`Viagra effect' killing Brazil

THE widespread tendency in Brazil for men to remarry women several decades younger, called the ``Viagra effect'', is undermining the country's pension system, researchers warn.
The report, by Brazil's National Social Security Institute, showed a trend of men in their 60s marrying women half their age was leaving a big pool of young widows collecting benefits for much longer than anticipated.
``The social security system was planned so that the wife receives her husband's pension for only 15 years or so. With growing life expectancy and remarriages with much younger women, benefits today stretch out over 35 years,'' the author of the study, Paulo Tafner, said.
He said the trend started in the 1970s -- well before the advent of the little blue pill that has since the mid-1990s helped men carry their sex lives well into old age.
According to the report, two out of three men who are separated remarry, while only one out of three separated women find a new husband.
Brazil has a mixed public-private pensions system.
Those in the public system receive the equivalent of their salary after retirement, while those with private funds receive a maximum of $2,180 a month.
Under current laws, when a retired man dies, his wife continues to receive his full pension until her own death.
According to the institute , 94 per cent of pensions go to women.

I was a...

You Were a Porcupine

You have created your own path in life, and you encourage others to do the same.
Even as life progresses, you always maintain a sense of wonder and innocence.
What Animal Were You In a Past Life?

Hoff-fest Comes To A Close

It seems as soon as it started, Hasselhoff had to go back to the small, strange world he lives in, but he did leave this to commemorate his time spent with us today. Let's have a moment of silence in this crazy German guy's honor...

Why I Stay At Work

While I was bored at work, I was browsing through some Lost (great show) forums and found this. It was completely unexpected which made it a lot funnier.

Spiderman is Rich

According to several sites I've surfed through, Spiderman 3 is going to cost over $300 million to make, the most money a movie has ever cost...EVER! Anyways, I am super pumped about the premiere in May, and from the trailer I've seen (Quicktime|Youtube) this movie is going to be the most exciting and suspenseful superhero movie to date. Another topic proving point: Topher Grace left That 70's Show to be in S3. Spiderman must be the only superhero to actually get paid for his work, as Superman obviously doesn't.

Zune Zune Zune

If you haven't heard by now, I apologize, but Microsoft is putting out a new media player, codenamed Argo, that is supposedly going to rival the iPod. Woah, you mean the iPod that has been around for years and has created one of the biggest electronic phenomenons ever? Yeah, that 'un. Recently, many sources have begun calling the new Microsoft product the Zune, and it looks pretty darn cool so far.

Now, this is a cool looking product, and if it does all they say it can do, we are looking at a very good rival for the dominating iPod. Unfortunately, it seems that games are most likely not going to be included - LINK. Anyways, stare at the picture for a while, but this product has no official release date as of yet, at least that I know of. I will report more about the specifics of the machine as I learn more. Drifting back to boredom...

Bots!!

One of the most interesting things I have found while at work is a small MMO game called BOTS, being developed by the formerly bankrupt company Acclaim. Under new ownership, the company has started distribution of free MMOs for all to play. The company gets their profit from special "Money Items" (super creative, too) that are specifically for people who will pay for them and cannot be sold or traded. Anyway, BOTS is the first game to come into Open Beta, while Acclaim's other game, 9Dragons, is still under development.

Now, BOTS is an Action MMO, based around the four arrow buttons, Z, X, C, and V, as well as the space bar.
V - Attacks
C - Jumps
X - Blocks
Z - Transforms
V+X - Shoots (w/ gun)
C+X - Special Move (must have item equipped)
Anyway, that's the basic formula. It's a 3D game that lets you go in 8 directions, and has a fixed isometric view, similar to Diablo. You start in a lobby and join or create a room, from which you can play Sector (PvE) Maps, PvP Maps, or Base vs. Base maps. The Sector mode is where you primarily level up and gain money as well as items from bosses. Sector games are small levels, each varying in length with a set time limit, where up to 8 people can go through the level, gaining experience and money. Exp. Helps you level up, and money lets you buy new parts (most important purchases) and other stat boosting items. The game has a great, tight-knit and very accepting community, rare in online games today, and allows for a quick getaway for any person, casual or hardcore gamer, or maybe if you just want to chat. Just click the big BOTS button and you're in!

School of Hard Knox

Once, maybe twice in any person's lifetime, there comes along a movie director so skilled, you just can't keep it a secret how awesome they are. Knox Korner is a website created by this crazy guy, Robert Benfer, and has a bunch of stuff on it. He makes little shorts with clay figures (claymation!), and has even produced a feature length film based on his Klay World. It's called Off The Table, and someone was supposed to get it for my birthday. They know who they are. Anyways, Check out Knox Korner and watch some of his awesome little klay movies, as well as one of his live action videos, The Running Man, if you can find it.

