Top 10 longest tunnels in the world

St Gotthard Tunnel


Location: Switzerland
Date Completed: 1882 (rail) and 1980 (road)
Length: rail 9.25 miles and road 10.5 miles

Facts:
The world's longest road tunnel when completed in 1980.


Laerdal Norway

1995.03.15: Start of work
1999.09.03: Break through 10.6 km from Nyheim.
2000.11.27: Opening ceremony at Laerdal portal


From the north portal (Laerdal)of the Laerdal tunnel in November 2000. The first foreigners to cross Laerdal tunnel. The "Laerdal Tour", from Milano (Italy) to Laerdal through Austria, Germany, Denmark and Sweden, by a Renault Espace, was organized by the Italian magazine "Automobilismo". For statistic curiosity, Eugenio A.Merzagora (first on the left) was the first foreign driver through the World's longest road tunnel.


Zhongnanshan Tunnel, or Qinling Zhongnanshan Tunnel



is the longest two-tube road tunnel in the world. It is also the second longest road tunnel in the world. (Following Lærdalstunnelen in Norway) The 18,040 metres long tunnel, crosses under the Zhongnanshan (Zhongnan Mountain) in Shaanxi Province, China. It opened on January 20, 2007, becoming part of the Xi'an-Ankang Highway between the Changan and Zhashui counties. The cost to build this tunnel was 3.2 billion Yuan (US$410 million). The maximum embedded depth of the tunnel is 1640 m.


Arlberg Austria



The Arlberg Road Tunnel with a length of 13,976 metres is Austria's longest road tunnel. It carries the S16 Arlbergschnellstraße (German for "Arlberg Highway") under the Arlberg massif from Tyrol to Vorarlberg.

It was built between July 1974 and December 1978 and its costs amounted to 4 billion Austrian schillings (~300 million €). The tunnel is designed for 1800 vehicles per hour and equipped with 4 ventilation centres (one shaft with a height of 736 metres is the deepest in Europe), 12 vents, 43 cameras for traffic monitoring and 16 niches. In 1998 the tunnel was used by 2.6 million vehicles, where 18 % are accounting for freight transport.

The Hsuehshan Tunnel




"Snow Mountain" tunnel, is the longest tunnel in Taiwan, located on the Taipei-Yilan Freeway (Taiwan National Highway No. 5). It is through the Hsuehshan Mountain Range. The road connects the city of Taipei to the northeastern county of Yilan (Ilan), cutting down the journey time from two hours to just half an hour. One of the key aims of constructing the tunnel was to connect the western coast of Taiwan, where 95% of the population live, to the eastern coast of the island and in doing so tackle the unbalanced development on the island. It is constructed with one pilot tunnel and two main tunnels for eastbound and westbound traffic. The total length is 12.942 km (8.042 mi), making the Hsuehshan Tunnel the second longest road tunnel in East Asia and the fifth longest road tunnel in the world.
The Hsuehshan Tunnel broadcasts a dedicated radio station on two FM channels inside the tunnel. Drivers can tune to either of the two FM stations to hear announcements regarding the Hsuehshan Tunnel, rules for driving inside the tunnel, and music.
As of May 1, 2008, the speed limit has been raised to 80 km/h with a 10 km/h tolerance. At this speed a trip through the 12.9 km tunnel takes 8.6 minutes.


The Fréjus Road Tunnel



The Fréjus Road Tunnel connects Modane, France with Bardonecchia, Italy (on the Lyon-Turin itinerary) under the Col du Fréjus in the Cottian Alps. The tunnel is 13 kilometers (8 miles) long. Construction started in 1974 and it was opened for traffic in 1980. It is one of the major trans-Alpine transport routes between France and Italy being used for 80% of the commercial roadway traffic. Speed limit is 70 Km/h.
Its entries are, on the French side, near Modane, on the A43 autoroute coming from Chambéry, and, on the Italian side, near Bardonecchia, on the A32 autostrada coming from Turin. Tolls are on both sides.The tunnel was closed for 2 months in 2005 because of a fire which killed 2 lorry drivers.
Near the midpoint is the Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane (also referred to as the Fréjus Underground Laboratory. Attempts are underway to build a larger laboratory, either in the same tunnel or in the even deeper Lyon Turin Ferroviaire 15 km to the east.


