Best 10 Boxers of All Time

1. Sugar Ray Robinson; 179 W, 19 L, 6 D, 2 NC, 109 KO
Born Walker Smith Jr., May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989 made his professional debut on October 4, 1940. Sugar Ray Robinson is admittedly the hands down choice of top boxer of all time and to this date, no one comes close of surpassing or even equaling his achievement as a boxer.

2. Muhhamed Ali; 56 W, 5 L, 37 KO
Born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky. He had an unorthodox style for a heavyweight boxer relying on foot speed and quickness to avoid punches and carried his hands low.  Muhammad will come down in boxing history as one of the greatest human being that has fought in the square canvas.

3. Henry Armstrong; 150 W, 21 L, 101 KO
Henry Jackson Jr., born December 12, 1912 was the only boxer to hold three world championships at the same time. These titles included the Featherweight, Lightweight, and Welterweight crowns. He also defended the Welterweight championship more times than any other fighter.

4. Julio Cesar Chavez; 104 W, 5 L, 2 D, 80 KO
Julio Cesar Chavez was born on July 12, 1962 in Ciudad Obregon, Mexico. He is the ultimate Mexican champion of all time. He began boxing as an amateur at the age of sixteen and had demolished practically all the top fighters during his time. He went on to fight for 13 years with a unblemished record.

5. Joe Louis; 68 W, 3 L, 54 KO
Joseph Louis Barrow  born May 13, 1914–April 12, 1981 nicknamed the Brown Bomber, he is considered to be one of the greatest in boxing history. Among his numerous victories Louis coined two of boxing’s most famous quotes: “He can run, but he can’t hide” and “Everyone has a plan until they’ve been hit.”

6. Roy Jones; 49 W, 3 L, 38 KO
Born January 16, 1969.  His selection may raise not a few eyebrows as there are a lot of skeptics on the circumstances of his being propelled to championship status. Jones started his rap music career in 2001 with his successful album, titled Round One: The Album and the debut single, “You all Must’ve Forgot”.

7. Archie Moore; 181 W, 24 L, 9 D, 1 NC, 145 KO
December 13, 1913 – December 9, 1998. If only for his impressive and superhuman career record, the Old mongoose could well have been the greatest. His fighting career spanned all four decades and has knocked out more fighters than any of the other great fighters in this top 10 list.

8. Marvin Hagler; 62 W, 3 L, 2 D, 52 KO
Born  in Newark, New Jersey, May 23, 1954. Because he felt that he did not receive enough credit for his accomplishments, Hagler legally changed his name to Marvelous Marvin Hagler. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest middleweights of all time. Later in life he moved to Italy, where he made low budget movies.

9. Sugar Ray Leonard; 36 W, 3 L, 1 D, 25 KO
Born May 17, 1956. He is an epitome of a scientific fighter and a genius on top of the ring. He can get into the minds of his opponent to inflict the most serious jabs to bring them to submission. One of the most memorable of all is the infamous “no mas” episode with Roberto Duran.

10. George Foreman; 76 W, 5 L, 68 KO
Born January 05, 1949. This fighter has always been haunted by his own ghost. After his triumphal rise to fame, his crashing defeat in the hands of Ali has left him devastated more on the spirit than on his physical side. He has named  all five of his sons George because: “In this career, you have to prepare for long term brain damage.”

10 Most Expensive Currency In The World

This list is ranked as per their value against Dollar. Most valuable currency doesn’t necessarily mean that the currency is better investment option or that it represents a better economic health of a nation.

1. Kuwaiti Dinar
1 KWD= 3.65 USD
In an area slightly smaller than New Jersey, lies the home of the world’s most valuable currency. Kuwait has been involved in talks this year with five other Gulf Arab monarchies to form a single currency. The Kuwait currency is currently pegged to the dollar.

2. Maltese Lira
1 MTL=3.50 USD
The small island country, which is approximately twice the size of Washington DC, is home to the second most valuable currency, but not for much longer.

