coaster will utilise G-forces to make you feel weightless and as if youâ??re travelling far quicker than you actually are. Most fast rollercoasters travel at around 90mph â?? which, when you think about it, isnâ??t actually that fast. Itâ??s just the forces at play which make you feel like youâ??re going to die.
When you feel like youâ??re being pushed into your seat, youâ??re not; itâ??s just your bodyâ??s inertia at play, fooling you into thinking as such. The forces are, in fact, pushing your seat forward â?? not you into the seat â?? but your bodyâ??s inertia swaps the forces about which gives you a sensation of being pushed into your seat.
Rollercoasters, naturally, have to keep within certain G-force parameters, otherwise you would end up passing out like a jet-pilot, but itâ??s good to know they can still push your body to the limit without killing you. Loop-the-loops, corkscrews and drops all add to the sensation of G-force and, in truth, theyâ??re the reason why rollercoasters are so popular (and why they donâ??t keep getting faster).
Dopamine is released when our body goes through serious adrenaline kicks, which allows us to get that â??feel-goodâ?? factor after such an experience. For those you enjoy rollercoasters, dopamine is produced in abundance, but itâ??s actually the opposite for people who hate the things.
So there you go; thereâ??s more than just some metal and welding in a rollercoaster. Itâ??s actually quite a precise science to ensure you experience as much of a kick as possible while still being conscious for the photo near the end. You never know though, someone (perhaps at Thorpe Breaks) may invent a rollercoaster that requires a G-suit to rideâ?¦
A smartphone is the shining beacon of convergence that can do everything we could possibly need to at any time, and that fits perfectly into our pocket. It’s made us used to having constant access to entertainment, communication and information wherever we are and has connected us permanently to a huge grid of other similar smart devices.
It’s really rather incredible and science-fiction when you think about it. Go on, think about it for a bit…
The problem is that all this computing on the go can be rather distracting and leaves us rather stationary. Then when we do want to do something with our bodies and get back to basics we’re forced to unplug. Take riding a bike for instance â?? you can’t compute while you’re riding a bike. That would be ridiculous. Right?
Wrong
Really there is nothing that they haven’t thought of, and chances are that if you’re looking for a way to compute and communicate while you’re riding your bike… well of course other people have already needed that and provided a solution. Here we will look at how you can use your smartphone while you ride a bike â?? without crashing headlong into anything…
Kit Out Your Phone
First of all you are going to want to kit out your phone as much as possible and this means getting the right accessories to help protect it from damage and to help keep it going for longer. One thing you’ll need right away of course is a strong phone case and the increased speed means increased risk of damage so make sure it’s sturdy and will protect your phone from scratches should you drop it.
Likewise you’re going to want to get some good headphones and that means ones that can cancel the noise of the wind rushing past your ears and ones that have a microphone and a controller that doesn’t require you to get your phone out. It can also be useful to have somewhere you can store your phone itself when you’re riding, and a good solution here for instance would be to get a pouch that can attach to the bike itself or to use pockets with zips so it won’t fall out.
The Right Apps
Now you’re going to need the right software to make sure you actually can operate your phone without taking it out of your pocket â?? and there are plenty of things you can use for this purpose.
Of course if you’re an iPhone user, then the number one app you’re going to want to use for hands-free operation is probably Siri. This the killer AI app that can give you weather reports and sports updates on command. It can even send texts, and there are plenty of similar apps available for Android.
Other useful things here then are a great playlist to listen to while you ride, turn by turn navigation which will be highly useful when you’re riding and perhaps some audiobooks that you can listen to while you go. Suddenly you have all that information, all that communication and all that entertainment and it’s right in your pocket while you’re riding.
Phil Butler is a professional tech blogger from UK and writes guest posts for www.bikes.org.uk, a UK-based bike company publishing bike news & events, including new product launches, bike events, charity bike rides, competitions and much more.
No one truly relishes news of a railroad accident that resulted in fatalities or serious injuries.
However, the so-called freak accident — one colored by unusual or bizarre circumstances — needles our curiosity to explore the details further.
We tend to become more philosophical in attempting to explain the cause or conditions that set the mishaps apart from the ordinary. Words such as destiny, fate, even eerie get tossed about in pondering the events and attempting to reshape them into the realm of logic. The “what ifs” produce nothing but frustration, prompting only more questions. Still, we search for answers, become entangled in redundant analysis. We’re humans; it’s in our nature. Here are tragic examples of such accidents.
