All men dream but not equally.
Those who dream by night in the dusty
recesses of their minds
wake in the day to find that it was
vanity;
but the dreamers of the day are
dangerous men,
for they may act their dream with
open eyes to make it possible.
~ T.E. Lawrence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Supermoon Over Paris
Image Credit & Copyright: VegaStar Carpentier
Image Credit & Copyright: VegaStar Carpentier
Explanation: Did you see that full Moon Saturday night?
Dubbed a supermoon, the latest fully illuminated moon appeared slightly
larger than usual because it occurred unusually near the closest point in its orbit to
Earth. Pictured above, the supermoon was captured Saturday night
rising behind the top of the Eiffel Tower
in Paris, France. Of course,
the angular extent of the moon in comparison to foreground objects can be
adjusted just by changing the observer's distance to the foreground object.
When compared to nearby objects the moon may appear tiny,
but when compared to distant objects -- the moon may appear huge.
Next month yet another full moon is expected, this one appearing about one percent smaller.
Browse: Supermoon Image Gallery
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shuttle Enterprise Over New York
Image Credit: NASA, Bill Ingalls
Image Credit: NASA, Bill Ingalls
Explanation: What's that in the background? Two famous
New York City icons stand tall in the above
photo taken last week. On the left looms the Statue of
Liberty, a universal symbol of freedom, while on the right rises the Empire
State Building, now the second largest building in the city. What's unique about this
once-in-a-lifetime photograph, though, is the third icon that appears to Lady
Liberty's left. High in the air and far in the background flies the space
shuttle Enterprise -- perched atop a 747 jet -- on the way
to its new home. New Yorkers and visitors to the Big Apple can
visit the test space shuttle at the Intrepid Sea, Air &
Space Museum on the West Side of Manhattan starting July 19.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rex Barker here with "Why Be A Mentor?"
An old man going a lone highway,
Came at the evening cold and gray,
To a chasm vast and deep and wide,
T through which was flowing a swollen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim,
T that swollen stream held no fears for him,
But he paused when safe on the other side
And built a bridge to span the tide.
"Old man", said a fellow pilgrim near,
"You are wasting your strength in building here.
Your journey will end with the ending day.
You never again must pass this way.
You've crossed the chasm deep and wide,
Why build you the bridge at the even tide?"
The builder lifted his old gray head,
"Good friend, in the path I have come..." he said,
"There followeth after me today,
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This swollen stream which was naught to me,
To that fair haired youth may a pitfall be.
He too must cross in the twilight dim.
Good friend, I am building the bridge for him."
This is Rex Barker, reminding you that your life truly lives on when you spend your time helping and teaching others.
Came at the evening cold and gray,
To a chasm vast and deep and wide,
T through which was flowing a swollen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim,
T that swollen stream held no fears for him,
But he paused when safe on the other side
And built a bridge to span the tide.
"Old man", said a fellow pilgrim near,
"You are wasting your strength in building here.
Your journey will end with the ending day.
You never again must pass this way.
You've crossed the chasm deep and wide,
Why build you the bridge at the even tide?"
The builder lifted his old gray head,
"Good friend, in the path I have come..." he said,
"There followeth after me today,
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This swollen stream which was naught to me,
To that fair haired youth may a pitfall be.
He too must cross in the twilight dim.
Good friend, I am building the bridge for him."
This is Rex Barker, reminding you that your life truly lives on when you spend your time helping and teaching others.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joe walked into the office whistling happily.
"Good morning," he said. "How are you this fine day?"
"Apparently not as good as you," I said. "What're you so happy about?"
He leaned in close and whispered, "I got some sweet lovin' last night."
"Really?" I said clapping him on the back. "Me, too! I must've just missed you."
"Good morning," he said. "How are you this fine day?"
"Apparently not as good as you," I said. "What're you so happy about?"
He leaned in close and whispered, "I got some sweet lovin' last night."
"Really?" I said clapping him on the back. "Me, too! I must've just missed you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you really want to get better at golf, go back and
take it up at a much earlier age.
Since bad shots come in groups of three, a fourth bad
shot is actually the beginning of the next group of three.
No matter how bad you are playing, it is always
possible to play worse.
When your shot has to carry over a water hazard, you
can either hit one more club or two more balls.
A golf match is a test of your skill against your
opponents luck.
Every time a golfer makes a birdie, he must
subsequently make two triple bogeys to restore the fundamental equilibrium of
the universe.
You can put “draw” on the ball, you can put “fade” on
the ball, but no golfer can put “straight” on the ball.
Don’t buy a putter until you’ve had a chance to throw
it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It’s Big Drummer
Girl!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My grandpa had his third stroke stroke of the
month this morning…
Cant believe he’s still wanking at his age. Dirty bastard.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Furthest jump in the world: Over 20 years later and still
unbroken.
Popcorn explosion prank.
The line between life and not-life.
Giant robot dinosaur scares boy.
1958: The Stroll.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Popcorn explosion prank.
The line between life and not-life.
Giant robot dinosaur scares boy.
1958: The Stroll.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How can we be moved by the fate of Anna Karenina when we
know she’s not a real person?
In order to have an emotional response to a character or
event, we must believe that it really exists. We know that this belief is
lacking when we read a work of fiction. Yet we’re commonly moved by such works.
Why?
It can’t be the case that we’re simply “caught up” in a
story and forget that it’s fiction. If that were true then the fear, sadness,
and pity we feel should be unpleasant rather than enjoyable. (Also, we’re not
moved to intervene and help a fictional
character.)
University of Kent philosopher Colin Radford concludes
that our emotional responses to fiction are ultimately irrational, that “our
being moved in certain ways by works of art, though very ‘natural’ to us and in
that way only too intelligible, involves us in inconsistency and so
incoherence.” See Push and Pull.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My wife and I attend a party with four other couples. When
we arrive there’s a certain amount of hand-shaking, but no one shakes his own
hand and no husband shakes his wife’s hand. I ask the nine other guests how many
hands each shook, and I get nine different answers. How many hands did my wife
shake?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Picture of the Week: Stephen Hawking in Zero Gravity
On January 8, 2007, scientist Stephen Hawking did
something special for his 65th birthday—he took a trip up into zero
gravity. He rode in the Zero Gravity Corporation’s
modified Boeing 727 jet, which traveled up to 24,000 feet over the Atlantic
Ocean off the coast of Florida and performed a series of dips that let Hawking
experiene a total of about four minutes of weightlesness. Because Hawking
suffers from a degenerative nerve disease related to amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis, a medical support team was on hand to monitor his blood pressure and
cardiac readings. But the renowned physicist held up even better than expected,
negotiating for two additional 30-second rounds of weightlessness while in
flight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A $1 billion
city without residents will be developed in Lea County near Hobbs, officials
said Tuesday, to help researchers test everything from intelligent traffic
systems and next-generation wireless networks to automated washing machines and
self-flushing toilets. Hobbs Mayor Sam Cobb said the unique research facility
that looks like an empty city will be a key for diversifying the economy of the
nearby community, which after the oil bust of the 1980s saw bumper stickers
asking the last person to leave to turn out the lights...