The Mont Blanc Tunnel



The Mont Blanc a road tunnel in the Alps under the Mont Blanc mountain, linking Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, France and Courmayeur, Aosta Valley, Italy It is one of the major trans-Alpine transport routes particularly for Italy which relies on the tunnel for transporting as much as one-third of its freight to northern Europe. It reduces the route from France to Turin by 50 km and to Milan by 100 km.

Begun in 1957 and completed in 1965, the Mont Blanc Tunnel is 11.6 kilometres (7.25 miles) long, 8.6 metres (28.2 ft) wide, and 4.35 metres (14.3 ft) high. The tunnel is not horizontal, but in a slightly inverted "V". Altitude on the French side: 1274 m (4091 ft); Italian side: 1381 m (4530 ft). The tunnel consists of a single gallery with a two-lane dual direction road.Plans to widen the tunnel were never implemented because of lack of financing and fierce opposition of local residents who objected to the harmful effects of increased heavy traffic.

Gudvangen Norway


The tunnel between Aurland and Lærdal is scheduled to open in 2001 on the main road between Bergen and Oslo. At 24.5 kilometres long, it will become the world's longest tunnel. The tunnel currently holding the distinction is the St. Gotthard Tunnel in Switzerland, which is "only" 16,9 kilometres. Norway's longest existing tunnel is Gudvangen Tunnel, 11.4 kilometres long.

The Lærdal Tunnel will enable motorists to avoid both landslides and weather-enforced road closures in winter. Since 1940, there have been only eight major accidents in tunnels around the world.

Folgefonn Norway



Folgefonntunnelen or Folgefonn Tunnel is an 11,150 meter long tunnel. It is Norway's third longest highway tunnel. It goes through the mountain under Folgefonna and connects Eitrheim village at the head of the Sørfjord in Odda municipality with Mauranger at the head of the Maurangsfjord in Kvinnherad municipality. Norway's riksvei 551 passes through this tunnel.
The tunnel opened in 2001. A journey which formerly took 4 hours now takes 10 minutes.

Kan-Etsu



Kan-Etsu is the kanji acronym of Kantō and the old Echigo Province comprising modern-day Niigata Prefecture.
Officially, the Kan-Etsu consists of two routes. Both begin in Tokyo and end in Niigata Prefecture. The Kan-Etsu Expressway Niigata Route consists of the entire Kan-Etsu Expressway from Nerima to Nagaoka, as well as the Hokuriku Expressway beyond Nagaoka to its terminus in the city of Niigata. The Kan-Etsu Expressway Jōetsu Route is concurrent with the Niigata Route until Fujioka Junction, where it branches off as the Jōshin-etsu Expressway and traverses Nagano Prefecture to its terminus in Jōetsu, Niigata The remainder of this article will focus on the Niigata Route section between Nerima and Nagaoka.

