Renter’s Horror Stories

Whether you’re moving out for the first time or a long time renter, this article is a must-read. There is renters heaven and renters hell, so soothe your burning memories of unbearable housemates and unfair landlords with the following horror stories.

The Surprise Under The Oven

“After coming back to my apartment post-wisdom-teeth-surgery-stay at my grandmother’s, I smelled something rotting. Then, I proceeded to see 5 mice before I fell asleep. First thing in the morning, I called my landlord to get an exterminator, but I couldn’t figure out what smelled so terribly. Turned out there were 5 dead rats wedged under the oven.”

The One That Smelled Of Fish

“I used to live above a fish store and on a hot summer day, the smell would take over the apartment — not to mention, attracted little critters to the house.” – Michelle Manetti, Associate Edior, HuffPost Home

The Landlord Who Stole The Bathtub

One story tells a landlord that removes the bathtub as won’t pay extra for carpets and curtains. He never specified this wasn’t part of the agreed price, yet took it upon themselves to take a Jacuzzi bathtub out of the deal.

If they are looking for a replacement, Shanghai Metal produces stainless steel kitchen and bathroom sinks. As an ISO 14001 (International Quality Management System) Company and recipient of the “Star Enterprise Award,” Shanghai Metal Corporation prides itself on exceeding international standards of quality and reliability. We guarantee the best prices, quality support, and fast delivery. To find out more, please visit our Website or send your inquiry here. Our English speaking personnel will be more than pleased to help you. Follow us on  LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Or you could try our new mobile app by scanning our QR code.

Sources: Telegraph, Huffington Post

Siobhan R.// SMC Editor

Read more articles by this author here.

 

#BuildingValueAcrossTheGlobe

广告

How Do You Lengthen A Ship? Cut It In Half Of Course

Have you heard of the infinite chocolate theory? See below for details:

Well that’s not quite what these engineers had in mind, but close. It can be expensive to build an entirely new ship – maybe that’s why one cruise line decided to recycle an old one. Italian line MSC Cruises has decided to cut its smallest ship Armonia in half and stick a new part in.

Over several days, the 60,000-ton vessel was cut in two and a new 79ft-long, nine-deck-high section containing 193 extra cabins was slowly slotted into place. The work that took place in the Fincantieri shipyard in Palermo, Sicily, increases the ship’s length to 902ft – longer than the main Canary Wharf tower in London is high – and makes space for a total of 2,679 passengers. The upgrade will take nine weeks and cost £40million – and then be repeated on three other MSC ships, Sinfonia, Opera and Lirica. The new Armonia is due to sail from the yard on November 17 – fully watertight, of course.

If they wanted to save some money, they could have called Shanghai Metal who manufactures carbon steel shipbuilding plate at competitive prices. As an ISO 14001 (International Quality Management System) Company and recipient of the “Star Enterprise Award,” Shanghai Metal Corporation prides itself on exceeding international standards of quality and reliability. We guarantee the best prices, quality support, and fast delivery. To find out more, please visit our Website or send your inquiry here. Our English speaking personnel will be more than pleased to assist you. Follow us on  LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Or you could try our new mobile app by scanning our QR code.

Source: Metro

Siobhan R.// SMC Editor

Read more articles by this author here.

 

#BuildingValueAcrossTheGlobe

‘Everything But The Kitchen Sink’ – British Slang Translated

Have you ever hung out with a British friend and laughed along with the joke, but just didn’t quite get it? You two may technically speak the same language, but when they use British slang it all goes out of the door.

Well, here are the main British slang phrases that I’m sure sounded like gibberish at the time but will now become crystal clear:

I’m not being funny but…- not to be rude, a precursor to an insult to soften the blow usually

Lost the plot – gone crazy

Cheers –an informal thank you

Quid – 1 unit of currency

Taking the pee/mick – mocking, taking advantage of someone

Sorry – very casually used, doesn’t always mean an apology

Dodgy – suspicious

Sick – Cool

Deep – Can mean either harsh or profound

Everything but the kitchen sink = every resource possible was used

Speaking of, Shanghai Metal produces stainless steel kitchen sinks at manufacturer prices. As an ISO 14001 (International Quality Management System) Company and recipient of the “Star Enterprise Award,” Shanghai Metal Corporation prides itself on exceeding international standards of quality and reliability.

We guarantee the best prices, quality support, and fast delivery – our English speaking personnel will be more than please to help you. To find out more, please visit our Website or send your inquiry here. Follow us on  LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Or you could try our new mobile app by scanning our QR code.

