Brushing Teeth

I used to brush my teeth after every meal but I have a tendency to use force, which is bad for my gums so these days, I brush twice; once in the morning and once before I sleep. However a few people I know only brush once a day, usually in the morning. Personally I think that it's better to brush at night, before bedtime but I wanted to find out more. So after a few Google searches, I found the following by Lion's Oral Care Institute Research Division:

Mutans streptococci, the bacteria involved in causing tooth decay, multiply 30 times overnight if you haven't brushed your teeth before going to bed!

Tokyo, Feb 27, 2004

So for those of you who only brush your teeth once a day, please practice brushing at night, before sleeping instead of in the morning. To counter bad breath, gargle some mouth wash. Better still, cultivate twice-a-day brushing for the best practice dental hygiene :E

Proper usage of the punctuation / (Slash)

I never realised that I was using / wrongly until I googled it. I'm sure you already know this but if you didn't, hope you enjoy the read.

The slash (/), also called the oblique, the virgule, the stroke, the solidus or the shilling mark, are generally used based on these rules:

1. In fractions
   (To separate a numerator from a denominator in a numerical fraction. Do not place a space before or after the slash in a fraction.)
   
   • 1/2 (one half)
   • 2/3 (two thirds)
   • 9/10 (nine tenths)
   
   
2. In dates
   (To separate the month, day, and year, in an informal representation of a date. Do not place a space before or after the slash in a date.)
   
   • On credit card: Expires end 10/15 (October 2015)
   • He was born on 30/11/2007. (30th November 2007)
   • It was invented on 11/30/2007. (November 30th, 2007)
   
   
3. With abbreviations
   (Used in writing certain abbreviations. Do not place a space before or after the slash in an abbreviation.)
   
   • c/o (care of)
   • w/ (with)
   • w/o (without)
     
     
4. Separate alternatives
   (To indicate "or", "and" or "and/or". Do not use a slash to join coequal nouns; use a hyphen instead.)
   
   • Dear Sir/Madam (Sir or Madam)
   • Please press your browser's Refresh/Reload button. (Refresh or Reload)
   • The speech will be given by President/Senator Clinton. (President Clinton or Senator Clinton)
   • Mary will eat cake and/or fruit. (Mary will eat cake, or Mary will eat fruit, or Mary will eat cake and fruit.)
     
     
5. Indicate line breaks
   (To indicate line breaks in quotations of less than four lines of poetry. Place a space before and after a slash that indicates a line break in a poem.)
   
   • Shel Silverstein ends his poem "Where the Sidewalk Ends" with a walk: "Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow, / And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go, / For the children, they mark, and the children, they know / The place where the sidewalk ends."
   • "I heard a Fly buzz – when I died – / The Stillness in the Room," begins "I heard a Fly buzz – when I died" by Emily Dickinson.
     
     
6. In scientific writing
   (To represent the word per in units. Do not place a space before or after the slash.)
   
   • The speed limit is 100 km/h. (kilometres per hour)
   • He can type at 75 w/m. (words per minute)
   • The eggs cost $3/dozen. ($3 per dozen)
   • They charge £1.50/litre for petrol. (£1.50 per litre)
     
     
7. With file names and Internet addresses
   (Used to separate parts of a website address (url) on the Internet, and to separate folders on some computer systems. Do not place a space before or after the slash in a file name or Internet address.)
   
   • http://www.englishclub.com/writing/punctuation-slash.htm
   • file:///Users/mac/tara/photos/image.jpg

Singtel APN

My wonderful father gave me a HTC Hero mobile phone recently and I consider it an iPhone rival. I love it and it's perfect. The only annoying thing is that the phone's from UK and when I tried to setup the APN so that I can connect to 3G/GPRS - I am unable to find any manual settings/configuration on Singtel's website. It's ironic considering that Singtel (my phone telco operator) sells HTC Hero here in Singapore too.

Anyway I googled frantically and finally managed to find the following, courtesy of taz:

Name: SingTel Internet
APN: Internet
Proxy:
Port:
Username: 65IDEAS
Password: ideas
Server: 165.21.42.84
MMSC: http://mms.singtel.com:10021/mmsc
MMS proxy: 165.21.42.84
MMS port: 8080
MMS protocol: WAP 2.0
MCC: 525
MNC: 01
APN type: default

SMS to Twitter in Singapore

I don't like using Twitter but my geeky boyfriend who's based in Malaysia thinks that I should use it to stay in touch with him. And we all know that Twitter offers text service where you can send an sms from your mobile phone to a US number. The service is free but you'd have to pay at least 18¢ (or more depending on which telco you're using) per text message.

