OMG, it turns out that when u r texting, u r not being lazy, u r being creative.

The notion that text-messaging is eroding our language skills is a myth, say researchers from three Canadian universities who have collected and studied thousands of messages.

The text4science project is a collaboration of Simon Fraser University, Universite de Montreal and the University of Ottawa, as part of a larger international project to understand how text-speak is changing the way people communicate.

"In recent years, communication via SMS (text message) has become a social phenomenon," the project website says. "Many scientific studies (in linguistics, sociology, anthropology, psychology, communication, etc.) have looked into this new medium, but their conclusions remain partial and incomplete."

Researchers asked people to send in - via text, naturally - random messages they'd saved on their phones, with the assurance that any identifying information would be removed.

They have received more than 8,000 since December.

"A lot of people think that language is degrading over time and it's just getting worse, and young people just don't know how to spell anymore," SFU professor Christian Guilbault said on News 1130. "Well, we don't think it's true."

He said the way we use language in texts proves how creative we are and that we can use English in a very specific way appropriate to the context.

For instance, the researchers found people used 10 different ways to express laughter, including three variants of ``LOL,'' and 12 different ways to text OK.

They are still accepting messages for their ongoing study. Find out more at text4science.ca.

Hair thinning is caused by various reasons like medication and illness and often hereditary causes. Most of the times men suffers from this problem. The reasons behind this fact is none other than hormone. Statistics show that most of the men who have reached the age of 50 or are more than that either suffer from baldness or hair thinning. Thankfully there are many treatments that are available to treat hair thinning. The first step involves in consulting a good doctor who will help in identifying the causes of hair thinning and recommend medicines that will address the causes. Focusing on the proper treatment will stop hair thinning.

If you have inherited the problem of hair thinning, then you must be cautious with your hair. You can use either semi-permanent or permanent color to provide the hair a body and add volume to it, which is extremely important. If your are experiencing because of medicinal side effects semi permanent color can be a good option for you. Strong medications contribute in weakening hair that causes in breaking or falling out. A semi permanent hair is free from ammonia or peroxide. It protects the hair and adds great deal of volume and body to the hair. For fine textured hair a permanent or semi permanent color is good if it is applied with proper professional care. This is because colored hair has the tendency to get over-processed that can damage the hair and cause more hair loss .

Another way of combating hair thinning is to use voluming products that are available in the market. The products are made with paraffin, extracted from beeswax . To some extent it is not good for hair because sometimes it gets build up in the hair follicles and causes hair to break. However, you can try those voluming products used in salons as they help to a great extent. The products don't weight your hair and does not damage the hair. For example, you can apply mousse to the root to provide necessary support. In the next step blow-dry the root area for extra support. To hold the hair better you can apply a light finishing spray.

Whenever you feel that your hair is dirty, shampoo your hair and condition your hair from time to time. The dirt and dust of the hair that sticks to your hair tends to make the hair follicles weak and make them fall. Thus, washing your hair from time to time prevents the dirt and dust from accumulating. Use a good quality shampoo and voluming hair conditioner so that the hair is well taken care of.

Find a hairstyle that helps in giving a volume look to your hair. While styling make sure that the hair is not exposed to prolonged heat directly as they will make the hair more brittle and result in thinning. It is advisable not to go for curling irons and flat irons.

Hair loss has become a perennial problem. The amount of hair lost is not supplemented with the number of hair grown. Hence there becomes a problem. Almost all women face a problem with hair loss. A study has said that on a daily basis we lose 100 hairs. The life span of a hair is not more than four years. There can be several reasons for hair loss. The problem can be hereditary, stress or any disease. There is specific treatment for hair loss. But we should not ignore the problem of hair loss. Let us focus on the different causes of hair loss.


The cause can be hereditary

Little disorder in genetic factor can be the reason for hair loss. Once a hair is lost it gets replaced naturally. But a disorder in genetic factors will not let the lost hair get replaced. The gap gets created. Thus it leads to baldness at a very young age too. There are three other factors which affect hair loss; they are age, gender and hormone. Due to age people loose hair and it might lead to baldness. The problem can be related to hormones too. The problem of hair fall affects men more when compared with women.

The problem could be stress

Stress is another reason for hair loss. Physical stress or emotional stress both contribute to hair loss. There can be 2 type of hair loss in this scenario: Telogen effluvium and Alopecia areata. Telogen effluvium is a severe problem. The hair falls and the growth is almost lost. Hence the gap cannot be filled. Alopecia areata happens when the white blood cells attack the follicles of the hair. In this scenario, the body hair also falls. The hair does grow back but intensive treatment is required. The hair will falls in patches.

Side effects of medicines

Few medicines have side effects. The intake of the medicine results in hair fall. The severity of the medicines is the key factor for hair loss. Like after chemotherapy people tend to lose hair. Even after pregnancy there is a chance of hair fall. As there is a hormonal change during pregnancy there is a chance of hair loss. Birth control pills also lead to hair fall.

South Korea's police chief has resigned amid an outcry over the case of a woman who was raped and murdered despite calling police for help.

Cho Hyun-oh said he was stepping down to take full responsibility for what he called the "unpardonable carelessness" of his officers. 

The woman told police where she was being held in a seven-minute call to the emergency number. 

Police only found her dismembered body 13 hours after she called for help.

The incident took place on 2 April in Suwon, south of Seoul.

Local media reports said that the woman described in detail landmarks such as a primary school and a playground around the apartment where she was being attacked, but officers failed to find her in time.

"I express my deepest regret at the police's negligence which had such a horrendous result and attempts to cover it up with lies," said Mr Cho, who is the commissioner of the National Police Agency.

Communication mistakes between emergency operators and officers meant that police were searching the wrong area, police have said. 

When public concern was raised, they also inflated the number of officers who had been sent to search the area, local reports said.

President Lee Myung-bak has accepted Mr Cho's resignation.

A man has been arrested in connection with the case.