Ramadan -The Most Blessed Month

This is Shabaan month and next one is 'Ramadan' -the month of fasting. The most blessed month Ramadan is being observed by more than a billion Muslims around the world.

Muslims are supposed to observe fast during this month. Fasting or sawm is intended to help teach Muslims self-discipline, self-restraint and generosity. It also reminds them of the suffering of the poor, who may rarely get to eat well. The purpose of fasting is to cleanse the soul by freeing it from harmful impurities.

 Facts about Ramadan

The most blessed month for Muslims:

Amazing facts around us

This digital age has shrunken the world. Now we have access to internet which itself is a world of its own. Information sharing is easy and accessible now. I receive few emails which are stuffed with 'interesting news' or 'stuff' which is useful or worth of sharing. I am writing few posts at this blog which are taken from my 'inbox'.
A very touchy information is about 'Allah's creations and amazing facts around us'

Interesting facts about learning disabilities in children every parent should know

These are some interesting facts about children having learning disabilities.
A Learning Disability may mean you have difficulty with:

• spoken language;                               
• written language; 
• coordination;
• self-control; 
• organizational skills; 
• attention; or, memory.

Guardians and teachers can help them learn how to cope with their learning problems better by teaching them applyhing strategies that can minimize their effect   There has been remarkable new research in the field of Learning Disabilities and brain function that show how the brain works. As a result, we are now better able to assist those with Learning Disabilities.

Interesting facts about learning disabilities:

•  People with Learning Disabilities often excel in their chosen fields. 
•  Those with Learning Disabilities can and do learn, just differently. 
•  Conservatively, 10-15% of the population has Learning Disabilities. 
•  An estimated 25% of the population is considered “at risk” for Learning Disabilities. 
•  Early identification and intervention reduce the risk of school failure to less than 5%. 
• In 1877 the term “word blindness” (wortblindheit) was coined by Adolf Kussmaul who recognized that there are individuals who can see perfectly well - but are unable to “see” written words. 
• Dr. Albert Einstein famous for the theory of relativity 
• and winner of the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics had speech difficulties and never completed high school. Later he wrote, “The spirit of learning and creative thought were lost by strict rote learning”.
• No one knows the exact cause of LD but it is believed to be a problem with the Central Nervous System, meaning it is neurological. 
• LD also tends to run in families. You may discover that one of your guardians or grandparents had trouble at school.

Famous people with learning disabilities! 

Do you know that Albert Einstein couldn't read until he was nine? 

Walt Disney, General George Patton, and Vice President Nelson Rockefeller had trouble reading all their lives. 

Whoopi Goldberg and Charles Schwab and many others have learning disabilities which haven't affected their ultimate success.

Useful links:

* Learning Disability Fast Facts

* Facts and stats about LD PDF report.

* 'LD success.org' offers load of information about this topic. They provide guideline of teachers and parents

* Read the news about disabilities. 

How to Amuse Your Guests with Toilegami?

Toilegami’ is actualy is the origami-style folding of toilet paper.
Toilet paper origami is also called Hotel Toilet Paper folding as it is practiced in many hotels worldwide. You can also amuse and great your guests with this amazing origami style. This post offers enough online resources about basic toilet origami folds. Learn some basic and interesting facts about toilegami and start folding toilet paper to have fun.

Basically, the cleaning staff folds the first piece of toilet paper on the roll into a shape. The most popular is the triangle fold, and it’s a great way to greet your guests when they visit your bathroom.

Knowing a few simple techniques can entertain your guests and confuse family and friends when you visit.

How this origami style was created?

It is called origami style because it is an art form which is amusing and entertaining. The purpse or origin of this origami style is unknown but there are two basic reasons of this creative art:

As a way of assuring guests that the bathroom has been cleaned.
To impress or delight guests with the management’s creativity and attention to detail.
There are two ways to do toilegami:

- fold the toilet paper while it is still on the roll, or

- fold a single sheet of toilet paper.

