For those of you wishing to surprise your friends on the wonderful world of skype here’s a complete list of secret emoticons. To use the emoticons just type the word, including parenthesis, into the text box and hit enter. For example, to get the mooning icon to appear type ‘(mooning)’. (Sources Here and Here.)
(mooning)
Mooning emoticon, perfect…
(finger)
Middle finger emoticon, a very rude emoticon to express yourself.
(swear)
Swearing smiley, his words are just too rude to show!
(rock)
Rocking smiley, making a hand gesture and enjoying his music.
(smoking)
Smoking emoticon, this hidden smiley is one bad dude!
(drunk)
Drunk emoticon, this Skype smiley’s had a bit too much to drink
(poolparty)
Pool party emoticon, this guy just can’t wait to jump in!
(toivo)
A guy and his dog, not sure what this emoticon is about, but Toivo was a Skype engineer.
(bandit)
Masked bandit emoticon, quite unique. Good for when some stealth is required.
(headbang)
Angry smiley banging his head against a wall, we’ve all felt this way sometime.
(fubar)
FUBAR emoticon, for times when things just won’t work.
(tmi)
Too Much Information (TMI) emoticon, good for when you’ve heard more than enough!
(bug)
Bug emoticon, a black
(heidy)
Squirrel emoticon, a cute little critter and his nut. Heidi is a Skype staff member.
(myspace)(flag:al) Albania
(flag:dz) Algeria
(flag:as) American Samoa
(flag:ad) Andorra
(flag:ao) Angola
(flag:ai) Anguilla
(flag:aq) Antarctica
(flag:ag) Antigua and Barbuda
(flag:ar) Argentina
(flag:am) Armenia
(flag:aw) Aruba
(flag:au) Australia
(flag:at) Austria
(flag:az) Azerbaijan
(flag:bs) Bahamas
(flag:bh) Bahrain
(flag:bd) Bangladesh
(flag:bb) Barbados
(flag:by) Belarus
(flag:be) Belgium
(flag:bz) Belize
(flag:bj) Benin
(flag:bm) Bermuda
(flag:bt) Bhutan
(flag:bo) Bolivia
(flag:ba) Bosnia and Herzegovina
(flag:bw) Botswana
(flag:br) Brazil
(flag:io) British Indian Ocean Territory
(flag:vg) British Virgin Islands
(flag:bn) Brunei Darussalam
(flag:bg) Bulgaria
(flag:bf) Burkina Faso
(flag:bi) Burundi
(flag:kh) Cambodia
(flag:cm) Cameroon
(flag:ca) Canada
(flag:cv) Cape Verde
(flag:ky) Cayman Islands
(flag:cf) Central African Republic
(flag:td) Chad
(flag:cl) Chile
(flag:cn) China
(flag:cx) Christmas Island
(flag:cc) Cocos Islands
(flag:co) Colombia
(flag:km) Comoros
(flag:cd) Congo
(flag:cg) Congo
(flag:ck) Cook Islands
(flag:cr) Costa Rica
(flag:ci) Cote D’Ivoire
(flag:cu) Cuba
(flag:cy) Cyprus
(flag:cz) Czech Republic
(flag:dk) Denmark
(flag:dj) Djibouti
(flag:dm) Dominica
(flag:do) Dominican Republic
(flag:ec) Ecuador
(flag:eg) Egypt
(flag:sv) El Salvador
(flag:gq) Equatorial Guinea
(flag:er) Eritrea
(flag:ee) Estonia
(flag:et) Ethiopia
(flag:fo) Faeroe Islands
(flag:fk) Falkland Islands
(flag:fj) Fiji
(flag:fi) Finland
(flag:fr) France
(flag:gf) French Guiana
(flag:pf) French Polynesia
(flag:tf) French Southern Territories
(flag:ga) Gabon
(flag:gm) Gambia
(flag:ge) Georgia
(flag:de) Germany
(flag:gh) Ghana
(flag:gi) Gibraltar
(flag:gr) Greece
(flag:gl) Greenland
(flag:gd) Grenada
(flag:gp) Guadaloupe
(flag:gu) Guam
(flag:gt) Guatemala
(flag:gn) Guinea
(flag:gw) Guinea-Bissau
(flag:gy) Guyana
(flag:ht) Haiti
(flag:hm) Heard and McDonald Islands
(flag:va) Holy See (Vatican City State)
(flag:hn) Honduras
(flag:hk) Hong Kong
(flag:hr) Hrvatska
(flag:hu) Hungary
(flag:is) Iceland
(flag:in) India
(flag:id) Indonesia
(flag:ir) Iran
(flag:iq) Iraq
(flag:ie) Ireland
(flag:il) Israel
(flag:it) Italy
(flag:jm) Jamaica
(flag:jp) Japan
(flag:jo) Jordan
(flag:kz) Kazakhstan
(flag:ke) Kenya
(flag:ki) Kiribati
(flag:kp) Korea
(flag:kr) Korea
(flag:kw) Kuwait