No satisfactory explanationsÂ
In January of 2011, a Michigan mother was driving with her three daughters — including 19-year-old twins and a 14-year-old, as well as her infant grandson — to a family event in Indiana. Apparently, the woman lost control of the car and it veered off a bridge, landing on its roof onto railroad tracks at the exact time that a freight train was barreling down them. The train pushed the upside-down auto 2,000 feet before it came to a stop. Though suffering some broken bones and lacerations, the baby was the only survivor. It wasn’t determined what caused his grandmother to lose control of the vehicle.
Another train accident, also involving a bridge, occurred in Ellicott City, Md. One night, two college girls were sitting on a railroad bridge, enjoying the last hours of summer’s freedom before returning to their respective schools for the fall semester. Occasionally passing time on the bridge was not a new activity for the girls. This time, a loaded coal train rumbling behind them suddenly jumped the tracks. Twenty rail cars and tons of coal overturned, plummeting to the streets below. The girls were carried away in the wake of the crashing elements. Later, their bodies were found buried beneath mounds of coal by the investigating authorities.
Not all rail accidents involve rolling trains
This past spring, in a Philadelphia township, a rail engineer was unloading newspaper print rolls at a processing plant for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News. When the man opened the door of one of the boxcars, two 1500-pound rolls tumbled out, crushing him to death. Reportedly, such an accident had never occurred at the plant. Follow-up investigation showed that the rolls in the other boxcars were well secured. The prevailing theory was that the offending paper rolls must have shifted, while in transit. Once the boxcar doors were opened, the leaning rolls were forcefully released.
Regarding the victims of these accidents, was it happenstance or destinies fulfilled?
Peter Wendt is a freelance article writer from the great city of Austin, Texas.  He enjoys reading the news and is always interested in reading articles about freak-accidents, like so.  He knows how horrific some of these situations can be and recommends going to www.farrislaw.net to get expert help.
These days, itâ??s hard to imagine what people used to do for entertainment.
Maybe they used to play a bit of croquet if the weather was good for it but apart from that they probably just sat around in silence. Today we have so many machines and gadgets to help us while away our spare hours, that simply passing time is becoming an enjoyable hobby in itself. At the heart of this are video games.
Early games
The history of video games goes back to 1967 when the Brown Box was introduced to the world by German television engineer Ralph Baer. This aptly named machine was capable of playing various games, including ping pong, checkers, target shooting and a golf putting title. To choose a game, you would follow a set of instructions on a program card, which would show you which switches on the front of the machine needed flipping to make your selection.
Dark ages
Computers came around long before video games and consoles and, unfortunately, when these new developments were released, they were simply lumped in with the rest of the computing market and were instantly thought of as geeky and uncool. This led to a self-fulfilling prophecy, where video games became popular just with geeky and uncool people who used the technology for their own means. The videogames market began to alienate other potential consumers with tasteless titles such as Custerâ??s Revenge, Catfight and Leisure Suit Larry.
Heal and Grow
Thankfully, someone in the industry realised the potential of video games and slowly more titles were developed to entice a wider more diverse audience. Today we have lots more games that are aimed at children, women, middle aged men and many other niche markets, including very specific audiences such as dog lovers. Even pensioners are being encouraged to start gaming with the release of several brain training titles.
Portable Gaming and Online Gaming
The video games industry is one of the fastest growing in the world. Recent developments have seen portable gaming become just as much a part of the market as consoles. There has also been a huge leap forward on the number of games that you can play online. Now, a game almost isnâ??t worth buying unless you can play online.
Download and Play
The next step in video games is already here, itâ??s just in the process of catching on. The current and growing trend is for video games to be released online where consumers can download them straight to their console and play.
So there you have it – an evolution of video games. Today, the market is so big that even if you just sell old computer games you can still make a decent living, however, when it all started things were a little different.
Michael Edmondstone is a freelance personal finance and technology writer.
Getting into video game collecting can be a very exciting hobby.
I have been collecting since the late 90â??s and I often get asked by people what is the best way to get into collecting for a classic gaming console. The truth is there is no right answer, but what I am going to do today is try and give you guys some ideas on how to go about collecting game consoles and retro games.
