World’s Stupidest Inventions

Alright, alright! They may have been well planned out, genius sounding inventions to begin with. But who are we trying to fool, some of these inventions are pretty useless in the real world…

Stupid Invention #1: CHOCOLATE COVERED SPOONS

Firstly, The claim is that chocolate covered spoons make a sweet coffee, sweeter. Just unwrap the chocolate covered spoon, lick the chocolate off plain, or stir it into your coffee.

Secondly, Let me tell you, from personal experience, chocolate covered spoons stirred into coffee’s are not only dumb, they are tasteless. Theres about 3 grams of chocolate on the spoon, you can’t even taste it in the coffee. AND it’s not enough to be satisfied by licking the spoon.

Thirdly, Chocolate covered spoons are not something cool to be caught with. I had a few in my bag the other day (for experimental purposes). My friends saw them and I never heard the end of it! By the end of the day I was too embarassed to show my family. (If you are reading this guys, I’m sorry, I ate all the chocolate, the spoons are in the dishwasher, spoons with chocolate still on them are available at Second Cup – $3)

Stupid Invention #2: BLUE CLOTHING FOLDING PAD

Firstly, it does not work on pants! The Clothing Folding Pag thingy claims that it makes your job easier and folds your clothes for you. ITS NOT TRUE! My friend Sarah has one, and I put my shirt on it, it didn’t fold. I had to do the work. I layed the shirt out smooth and straight, then folded each corner of the blue square and by the time I was done I realised that I needed to hang the shirt, not fold it.

Secondly, Instead of helping you clear the mess, it adds to it. It may be exciting to use for the first 3 minutes you have it, but soon you realise it’s just a fancier and dumber method of doing the same amout of work and it just collects dust at the corner of your room.

Thirdly, you do not want your in-laws seeing this in your room. Not only will they question your work ethic, they will probably laugh at you thinking you don’t know how to fold a simple article of clothing. On the plus side, they may take pity and do the-folding-of-the-clothes for you. Highly unlikely though.

Stupid Invention #3: SOLAR POWERED FLASHLIGHTS

Firstly, HAHAHAHA! Let’s just say most of us do not leave our solar flashlight out in the sun every day because we know that we will need it during the night while we sleep.

Secondly, they only last 1-2 hours. 3 hours if you turn it off every five minutes.  When I go back to my country (where there are ridiculous amounts of blackouts) I am not going to make the stupid mistake of bringing a solar powered flashlight. Not only will the village think I’m an idiot for waving a wand around that supposedly lights up from the suns energy. They will probably have better means of light, AKA battery powered flashlights and candles (much more romantic than a crappy solar powered flashlight).

Stupid Invention #4: GLOW IN THE DARK SUNGLASSES

Firstly, I don’t know about you, but I don’t plan on wearing my sunglasses in the dark anytime soon. Because, quite frankly unless you are Corey Hart or Divine Brown, you can’t and you won’t pull it off!

The only other reason I see for wearing sunglasses at night is to hide bloodshot eyes from drugs, allergies or sleep deprivation. But taking to fact that it is dark people probably won’t notice.

Stupid Invention #4: THE IPOD SHUFFLE

I say I speak for the majority when I say, I like to pick which song I’m listening too. And I would also like to see the title. I’m a girl who has many different sides to her. I like all different types of music. So when I’m in the mood for a soft Mariah Carey, I think Franz Fernandez’s techno mix popping up out of the blue would scare the crap out of me, and the people sitting around me. I could click the ‘next song’ button, but the problem is, I don’t know what’s next!

Secondly, I’d like to say I’m not trying to diss anyone’s taste. The IPod Shuffle is just too suspenseful for me! I can’t handle the shock of not knowing what’s going to play next.

Thirdly, I have a poor memory. So when I’m listening to a song, I’d like to know what it is called incase someone asks me the title of it.

Stupid Invention #5: FRUIT FLAVORED LIP GLOSS

Well guys, the last time I checked with the Ministry of Health it was not advised to swallow cosmetic products. Then you go out into the real world and every second lip gloss is flavored.

Marketing scheme gone wrong! I find myself buying lip blam because I’m craving skittles, not because my lips are dry. Damn you Lip Smackers, Damn you! I guess it’s a marketing scheme gone right after all.

This must be heaven for all the skinny bitches! Anorexia made easy.

