FOODS YOU SHOULD NOT FRIDGE

Melon   

Keep whole melons like watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew on the counter for best flavor. USDA research found that storage at room temp might even help keep the antioxidants more intact. 

Once they're cut, store them in the refrigerator for three to four days.

Potatoes

Cold temps will break down the starches in potatoes, making them unpleasantly sweet and gritty. 
Cool and dry darkness is a spud's best bud.

Honey

Honey can crystallize and seize up in cold temps. 
Room temperature is ideal to keep this natural sweetener perfectly gooey.

Coffee

Humidity in the fridge can cause a buildup of watery condensation, which is no good for the flavor of ground or whole bean coffee. 
Store yours in an airtight container in the pantry instead.

Tomatoes

The chill of the icebox makes tomatoes dull and mealy. Store on the counter (under-ripe ones can go on the windowsill). If they begin to get too ripe, it's time to make tomato jam or roasted-tomato sauce.

Onions

Uncut onions are happy out of the cold. The humidity of the refrigerator makes them moldy and mushy. 
Avoid direct sunlight, and once they're cut open, place them in a resealable bag in the vegetable drawer.

Garlic

Preserve the powerful flavor of garlic by storing it in a cool, dry and ventilated container.
Once the head has been broken open, use the cloves within 10 days.

Hot Sauce

There is need to stash this spicy sauce in the fridge. 
There's plenty of vinegar to prevent bacterial growth, 
plus the heat of the peppers is more potent at room temp.

Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread

This beloved condiment is super-spreadable when left out of the fridge; 
the distinctive chocolate flavor is more intense when not chilled.

Bread

It might keep mold growth at bay, but refrigeration can dry out bread. 
Keep your loaves on the counter. 
If you've got more bread than you need, store it in the freezer and toast as needed.

Nuts

Colder temps help prevent the natural oils in nuts from going rancid, but the cool environment can stifle the nutty flavor; shelled nuts can also absorb other odors lurking in the fridge. Store nuts in an airtight container in the pantry. If you do have a large amount stashed in the fridge, toast the nuts in a dry pan before using.

Apples

Freshly picked apples will do well (and look pretty) on your counter. 
If they aren't eaten after a week or two, 
make them last a little bit longer by then chilling them in the fridge.

Avocados

The creamy goodness of this fruit is best enjoyed at room temp. 
If you've got a bunch of ripe ones around and no plans to use them, 
they can be placed in the fridge to keep them good for a few extra days.

Stone Fruit   

Allow peaches, apricots, nectarines and plums to ripen at room temperature. 
If you can't gobble 'em up right away, place them in the fruit bin of the refrigerator for a few extra days.

Berries

Fresh berries from your local farm taste amazing at room temperature, 
so it's the sooner, the better for munching. 
For long-term storage, keep them in the fridge. 
To avoid soggy or moldy berries, rinse just before eating.

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THE FOUNDING OF MOTHER'S DAY AND THE SAD STORY OF IT'S FOUNDER

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Beginning in the 1850s, Ann Reeves Jarvis of West Virginia started Mothers' Day Work Clubs in order to teach women proper child-care techniques and sanitation methods. In the years following the Civil War, these same clubs became a unifying force for a country ripped apart by conflict. In 1868, Jarvis and other women organized a Mothers Friendship Day, when mothers gathered with former soldiers of both the Union and Confederacy to promote reconciliation. After Ann Reeves Jarvis died in 1905, it was her daughter Anna Jarvis who would work tirelessly to make Mother's Day a national holiday.

Anna Jarvis, who had no children of her own, conceived of Mother’s Day as an occasion for honoring the sacrifices individual mothers made for their children. In May 1908, she organized the first official Mother’s Day events at a church in her hometown of Grafton, West Virginia, as well as at a Wanamaker’s department store in Philadelphia, where she lived at the time. Jarvis then began writing letters to newspapers and politicians pushing for the adoption of Mother’s Day as an official holiday. By 1912, many other churches, towns and states were holding Mother’s Day celebrations, and Jarvis had established the Mother’s Day International Association. Her hard-fought campaign paid off in 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill officially establishing the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.

Jarvis’ conceived of of Mother’s Day as an intimate occasion—a son or daughter honoring the mother they knew and loved—and not a celebration of all mothers. For this reason, she always stressed the singular “Mother’s” rather than the plural. She soon grew disillusioned, as Mother’s Day almost immediately became centered on the buying and giving of printed cards, flowers, candies and other gifts. Seeking to regain control of the holiday she founded, Jarvis began openly campaigning against those who profited from Mother’s Day, including confectioners, florists and other retailers. She launched numerous lawsuits against groups using the name Mother’s Day, and eventually spent much of her sizeable inheritance on legal fees.