Twitter tips and tricks

Growing your targeted audience on Twitter calls for a little patience and a some planning strategy. Twitter is a tool growing in popularity for businesses because of the inexpensive, simple way that they can connect with their customers. Interestingly,Twitter’s business use spans all sizes of companies from small through to the big boys such as HP, BestBuy and American Airlines. The reason for it popularity is that you companies can connect with their customers and clients, advertise new products and services, and monitor their online brands.
The route to growing your targeted Twitter audience has four basic steps: First, follow folks on Twitter who you believe to be your target audience. Second, post interesting information and business updates that is related to your brand. Third, don’t spam your followers with auto-tweets, or post the same tweet over and over again. And, lastly, follow smart tweeps who are online marketers or who thought leaders in your niche. Here’s a quick overview on how to tackle each of these steps:
Finding the Right People to Follow on Twitter: Firstly, Before you begin following others, make sure your Twitter feed has a sampling of interesting posts. If your Twitter feed is empty, most people won’t follow you back. Once you’ve started with some content in your micro-blog feed, start following your target audience. There are a number of ways to do this. Two good ways to start are: a.. Go to Search.Twitter.com and type in keywords relevant to your target audience. For example if you are an exercise instructor – Type in keywords like “fitness” “exercise,” “weightloss,” and other similar keywords. Follow these people. If you post relevant, interesting tweets, they will be quite likely to follow you back. You can also locate your target Twitter audience by using the “Find People” tool on the Twitter site. Again, try relevant keywords and any relevant industries and geographic areas to discover good people to follow.
Give Your Target Audience Relevant Information: Aim to post a mixed range of interesting industry news and product or services developments from your industry. You can also include some self-promotional links to your blog or website, but don’t forget to keep it to small percentage of your overall post. Post interesting news and reviews about your products or services, but don’t forget to also post related industry news as well. For instance, if you are a hairdresser, post news about hair health, new hair treatments, products etc.
An essential way to gain a targeted following on Twitter is to retweet well and retweet often. If you see a interesting, relevant tweet by another Twitterer, share it by retweeting. Often, these Twitterers will spot that you’ve just retweeted them and will return the favor by following you. Once they’ve done so you will have access to their followers-just click on the “Followers” tab, and start following. Be generous with your retweets-it’s a very successful method of gaining a following.
Check the Search.Twitter.com site frequently. Seek out your brand name. Are customers satisfied? Follow them and show your appreciation. On the flip side, are you finding dissatisfied customers? Follow them too, and find out what you can do to remedy the situation. There have been many countless cases where people have reached customer service representatives on Twitter, and changing their tweets from negative to positive when the right kind of attention is paid. This is also known as online reputation management and it is a growing area brand management that you will need to pay attention to.
Never Spam Your Twitter Followers: If you spam your followers, they will rapidly disappear. Spammy posts include: putting up identical URLs repeatedly; only posting product information for your own goods; having a Twitter handle that looks like this: SuperProduct2000 rather than: YourProductName; and asking fake questions. ie. if you sell motorbikes, it would be disingenuous to post a question like: What is the best bike on the road today? The Twitter community consists of smart and jaded consumers. They recognise when a brand is being insincere.
Follow Savvy People to Gain a Savvy Following Many online marketers have used Twitter to assist their clients to make more money. Twitter marketing experts like Dave Peck, Chris Brogan and Guy Kawasaki are great names to add to your list of people to follow. Think about adding corporations too. Those involved early on in the Twitter boom are trailblazers and can offer clever ideas on how to get a targeted following.
Don’t forget your competition. See what types of methods they’re practicing to step-up their own targeted Twitter following. Shrewd online marketers track their competition on social networks to catch what they are doing well and if they are doing it better. It’s also easier to see where your competition has gone wrong and how that can be avoided. If they hardly post and don’t respond to negative posts, its easy to see a quick opportunity to fill the gap for your audience.
Be Patient. Making Money Through Twitter Takes a While:
Using Twitter is a long-term strategy. Building a targeted following won’t occur instantly, however if you use the the right Twitter strategies, it will come about. Be very mindful with your Twitter following. Don’t flog stuff to them. Twitterers can spot a sales pitch from 100 paces and they’ll unfollow you pronto.
When you have acquired a targeted followers, market to them softly. Don’t send out tweets that say, “Buy my great product,” write more low key post such us: “Do you need a way to do ABC? Here’s a solution.” Instead of tweeting “Our latest product now available” announce it via your blog and then tweet it like this:: “New blog post: Why we’re so excited” and link to your post.
Always respond to tweets your followers send you. Don’t be unresponsive to your following. As your Twitter following grows, it may get to big for you to handle alone. Consider outsourcing the work to a virtual assistant and have them handle new tweets, retweets and appropriate responses.
Twitter is a two-way street. Being successful means means staying transparent, interacting with the Twitter community and keeping things fresh. The fastest means of losing your Twitter audience is to be dull.