Aaron: I’m so hungry, but I have one last pound to lose before im 73 pounds! I really want a Dr.Pepper drink.

Erica: Oh girl, I have just the thing! Flavored Lip Gloss / Lip Balm!

***Aaron and Erica Party their skinny butts off***

Apparently flavored lip glosses are supposed to enhance the kissing experience. Well let me tell you cruel world, when I have my skittles lip gloss on, I’m the only one lickin’ my lips!

Stupid Invention #6: DO-IT-YOURSELF VIDEO FOR INSTALLING VCR

Well you see, If I had my VCR already plugged in, chances are I wouldn’t need this video to teach me how to do it. -_-

If you guys have a list of anymore useless / stupid inventions, post them here.

Until next time,

Your Friend,

Untap’d,

Maria

France: Ban of the Hijab (Islamic Veil)

Good Afternoon WordPress!

There is something that had been circling my mind for a few days and I felt it is worthy of writing. As most of you may already know, France has banned the female Islamic head gear (Hijab) from schools. Since the ban has taken place there has been some fury created upon the matter. There have been wide spread protests my Islamic, leaders, followers and non followers about the decision made to ban the head dressing.

I felt it was important for me to do my own research and find out exactly why this ban was in place.

According to officials, the Islamic veil is a threat to the country of France;

a) Because some forms of the Islamic Veil consist of hiding the face – this can pose a security risk for obvious reasons.
b) Because there have been complaints that the Islamic Veil is scaring the children of France.
c) Because France believes it is united, and united means that people from other faiths and races should come together and mingle – mingling requires change and flexibility. According to France, a woman in the Islamic Veil stands out of place. (So does a guy with neon pink hair wearing yellow skinny jeans, no shirt, with lime coloured chest hair, and a red tutu – but we don’t exclude him.)

I’ve taken some time to absorb these reasons, I have also taken some time to understand that there has been a lot of negative impact within France from people who commit unlawful acts in the name of religion.

I have still come to the conclusion that the ban on the Islamic Veil is hypocritical.

France claims that it is very open and promotes the freedom of allowing one to follow teachings of one’s religion as long as it does not cause harm to the public. Nowhere does the religion of Islam (in it’s original form) teach harm against others. On the other hand, according to followers, the religion promotes love, brotherhood and sisterhood among all faiths, races and cultures. The fact remains, people taint their own image, it is sad to know that there are people who will use religion as a means of committing their heinous deeds. The practical thing to do would be to catch these people instead of taking what looks like the easy way out.

Telling a Muslim woman that she is allowed to follow her faith in the privacy of her own home and without the use of her Islamic Veil is like telling a Christian woman that she is allowed to believe and practice her religion as long as she declares that Jesus is not the son of God. It is senseless. You cannot allow one to follow their religion of choice by removing the right to follow the main component of it. Islam is a religion based on peace and on the segregation of the sexes. Whether or not the religion is right or wrong should not be a concern, or a base argument when creating a law to ban it’s teachings.

I would like to address the first argument against the Islamic Veil. “It posses a threat to security.” I can understand this argument because there have in fact been many cases where men dress as women in veils trying to escape certain situations. For this reason only, I believe female officers have the right to ask the woman in a veil that may be covering her face to expose her face. If things escalate to a higher level and a greater security check is required, I think it should be fair for female officers to privately search women wearing veils (only in circumstances where a threat is felt). Banning the Islamic Veil as a whole however, seems like an unpractical, immaturely made decision.

The second argument for banning the Islamic Veil seems to be a failed attempt at finding an argument for a theory, after the theory has been made. In the real world, there are usually arguments that come beforehand thus, proving a theory to come later on. If my Islamic Head gear, or my Christian Cross, or my Star of David is scaring children, I doubt Canada will ban me from wearing it. In our ‘civilized’ world, we raise our children to grow as non-judgmental and non-stereotypical of others. When they ask about the Christian Cross around the man’s neck, we explain that it is a reminder to him of his faith, we tell them that it is something he holds closely to his heart and is something that should never be discriminated against. On the other hand when we see a woman wearing an Islamic Veil crossing the street and our children ask about it we say she is suppressed, her husband makes her wear it, because she is not allowed to show her hair in public, etc. Some go far enough to telling their children that the woman is crazy, inflexible and shouldn’t be associated with. To those people I have some questions, how do you know for a fact that these are the reasons she wears the veil? How do you know for a fact that she is a crazy, inflexible woman? Instead, why don’t you just ask her? I’ve tried that, and surprisingly most of these women are fluent, well spoken and calm when explaining their beliefs.