In 1925, when an organization called the American War Mothers used Mother’s Day as an occasion for fundraising and selling carnations, Jarvis crashed their convention in Philadelphia and was arrested for disturbing the peace. Later, she even attacked First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt for using Mother’s Day as an occasion to raise money for charity. By the 1940s, Jarvis had disowned the holiday altogether, and even actively lobbied the government to see it removed from the calendar. Her efforts were to no avail, however, as Mother’s Day had taken on a life of its own as a commercial goldmine. Largely destitute, and unable to profit from the massively successful holiday she founded, Jarvis died in 1948 in Philadelphia’s Marshall Square Sanitarium.

The sad history of Mother’s Day founder Anna Jarvis has done nothing to slow down the popularity—and commercialism—of the holiday. According to an annual spending survey conducted by the National Retail Federation, Americans will spend an average of $168.94 on Mother’s Day in 2013, a whopping 11 percent increase from 2012. In total, Mother’s Day spending is expected to reach $20.7 billion this year. In addition to the more traditional gifts (ranging from cards, flowers and candy to clothing and jewelry), the survey showed that an unprecedented 14.1 percent of gift-givers plan to buy their moms high-tech gadgets like smartphones and tablets.

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IF OUR BLOOD IS RED, WHY ARE OUR VEINS BLUE?

Why do veins look blue? One answer you're likely to hear is that veins look blue because the blood inside actually is blue, because it's deoxygenated. If you wonder why you've never seen blue blood before, someone might tell you that's because when you bleed, the blood is oxygenated upon contact with air, and immediately turns red.

First things first: Our blood is not blue. It is always red. 1Even when it's deoxygenated. Even in the absence of oxygen in a vacuum. (Remember, when you get blood drawn at your doctor's office, they use a vacutainer, which is essentially a vacuum in a tube. The tube is attached to the needle in your arm, exposing the inside of the vein to the vacuum and drawing the blood out.)

How red it is varies.

After your blood is pumped to your lungs by your heart, it's bright red because hemoglobin -- the iron-containing, oxygen-transporting protein in our red blood cells -- binds to the oxygen the blood just picked up. From the lungs, the blood goes back to the heart (this is called pulmonary circulation), which pumps it out to the rest of the body via the arteries and into tiny blood vessels called capillaries, where it gives its oxygen to the body's tissues (systemic circulation). On its return trip to the heart through the veins, the oxygen-depleted blood is dark red or maroon, because the hemoglobin is no longer bound to oxygen.

WHY SO BLUE?

Now, I'm no surgeon, but real doctors will tell you that when you poke around inside a human being and see a vein or artery in its naked glory, it isn't blue. If blood isn't blue, and veins and arteries aren't actually blue, why do our veins look blue through our skin?

When you look down at the veins in your arm, light of different wavelengths is hitting the skin, the veins and the blood. Some of that light is being absorbed, and some is getting scattered and reflected back to your eye. Different wavelengths of light have different properties and abilities. As it turns out, blue light, compared to red light 1) doesn't penetrate the skin as well, 2) is absorbed by the blood more, and 3) is more likely to be scattered and make it back to your eye.

So, if a vein is close to the surface of the skin, most of the blue light will be absorbed, and even though red light doesn't reflect as much, the red light:blue light ratio is high enough to make the vein appear red. With deeper veins, the blood doesn't absorb as much blue or red light. But the blue light's inability to penetrate as deeply as red light makes the veins appear blue.

1 Note the "our" in that statement. Humans and all other animals with backbones have red blood, but some animals, such as lobsters, crabs, crawfish, octopodes, squid, mussels and clams, do have blue blood.

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WHY DO PAPER CUTS HURT SO MUCH

As far as injuries go, paper cuts look pretty harmless, but there’s no denying the fact that they can feel disproportionately agonising.

And when you look at what's going on at a scientific level, paper cuts are surprisingly brutal, as Ferris Jabr explains in the episode of Scientific American’s Instant Egghead below.

For starters, the fact that we’re most likely to experience paper cuts on our nerve-coated fingertips makes the potential for pain pretty high from the start. 

Our fingers are covered with plenty of neurons, including nociceptors, which are there to detect any potential harm, such as from harsh chemicals, high temperatures and also pressure that might break the skin, as Jabr explains.