(flag:kg) Kyrgyz Republic
(flag:la) Lao
(flag:lv) Latvia
(flag:lb) Lebanon
(flag:ls) Lesotho
(flag:lr) Liberia
(flag:ly) Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
(flag:li) Liechtenstein
(flag:lt) Lithuania
(flag:lu) Luxembourg
(flag:mo) Macao
(flag:mk) Macedonia
(flag:mg) Madagascar
(flag:mw) Malawi
(flag:my) Malaysia
(flag:mv) Maldives
(flag:ml) Mali
(flag:mt) Malta
(flag:mh) Marshall Islands
(flag:mq) Martinique
(flag:mr) Mauritania
(flag:mu) Mauritius
(flag:yt) Mayotte
(flag:mx) Mexico
(flag:fm) Micronesia
(flag:md) Moldova
(flag:mc) Monaco
(flag:mn) Mongolia
(flag:ms) Montserrat
(flag:ma) Morocco
(flag:mz) Mozambique
(flag:mm) Myanmar
(flag:na) Namibia
(flag:nr) Nauru
(flag:np) Nepal
(flag:an) Netherlands Antilles
(flag:nl) Netherlands
(flag:nc) New Caledonia
(flag:nz) New Zealand
(flag:ni) Nicaragua
(flag:ne) Niger
(flag:ng) Nigeria
(flag:nu) Niue
(flag:nf) Norfolk Island
(flag:mp) Northern Mariana Islands
(flag:no) Norway
(flag:om) Oman
(flag:pk) Pakistan
(flag:pw) Palau
(flag:ps) Palestina
(flag:pa) Panama
(flag:pg) Papua New Guinea
(flag:py) Paraguay
(flag:pe) Peru
(flag:ph) Philippines
(flag:pn) Pitcairn Island
(flag:pl) Poland
(flag:pt) Portugal
(flag:pr) Puerto Rico
(flag:qa) Qatar
(flag:re) Reunion
(flag:ro) Romania
(flag:ru) Russian Federation
(flag:rw) Rwanda
(flag:sh) St. Helena
(flag:kn) St. Kitts and Nevis
(flag:lc) St. Lucia
(flag:pm) St. Pierre and Miquelon
(flag:vc) St. Vincent and the Grenadines
(flag:ws) Samoa
(flag:sm) San Marino
(flag:st) Sao Tome and Principe
(flag:sa) Saudi Arabia
(flag:sn) Senegal
(flag:cs) Serbia and Montenegro
(flag:sc) Seychelles
(flag:sl) Sierra Leone
(flag:sg) Singapore
(flag:sk) Slovakia
(flag:si) Slovenia
(flag:sb) Solomon Islands
(flag:so) Somalia
(flag:za) South Africa
(flag:es) Spain
(flag:lk) Sri Lanka
(flag:sd) Sudan
(flag:sr) Suriname
(flag:sz) Swaziland
(flag:se) Sweden
(flag:ch) Switzerland
(flag:sy) Syria
(flag:tw) Taiwan
(flag:tj) Tajikistan
(flag:tz) Tanzania
(flag:th) Thailand
(flag:tl) Timor-Leste
(flag:tg) Togo
(flag:tk) Tokelau
(flag:to) Tonga
(flag:tt) Trinidad and Tobago
(flag:tn) Tunisia
(flag:tr) Turkey
(flag:tm) Turkmenistan
(flag:tc) Turks and Caicos Islands
(flag:tv) Tuvalu
(flag:vi) US Virgin Islands
(flag:ug) Uganda
(flag:ua) Ukraine
(flag:ae) United Arab Emirates
(flag:gb) United Kingdom
(flag:us) United States of America
(flag:uy) Uruguay
(flag:uz) Uzbekistan
(flag:vu) Vanuatu
(flag:ve) Venezuela
(flag:vn) Viet Nam
(flag:wf) Wallis and Futuna Islands
(flag:eh) Western Sahara
(flag:ye) Yemen
(flag:zm) Zambia
(flag:zw) Zimbabwe
I had to do a double take after reading this Campus Grotto post. It lists the top 100 most expensive colleges in the U.S., and on the top 10 is my Alma Mater. I have to say I love my school and the experiences and education it gave me. I honestly believe that the liberal arts education is the best college experience. But this is a warning that if these institutions don’t wise up, then the public eventually will, or worse, the expense will create and promote an even greater divide and misunderstanding between the rich and poor. They’re also hurting their graduates. Over 2/3rds of students graduating with a Bachelor’s degree are in $20,000 or more in debt. The debt is so large that the Wall Street Journal stated that student loans are making a new form of indentured servitude.
Before the Recession
