How to spin a pen around your thumb

Things you will need
1. Ideally a pen or pencil of a decent length and devoid of protruding parts.
2. Some spare time.
3. Patience.

Guide
1. Hold the pen between the thumb and the first finger, with the center of the pen to the left of the thumb (if you are right handed).
2. Place your second finger onto the side of the pen (roughly where the center is). Just let the finger make contact with the pen.
3. With your second finger, gently push the pen in a circular motion, and try to get it to rotate around the thumb, and remember to release your grip with the first finger.
4. As the pen travels around the thumb, move your first finger away from the hand, ready to catch the pen.
4. Close your first finger to catch the pen as it completes one counterclockwise revolution (right handed).

Tips
1. Use the first finger to hold the pen, and the second to push. Don't try to push with both, or hold the pen with both.
2. This may take a few days to perform competently, and will take patience.
3. Find a longer pen to practise with if you are struggling.
4. Don't push too hard on the pen, only a small amount of force is needed to get it to travel around the thumb.

The mystery of the blue lines on the ski slope

Robert Frost once asked, "You see the snow-white through the white of frost?" Yes, Robert, we at the Fourth-Place Medal Investigative Unit do see the snow-white. Except there are also various shades of blue painted on it.

One of the most popular queries so far during the 2010 Winter Olympics has been about the blue lines that are painted on the downhill skiing course at Whistler. Try watching Lindsey Vonn race without wondering what they're for, why they're there and, most importantly, why the heck they're painted blue.

Because of our desire to impart Olympic-related knowledge upon those who seek it, the FPMIU today looks at the mystery of the blue lines on the ski slope:

The two vertical blue lines are intended to give skiers a clear path down the mountain. It's a safety issue. Much like with pre-schoolers and coloring books, there is no penalty for going outside the lines. However, downhill skiers can't stray too far outside because the guide is flush with the limited number of control gates that competitors must pass through. Staying in the middle isn't necessarily the best path.

There are also horizontal lines stretching across the course. Those exist to provide depth perception to the racers. Ever stepped into a snowbank that was a lot deeper than it looked? Now try going downhill at 90 mph and doing the same thing.

Numerous methods have been used in the past for safety reasons (the blue line is a relatively recent development in the long history of skiing), with pine needles serving as the most popular. Race officials often sprinkle the needles at the bottom of a jump so skiers know where the landing area is.

Lines are painted before the race by an official wearing a backpack spray tanker. Why blue? Because it pops and looks better than red.

The FPMIU would like to thank Doug Haney of the United States Ski and Snowboard Assocation for his assistance. If you have an Olympic mystery you'd like solved, leave it in the comments section or ask us on Twitter.

Parting Shot: Keeping Your Eye on the Ball- Tennis

Perhaps, the most often heard comment in a lesson is, “Keep your eye on the ball until it hits the strings”.
The simple answer is, no human has ever seen a ball hit the strings because
(1) the ball is on the strings approximately four milliseconds, and
(2) the human eye can’t record a four millisecond event.

A coach may have something else in mind when using this overused phrase. If you pretend as though you are watching the ball onto the strings, your head will remain still and will not hinder your swing pattern. Biomechanical studies have proven that the swing pattern lacks consistency when a player’s head makes a sudden shift during the striking phase. Thus, even though your brain may have sent down a signal for a perfect stroke, it may have also sent a message to shift your head, which will inevitably break down a well formed stroke pattern.

Source: SingaporeTennisAcademy.com

Playing Cards- Diamond, Spade, Club, Hearts history

A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper, thin cardboard, or thin plastic, figured with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games. Playing cards are typically palm-sized for convenient handling.

A complete set of cards is called a pack or deck, and the subset of cards held at one time by a player during a game is commonly called a hand. A deck of cards may be used for playing a great variety of card games, some of which may also incorporate gambling. Because playing cards are both standardized and commonly available, they are often adapted for other uses, such as magic tricks, cartomancy, encryption, board games, or building a house of cards.

The front (or "face") of each card carries markings that distinguish it from the other cards in the deck and determine its use under the rules of the game being played. The back of each card is identical for all cards in any particular deck, and usually of a single color or formalized design. The back of playing cards is sometimes used for advertising. For most games, the cards are assembled into a deck, and their order is randomized by shuffling.

Tennis Myth :Keep your eye on the ball

Perhaps, the most often heard comment in a lesson is, “Keep your eye on the ball until it hits the strings”.
The simple answer is, no human has ever seen a ball hit the strings because
(1) the ball is on the strings approximately four milliseconds, and
(2) the human eye can’t record a four millisecond event.

A coach may have something else in mind when using this overused phrase. If you pretend as though you are watching the ball onto the strings, your head will remain still and will not hinder your swing pattern. Biomechanical studies have proven that the swing pattern lacks consistency when a player’s head makes a sudden shift during the striking phase. Thus, even though your brain may have sent down a signal for a perfect stroke, it may have also sent a message to shift your head, which will inevitably break down a well formed stroke pattern.

Source: SingaporeTennisAcademy.com