Any of these feelings will trigger electrical and chemical signals that make the brain painfully aware of an injury, and this tell us to stop doing whatever it is we’re doing.

But a paper cut doesn’t just cause the pain of a regular cut. Although it may look like a pretty clean incision, if you look at paper under a microscope it’s actually a nightmarishly jagged surface that rips apart our cells and nerve endings.

“The piece of paper cuts through skin more like a small saw than a knife,” Jabr explains. “As if that wasn’t horrible enough, paper leaves behind chemical particles, irritating the wound."

Because paper cuts are so shallow, they actually don’t bleed or clot very much, which leaves all your tissue and nerves exposed. Ouch.

Plus, there’s also the psychological pain, which comes from knowing that we can be injured so badly by something as small and innocuous as paper. We made you paper, why do you have to be so mean?





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ENGLISH 101: ANCIENT EXPRESSIONS USED UNTIL TODAY

Achilles' Heel

When something is your "Achilles' heel," it's a fault or weakness you have, despite overall strength, that can potentially cause failure. The weakness may be physical: "He is a star quarterback, but his injury-prone throwing arm is his Achilles' heel."Or it might be emotional or mental: "She was a good writer, but her Achilles' heel was that she was a terrible speller."

This expression comes from Greek mythology, specifically a guy named Achilles. Achilles' mother dipped him in the river Styx as an infant, an act that bestowed upon him extreme strength and immortality. He became a great champion — the best Greek fighter during the Trojan War — until the fateful day when Trojan prince Paris took aim and speared him in the heel with an arrow, causing him to bleed to death. But wasn't he immortal? Make that almost. When his mother dipped him in the river as a baby, she held him by one heel, which thus wasn't bathed in the river's magical waters and became the only part of his body that was unprotected [sources: Mythagora]. Oops!

Crying Wolf

Today, we use the phrase to mean someone is complaining when nothing's really wrong. It's also used when a person asks for help when he doesn't need it. For example: "The governor says if our taxes aren't doubled, he'll have to close all of our schools. But he's just crying wolf."

So, who is this wolf we speak of? It comes from an Aesop fable. Aesop was a former Greek slave in the late to mid-sixth century B.C.E. when he allegedly penned (or related) hundreds of morality tales, collectively known as known as "Aesop's Fables" [source: Horgan].

One was about a young shepherd boy who was bored while tending the sheep all day. So to drum up a little excitement and have some company, he ran toward the village screaming, "Wolf! Wolf!" The villagers ran out to meet him, and some stayed a while. Score! The boy was so happy that he repeated his trick a few days later. Once again, the villagers ran out to him, only to find, once again, that there was no wolf. Then, disaster struck — a real wolf trotted out of the forest and threatened the boy's flock. He cried, "Wolf! Wolf!" a third time, but no one ran out. The villagers were tired of his tricks. The moral, says Aesop, is that "A liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth."

All Roads Lead to Rome

In the ancient world, this was literally true. The Romans built some 50,000 miles (80,000 kilometers) of roads stretching from Britain, through Spain and Northern Africa, and east to the Danube River and Tigris-Euphrates River System. The first great road, the Appian Way, was built in 312 B.C.E. [source: Encyclopaedia Brittanica]. Emperor Caesar Augustus erected a monument called the Milliarium Aureum (golden milestone) in Rome's central forum, and the distances along all of those 50,000 miles were measured from this point, which was also the point at which all of the main Roman roads diverged [source: University of Notre Dame].

Nowadays, we use the expression to mean that there's more than one way to achieve an outcome. This metaphor was already in place as early as the 1100s [source: American Heritage Dictionary].

Caught Between Scylla and Charybdis

You might remember this as a lyric from the '80s Police song, "Wrapped Around Your Finger." It means being caught between a rock and a hard place, or two equally unattractive options.

In Greek mythology, the hero Odysseus was sailing home from the Trojan War through the Strait of Messina (which separates Italy from Sicily) where he was beset by two monsters on either side. Scylla was a giant with six heads, each having three rows of shark-like teeth, who devoured whatever came her way. (It was a personification of a reef.) Charybdis was a whirlpool on the opposite shore that sucked in ships that sailed near her. Avoiding one conflict meant coming too close to the other [source: Encyclopaedia Brittanica].

Odysseus had to figure out which was the lesser of the two evils as he had to pass through this strait to reach home. He chose to sail closer to Scylla since he risked losing only a few men as opposed to losing the whole ship if he went closer to Charybdis.