Bob Brumley, senior managing director of Pegasus Holdings, said the town will be modeled after the real city of Rock Hill, S.C., complete with highways, houses and commercial buildings, old and new. No one will live there, although they could as houses will include all the necessities, like appliances and plumbing. The point of the town is to enable researchers to test new technologies on existing infrastructure without interfering in everyday life. For instance, while some researchers will be testing smart technologies on old grids, others might be using the streets to test self-driving cars. A billion dollars. I don't understand what can be tested in this town that can't be tested with computer modeling. I thought it was a pork-barrel earmark project, but it seems to be privately funded. I don't understand.
Bob Brumley, senior managing director of Pegasus Holdings, said the town will be modeled after the real city of Rock Hill, S.C., complete with highways, houses and commercial buildings, old and new. No one will live there, although they could as houses will include all the necessities, like appliances and plumbing. The point of the town is to enable researchers to test new technologies on existing infrastructure without interfering in everyday life. For instance, while some researchers will be testing smart technologies on old grids, others might be using the streets to test self-driving cars. A billion dollars. I don't understand what can be tested in this town that can't be tested with computer modeling. I thought it was a pork-barrel earmark project, but it seems to be privately funded. I don't understand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Janitor Graduates from Columbia
University After 12 Years of Classes and Full-time Job
It took him 12 years of balancing classes with
his fulltime job as a janitor but Gac Filipaj, an immigrant from the former
Yugoslavia, is graduating from Columbia University with honors. Nearly 20
years ago. This man left his family in the former war-ravaged yugoslavia,
heading to america with no money, no job, and no english speaking skills. [...]
He landed a job at Columbia University , mopping floors. cleaning
mirrors, and emptying the trash. That job turned into an education in the
classics, and now an Ivy League degree. [...] ... the 52 year old was
accepting into columbia school of general studies back in 2000 and took
advantage of free courses for employees. He said juggling a full-time job and
one or two courses a semester got exhausting at times. He typically took morning
classes so he could work the night shift until 11:00 p.m ., then he had to
commute home.
The next time you think that college is too
hard and you want to drop out, think of this story: Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good News: The Mayan Doomsday is
Delayed
Archaeologist William Saturno has discovered a mural in
a Mayan ruin that contradicted the Maya Doomsday of December 21,
2012:
Working with epigrapher David Stuart and
archaeologist and artist Heather Hurst, the researchers noticed several barely
visible hieroglyphic texts, painted and etched along the east and north walls of
the room. One is a lunar table, and the other is a "ring
number"—something previously known only from much later Maya books, where it was
used as part of a backward calculation in establishing a base date for planetary
cycles. Nearby is a sequence of numbered intervals corresponding to key
calendrical and planetary cycles. The calculations include dates some
7,000 years in the future, adding to evidence against the idea that the Maya
thought the world would end in 2012—a modern myth inspired by an ancient
calendar that depicts time starting over this year. Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Waffle Jello Shots Are Part of a
Nutritious Breakfast ???
Michelle of Jelly Shot Test Kitchen made these
adorable and intoxicating waffle shots. They’re a mixture of orange juice, lemon
juice, maple syrup, gelatin and vodka. Pour the mixture into ice cream sandwich
pans and let them sit overnight so they’ll be ready in time for breakfast.
Link
-via Geekosystem
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hungry, Angry Bird
Feed 'im before he launches himself with a catapult! Hit
play or go to Link [YouTube] - via I Have Seen The Whole of The
Internet
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Hashtag Tower
Now this is something to tweet about: Danish architects BIG have designed
an apartment tower complex that looks like a hashtag.
“The Cross # Towers constitute a three-dimensional urban community of
interlocking horizontal and vertical towers. Three public bridges connect two
slender towers at different levels – underground, at the street and in the sky.
Catering to the demands and desires of different residents, age groups and
cultures the bridges are landscaped and equipped for a variety of activities
traditionally restricted to the ground. The resultant volume forms a distinct
figure on the new skyline of Seoul – a “#” that serves as a gateway to the new
Yongsan Business District signaling a radical departure from the crude
repetition of disconnected towers towards a new urban community that populates
the three-dimensional space of the city.” Take a look at the rest over at
BIG: Link - via Dezeen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If gravity is so attractive, why doesn’t the earth
just crash into the sun? Or the moon into the earth?
The answer: Stable Orbits
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Years after she founded Mother’s Day, Anna Jarvis
was dining at the Tea Room at Wanamaker’s department store in Philadelphia. She
saw they were offering a “Mother’s Day Salad.” She ordered the salad and when it
was served, she stood up, dumped it on the floor, left the money to pay for it,
and walked out in a huff. Jarvis had lost control of the holiday she helped
create, and she was crushed by her belief that commercialism was destroying
Mother’s Day. http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/126538#ixzz1uiogq8OL
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Graham's Number - Numberphile
A number so epic it will collapse your brain into a black hole! Yet Tony
Padilla and Matt Parker take the risk of discussing its magnitude. Watch with
caution.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I wandered through displays at South by Southwest,
I saw a table with a a few containers of water and a couple of guys in black
suits. It was a rather unassuming table and I nearly passed by until one of the
guys took out his iPhone and put it into a bowl of water. Completely. I had a
look reminiscent of a deer in headlights until he explained that it had been
waterproofed with Liquipel.
Liquipel works by bonding with your phone on a
molecular level both inside and out. The nano-coating can’t be felt and won’t
scratch off over time. Treatment costs $59 plus shipping and when it’s done,
your phone looks and feels exactly the same. This is both cool, because your
phone is still shiny and perfect, and unsettling because you can’t see anything
that shows it really is waterproof.
I shipped my phone out to Liquipel’s offices in
California and couldn’t wait to have it safely back in my hands. It came back to
me packed in a snazzy, foam-lined Liquipel tin. Inside the tin the phone was in
a little black bag just like you’d expect a jewel thief to use for stolen
diamonds. I slipped it from the bag and it didn’t look or feel the least bit
different. Now, I had to face the tough part and actually test it
out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This month’s Printable Fun is Mother’s Day pencil
flowers. Make a bouquet of these pencil flowers for your Mom and not only will
she delight at the arrangement but she’ll never have to hunt around for a pencil
again!
Download the PDF file, print, color, decorate, cut and assemble a bouquet for your
favorite Mom (or aunt or neighbor or other maternally minded individual).
Included in the PDF is a black and white version for the creatively inclined,
and full color flowers for those with printer ink to spare. Add glitter or other
embellishments to the flowers, then assemble them according to the photos and
instructions in the PDF.