If your child is scared of trees or insects, do you ban them from the world? No, rather, you teach your child the benefits of them, and how to live with them. If your children can watch horror movies and watch funny painted creatures on cartoons then they sure can be explained why that woman is wearing the Islamic veil. Worst comes to worst and you are unaware yourself, why do you not just ask, I am sure she won’t bite.

The third argument for the ban of the Islamic veil is that change is necessary for people to unite. This is a very true statement, I hold it closely to heart. However, I do not believe it is necessary to change the faiths of people, nor do I believe in changing their attire to create unification. Unification is a state of mind achieved. It is not something you can achieve from dressing a certain way. To create unity it is necessary to create an understanding of all faiths, races and cultures, and creating an understanding that whether or not we like it, this is who we are. We have a duty to ourselves to remain one despite our differences. Telling someone to remove her Hijab, remove her cross, etc in the name of unity is like telling everyone of coloured skin to turn white. It would make the world a boring, unreal place.

We have a gift of being different. We can either create a larger bond and work together as a force to use our good to eradicate evil. Or we can quarrel upon our small differences that in the end – do not matter. What does it matter if the woman next to you is wearing an Islamic Veil? She is no less capable of doing the same job and helping the world as you are. Before all comes humanity. For the love of Humanity, let’s open our eyes. Let’s be the humanitarian, loving people we claim to be.

Until next time,

- Maria

Ask Me Anything: Beating your children for discipline

MORNING WORDPRESS!

I love how everyone totally forgot me… sigh…

I’ve decided that if I want to get writting I’d betters start practicing!

Today on Untapd’s ‘Ask Me Anything’

Jason Asks:
What is your opinion on beating your children for discipline? Many people argue that it is alright in moderation to discipline the child, whereas, others feel it is totally out of the question and abusive.

I would like to start of by thanking Jason for his insightful question… Thank you Jason, for your insightful question =P

My opinion is very firm, I believe it is absolutely -wrong- to beat your children for discipline. Children are children, if you raise them properly to begin with, there would be no need to beat them.

Children will be children, you can not expect perfection. They are occasionally going to say and/ or do some things you may not agree with. This doesn’t make them bad people.

When you beat a child, you may not scar them or bruise them on the surface, but the damage done goes deeper, it touches that which is naked to the physical eye.

Children do not and will not forget, any type of beating to discipline a child instills fear within him/her. This fear usually makes the child confused, angry, and vulnerable as they grow older and depending on how extreme the beating is, its effects may nor go away.

I say, raise your children properly to begin with, no one can be perfect, but a child needs time, patience, love, and education. You can’t expect a child to behave in a manner which you approve if you haven’t raised them that way. And even if they do, you need to unwind and remember that back in the day, you weren’t Mr/Ms. Goody Two Shoes either.

Until next time,

Untap’d

Cherish Your Tongue

It’s been too long wordpress, too long… ;-(

Finally got internet connection at home, just in time to share my new found appreciation for the tongue! I don’t know what happened yesterday, but knowing me, I must have eaten some next level food. Hence why my tongue started to swell up, and by midnight, it was -huge-.

Long story short, I didn’t think it was going to be bad, after all, it’s just a huge, sore tongue. I don’t think I sound too unclear while talking, sure I’ve started sluring a bit, but it’s not -that- bad, is it? Apparently it is. Today I spent my day sign languaging questions and instructions and avoiding any means of social interaction that require talking. But if you know me, you’ve probably figured out that it is nearly impossible for me to sit silently.

Even though I’m suffering, I’m glad that so many of you could enjoy my pain. I feel as if I’ve done a good deed, the fact that I am starting to pronounce my Rs as Vs, and my Ys and Ls has made many people break down into healthy, hysterical laughs. Well people, better enjoy it while you can, when I come in on Monday, you can all.expect ‘pay back’. Hehe.

Incase you we’re wondering, yes, my tongue is getting better… =)

Ttyl,

Untap’d

Remember When…

Hey everyone!

Hope all is well on your ends, just giving you all a shout out to let you know that I haven’t forgotten… for all the people sending me angry hate mail for not updating my blog: Please, I only have about 17 posts anyways… lol.

