I was at work a few years ago when a coworker walking by my desk let out a terrified squeal. “Your purse is on the floor! Don’t you know that’s bad luck?” Apparently, she was referring to a superstition which holds that to place your purse or wallet on the floor is to invite money troubles. I had never heard of this old wives’ tale and didn’t lend it much credibility, but on my way home, I did notice my lifelong habit of avoiding sidewalk cracks, surely a leftover from a youthful urge to protect my mother’s spinal health. 

Superstitions ascribe supernatural origins to things that humans don’t understand, and they occur across the world. Early humans had a lot that they didn’t understand, but modern people are much more enlightened. Superstitions about bad luck feel like the kind of things we tell gullible children, so why do I still see people knocking on wood, throwing salt over their shoulders, and refusing to walk under ladders? Exactly where do these strange superstitions come from, and do any have even the tiniest basis in reality?   

Don’t Spill the Salt!
Salt is one of our most ancient and versatile foodstuffs, used for preserving food as well as flavoring it. For most of history, it was incredibly valuable, too, sometimes even used as currency. Spilling such a precious commodity was akin to dumping the thirty-year-old Scotch down the drain. For anyone who was careless enough to waste salt, throwing a pinch over the left shoulder was said to keep the devil away, since he was sure to be following you after such a grievous offence. 

Walking Under Ladders Brings Bad Luck
This superstition has its roots in religion. Some Christians believe that any object with three points—like a ladder leaning against a house—represents the Trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Early Christians believed that to destroy or subvert a three-pointed object (like by walking through it) one was expressing disbelief in the Trinity, and would therefore probably go to Hell. As religious conviction softened, the promise of eternal damnation was relaxed to merely the threat of bad luck. I admit to following the rule against walking under ladders, but for a more practical purpose—I don’t care for things dropping on my head, as is wont to happen when people are working above. 

Un-Lucky Number Thirteen
Plenty of otherwise rational people are loath to schedule important events on the thirteenth of the month, and many buildings and towns don’t even include a thirteenth floor or thirteenth street, because so many people believe the number to be cursed. The origins of this superstition are factually tenuous, and there are many theories about how it came about. Christian theology teaches that Judas was the thirteenth guest at the Last Supper, making him unlucky. Norse mythology states that the god Loki, who was the thirteenth guest at a banquet, killed the hero, Balder. Not to mention the fact that several serial killers have thirteen letters in their name, like Charles Manson or Jeffrey Dahmer. Fear of the number thirteen even has its own name, triskaidekaphobia, and many sufferers refuse to be the thirteenth guest at a party, or to sit in row thirteen on an airplane for fear that some terrible fate will befall them. In reality, there’s no credible evidence to suggest anything sinister about any particular number, and in some cultures, the number thirteen is actually considered quite lucky. 

Shakespeare’s “Scottish Play”
Many actors refuse to say the name Macbeth, especially when they’re inside a theater. The play is said to be cursed, and is usually referred to as simply, “The Scottish Play.” Some accounts say that productions of Macbeth have been plagued by an unusually high number of accidents, injuries, and deaths on- and offstage, perhaps because the play itself is unusually ripe with fights, weapons, battles, and opportunities for things to go wrong. Since the play features three witches, some origin stories for the superstition say that the lines uttered by the witches are real curses, that real witches were offended by the play and cursed it, or that Shakespeare’s original prop master stole items from a real witches’ coven. The most likely explanation is that Macbeth, being one of the English language’s most enduring pieces of drama, is often put on by theaters trying to stave off bankruptcy, and the play eventually got a reputation as foreshadowing a theater’s demise.

Sacred Sneezes
All cultures offer some sort of blessing after a person sneezes. While the origins of the benedictions are muddled, it seems certain that primitive people thought that a person’s soul could leave the body through the nose, and asking for God’s protection was a way to prevent its escape. Romans, however, believed that sneezing expelled demons, and witnesses to a sneeze offered congratulations and support. During the sixth century, there was a plague raging, and the populace thought that sneezing was a symptom of impending death. Pope Gregory pronounced that the official response to a sneeze would be “God bless you,” which was thought to invoke divine protection for both the sneezer and the sneezed-upon. 