Top 10 aircraft carriers

There are few naval vessels on earth more versatile and powerful than an American nuclear supercarrier. Therein lies the problem, in that only the US Navy has been able to afford a fully functional carrier fleet (aside from a few light carriers) since World War 2,and even she must now strain sparse resources to the utmost to field a shrinking numbers of large decks. That is regrettable since naval airpower is still essential for maintaining sea control and projecting power from the sea. Over the years New Wars has proposed numerous substitutes which, thanks to the continuous advancement of technology that gave us the carrier in the first place, can duplicate her many functions at drastically less cost. Here are the Top 10:

• #10 Air Force Bombers- Other than carrier-based airpower, the only combat aircraft initially able to reach land-locked Afghanistan supporting Marines and Special Forces on the ground was the USAF’s venerable fleet of long range bombers. Such weapons, able to deploy intercontinental ranges within hours, instead of days or weeks for a highly visible carrier strike force, can perform against heavily defended SAM sites using precision stand-off weapons, or perform carpet bombing or close air support against enemy troops.
• #9 UAV Carriers- The Defence Viewpoints Blog has proposed a small UAV carrier that could also perform the functions of destroyers and frigates “These ships would be roughly half the size again of a current destroyer and would combine all the abilities of Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW) Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), Anti-Air Warfare (AAW) and Naval Gunfire Support (NGS) through a range of weapon systems, including a squadron of 12-18 assorted UAVs and a helicopter platform airborne surveillance and for the transportation a small groups of personnel (as well as other roles).”
• #8 Airborne UAV Motherships-Following WW 2, the USAF experimented with parasite fighters to use as escorts for its strategic bombers. The idea seems tailored made for the unmanned aerial vehicle, since you don’t have to worry about losing a vulnerable pilot, as we wrote in 2008 “The UAV Mothership would not necessarily be a long-range bomber, but perhaps other aircraft would suffice such as C-17 or C-130s cargo planes, or even a converted airliner. New dirigibles currently undergoing testing might work, or long-range missiles and rockets.”
• #7 Submersible Aircraft Carriers-The UAV is continuing to prove its versatility, and has even been launched from US Navy submarines. Imagine the possibilities… “The US Navy is very close to possessing… a “flying Sub” in the Tomahawk Block IV cruise missiles. The latest version of the highly effective Tomahawk that is fired from torpedo tubes has the ability to loiter for hours and change targets in mid-course…Plans continue for launching unmanned aerial vehicles from submarines in the War on Terror. Northrop has proposed using the sub-launched Tomahawk’s vertical tubes for UAVs from a stealthy affordable capsule system (SACS). Raytheon plans a similar test (in 2009), launching the craft from a submerged submarine’s trash disposal unit!”
• #6 Arsenal Ships-It was thought in the 1990s the Navy could build an affordable missile barge at about half the cost of a destroyer, but with over 5 times the firepower. In 1995, the NY Times wrote “Prospects for that ship, which is still on the drawing board but could be in the fleet within five years, raise questions about how many new carriers the Navy will need. A carrier costs $4.5 billion to build and $440 million a year to operate. The new ship, essentially a floating missile barge, might cost only $500 million and just tens of millions a year to run. The new ship would fire Tomahawk cruise missiles, long-range artillery shells or rocket barrages against ammunition dumps, command posts and artillery, for instance, the same targets that warplanes flying off the carrier Roosevelt were bombing in Bosnia …”
• #5 TLAM Warships-Another idea would be to use existing missile firing warships more effectively, as we posted on recently “We contend that the TLAM (Tomahawk Land Attack Missile) is the best weapon to take advantage of the new precision warfare of one bomb or missile, assuring one hit. This doesn’t just balance the cost effectiveness of the two platforms either, but completely blows the carrier out of competition. Currently the USN has in service 130 TLAM ships–80 cruisers/destroyers and 50 submarines–positioned around the world… Far from being as efficient as a legacy manned warplane, they don’t need to be, just effective. Meanwhile, advances in technology are constantly upgrading the cruise missile until it is as versatile, still without the monumental expense of deploying naval air at sea.”
• #4 Land-Based Fighters-During the recent crisis between Argentina and Great Britain, we noted how the presence of a handful of RAF fighters based on the South Atlantic Isles were probably deterring a renewed war there “a mere 4 Royal Air Force Typhoon fighters are currently guarding the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands. While the Navy would certainly be on call in force should the unthinkable happen, invasion from the Argentine mainland, the Mount Pleasant Airport, constructed soon after the 1982 Conflict would be the key to the island’s defenses…Given time, Mount Pleasant could expect reinforcement planes from Britain including more Typhoons.”
• #3 Harrier Carriers-The near-40 yr old Harrier V/STOL jet is still an amazing aircraft in frontline service. It’s most famous use has been from light carriers, giving small navies a strike capability they wouldn’t otherwise have, as I noted back in 2005 “Since the 1982 Falklands War, Britain has proved that small aircraft carriers with Harrier V/STOL aircraft can hold their own against fixed wing jet fighters. Likewise these planes have proved ideal for launching from the US Marine’s big assault ships during Operation Iraqi Freedom where they were dubbed “Harrier Carriers”.”
• #2 Light Aircraft Carriers-Also known as medium carriers, other than V/STOL ships, I think a smaller catapult warship of about half-the tonnage and cost of current supercarriers would be most useful “The airwing would consist of 3 squadrons of 12 planes each, for 36 fighters, a mix of F/A-18 Super Hornets and the F-35C Lightning II JSF as the latter becomes available. Since all carriers typically sail with helicopter equipped escorts, the need for an ASW wing would be negated, save for a few utility choppers. The electronic warfare “Grizzly” complement might be reduced to 2, as would the EW Hawkeyes, though certainly no more than 3, and perhaps advances in technology might integrate the essential missions of both aircraft.” Note that 40 strike planes is now typical of what the giant Nimitz class deploys.
• #1 Influence Squadrons-It is becoming increasingly evident that massive, hard to build, and nearly impossible to afford supercarriers are just not needed for most problems of modern seapower. Very often, the lighter footprint of soft power is all that is required, as well as being drastically less expensive. “Instead of Carrier Strike Groups, we would send “Influence Squadrons” as recently described by Commander Henry J Hendrix in a Proceedings article titled “Buy Ford, Not Ferrari.“ Such a unique and versatile fleet as proposed would include an amphibious mothership, missiles escorts, high speed–shallow water catamarans, a littoral combat ship, and notably M80 Stiletto stealth craft. Such a smaller, less vulnerable, less costly fleet makes much more sense than risking so much of our national treasure in giant flattops, in the type of insurgency conflicts we so often contend with where a “Ford” will fit in just nicely.