Being at the school, I heard every argument for the high cost of tuition, especially since I had the privilege of leading the student government. To justify their expenses, they say that the high tuition is there to maintain facilities and faculty, and thus attract students. The life and blood of these institutions are tuitions and donations. These are all very real concerns, and to be fair most of the ‘rich kids’ paying full tuition at these schools are also in part paying for the financial aid of their peers. President Leo Higdon’s op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer describes all of these points in more detail.
Mind you this op-ed was written before the great recession, but the more one reads it, the more out of touch with reality it seems. He’s saying that only 20% of the tuition is going to financial aid and “The remainder of our budget covers academic and student life – all of the study-abroad programs, funded internships, athletics, more than 100 student clubs and activities, interdisciplinary centers and more, which we offer to enhance our students’ residential and intellectual experience.”
Wake Up!
Wonderful! Sign me up! Wait? What’s that you say? $50,000 a year? Half Tuition $25,000+? What’s that you say? I can go to a public school for 7,000$ a year? Or to a University in Germany for 70 euros a semester (albeit heavily subsidized).
According to the New York Times, “college tuition and fees increased 439 percent from 1982 to 2007 while median family income rose 147 percent. Student borrowing has more than doubled in the last decade, and students from lower-income families, on average, get smaller grants from the colleges they attend than students from more affluent families.” Was the education these facilities offering that bad before? Did we really need to dump that much money into the schools?
I’ll be the first to admit that the opportunities given to me from the school were amazing and enriching, but $50,000+ a year is absurd. Would we all want every opportunity, program, and experience that can be offered? Of course, but at some point it becomes unrealistic and counter-productive. Many of these schools pride themselves on their diversity, but can one really preach about diversity when charging this price?
In addition (maybe this has changed after two years), there seemed to be no inclination of changing this trend. Everyone hung their heads when seeing the new tuition every year, but didn’t talk about it, or called it a necessary evil. Yes, we shouldn’t raise it again, but we all want those amazing new programs, facilities, etc…
By the time a person graduates from one of these institutions (if they take full room and board and without financial aid) they (or most likely their families) will be paying over $200,000. Even if you get half tuition you’ll be paying an absurd amount of money, and most students are in debt.
This price handcuffs recent graduates’ opportunities after they graduate; keeps many students away from these amazing institutions because they simply can’t afford it, or find a cheaper solution; and to make matters worse, unfortunately it is becoming harder to sell a liberal arts degree.
There is no easy answer to this problem, but it is a big problem, and there needs to be a serious look and reform of the higher education system. In an increasingly global and complicated world, a liberal arts education is extremely valuable. To let these great institutions scuttle themselves for a lack of a solution is not an option I want to see.
If you are an alumni, student, teacher, or worker at any of these institutions, please start a serious conversation and get the ball rolling. If anyone can solve this problem, it would be a person with a liberal arts education.
It’s time to face reality. There needs to be some kind of action.