So for my dear geek's convenience, I've gone on an Internet hunt to look for services which will allow users to send sms to a local Singapore number to update their Twitter. Users would only need to pay 5.35¢ per text message (or free, if your mobile plan comes with pre-bundled sms). Here are the results, for your benefit:

	sms to Twitter	Twitter to sms
widgeo.us	works	doesn't work
sgBEAT	works	works but a little slow

If you would like to read more about the websites, click on these:
widgeo.us - http://blog.widgeo.us/category/odds-and-ends/
sgBEAT - http://blog.nus.edu.sg

Rid Odours in Refrigerator

How to Get Rid of Refrigerator Odor

Cleaning

---

Materials:

• Hot water • Sponge/Cloth • Empty container

• ½ cup of baking soda • Ice • Clean, damp cloth

Steps:
• Fill container one-third with ice.
• Place all perishable items like meat and fish into ice box or a cooler.
• Unplug the refrigerator from the power outlet.
• Remove all items from the refrigerator and freezer. Throw away all spoiled and spoiling food.
• Dissolve baking soda in a sink filled with hot water.
• Remove shelves, drawers and trays from refrigerator and wash with soda water. Allow to dry.
• Using soda water, scrub out all the mold, food particles, and other stuff stuck on the refrigerator and freezer walls. Don't use a scouring pad or steel wool as much as possible, because you may scratch the coated surfaces of the inside walls.
• Wash the inside walls of the refrigerator with soda water. Pay attention to the magnetic rubber seals, the meat chiller compartment, and the egg racks.
• Use a clean, damp towel and go over the refrigerator interior to rinse away cleaning residues.
• Allow the walls to air-dry before plugging it back and returning shelves, drawers and trays.
• Return the perishables to refrigerator.


Deodorizing

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Materials: 1-2 cups of coffee grounds or 1 box of baking soda

Coffee grounds are useful in a number of ways, and coffee grounds are very effective at removing bad odors in refrigerators. Don’t expect bad odors to disappear immediately. Allow a few days for the coffee grounds to absorb bad smells.

VS

Baking soda, also known as sodium bicarbonate, is a very effective deodorant. It has a unique chemical property that works by attracting the molecules of the foul odors into itself. Foul odors come in the form of moist air, which then clump with the baking soda and stay trapped for a long time. One box of baking soda can last up to a year inside your refrigerator, and keep it smelling fresh and odor-free.

Steps:

Coffee grounds • Dump coffee grounds on a large plate and leave it in the refrigerator. • If the smells are extreme, use multiple shallow bowls, and place the bowls on different shelves in the refrigerator.

VS

Baking soda • Either slice off the top of the baking soda box or pour baking soda in plastic container. • Keep the box on a door shelf, or the far corner of the refrigerator.

Tips

---

• Newspaper or charcoal can also help absorb odors.
• To prevent odors in the future, make a point to look in once a week or so and remove expired food. Try looking right before you take out the trash. It's a good reminder and items don't sit around in your kitchen trash smelling bad.
• As much as possible, contain foods in airtight containers. They will stay fresher longer and the odors will not spread as much if they do spoil.
• If your refrigerator smells exceptionally bad, mix about ½ cup of baking soda with a tablespoon or two of vanilla extract.
• Keep baking soda away from vegetables, because sodium bicarbonate can sometimes cause green leafy vegetables to wilt faster.

Mosquito Trap (Home Made)

I just received the following in one of those forwarded emails. Not sure if it works but it sure looks believable. Good luck!

Symbols

Sometimes at work, I need to use symbols when I type and I find it so much easier to use keyboard shortcuts than to go through the Menu bar. I'd like to share some of the more commonly used and my favourite symbols with you. To use them, press Alt on your keyboard and don't let go until you key in the numbers beside the symbols shown below:

½ - 171 (half)

¼ - 172 (quarter)

Þ - 0222 (mouth with tongue)

º - 167 (degree)

☺ - 1 (smiley)

♥ - 3 (heart)

÷ - 246 (divide)

≥ - 242 (greater than or equal)

≤ - 243 (less than or equal)

Hope you find them useful. Enjoy!

Cheapest Haircut in Singapore

I don't know why I'm advertising for them for free. Maybe it's because I enjoy their services, it is really value for money and I believe that good things are meant to be shared.

Singapore News

TODAY is a compact newspaper with quality content that is distributed free in Singapore, Mondays to Saturdays. Launched in November 2000, TODAY has established a reputation for sharply angled news reports and thought-provoking analyses and commentaries, living up to its slogan "We set you thinking". The paper's news comment columns - written by staff and a wide range of contributors and covering both local and global issues - are a particular strength.

TODAY's daily readership is around 584,000, with more than half its readers being professionals, managers, executives, and business people. The paper is distributed to selected homes, and it is also available at MRT stations, bus interchanges, selected food and beverage outlets, shopping malls and other public areas.