Tips to clean DVD Player

DVD players attract as much or more dust as the other electronics in our home. Be sure to dust with a microfiber cloth or electrostatic duster at least weekly, to keep your model running smoothly.
The insides of our DVD player can get dirty and dusty too. A great tool is a DVD disc cleaner. This cleaner looks just like a disc with some extra little brushes on its surface. Some DVD cleaner kits even come with supplies to clean and modify scratches on your discs.

Same calenders

The 2005 calender and 2011 calender is same.If you want to check please check in google

Yahoo mail tips and tricks

Since the new version of Yahoo Mail Beta was released, I have been finding myself using it more often than GMail. The interface is slick and the use of tabs when opening messages is probably one of the best features compared to other web based email applications. Also the RSS feed views are far better that the clunky Web Clips with Google's GMail.
If you have been using Yahoo Mail and find yourself looking for some shortcuts, check out Download Squad web site for 11 tips and tricks. Of the eleven tips, you can find ways to:

• Instantly add a contact to your address book by dragging a message.
• Compose messages on the fly by pressing N or R to reply.
• Holding CTRL lets you scroll through messages in folders without selecting each message.
• Find text within a message by using CTRL+F (using the enter key allows you to scroll through each instance of the word within the message).
• Mark all messages as read.
• Keyboard shortcut keys for the Inbox: Ctrl + Shift + Up Arrow or Down Arrow – jump to messages in the same folder that have the same subject line: Ctrl + Shift + Alt + Up Arrow – choose another factor to filter on (such as flag) when using Ctrl + Shift to navigate.
• Hide and show Preview Pane by pressing V.

