Rat-eating plant

A carnivorous pitcher plant that eats rats and insects has been discovered in the Philippines. The plant is among the largest of all pitchers and is believed to be the largest meat-eating shrub, dissolving rats with acid-like enzymes.

The team of botanists, led by British experts Stewart McPherson and Alastair Robinson, found the plant on Mount Victoria in the Philippines.

They were inspired to search for the plant after word that it is existed came from two Christian missionaries who described seeing a large carnivorous pitcher in 2000 after they climbed the mountain.

Mr McPherson, of Poole Dorset, said: "The plant produces spectacular traps which catch not only insects, but also rodents. It is remarkable that it remained undiscovered until the 21st century."

The team, which found the plant in 2007 following a two-month expedition, published details of their discovery in the Botanical Journal of Linnean Society earlier this year following a three-year study of all 120 species of pitcher plant.

They decided to name the plant Nepenthes attenboroughii, after the wildlife broadcaster Sir David.

"My team and I named it in honor of Sir David whose work has inspired generations toward a better understanding of the beauty and diversity of the natural world," added Mr McPherson.

Sir David, 83, said: "I was contacted by the team shortly after the discovery and they asked if they could name it after me. I was delighted and told them, 'Thank you very much'.

"I'm absolutely flattered. This is a remarkable species the largest of its kind. I'm told it can catch rats then eat them with its digestive enzymes. It's certainly capable of that."

Hopefully this plant has no larger Man-eating relatives... Now THAT would be something to worry about.

I have the worst luck with wrist watches

It all started before I was even in Elementary school. Someone had given me a big expensive digital watch for a present. Of course I was just a little boy so the watch naturally was a little loose.

One day, I was in the bathroom, and the watch actually slips off my hand and splashes into the toilet. I have no idea what I was thinking as I flushed it down the toilet. Why didn't I grab it? It was RIGHT THERE (and water proof, no doubt). I wonder where it is now...

Several years without a wrist-watch go by....

Then while in elementary school (maybe 2nd or 3rd grade) I had gotten an "Indiglo" Digital watch for my birthday. I was quite proud of it. And I was also proud of the fact that it was lasting longer than my previous watch (and i liked how it glowed).

Then one day, I believe I accidentally got water on it, and then after that it got broken from getting hit hard on the ground or something like that. Goodbye watch number two.

Several more years go by....

7th grade, I asked for another watch for my birthday, thinking that surely I'm mature enough now to make sure it doesn't get broken somehow. Well I wasn't wrong about being mature enough, it only lasted about 2 weeks though. This time, the velcro strap that tightened and loosened it broke, and then the other side did too, leaving me with just the circular time piece, on which the hands had broken and swung free.

I gave up.

To this day, I use my cell phone to tell the time.

Random Thoughts of the Day

Hot pockets aren't really pockets until you bite them.

The United states is pretty much the only nation that doesn't use the Metric system.

Stare at someone walking and hum a dorky tune in your head. It's funny

US Public School have considered cutting out learning to write in cursive. Where is our culture going!?

Why does coffee have such weird names?

Rain acidity is on the rise and very high recently. POLLUTION HURTS!!

Who DID let the cat out of the bag?

Spilling the beans... who even thought of that?

Why do we yawn?

If those cleaners kill 99.9% of BACTERIA, then why do they recommend them for preventing VIRUSES?

Why is it called dinner?


There is more to come later on in the week! So until then... KEEP IT RANDOM

Random Thoughts of the Day

Sorry about the inactivity recently. I'll try to pick the pace back up. So here are some of my Random Thoughts for today.

Some cats not only purr when they're happy to see you, but also when they are in a lot of pain.

Tomatoes are fruits not vegetables.

There was recently the longest ever recorded solar eclipse. It was sadly only visible on the other side of the world, and not visible from the united states.

I need a haircut.

What's up with nicknames? Are people really that unsatisfied with other people's names?

Floppy disks should actually be floppy.

I would not be surprised to find out that someone actually tried to eat a computer "chip".

Lost socks and other laundry... Where DO they go?

The "Mustang" is a horse, a car, and an airplane.

That's all for now. But until later. KEEP IT RANDOM

My GIMP Creations.