Not only do these flowers look great in a coffee
mug, but they discourage pencil drift – that annoying phenomenon where pencils
and pens seem to disappear around the house. ( They are probably hanging out
with a bunch of missing socks!)
These pencil flowers also look great tucked behind
an ear, inside a shirt pocket or threaded thru a lapel button hole.
Happy Mother’s Day!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The answer to
each clue is the name of a flower.
1. Dressed up jungle
king
2. Of two parts, seen on tea table
3. Road traffic suggests our country is this
4. In shepherd’s care
5. Get rich quick
6. Sugared letters
7. A sad girl
2. Of two parts, seen on tea table
3. Road traffic suggests our country is this
4. In shepherd’s care
5. Get rich quick
6. Sugared letters
7. A sad girl
Solutions are:
1. Dandelion
2. Buttercup
3. Carnation
4. Phlox
5. Marigold
6. Sweet Pea
7. Bluebell
2. Buttercup
3. Carnation
4. Phlox
5. Marigold
6. Sweet Pea
7. Bluebell
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“This is the most random, mindless entertainment I’ve found on the Internet.”
Check out Nick Veasey’s amazing X-ray photography of plants and animals and all manner of
things (that are not human).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The wolf population in Yellowstone National Park is
facing a vicious new predator: sarcoptic mange. It’s a form of scabies that
causes canines to lose their hair, which translates into lost calories as the
body tries to keep itself warm with holes in its shaggy coat. “If the wolves
can’t replace the calories they lose, they die,” says Paul Cross, a disease
ecologist at the Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center.
Scientists don’t know how to halt mange, and they
don’t even know the full impact of the disease on the wolf population. But
they’ve discovered a powerful tool for finding out: infrared cameras. Because
heat is escaping through bald patches, these spots show up on thermal images of
wolves wandering the wilderness. “We can see the color change with the infrared
and estimate how much heat they’re losing,” Cross says. Using infrared is less
invasive than traps, radio collars, or injections. The cameras enable scientists
to collect body surface temperatures for each sick wolf, which helps them
determine how many calories the mangy canines are losing relative to healthy
wolves and therefore how long they have to live. Of course, the price of thermal
cameras—left in the field with heat-sensitive triggers—remains something of a
barrier. “They cost four to five grand apiece,” Cross says. “If a grizzly bear
trashes one, we’re bummed.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sensational Japanese Contemporary Art
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pork With Ham
That’s what the label says: “pork with ham.” Is there a difference? According to the USDA, ham is the hind leg of a pig that’s been preserved, colored, and flavored through a process known as curing, while pork is just “meat from hogs.” According to Hormel, the pork in Spam is usually shoulder meat. What’s certain is that the pig flesh is vacuum-sealed in the can while still raw and then cooked for three hours. Hormel says this gives Spam an indefinite shelf life, making it the go-to food for Depression-era Okies and would-be subterranean nuclear holocaust survivors. (The company concedes that the flavor may change after three or more years on the shelf.)
That’s what the label says: “pork with ham.” Is there a difference? According to the USDA, ham is the hind leg of a pig that’s been preserved, colored, and flavored through a process known as curing, while pork is just “meat from hogs.” According to Hormel, the pork in Spam is usually shoulder meat. What’s certain is that the pig flesh is vacuum-sealed in the can while still raw and then cooked for three hours. Hormel says this gives Spam an indefinite shelf life, making it the go-to food for Depression-era Okies and would-be subterranean nuclear holocaust survivors. (The company concedes that the flavor may change after three or more years on the shelf.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mexico
may be behind the rest of North America in a lot of ways, but in one area they
are excelling; child porn. Here in the United States, for example, someone has
to put in the time to find the children to be exploited, then there is the
investment in candy and Jesus Juice and a safe location has to be found.
Meanwhile
in Mexico, a group of sixth graders have skipped all of these steps and gone
straight to producing a porno themselves. Even so far as putting it up on the
Internet.
Campeche State Education Department spokesman Omar Kantun said the video was apparently made in an empty classroom during recess. "It is real, the case is real, the video exists," Kantun said. "The Education Department is very concerned."
Kantun said the teacher who uses the classroom did not appear to have been present when the video was made. He said no disciplinary action has been taken against any students or teachers as of yet. However, some filmmaking credits may be transferable toward secondary education.
Three boys are seen on the video engaging in various kinds of activity recorded on a cellphone by a fourth person, apparently another student.
Campeche State Education Department spokesman Omar Kantun said the video was apparently made in an empty classroom during recess. "It is real, the case is real, the video exists," Kantun said. "The Education Department is very concerned."
Kantun said the teacher who uses the classroom did not appear to have been present when the video was made. He said no disciplinary action has been taken against any students or teachers as of yet. However, some filmmaking credits may be transferable toward secondary education.
Three boys are seen on the video engaging in various kinds of activity recorded on a cellphone by a fourth person, apparently another student.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Man pulled over for truck's testicles --*
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Authorities in South Carolina said a
motorist was pulled over for an anatomically correct pair of false testicles
hanging from his truck's rear bumper. The Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office
incident report said the deputy pulled the silver truck over Sunday evening due
to the flesh-colored decoration hanging from the bumper and the motorist agreed
to remove the faux testicles, the Spartanburg Herald-Journal reported Tuesday.
The driver, who moved to South Carolina from Mexico about six months ago,
was arrested and charged with driving without a license. He was also
issued a warning for the "obscene display."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lava Lakes
& Lava Pools
http://www.evtv1.com/player.aspx?itemnum=1877&aid=
Lava is one of nature's most beautiful and dangerous creations. Watch as a scientist attempts to collect a sample from the Afar Triangle, located in Africa.
Lava is one of nature's most beautiful and dangerous creations. Watch as a scientist attempts to collect a sample from the Afar Triangle, located in Africa.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Baseball
Manager Flips Out And Is Ejected
In a
bizarre incident at a minor league baseball game, the manager of the Mississippi
Braves disputed a call and proceeds to act like an idiot by covering the infield
and doing various, weird acts of defiance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My
second is performed by my first, and, it is thought, a thief by the marks of my
whole might be caught. What am I?
ANSWER: Footsteps.
ANSWER: Footsteps.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
QUOTE:
"Life ought to be a struggle of desire toward adventures whose nobility will
fertilize the soul."
HINT: (1892-1983), English author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer.
HINT: (1892-1983), English author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer.
ANSWER:
Rebecca West.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RANDOM TIDBITS
A recent study indicates when men crave food, they tend to crave fat and salt. When women crave food, they tend to desire chocolate.
Aztec emperor Montezuma drank 50 golden goblets of hot chocolate every day. It was thick, dyed red and flavored with chili peppers.
Bittersweet chocolate is what is usually called for in baking. It contains more chocolate liquor (at least 35%) and less sugar than sweet chocolate. Semisweet chocolate contains 15% - 35% chocolate liquor.
