3 Reasons To Get a Pocket Knife

With pocket knives having nothing to do with my recent obsessions, I'm here to present the case for getting a pocket knife (no secretive pocket knife lobbying here-- we're public about our pocket knife conglomerate sell out).  The thing is, the good ol' fashion pocket knife has found itself phasing away from everyday Joe's/Jane's pockets, despite its practical use. While a touchscreen phone with a highspeed internet access is useful in 65% of real-life situations (did you know that most statistics are created at-the-moment, 87.69% of the time? It's true!), nothing quite beats the "sharp edge" that a knife provides. Below, I'll discuss three reason to put a pocket knife in your "every-day-carry".

I totally didn't just use this image because it was open-domain. Totally not!

3. Practical Everyday Use

Haven't we all had that loose string in our shirt or jacket, that threatened the entire livelihood of our garments? With the heart-pumping stress of sharply pulling down on the loose string, and possibly risking the rapid unraveling of your sweater at the start of your day, wouldn't it be better if you had a unspecified sharp apparatus that could effectively cut such a problem? Along with cutting loose strings, a handy pocket knife can easily help you open envelopes, cardboard boxes, and even hard-to-open plastic packaging.

Look at all those uneven wrinkles and creases! Won't anyone think of the children?!

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Quick Fact: Why breathing through your nose is better than your mouth

I think it's safe to say that we've all heard the saying ,"Breath through your nose, not your mouth", from our physical education teachers and/or our extremely well-rounded friends. The problem is, nobody ever tells anyone why this is the case. Other than looking like a absolute snob with poor jaw posture, what are the actual physical benefits of breathing through your nose? Is it really worth breathing two times faster through your nose than to simply inhale and exhale through your mouth? Simply put, yes.

Look at how snobby your lungs look! I don't think we can be friends anymore.

First off, breathing through your nose is much actually healthier if you consider the contaminants in the air. One very special area that your nose has and your mouth doesn't, is the nostrils/sinuses. Through the use of the nostril hair, mucus, and nitric oxide, foreign objects and bacteria are mainly prevented from entering the body. What this means is that if you happen to inhale at the same time a large mosquito flies across your face, there's a smaller chance that it'll follow down your respiratory system. (The hairs in your nostril will likely prevent it from entering) In a manner of speaking, you can think of your nostrils as life's natural gas masks.

However, if your town becomes the target of a biological cluster-bomb, you may want to put one of these on.

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4 Ways To Avoid Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's is one of the most common form of dementia in the world today. Over 26 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with this disease and considering that it's currently irreversible and incurable, it's practically a death sentence for the people who receive the news. To make things more tangible, people generally live seven more years after their diagnosis of AD and after a certain stage, the procedures for "care giving" is simply to relieve discomfort until death. With Alzheimer's being such a serious complication, we suggest that you read the following timeline before death for the sake of knowledge and then continuing to the rest of the article.

Stage 1: Normal Function

This stage is pretty much as it sounds, your memory and cognitive abilities are only as limited as you've trained them. Considering that Alzheimer's is usually diagnosed at around the age of 65, you still have your whole life ahead of you if you're young.

Stage 2: Very Minor Impairment

Technically, this is the first stage of the Alzheimer's progression. At this stage, the person will only experience minor memory lapses and small everyday confusion. It's nearly impossible to detect Alzheimer's at this stage since the only symptoms can easily be mistaken for stress or sleep deprivation. Considering how minor they are, you'll hardly notice them; it could be as simple as those short lapses you get when you enter a room, or even which cabinet you keep you bowls in.

Stage 3: Minor Impairment

At this point, your confusion and forgetfulness may have increased by a few folds. By now, it would be visibly noticeable to the people around you that you've been becoming increasingly forgetful/confused. At stage 3, it's probable that you'll have slight difficulty remembering new things that you've just learned, such as names and words. (It could be as simple as stuttering for about three seconds while trying to recall a person's name) along with trouble organizing and planning for the future.

While possible, it is still difficult to detect AD at this stage.

Stage 4: Mild Impairment

By now, the clear-cut symptoms of Alzheimer's would be evident. Instead of simply forgetting a new person's name, you may/will suffer from moderate cognitive decline. Things such as managing money, planning a crazy retirement party or even recalling events that happened hours to days ago will become increasingly difficult. (Or at the very least, more difficult than before) At this stage, some people may become increasingly moody and emotional when in socially or mentally demanding situations. This stage is also called "early-stage Alzheimer's Disease".