3. Bahraini Dinar
1 BHD= 2.66 USD
A small island nation, approximately 3.5 times the size of Washington DC, Bahrain is geographically central in relation to its Persian Gulf neighbors. Its industry relies on petroleum production and refining, as well as financial services and construction. With an exchange rate to the US dollar at around $2.66 for one Bahraini Dinar, it’s the third most valuable currency in the world. It’s also expected to be relatively steady, as it was officially pegged to the dollar in 2001.

4. Omani Rial
1 OMR = 2.60 USD
Oman, a country on the east coast of Africa, has had its currency exchange rate pegged to the dollar at a rate of 1 OMR = $2.60 US since 1986. With that pegged relationship holding firm, seems as though the Rial’s fate remains tied to the fate of the dollar.

5. Cyproit Pound
1 CYP= 2.53 USD
With the small island nation relying heavily on tourism, one wonders whether people would more willingly loosen their wallets if it wasn’t the home of the world’s fifth most valuable currency

6. Latvian Lats
1 LVL= 2.135 USD
One Lats is currently worth $2.135 US. The country, about the size of West Virginia, has entered the process to phase out the Lat in favor of the Euro, which is expected to be the official currency around 2012.

7. UK Pound Sterling
1 GBP=2.068 USD
This holiday season, it seems now more than ever, citizens of the UK are taking advantage of their favorable exchange rate and coming to the US, where for them everything is half-off.

8. Euro
1 Euro= 1.482 USD
Officially introduced in 1999, the multinational Euro didn’t begin changing hands until January 2001. After a rocky start, the Euro has gained on the dollar for years.

9. Jordanian Dinar
1 JOD=1.4118 USD
Jordan may lack water and crude oil but the Mideast kingdom has one thing going for it – a strong currency.

10. Cayman Islands Dollar
1KYD= 1.21 USD
With no direct taxation, the islands thrive as an offshore financial center, with hundreds of banks, insurers and mutual funds. One Cayman Islands Dollar equals $1.21 US.

Funny Programming Languages Name

1 Brainfuck

As the name , so is the craziness   

It was the invention of Urban Müller, designed to realize its implementation in the smallest possible compiler, and his master-plan came into existence in 1993. Known for its extreme minimalism, and controversial name, Bf comprises of only 8 commands +-. <>, [] and is practically useless, however recently few decoders have been designed to render it useful enough.

2 BeFunge

Originally created by Chris Pressey in 1993 extremely weird because basically the language models programs to be metric spaces attached with a co-ordinate system. One could never imagine that the instruction pointer could be even used in such an unorganized manner. What’s more it has even further developed into Befunge, and there have been several standards defined such as uni-funge for uni-dimensional and so on.

In Befunge, there is no comment syntax to embed documentation in the code, the programmer simply routes the control flow around the “comment” area, so that the text in that area is never executed.

3 Chef

Designed by David Morgan-Mar in 2002 . This language is more of a cooking recipe rather than a programming language. The variables tend to be named after basic foodstuffs, the stacks are called “mixing bowls” or “baking dishes” and the instructions for manipulating them “mix”, “stir”, etc. The ingredients in a mixing bowl or baking dish are ordered “like a stack of pancakes”.

Recipes will be metric, but may use traditional cooking measures such as cups and tablespoons.

4 Piet

Programs are bitmap graphics that look like abstract art designed by David Morgan-Mar, who also created Chef. Named after geometric abstract art pioneer, Piet Mondrian; the originally intended name, Mondrian, was already taken.

There are 20 colors for which behavior is specified: 18 “colorful” colors, which are ordered by a 6-step hue cycle and a 3-step brightness cycle; and black and white, which are not ordered. When exiting a “colorful” color and entering another one, the performed procedure is determined by the number of steps of change in hue and brightness.

