Where does the expression “a cat has nine lives” come from?

Cats are often invoked for their surprising ability to survive adversity. It is from this physical hardiness that, according to etymologists, the idea that a cat has nine lives originates.

Although the exact reasons for this choice of number have long ago been forgotten, University of Winnipeg English professor Mark Morton offers three possibilities: “First, it’s pretty clear that it would have to be one of the many numbers that has traditional significance in Western culture, of which nine is among the most resonant.

“While seven, for example, is almost always positive and 13 is almost always negative, nine can have both positive and negative connotations: for example, cloud nine versus the nine rivers of hell. I think this may reflect our ambivalent cultural attitude towards the cat.

“Third, assonance often plays a role in such idioms. In this case, the long ‘i’ in both nine and lives functions as a near rhyme, as is even more clear in ‘a stitch in time saves nine.’ ”

Fuel ur Brain with food not junk

Stuck late in the office? Bypass the biscuit tin and choose a snack that will satisfy your stomach rumbles for longer.

If you’re starving because you didn’t eat lunch. Make something small to tide you over until dinner. Try peanut butter on wholewheat crackers or a handful of nuts.

If you still have a long night ahead of you. Eat a light meal that won’t slow you down. Try a turkey sandwich on wholegrain bread or cheese on toasted brown bread.

If you’ve had a coffee and are now past the point of being hungry. Try to nibble on a piece of fruit, a yoghurt, a boiled egg or a slice of ham. That way you won’t wake up in the middle of the night famished.

If the vending machine is your only option. “The occasional packet of chips is fine,” says Ursula Arens from the British Dietetic Association. “But don’t reach for them every time you work late.”

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Who's Googling What?

Ever wondered what netizens from Pakistan to the Philippines search for while surfing the Internet? For an insight into which topics interest people in different parts of the world, all you need to do is type a keyword into Google Trends.

The site provides the number of searches on a particular topic relative to each country's Google usage since 2004. A quick search produced these surprising results.

Keyword: Sex
Top countries: Pakistan, Egypt, Vietnam, Iran, Morocco

Keyword: Health
Top countries: Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Philippines

Keyword: Wealth
Top countries: Singapore, Australia, India, South Africa, New Zealand

Keyword: Technology
Top countries: India, Pakistan, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore

Do your own search at www.google.com/trends

Your Old Rig...Just Like A Brand New

The PC you bought 18 months ago probably felt like the leading edge of technology. Yet today you're bombarded by ads ramming home the point that you can now buy more computing power, more extras and more memory or less than you paid.
That's the way with computer technology. It changes quickly, with components getting better and cheaper all the time. Economy of scale, intense competition, and economic factors in the producing countries also force prices down.
Here's the good news: you don't need the latest go-faster PC. What you've got will almost certainly do what you want. And even if you could use some more oomph, it is possible to give your system a boost on a modest budget. Here's what you can do to keep your PC trim:

• Regularly delete the temporary files that clutter up your disk. Remove fonts you don't use – they have to be loaded at every start up. Use a disk defragmenter every week.

• Check out the latest version of every bit of software you use. As well as bug fixes, the later versions usually offer performance improvements.

• Invest in a disk maintenance utility that extends and automates the housekeeping process.

• Open the hood and get out the screwdriver. Add more memory, a second hard drive, a faster graphics card, even a new processor.

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J.K. Rowling writing crime novel

J.K. Rowling has been spotted at cafes in Scotland working on a detective novel, a British newspaper reported Saturday.

The Sunday Times newspaper quoted Ian Rankin, a fellow author and neighbor of Rowling's, as saying the creator of the "Harry Potter" books is turning to crime fiction.

"My wife spotted her writing her Edinburgh criminal detective novel," the newspaper, which was available late Saturday, quoted Rankin as telling a reporter at an Edinburgh literary festival.

"It is great that she has not abandoned writing or Edinburgh cafes," said Rankin, who is known for his own police novels set in the historic Scottish city.

Rowling famously wrote initial drafts of the Potter story in the Scottish city's cafes. Back then, she was a struggling single mother who wrote in cafes to save on the heating bill at home.

Now she's Britain's richest woman — worth $1 billion, according to Forbes magazine — and her seven Potter books have sold more than 335 million copies worldwide.

In an interview with The Associated Press last month, Rowling said she believed she was unlikely to repeat the success of the Potter series, but confirmed she had plans to work on new books.

"I'll do exactly what I did with Harry — I'll write what I really want to write," Rowling said.

The office of Rowling's literary agent, Christopher Little, was not immediately available to comment late Saturday.

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Funny Car Incident

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A joke for fun

One day, the general noticed a soldier behaving oddly. He would pick up every piece of paper he saw, read it, frown and say, ''That's not it,'' and drop it.

After a month of this, the general finally arranged to have the soldier tested. The psychologist found that the soldier was deranged, and wrote out his discharge from the army.

The soldier picked it up, smiled and said, ''That's it.''