I have recently downloaded GIMP(GNU image manipulation program), and have been dabbling in photo manipulation. These are some of my "GIMP Creations"

I changed the color of the bubble on this photograph. Credit for the picture goes to the artist that took it.

In this photo, I made it so it looked as if the Death star was in orbit above San Fransisco.

This was actually the first image I had ever edited. I am quite proud of it. I changed the color of the eye, added shadow around it, and outlined the eyelashes in purple.

In this Photo, I edited all the lightsabers in the picture so that they look like REAL lightsabers!

In this particular picture, I decided to try and make it look like these two men had tattoos.

And that is about it, I have more edited pictures, but these are the ones I like the best. Credit for the pictures goes to their respective photographers.

At this time i would like to give a special thanks to Youtube, and specifically(mostly anyway) the user Gimpknowhow. Without those video tutorials, almost none of these edited pictures would have been possible.

That's all for now. So until later... KEEP IT RANDOM!

Some People have too much Talent AND too much Time on their hands

I was wandering Youtube aimlessly yesterday, when I found this AMAZING Speed Painting of your Favorite Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman! It shows the amazing artist "Painting" the image in in fast forward (Using Photoshop I believe) on the video, but I'm sure that it ACTUALLY took the Artist several HOURS. Now THAT'S Patience, and determination.

Once I was captivated by this "painting" I couldn't help but watch all of his others. Whoever this guy is has WAY to much talent, and WAY too much time on his hands. Pretty much all of his "Paintings" could be Mistaken for the real thing! And that's saying something!

And for those of you interested in photoshop and Picture editing: There is a FREE Program you can download. It is called GIMP and is, in many people's opinions, COMPARABLE to Photoshop! You can download this amazing software here: http://www.gimp.org/.

That's all for now. So until later..... KEEP IT RANDOM

Smart Little Squirrel!

This has to be the MOST AWESOME squirrel I have ever seen! I do have to say though, that ice cream and the cone probably isn't too good for its digestive system!

This was either a VERY brave squirrel, or it knew it could get food from humans because it had done it before. Who knows? Either way that's going to be one fat squirrel! I'm just surprised the squirrel didn't run away with all the squealing and cooing the girl taking the video did! Where I live, if you even break a twig or breathe too loud near a squirrel, it's going to run away!

Well until next time, KEEP IT RANDOM!


PS: I apologize for the video sticking out on the right side, I tried to fix it, but it didn't work. Maybe it only looks like that on my computer. I hope so, but if not. I apologize.

Happy Birthday America!!!

Happy Fourth of July everybody! Now go blow stuff up (fireworks) legally...

But remember that sometimes your own fireworks can suck, so maybe it could be best to watch a professional display!

And don't forget!

Fourth of July is coming....

The 4th of July, also known as "Blow stuff up Legally Day" or more commonly "Independence Day" is tomorrow. It seems like everyone I know is going to be blowing stuff up, except me! I live in the city so if I wanted to go blow up stuff and make pretty lights legally I have to go all the way out the country.

What a hassle.

Who needs to Blow stuff up to celebrate our countries birth!? Who thought of that anyway? "Hey! lets celebrate the MAKING of our country by shooting off and DESTROYING colorful rockets!". Sounds fun.... Ok, Who am I kidding, IT IS FUN! Not to mention all the planning and calculating that goes into making professional Fireworks Displays. If they're even ONE second off, then the whole dispaly is ruined.

A lot more goes into making fireworks then you might think. Timed explosions, correct height. They even use different types of metals and other substances to make the different colors! One example is that Copper is used to make a green explosion. Some of the more complicated displays even use a computer to precisely shoot off each rocket so it is "in sync" with music that is playing.

Probably my favorite part of the 4th of July is the Twilight Zone marathon. Two or three days strait of the classic Twilight Zone! Maybe I'm just weird for liking that old TV show, or maybe not. I'm not really sure if anyone else I know, besides relatives, also watches the marathon each year.

It doesn't matter though, everyone knows what the REAL best part of the 4th of July is. Of course! its BLOWING STUFF UP! Not literally of course, you can only blow up fireworks, DUH.




I am not responsible for any unfortunate "blow ups" of anyone, anything, or any person's property. I do not advocate exploding just anything, so remember, Just explode the fireworks, and SAFETY FIRST!

Random Thoughts of the Day

R.I.P. Michael Jackson, also known as the King of Pop

mmmm..... Chocolate Milk.....