One problem is the sheer amount of choice that there is available. Are you going to collect for every single system that has ever been released? Are you going to only collect on kind of gaming consoles lets say just Sega for example?
Collecting classic gaming consoles is best done with some thought instead of just jumping on EBay and buying whatever.
Where To Buy
When buying a classic gaming console you can either go the EBay route which does give you a little protection or the 2nd hand route. I can say that a few times here in the UK at car boot sales I have been burned buying a second hand system that has had issues, but if the price is right you have to decide if your going to take the gamble.
Know What Your Buying
Do a little research on as many gaming consoles as you can. Many sites offer great advice on consoles. Including the reliability of them which when you are game hunting in the wild is important to know. Also it will give you an idea of how much you should be willing to pay.
Things To Consider
Recently I was at a car boot sale and a guy there had an Atari 2600 jr console with a bunch of games and all the cables. The guy wanted £25 for the lot and despite my best attempts was one of these guys who would not haggle at all. It looked a bit grubby, but I knew the 2600 jrâ??s were well built machines. I knew if I got this home and it did not work that I had no comeback. But a thing to consider is what does the console come with.
This one had 8 games and two controllers so even if console did not work (it did by the way) I would at least have gotten some games and a couple of controllers.
Make A List
You can download apps where you can have your game collection and a list of games that you want. Or you can just make a text message or something of games and consoles that you are looking for. This will help you buying the same game twice by accident something that I am sure most of us collectors have done at some point.
What Should I Pay?
I know this is not helpful at all, but the fact is a game is only worth as much as your are willing to pay. If you see a game out in the wild and some one is asking for lets say £10, but you want to pay £5 try and see if they will haggle. Or one of my favourite things to do is bundle a few things together.
Sometimes though there are those games that you are just going to have to pay up for. An example I want to give is Turtles IV for the SNES. I wanted this game so bad it is one of my favourites from my childhood, but it is very sought after. I knew the chances of me finding one while out game hunting were slim to none. So I would have to use EBay. There were many on EBay, but I did not want to pay more than £20 for a copy. I soon realised that this was never going to happen and I ended up paying around £30.
What Should I Collect
For me what I tell most new collectors especially if there only way of collecting is lets say EBay. Is to pick one console to start off with. Lets say pick the Sega Master System and make a list of around five games that you really want. Now focus your time and money on getting these. Once you have these decide one a new console, but if you see a good deal then add to your Master System collection as well.
Final Verdict
Truth is there is no right way to go about collecting. Some people live in areas where there is no retro 2nd hand market at all and are forced to use EBay. Others will only buy from car boot sales and other 2nd hand places and do it as much for the thrill of the hunt as for there own collections. Above all else collecting retro game consoles should be fun.
Example of a collection by an avid classic video console collector
While many gamers my age have many fond memories of there Atari 2600. There is no getting away from the fact that Atari made some very strange decisions during there time as a console manufacturer. The Atari XEGS is certainly one of these strange decisions.
Atari released the Atari XEGS in 1987 right after they released the Atari 7800. It was almost as if they realised they did not have a snow balls chance in hell of beating the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Sega Master System with there 7800 so they thought they would jump back to being computer specialists with there Atari XEGS a kind of mix between a games console and a computer. Did it work? Well not really, but the machine does have some things worth noting.
The Atari XEGS was pretty much an Atari 65XE Computer that had done really well, but packaged to look like a console. While it did have cartridges it still could use all the other Atari computer accessories such as floppy discs and a printer to name a few. From a looks point of view this is a very odd looking machine it has a sturdy look to it, but some design choices make it a bit of a pain in the butt to use.
Two main issues are that the port to plug in the controllers could not be in a more awkward spot. I mean really it should not be this much of a pain just to plug in a controller. Also I get why they included a keyboard, but why on earth did they give it such a short cable? It would have made far more sense to just attach the actual console to the keyboard than give us the pathetic cable that they did do.
As far as the controller goes its the standard Atari 2600 controller that we had been using for the better part of a decade. In this day and age one button simply did not cut it, but thankfully the Atari XEGS did have a keyboard that did come in handy for many games. In addition to this the computer was packaged with a light gun that has a very I guess you could say unique look to it. Many people say it looks terrible, but I must admit I kind of like it the thing just screams 1980â??s.
