I’ve been sitting here working away for the last 2 years and have noticed that I can no longer fit into my size 32 waist trousers any more.

It’s probably the worst time for it but I’m going to start getting up early and going for a run in the morning. I’m still going to eat the same amount and I’ll record both my weight and my waist size here each week and let you know of my progress.

If anyone else wants to join in feel free to post your results in the comments.

I reckon I’ll start on Monday because I don’t actually own any scales yet and won’t be down the street until Saturday.

I may pick up a pedometer to help me track my steps.

What started as a practical joke played at the expense of myself by other members at Digital Point Forums has turned into a prize filled aggressive competition in which the winner walks away with over $1000USD worth of prizes.

The thread which was started by myself was about the reputation system which has become a voodoo subject at Digital Point. I quickly realised my mistake and wanted the thread to close.

Much to my discomfort other members starting donating prizes for the last person who posts on the thread with a 24 hour gap. Now the members are aggressively fighting for the prize which only results in the thread growing bigger and bigger and bigger…….

Will you be the lucky poster?

The chemical abstracts in all their wisdom decided to give a certain Tobacco Masaic Virus the name Acetyl­seryl­tyrosyl­seryl­iso­leucyl­threonyl­seryl­prolyl­seryl­glutaminyl­phenyl­alanyl­valyl­phenyl­alanyl­leucyl­seryl­seryl­valyl­tryptophyl­alanyl­aspartyl­prolyl­isoleucyl­glutamyl­leucyl­leucyl­asparaginyl­valyl­cysteinyl­threonyl­seryl­seryl­leucyl­glycyl­asparaginyl­glutaminyl­phenyl­alanyl­glutaminyl­threonyl­glutaminyl­glutaminyl­alanyl­arginyl­threonyl­threonyl­glutaminyl­valyl­glutaminyl­glutaminyl­phenyl­alanyl­seryl­glutaminyl­valyl­tryptophyl­lysyl­prolyl­phenyl­alanyl­prolyl­glutaminyl­seryl­threonyl­valyl­arginyl­phenyl­alanyl­prolyl­glycyl­aspartyl­valyl­tyrosyl­lysyl­valyl­tyrosyl­arginyl­tyrosyl­asparaginyl­alanyl­valyl­leucyl­aspartyl­prolyl­leucyl­isoleucyl­threonyl­alanyl­leucyl­leucyl­glycyl­threonyl­phenyl­alanyl­aspartyl­threonyl­arginyl­asparaginyl­arginyl­isoleucyl­isoleucyl­glutamyl­valyl­glutamyl­asparaginyl­glutaminyl­glutaminyl­seryl­prolyl­threonyl­threonyl­alanyl­glutamyl­threonyl­leucyl­aspartyl­alanyl­threonyl­arginyl­arginyl­valyl­aspartyl­aspartyl­alanyl­threonyl­valyl­alanyl­isoleucyl­arginyl­seryl­alanyl­asparaginyl­isoleucyl­asparaginyl­leucyl­valyl­asparaginyl­glutamyl­leucyl­valyl­arginyl­glycyl­threonyl­glycyl­leucyl­tyrosyl­asparaginyl­glutaminyl­asparaginyl­threonyl­phenyl­alanyl­glutamyl­seryl­methionyl­seryl­glycyl­leucyl­valyl­tryptophyl­threonyl­seryl­alanyl­prolyl­alanyl­serine

This was recorded as the longest real word at 1185 characters which beats PNEUMONO­ULTRA­MICRO­SCOPIC­SILICO­VOLCANO­CONIOSIS by… well a lot of characters!!

Some of the symptoms of this virus are;

- flaky skin
- nausea
- Hemorrhoids
- High temperatures

Many tests were done on the Black Crested Tufted Titmouse (shown right) as this bird was found to be 17 times more sensitive to the virus than humans. Unfortunately no cure was found but the research continues.

You can find more about the research and breakthroughs that the Chemical Abstract Service make at http://www.cas.org