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Mac vs PC

So you want to buy a computer, but you don't know which one to buy? This article should clear up some of the confusion when selecting a computer. Today, there are 3 main operating systems. OSX, Windows, and various Linux distros. When someone talks about a "Mac", they usually mean a computer that is assembled by Apple with OSX installed. When someone talks about a "PC", they usually mean a pre-assembled computer or a self-built computer with a Windows and/or Linux OS. That being said, I will now compare the two.

* Before I start comparing I should mention that Apple is a HARDWARE company because OSX is not entirely a product of Apple (See below) and their only original parts and profits come from the hardware. Buying an Apple computer to use OSX is the same as buying an expensive motherboard just to take its capacitors. Therefore, any advantage OSX has over Linux and Windows can easily be achieved on both computers (See compatibility below) *

1. Price:

Without a doubt the PC has always cost less than a Mac with similar specifications. For example, a $3500 Mac Pro can be similar in specs to a $1000 PC. However, the Mac OS costs less than Windows, so it might not be worth paying the $2000 premium. Also, most Linux distros are free.

                                       Although this is somewhat outdated, the idea still stands

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Give us your suggestions!

*Too long? Don't want to read anything? Here's the link.

Today, I'm here to present something that I've always wanted to add to SkyAkes, a suggestions feature. The biggest problem I've found in managing and writing this blog is that writer's block can be pretty uncooperative when it's 3:00 AM on a school day. In order to remedy this and add a feature to allow you, the readers, to become more interactive with this blog, I've decided to add a "article request-ation" form at a cool site called "Papyrs".

Here are some of the writer's blocks I talk about. Dang them and their weight!

Pretty much, the idea is that you, the reader, can ask us to cover any topic your little heart desires, and we'll consider writing about it. (If you want an article musing the ideas of string theory and Q-balls, we may reconsider) Along with that, this will allow us to concentrate on the topics that you guys really care about, and less on things like "fun facts about your toes" that I sometimes resort to.

The horror!

In order to satisfy your irrational suspicion that we're simply trying to steal your one million dollar ideas, feel free to leave your name in one of the provided boxes, and we'll gladly credit you for the idea. However, you can remain anonymous if you wish.

Without further ado, here's the article request-ation link. 

3 Common Misconceptions About Brushing Your Teeth

Thanks to the fact that teeth-brushing is a home-taught practice, there are many misconceptions circulating about brushing one's teeth. Along with modern society's pressure to fit in with everyone else, oral hygiene or "how bright your teeth look", has become a prominent variable for the everyday man/woman to judge a person's character despite it's shallow implications. Therefore, we must address the most common misconceptions that people have about brushing their teeth in order to help indulge such thought pattern and achieve "buzz-worthy" attention. Anyways, here's your article:

Look, teeth. Now give us your money.

3. The more you brush your teeth, the merrier.

This common misconception lies in the concept of "if you clean something twice, it'll be cleaner than if you cleaned it once." While true to a limited aspect, brushing your teeth rigorously eight times a day or every time until you can taste your natural saliva again is not generally a good idea. The thing about brushing your teeth is that it's not a magical wand that you can simply wave at your teeth and only expect positive things. Think of this analogy, if you keep mopping your brand new wood floor, your floor is eventually going to collapse.

And everyone you've ever known will die. This is shaping up to be a bad analogy.

The thing is, excessive brushing can lead to other, more serious oral complications. For example, by brushing your teeth religiously, you risk irritating your gums to the point of exposing the roots of your teeth. Along with that, by brushing like a crazed manic, you also risk destroying your teeth enamel, and therefore your teeth itself. Everyone knows that your teeth are among the strongest bones in your body, most if not all of that strength comes from the enamel. By continuing a practice of excessively hard brushing, you could scrape away at the enamel like a waxed floor in a congressman's living room.

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Most Common Advertising Tricks In Modern Media

Regardless of your medium of entertainment, you'll find that advertisements are almost everywhere you look; in fact, this page alone has at least one. With advertisements so evident in modern lifestyle, isn't it about time we actually take a look at what these advertisements really advertise? Shouldn't we ask ourselves if the heads behind the mass media are actual dummies that simply prance around with directors as they pump out the same short fifteen second clip with different products everyday?