Sources: BBC America, Urban Dictionary, Anglotopia

Siobhan R.// SMC Editor

Read more articles by this author here.

 

#BuildingValueAcrossTheGlobe

Do Bombs Really Tick?

“Actually, baggage handlers don’t worry about ticking ’cause modern bombs don’t tick. But when a suitcase vibrates, then they gotta call the police. Nine times out of ten: it’s an electric razor. But… every once in a while… it’s a dildo.”

— Airport Security Officer, Fight Club

Movies are there to entertain, so its understandable they don’t waste time on specifics and science. However, some movies invest so much time in developing a scifi premise or a character’s vast expertise in bomb making that it’s slightly insulting when they present us with something so amateur. (See our past article ‘are locks as easy to pick as in the movies?’ for more on movie realism.)

This is older than television; if you look at animated cartoons from the early to mid 20th Century, one of the more common mayhem-related props is a bomb—black, bowling-ball-sized, with burning fuse stuck in the top, and possibly the word BOMB on it in big happy white letters.

On TV they always have blinking lights (red is a popular color), audible beepers and/or a timer counting down on them. Some bombs have all three. Older depictions have a loudly ticking alarm clock taped to a bundle of dynamite.

In reality, modern bombs that aren’t sanctioned by government are generally made not to be identified so wont tick, beep or otherwise indicate its true form. Military and construction bombs however are labeled to the extreme. Construction is due to health and safety, and military because as the majority are designed to explode on impact, labeling won’t affect their efficacy.

So to answer the question, no, bombs do not tick.

Shanghai metal manufactures the carbon steel strip for clockwork feeds which do indeed tick. As an ISO 14001 (International Quality Management System) Company and recipient of the “Star Enterprise Award,” Shanghai Metal Corporation prides itself on exceeding international standards of quality and reliability. We guarantee the best prices, quality support, and fast delivery. To find out more, please visit our Website or send your inquiry here. Follow us on  LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Or you could try our new mobile app by scanning our QR code.

Source: TV Tropes

Siobhan R.// SMC Editor

Read more articles by this author here.

#BuildingValueAcrossTheGlobe

Humor Through The Ages And Why It Changes Over Time

Why does our sense of humor change over time? At one point in our lives, armpit farting noises were the pinnacle of hilarity. At age five, nothing else could possibly top it. For some of us, nothing ever will. But for most people, what strikes us as funny changes drastically over time. There are also great spatial variations. What’s funny in one country will silence a room in another. Let’s have a look at what our ancient ancestors found funny:

Egyptians

“How do you entertain a bored pharaoh?”

“You sail a boatload of young women dressed only in fishing nets down the Nile and urge the pharaoh to go catch a fish.”

Egyptians maintain their political satire to this day with the following quip:

“Nasser was killed by poison, Sadat by a bullet and Mubarak by Facebook,”

Greeks

One ancient Greek idiot joke reads: “An idiot, wanting to go to sleep but not having a pillow, told his slave to set an earthen jar under his head. The slave said that the jug was hard. The idiot told him to fill it with feathers.”

There are also the comic insults, listed so as to be used in instant one-line put downs – “You don’t have a face, but a fireplace” reads one. But my particular favorites are the ‘doctor’ jokes: “A person went to a doctor and said “doctor, whenever I get up from sleeping, I’m groggy for a half an hour afterwards and only after that am I all right” To which the doctor replied: “Get up half an hour later.”

Romans

Another of the jokes – said to be dated to 248AD when Rome held what was billed as the ‘Millennium Games’ – tells the story of a distraught athlete.’

Never mind,’ says a spectator. ‘You can always try again at the next Millennium Games.’

There is also an ancient version of the Monty Python dead parrot sketch.

It reads: ‘A man buys a slave, who dies soon after. When he complains, the slave seller replies, “Well, he didn’t die when I owned him”.’

So humor is a static concept, changing due to circumstance and audience. Or maybe its due to a maturing appreciation for humor. Ultimately, humor is subjective, and is up to the individual to form.

This particular Roman joke was found in a 1,700 year old book during a metal detecting excavation in the UK, along with clay pots and old coins. Amateur metal detecting is said to make up 90% of all archeological finds, as our article about The Law of Finders Keepers described. Metal detectors are relatively easy and cheap to get your hands on, and are made of hardwearing stainless steel so you can continue your hobby for years.

