Uses of the Smartphones

Most adults in the U.S. now have cellphones and one in four is using smartphone. With their rich features and capabilities, these devices are driving the mobile app economy. As of June 2010, 59% of smartphone owners and nearly 9% of feature phone owners report having downloaded a mobile app in the last 30 days.

To better understand the growing popularity of mobile apps, The Nielsen Company launched the Mobile Apps Playbook in December 2009 covering more than 4,000 mobile subscribers.

The respondents also are playing a lot of games. The report states that 61 percent of smartphone owners surveyed said they had bought and used a game within the past month.

After games, the second most-used category of apps on the mobile phone were weather related, with 55 percent of phone owners surveyed using such applications, the report said. The smartphone owners surveyed also like mapping and navigation apps, social networking programs that access Facebook and Twitter, and music-related apps, according to Nielsen.

The respondents in the survey rarely download instant messenger apps and those used to make Internet voice over phone calls, the report found.

When comparing the different applications based on the type of phone used, the results were almost uniform across platforms.

Facebook, The Weather Channel, Google Maps and the music service Pandora were in the top five apps used on the iPhone, Blackberry, Android and Windows Mobile platforms.

One of the main challenges facing apps publishers is making sure consumers “discover” their apps. According to Nielsen’s survey, searching application stores on their phones is the preferred way for discovering new apps. According to the researchers, 40 percent of those surveyed said they found new programs directly on their phones, while 36 percent said they heard about new apps from friends and family.

History of Lipstick

We all can recognize a tube of lipstick and the sumptuous colour of the lipstick, which gives the lips the sheen. But did you know that the history of lipstick is filled with things like crushed beetles?

So, all the inquisitive souls out there, who wish to wander through the memory lanes to know the history of lipstick, here we are, providing some interesting information on the background of the cosmetic. The origin of lipstick can be cited as 5000 years ago, in the ancient city of Ur, near Babylon. During this time, semi-precious stones were crushed and smeared on the lips as lipstick. In the Indus valley civilization, ladies used to apply red color on their lips.

Furthermore, the ancient Egyptian women squeezed out purple-red color from iodine and bromine, leading to serious diseases. With time, it came to be known as ‘the kiss of death’. It is said that Cleopatra’s lipstick were made from carmine beetles, which when worked with pestle gave a strong red color pigment. This was mixed with ant’s eggs, which provided the base. Apart from this, henna was also one of the preferred substances amongst Egyptians. To provide the shimmer to the lipstick, fish scales were used.

During the 16th century, the lipsticks became quite popular in England, under the rule of Queen Elizabeth I. She introduced the trend of chalk white faces, teamed with blood red lipstick. At this time, lipstick was made from beeswax and plants. Though women and men were always fascinated by lipstick alike, it was not always supported. In 1653, lipsticks faced opposition from an England pastor Thomas Hall, who led a movement proclaiming that painting of faces was the ‘Devil’s Work’.

In 1770, England’s parliament passed a law against lipstick, stating that women who seduced men into marriage by means of makeup could be tried as witches! In 1800, even Queen Victoria openly spoke against it. However, whatever would have been the scenario, lipsticks became a craze after World War II, owing to the encouragement given by the film industry. In 1884, the history's first modern lipstick was introduced by perfumers in Paris - it was wrapped in silk paper and made with deer tallow, castor oil and beeswax. In 1930s, Hazel Bishop introduced the kiss-proof lipsticks. During this time, lipsticks contained waxes, emollients, pigments and various oils.

The popularity of silent films promoted the use of lipstick, as women in the films wore black lipstick. It was also around this time that the first push-up tubes of lipstick were invented. In the 1930s, lipstick producers in the US produced a range of colours like light pink, dark lilac and bright red. The movie industry continued to fuel lipstick's popularity through the 1940s, and it became commonplace again. It was in this period in history that saw the invention of the first lipstick tubes that rotated the lipstick as it was pushed up.

The role of the wax was primarily to hold the shape of the lipstick. For this purpose, a variety of wax is used. Apart from this, the other vital ingredients in a lipstick nowadays include olive, mineral and castor oil, cocoa butter, petrolatum and lanolin. Furthermore, moisturizers like Vitamin E, aloe vera, amino acids, sunscreens and collagen are being used in lipsticks. To provide them color, different types of dyes and pigments are used. Lip liner was also introduced in 1990s, after which the two cosmetics came to be known as the lip-duo.

World’s Largest Chocolate Bar

In one of my earlier writings about Scrumptious Chocolate, i mentioned the benefits of eating chocolates. They are rich in antioxidants and research shows that moderate chocolate consumption lowers the risk of heart failure. So, anyone looking for huge amounts of free chocolate should book a flight to Armenia's capital next month.

That's when the world's largest chocolate bar will be up for grabs in Yerevan's main square.

The Guinness Book of World Records certified the 9,702-pound (4,410-kilogram) chocolate bar at a ceremony on Sunday (AEST). After Guinness weighed and measured the giant concoction, company managers were handed a certificate, naming the company as the new record holder. The World’s Largest Candy Bar record was previously held by a company in Italy, for a candy bar weighing 7,890 pounds.

It was made by Grand Candy factory and contains all natural ingredients, including 70 percent cocoa mass. The chocolate bar is 224 inches (560 centimetres) long, 110 inches (275 centimetres) wide and 10 inches (25 centimetres) thick.

The factory owner, Karen Vardanyan, said that the chocolate bar was produced to mark the 10th anniversary of the company. He said it will be divided up and handed out on October 16 to be served to the public.

Longest Facts

Longest attack of hiccups

Charles Osborne (1894-1991) of Anthon, Iowa, the US, started hiccupping in 1922 while attempting to weigh a hog before slaughtering it. He was unable to find a cure, and continued hiccupping until February 1990, a total of 68 years. During the first few decades, he hiccupped up to 40 times a minute, slowing to 20 a minute in later years.

Longest hospital trolley stay

Tony Collins from the UK spent 77 hours and 30 minutes on a hospital trolley waiting for a bed at the Princess Margaret Hospital, Swindon, UK, between February 24 and 27, 2001. Tony, a diabetic, had contracted a virus and although he was taken in at 3 pm on the Saturday, it wasn't until 8.30 pm on the Tuesday that a bed became available for him.

Longest ear hair

Anthony Victor (India) has hair sprouting from the centre of his outer ears (middle of the pinna) that measure 18.1 cm (7.12 in) at its longest point.

Longest Hair

The world's longest documented hair belongs to Xie Qiuping (China) at 5.627 m (18 ft 5.54 in) when measured on May 8, 2004. She has been growing her hair since 1973 from the age of 13.

Longest Tongue

The longest tongue measures 9.8 cm (3.86 in) from the tip to the middle of his closed top lip and was achieved by Stephen Taylor United Kingdom, at Westwood Medical Centre, Coventry, United Kingdom, on 11 February 2009.

Longest Fingernails – Female

Lee Redmond (USA), who has not cut her nails since 1979, has grown and carefully manicured them to reach a total length of 8.65 m (28 ft 4.5 in) as measured on the set of Lo show dei record in Madrid, Spain, on 23 February 2008. The longest nail is the right thumb: 90 cm (2 ft 11 in).