"They're on to us!" - The heads behind mass media

Maybe things aren't as jolly and flowery as we thought they were. Perhaps, advertisements used actual psychology from many fields to manipulate you to buy products everyday. Below, we'll discuss two of the most common advertising tricks that you probably fall for everyday. (With the aided use of hyperboles! Hurray you!)

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3 Important Things To Do In A Fight

We've all gotten in a physical one-on-one fight before, right? Regardless of you being the person dealing the punches, or the one receiving all the pain, I think it's safe to say that we've all seen humanity's tendency towards conflict. Due to this, it would be an exceptional time to discuss three very important fundamentals that everyone should know before entering a fight. While you won't suddenly become the Bruce Lee in the battlefield after reading this article, it'll certainly help you get started.

At very least, it'll help you get 4.6% less dominated in the arena.

3. Curl your thumbs on the side of your fist (aka. Remember how to form a fist)

One of the most important thing you can do in a fight is to make sure your tools of fighting are in proper condition, before throwing the first punching. While we're sure that you have enough common sense to not fight someone if your hands are bandaged up from a severe chainsaw accident resulting in the lost of all your fingers, there are some precautions to take for everyone that are vital to the resultant fight. The first thing you can do is to curl your thumbs on the side of your curled fingers. (Consult below image if the your visual brain centers of your brain fail you)

Feel free to angrily shake your fist as such to celebrate such accomplishment.

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Piracy: Who's the real thief?

Ever since computers were made available to the public, software pirates made and distributed copies of software, and in some cases illegally sold their copies. With pirated copies being available much easier then ever before because of the internet, we must ask ourselves: Should we put an end to piracy to protect our software? Unfortunately, there are a few problems with just ending piracy. Not all pirates are thieves. The following examples explain who is a pirate, who is actually a thief.

1. One reason why you might pirate a video game is because the price is too high, and you are unable to afford to pay $60 every time a new game is released. Since software publishers claim that a download is a lost sale, it does not apply to those who cannot afford the software. Also, even if it was a lost sale, it wouldn't make much of a difference.

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Baaahh... We're Back!

Why hello there, loyal reader. While it may have appeared that we've died in the past three months, I can assure you that we didn't. Along with our return from our hiatus, we bring great news. The first great news is something you've probably noticed the instant you walked right in here, the layout is completely different. No longer will your eyes be distracted by my amateur photography, instead, you'll be faced with fantastic monotone white. What an improvement!

As we've always suggested, feel free to take a second to reflect the values of life as you stare into our apathetic white background.

Secondly, during our endeavors, we've picked up another fresh, aspiring mind to join the Skyakes' family. Without further ado, allow me to introduce to you, "Dr.Freeman", our new go-two guy for electronic-related news and information. But allow me to warn you, as an ambitious young man as himself, he is fully prepared to write controversial articles and defend them, and as long as they don't include the words "I'm going to murder the president", I'll simply moderate and review his articles before publishing. But at the end of the day, with a new, three-man-team, you can expect more articles being thrown at your face daily.

Here's his mugshot. He's a little camera-shy in-person.

In other news, along with a new writer, we've gotten our old writer, Eddard, back on the scene. In addition, we've removed the adbox on the side of the website to give you a better user experience.  Lastly, we've thrown out the old-fashion, hard-to-use comments system, with an easy-to-use comments system based on Facebook. As long as you're logged into your account on your browser, you can comment away without any delay. (Ignore the rhyme that coincidentally occurred)

What this basically means for you overall, is that you can expect a slight 16.5% increase in joy and contentment in your life as a result of our [technical] relaunch. No need to thank us, it's a part of our job.

But if you insist.

4 Ways To Determine Time of Death In a Dead Person

Regardless of your desire to know this information, we're here to discuss the four primary indicators of time of death in a corpse. (Because you obviously can't determine the time of a person's death if they're still alive) I would like to point out that all of these indicators can only help you estimate the time of death, since many environmental factors can change the observed events. Hopefully, you won't come back with pitchforks and torches if you come across a dead person (as often as you do) and quickly induce the person's time of death, only to find out how wrong you were, based on what we've told you.

If you look closely enough, you can see the imminent, post-apocalyptic future. On the other hand, there are some neat skulls there. 