Even though we know that minor actions like opening an umbrella in the house have no bearing on our personal wellbeing, it’s hard to stop minding these deeply ingrained superstitions. For better or worse, they’ve become a part of our culture, even though nobody ever talks about the many serial killers without thirteen letters in their name, or the many people who walked under a latter and didn’t die. Even I lived for a year on the thirteenth floor of an apartment building and lived to tell the tale. So go ahead—put your hat on the bed, pick up a penny when it’s tails-up, or break a mirror. And if you’re ever in a production of Macbeth, break a leg.

Imagine this: If all the water in the world were somehow inside a water cooler, like the kind at your office, the amount of fresh, drinkable water would be one tablespoon.

And Americans are the world’s biggest water consumers, chugging, drinking, washing, flushing and irrigating without a second thought until most of us have used about 150 gallons a day each.

Compare that to the British who consume only 40 gallons a day, to the Chinese who average just 22 gallons a day, or to Kenyans, who scratch out a dry existence on less than 13 gallons a day.

In our soon-to-be-released Green Living Pulse study, we found that Americans’ engagement with water concerns actually fell a little bit from last year. About the same number of Americans say they’re concerned about the fresh water supply (69 percent), but fewer said they feel a sense of personal responsibility (64 percent, down from 75 percent).

This is serious point of concern. Water supplies are increasingly under pressure -- not only for drinking water, but also for generating power. We also use lots of water to power hydro-electric dams like Hoover Dam in Nevada. Lake Mead and Hoover Dam supply power to 2 million homes and businesses in Nevada, Arizona and California -- but Lake Mead is drying up. There’s a ring of mineral residue that’s 130 feet high all around the lake. Several scientists say there’s a good chance that Lake Mead will become a “mud pool” in the next dozen years or so if current trends continue.

Since 1998, the lake has lost more than half its water, more than 5.6 trillion gallons or enough to provide water for the entire country for about six months. The minimum water elevation needed to operate the generators is 1050 feet. As of last week, the water elevation level was 1088 feet, only 38 feet above the critical level.

Water conservation efforts aren’t making a big enough dent, perhaps because some cities in rain-scarce regions have some of the lowest residential water rates and the highest levels of water use. There’s no financial imperative. According to a recent study by Circle of Blue, a water news organization, a family of four using 400 gallons a day (100 gallons per person) will only pay $34.29 in Phoenix, but that number almost doubles to $65.47 in Boston. By the way, Boston gets about 10 times the amount of rain as Phoenix.

Tellingly, Bostonians used the least amount of water among major cities in the survey – only 41 gallons daily per person – compared with Fresno, California, residents who used the most – 211 gallons daily per person.

That’s because of the sad reality that declines in water consumption lead to higher rates -- the same phenomenon being felt across the country by power companies with energy efficiency programs -- has now spread to water utilities.

So what’s the true price of water?

Government subsidies have kept prices artificially low for decades but now a creaky, leaky infrastructure needs updating to the tune of $335 billion, according to the EPA.

Where’s that money going to come from? That’s a question for the budget hawks and politicians.

What can we do about this as marketers? This is an opportunity to get out ahead of consumers on this issue and take the lead. Manufacturers can reduce water usage in operations, produce goods that require less water and take water-wasting products off the shelves.

There’s an opportunity to invoke a philosophy of “paternalistic libertarianism” as author and behavioral economist Richard Thaler calls it, and make the better choice the default choice. Another way to approach this situation is to follow the proverbial carrot and stick strategy -- offer rebates on water-saving devices and higher prices for using high amounts of water.

Marketers can also get ahead of this issue and calculate the embedded water in their products and provide interested consumers with a transparent look at their water footprints. As more national retailers adopt environmental scorecards, this information will likely become more important to stay in the fight for shelf space.

If you’re not worried about water, maybe it’s time to start.

Don't believe what you've heard—the state of Windows gaming is still strong.