You may think so far that I hate the Atari XEGS well that is not true it was a very odd decision for Atari to release this, but it does have one thing in its favour. Games lots and lots of games. The Atari XEGS has a great library of games for you to play ranging from all genres. And despite the computer running on old tech it could produce very high quality graphics at the time with a great range of colours. Sadly though the games that were on thus system could not compete with the likes of what was being released on the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Sega Master System at the time.
The Atari XEGS is not a terrible system at all. I just think it was a mistake to release it when they did. Just like the Atari 7800 I feel that Atari released this simply a few years to late. This would also be the last home console that Atari would release before the Atari Jaguar a few years later. If you are a collector you can pick one of these up fairly cheap and it does have a truly great library of games to play. Getting Atari XEGS games complete in box can be a bit pricy, but if its just the actual games themselves then it really should not cost you to much.
Think a long, flat, wiggly ribbon that lives inside you and attaches to your intestinal walls, sometimes coming out in your poop. Yum.
The really sneaky thing about tapeworms is that they are fairly undetectable. You can have them for a long time and not realize it because you’re not presenting any symptoms. However, in some rare cases, tapeworms can lead to some very serious issues for your brain, liver, and other areas.
Although there are more than 1,5000 kinds of tapeworms, there are six kinds of tapeworms that have been shown to infect people. There are three kinds that are more common and can be found in the Americas — beef tapeworms, pork tapeworms and fish tapeworms. Beef tapeworms are the most widespread in North America, and these little suckers can grow up to 65 feet long. They generally only reside in cows and humans, and can only multiply in humans. Pork tapeworms are much smaller, only about a half inch long, and live inside humans and pigs. Fish tapeworms are the incredible culprits, averaging 30 feet, but able to get up to 100 feet long. These guys can get into dogs, cats, bears, seals, weasels, and of course, humans.
Tapeworms are parasitic creatures, meaning they need a host to survive. Their heads have sharp little hooks that enable them to latch onto intestinal tissues. If the head is attached, the tapeworm can produce eggs that then travel around the body. These eggs can get into the muscle of the host, which is how people and other animals get infected from eating undercooked or raw meat. The other way to get infected is through another person. If an infected person doesn’t wash their hands after defecating, and then prepares food, woe is whoever consumes that dish.
There are many symptoms for tapeworm, but they are common to so many other health issues that diagnosis is very difficult without the worm segments coming out of you. The proof is in the poop. Some common signs are diarrhea, nauseam abdominal pain, fatigue, weight loss, muscle weakness, malnutrition, and in severe cases, seizures and neurological damage.
If the worms are not found in your bowel movements, then a blood test can often show antibodies that your body produces to fight the infection. If the side effects are severe, a doctor may order a CT or an MRI to check for damages near the digestive track. For 95% of tapeworm cases, an oral dose of medication will kill the tapeworms and allow them to pass through you. You may experience some cramping if the worms have grown to a large size. Colon cleansing with herbs is a holistic cure that seems to work pretty well.
To help prevent a dreaded tapeworm infection, be wary of raw fish or meat, and try to freeze fish for 24 hours before cooking, and meat for 12 hours. Wash your hands frequently — before and after handling meat or fish, and always after using the toilet. When you are traveling in countries with lower health regulations, as an extra precaution, cook fruits and vegetables before eating them.
Domestic cats are one of the human species favourite companions, with over 90 million of them in the USA alone.
Because they are such permanent fixtures of so many countries, it is sometimes easy to overlook what a strange and enduring relationship cats and humans have had over the thousands of years that they have known each other.
More than perhaps any other species, the cat has been revered and despised, praised for their usefulness and shunned for their apparent laziness and lack of loyalty, and their history is bound up with some of the most important parts of our own.
Ancient beginnings?
It is difficult for scientists to conclusively date the emergence of the domestic cat because their skeletons really donâ??t differ that much from the species they evolved from.
The last couple of years have thrown up the possibility that the relationship between cats and humans dates back much further than was previously thought, with evidence of a 9,500 year old grave containing a cat and human buried together!
It has been speculated that cats and humans were first brought together by rodents. First, humans stored grain, then rodents were attracted to the grain and the cats were, of course, attracted to the mice!
Revered as gods by the ancient Egyptians
The first widespread evidence of the domestication of the cat is by the ancient Egyptians, and archaeological evidence shows that the animal played a very important role in their society.