Pizza Pies are not ACTUAL pies. What's up with that?

The Conduit first person shooter for the Wii is a GREAT GAME. (I may be writing an article on it soon)

Why do we Abbreviate the word Television? Its not THAT long of a word, and it's not hard at all to say.

Why is it IRONy and not Goldeny? Or maybe silvery? How about Oxygeny?

Cup.... what a funny word.

The word Shark has lost all meaning to me. ( but only after i said it 100+ times)

What is the REAL best thing since sliced bread?

R.I.P Billy Mays

How can you tell the ocean is friendly?... It waves!

I own three cats, and two of them are black..... they must cross my path several times a day, so how much bad luck do I have? It must be piling up because it hasn't happened yet.

Golden Retrievers are nice and all, but I really prefer my Platinum Bringer.

Oranges are basically spheres of orange tastiness.

Well, that's all for now. But until later updates, keep visiting. And KEEP IT RANDOM!

BREAKING NEWS: Celebrity Michael Jackson is pronounced dead.

When the Paramedics first arrived on the scene, Michael was not breathing, The paramedics performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation and took him to the hospital.At 3:15 PM Michael Jackson was pronounced dead by doctors, he arrived at the hospital in a coma.

This is my Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/06/pop-star-michael-jackson-was-rushed-to-a-hospital-this-afternoon-by-los-angeles-fire-department-paramedics--capt-steve-ruda.html

R.I.P. Michael Jackson

Turtles

I don't know exactly where I got the idea to do this, but nevertheless it is now here, and I am very proud of it. And yes. That turtle has better glasses than me. On a side note, I apologize for the handwriting. It is difficult to write using a computer mouse.

So until later updates, laugh at this, and Keep It RANDOM!!

Random Thoughts of the Day

The Conduit Video Game, comes out tomorrow.

My skin just learned how to tan and not burn this year.

This is the darkest my skin has ever been in my entire life.

Why is a Poker Playing Card company's name "Bicycle"? Shouldn't that be the name of an ACTUAL bicycle company?

Cats actually require more protein in their diet then Dogs.

The average person spends about 70% of their day staring at some kind of screen.

Apple sold more than 1 million Iphone 3G s units over the weekend. This was more than half of what was expected.

Global warming exists.

Go Green!! SAVE THE PENGUINS!!

I don't seem to have many random thoughts on this particular occasion, but believe me. I will have MANY MORE later.

Amazing Card Trick

Recently while stumbling through the vast internet, I found this video on Youtube of a card trick called "This 'n That"



Amazing huh? Well I think so. In fact I thought it was so amazing that I wanted to learn it as soon as the video was over. So I set out on my adventure to learn the Secrets of the This 'n That Card trick.

So after scouring the internet, and getting nowhere, I realized that the answer was in my Bookmarks, Wikihow. com. I don't know why I didn't check there first, but that doesn't matter.

I quickly found the "How to" Article about this card trick and was amazed on how simple it was! There are basically only two "Special Moves" you need to learn in order to do the trick effectively. I won't blow the magical secrets in this article, but if you want to ruin the magic for yourself by reading the wikihow article, go right ahead.

After only about a two whole days of practicing in front of the mirror and getting my story correct, I was quite proficient at performing the trick. Now it was time for the test subjects.
My first victim was my sister. I nailed all the trickery. She stared at me amazed for a second and then her only words were a playful "shut up". Then the second victim, My Brother. I didn't do quite as well that time in the beginning but the rest of the trick went off without a hitch. He too stared in amazement. His words were "I saw some of the stuff in the beginning but then later, I was thinking, 'Where did it go?!' "

Well it seems that now it is time to test this trick out on the streets where it was meant to be done. I have not had the chance to do this, but I am quite excited to see how I do, and also to see other people's reactions. If the reactions are even half as good as what some of David Blaine's (professional street magician) are, then I know I will not be disappointed.

So until then I will keep practicing this fun trick, and will try to remember to update as soon as I perform this trick on the streets, but until then. Keep it Random!

Random Thoughts of the Day

Where did the concept of "being random" come from.

We buy objects using little disks of engraved metal and green pieces of paper.

Try to get through one day without your cell phone. You won't be able to do it, at least not without feeling frustrated the whole time.