Ten tips for keeping your hair healthy

Here are 10 tips for to keep your hair strong, smooth, shiny and beautiful!
1. Keep your diet balanced, and eat protein and calcium rich foods. Stay away from junk foods! This is essential for healthy hair.
2. Foods and supplements to nourish your hair:

• Beans
• Yogurt
• Almonds
• Vitamin B
• Fish
• And of course, the magic potion for beauty - WATER

3. Before washing your hair, comb it well to make sure all knots has been loosened from your hair.
4. Before applying shampoo, use warm water (35 to 38 degrees Celsius) to run through your hair to rinse and wet it thoroughly.
5. When applying shampoo or conditioner, don't use your fingernails to scrape through your hair. Instead, use your palm and fingertips to massage your scalp and hair gently, in circular motions. This will help the circulation and also help to keep your hair shiny and smooth.
6. After rinsing away all the shampoo, run water over your hair for at least another half a minute (3 minutes is best) to ensure there are no remains of shampoo remaining in your hair, since this will cause a great deal of damage to your scalp.
7. When applying hair treatment products, do so just after you have washed your hair, so that your hair can absorb all the good stuff while it is half wet. This will be the best time for it to absorb nourishment.
8. NEVER go to bed with your hair wet! Hair that is half wet is most easily broken, and if you sleep during this time, your hair will be rubbing against each other, damaging your hair in the most terrible way.
9. Too much pressure may lead to hair loss! Relax... try some good relaxation methods such as soaking in a nice scented bath, listening to music, and eating healthy comfort foods such as strawberries and grapes.
10. Perming and coloring seriously damages your hair. Avoid it as much as possible. Also, when using hair setting products such as gel or putty, use as little as possible, because they hurt your scalp and hair. Wash them out thoroughly afterwards with a shampoo specially created for removing styling products.
Take good care of your hair! It will add to your charm - who can resist a person with lovely, silky hair? So do try out the above tips! Hope these littles tips have been useful! :)

Horrific Medival tortures

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The Web seems obsessed by all things Russian at the moment, so what could kindle our curiosity more than a selection of torture devices from that colossal country, preserved for our pleasure? OK, so they're more Spanish Inquisition than KGB interrogation, but that makes little difference when all we care about is how sadistically sick they are. Enjoy.
1. The Mask of Infamy: who’s been a dirty devil?
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More a form of public humiliation than a torture device, the Mask of Infamy nevertheless made the culprit pay their sins. Locked onto the head for a time decided by the accuser, the Mask itself kept physical torment to a minimum – though sadists will be pleased to know wearers were often chained to a post, where people in the vicinity could torture them.
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  Sometimes the Mask contained a ball or some other device to stop the wearer’s wailing. The design of the Mask is said to have been left up to the fantasies of local craftsmen, though it may also have been linked to the type of offense – a case of the punishment fitting the crime.
2. The Street Sweeper’s Daughter: wrapped up in her lovely arms
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This contraption may have got its name from the Scavenger’s Daughter, an identical model of cruel ingenuity kept in the Tower of London. Born in the 1500s, it’s a charming example of the constraint devices that were all the rage in the Inquisition. Like the Rack in reverse, it worked by compressing rather than stretching the body: the victim’s head was locked into the top point of the A-frame, with their hands at the mid-point and legs at the lower end.
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Through carefully studied design, the head was pushed down and knees forced up into a crouching position so squashed it quickly caused acute muscular cramps in the guts and forced blood from the nose and ears. In time the person went from a state of suffering to one of utter madness. Lovely.
3. The Jerking: caught in an uncompromising position
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Image via: Rapid Library
Although far from a form of self-stimulation, the Jerking was believed to be a light type of torture, and was widely used in the trials of yesteryear. The arms of the accused were bound behind their back, and a rope around their wrists was tied to a winch. Victims were left hanging by their arms in this less than compromising position or – you guessed it – violently jerked in what appears to have been a form of Strappado or reverse hanging.
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If all this sounds too timid, weights were often tied to the ill-fated person’s feet and their flesh ripped with pliers. Apparently jurists of the time thought witchcraft enabled the guilty to endure torture without confessing. It must have been some witchcraft.
4. Water Torture: beyond the pale
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To, erm, execute this form of torture, the accused was placed on a kind of rack that consisted of a long wooden frame with a raised central part, as well as a pillory-like design at one end. Once the victim’s hands and feet were locked, the torturer went about his dirty work in one of several ways.
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One method involved forcing the none-too thirsty individual to swallow large amounts of water via a funnel, with the bloated body then beaten repeatedly with heavy blows. Another technique saw a cloth tube inserted as deeply – and roughly – as possible down the victim’s throat before being slowly filled with water, thus choking them. Thanks but no thanks.
5. The Witch’s Chair: definitely no armchair ride
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Image via: Rapid Library
This “remedy” must have extracted a confession or two in its time with the pain it was capable of inflicting. Under suspicion of being a witch or in some other way in union with the devil, the accused was undressed and made to sit in the chair against those tasty spikes in the back- and arm-rests, while the wrists and ankles were shackled. The procedure sometimes dragged on well beyond 24 hours, and even surviving the torture without confessing was deemed proof of guilt of witchery, punishable by death. A no-win situation if there ever was one.
 