The common fold normally involves creating a triangle or "V" shape out of the first sheet or square on a toilet paper roll. Commonly, the two corners of the final sheet are tucked behind the paper symmetrically, forming a point at the end of the roll. More elaborate folding results in shapes like fans, sailboats, and even flowers.

Few easy to learn toilegami folds are:

The Triangle Fold,
The Diamond Fold
The Pleated Fold,
The Pleated Tuck Fold
The Flourish
You can learn these folds from ‘Origami Resource Center’

Toilet paper folding or toilegami has attracted the attention of observers within the hotel industry and beyond it, involving both sober discussion of the practice as a marketing move as well as wry commentary with various degrees of seriousness. The practice has been considered an emblematic example of a meme copied across the world from a hotel to another until the point that most of them now do it.

Interesting facts:

Stephen Gill, a British photographer has published a book of pictures of folded hotel toilet paper from various nations.
Hotel toilet paper folding is such an institution that in the horror movie 1408 it is used as one of the eerie happenings noticed by the main character—after using the toilet paper, he finds it mysteriously has been freshly folded over.
The Tickle Pink Inn, a motel in Carmel Highlands, California, folds the ends of its toilet paper into fan-like designs, mirroring the folds of its bathroom washcloths.
One travel writer noted seeing toilet paper folded into flowers and sailboats at hotels in Costa Rica.
An automated toilet paper folding machine called Meruboa was invented in Japan. With the push of a lever the device folds the first sheet of toilet paper into a triangle.

Interesting links and online resources:
* Stephen Gill explains why he spent three years taking pictures of hotel toilet paper. The loo roll that says I love you
* Toilet paper origami pictures from many hotles around the world
* A blog ‘Toilet Paper Origami’ (Most pictures or this article are taken from the same blog)
* Learn two basic folds of toilegami from thissimple tutorial
* How to: Make Toilet Paper Origami

First published at 'factoidz'

Why we need to adopt energy saving habits by recycling and reducing?

At the occasion of 'Earth Hour Day' I want to share some facts with you. By reusing, reducing and recycling we can save energy and help save our planet earth. Why we need to re-use, reduce or recycle can be understood by having a glance at these facts. This fact sheet is enough to alarm us, why we need to adopt habits of saving energy by recycling, reducing and reusing.

• The garbage in a landfill stays for a for about 30 years.
• In 1995 over 200 of the world landfills were full.
• Each person throws away approximately four pounds of garbage every day.
• One bus carries as many people as 40 cars!
• More than 1/3 of all energy is used by people at home
• Most families throw away about 88 pounds of plastic every year
• We each use about 12,000 gallons of water every year
• 1/3 of all water is used to flush the toilet.

A site for histroy enthusiastics - Random History

Learning about history or historical facts may seem a boring topic but it is true that ------

- 'History Helps Us Understand People and Societies'
- 'History Helps Us Understand Change and How the Society We Live in Came to Be'

'Random History' is a site which provides a selection of history facts on random topics.

What they say about them?

'We believe in advancing the place of history on the Internet and strive to fulfill this purpose. Each of our professionally trained writers and editors holds a Bachelor's degree in at least one of the following fields: history, English, or journalism. Many of them have even earned advanced degrees. Every history is carefully evaluated for accuracy and veracity and contains proper citations and references.'

Many histories and random facts available can be searched from top menu at home page. These facts and historical events are interesting and fun to read and learn like:

* Sharks have been called “swimming noses” because their sense of smell is so good (they smell with their nostrils but don’t breath through them). Some sharks can smell one part of blood in 100 million parts of water and can tell which direction that smell is coming from.

* Few Fast Food facts:

- In 1970, Americans spent about $6 billion on fast food. In 2006, the spending rose to nearly $142 billion.e
- During the early 1900s, the hamburger was thought to be polluted, unsafe to eat, and food for the poor. Street carts, not restaurants, typically served them.e
- Proportionally, hash browns have more fat and calories than a cheeseburger or Big Mac.b
- At some fast food chains, both in U.S. and in other countries, managers are rewarded bonuses when they reduce employee wages to save money.g

Useful links:

* Why study History? An article from 'American Historical Association' explaining the importanc of this subject.