Hoffly Cool Software - Picasa

This is a program my family uses a lot to organize and print their pictures, as well as crop and edit them to perfection. It's a free program, and one of the easiest photo editors/organizers on the internet. I just installed it at work, and I'm having a bunch of fun messing around with some pictures I find. This is definitely a must-download in my opinion. Oooh, that gives me an idea. I'm going to start up a weekly download, and this can be number one. By the way, sorry for the bad Hasselhoff pun, just had to get it out of my system. There is a link to the program down at the bottom of the page. Have fun with your new program!

Get Rich Quick, with no strings attached?

No way, is probably what you are thinking, and you might just be right, at least partially right. A few years ago I heard about the game Project Entropia (recently changed names to Entropia Universe). The game is similar to other MMORPGs in that you put in money to play. But here is the first advantage. The account and client are 100% free. You don't even have to enter credit card info for "security purposes," and the only time you ever have to pay is if you want to. Along with the first advantage comes the first catch. If you put no money into the game to begin with, you start out very bored with very little to do. The creators very obviously purposely did this to help encourage you to put in a quick 10 bucks just to speed up the game and make it more fun. Now the second catch. If you don't pay, you start with nothing. Literally all you have is your Avatar (your ingame character), and a bright orange jumpsuit. The game does let you collect sweat, which you can sell for extremely small amounts of ingame money. PEC are cents, and PED are dollars. 10 PED = 1 USD, United States Dollar. Here is the second advantage, and one of the big draws of the game. The cash goes both ways. Yep, you can withdraw the ingame money for real cash, at the 10-1 exchange rate, and deposit money back at the same rate. The obvious choice would seem to be not to put any money in to it, and build up until you have a decent amount of money, withdraw, rinse and repeat. A bottle of sweat sells for around 2 PECs. That's 1/500th of a dollar, if I did my math correctly. You start out only being able to collect sweat. Starting to understand why this game is still is business? You almost have to pay, unless you want to spend hours and hours collecting sweat to sell for 1/500th of a dollar. Not looking so good now, is it. But wait, there might be one last thing to change your mind. You can get a mentor in this game, someone to show you around and tell you what to do, maybe even give you a good weapon or some good armor to start out with. With something as simple as a pistol, the game is completely turned upside down, making the wilderness your playground. Also, having friends in this game is pretty much a requirement, especially if you aren't investing any money to begin with. So, here is the get rich quick scheme of the new millennium, a video game made by some guys in the Netherlands, or somewhere like that.

Pop Surfing

There is a gigantic user base already, and if you have heard the term "blogging", you have probably been to this man's blog more than once. Pop Surfing truly defines what a blog should be, with so much on it every day, you never get bored with the news. It is presented in a very humorous, dry demeanor which makes something you couldn't care less about a very interesting story. I met the creator, Michael Giltz, at a school program once during Career Day, and he is one of the few adults who will admit he likes some things that most might consider very nerdy, which is a big breath of fresh air for someone like myself. If by some odd chance you have not visited this extremely informative blog, I recommend saving it in your favorites, because if you enjoy interesting, light hearted news, rather than the bleakness of cable news and the burns, deaths and suicides that dominate it, pick up your head and head on over to Michael Giltz and Friends' blog, Pop Surfing, satisfaction guaranteed. :)

Have It Your Way...Whether You Like It or Not

I recently found a fun, and quite scary little toy on the WWW, and decided it was strange enough to make this blog. Now, Burger King has always told you to have it your way, and I bet you never really believed them. Well, prepare to believe. I don't know quite how old this is, or why Burger King employees were drunk enough to make this, but hey, it's on the internet and I'm bored.

Your Heart Is Red

You're a passionate lover - you always have a huge fire in your heart.
Too bad it's hard for you to be passionate about just one person!

Your flirting style: Outgoing and sexy

Your lucky first date: Drinks and dancing

Your dream lover: Is both stable and intense

What you bring to relationships: Honesty
What Color Heart Do You Have?

Unique

You are unique, everyone's unique! If you noticed, the only answer is unique. The point of this quiz was to show people how you can't judge based on simple questions such as 'What is your favorite color?' Because, as everyone already knows, if you like black that means your depressed. No, Maybe, I don't know, you just like the color black? Or how about the other question 'How many friends do you have?' Just because you have one friend does not make you lonely, maybe you like it that way. I do, and there's nothing wrong with that. Same apply's for if you have ten friends, that does not make you sociable. Maybe you are just naturally a people person, and people come to you. Maybe a 'friend' is just someone you talk to everyday, or if you get more in depth with it, someone you can tell everything to. The point of this quiz is to show the variables. I know that for the most part the results are true, but when I place 'black' down as my favorite color I already know to expect a depressing answer in the end. But, I will admit that I contiue to take these quizzes dispite me already knowing the outcome. Anyway, thanks for taking the quiz. Feel free to message if you have any comments :D And rate honestly please.