 
In later, more sophisticated versions – described below – the iron points could be heated up for an added dose of searing agony.
6. The Head Crusher: what it says on the tin – forget the aspirin
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This grisly product of the Dark Ages didn’t need a fancy name. With the chin placed over the bottom bar and the skull snugly beneath the domed cap, the torturer would begin turning the screw that must have been anything but music to the ears of the accused. The screw pressed against the cap, slowly compacting the head. Thus in awful sequence, first the teeth were crushed, shattering the jaw; then the eyes were squeezed from their sockets; and lastly the brain matter was forced from the ears.
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  The other sure-fire method of wringing out a confession, this method of torture could be drawn out for hours if the torturer was a particularly sadistic specimen. Shockingly, versions of the Head Crusher may still be used in parts of the world today.
7. The Rack: torn limb from limb
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A classic. One of the most feared and agonising of all torture devices, The Rack was also mechanically precise and so perfect for the incremental pain of interrogation. It consisted of a rectangular frame, to which the wrists and ankles of the accused were tied or chained at either end.
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Rollers, a handle and ratchet were used to gradually increase the tension on the victim’s arms and legs, inducing unspeakable pain. The bones were slowly dislocated with a horrendously loud crack before the limbs were plucked from their joints and eventually torn apart with similarly sickening popping sounds. Models that appeared in the late Middle Ages often had spikes to pierce the victim’s back, increasing the torment and the chance of crippling injury if they were spared.
8. The Guided Cradle: intruding where it really hurts
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OK, let’s get this over with: an excruciating looking instrument sometimes referred to as the Judas Cradle or Chair. The accused was sat on top of a pyramid-shaped seat, with the point implanted rudely in their naked nether regions.
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Image via: Lucifer's Hell
Some theories suggest the idea was to stretch and slowly impale the victim, with weights perhaps added to their legs. Others reckon the emphasis lay on hoisting and repeatedly lowering the victim onto the tip, varying the pressure while keeping them awake – hence its other name: the Vigil. Either way, it was pretty near unbearable. Apparently originally designed to get people to talk without causing undue injury and breakage of bones, it could still easily break the skin – while also leaving a few mental scars – and was potentially fatal. Heard enough?
9. The Hand Saw: straight down the line brutality
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Torture devices don’t come more downright extreme than the Hand Saw, and the diagram leaves little to the imagination. The victim was hung upside down to supply the brain with oxygen and slow down the blood loss so that they didn’t lose consciousness and died a suitably slow and excruciating death.
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Image via: Corkscrew Balloon
This cheap but effective two-man torture method was used to cut people in half throughout the Middle Ages, with those accused of adultery and blasphemy among the many who felt the Saw’s teeth bite. In Russia it seems to have been a favourite with judges for witches impregnated by “nightmare devils” or even by Satan himself. Now there’s an argument in favour of contraception.
10. The Chair of Torture: are you sitting comfortably?
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The Chair of Torture dates back to the Middle Ages but may have been used till the late 19th Century. Not quite Russian Revolution territory, then, though fear of those myriad spikes might have kept a few of the masses in line. This ultimate interrogation chair had spikes covering the seat, back, and arm-, leg- and footrests – but there was no rest, for the wicked or anyone else who sat in this thing.
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The victim’s wrists were strapped in to prevent movement, while bars and other movable parts pressed against the limbs ensuring the tips penetrated the flesh deeper. A quick death was far from guaranteed. No vital organs were pierced and the pressure of the spikes themselves plugged wounds, slowing blood loss and often keeping victims alive for a day or more.
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The psychological fear these torture devices aroused was often enough to extract a confession, and victims were frequently forced to watch others subjected to the treatment and witness the pain they too could soon be facing.