4. Livor Mortis

Livor Mortis is one of the first things you don't see on crime shows and movies, despite it being one of the first things that happen to a dead body. Livor mortis is the resultant color of a dead person's pooling blood at the work of gravity. What do I mean? Think of it this way, once you're dead, your heart stops beating. If your heart stops beating and your blood vessels stop moving, there is nothing to circulate your blood. Therefore, after you die, your blood simply flows down your once active blood vessels, into the lowest part of your body. (Regardless of body position.)

Livor mortis is clearly observed by a dark purpleish hue onto the skin in which the blood has flown and pooled. Depending on the time, this color can/will become permanently fixed onto the body in a matter of time. What this all means is that you can determine the position the person died, along with the the estimated time of death.

Don't worry, this is the most graphic picture in this article. (Even though I found hundreds of pictures of half-decomposing bodies everywhere, so you owe me one.)

After the first two to eight hours of death, lividity (pooling of blood in body) will be present on the body. However, it would be easily removed by pressing onto the afflicted area with a finger/any pressure. If the color disappears, the person probably died less than eight hours ago. If the color remains, the person must have died beyond the eight hour time frame.

Before you start jumping around like some type of leprechaun with your new-found knowledge, allow me to inform you about the factors that affect livor mortis. First off, the environmental temperature of the body can greatly influence how long it takes before lividity becomes permanent. If the temperature happened to be extremely cold at that time, livor mortis could be slowed down. (The opposite is true as well) Accessories and clothing such as tight belts and wristwatches could easily externally constrict blood passage as well, which can also slow down livor mortis.

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Horrifying Tuesday: Casu Marzu

Welcome back to Horrifying Tuesday! Wasn't the lack of something horrifying for the past few weeks, purely horrifying? Thankfully, we've saved something that's especially terrifying for today. Speaking of terrifying, is there anything in the world worst than rotten, stinky, maggot-infested cheese? If your answer to that question goes along the lines of "Why yes, good sir. There is certainly nothing more disgruntling than a rotten roll of cheese", then you're going to love today's topic.

Article may/may not be related to apricots*

The Casu Marzu is a traditional Sardinian sheep milk cheese, that happens to have a extra "umfp" than your regular cheeses. While we've all heard of those "aged cheeses" that cost a few thousands dollars due to the hundreds of years worth of effort put into them. Casu Marzu takes "aging cheese" one step further by going beyond the typical fermentation stage, and goes into some crossroad between insanity, torture, and decomposition. How? Why? We'll explain.

The Casu Marzu brings about this "super-advanced" aging process by using the helpful assistance of the Fruit fly.  To be more specific, the larvae of the Cheese fly. In order to establish the natural soft texture taste, the larvae of the Fruit fly are introduced to the cheese in order to break down the cheese's fats and therefore bringing it to the next level of insanity decomposition fermentation. Before we go any further, allow me to explain how it's fermented.

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6 Most Common Forms of Psychological Defense Mechanisms

Hello! Welcome to 2012! A fresh start in a new year, right? It's as if all your past problems melted away along with your hopes for snow, right? Sadly, the world doesn't work that way, and your problems of yesteryear are still present. Speaking of problems, wouldn't it be awesome if your body had a way with dealing away all your problems and woes to protect your little virgin mind? Wouldn't that be fantastic? It sure would! Thankfully, we have them. Below, you'll find the 7 most common, most observed forms of psychological "defense mechanisms".

Projection

Projection is described as subconsciously denying something about yourself and projecting it onto someone or something else. In a way, projection assists a person by helping them avoid that icky feeling accompanied by self-failure or fault. An example of projection could be being extremely prejudice, but refusing to accept that you are by exclaiming that everyone around you is prejudice. Another example would be blaming your mom's unceasing ranting to be the reason you didn't/couldn't do your homework.

"Blame my mom, all my problems somehow root to her."

Regression

Regression is one of most "top-notch" defense mechanisms on this list. Regression is the short/long-term return to childish or immature behavior at the face of a difficult situation. Instead of facing and dealing with a difficult situation in a adult manner, the person may regress back into toddler years. Thankfully for me, we've all be guilty of this and therefore, examples are easy. An example of regression could be a teenager being refused a extension of curfew and reacting to it by screaming, crying, and throwing a tantrum. Another example would be telling your friend to "suck it" after being asked to borrow your car.

"You want my car, do you?!"

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