5 LOLCODE

This is the height ! Actually , more than being crazy it’s very funny programming language, basically designed to amuse the users with resemblance of the speech of lolcats.

6 OMGROFL

Created in 2006 by Juraj Borza. The name comes from combining the slang “words” omg and rofl. Rofl is actually one of Omgrofl’s commands. Omgrofl is not case-sensitive, thus lol is the same as LoL. You may use this to produce “nicer” code.

Variables in Omgrofl must be a form of the slang word lol, like lol, lool, loool, looool, etc.

7 Velato

This one is for the music lovers, as Velato makes use of MIDI files as the input, with each command being determined by the interval between successive notes. Intended to allow for flexibility in composition, so functional programs will not necessarily sound like random notes.

Of course, like all MIDI files, Velato programs can also be represented as sheet music. Pictured above is sheet music – which you can listen to here.

8 Shakespeare

As it sounds, the language has been deliberately tweaked to frame programs resemble the plays of Shakespeare .

It was designed by Jon Åslund and Karl Hasselström. Like Chef , it is designed to make programs appear to be something other than programs; in this case,  Shakespearean plays.

The first line in a Shakespeare program is called the “title” and acts as a comment.

The “Dramatis Personae” is the section where variables are declared.

Each variable name must be the name of a character from a Shakespeare play.

A piece of code in Shakespeare is broken into “Acts”, which contain “Scenes”, in which characters (variables) interact.

Each Act and Scene is numbered with a roman numeral and serves as a GOTO label.

Hello World in Shakespeare

9 Whitespace

Designed in 2002, by Edwin Brady and Chris Morris, is an esoteric programming language that uses only whitespace characters as syntax. When it was released on April 1st, 2003, most people took it as an April Fools’ joke, which it wasn’t.

One of the most idiotic ones, which comprises of just the letter A, accompanied by commas, spaces and exclamations! It takes just the whitespaces into account, ignoring the non-whitespaces

10 Intercal

Compiler Language With No Pronounceable Acronym, INTERCAL was the end result of exceptional work by James M. Lyon and Donald R. Woods, who came up with a programming language in 1972, which was totally different from all other programming languages.

The full name of the compiler is ‘Compiler Language With No Pronounceable Acronym,’ which is, for obvious reasons, abbreviated ‘INTERCAL’. Common operations in other languages have cryptic and redundant syntax in INTERCAL.

You can’t make head or tail out of it, except the binary numbers .

Most Known Fiction Detectives

1. Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes, a creation by Arthur Conan Doyle, remains the archetypal detective who solves mysteries by logical reasoning. He appears in only four novels, of which “A Study in Scarlet” (1887) was the first, and “The Hound of the Baskervilles” (1902) the most famous. At least as important are the fifty-six short stories. Two of my personal favorites are “The Red-Headed League” and “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle”. Holmes believes in the science of deduction: the principle that any problem can be solved if the necessary information is given. He is surrounded by people who are less bright than him. Dr Watson is a good observer, and can relate the cases in detail as first person narrator, but he never comes to the correct conclusion by himself. Inspector Lestrade is the not too clever police investigator with a lot of tenacity once he’s on the right track. His archenemy Professor Moriarty only appears in two stories. As a private person Holmes is quite eccentric. He uses cocaine, and never gets romantically involved, although he does have feelings for Irene Adler from “A Scandal in Bohemia”. Of the many actors who have played Sherlock Holmes I’ll just mention Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett (photo).