Pandora's Box

When someone talks about opening Pandora's box, it's not a good thing. Pandora's box is a source of troubles. For example, if you start dating your boss, your friends might say you're opening a Pandora's box.

This expression comes from the story of Pandora, the first woman on earth according to Greek mythology. In the tale, Zeus, the father of the gods, created Pandora as a punishment because his cousin Prometheus gave fire to man against Zeus' orders. While the gods and goddesses gave Pandora positive gifts, like beauty and charm, she was also given qualities that could be used for either good or evil, such as curiosity and persuasion. Pandora was also presented with a jar that Zeus told her not to open. But her curiosity got the best of her and she opened it, whereupon out flew all the troubles of mankind – war, famine and so on. In some versions of the story, Pandora hastily tried to close the jar but the only thing she managed to preserve was "hope."

The tale of Pandora is an origin myth, an attempt to explain the start of something — in this case, why bad things happen in the world. Much like Eve's experience in the Garden of Eden, the world was a perfect place before Pandora opened her jar. Pandora's jar became a box in the 16th century due to a translation error [source: Myths and Legends].

Carpe Diem (Seize the Day)

Robin Williams is well-known for making this motivational Latin phrase the motto for his English class in the 1989 flick "Dead Poets Society." But that was certainly not the start of its popularity. The phrase was penned by Quintus Horatius Flaccus, aka the lyric poet Horace, in the first century B.C.E. Horace wrote in his "Odes Book 1":

Dum loquimur, fugerit invida

Aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

This means, "While we're talking, envious time is fleeing; pluck the day, put no trust in the future." When you read the entire sentence, the full meaning becomes clear. Make the most of today, because there's no guarantee you'll be around tomorrow. And even if you are, who knows what tomorrow will hold?

While this expression has been uttered for millennia, it first wormed its way into the English language in the early 19th century, when the poet Lord Byron used it (he was an admirer of Horace) [source: Martin]. Many English proverbs, incidentally, lecture us to be wise with our time, such as, "Strike while the iron is hot" and "The early bird catches the worm."

The Writing is on the Wall

We can thank the biblical Book of Daniel for this phrase, which means doom or misfortune is about to occur. For example, if two people are discussing the layoffs occurring in their company and one says to the other, "The writing is on the wall for all of us," she means their jobs are likely to be eliminated, too.

In the Book of Daniel, chapter 5, King Belshazzar of Babylon and his court are enjoying a decadent feast, drinking wine from goblets taken from the sacred temple in Jerusalem. Suddenly, a disembodied hand appears and writes these words on a plaster wall: Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. Terrified, the king brings in the prophet Daniel to interpret what they mean. Daniel tells him God is angry at Belshazzar for worshipping false idols rather than God. (Literally, the words mean "number," "weigh" and "divide" so the implication is that God has weighed or judged Belshazzar and his days are numbered [source: Wilson].) As punishment, his kingdom will be taken away from him and divided. That night the king is murdered and his lands are taken over by an invading tribe.

Sour Grapes

When we use the phrase "sour grapes," we're indicating someone is disparaging something just because they can't have it. For example: "It's just as well they didn't have that dress in my size. It's actually quite gaudy."

This expression comes from the fable "The Fox and the Grapes," attributed to our old friend Aesop. Many of his stories consisted of animals displaying humanlike qualities.In this tale, a starving fox tries several times to reach a bunch of juicy grapes dangling just out of reach but is unsuccessful. To assuage its disappointment, it says to itself, "I'm sure they were sour." Although Aesop is given credit for this story, its first known English usage wasn't until 1760 [source: Martin].

Interestingly, some scholars say a better translation of the fable from Greek to English would result in the phrase "unripe grapes" [source: Martin]. But, "Those must be unripe grapes" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

Butter Someone Up

A common food-related expression with links to the ancient past is "butter someone up." It's used to mean excessively flattering someone, usually so that they'll do something for you. For example, you say to your friend: "Cathy, that dress is beautiful and fits you so well! And your hair looks lovely, too!" Cathy might well reply, "Why are you buttering me up?" Because you need a favor, naturally.

Many claim this phrase has its origins in ancient India, when people used to lob little balls of ghee butter at the statues of various gods when they were asking them for favors. In Tibet, there's an even older custom of crafting butter sculptures when the new year rolls around; the sculptures were viewed as a means of bringing happiness and peace in the coming year [source: Frederick].