Keyboard tips and tricks

Vista Shortcuts using the Windows key:
Window key+B Sets focus to first icon in the notification area. You can use arrow keys to move among the icons in the notification area or press Tab to move around
on the taskbar.

Window key+D Show Desktop (without the Sidebar).
Window key+E Windows Explorer (opens to Computer).
Window key+F Find Files or Folders (aka Search).
Window key+M Minimize All windows (Sidebar not included).
Window key+Shift+M Undo Minimize All Windows.
Window key+R Open the Run dialog box.
Window key+Tab 3-D Flip (flips you through your applications but with a cool graphic instead of the standard Alt+Tab). Requires the use of the Aero user interface.
Window key+Pause/Break System Properties.
Window key+F1 Windows Help.
Window key+L Locks workstation. If the user account has a password, it must be reentered to unlock the system again.
Window key+U Ease of Access Settings.
Window key+Spacebar This shows the Sidebar (the Sidebar must be open, but minimized).
Ctrl+Window key+Tab Brings up Flip-3D, but it will stay on the desktop so you can scroll up, down, left and right.

Window key+T Allows you to tab between application buttons on the taskbar.
Ctrl+Shift+Esc Opens Task Manager more faster than alt+ctrl+del.
Alt+Tab Windows Flip. Allows you to choose an open application to switch to by
repeatedly pressing the Tab key.
Window key+5 opens the snipping tool.
Some User Logging Shortcuts:
Window key (and then) three right arrows and Enter To Shut down
Window key (and then) three right arrows and U To Shut down
Window key (and then) three right arrows and R To Restart
Window key (and then) three right arrows and W To Switch Users
Window key (and then) one right arrow and Enter To Sleep
There has always been a market for tools that can help you make your working experience more customizable with Windows.In the world of shortcut keys, a great tool we used to work with was WinKey
What is Winkey ?
This application to set a shorcut for any action or application you want to launch from your keyboard quickly.Once you’ve made a shortcut, simply press your desired key combination to launch your program. This tool supports up to 200 key assignments, giving you lots of choices and room to grow.
Similar application but yeta gain more powerful than winkey is autohotkey.

For more tips and tricks please follow The Little Ganesha frequently

Bermuda Triangle mystery solved

Computer studies of ocean floors around the world, particularly the area known as The Bermuda Triangle, reveal evidence of massive methane explosions in the past. For years, believers in the paranormal, aliens, and other outlandish theories pointed to the the disappearance of ships and aircraft as an indicator of mysterious forces at work in the “Devil’s triangle.” Scientists have finally pointed the rest of us to a more plausible cause.
The presence of methane hydrates indicates enormous eruptions of methane bubbles that would swamp a ship, and projected high into the air- take out flying airplanes, as well.

Any ships caught within the methane mega-bubble immediately lose all buoyancy and sink to the bottom of the ocean. If the bubbles are big enough and possess a high enough density they can also knock aircraft out of the sky with little or no warning. Aircraft falling victim to these methane bubbles will lose their engines-perhaps igniting the methane surrounding them-and immediately lose their lift as well, ending their flights by diving into the ocean and swiftly plummeting.