For those who wants to save the Environment, or those who are not in Singapore but wish to read TODAY, please click on TODAYonline for an online version of the the latest news in Singapore and around the world. Here's a sample of the online TODAY newspaper:

Do insects that get sucked into vacuum cleaners stay inside or die?

Ants, Dust mites, Cockroaches, Fleas, Mosquitoes, Flies - don't you just hate them? Even if you have a sparkling clean room, they may just appear out of nowhere!

I bought a vacuum cleaner recently. I sucked some these damned parasites with my vacuum cleaner and I wondered if they would crawl out of the vacuum? Or if they would actually get horny in the dark and start multiplying?

The reason I ask is, there is a big hole where the vacuum cleaner is connected to the hose. The insects could crawl out from the hole. Especially cockroaches, I hate them!

I searched online and asked around but no one seemed to be able to give me an affirmative answer. So I decided to email Philips from whom I bought the vacuum cleaner and get an answer straight from the manufacturer.

A Philips representative called me and confirmed my worst fears - insects (especially cockroaches) that get sucked into vacuum cleaners do not die from the heat nor the power of the suction. His advise is to discard the dust bag and replace it with a new one.

So I hope I clarified the same question which might be on some of your minds.

public toilets ARE filthy

No matter how clean and sparkling they look, please do not be deceived by public toilets. I will share some of my experiences with you.

Rule #1: Never sit on toilet bowls
Many times, I've seen urine and period (sometimes shit too) stains on toilet covers. Often, the cleaners wipe them but only with tap water. They seldom use disinfectant so imagine sitting on someone's acidic and toxic wastes.

The solution is simple - carry disposable toilet seat covers which you may easily flush away or line the toilet seat with toilet paper. Alternatively, squat in a sitting manner (half squat/ half sit). That way, your pee won't drip down your thighs and you're safe from the toilet seat.

Rule #2: Never use anything that you drop on the toilet floor
I'm sure you've stood in front of the mirror to put on lipstick or comb your hair before, right? Well if you drop your accessory, throw it away! I have personally seen (cross my heart and hope to die) cleaners dip their mops in the squatting toilet bowls and flushing the toilet (to clean the mop I guess?) then use the same mop to mop the floor. Imagine using a lipstick that has fallen on a floor cleaned with toilet bowl water!

Rule #3: Tear away the first piece of toilet paper
Many times I've seen ladies come out of the toilet cubicle and straight out the toilet door. They do NOT wash their hands after using the toilet. You can't be sure if they have touched the toilet paper that you're about to wipe on your private part so please, tear away the first piece. I guess it's not environmentally friendly but health comes first right?

Rule #4: Do not touch sink taps and toilet main door
Similar to rule #3, many people (I have seen countless times and am very disgusted) do not wash their hands after they use the toilet. So try your best not to touch the doors or taps with your hands.

Solution - wash the tap with soap and water so that it's clean when you use it. To open the door, use your foot or hold on to some toilet paper and open the door with that. Or... if you see someone else opening the door, quickly rush out the door behind them.

Rule #5: Layer the surface of water with tissue
Put at least a layer of tissue slowly onto the water in the toilet bowl before you shit. Else, your droppings might cause some water to splash onto your ass. (Thanks for reminder, SJ!)

I'm not a hygiene freak but I get really disgusted with these dirty public antics. I mean, how can you use the toilet and NOT wash your hands? I'm more disgusted than anything. Please, always remember the 5 toilet rules above.

Yi's Pimple Remedy

This is not tested and not tried so if you wanna check it out... please take extra caution.

- Use a tweezer and blackhead remover to squeeze every darn substance out from the pimple
- Use a joss stick and burn the pimple (so it gets charred and hardened)
- Use a plier to excavate and remove any remaining pimple
- Use sandpaper and salt to smoothen the surface of your nose/ face
- Put mask on your nose/ face to remove fine lines and scars
- Use some concelear to even out the colours on your nose skin

*Yi is not liable for any mishaps

sleep

I am someone who needs at least 7 hours' sleep otherwise I feel tired and restless. The other person I know who sleeps as much is Ah Ti. Here's a guide on sleep. Hope you'll be able to sleep better.

• Have your dinner at least 4 hours before bedtime
• Drink a glass of water before sleeping
• Follow the following steps for a good night's sleep:

The traditional method of sleeping on a pillow and hugging a bolster.

The pillow gives you comfort and prevents neck ache whilst the bolster gives a sense of security.

But if you don't have either one, try the following options: Double Pillow or Double Bolster

But one should never... and I mean never ever use a Bed as Bolster!

ps/ Female model is available for photo shoots and model works at very affordable prices. Leave a message on the tagboard for more information. Male model is probably suffering from a backache by now - so don't bother contacting him.