However, some argue that the phrase has nothing to do with the Indian tradition. Instead, they say, it originated because of the imagery — spreading smooth butter on a piece of bread is like spreading nice words on someone. Let's go with the butter-ball theory. It's a lot more fun.

By the Skin of Your Teeth

This can be a bit perplexing. After all, no one has skin on their teeth. So what does it mean? It means you escaped or achieved something — death, a bad date, a top grade — by a very slim margin.

We have the Bible to thank for this phrase, and specifically the Book of Job. Job is a character who undergoes innumerable tragedies, and sighs, complains and rails against God because of this. In Job 19:20, Job says, "I am nothing but skin and bones; I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth." He's saying he's narrowly escaped death — that he escaped death by a margin so slim, it's as thin as the skin on your teeth. No one has skin on their teeth; that's the point, and it's why it indicates such a minute amount [sources: Addis].

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THE WORLD'S OLDEST FACIAL CREAM FOUND

The world’s oldest cosmetic face cream has been found by archaeologists by excavating a Roman Temple on the banks of river Thames and what leaves one perplexed is that the cream still has the finger marks of its last user, 2000 years back!! The cream is contained in a 5cm by 6cm tightly sealed cylindrical tin can, which seemingly was deliberately hidden and was found at the bottom of a sealed ditch in Southwark, about 2 (two) miles south of central London. 

The site lies on the point where three roads namely Walting St from Dover, Saint St from Chichester and bridgehead road over Thames meet. This ancient site bears the foundations of two Roman-Celtic temples, a guest house, an outdoor area suitable for mass worship, plinths for statues and a stone pillar. 

This complex has been a store of discoveries. Last year, it revealed a stone tablet with the earliest known inscription bearing the Roman name of London. Known to be the first religious complex in London, it unfolds the rare evidence of organized religion in London 2000 years back.

Since the excavation is now at the stage of completion, this site will be used as a housing complex.Nansi Rosenberg, a senior archaeological consultant of the project feels lucky to have a marshy site in London where the contents of this sealed box must have been retained and the metal preserved from corroding. Though, they are still not sure whether the cream was medicinal, cosmetic or entirely ritualistic. She even adds that the discoveries have just begun and there are more to be made as they piece together the jigsaw puzzle they have excavated.

Talking about the latest discovery, Opened at the Museum of London, this tin can revealed a pungent smelling white-cream. According to Liz Barham, whoever used this ointment last has applied it to something with their fingers and has used the lid as a dish to take the ointment out. The cream is currently undergoing scientific analysis and guesses are that it must have been used as a beauty treatment or even face paint in temple ritual.

Federico Nappo, an expert on ancient Roman cosmetics of Pompeii calls it an extraordinary discovery. He assumes that it is likely for the cream to contain animal fats as Romans used to use donkey’s milk for skin treatment. Yet he believes that it should not be tough to find out the cream’s composition.

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WHEN THE WORLD'S TALLEST MEETS THE SHORTEST

Click the photo to read the full article.

The world's shortest man ever, Chandra Bahadur Dangi, 54.6 centimeters, met the world's tallest living man, Sultan Kösen, 2 meters 51, for the very first time in London.

Watch the video.

FAMOUS LOGOS AND HIDDEN MESSAGES

No it's not a smiley face. But it is to do with the orange arrow pointing from A to Z. This represents that amazon offer a wide range or products literally from A to Z.

 Hidden in the 'o' of Cola is the Denmark flag. This wasn't their initial intention with the logo. Once Coca Cola discovered that part of its logo looks like the Danish flag, they setup a media stunt at Denmark's biggest airport welcoming customers with flags.

The FedEx logo isn't just two different colors. Look a little close and you will see they have cleverly placed an arrow between the E and x. This is to represent them always trying to move forward.

Although this Pacman turn around isn't confirmed, we think it's really cool!

The Mitsubishi logo is combined the three-leaf crest of the Tosa Clan and the three-diamond crest of the Iwasaki family.

The Spartan Golf Club have cleverly disguised a golfer inside the Spartan's face.

Look closer and you will see two people sharing tortilla chips with salsa. (The two T's if you didn't get that)

The first part of VAIO represents an analog symbol and the last two letters are binary numbers.

Look at Wendy's collar and you should be able to see the word "MOM". Their thinking is that the next time you think of mom's cooking, you'll think of Wendy's.

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FILIPINO 101: ENGLISH WORDS YOU DIDN'T KNOW HAVE PINOY TRANSLATIONS

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