The Beauty Of Mathematics

                  1 x 8 + 1 = 9
                12 x 8 + 2 = 98
              123 x 8 + 3 = 987
            1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
          12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
        123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
      1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
    12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
  123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321

                  1 x 9 + 2 = 11
                12 x 9 + 3 = 111
              123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
            1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
          12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
        123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
      1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
    12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
  123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111

                  9 x 9 + 7 = 88
                98 x 9 + 6 = 888
              987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
            9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
          98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
        987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
      9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
    98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

Brilliant, isn't it?

And finally, take a look at this symmetry:

                  1 x 1 = 1
                11 x 11 = 121
              111 x 111 = 12321
            1111 x 1111 = 1234321
          11111 x 11111 = 123454321
        111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
      1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
    11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
  111111111 x 111111111=12345678987654321

Creative Artworks

More brilliant and creative artworks.

Eat Right, Live Well – Part 2

Part 2 – Food For Beauty

To nourish your skin well, dieticians recommend the following in your daily diet.

1. Water

              Up to 60 per cent of your body is made up of water, so keeping adequately hydrated is essential for healthy skin as well as your general well-being.

              By the time the feeling of thirst kicks in, you are already 2 percent dehydrated, so do remember to drink before you feel thirsty.

              Water is naturally the best drink as it is also calorie-free. Other thirst-quenchers include low-fat milk and 100 per cent pure fruit juice. Although they are not calorie-free, they are also good sources of fluid.

2. Colourful fruit and vegetables

              Your skin is especially sensitive to free radicals which are unstable compounds that can cause cell and tissue damage. By deteriorating the skin’s structure, damage from free radicals can lead to decreasing elasticity and premature wrinkling.

              Antioxidants have the ability to neutralise free radicals and may thereby prevent damage to skin cells and tissue.

              Antioxidants include vitamins C, E and A (in the form of beta-carotene), minerals like selenium and some polyphenols. They can be found naturally in a variety of foods, including fruit, vegetables, nuts, grains fish, poultry and some meats.

              Fruits and vegetables, particularly the brightly coloured ones, contain the highest amounts of antioxidants.

              While antioxidants are important for skin health, there is no single fruit or vegetable that can provide you with all the antioxidants you need.

              More studies need to be done as there is not yet a recommended optimum dosage for each antioxidant. Thus, it is best to obtain your boost of antioxidants by eating a wide range of colourful fruit and vegetables.

3. Vitamin E-rich foods

              It is one of the most researched antioxidant vitamins. Most studies agree it is effective in preventing the early stages of ultra-violet light damage and reducing the severity of sunburns.

              You only need small amounts of vitamin E for good skin health and a balance diet should contain adequate amounts of the vitamin. Good sources include nuts, seeds, avocado, vegetable oils, wholegrains and fish. It is best to obtain E from a variety of foods instead of relying on a single source, as antioxidants work best by interacting with one another and with other nutrients. For example, vitamin E is needed for vitamin A to work well.

4. Protein foods

              While much of the focus may be on fruits and vegetables when it comes to skin health, protein is also critical.

              When digested, protein breaks down into amino acids that have the important task of forming the building blocks of most body structures, especially collagen, which connects and supports bodily tissues, such as skin, tendons and muscles. Collagen works with keratin – another strong protein – to give skin its strength and flexibility.

              When a person ages, more collagen in the body breaks down and the reduced elasticity in the skin then leads to wrinkles. Having adequate protein – which can be found in poultry, fish, eggs and lean meat – in your diet is important for the body to be able to repair all its cells and continue to produce collagen.

5. Vitamin absorption

              While applying skincare products is nourishing for the outer layers of our skin, the fact remains that vitamins and minerals applied to the surface of the skin do not work in the same way as when they are consumed. This is because digestion allows the vitamins and minerals to interact with other nutrients before they are converted to a form that the body can absorb and benefit from.

Cool Art Works

Very creative artworks!