2. Hercule Poirot

Hercule Poirot appears for the first time in Agatha Christie’s “The Mysterious Affair at Styles”, published in 1920. He is a retired Belgian police officer who came to England during World War I as a refugee. Poirot solves mysteries with his “little grey cells”, occasionally without even leaving his room. With his strong preference for symmetry, order and method, he has something of a comic book character. Captain Arthur Hastings is his best friend, who relies too much on his intuition to solve a mystery by himself, but often helps Poirot with his observations and accidental remarks. Poirot’s secretary, Miss Lemon, is very efficient, but in contrast to Hastings she doesn’t have any imagination. Chief Inspector Japp from Scotland Yard isn’t too bright, but Poirot often sends him in the right direction. Detective writer Ariadne Oliver, who is partly based on Agatha Christie herself, believes in female intuition. Poirot is surely one of the greatest fictional detectives, because he was involved in so many unforgettable crime novels, including “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd”, “Murder on the Orient Express” and “Death on the Nile”. Poirot was brought to life in movies by actors Albert Finney and Peter Ustinov, and by David Suchet (photo) in the ITV series.

3. Miss Marple

Agatha Christie’s Miss Jane Marple appeared first in a series of short stories in a magazine, later collected as “The Thirteen Problems”. This elderly spinster with a remarkable talent for amateur sleuthing can be followed in twelve crime novels, including “The Murder at the Vicarage” (1930) and “The Body in the Library” (1943). She lives in the small village of St Mary Mead, where she finds the opportunity to study human nature. She sees analogies with people and events she knows from village life, which helps her to solve many mysteries. Intuition and psychology are quite important to her. She can annoy the police investigators, who initially see her as an old busybody, until they have to admit she was right. I have to admit I used to be prejudiced against “the old bat” myself, but after reading her stories I became gradually convinced that she belongs to The Big Three of fictional detectives. She was played in movies by Margaret Rutherford and Angela Lansbury, and on TV by Helen Hayes, Joan Hickson (photo) and Geraldine McEwan.

4. Lord Peter Wimsey

Lord Peter Wimsey was created by British author Dorothy L. Sayers. He’s the archetypal gentleman detective. Solving crimes is a hobby for him. In the second novel “Clouds of Witness” (1926), he has to take action because his brother is suspected of murder. He’s a round character with a past. After getting injured during World War I he was rescued by his later manservant Bunter, who also helps him with his investigations. Wimsey falls in love with Harriet Vine, and marries her. He likes to cooperate with Chief Inspector Charles Parker from Scotland Yard. These novels are still worth reading, because they are simply good literature with a broad perspective on British society in that era. Wimsey himself may be a gentleman, but he meets people from the lower classes, like the farmer in “Clouds of Witness” who suspects Wimsey of having an affair with his wife. Several actors have played Lord Peter Wimsey, including Ian Carmichael (photo) in a BBC series.

5. Jules Maigret

Commissaire Jules Maigret is the only one in this top ten whose stories were not written in English, but in French. Although his author, Georges Simenon, was Belgian, Maigret himself is French and works in Paris. He holds a quantity record by appearing in seventy-five novels and twenty-nine short stories. Maigret usually smokes a pipe, drinks a lot and wears a heavy overcoat. He’s a more realistic character than most of his colleagues in the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. His method of investigation comes close to the way a real policeman would work. His successes are based on team work, routine research and tenacity, rather than individual brilliancy. Maigret has been played by several TV actors, of which Jean Gabin was the first, and Bruno Cremer (photo) the most famous.

6. Inspector Roderick AlleynDetective Chief-Inspector Roderick Alleyn (pronounced “Allen”) is a British detective who appears in thirty-two novels by New Zealand writer Ngaio Marsh. It started with “A Man Lay Dead” in 1934, when a murder game ends with a real murder. Other examples are “Vintage Murder”, “Artists in Crime”, and “Overture to Death” – where the murder method is especially interesting. As the younger brother of a baronet Alleyn is another example of a gentleman detective. He works for Scotland Yard, where he eventually reaches the rank of Chief Superintendent. Society journalist Nigel Bathgate often helps him during his investigations. Initially a bachelor, Alleyn later marries painter Agatha Troy. Of the three actors who have played him in TV adaptions the best known is Patrick Malahide (photo).