Why don't regular drivers like motorcyclists? Especially the truckers....

Once and for all, it's pronounced CRAY-ON, not "Crown"!!!!!!!!

My friends and I once had an argument for almost an hour about whether a stove and an oven were the same thing.

If the plural of goose is Geese, why isn't the plural of Moose, Meese?

Why is it that in order to make anything fancy, you can just add and "E" at the end or spell it slightly different. Ex: Colour (color), Refreshe (Refresh).

The only reason we know ninjas existed is because of the crappy ones.

Ninjas still exist....

Goldfish have a memory span of about 3 months, not 3 seconds. Take that!!

If a cat had no feet, what would it always land on?

So would a Butterfly without wings be called a Butterwalk?

Most dogs are not aware of the fact that they have back legs, and therefore have trouble climbing ladders.

WRESTLING IS FAKE!!! HELLO PEOPLE!!! WHY DO YOU STILL WATCH IT!!?!? I am of course talking about the kind of wrestling where everyone has long hair, and is greasy, and everyone wears tights. Not the real olympic wrestling.

Well that's all my randomness for today. So until later, Keep it Random!

Cheeseburger in a can!! WHAT?!

Okay, so there is a German food website that is selling a Cheeseburger in a can.
http://www.trekneat.com/dede/trekn-eat-produkte/produkte/katadynshopconnect/trekn-eat-snacks/tne-cheeseburger-in-der-dose/

I'm so confused about the whole thing. Would I eat something like this? I personally am very curious so I guess I would. But how about you? I do have to say, things like this that come in cans are usually not the best thing in the world (Spam.....). But this doesn't look half bad! If this is as good as it looks, then this is possibly one of mans greatest inventions!! Or maybe, it should just go back to where it came from.

I really don't know exactly what I think about this.

I translated the website in the link using Google Translate, and this is apparently for hikers in the wilderness! It even has nutrition facts on the website! And I must say, that the nutrition facts are actually not too too bad. And based on the picture of the burger they have on the website, its no better or worse than anything you would buy at a fast food restaurant. The website is selling the Cheeseburger in a can for 3.95 Euros, or about 5 U.S. Dollars.

The directions are very simple. You can either boil the burger IN THE CAN, or heat it out of the can on a skillet. The burger can also be eaten cold if you have no heat source. This is because it is already pre-cooked. In the description it says the Cheeseburger in a can has a 12 month (1 year) Ambient shelf life.

In conclusion, this is obviously an amazing achievement. But is it truly good? it looks good. But as everyone knows, Looks can be decieving..
At this time I would like to remind you of SPAM. Looks good, but is it? If you say no then, maybe the Cheeseburger in a can isn't for you. If you say yes then by all means, GO GET IT!!!

Random Thoughts of the Day

Hungry Hungry Hippos was an AWESOME game.

Who decided to put milk on cereal?

Why do they make energy drinks so bad for you?

Forks are basically tiny Pitch forks, and Spoons are basically tiny shovels. Chop sticks, are well.... Sticks

I honestly believe that people would go insane without television.

Why do you blow out candles on your cake during your birthday?

Nose Picking: Ok, it's fine when your.... 0-7 years old. But after that, (especially into teenage years) there's something wrong...

Owls are always depicted as being wise. but their brain is as big as any other bird.

Who is "The Most Interesting Man in the World" HE SOUNDS REALLY COOL!!

Could The most interesting man in the world beat up Chuck Norris?

Could I beat myself up?

Imagine a world without Toilets.

Don't worry though. The toilets aren't going anywhere.

Why do we swim so readily in the ocean? That's where fish poop.

Another "poop" fact. We breathe tree poop. (basically)

Lysol? or LIESol.

There will be more Random Thoughts later on in the week. Sorry for no updates. So until then... KEEP IT RANDOM

Random Thoughts of the Day

In the middle of traffic jams at rush hour, I have often thought "You know, If everyone went just a little bit faster this wouldn't be a traffic jam." Is this not true? It makes sense to me.

What to have for dinner...

People from Finland are called the Finnish. Heh heh.

You've probably heard this before, but I agree completely with it. If they are called Canadians they should change their country name to Canadia.

Think about what "shut up" really means. Why does it not make sense?

American Football should be called Armor Ball. I think that makes more sense. Sounds cooler too.