The Mystery Gift

A young couple got married and went away on their honeymoon. After two weeks, they came back and finally put away all of the presents they received from friends and family. Since this was a new home, the process took some time. 

A week later, they received in the mail two tickets for a popular show where tickets were impossible to get. They were very excited and warmed by the gesture of the person who sent this. Inside the envelope, however, was only a small piece of paper with a single line, “Guess who sent them.’’ 

The pair had much fun trying to identify the donor, but failed in the effort. They went to the theatre, and had a wonderful time. On their return home late at night, still trying to guess the identity of the unknown host, they found the house stripped of every article of value. And on the bare table in the dining room was a piece of paper on which was written in the same hand as the enclosure with the tickets: “Now you know!"

Dangers and Benefits of Fear

              While it is true that one should not let fear hold him back from duties and useful actions, we must remember that fear is a natural instinct and as such, is bound to have useful functions for the preservation of species and individuals. To understand this, we enumerate some of the emotions belonging to the fear complex: caution, apprehension, sense of danger, fright, terror and panic. 

              All of these feelings may be displayed by a herd of gazelles or deer living in constant danger from the onslaught of fierce predations. Only speedy flight saves the herd from extinction. There, the smallest unusual noise makes the animals cautious; a faint smell of the predator causes apprehension; the loud roar of a lion means imminent danger and sends the entire herd into rapid flight. If, however, the aggressor is recognized as one who may be resisted, such as a coyote, a wolf, or a mountain lion, a dominant male may be aroused to fight rather than flight; the excitement of danger secretes adrenalin into its veins, readying it for either action. 

              When a powerful aggressor is in the midst of the herd, panic is dispersed through uncontrolled random flight. This reduces the density of the group and thus the danger to each individual. The old, sick, and feeble are most likely to be devoured, so that the average quality of the herd is improved by survival of the fittest. 

              Even paralysing terror has its value for survival. Many predators such as spiders, and some snakes, have poor eyesight and can notice only moving objects. A fly is safe from a spider as long as it remains immobile.

              Paralysing terror can save human lives at the onset of a severe heart attack. The pain of such an attack may be violent, but the chief terror of angina pectoris (literally ‘constriction of the chest,’) is the instinctive anticipation of suffocation or heart failure. Under such conditions, immobility may save a victim’s life by conserving the scant supply of blood and oxygen until emergency aid can be given. 

              On the other hand, many patients remain frightened long after the physical damage is repaired. They and other excessively tense people suffer angina spasms at every incident, be it severe or trivial, that triggers reactions of fear, frustration, or resentment. For such people, the instinctive fear reaction has lost its survival value and has turned into a dangerous burden. In these cases, the danger caused by fear is not external but psychosomatic. The anguish of angina is brought on less by the mental strain itself than by worrying about it. 

              He who has overcome instinctive fear, who remains calm and confident in the midst of difficulties and provocations, is well on the road to mastery. 

Extracted from the article The Dangers and Benefits of Fear by Walter Albershein

Four Seasons

The same scene, but at different seasons.

Eat Right, Live Well – Part 1

It is not too late to resolve to eat healthily. Margaret Lee asks dieticians for food tips. I reproduce her article here in 4 parts. 

Part 1 - For General Health And Well-Being

Nutritionist recommends that the following wholesome foods be included in everyone’s diet as they provide not only the essential nutrients but can also enhance your health and may aid in preventing disease.

1. Wholegrains

              The milling and refining of grains like wheat and rice result in significant losses of nutrients and other protective substances present in the highest amounts in the germ and bran. These include vitamin E, the vitamin B complex and minerals such as selenium, zinc, copper, iron, magnesium and phosphorus.

              Wholegrain foods can help to reduce cholesterol, risk of heart disease and certain cancers. Being high in fibre, wholegrains can also help you manage your weight as high-fibre food can make a meal feel more filling.

              Examples of wholegrains include barley, brown rice, wholemeal bread, oatmeal, popcorn (choose the unsweetened or unsalted variety), whole wheat pasta, whole wheat crackers and wild rice.