7. Sam Spade

Private detective Sam Spade was invented by Dashiell Hammett. He only appears in one novel and three short stories, but remains important as the first example of a detective in the hard-boiled genre. Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, among others, was inspired by Sam Spade. Spade is the main character in “The Maltese Falcon” (1930). He runs a detective agency in San Francisco with his partner Miles Archer, who gets killed early in the novel. He’s not afraid of a fist fight or firearms. He appears to be cynical, but still has a sense of duty. The story also involves a typical femme fatale. He was played by several actors, of which the most famous remains Humphrey Bogart (photo) in the movie adaption of 1941.

8. Philip Marlowe

Philip Marlowe is a private investigator created by American author Raymond Chandler. He appeared for the first time in “The Big Sleep”, in 1939. Other well-known titles are “The Lady in the Lake” and “The Long Goodbye”. Marlowe belongs to the hardboiled direction, influenced by Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade. He smokes and drinks a lot. He lives in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The stories are set in the more dangerous neighbourhoods in and around this city. Violence, drugs and tough language occur frequently. Marlowe has been played by a lot of actors, including Humphrey Bogart in “The Big Sleep” and Powers Boothe (photo) in the ITV series “Philip Marlowe, Private Eye”.

9. Kinsey Millhone
Private detective Kinsey Millhone was created by American author Sue Grafton. She appears in the alphabet series: “A Is for Alibi”, “B Is for Burglar” etc. She lives in an apartment in Santa Teresa, California. This fictional town based on Santa Barbara was invented by another writer, Ross MacDonald. Kinsey is a bachelorette who runs a lot to stay in shape, and has an affair from time to time. I like these novels because they are entertaining and have a fast pace and strong plot. There’s always a certain amount of action involved too. There hasn’t been a film or TV adaption of these stories yet – maybe an idea for the future.

10. Detective Inspector Thomas Linley

Inspector Linley is a British detective created by the American author Elizabeth George. He’s the eighth Earl of Asherton. He solves crimes with his Scotland Yard colleague Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, who has a working class background. In the third Linley novel, “Well-Schooled in Murder”, Linley and Havers solve a homicide case in an elite British public school, which is remarkably well depicted for a non-British author. George always prepares her novels by studying real locations in England, which makes her stories more realistic than those of many other crime writers. Linley himself is a round character with weaknesses. His relationship with Lady Helen Clyde evolves through the novels. Linley and Havers are portrayed by Nathaniel Parker and Sharon Small (photo) in the BBC series “The Inspector Linley Mysteries”.

Tips For Travellers

1. A good backpack

Sure, you might have some fancy luggage in your closet but if you’re going to be traveling independently on trains, buses, or by foot, you’ll soon be sick and tired of dragging that rolling suitcase behind you.
That’s why I bought the Kelty Redwing 3100 (read my review) for as my main pack when traveling. I’ve gone through three packs before I found this one. It holds about 50 liters of gear, has great padding, and can be adjusted to fit snug and comfortably.
And as a final testimonial, I had shoulder surgery a year before using this for the first time and I never once got sore wearing this bag.
Of course, everybody’s tastes will differ. It might be a good idea to try on a few at your local outdoors store, but with this model being such a bargain, it might be worth the risk to just give it a shot and return it if it doesn’t work out. Note: good backpacks can run upwards of $300.  They might have more space or pockets, but unless you’re packing snow clothes, you shouldn’t need more than 40-50 liters of space.
Best part about this pack, you can carry it on the airplane!

2. A good day pack
Not everybody will need a second bag, but it can be useful of you will have a base location and be venturing out on hikes or day trips. It’s much easier to leave your large bag behind and load up your day pack with the things you’ll need to get you through the day.
Almost any backpack will do but I particularly like the North Face Recon pack. It holds plenty of gear and is extremely comfortable. As with the Kelty bag, this is one of the first bags I’ve had that doesn’t hurt my shoulders despite loading it up daily with a gallon of water and other junk.
You’ll probably want to have a pack that can hold a water bladder, or at the very least, pockets for water bottles.  You can never have enough water with you!