Nine months after Windows 7 hit the market, Microsoft has rehabilitated its reputation on desktop PCs. The company has effectively banished memories of Vista's poor performance. Still, PC game sales have been off this year, sometimes by more than a few percentage points, depending on the study.

It's tempting to mount a passionate defense of PC games. Others are already predicting a comeback, though whether or not PC gaming really left in the first place is an open question.

Regardless, we want to offer a clearheaded look at some of the issues affecting Windows 7 gaming in mid-2010. Some issues transcend the PC; for example, a big part of the problem is the increasing amount of cash it takes to develop a top-notch game—PC, console, or otherwise. The mixed reception of a few high-profile titles like Spore and F.E.A.R. 2 can easily put the fear in game industry executives hesitant to commit $15 million to anything less than a "sure thing."

Probably now more than ever, AAA titles have an easier time receiving funding if they're part of an existing franchise, be it yet another sequel to a proven series or a tie-in to an upcoming movie. Thankfully, independent developer studios are picking up the slack wherever necessary, and are creating innovative, original IPs like Machinarium, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, and Torchlight, all of which are just as much fun to play as $50 titles.

Still, there's plenty of reason to be optimistic—not the least of which is killer franchises like Mass Effect and BioShock, which we certainly want sequels for. Let's go through some of the latest hardware and software developments, with a quick survey of some of the best games and platforms they're available on. We'll also offer some thoughts on digital distribution and the current state of the gaming experience on PCs.

It turns out that our hobby has matured in some ways over the past few years—and moved in a few surprising directions.

Van Gogh in Paris in March 1886 in the studio of Fernand Corman, where he studied together an apartment in the Rue de Laval Theo in Montmartre. In June, they have to climb a higher level at 54 rue Lepic. Since there is no need to communicate by letters, less is about the time of Van Gogh in Paris known as sooner or later in life. He painted several scenes of Paris street in Montmartre and other places, such as bridges over the Seine at Asnieres (1887). During his stay in Paris, with Japanese ukiyo-e prints in the woods met. His interest in this work, the dates of your stay in Antwerp in 1885, when used to decorate the walls of his study. He has collected hundreds of specimens, and several of his paintings in the background can be seen. In his portrait of 1887 shows Tanguy already exposed several on the wall behind the character. shown in the courtesan or Oiran (after iron Kesai) 91 887), Van Gogh reproduction of an illustration on the cover of Paris, then expanded in his painting. Plum Blossom (after Hiroshige) 1888 is another good example of Van Gogh's admiration for Japanese prints he collected. Your version is a bit more courage than the original.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Portrait of Vincent van Gogh (1887), drawing with pastels, Van Gogh MuseumFor months worked for Van Gogh in Corman, where he attended the circle of Anglo-Australian artist John Peter Russell, and met their Bernard Miles and Louis Anquetin and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who created a portrait of Van Gogh in pastel shades. The group met in the paint store run by Julien Pre Tanguy, who was seen at this time the only place to the works of Paul Czanne. It would be easy access to all the works of Impressionism in Paris to have time. In 1886, two exhibitions of art, were fantastic. In these shows Neo-Impressionism their first appearanceworks Georges Seurat and Paul Signac were the talk of the town. Although accustomed to Theo, a stock of Impressionist paintings in his gallery Montmarteby Boulevard artists such as Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, Edgar Degas, Camille PissarroVincent apparently had difficulties to recognize the evolution as an artist and see the image of the region. Conflicts have arisen, and the end of 1886 was Theo shared life with Vincent almost unbearable. In the spring of 1887 had peace. He then moved to Asnires There he met Signac. With his friend Emile Bernard, who lived with his parents in Asnires, took elements of pointillism, where many small dots are applied to the canvas to give an optical mixture of colors, from a distance. The theory behind this style focuses on the value of complementarity colorsincluding orangewhich a vibrant blue and contrasts, and support one another when compared. In November 1887, Theo and Vincent met and befriended Paul Gauguin, who had just arrived in Paris. Towards the end of the year, Van Gogh has organized an exhibition of paintings by himself, Bernard, Anquetin and, probably, Toulouse-Lautrec in Montmartre in the lodge restaurant. It Anquetin Bernard and sold his first oil painting, Van Gogh and Gauguin soon left the division of labor in Pont-Aven. Discussions about art, artists, and social situations in this show started continued and expanded to include visitors at the fair, that Lucien Pissarro and his son, Signac and Seurat.
Finally, in February 1888, tired of living in Paris, was after he painted over 200 paintings during his two years in the city. hours before his departure with Theo, he paid his first and only visit to Seurat in his studio.