Remember when I said I would get this thing up and running doing what it was designed to do? I lied.

Okay, no, that’s not true. I’m actually busy packing and moving these days, and I’ll be busy for the next while to come.

Many of you are actually emailing me questions about random things on hair, insane style choices, q-tips and strawberry allergies etc. hoping to get an email response back, so just an FYI, you can post your questions here anonymously and I’ll respond back as an entry.

=)

Hope to be back on track soon…

-Maria

It’s Been Long…

Hey everyone, It’s been long…

As you all know (or may not know), I have been busy lately preparing for exams. Yep… Good ol’ exams! Tomorrow morning is my last exam, and I’m just out of it now, I’m pretty tierd of reading, re-reading, writing, re-writing out my notes over, and over again.

So I decided to pay you all a visit and drop a friendly, ‘hello, I’m alive…”

Here goes; Hello, I’m alive!

I’m going to get back to studying, and hopefully within the next few days I’ll have the blog up and running again. Please excuse the delayed resonse to e-mails. I’ll get on it soon.

Wish me luck ladies and gents! (I need it…)

Ttyl,

Maria

Ask Me Anything; “What is your opinion on organized religion?”

Hi everyone! It’s been a while, I’ve been busy with assignments, and, sorry to crash your dreams, but I do have a life outside of my blog as well

Today on Untap’d’s, “Ask Me Anything”…

Adeela asks; “I was curious as to your opinions about organized religion. I know you said “I do adhere strongly to faith”, but that is different from following an organized religion. Nowadays many people have been shunning organized religion because they think it is corrupt. What would you say to those who will not attend a church/mosque/synagogue, etc. and will not develop their relationship with God because they believe the system is corrupt? Is it alright to avoid organized religion and just pray on your own in an environment that is more comfortable?”

To start off, I would like to say thank you, Adeela, for your l-o-n-g question.

Lately there have been many controversies thrown to the public regarding almost all religions. There seems to be a misconception of extremism, hypocrisy and what not, within organized religion. These religions are being targeted to questioning and accusations. There are people who think that organized faiths are out to achieve some sort of ruling power within the world- in simple words; to rule the world. I personally could not disagree more strongly with such thoughts and ideas.

First off, matters regarding faith are very sensitive, religion is extremely personal and should not be enforced on anyone. I believe all human beings have a different status of faith / attachment with God that they crave. Some people are living a happy life attached to organized religion, whereas there are also people living happy faith oriented lives without attending the church/mosque/synagogue on a regular bases.

I personally encourage people to attend their places of worship, ex: church, mosque, synagogue, because it builds a stronger relationship with God, and the religious community they are a part of. As humans, we crave the need to be socially accepted, rather than turning to dangerous means of acquiring social status, I feel it is safer to be attached to a community with similar beliefs.

As far as the people who refuse to go because they feel it is a corrupted system, I don’t understand why they would associate themselves with the faith, then refuse to go to the place of worship because they feel it is corrupt. A religion’s foundation is its place of worship.

“Is it alright to avoid organized religion and just pray on your own?” << Honestly, I don’t have an answer for that. As I said earlier, the spiritual aspect of religion differs from one human being to the other. Personally, I think having an organized religion is a place to go, something to lean on, a means of safety, not only physical but mental. But, I suppose the answer would vary from one person to another.

Summing things up, I don’t think blaming organized religion for today’s occurrences is logical. If religion did not exist, we would blame something else. You have to keep in mind, that religion is made up of people. It is the way we as humans enact upon the religion, do we chose to use it as a source of wisdom and aid to humanity? Or are we using it to our own filthy advantage? That is something depending on human itself, not religion.

Hope this helps!

(Feel free to share your opinion, as there is more than one right answer)

- Maria

Ask Me Anything; “What do you like to purchase [at] a convenience store?”

Welcome aboard ladies and gentlemen!

Today on Untap’d’s, “Ask Me Anything” …

Ram Venkatararam asks; “What do you like to purchase when you visit a convenience store?”

I would like to start by saying thank you, Ram, for your question. Taking a look at your link, you don’t seem to be struggling too much

I will have to be completely honest with you I don’t like to purchase anything from the convenience store. I am -cheap-, I get shudders as soon as I see the price for a simple drink at the convenience store. The only time I will make my way into a convenience store is to pay for gas, or take a leak. Yep.

