September 3, 2010
How maths can make you rich and famous
here are many good reasons for doing mathematics. There is the sheer joy of mathematical discovery, the beautiful interplay between mathematical structures and patterns, the fascinating way that mathematics helps to reveal the mysteries of the physical world and the excitement of solving age-old puzzles. Becoming rich and famous is not usually a motivation for doing maths, and is an endeavour more usually linked to film stars and sports personalities. However, in this article I will tell you how you can become rich and famous by doing maths - but be warned, this is not an short cut to riches, and becoming a film star may be easier.
Warren Buffett's 10 Ways To Get Rich
With an estimated fortune of $62 billion, Warren Buffett is the richest man in the entire world. In 1962, when he began buying stock in Berkshire Hathaway, a share cost $7.50. Today, Warren Buffett, 78, is Berkshire's chairman and CEO, and one share of the company's class A stock worth close to $119,000. He credits his astonishing success to several key strategies, which he has shared with writer Alice Schroeder. She spend hundreds of hours interviewing the Sage of Omaha for the new authorized biography The Snowball. Here are some of Warren Buffett's money-making secrets -- and how they could work for you.September 1, 2010
Couples kiss in Mexico City set World Record
Mexico City puckered up to set a new record Saturday as nearly 40,000 people locked lips in the city center for the world's largest group kiss.Carlos Martinez of Guinness World Records verified the record of 39,897 people who entered the gated kissing area of the city's Zocalo main square on Valentine's Day, besting Weston-super-Mare, an English town that set the previous kissing record in 2007.
"We did it! Long live Mexico," said Mexican singer-actress Susana Zavaleta, who serenaded the crowd before the kiss with the classic Mexican ballad, "Besame Mucho," or "Kiss Me a Lot" — also the name of the event.
The Valentine's Day kiss was meant to show love at a time when a crackdown against drug traffickers has led to widespread violence across the country. At least 6,000 people died in drug-related conflicts in 2008.
"More than 35,000 will simultaneously kiss to show that warmth and love are at the core of this capital, the heart of the Mexican Republic," the city's tourism department, which organized the gathering, said in a statement.
The event "is aimed at changing people's attitudes toward human relations, especially between couples, so that respect, equity and tolerance are at the center of any relationship," the statement said.
The giant Zocalo, which can hold 100,000 people, was half-filled as mostly young couples embraced and held one another in a lip lock for 10 seconds.
The kiss was delayed for several hours as organizers waited for people to gather.
As the crowd grew, city workers in cupid wings offered hugs, teenage boys carried signs volunteering their kissing services and couples practiced openly in a country that surprises many with its pervasive public displays of affection.
"We love demonstrating our love in front of everyone and in front of our family," said Lucia Gutierrez, 38, who spent the afternoon rehearsing with Vicente Romero, 34, her boyfriend of 10 months. "There's nothing bad about showing your love."
Benito Zavala, 53, who works in a store nearby, said he didn't have time to go home to get his wife. So he planned to help set the record with his 2-year-old Chihuahua, Onix, who was licking his lips.
"It's a good idea because a lot of people feel the need to share their affection," Zavala said. "They already do it in the Metro, in the street, so I think it's best if they all do it together."
The event also included workshops on violence-free relationships and AIDS prevention.
As soon as the kissing stopped, participants started chanting "Cente!" the nickname for Mexico's most popular ranchera singer, Vicente Fernandez, who followed the smooch-fest with a free concert.
Mexico set Largest Sweet Bread World Record
The massive pastry, a popular bread called the "rosca de reyes" that appears around the Three Kings holiday in Mexico, measures 720 meters long and used over 50,000 eggs and 2,900 kilos of sugar.
The national bakers' association has sponsored the creation of the huge " rosca" for the last three years in the capital.
Hundreds of residents crowded in lines for a piece of the behemoth treat, which completely wrapped the perimeter of Mexico City's large Zocalo plaza.
"It's a nice thing that we really appreciate," said resident Lucia Gonzalez after collecting several slices for herself and her family. "Many times people don't have enough to buy their own traditional sweet bread at home, so they can come here to enjoy a little piece," she added before noting that this year's record-setting "rosca" was tastier than last year's.
The most recent record belongs to Houston, Texas, with a "rosca" of 1,300 kilograms, said Ferrer Galvan of the city's Secretary of Economic Development two days before the event. No officials from Guinness World Records were present at the event to verify the claim.