In Nuenen, he would pay off the drawing and children, dedicated to him birds' nests in the subject and numerous sketches of weavers at home. In the fall of 1884, Margot Begemann, year after year is a neighbor girl older than himself, often accompanied by the artist in his painting forays ten. She fell in love reciprocatedthough in and with less enthusiasm. They decided to marry, but the idea was rejected by both families. Accordingly, Margot took an overdose of strychnine. She was saved when Van Gogh was immediately taken to a nearby hospital. On 26 March 1885, his father died of a heart attack, and the artist grieved deeply the loss.  For the first time in Paris was interested in his work. This spring, concluded that in general as his first major work, The Potato Eaters (Dutch: De Aardappeleters viewed). In August, his work for the first time in the windows of the paint dealer, Leurs, The Hague issued. He was forced himself to one of his models young peasant who became pregnant the month of accused September. Therefore forbade the Catholic priest of the parish of modeling for him. During 1885 several groups of still life painting.

 Skull with burning cigarette (1885), oil on canvas, Van Gogh MuseumFrom this time, Still Life with straw hat and pipe, and still life with a bottle of land and the shoes are considered by critics and writers for their technical expertise. Both are characterized by a touch sweet and caring and well-shaded colors. During his two years in Nuenen, he completed numerous drawings and watercolors and oil paintings of nearly 200th However, his palette was mostly black earth, dark and above all, showed no signs of color development of life, that his later, better known work characterized. When she complained that Theo was not enough effort to sell his paintings in Paris, Theo said that it is too dark and not in line with the current style of bright Impressionist paintings was.  In November 1885 he moved to Antwerp and rented a small room abov e the shop of a dealer of paint on the road (Long Beeldekensstraat) Fig He had little money and ate little, rather spend the money to his brother Theo sent the painting materials and models . The bread, coffee and snuff was his basic consumption. In February 1886 he wrote to Theo saying that he could not remember eating six hot meals since May of last year. Your teeth become loose, causing him great pain. During his stay in Antwerp was dedicated to the study of color theory and spent some time looking for work in museums, in particular the work of Peter Paul Rubens, gaining encouragement to broaden its range of Carmine cobalt and emerald green. He bought a number of Japanese woodblock prints Ukiyo-e in the port area and has his own style in the lower part of their paintings.While in Antwerp, Van Gogh began to drink too much absinthe. The patient was by Dr. Cavenaile whose practice was in the vicinity of the port area, handled [64], possibly of syphilis, the goal of alum irrigations and sitz baths by Van Gogh was in one of his notebooks.Despite his rejection of the university, he was influenced the entrance examinations to universities in the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, and in January 1886, he enrolled in painting and drawing. For most of February he was ill and exhausted by overwork, poor diet and excessive use of snuff.

In April 1881 Van Gogh moved Etten, the country with his parents, where he continued drawing, as many subjects with residents. During the summer months he spent much time walking and talking with his cousin recently widowed, Kee Vos-Stricker. She was the daughter of his mother's older sister and Johannes Stricker, who had shown sympathy for the artist. Kee spent seven years older than Van Gogh had a son of eight years. He beat her, but she refused, saying: No, never, never (niet, Nooit, Never). Later in November, wrote a letter to Uncle Stricker strong, then to Amsterdam, where he crashed repeatedly with Stricker. Kee refused to see him and wrote his parents: Your persistence is disgusting. In his desperation, he had his left hand into the flame of a lamp, with the words, see Let me, as long as I can hold my hand in the fire. I do not remember exactly what 's then turned, but then it is assumed that his uncle blew out the flame. Kee's father said that was not the marriage, the inability of Van Gogh, given to economically sustainable. Van Gogh perceived hypocrisy of his uncle and former guardian, affected him deeply. That Christmas he quarreled violently with his father, how to refuse a gift of money, and went to The Hague.