Chocolate syrup was used for blood in the famous 45 second shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's movie, Psycho, which actually took 7 days to shoot.
Chocolate was introduced into the United States in 1765 when cocoa beans were brought from the West Indies to Dorchester, Massachusetts.
The melting point of cocoa butter is just below the human body temperature -- which is why it literally melts in your mouth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A recent study indicates when men crave food, they tend to crave fat and salt. When women crave food, they tend to desire chocolate.
Aztec emperor Montezuma drank 50 golden goblets of hot chocolate every day. It was thick, dyed red and flavored with chili peppers.
Bittersweet chocolate is what is usually called for in baking. It contains more chocolate liquor (at least 35%) and less sugar than sweet chocolate. Semisweet chocolate contains 15% - 35% chocolate liquor.
Chocolate syrup was used for blood in the famous 45 second shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's movie, Psycho, which actually took 7 days to shoot.
Chocolate was introduced into the United States in 1765 when cocoa beans were brought from the West Indies to Dorchester, Massachusetts.
The melting point of cocoa butter is just below the human body temperature -- which is why it literally melts in your mouth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dark Chocolate (Super
Foods!)http://www.evtv1.com/player.aspx?itemnum=12412
Chocolate lovers rejoice - this super food is good for you! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chocolate lovers rejoice - this super food is good for you! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prince Charles,
Weatherman
Against a backdrop of the BBC's weather map,
Prince Charles delivered a specially written script which included references to
royal residences in Scotland. Looking directly into the camera, he
said: "The best of the bright and dry weather will of course be in the northern
isles and the far north of the mainland. So, a little hazy sunshine for the
Castle of Mey in Caithness. "But a cold day everywhere with
temperatures of just 8C and a brisk northerly wind. Thank God it isn't a bank
holiday." View the clip over at the BBC: Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Exoplanets: Home Planet of
Aliens?
If there is alien life, then they'd live in an exoplanet like these four that scientists have found.
Visual.ly has the scoop of the four candidates in this nifty little infographic:
Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chimp Devises Increasingly Complex Attacks
Against Zoo Visitors
And so the ape uprising has begun.
Researchers discovered that a male chimp at Furuvik Zoo
in Sweden named Santino has been devising increasingly complex attacks against
zoo visitors:
At first Santino was famous for throwing rocks and
other projectiles at visitors who annoyed him. Now he has improved his
technique, which requires spontaneous innovation for future deception.
Researcher Mathias Osvath, lead author of a paper about Santino in PLoS ONE,
explained what the clever chimp did:
"After a visitor group had left the compound area, Santino went inside the enclosure and brought a good-sized heap of hay that he placed near the visitor's section, and immediately after that he put stones under it," Osvath said.
"After a visitor group had left the compound area, Santino went inside the enclosure and brought a good-sized heap of hay that he placed near the visitor's section, and immediately after that he put stones under it," Osvath said.
"He also appeared to have placed projectiles
behind, just before he went in after the hay. After this, he sat down beside the
hay and waited. When the visitors came back, he waited until they were close by
and, without any preceding display, he threw stones at the crowd." [...]
The calculated surprise attacks on visitors demonstrate very advanced
thinking usually only associated with humans. Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This Bears
Repeating
One good head-licking deserves another, until
before you know it, you’ve got a conga line of bears! There’s no word on where
this video was taken, or how many bears are there altogether. -via Buzzfeed
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bomb Disposal Robot is Ring
Bearer
The bride is a mechanical engineer who helped
design the Dragon Runner unmanned ground vehicle (UGV). So when Laura got
married, it was only appropriate for the little robot to take part. As the ring
bearer! The Dragon Runner wore a tiny tuxedo and carried the ring in while the
song “Mr. Roboto” played. A grand time was had by all. You can see a video about
the robot (but not the wedding) at Electronic Design. Link -via Gizmodo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
World renown hairdresser Vidal Sassoon died of natural
causes at his home in Los Angeles on Wednesday at the age of 84. Read all about it
Straight from the B&P Newswire…
Vidal Sassoon to be buried..
With extra body.
With extra body.
RIP Vidal Sassoon… a sad parting – he was head and
shoulders above the rest.
Legendary Hair Stylist Vidal Sassoon has died.
I remember when I first used one of his hairdryers…I was blown away.
I remember when I first used one of his hairdryers…I was blown away.
Vidal Sassoon’s death came as a huge shock to me
today.
As hairdressers go, he was head and shoulders above the rest.
As hairdressers go, he was head and shoulders above the rest.
Dull limp and lifeless,
It’s not the new L’oreal product range.
It’s Vidal Sassoon
It’s not the new L’oreal product range.
It’s Vidal Sassoon
Vidal Saasoon. Hair today gone tomorrow
Why’s Vidal Sasoon being buried with a plastic turd from a
joke shop?
He always loved having his own sham poo.
He always loved having his own sham poo.
So, it’s a Permanent Wave goodbye to Vidal Saasoon
It just shows the temporary nature of our existence; Vidal
Sassoon, one minute he was fine, lively and full of bounce, the next minute he
just curled up and dyed!
Apparently Vidal Sassoon wanted to be cremated.
Coming soon Vidal Sassoon’s new range…
Dead and Smoulders.
Coming soon Vidal Sassoon’s new range…
Dead and Smoulders.
I’ve just read that Vidal Sassoon’s son will receive
nothing from his father’s will.
I can’t believe that he’s cut off his own Heir.
I can’t believe that he’s cut off his own Heir.
I’m not surprised Vidal Sassoon
left a small fortune in his will.
He crimped and saved all his life.
He crimped and saved all his life.
via
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Ratio of an igloo’s circumference to its diameter = Eskimo Pi
2. 2000 pounds of Chinese soup = Won ton2. 1 millionth of a mouthwash = 1 microscope4. Time between slipping on a peel and smacking the pavement = 1 bananosecond5. Weight an evangelist carries with
God =1 billigram6. Time it takes to sail 220 yards at 1 nautical mile per hour = Knotfurlong7. 16.5 feet in the Twilight Zone = 1 Rod Sterling8. Half of a large intestine = 1 semicolon9. 1,000,000 aches = 1 megahurtz10. Basic unit of laryngitis = 1 hoarsepower11. Shortest distance between two jokes = A straight line12. 453.6
graham crackers =
1 pound cake13. 1 million-million microphones = 1 megaphone14. 2 million bicycles = 2 megacycles15. 365.25 days = 1 unicycle16. 2000 mockingbirds = 2 kilomockingbirds17. 52 cards - 1 decacards18. 1 kilogram of falling figs =1 FigNewton
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://bitsandpieces.us/2012/05/10/dancing-in-the-streets/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2012 World's Most Ethical
Companies
The World's Most Ethical (WME) Companies designation
recognizes companies that truly go beyond making statements about doing business
"ethically" and translate those words into action. WME honorees not only promote
ethical business standards and practices internally, they exceed legal
compliance minimums and shape future industry standards by introducing best
practices today.