Shanghai Metal manufactures value added stainless steel products similar to those mentioned. As an ISO 14001 (International Quality Management System) Company and recipient of the “Star Enterprise Award,” Shanghai Metal Corporation prides itself on exceeding international standards of quality and reliability. We guarantee the best prices, quality support, and fast delivery. To find out more, please visit our Website or send your inquiry here. Follow us on  LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Or you could try our new mobile app by scanning our QR code.

Sources: Daily Mail, Curiousity Discovery, History Extra, Smithsonian Magazine, Splitsider, BBC

Siobhan R.// SMC Editor

Read more articles by this author here.

#BuildingValueAcrossTheGlobe

How To Live Forever

Doctors have begun human trials of suspended animation to buy more time for critically injured patients. This is reminiscent of Hollywood movies where characters wake up in steel pods during space travel having been frozen for years at a time. For more on movie realism, see our article on what Hollywood finally got right about science.

However, this is not quite the concept Dr Tisherman of the USA has meant it for. Emergency preservation and resuscitation (EPR) uses an innovative rapid-cooling procedure to suspend life, similar to how surgeons induce hypothermia during some surgeries.

Dr Tisherman’s EPR process, developed with the help of $800,000 from the Department of Defense, is mostly about resurrection. The idea at this stage is to use equipment like the catheters and pumps that can be found in any trauma centre to suspend the life of critically injured people in order to buy more time for surgeons to try to save them.

EPR works by lowering the patient’s body temperature and replacing their blood with a cold saline solution. If the human trials are successful, the aim is to take the technique out into the field. For example, a paramedic might be able to use EPR to put a dangerously ill patient into a suspended state until they can be rushed to a specialist hospital. Such a system could also be used on the battlefield to evacuate injured soldiers.

Shanghai Metal produces the carbon steel used in surgical blades. As an ISO 14001 (International Quality Management System) Company and recipient of the “Star Enterprise Award,” Shanghai Metal Corporation prides itself on exceeding international standards of quality and reliability. We guarantee the best prices, quality support, and fast delivery. To find out more, please visit our Website or send your inquiry here. Follow us on  LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Or you could try our new mobile app by scanning our QR code.

Source: The Economist

Siobhan R.// SMC Editor

Read more articles by this author here.

 

#BuildingValueAcrossTheGlobe

Gentlemen Don’t Prefer Blondes

China has been known for its flagrant disregard for copyright laws, and has featured a number of international icons on its soil. The Eiffel Tower, Sphinx of Giza, Sydney Opera House, The US White House, and Rome’s Coliseum have all been featured in China’s landscape. Check out our other article about sculptures that you need to look at twice for more. But not all have been shown with the same reverence.  A 26ft-tall stainless steel Marilyn Monroe statue that took two years to make is left to languish in a Chinese tip.

She’s the quintessential American sex symbol. So it is perhaps very symbolic that the Chinese prepare to overtake the U.S. as the likely next global superpower, they’ve decided they don’t need her anymore.

This giant statue of Marilyn Monroe was left at the dump site of a garbage collecting company in Guigang, in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The 26ft-tall stainless steel statue, which weighs about nine tons, was made by several Chinese artists for over two years, based on the famous scene from her movie The Seven Year Itch.

The statue was transported to the garbage collecting company early this week for unknown reasons after being showed outside a business centre in the city for only 6 months, local media reported.

China has been investing infrastructure at a remarkable rate, including art and sculptures. For example, Shanghai Metal produces stainless steel used for statues. As an ISO 14001 (International Quality Management System) Company and recipient of the “Star Enterprise Award,” Shanghai Metal Corporation prides itself on exceeding international standards of quality and reliability. We guarantee the best prices, quality support, and fast delivery. To find out more, please visit our Website or send your inquiry here. Follow us on  LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Or you could try our new mobile app by scanning our QR code.

Sources: Daily Mail, NY Daily News, Reuters

Siobhan R.// SMC Editor

Read more articles by this author here.

 

#BuildingValueAcrossTheGlobe

Alien Machinery Found In Russia

300 million year old machinery has been found in Russia – experts say the steel gear is not the result of natural forces, and may be extraterrestrial.

According to Yulia Zamanskaya, when a resident of Vladivostok was lighting the fire during a cold winter evening, he found a rail-shaped metal detail which was pressed in one of the pieces of coal that the man used to heat his home.

