Shop returns $7,500 left in Donated Shoes

A charity shop in US has returned $7,500 to a man who mistakenly donated the money with a pair of old shoes. According to Sky News, the cash was discovered by a Bulgarian immigrant on her first day at the Goodwill store in Glen Carbon, Illinois. This proves that there is no scarcity of honest people in this world.

Teodora Petrova, the woman, found the cash in a shoebox and returned it to the management. The cash was bundled in large denominations. The store then started tracking down the shoes' donor. Scraps of paper left in the shoebox help Goodwill to locate the family.

The donor apparently also called the donation store's office, guessing he was the source of the cash. The shoes belonged to the man's recently deceased parents. The Goodwill store said he didn't want to be identified. Petrova got a gift from the family for her honesty in turning over the money.

Eco-friendly Billboard in Times Square

New York's Times Square will get for the first time an eco-friendly electronic billboard, which will be powered by wind and sun. The 126 feet wide and 47 feet high billboard, owned by Ricoh Americas Corporation, will be 55 feet off the ground at 3 Times Square, wrapping around the northwest corner of Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street. It weighs 35,000-pound and construction will begin this month.

Powered by 16 wind turbines and 64 solar panels, the sign can generate enough electricity to light six homes for a year. It is expected to save as much as $12,000 to $15,000 per month in the form of electricity costs. Ricoh, an office equipment and document storage supplier, estimates the sign will also keep 18 tons of carbon out of the environment.

The billboard will be lit by floodlights rather than light-emitting diodes. It won't have a backup generator, so it could go dark during a long period with little wind or sun. But, the sign's turbines are expected to be able to keep the billboard lit even after four days without breezes or bright sun.

The lighting ceremony of the eco-friendly billboard is scheduled for December 4, 2008.

Image: Ricoh

The Dark Side of Virtual Life

In today's world many people are living two lives - one real and one virtual. And because of the virtual life that people love to live, online role-playing games are becoming popular day by day. Often people go so deep into their virtual life that they almost forget their real life. It is really bad for your real life and sometimes it may lead to very bad consequences.

Let's take the example for the Japanese woman who has been arrested for killing her virtual husband in a popular multiplayer online role-playing game. According to news reports, the woman who is in jail in Sapporo, was apparently furious at finding herself suddenly divorced in the game Maplestory. So, she illegally accessed login details of the man playing her virtual husband, and killed off his character in last May.

She was taken to Sapporo, where her "husband", a 33-year-old office worker lives, from her home in Miyazaki, which is 620 miles away. If she is charged and convicted for illegally accessing a computer and manipulating data, she could faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.

Can you imagine the gravity of the situation? This could happen to anyone who takes their virtual lives very seriously. Here, I would like to give only one advise. Play games, love your virtual character, but never go deep into it. Take it lightly. Otherwise big problems will knock your door soon!

Buying Diamond Engagement Ring

A diamond engagement ring is one of the most special gifts that a woman receives from her man. In fact giving a diamond ring in engagement is an old tradition, that was born In 1477, when Archduke Maximilian of Austria proposed to Mary of Burgundy by presenting her with one.

How to buy a diamond engagement ring? As it is a special gift, you take proper care while buying one. Money may not be a factor in your case, but you must not forget about the quality. Let's take a look at some important points to consider while buying a diamond engagement ring.

First, determine how much you can afford to spend on a ring. Then plan in ahead of the real purchase. If you can't afford it with your current salary, consider a financing option, that most jewelers offers.

Then get the proper idea about the dream engagement rings of your girlfriend or fiance. For this, you can have your mother, sister, or your girlfriends best friend take your girlfriend shopping and know about her choice.

Once you have the money and the choice, go and buy the special diamond ring for your engagement.

NanoGuitar : The World's Smallest Guitar

Look at the image above. This is the World's Smallest Guitar and it was made by Cornell University researchers in 1997. Can you guess it's size? It's just 10 micrometers long, which is just the size of a single human blood cell! Can you believe this?

Known as the "Nanoguitar", this smallest guitar in the World was created for fun to illustrate the usability of a new technology in building small silicon mechanical devices. The nanoguitar has six strings, each string about 50 nanometers wide (the width of about 100 atoms). If plucked by an atomic force microscope, the strings of this guitar would resonate, but at inaudible frequencies.

Via : Cornell University