This year, a record 145 companies made the list,
which includes more than three dozen industries, from aerospace to wind power,
with 43 of the WME winners headquartered outside the U.S.
Since the list's inception, 23 companies have made
the list all six years including: Aflac, American Express, Fluor, General
Electric, Milliken & Company, Patagonia, Rabobank and Starbucks, among
others.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Olympics Preview
The countdown to the start of the Olympics has officially begun, what with the Olympic torch on its way to London, and Nike’s new cutting-edge track and field unis making the rounds…
About those oddly dimpled track suits: They’re highly
engineered to help reduce aerodynamic drag, and ostensibly to help American,
German, Chinese, and Russian sprinters break records that have stood now for
several years. Nike claims that the TurboSpeed technology could boost times by as much as .023 seconds, which would have
been the difference between a personal best and a world record for the 2008
100-meter men’s winner, Usain Bolt.
The time also meant the difference between Beijing’s
fourth- and third-place finishes, which means the new unis could have major
medal implications for runners come August. [gizmodo]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The insanely popular BBC version of a modern day
Sherlock Holmes returned this past Sunday, and while its lead star made an
oversight claiming the new Sherlock was more popular than Downtown Abbey, what
has received more attention was an apparent typo by Washington Post columnist
Lisa de Moraes. In the article discussing Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch,
she calls him Bandersnatch Cummerbund and the internet noticed.
But now we find out that de Moreas did not fall
mercy to a spell checker that knew better, but rather the name was an
intentional nudge at the star. De Moreas’ writing style is rather cheeky, and
much like I often refer to George Lucas as Flannel Papa Smurf, de Moreas name
drops Mr Cumberbatch as Bandersnatch Cummerbund.
So all’s well that ends well. No hard feelings, but
now we know the misspelling wasn’t a typo and we can join in the
joke.
Benedict Cumberbatch continues to star in Sherlock
on the BBC, and soon to be seen on the big screen in Star Trek 2, and will be
heard as the Dragon Smaug in the upcoming Lord of the Rings prequel, The
Hobbit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Humpback whales intervene in orca attack
on gray whale calf
The hunt: A group of transient orcas was
witnessed trying to separate a gray whale calf from
its mom, a common hunting behavior. All of a sudden, two migrating humpback whales
appeared. As the gray whale mother attempted to save her calf, the humpbacks
splashed and trumpeted to scare away the orcas, often within a body length of
the other whales.
Unfortunately, the baby whale was killed, but a
total of five humpbacks harassed the orcas for hours, perhaps trying to keep
them away from feeding on the carcass.
It’s difficult, if not impossible to equate this
kind of behavior as “feelings”, in the human sense, but there’s certainly
empathy here, and
between two species to boot!
Whatever the answer, it’s touching proof of the
intelligence of whales, and perhaps we can take this as a reminder that
defending other species from destruction (or extinction) is a natural, core
value of intelligent creatures like ourselves.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
…don’t ever forget
that!
And don’t say “I’ll never be
good”. You can become better! and one day you’ll wake
up and you’ll find out how good you actually became.— Neil
deGrasse Tyson
He really just makes me smile.
Remember, you can. I got your back, folks.
(via ablogsohappy)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now that you’ve added those 19 distinctly American words to
your vocabulary, here are 11 more phrases from different linguistic regions
around the country—courtesy of the wonderful Dictionary
of American Regional English.
Keep in mind that these phrases are representative
not only of a geographic region, but also of certain linguistic subsets, which
split down generational, racial, ethnic and socioeconomic lines. So if you’re a
25-year-old, chances are you may not have heard every phrase uttered by an
octogenarian living across the state.
1. Stew the Dishrag
7. That Dog Won’t Hunt
8. That Cock Won’t Fight
9. Buck Beer
10. (Not Enough Sense to) Pound Sand Down a
Rathole
11. Whoopity Scoot
What words or phrases from your neck of the woods should the rest of us start using?
What words or phrases from your neck of the woods should the rest of us start using?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The
bank is something more than men, I tell you. It's the monster. Men made it, but
they can't control it.
--Chapter 5, Grapes of Wrath
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.--Pamela Vaull Starr
The power of imagination makes us infinite.--John Muir
--Chapter 5, Grapes of Wrath
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.--Pamela Vaull Starr
The power of imagination makes us infinite.--John Muir
First
say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.--Epictetus
More on the New World Order dressed up in flowery language...
If we do not follow the dictates of our inner moral compass and stand up for human life, then his lawlessness will threaten the peace and democracy of the emerging new world order we now see, this long dreamed-of vision we've all worked toward for so long. --President George H. Bush (January 1991)
More on the New World Order dressed up in flowery language...
If we do not follow the dictates of our inner moral compass and stand up for human life, then his lawlessness will threaten the peace and democracy of the emerging new world order we now see, this long dreamed-of vision we've all worked toward for so long. --President George H. Bush (January 1991)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every
great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the
strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the
world.~ Harriet
Tubman
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"These days, teachers have it rough. Kids can be hyperactive, disobedient, and obnoxious. It must feel like being locked in a room of drunk midgets." -Craig Ferguson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last June, my friend told me about her plans for our upcoming prom. "I'm renting a stretch limo and spending $1,000 on a new dress, and I've reserved a table at the most expensive restaurant in town," she said.
Our teacher overheard her and shook her head. "I didn't spend that much on my wedding."
My friend answered, "I can have three or four weddings. But a prom you do only once."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Strange
development in the Secret Service prostitution saga. They issued new rules of
conduct on Friday, and on some trips they will send chaperones to make sure the
rules are enforced. Am I nuts, or is this weird? We have to give the Secret
Service chaperones to make sure they don't get drunk and have sex? We should
make the agents travel with their moms." -Jimmy Kimmel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"There's a new dating site aimed at matching up women who like to travel with men willing to pay for their trips. It's part of a new dating trend called prostitution." -Jimmy Fallon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"There's a new dating site aimed at matching up women who like to travel with men willing to pay for their trips. It's part of a new dating trend called prostitution." -Jimmy Fallon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Today
is the 20th annual Bring Your Child to Work Day. It's a great opportunity to
show your kids why you come home so miserable every day." -Jimmy
Kimmel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Last week, a hunter in Kansas shot his friend twice because he mistakenly thought he was a turkey. After the first shot, the guy said he wasn't a turkey. But, come on, that's exactly what a turkey would have said." -Jimmy Fallon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Last week, a hunter in Kansas shot his friend twice because he mistakenly thought he was a turkey. After the first shot, the guy said he wasn't a turkey. But, come on, that's exactly what a turkey would have said." -Jimmy Fallon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The middle-aged married couple
finally moved into the Condo of their dreams, but right next door to a very sexy
fashion model. The husband had taken to borrowing this or that from their
neighbor and it seemed to the wife that it always took him way too long to
return.