Cats were valued for their hunting abilities when it came to rodents and snakes, and were even brought on hunts with Egyptian warriors and trained to catch fish and birds.
On top of this, the Egyptians also believed that cats were closer to gods then humans and were treated as such. Not only were many of the gods of Egypt feline in appearance, but it was also a crime to kill a cat. Whatâ??s more, catâ??s were even mummified and properly buried!
Around the same time, cats begin being exported to Italy and spreading through Europe, although there is also evidence that both the Vikings and the various peoples of the Middle East may have begun domesticating cats around this time as well.
Dark times in the dark ages
Things took a bad turn fro Europeâ??s cats in the Dark Ages, when fanatical Christianity led many to associate cats with the devil. It is thought that the number of cats in Europe halved during this period.
It is only during the Black Death that the cat and its taste for rodents managed to worm its way back into European good books.
The modern domestic cat
After the Dark Ages the domestic cat spread around the world, even making it to America with the early settlers. Nowadays cats have inspired a multi-million dollar industry to develop around them, selling everything from extravagant toys, bling-tastic collars and cat litter trays.
Some people are still puzzled by the length and strength of this relationship between humans and cats. After all, of all the animals we have domesticated cats probably contribute the least, lacking even the die-hard loyalty of dogs.
So what is it about cats that have propelled them to a stage where around 600 million of them live in our homes with us? Let me know what you think below!
Louise Blakeis a new mum and avid animal lover. When sheâ??s not chasing round after her unruly puppy, Louise likes to blog for Petmeds. If she thought she could handle adding another member to the household, sheâ??d pick a tabby cat.
Being rich is something which we all must have longed for at some point or another.The ability to buy anything or go anywhere in the world without having to think of the cost is a fantasy which most of us will never realise. For some though, this was once a reality. However, there have been many stories of celebrities, businessmen and women and lottery winners who have had enormous riches and subsequently lost it all. Below we take a look at a few of the unfortunate ones who couldnâ??t hold onto their lives of luxury.
Burt Reynolds
CC Via Flickr
A huge Hollywood star in the 1970â??s and 80â??s, Reynolds was famous for his roles in â??Smokey and the Bandit and â??Cannonball Runâ??. He was a multimillionaire in his heyday but after a high profile divorce form his wife Loni Anderson, he was left with millions in debt. In 2011, he was on the brink of having his home in Florida foreclosed.
Shane Filan
CC Via Flickr
Riding high in the charts with the Irish super group â??Westlifeâ??, Filan had amassed a tidy fortuned which would have meant he would never have had to work again. Apparently £7 million wasnâ??t enough for Shane as he became a victim of the property crash after borrowing over £18 million on a doomed get â??richerâ?? quick investment scheme.
MC Hammer
CC Via Flickr
After bursting onto the scene with the infectious hit â??You Canâ??t Touch Thisâ?? in 1990, MC Hammer quickly became seriously rich. He was said to be worth $33 million at one point but this soon evaporated as his spending habits were lavish and reckless. His customised mansion and excessively large entourage were the final nails in his coffin.
Mike Tyson
CC Via Flickr
The baddest man on the planet was the most feared heavyweight boxer in the world from 1986 through to the early 1990â??s. His earning potential was unlimited and he was worth over $500 million while he was at the top of his game. His dominance in the ring could not protect him from the financial disaster that followed. Court appearances, divorces and jail time saw his wealth reduced to a mere $1 million.
Michael Carroll
Winning the lottery did nothing to change the ways of this social deviant. After scooping £9.7 million on the National Lottery, he subsequently bought a large house in a desirable area and commenced to make the neighbours lives a misery with his all night partying and drug taking. It was all short lived though as this layabout was soon sent back to the dole queue after squandering every last penny.
Viv Nicholson
CC Via Flickr
The words â??Spend, spend, spendâ?? were immortilised in history as Viv Nicholson became one of the first big pools winners in the 1960â??s. She became a celebrity over night in the UK as the nation became fascinated with her flamboyance and extravagance. The money quickly went to her head though and it wasnâ??t long before she was soon entering a downward spiral. When her husband died in a car crash in 1965, she was just about down to her last pennies. Her life spawned a 1998 West End musical entitled â??Spend, spend, spendâ??!
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