Ever heard the song “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” and wonder where the hell all the chestnut trees in America are? Well, it’s actually quite a tragic tale.
Beginnings
The American Chestnut used to extremely abundant in North America. So much so, that it is said that one in every four hardwood trees in its range was an American Chestnut. These trees were especially good since they grew quickly and the quality of wood they produced was unparalleled. The wood was strong yet easy to cut, grew quickly, not full of knots, resistant to decay because of large amounts of tannin, and in addition, it also stored a vast amount of CO2 which helped the eco-system greatly. As a bonus, you could also eat the chestnuts, which are still a staple in Europe around Christmas time. These nuts were also eaten by many of the local game before winter. It was almost the perfect tree.
As early as 1930, scientists puzzled over how to stop the spread of the disease, but to almost no avail. Luckily, in a few remote places, patches of trees survived where the fungus didn’t. Several sprouts in more effected areas still exist as well. These grow just large enough to lay seeds and then almost immediately succumb to the blight.
Recent technological advances have made the fight to preserve and reintroduce the American Chestnut seem more realistic. Scientists are working on creating a resistant cross-breed of the tree and have had some success. The new trees seem to be resistant to the fungus and retain 94 percent of the original American Chestnut genes. The question now becomes whether or not the tree will be able to survive and compete with local trees. These trees were produced by traditional breeding methods, but there is also an effort to genetically engineering a resistant tree in Syracuse New York. Several scientists have expressed qualms with this approach. Within a few years though, we’ll see if this new strain of the tree is able to survive and if it does it will mean the return of one of America’s great environmental treasures.
What do you think? Should Scientists genetically engineer a new tree to create a resistant strain?
Author’s Preface: This article was originally written in Fall 2007 and still rings true today. The pestilence of illegal performance-enhancing drug use in professional sports has only gotten worse in my opinion. Since the article was written, many more big names in sports have been accused or convicted of illegal drug use such Shawn Merriman, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez, and many 2008 Olympic athletes. I am still (unfortunately) confident that there will be a massive scandal of Mitchell-Report proportions for the NFL at some point. The NFL is literally printing money these days but it’s setting itself up for a big fall with a lot of player drug issues.
Barry Bonds Rookie Card
Bonds and Clemens Are Just the Tip of the Iceberg
By Mike Schiemer
The Barry Bonds home run controversy, the Mitchell Report, and the Congressional fiasco with Roger Clemens and his former personal trainer Brian McNamee have all been driving me crazy. It is absolutely ridiculous that it would catch anybody by surprise that Major League Baseball studs such as Bonds, Clemens, McGwire, Andy Petite, and Raphael Palmeiro had or have been artificially enhancing their game over the past decade or two. It is even more preposterous that people are surprised to hear from some testimonies that the Mitchell Report leaves out many hundreds of professional baseball players. Anabolic steroids and Growth Hormones are not new to sports, they have been utilized as performance enhancers in dozens of sports since the 1940’s by Russian, German, and United States athletes and coaches! That was a time when athletes didn’t even make any real money, just extrapolate that drug use to the world of professional sports today. In today’s world of cut-throat athletic competition and $100 million contracts, I would be more surprised to find non-steroid and growth hormone users in the minority. Some may call me a cynic but I am just a realist.
One of the things that irritates me is that individuals such as Bonds, Clemens, McGwire, and Palmeiro are singled out when in fact half the league is sure to be artificially enhanced. It is true they have received more money, praise, and fame from their baseball performance than most other players so they should probably be receiving a proportional amount of scrutiny for their cheating. On the other hand though, these players have been pitching and batting against a juiced up league for probably their entire careers. When Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron’s home run record, he probably hit a large percentage of them against pitchers on steroids and growth hormones. When Roger Clemens won multiple Cy Young awards, he was facing a large percentage of batters on steroids, growth hormones, and even amphetamines to increase focus and reaction time. People should have listened more openly to Jose Canseco’s book but most wanted to believe that he was just in the immoral minority and that he was just a bitter self-promoter trying to tarnish the legacies of others. Too bad he was dead on.