What does iPod really mean?

Park in driveways but drive in Parkways.... what?

Microsoft. Another brand name that doesn't make sense.

Apple. Makes even less sense. I'm not sure which brand makes more cents though...

If Pacman really ate all those tiny food things, wouldn't he be fat?

Work out. Yet ANOTHER phrase that doesn't quite make sense.

These are just some of my random thoughts for today. This will now be a staple of this blog. I will update with my random thoughts of the day on most days. (Ideally everyday) But, if I'm too busy then I probably won't. Thank you. Goodbye (yes, "goodbye" doesn't really make sense either)

Senior Man Attacks Grizzly Bear.

You always hear about bears attacking humans in the wild, right? Well now here is a time when a human, and an elderly one at that, attacks a bear!

I recently read an article about a man(39 years old) and his father(77 years old) who were on a hike when a bear started attacking the younger of the two. The 39 year old first saw the bear coming at them from behind a tree. He tried to shoot the bear, but The bear kept charging.

Tossing around the 39 year old as if he were nothing and hurting the mans arm severely in the process, The man was sure he was about to die. The 77 year old though was not going to stand there and let the bear mangle his son. So as the bear had a hold of his son, he was beating it and swearing at it. The bear did switch its attention to the elderly man but quickly tossed him aside and went back to the 39 year old.

The 39 year old was on the ground waiting for the bear to finish it when his elderly father of 77 years old got up (even while wounded), and charged toward the bear yelling every swear word he knew. As he was charging the man took his walking stick, raised it horizontally and thrusted it down the bears throat.

The article actually didn't detail if this killed the bear or not. But whatever happened to the bear, the two men were able to get away and drive to a hospital.

I have to hand it to this senior. I don't think i would be brave enough to challenge a BEAR, and a Grizzly Bear at that! But one thing is for sure. This is a prime example of "Sticking it to the man".

This is not the actual Bear

Cats: Yes, They are Awesome. (And I believe they are smarter than Dogs)

Admit it, when you see this picture you think "Ha ha, that cat is stupid". Well I'm here to change your mind about that, and to show you that cats are quite smart, and not dumb as the stereotype suggests.

Exhibit One: Dogs have masters. You know who rules the cat? The cat rules the cat. For those of you with cats, you must have some idea of what I'm saying here. Dogs are social creatures they NEED someone to follow, to rule over them. Someone to please. This is why Dogs learn tricks so much more quickly and willingly than cats. Cats are not too dumb to learn them. They just don't see the need, especially if there is not an awesome treat at the end for performing. Even if you are trying to train the cat, and he seems to not be paying attention, he may well be learning. One very credible example of this is when a man bound to a wheelchair and with other medical complication as well tried to train his cat to call 911 if he had ever fallen and could not get help himself. The man was never sure if the training stuck. However one day the man did fall and could not reach his medical alert necklace, but police showed up anyway, looking as confused as he was. "Daugherty (Police Officer) said police received a 911 call from Rosheisen's (the man) apartment, but there was no one on the phone. Police called back to make sure everything was OK, and when no one answered, they decided to check things out. That's when Daugherty found Tommy next to the phone." Tommy is the mans pet cat. The quote was taken from this article :http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10663270/. As you can see even after he tried to train the cat many times and the cat seemed to "ignore" him, the cat was still learning. I picture the cat thinking this during the training: "Man, ok, I know to push this button thing when you get hurt, but your not REALLY hurt. Please stop bothering me, I GET IT!"

Exhibit Two:Both humans and Cats have identicle regions in the brain responsible for emotion. It's true. Look it up. This means that if you think your cat is mad at you and therefore is Shunning you, You are probably right. Dog owners, when is the last time you dog was smart enough to be angry and shun you for something as simple as not patting it when you come home (yes this has happened to me)?

Exhibit Three: Cat freakin' have NINE LIVES! this makes them so much cooler than any other animal, and also much wiser. Imagine if you had nine lives. Imagine how much wisdom and awesome stuff you could learn! This is why cats are so smart. They are probably even smarter than we know. Maybe they are even plotting WORLD DOMINATION!!!

Ha ha. Seriously though. These are my opinions, backed up with facts, about why I think cats are indeed smarter than dogs.
Look at the picture again. What do you see now? (It's okay, I still laughed too)