One time the wife had had enuff and actually pounded on the wall between the two apartments. There being no response she telephoned, only to get the answering machine. Finally she went to the model's door and just kept ringing the bell.
When the model answered, the wife fumed,"I would like to know why it is my husband takes so damn long to get something over here."
One time the wife had had enuff and actually pounded on the wall between the two apartments. There being no response she telephoned, only to get the answering machine. Finally she went to the model's door and just kept ringing the bell.
When the model answered, the wife fumed,"I would like to know why it is my husband takes so damn long to get something over here."
"Well sweetie," the
model purred, "all these interruptions sure ain't helping none
either."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Scientists are saying that the triceratops may never have existed. Next will be the brontosaurus and the stegosaurus and the next thing you know, my pajamas are covered in lies." -Craig Ferguson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While visiting Annapolis, a lady tourist noticed several students on their hands and knees assessing the courtyard with pencils and clipboards in hand.
"What are they doing?" she asked the tour guide.
"Each year," he replied with a grin, "the upperclassmen ask the freshmen how many bricks it took to finish paving this courtyard."
When they were out of earshot of the freshmen, the curious lady asked the guide: "So, what's the answer?"
The guide replied: "One."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Scientists are saying that the triceratops may never have existed. Next will be the brontosaurus and the stegosaurus and the next thing you know, my pajamas are covered in lies." -Craig Ferguson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While visiting Annapolis, a lady tourist noticed several students on their hands and knees assessing the courtyard with pencils and clipboards in hand.
"What are they doing?" she asked the tour guide.
"Each year," he replied with a grin, "the upperclassmen ask the freshmen how many bricks it took to finish paving this courtyard."
When they were out of earshot of the freshmen, the curious lady asked the guide: "So, what's the answer?"
The guide replied: "One."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RIP Maurice Sendak. Here’s a tribute
from us scientists.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``
QUOTE:
"When I tell any truth, it is not for the sake of convincing those who do not
know it, but for the sake of defending those that do."
HINT: (1757-1827), English poet, painter, and printmaker.
ANSWER: William Blake
HINT: (1757-1827), English poet, painter, and printmaker.
ANSWER: William Blake
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A series of videos give a history lesson and backstory on different facets of the Game
of Thrones world. They’re from the Blu-Ray discs, but are also
available to all of us online.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“What an astonishing thing a book is. It’s a flat object made
from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark
squiggles. But one glance at it and you’re inside the mind of another person,
maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is
speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is
perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew
each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book
is proof that humans are capable of working magic.”
There is something about holding an organized pile
of wood pulp and dried ink that gives the reader a shared stake in the author’s
experience, some small part-ownership of a piece of information. “This is
mine, and although the words in it are not, the experience is purely personal.”
Where will this take us with e-books? I am a
huge fan of their accessibility and their rich creative potential, but will the
magic persist? (via Brain Pickings)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A magnetic field visualized
Love simple, effective demonstrations like this!
Speaking of magnetism, have you seen this amazing ferrofluids video
yet?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RANDOM
TIDBITS
In 2001, a Hooters waitress sued the restaurant chain after she won a company sales contest. The promised prize had been described as a Toyota, but when she was led blindfolded out to the parking lot to collect her prize, it turned out to be a "Toy Yoda" - a Star Wars action figure.
During the 1950s, the majority of contests were "jingle-based" - companies inviting customers to create rhyming advertisements for their products. Evelyn Ryan of Defiance, Ohio, had such a knack for verse that she managed to keep her family home from foreclosure and keep her 10 children fed and clothed via her contest winnings. She was even the subject of the 2005 film The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio.
The Canadian Competition Act bans all games of chance, with the exception of provincial lotteries and those held at licensed casinos. As a result, most U.S.-based sweepstakes mention in the fine print that "Canadian residents will be required to answer a skill-testing question."
After winning the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest six years in a row, Takeru Kobayashi was finally defeated in 2007. The younger and larger Joey Chestnut won the July 4 event by downing a world-record 66 franks (with buns) in 12 minutes.
In 1984, MTV sponsored a contest in conjunction with John Mellencamp's hit song "Pink Houses" - the grand prize being a little pink house in Bloomington, Indiana. Susan Miles of Bellevue, Washington, was ultimately awarded the deed. She spent two nights in the house, held on to the title long enough to get a tax credit, and then sold it.
McDonald's first offered a Monopoly collect-and-win stamp game in 1987 and has continued it annually since 1991. While a scandal involving prizes later caused quite a ruckus, some "real people" did win larger prizes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sticky Wall Challenge - Japanese Game Show
http://www.evtv1.com/player.aspx?itemnum=12783
It never fails to amaze. That is what will pop into your mind after viewing this clip from a Japanese Game Show that features Velcro walls, rope swings, a see-saw and a television studio filled with baking soda.
In 2001, a Hooters waitress sued the restaurant chain after she won a company sales contest. The promised prize had been described as a Toyota, but when she was led blindfolded out to the parking lot to collect her prize, it turned out to be a "Toy Yoda" - a Star Wars action figure.
During the 1950s, the majority of contests were "jingle-based" - companies inviting customers to create rhyming advertisements for their products. Evelyn Ryan of Defiance, Ohio, had such a knack for verse that she managed to keep her family home from foreclosure and keep her 10 children fed and clothed via her contest winnings. She was even the subject of the 2005 film The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio.
The Canadian Competition Act bans all games of chance, with the exception of provincial lotteries and those held at licensed casinos. As a result, most U.S.-based sweepstakes mention in the fine print that "Canadian residents will be required to answer a skill-testing question."
After winning the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest six years in a row, Takeru Kobayashi was finally defeated in 2007. The younger and larger Joey Chestnut won the July 4 event by downing a world-record 66 franks (with buns) in 12 minutes.
In 1984, MTV sponsored a contest in conjunction with John Mellencamp's hit song "Pink Houses" - the grand prize being a little pink house in Bloomington, Indiana. Susan Miles of Bellevue, Washington, was ultimately awarded the deed. She spent two nights in the house, held on to the title long enough to get a tax credit, and then sold it.
McDonald's first offered a Monopoly collect-and-win stamp game in 1987 and has continued it annually since 1991. While a scandal involving prizes later caused quite a ruckus, some "real people" did win larger prizes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sticky Wall Challenge - Japanese Game Show
http://www.evtv1.com/player.aspx?itemnum=12783
It never fails to amaze. That is what will pop into your mind after viewing this clip from a Japanese Game Show that features Velcro walls, rope swings, a see-saw and a television studio filled with baking soda.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wonder how damned dumb people are?