2. Fish

              They are great for the heart for two key reasons. Firstly, they are an excellent source of protein that is low in both saturated fat and cholesterol. Reducing the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in your diet can help to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.

              Some types of fish are also good sources of omega-3 fat, which is known to benefit the heart. Eat fish that are high in omega-3 fat – such as mackerel, herring, sardines, tuna and salmon – at least twice a week.

3. Dairy

              Maintaining strong bones is crucial to enjoying a full and active lifestyle. Diary products like milk, yoghurt and cheese provide calcium that is essential to bone health. As you age, you will start to lose bone mass. If your diet contains insufficient calcium, your bones can become fragile and brittle, leading to osteoporosis.

              If you cannot tolerate dairy products, there are many other calcium-rich foods such as soya bean milk, green leafy vegetables, tofu, almonds, beans, ikan bilis and canned sardines with bones.

4. Probiotics

              Probiotics are live micro-organisms – in most cases bacteria – that are similar to the beneficial bacteria found in the human gastrointestinal tract.

              Probiotics – essentially friendly bacteria – are vital to the proper development of your immune system as they protect against micro-organisms that could cause diseases.

              Probiotics are also vital to maintaining good digestive health. The specific strains of probiotics that have health benefits are Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli.

5. Soya

              Soya and soya food products have always been known as nutritional powerhouses, this is because they are good sources of protein, fibre, B vitamins, calcium, potassium and iron.

              Most of its fat is in the healthier polyunsaturated and monosaturated forms. In addition to being cholesterol-free, soya protein is also known to benefit the heart.

              Research also suggests that isoflavones, a type of phytochemica found in soya, may protect against breast cancer if soya is included in the diet from a young age.

              Sources of soya, include tofu, soya milk, tempeh, miso, tau-kee, toasted soya nuts and edamame (fresh soya beans in pods).

My Philosophy Of Life

Here’s a summary of my philosophy of life.

Life is transient. We were born, live a number of years, and we die. In between we do the best we can with what we have got. 

Life can be as complicated or as simple as you want it to be. 

I believe life is all about cause and effect. Things don’t happen on its own. 

Sometimes, we make waves; sometimes, we ride the waves; and sometimes we go with the flow of the currents.

There is no certainty or security in life. The only certainty in life is change and death. Nothing remains the same for long. And where there is birth, there is death. 

There is no absolute right or wrong, good or bad. Everything depends on our perception and understanding of the issues at hand. So don’t be too rigid in your thinking. Keep an open mind.

Think, analyse, reason, rationalise. Use your logic and common sense. If logic and common sense tells you that something is not right, then that thing is most probably not right. 

Don’t judge. Everyone one of us has problems of our own. We don’t know what battles the other person is fighting. Besides, we are all different. We do things differently. And we have our reasons for doing the things we did.

Be humble, be nice, be kind, be forgiving of people. And most of all, love and be kind to yourself. We all need a break now and then, and we should give ourselves a break too.

Sometimes we win, sometimes we loose. Sometimes we succeed, sometimes we fail. But that is not important. What is important is that we did our best and we enjoyed the game, or the challenge. Failure and success are not permanent. We may win the next time round. 

Be patient. Sometimes things take a little longer than expected – whether it is receiving good tidings, or for your woes to go away. A time for everything. Let nature takes its course.

Acquire knowledge and wisdom. Read deeply, listen attentively, observe closely. Knowledge and wisdom will help you understand the world you live in – and yourself.

Take things easy. Be happy. Laugh and have fun. Enjoy life. A little forbearance, a little understanding, a little humour and surely you will enjoy a happy and fulfilled life.

So, there you are – my philosophy of life – the basics of it anyway. What do you think?

Philosophy is like trying to open a safe with a combination lock: each little adjustment of the dials seems to achieve nothing, only when everything is in place does the door open. - Ludwig Wittgenstein

Sunday Humour