Major League Baseball will never truly eradicate illegal artificial enhancement in the sport because every time a drug testing procedure comes out, there will be another untraceable drug, masking agent, or loophole to circumvent that procedure. People are motivated by money so there will always be new drugs invented that can be sold to individuals looking for an edge on the competition or simply a way to keep up against others artificially enhancing their game. With millions in contracts and endorsements on the line, some people will do whatever it takes.
Steroids have been and continue to be a massive problem in any sport or pseudo-sport including track and field, powerlifting, Olympic lifting, Strong Man, bodybuilding, and even professional wrestling. I have been saying for years that this is not only a big problem in baseball but probably an even bigger problem in the football. Why would players not utilize these illegal drugs in a full-contact sport where size, strength, and power, and speed reign surpreme when they are used in baseball? I am just waiting for the day when an “NFL Mitchell Report” comes out and exposes the cancer that is steroids and growth hormones in the game of football. You think Shawne Merriman and David Boston were the only guys in football to juice? Oh please, I’m sure the NFL’s “rigorous drug testing policy” currently in place is a joke that a rich, intelligent player can easily get round with access to the newest drugs. Something is suspicious when a 300 pounder is running a 4.6 in the 40 yard dash.
Unfortunately, the fall-out of all this cheating is pretty significant. Natural athletes will continue to feel the pressure to illegally enhance their game so they can keep up with the competition and therefore keep their jobs. Natural athletes will also face unwarranted suspicion instead of praise any time they make major improvements to their strength, physique, or game performance. Athletes using steroids will end up suffering greatly in the form of deteriorating joints, ligaments, heart and liver health, psychological disorders, and from related drug addictions. Professional sports are already brutal enough on the body without these added risks that can even include death in rare cases. This artificially inflated competition also trickles down to college and high school athletes putting pressure on them as well. Unfortunately, the public will continue to shell out cash to see bigger, faster, and stronger athletes until things come to a boil and players are temporarily reprimanded and scrutinized. Then they will simply go back to using the latest untraceable drug in attempts to pursue greatness or simply just to provide for their family. That’s the way it is and that’s the way it’s going to be for a long time.
Homemade soda’s are not too hard to make. They just require a bit of time.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Sugar, Water, A bottle, A funnel, Flavoring (I recommend Vanilla extract), and Yeast (preferably Champagne Yeast if you can find it. You can get this at a homebrew shop, but if you can’t baker’s yeast will work as well), cheese cloth (optional)
1) Find a normal sized 500ml soda bottle. This is the small one, but you can double, or quadruple the ratios if you’re using a 1 or 2 Liter bottle.
2) Put a 1/4 cup of sugar into the bottle with a funnel.
3) Take 1 tablespoon of a flavoring of your choice and put it through the funnel.
4) Now put 1/16 of a teaspoon of yeast into the bottle. Careful to not put too much or too little. If you put too much it may taste like bread, and if you put too little it won’t carbonate very well.
5) Fill the bottle up with water leaving about an inch on top and then tilt the bottle up and down to mix everything together.
6) Store the bottle in a warm area for 24-48 hours. Careful if it’s very hot out because the bottle might explode. Test the pressure on the bottle by squeezing the sides. If it feels like a normal soda would, it’s done.
7) If you have a cheese cloth you can filter out the yeast. If not, you can just drink it as is. The yeast won’t kill you, it just looks weird.
Holy crap! A flu pig! Run for the hills! But seriously, let’s take a look at this sucker, the hysteria around it, and the vaccine.
First thing to know is that this strain is HINI. That might not mean anything, but it is the same strain as the Spanish Flu that killed 50-100 million people in 1918. So, it is a bit reasonable that the CDC, UN, and well everyone is in a state of anxiety. The basic quote that the experts are saying is that it’s not a matter of will it happen, but when.
Why was that flu and maybe this one so deadly?
Normally, the flu affects very young people or much older people because their immune systems are weaker than adults. It usually leaves the rest of us feeling like crap for a few weeks. But after going through the experience once, you come to realize why getting a vaccine is important. Normally your immune system is able to eventually adapt, recognize, and kill the virus, and you get better.
Wash your hands often (a trick is to sing happy birthday while lathering your hands. This is supposed to be the correct amount of time to kill off germs).