1 in 7 thinks the world will end in their lifetime. 1 in 10 thinks
it ends this year!
Oops!
Nearly 15 percent of people worldwide believe the world
will end during their lifetime and 10 percent think the Mayan calendar could
signify it will happen in 2012, according to a new poll…
“Whether they think it will come to an end through the
hands of God, or a natural disaster or a political event, whatever the reason,
one in seven thinks the end of the world is coming,” said Keren Gottfried,
research manager at Ipsos Global Public Affairs which conducted the poll for
Reuters.
Responses to the international poll of 16,262 people in
more than 20 countries varied widely with only six percent of French residents
believing in an impending Armageddon in their lifetime, compared to 22 percent
in Turkey and the United States and slightly less in South Africa and
Argentina…
About one in 10 people globally also said they were
experiencing fear or anxiety about the impending end of the world in 2012. The
greatest numbers were in Russia and Poland, the fewest in Great
Britain.
Gottfried also said that people with lower education or
household income levels, as well as those under 35 years old, were more
likely to believe in an apocalypse during their
lifetime or in 2012, or have anxiety over the
prospect.
RTFA for a list of countries polled. I don’t
need to know which religions had the lead in apocalyptic paranoia. I still have
problems dealing with the fact that these people get to
vote.
Thanks,
Ed
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A man walks into a bar with a little salamander-looking creature in his hand. The barman looks at the creature and asks the man what he calls it.
"Tiny," replies the man.
"Why's that?" asks the bartender.
"Because he's my newt!"
Q: Why did the cat sit on the computer?
A: To keep an eye on the mouse.
Q: Where do American cows come from?
A: Moo York.
Marginalia (or apostil) are scribbles, comments, and illuminations in the margins of a book.
The scholia on classical manuscripts are the earliest known form of marginalia. Fermat's last theorem is the most famous mathematical marginal note.
HOW TO TELL IF YOUR KILLER HEADACHE IS A MIGRAINE18 symptoms that mean it's more serioushttp://health.chtah.net/a/tBPqrHPBFYNexB8i4tACFNC1EIp/top25
I
was just thinking...
Why are sleeveless t-shirts still identified as t-shirts?
Why is chicken, as far as I know, the only food that comes in a bucket?
Why don't people smoke cigarettes with their nostrils rather than their mouths? Cigarettes were made to be stuck up one's nose.
Why does Winnie the Pooh wear a shirt, but he doesn't wear pants?
Why is the plural for cheese "cheeses" and not "choose"? You know, kind of like geese and goose.
These are a just a few of the things that I was thinking about while I wait for my arm to be freed from the soda machine.
Why are sleeveless t-shirts still identified as t-shirts?
Why is chicken, as far as I know, the only food that comes in a bucket?
Why don't people smoke cigarettes with their nostrils rather than their mouths? Cigarettes were made to be stuck up one's nose.
Why does Winnie the Pooh wear a shirt, but he doesn't wear pants?
Why is the plural for cheese "cheeses" and not "choose"? You know, kind of like geese and goose.
These are a just a few of the things that I was thinking about while I wait for my arm to be freed from the soda machine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My Little Lizard
--*
A man walks into a bar with a little salamander-looking creature in his hand. The barman looks at the creature and asks the man what he calls it.
"Tiny," replies the man.
"Why's that?" asks the bartender.
"Because he's my newt!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q and A
Quickies --*
Q: Why did the cat sit on the computer?
A: To keep an eye on the mouse.
Q: Where do American cows come from?
A: Moo York.
Q:
How can you tell if a woman's wearing pantyhose or knee-high's?
A: If her ankles swell when she farts.
Q: How do you know when you're really a loser?
A: When a nymphomaniac tells you, "Let's just be friends."
A: If her ankles swell when she farts.
Q: How do you know when you're really a loser?
A: When a nymphomaniac tells you, "Let's just be friends."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Random
Facts:
Elektro, the world's first humanoid robot, debuted in 1939. Built by Westinghouse, the seven-foot-tall walking machine "spoke" more than 700 words. Elektro later appeared in the 1960 B movie Sex Kittens Go to College.
Leonardo da Vinci drew up plans for an armored humanoid machine in 1495. Engineer Mark Rosheim has created a functional miniature version for NASA to help colonize Mars.
Elektro, the world's first humanoid robot, debuted in 1939. Built by Westinghouse, the seven-foot-tall walking machine "spoke" more than 700 words. Elektro later appeared in the 1960 B movie Sex Kittens Go to College.
Leonardo da Vinci drew up plans for an armored humanoid machine in 1495. Engineer Mark Rosheim has created a functional miniature version for NASA to help colonize Mars.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TIKKE !!!! The
perfect way to have a second childhood!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A gloss (from Latin:
glossa, from Greek:
γλῶσσα glóssa "tongue") is a brief marginal notation
of the meaning of a word or wording in a text. It may be in the language of the
text, or in the reader's language if that is different.
A collection of glosses is a glossary. A
collection of medieval legal glosses, made by so-called glossators, is called an apparatus. The compilation of
glosses into glossaries was the beginning of lexicography,
and the glossaries so compiled were in fact the first dictionaries.
In modern times a glossary, as opposed to a dictionary, is typically found in a
text as an appendix of specialized terms that the typical reader may find
unfamiliar. Also, satirical explanations of words and events are called glosses.
The German
Romantic movement used the expression of gloss for poems commenting on a
given other piece of poetry, often in the Spanish Décima
style.
Glosses were originally notes made in the margin or between the lines of a
text in a Classical
language, in which the meaning of a word or passage is explained. As such,
glosses vary in thoroughness and complexity, from simple marginal notations of
words one reader found difficult or obscure, to interlinear translations
of a text with cross references to similar passages.
Marginalia (or apostil) are scribbles, comments, and illuminations in the margins of a book.
The scholia on classical manuscripts are the earliest known form of marginalia. Fermat's last theorem is the most famous mathematical marginal note.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Having trouble remembering the 5 processes that
impact evolution (small population, non-random mating, mutations, gene flow,
adaptation)? Learn the five-finger trick, and you’ll always have them at your
fingertips (see what I did there?)!
TEDEducation is knocking out of the park, which is pretty much exactly what
I expected they would do. Maybe they’re juicing?. We should have them
tested.
Put some smiles on those genes, turn them into jeans,
and get shufflin’ … you’ll have the principles of natural
selection down in no time.
Previously: TEDEd on How Small Is An Atom? And don’t miss their
jaw-dropping visual journey The Secret Life of Plankton.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
National
Geographic
Fish Tank Kings
http://newsletters.nationalgeographic.com/PS!WXJpHcNLbLEFBgIAAAAGCgFICgkxMTQ1NDgyMzEKCjE2MTM5NjE4NzUJAG6u9goJNzEyNjc2NDY0BQ==
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Healthy Living from
Health.com
Good news: You're not stuck with
your mom's slow-mo metabolism. Take these simple steps and you can burn more
calories without (necessarily) adding workouts. Phew!
