The XO Directory

Jem Stansfield, climbs the 40m (120ft) BBC building with a pair of vacuum gloves, while being watched by hundreds of people. He used an everyday vacuum cleaner to construct the kit.

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At more that 70 years old, Cathie Jung still got what it takes to be the Guinness World Records' living woman with the world's smallest waistline. Her waist measures a astonishing 15 inches. In fact she got a perfect (or imperfect) figure of 39-15-39.

A resident of Connecticut, USA, and dubbed the "Corset Queen", Cathie got her small waistline by wearing tight fitting corset which she wore 24/7 since 1983 - that's 26 years up to now. She first wore one in 1959, for her wedding day. And now she got around 100 of them.


(Image Source: Link)

After a nationwide search, the UK's oldest working TV was found in a home of a north London resident. This 1936 Marconiphone is said to have been made in the time that Britain's first "high-definition" television service started.

This old 12-inch (30cm) TV set is owned by an electrical engineer named Jeffrey Borinsky, who collects antique television and radio sets. He bought it 10 years ago and is working on restoring it to its original state.



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The July 22, 2009 eclipse is the longest solar eclipse of 21st century. It lasted a maximum of 6 minutes and 39 seconds and can be tatolly seen off the coast of Southeast Asia, particularly in China, India and Nepal. Many tourist have gathered to this country to witness this natural phenomenon.

Not to be surpassed until June 2132, the eclipse was the the second in the series of three eclipses in a one-month period, being book-ended by two minor penumbral lunar eclipses, first on July 7 and last on August 6.

Thousands of pilgrims gathered on the banks of the Ganges River in Varanasi, India to experience the eclipse as a religious or spiritual event. Some people expected that there would be a relationship, either positive or negative, between their health and the occurrence of the eclipse. Indian scientists observed the solar eclipse from an Indian Air Force plane

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If you've been to a lot of weddings, you might say that the entrance is the most exciting part to watch. But this couple, Jill and Kevin, made their wedding entrance extraordinary that you might not wanna miss this.

At the age of 16, David Wei Liang Howell became UK's youngest chess grandmaster. Born on November 14, 1990, and now 18 years old, Howell earned the title when he came second during the 35th Rilton Cup in Stockholm on January 2007. The record was previously held by Luke McShane who was six months older when he became a grandmaster.

Howell has been playing chess since the age of five years and eight months, after his father bought a second-hand chess set. He quickly learned and defeated his father and soon came to the attention of the Sussex Junior Chess Association, where he received tuition from a number of established county players. He progressed rapidly and became the British Under-8, Under-9 and Under-10 chess champion.

In August 1999, Howell became famous internationally when he broke the world record for the youngest player to have defeated a Grandmaster in an official game. He defeated GM John Nunn in a blitz game at the Mind Sports Olympiad. David still holds this record. He is also the youngest player in the world to have qualified to compete in a national chess championship, taking part in the British Chess Championship in August 2000. He came fourth in the Player of the Year ballot held by the British Chess Federation during 2000.

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If you want to protect your online profile or bank, you should know how to protect your password. Here are some tips you can use. :)

No one can see your passwords or whatever you're typing…

No one can see whatever you're typing or which website you're surfing…

And the ultimate is... hide your keyboard and monitor.



(Source: Forwarded Email)

On July 16, 2009, at age 17, Zac Sunderland became the youngest person to sail solo around the world, a record previously held by Australian David Dicks. Zac began his trip on June 14, 2008 at the Marina del Rey, California on board his sailboat he name Intrepid. After 13 months and 2 days at sea, he arrived at Marina del Rey, California greeted by his family and friends and a crowd of reporters, a world record holder.

When Sunderland decided to attempt the circumnavigation, he purchased a 36 feet (11 m) Islander for $6,000, using all of his savings. With the assistance of his father, he retrofitted the yacht for the trip. Sunderland planned to complete his voyage in April 2008 with a maximum time of 18 months. He continued his schooling while on his trip, saying, "I have all my books with me. I have one more year to finish at high school and I have to send back my tests (via e-mail) to my mom. She's going to grade them and make sure I am doing well.

Link (Image by: zacsunderland.com)

With just two knives - a Swiss army knife and a machete, Xavier Rosset, survived 300 days in the tropical forest of Tonga, in the uninhabited, 64-square-kilometre volcanic Pacific island called Tofua. His companion - a wild pig he captured in the island. But unlike Tom Hanks in the movie Cast Away, he said he didn't talked to the pig.

This young Swiss adventurer and former professional snowboarder, totally isolate himself and survive only on food and shelter got by his own hands. He said he did this to challenge the modern way of life that many of us got used to.

Rosset document his adventure with a video camera and will be aired later this year.

"It was hard, yes, very hard," Mr Rosset said, freshly arrived back in Europe after ending his 10-month stint in Tonga.