Mesmerized by his discovery, the responsible citizen decided to seek help from the scientists of Primorye region. After the metal object was studied by the leading experts, the man was shocked to learn about the assumed age of his discovery. The metal detail was supposedly 300 million years old, and yet the scientists suggest that it was not created by nature but was rather manufactured by someone. The question of who might have made an aluminum gear in the dawn of time remains unanswered.

Shanghai Metal produces our current terrestrial supply of value added carbon steel products. As an ISO 14001 (International Quality Management System) Company and recipient of the “Star Enterprise Award,” Shanghai Metal Corporation prides itself on exceeding international standards of quality and reliability. We guarantee the best prices, quality support, and fast delivery. To find out more, please visit our Website or send your inquiry here. Follow us on  LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Or you could try our new mobile app by scanning our QR code.

Sources: Before Its News

Siobhan R.// SMC Editor

Read more articles by this author here.

#BuildingValueAcrossTheGlobe

4 Real-Life Hidden Treasures You Could Still Find

Have you ever dreamt as a child of finding buried treasure? Maybe you chased the end of a rainbow to find the pot of gold. Well, this article was written for the child inside you as we account for the hidden treasure that is still waiting to be discovered.

Over the years metal detecting enthusiasts have uncovered a number of treasures, including; underground stolen money (1946), pirate treasure (1952), a lost gold mine (1966) and an alleged J.F.K assassination bullet (1974). But many still await discovery.

El Dorado

Located just a couple hours north of Colombia’s capitol city of Bogotá, Lake Guatavita is believed to be the site of the El Dorado legend, with actual gold being recovered from the lake since the Spanish arrival in 1536. And, there are many more hidden treasures to be found, as the children’s movie proved.

Butch Cassidy’s Stash

He was such an outlaw that he even formed an outlaw group, called the Wild Bunch who buried $20,000 somewhere in Irish Canyon in Colorado USA.

Inca Treasure

There is between $12-60 million worth of treasure stolen from the Spanish guard who attempted to hide it during a revolt. It is theorized to be in the formerly known Cocos Island, near present day Costa Rica.

Nazi gold in Austria

In the last few months of World War II, Nazis sunk containers and various other objects into Lake Toplitz for still not entirely known reasons. Many divers have died trying to retrieve it, but what keeps interest so high in the lake is that many believe the Nazis sunk millions worth of gold, diamonds and other treasures, possibly even including art wonders.

So what are you waiting for? Shanghai metal produces the stainless steel used in metal detectors. As an ISO 14001 (International Quality Management System) Company and recipient of the “Star Enterprise Award,” Shanghai Metal Corporation prides itself on exceeding international standards of quality and reliability. We guarantee the best prices, quality support, and fast delivery. To find out more, please visit our Website or send your inquiry here. Follow us on  LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Or you could try our new mobile app by scanning our QR code.

Sources: National Geographic, Huffington Post

Siobhan R.// SMC Editor

Read more articles by this author here.

 

#BuildingValueAcrossTheGlobe

Virtual Reality Used To Teach

In a fast changing world, people can’t afford to ignore new technology. So, gaming equipment has been matched with an environmental cause to create a learning platform for sugar cane farmers in Australia.

Australian researchers use the online world of Second Life to teach sugar cane farmers about climate change and new technologies they can use to reduce water use and fertilizer run-off.

Second life is game with the tagline, “The largest-ever 3D virtual world created entirely by its users.” It is a 3D world where everyone you see is a real person, and every place you visit is built by people just like you. At its most basic level, Second Life is an online environment created by Linden Lab, a company based in San Francisco. Second Life is an online world in which residents create virtual representations of themselves, called avatars, and interact with other avatars, places or objects.

The pilot phase of the programme was so successful the plan’s being expanded to include 400 Queensland cane growers, so keep an eye out for this new teaching platform. This is not the first time unconventional teaching methods have been used, and may one day extend to children’s classroom. Gaming and education do not have to be separate entities in today’s innovative world.

 Shanghai Metal produces the carbon steel used in gaming equipment. As an ISO 14001 (International Quality Management System) Company and recipient of the “Star Enterprise Award,” Shanghai Metal Corporation prides itself on exceeding international standards of quality and reliability. We guarantee the best prices, quality support, and fast delivery. To find out more, please visit our Website or send your inquiry here. Follow us on  LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Or you could try our new mobile app by scanning our QR code.

Sources: News 24, Second Life, How Stuff Works

Siobhan R.// SMC Editor

Read more articles by this author here.

#BuildingValueAcrossTheGlobe