3. Lonely Planet guide books
Depending on where you’re going, you’ll likely have a choice of several guidebooks. Over the years I have found Lonely Planet to be the most accurate and helpful for the independent traveler. They tend to cover all types of restaurants and accommodations from the bottom of the barrel budget hostels to five star luxury resorts. Several times I have brought two different guidebooks with me and every time, I end up relying solely on the Lonely Planet.

4. Rough Guide books
Ok, I wasn’t entirely truthful before. When in Morocco I found myself relying a bit more on the Rough Guide. Since Morocco is a bit difficult to navigate, I often utilized information from both books to determine the best route or activity.
On the other hand though, I’ve browsed other Rough Guides at the book store and some have not been very good. When in doubt, check the reviews on Amazon.

5. Digital Camera

This probably goes without saying as many people don’t leave home without their camera these days.  My trusty pocket camera is a Nikon S600 which has recently been replaced by the Nikon S610.
You can’t go wrong with just about any modern digital camera and the choices are endless.
I also use a professional Nikon D200 body, but often I find myself leaving it behind and relying on my smaller camera. It’s easier to carry and takes great photos. Don’t forget, most of these small cameras also record movies now. The quality may not be as good as an expensive camcorder, but they work surprisingly well.


6. iPod touch
Can you tell that I’m a bit of a gadget freak yet? I’ve always brought an iPod along with me ever since I began traveling. You won’t find me walking around the street with headphones in my ears (I prefer the sound of the world around me), but they are great on airplanes and long train rides.
Earlier this year I learned how great my new iPod touch really was. Not only could I use it to listen to music and watch videos on, but its built in WiFi allowed me to hop on to the Internet at every hostel I’ve been at this year and keep in touch with my friends and family. Check your email, surf the web, even post to your blog. Not to mention you can use it to find the latest information on happenings wherever you may be. I’ve since upgraded to an iPhone, but it is so powerful that I don’t even bother carrying a laptop with me anymore. Not even for business trips!

7. Bpa free water bottle
Ok, enough with the gadgets. No matter where you are, you’ll need to drink water. Depending on where you are, bottled water can often be much more expensive than you’re used to. Solution? Carry your own bottle and refill it with tap water. Just be sure the water is safe to drink where you are visiting!
These CamelBak BPA free water bottles are  great.  Safe to use, strong as heck, and spill proof.  I carry a 1 liter bottle with me every day.

8. Hiking shoes

 

You might not need shoes specific to hiking but if you’ll be doing any treading on uneven ground you’ll surely appreciate them.
They’ve evolved over the years to fit and look more like regular old sneakers and less like the mountaineer boots of yesteryear so you won’t feel dorky wearing them around the city as well.




9. Sport sandals
These are something I wish I had in Costa Rica (and now I do). I tried to make due with my sneakers but every stream, lake, or waterfall we came to I had to sit down and take off my socks and shoes. Then try to keep them dry as I crossed the river only to put them right back on.  I’ve learned my lesson.
They’ll do for mild to medium hikes and you don’t have to take them off when you want to get wet.

10. Quick drying towel

 

Last but not least is a quick drying, lightweight towel. They’re thin, light, extremely absorbent, and dry quickly. Much easier to carry than a regular cotton towel, they dry so quickly that they won’t get mildew easily.  Perfect for camping or showering at hostels where you generally need your own towel.  Some hostels will let you use a towel, but there is often a charge. I won’t travel without one anymore.
That’s it! Throw in a few t-shirts and a couple pairs of shorts and you have my backpack, loaded and ready to see the world.
Do you have any suggestions or special items that you can’t travel without?  Please share them in the comments below.
I hope you found this list useful.  If so, and you plan to purchase any of these items or anything else from amazon, I will earn a small percentage of any sales made through the above links.