Shelter, view of the Hague Workshop (1882), watercolor, private collection.In January 1882, was in The Hague, where he called his cousin-brother, the painter Anton Mauve (founded 1838C1888). Malva encouraged to paint, but the two soon, probably because the issue of making plaster casts. Malva suddenly seems cold to Van Gogh and the return of a number of letters. Van Gogh had learned from his new adopted purple interior with a prostitute, alcoholic, Clasina Mary Sien Hoornik (1850Cunknown) and his young daughter. Sien had met in late January, when she was a girl of five and pregnant women. O He was not aware of two children who had died, while Van Gogh was. On 2 July, Sien birth to a son, William. At Van Gogh's father the details of their relationship being discovered, a considerable pressure to have to visit his son and their children. Vincent Defiant was the first face of the opposition. Uncle Cornelis van Gogh, an art dealer, service on 20 Ink drawings of the city, the artist in late May, June completed, spent three weeks in hospital suffering from gonorrhea. This summer, he began painting in oil. In fall 1883, after a year together, laissez-being and two children. Van Gogh had thought of moving the family to the city, but after the break. It is possible that the lack of money had been pushed back, has become home prostitutionthe Sien, the less fortunate and feel good, the Van Gogh family life compatible with his artistic development is not. When he left, Sien gave her daughter to her mother and the baby to his brother William. Later he moved to Delft and Antwerp. Willem remembered taken to visit his mother in Rotterdam at the age of 12 years, where his uncle tried to persuade Sien to marry in order to legitimize the child. Willem remembered his mother said, But I know who the father. He was an artist who has lived almost 20 years in The Hague. His name was Van Gogh. She then turned to Willem and said You are demanded of him. Willem Van Gogh, the son of look, but the time of birth, therefore, unlikely. In 1904 Sien drowned in his own hand on the Scheldt. Van Gogh went to the Dutch province of Drenthe in northern Holland. In December, driven by loneliness, he went along with their parents, who at that time in Nuenen, Noord-Brabant were to live.

Vincent Willem van Gogh (C March 30, 1853 July 29, 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter whose work has great influence on the art of the 20th Century for their bright colors and emotional impact. He suffered from panic attacks and, increasingly, mental illness throughout his life and died largely unknown, 37, was shot self-inflicted wound.

Unappreciated during his life, grew his fame in the years after his death. Today he is widely regarded as one of the greatest painters of history and an important factor for the foundation of modern art. Van Gogh did not start painting for thirty years, and most of his best known works were produced during his last two years. He has more than 2,000 works of art, composed of around 900 paintings and 1,100 drawings and sketches. Although it was little known in his lifetime, his work a great influence on modern art that followed. Today sunflowersare many of his portraits of your car, landscapes, portraits and works among the most respected and piecesincluding expensive in the world of art.

Van Gogh spent his entire adult life working for a firm of art dealers and the journey from The Hague, London and Paris, after he taught in England.

An early career aspiration was to become a pastor and preach the gospel, and from 1879 he worked as a missionary in a mining region in Belgium. Meanwhile, he began to describe the people in the local community, and in 1885 he painted his first major work, The Potato Eaters. His range at one time consisted primarily of earth tones and black, showed no trace of the bright coloration distinguishes that his work later. In March 1886 he moved to Paris and discovered the French Impressionists. He then entered the south of France and was taken by the strong sunlight there. His work became more brilliant colors, and developed a unique and very recognizable, which came fully into account during your stay in Arles in 1888.

The extent of mental illness affected his oil paintings was a subject of speculation since his death. Despite a general tendency to idealize his poor health, critics see the modern artist deeply through inactivity and inconsistency caused by his illness episodes frustrated. According to art critic Robert Hughes work later Van Gogh show an artist at the height of its power fully under control and the  desire for concision and grace