However, lately, I have noticed that so many convenience stores have ‘reserved’ their bathrooms for clientele… and sure enough if you need to pee bad enough, you will buy something. So Ram, I suggest you pump your visitors with free water, then upon asking for the bathroom, tell them they must be ‘clientele’.

Getting serious here, the only three things I’ll purchase at the convenience store are:

- Qtips

- Gas

- A drink (so I can use the ‘clientele’ bathroom…)

Hope this helps!

- Maria

Ask Me Anything; “What do you think happens when you die?”

Today on Untapd’s “Ask Me Anything”…

Pierce Asks: “What do you think happens when you die? What do you think is beyond the universe?”

To start off, I’d like to say thank you, Pierce, for your question. Before I begin to give you my response, I would like to make sure a few things are clear. I do adhere strongly to faith, however, I have my own set of morals that I abide by. I am very flexible, I don’t believe religion defines anyone. I think there is good and bad in people from all walks of life, and it is our responsibility to take the good.

Moving on to your first question; I believe that when we die, we go to either hell or heaven. However, I don’t believe heaven has pearly white gates, or that hell is a boiling pot of lava. I take as more of an emotional state. I believe that depending on our deeds and intentions, we either die with peace of mind, or a certain sensation of recklessness (which would be hell).

I don’t like to think of things to an extreme. I take things one step at a time, for me, this whole meaning of death is just a natural part of life, it’s science. I am a believer in science, I also believe that human’s have souls. After we die, I believe our souls live on. I believe that heaven, and hell are emotional states that our souls are left with after death. For every person, death would be a different meaning and experience, as is life.

Now for your second question; I don’t know what is beyond the universe. However, it is interesting to ponder, it can leave me with a feeling of greatness, and at other times it can leave me feeling so insignificant. I think that’s the beauty of it, humans need to feel both to stay grounded. I don’t consume myself thinking of what is, and what isn’t. I will admit, that I do think there is more beyond the universe. I am not sure how I feel about the stereotypical alien, but I do think there is alot more to be discovered out there.

What are your thoughts/ opinions?

Hope this helps, and thanks once again!

PS. Keep the questions coming folks, you can comment on anything from my “Ask Me Anything” entries to leave me a question / feed back.

- Maria

Ask Me Anything; “What is your opinion on homophobia…”

Today on Untapd’s “Ask Me Anything”, I will start by answering the first question I received on the last blog entry.

Tina Asks:  “What is your opinion on homophobia and it’s current effects on the canadian population?”

To start off, let’s make sure that we are on the same page. The definition of Homophobia is: The fear or dislike of homosexuals (lesbians, gays). A homosexual is defined as; someone who is sexually attracted towards the same sex.

Alright, now that I have stated the obvious, I’m going to proceed to answering your question. I’ll state my position, I am against homophobia. Not to say I encourage parading around naked on the streets making out with people of the same sex to show one’s pride. Homosexuality and homophobia are a touchy subjects. I think it’s in everyone’s rights to be entitled to their own likes/dislikes. Hence the question regarding liking or disliking homosexuals is not of importance. In my opinion, I think there are many people need to toughen up, and learn to live with the fact that there are and always will be different types of people around the world.

I find it sad that Canada being a liberal country can discriminate on the bases of sexual orientation. There have been many cases in the past where homosexuals in Canada have been denied a career, undergone tormentation etc. due to personal prejiduce from the employer on homosexuals. I agree that it is hard for people of many faiths to accept homosexuality, but the fact is, hurting homosexuals, denying them of personal rights, and tormenting them is something very – very low. If it’s something that people are so much against, Canada gives them the freedom of speech for a reason. I think it’s alright to try proving a point, with a calm conversation. Rather than denying a human of basic needs.

Currently homophobia has played a grand role within the Canadian society. There’s actually something that I just cleared out, Homosexual marriages ARE legal in Canada. It is the religious leaders that aren’t approving to providing the religious ceremonies. Although there are some religious leaders who are performing same sex marriages. I think homophobia on this count, will take time to change. Religious leaders aren’t likely to do something that goes against their teachings of faith. The future out look on this can be pretty interesting, we’ll just have to see where time takes us.

Opinions anyone?

Hope this helps!

Thank you, Tina, for your question. Thank you Scarlet, for the clarification! =)

- Maria