Panda sneezes...

I know that pandas only "look" cute and are infact wild beasts like any other species of bears... but still... there is no denying the fact that this is totally adorable and mildly hilarious...hehe! :)

Think before you send!

After getting all those tons of emails which warned me about how my Orkut account or my YahooMail ID was just about to be canceled, or how I would be visited by the wrath of God if I didn't forward some Scandinavian child's plea for a gonad, I figured that this is most certainly an apt thing to put up on my blog. :)

From the guys who wrote the well-publicized book "The Hamster Revolution: How to Manage Your Email Before It Manages You", here's a short article that outlines 7 websites where you can quickly (trust me, it takes only 5 minutes!) check out the veracity of your email's contents before you send it out to every single living person whose email ID you happen to possess.

Enjoy, and hopefully, once the word gets around, I will never hear of another email which wants me to spam 10 of my friends to fulfill every wish I every dreamed...:)

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General Scams and Hoaxes

www.snopes.com – “Snopes” focuses on email hoaxes. You can read carefully researched analyses of just about any popular email message floating around the web. Urban legends, political myths, folklore, and plain old misinformation are carefully taken to task by the Snopes.com team. Snopes is a grass roots effort by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson that is supported by some advertising revenue.

www.about.com – A commercial “portal” which features a search engine and a number of general channels like religion and business. Good, solid well-researched information. About.com also has a helpful urban legends and folklore section. Just go to About.com and search for ‘urban legends’. It’s a good alternative to Snopes.

www.truthorfiction.com – Internet users can quickly and easily get information about eRumors, warnings, offers, requests for help, myths, hoaxes, virus warnings, and humorous or inspirational stories that are circulated by email.

Healthcare Info

www.medlineplus.gov – A service of the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. Pre-formulated MEDLINE searches are included in MedlinePlus and give easy access to medical journal articles. MedlinePlus also has extensive information about drugs, an illustrated medical encyclopedia, interactive patient tutorials, and latest health news. Before you buy into the latest healthcare fad, experimental surgery, herbal miracle cure, or drug company claim – take a moment to surf this non-commercial government site.

www.webmd.com – Provides a very contemporary and comprehensive commercial site on health issues that is supported by sponsor revenues. The sponsors are unobtrusive and are listed as links at the bottom of the page. The information appears to be well-researched by medical professionals but keep in mind that you check with your doctor before making any major changes to your healthcare regimen.

Political Fact and Fiction

Note: Some political fact checking sites can have a political orientation. We recommend reading several of them to get a broader bi-partisan view of politics.

www.factcheck.org – This site claims to be a non-partisan, nonprofit, "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. They monitor “TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases.” They strive to provide an ethically and politically balanced view of the political world.

www.cjrdaily.org – According to their website, CJR Daily is a real-time critique of journalism and a continuing discussion and analysis of where journalism is as a craft and a business, and where it's going. Operating under the auspices of the Columbia Journalism Review, the focus is on three areas: political journalism; the larger forces -- political, economic, technological, social, legal -- that affect journalism; and the business and financial press.

Vicco Vajradanti

Yippeeee... and look what I found! Oh this is so cool - I have been trying to locate this one for sucha long time! :) The jingle goes something like this:

Vajradanti Vanjradanti Vicco Vajradanti
Toothpowder, toothpaste
Ayurvedic jaDibooTiyon se bana sampoorNa swadesHi
Toothpowder, toothpaste
Vicco Vajradanti!

Vicco Turmeric Ayurvedic Cream!!

God, this is such a blast from the past - I keep trawling the YouTubes of the world for such goodies... and occasionally you find a gem!

That's Sangeeta Bijlani in her pre-Azhar days... and I must have been like 8-9 when this used to keep playing on the TV and in the movie theaters...over and over again... Was so sick of it back then! Hehe :)

Let's drop the big one...

Just discovered this Randy Newman song from 1972! This is political satire at its best... and still so topical! Who would have thunk that this person who I only knew as the music composer from some of my favorite animated movies (Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Cars, Monsters,Inc.) had this in him... hehe :)

Very rarely have I seen the irony of the U.S. foreign policy put so beautifully in words... Read on!

No one likes us-I don't know why
We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try
But all around, even our old friends put us down
Let's drop the big one and see what happens

We give them money-but are they grateful?
No, they're spiteful and they're hateful
They don't respect us-so let's surprise them
We'll drop the big one and pulverize them

Asia's crowded and Europe's too old
Africa is far too hot
And Canada's too cold
And South America stole our name
Let's drop the big one
There'll be no one left to blame us

We'll save Australia
Don't wanna hurt no kangaroo
We'll build an All American amusement park there
They got surfin', too

Boom goes London and boom Paris
More room for you and more room for me
And every city the whole world round
Will just be another American town
Oh, how peaceful it will be
We'll set everybody free
You'll wear a Japanese kimono
And there'll be Italian shoes for me

They all hate us anyhow
So let's drop the big one now
Let's drop the big one now