The sweet bread took 21,000 man hours of labor and cost approximately 128, 000 US dollars to create.
Guinness record-attempts arepopular in Mexico.
2009 saw numerous such events, including the record for the most dancers performing "Thriller" simultaneously, the largest group of couples kissing simultaneously, and the largest cheesecake in the world.
Lung Power - Most Powerful Lungs
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The inflation of a standard meteorological balloon (1,000g (35 oz)) to a diameter of 2.44 m (8 ft) against time was achieved by Manjit Singh (UK) in 42 min at Rushley Pavilion Centre, Leicester, UK on September 16, 1998. | |||||||||||
Cutting Hair Continuously for 72 Hours Guinness Record set by Patrick Lomantini
Patrick Lomantini of Wichita has established a Guinness World Record by cutting hair continuously for 72 hours. In all, Lomantini finished 227 haircuts. All the haircuts were free. Tips totaling $1,625 were donated to the Kansas Humane Society.
Patrick Lomantini, owner of Lomantini – The Salon in Wichita, has established a Guinness World Record by cutting hair continuously for 72 hours. The world-record effort started at 9 a.m. on Thursday, August 19 and concluded 9 a.m. on Sunday, August 22. “It was extremely difficult physically and mentally,” said Lomantini. “There were times when I had my doubts but my support team did a great job keeping me going and keeping the appointments coming in.”
In all, Lomantini finished 227 haircuts. All the haircuts were free. Tips totaling $1,625 were donated to the Kansas Humane Society. The marathon effort took place at Lomantini – The Salon, 1812 S. Seneca in Wichita.
Lomantini has been in the salon business for two years and brings to the record attempt years as a personal trainer and fitness instructor.
Longest Ears on a Rabbit
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The longest rabbit ears measured 79 cm (31.125 in) in a complete span on November 1, 2003 at the American Rabbit Breeders Association National Show in Wichita, Kansas, USA. The ears belong to an English Lop called Nipper's Geronimo who is owned by Waymon and Margaret Nipper of Bakersfield, California, USA. | |||||||||||
Smallest Dog Living (Length)
| Smallest Dog Living (Length) | |||||||||||
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The smallest dog in terms of length is Heaven Sent Brandy, a female chihuahua who measured 15.2 cm (6 in) from the nose to the tip of the tail on January 31, 2005. Brandy lives with her owner, Paulette Keller in Largo, Florida, USA. | |||||||||||
Longest Pizza
Sunday, August 29, 2010, Krakow, Poland, witnessed the culmination of one of the world’s most ambitious superlative food records of all time.
MAKRO™ cash & carry, one of the largest of its type in the world, in association with local restaurant MAGILLO set out to break the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ record for ‘the longest pizza’ in the world, a record (perhaps unsurprisingly) to date held by an Italian pizzeria, at just over a very impressive 407 metres.
Polish ambitions were such that a specialist team of over 200 chefs hoped to obliterate the existing record by creating a pizza that would stretch over a distance of 1km (yes, you heard right, that’s 1,000 metres), more than twice the existing Italian record.
To achieve the new record, Guinness World Records stipulated that the pizza would have to form one continuous piece with a minimum of two different toppings. Following the seemingly endless task of making the dough from 3.5 tons of flour, hundreds of pallet-sized sections were transported to a specially constructed 1km plus long table where an army of volunteers painstakingly needed the individual dough’s together and lovingly garnished the base with a layered topping of herbed-sauce, mozzarella, sweet corn and mushrooms.
Once the topping was in place, a four-oven mobile ‘train-set’ was specially constructed to travel slowly over the pizza to ensure that it was thoroughly cooked-through.
Starting with preparations at 2 am, this record attempt was an achievement which required unrivalled levels of planning, patience, team collaboration, determination and execution; demonstrating skills akin to a finely tuned military operation.
After an exhausting and latterly, tense, 18 hours of pizza activity, it gave me great pleasure to announce the new Guinness World Records achievement had been set at a mouth-watering 1, 010 metres and 28 cm, a truly remarkable effort by all concerned. Equally as pleased with the new record were thousands of hungry locals who couldn’t wait to get stuck into one legendary pizza.
GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS will always be drawn towards extraordinary feats of human accomplishment, and in any language a one kilometre pizza is a truly astonishing achievement, one that is unlikely to be beaten for quite some time.
Congratulations to all in Krakow who made GWR feel so welcome in this truly beautiful city.
By Raymond Marshall
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