His island of choice was Tofua, a 64-square-kilometre volcanic isle home to nothing except "some pigs, lots of coconuts, a lake and tropical forest".

"At the beginning I had to try hard to survive," the former professional snowboarder said.

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The man with the world's longest hair is Tran Van Hay. This 73 year-old Vietnamese has hair that measures at approximately 6.2 meters long. Due to it's massive size, he balanced it on his head under a scarf which makes it looks like a giant turban.

Tran Van Hay is proud of his "achievement" and with the help of his wife would gladly unravel his hair on the table to show off.

Here's a pictures of Tran with his long hair that hasn't been washed for more than six years.


And a video of him showing it off.

Now we have an excuse to swear (you know, those F_ _k and S_ _T), because scientist discovered that it's not all bad. It can actually help reduce pain and make you tolerate it than any encouraging words can do. Scientist believe that the brain circuitry linked to our emotion is involved in this phenomenon.

So next time you're in a doctor's office for a flu shot, don't be shy to swear. Give this post to your doctor and he'll understand. Now I know why this lady is swearing a lot.

The study, published today in the journal NeuroReport, measured how long college students could keep their hands immersed in cold water. During the chilly exercise, they could repeat an expletive of their choice or chant a neutral word. When swearing, the 67 student volunteers reported less pain and on average endured about 40 seconds longer.

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If you've been eating this popular fruit, there's a big chances that you're not opening it like the experts, the monkeys. You see, it doesn't take a genius to open it, but if you want to know how to open a banana like a monkey does, you might wanna watch this.

If you're a big fan of BitTorrent, you might want to fire up your bittorrent client with one of the top ten most pirated movies on BitTorrent right now. RocknRolla, who was starred by 300's Gerard Butler, tops the list.

1. RocknRolla
2. Max Payne
3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
4. Igor
5. Saw V
6. City of Ember
7. Defiance
8. Bolt
9. Seven Pounds
10. The Wrestler

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If you are bored with theme parks and carnivals, why not hit the road and visit the world's largest roadside attractions. This super extra-large building and statues will certainly make your vacation days "overwhelming".

World's largest basket-shaped building, Newark, Ohio.

"Big Golden Guitar", located at Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia

The World's Largest Muskie, at the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame; Hayward, WI.

World's Largest Axe in Nackawic, New Brunswick

Paletta Grande. The big scoop aluminum sculpture situated posterior to Da Vinci's Horse is 12x12 foot with a 22 foot wood handle.

Salem Sue a.k.a. The World's Largest Holstein Cow, is a large fiberglass holstein cow sculpture located in New Salem, North Dakota

Big Pineapple at Nambour, Queensland

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In China, Jin Chang's small two-storey home is holding down a £300 million development scheme by refusing to abandon his home. His house the last one standing in the area in the center of a construction site. Jin Chang is asking more compensation before agreeing to demolish his house.

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Elise Tan Roberst is a 2 year old child from Britain with 156 IQ. She is the youngest member of MENSA, the oldest and best known high-IQ society in the world. At 2 years old, Elise can also recite the phonetic alphabet, count to 10 in Spanish and memorize the capital of 35 countries.



To give you an idea about how intelligent she is, consider this, Albert Einstein, named the greatest scientist of the 21st century has an IQ of 160. See her video below.

Rita Levi Montalcini is a 100 years old scientist from Italy who has recently celebrated her 100th birthday. Together with Stanley Cohen, she won a Nobel Prize in 1986 for discovering mechanisms that regulate the growth of cells and organs.

At 100 years old, Montalcini says that her mind is sharper than when she was at her 20's, which she attributed to her experiences in life.

"At 100, I have a mind that is superior — thanks to experience — than when I was 20," she told the party, complete with a large cake for her.

The Turin-born Levi Montalcini recounted how the anti-Jewish laws of the 1930s under Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime forced her to quit university and do research in an improvised laboratory in her bedroom at home.

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If you think you are safe with all this gadgetries in you position, watch this video and see how a GPS can leave you vulnerable to break-in to you house.

Who says a pet dog is vulnerable when it's away from it's home. Well, this one not the case. Sophie, a pet dog survived in island eating baby goats for four months. While her owners was, Dave and Jan Griffith, was on a sailing trip off the coast of Australia, Sophie fell into the water and was never found. Four months later, she was discovered in an island four miles from where she fell and was reunited with her owners.

Sophie’s mind-boggling survival story, chronicled on TODAY Tuesday, began as Jan and husband Dave took their pet along for a sailing trip off the coast of Australia last November. When the sea grew rough, Sophie dropped into the water.

“We searched well over an hour,” Jan Griffith told the Brisbane Times. “We thought once she hit the water she would have been gone because the wake from the boat was so big.”

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