HOW TO TELL IF YOUR KILLER HEADACHE IS A MIGRAINE18 symptoms that mean it's more serioushttp://health.chtah.net/a/tBPqrHPBFYNexB8i4tACFNC1EIp/top25
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A very, VERY unusual
ocean creature
Watch the video first and decide
what you think this is - reportedly filmed by a ROV, perhaps at an oil drilling
platform. Then peek below the fold for clarification as to whether this is
-
a) real or fake,
b) plastic or organic,
c) living or dead.
It's real, organic, and living. At the Reddit thread, after some preliminary comments that it was a plastic sheet or other debris, or perhaps the placenta of a whale, it was identified as a Deepstaria enigmatica. It's a cnidarian. ( A jellyfish)
You learn something every day. I am repeatedly gobsmacked to discover the amazing creatures we share this planet with.
a) real or fake,
b) plastic or organic,
c) living or dead.
It's real, organic, and living. At the Reddit thread, after some preliminary comments that it was a plastic sheet or other debris, or perhaps the placenta of a whale, it was identified as a Deepstaria enigmatica. It's a cnidarian. ( A jellyfish)
You learn something every day. I am repeatedly gobsmacked to discover the amazing creatures we share this planet with.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A semi and a bus found themselves at a hairpin turn in Trollstigen,
Norway - what do you think will happen
next?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Case of Emergency, Eat
This Book
After you've foolishly walked away
from your Land Rover to explore a mirage in the Arabian desert, you've found
yourself lost. What to do? Thank goodness for this survival guide that explains
how to keep yourself alive with tips on dealing with scorching temperatures,
building shelters, lighting a fire and so on. The best thing is: you can eat the
book!
Actually the whole thing is a clever
ad campaign by Y&R Dubai ad agency for Land Rover:
Y&R Dubai researched every
indigenous animal and plant, people could encounter in the Arabian Desert and
how they could be used to survive. They studied the topography of the region to
guide people to safety. The agency used a reflective packaging similar to army
rations, which could be used to signal for help, and bound the book with a metal
spiral, which could be used for cooking. Finally, the agency even took an extra
step so that in case of emergency, people could always EAT the book. It was made
out of edible ink and paper, and it had a nutritional value close to that of a
cheeseburger. Link - via
DesignTaxi
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reporter: "What do you say to parents
who think the Wild Things film may be too scary?"
Sendak: "I would tell them to go to hell. That's a question I will not tolerate."
Reporter: "Because kids can handle it?"
Sendak: "If they can't handle it, go home. Or wet your pants. Do whatever you like. But it's not a question that can be answered.... This concentration on kids being scared, as though we as adults can't be scared. Of course we're scared. I'm scared of watching a TV show about vampires. I can't fall asleep. It never stops. We're grown-ups; we know better, but we're afraid."
Reporter: "Why is that important in art?"
Sendak: "Because it's truth. You don't want to do something that's all terrifying. I saw the most horrendous movies that were unfit for child's eyes. So what? I managed to survive."
Sendak: "I would tell them to go to hell. That's a question I will not tolerate."
Reporter: "Because kids can handle it?"
Sendak: "If they can't handle it, go home. Or wet your pants. Do whatever you like. But it's not a question that can be answered.... This concentration on kids being scared, as though we as adults can't be scared. Of course we're scared. I'm scared of watching a TV show about vampires. I can't fall asleep. It never stops. We're grown-ups; we know better, but we're afraid."
Reporter: "Why is that important in art?"
Sendak: "Because it's truth. You don't want to do something that's all terrifying. I saw the most horrendous movies that were unfit for child's eyes. So what? I managed to survive."
I distinctly remember seeing Welles' War of the Worlds as a child; during the scene
in the farmhouse when the head enters the basement I watched the movie from the
floor, peering between the backs of the seats in the row ahead of me. It
probably helped contribute to my development as an adult in some convoluted
way...
More details re the Sendak comment and a (very) long discussion thread at the San Francisco Chronicle's SFGate. Via Fark. Reposted from 2009 to mark Maurice Sendak's recent death.
More details re the Sendak comment and a (very) long discussion thread at the San Francisco Chronicle's SFGate. Via Fark. Reposted from 2009 to mark Maurice Sendak's recent death.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here's
a good idea; keep a gun in your house for protection. Here's a bad idea; keep it
loaded and unlocked next to your bed while you sleep. That was the unfortunate
decision of Arizona resident David Jennings who woke up in the middle of the
night to find his own pistol being pointed at his head.
"Don't move," said the intruder, who was silhouetted by the glow of the television set which Jennings had left on.
Realizing the stupidity of his thoughtlessness, Jennings had to make an instant decision. Thinking about his wife lying next to him and his children down the hall, he decided to defend himself and his family.
Fortunately, with experience as a bouncer and training in mixed martial arts, Jennings was better prepared than most. He immediately tackled the intruder and began screaming for his wife to wake up and call 911.
His gamble paid off. He was able to disarm the intruder, and when police showed up they tried to arrest Jennings because by that time he looked like the attacker, having the intruder subdued and bouncing his head off the floor.
Well, if you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough. Jennings said that he has since bought a trigger lock for his gun.
"Don't move," said the intruder, who was silhouetted by the glow of the television set which Jennings had left on.
Realizing the stupidity of his thoughtlessness, Jennings had to make an instant decision. Thinking about his wife lying next to him and his children down the hall, he decided to defend himself and his family.
Fortunately, with experience as a bouncer and training in mixed martial arts, Jennings was better prepared than most. He immediately tackled the intruder and began screaming for his wife to wake up and call 911.
His gamble paid off. He was able to disarm the intruder, and when police showed up they tried to arrest Jennings because by that time he looked like the attacker, having the intruder subdued and bouncing his head off the floor.
Well, if you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough. Jennings said that he has since bought a trigger lock for his gun.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What is this? Most people see a mass of black blobs and then gradually
recognize a photograph of a Dalmatian.
“What is interesting is that the outline shape on the picture surface that
is experienced as resembling that of a dog is not seen as an outline shape at
all unless the dog is seen in the figure,” writes University of British Columbia
philosopher Dominic McIver Lopes. There’s no dog-shaped outline to notice; the
contour of the dog’s body is invisible. To see the contour we must first see the
dog … but how do we see the dog without the contour?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Driving drunk with your
kids strapped to the hood of the car
This adventure started, not so surprisingly, at a
liquor store yesterday — Belmont Beverage in Fort Wayne, Ind. Witnesses say they
saw the car leave the parking lot with four children (ages 4-7), not just not
secured in car seats (which would be bad enough), but instead strapped to the
hood of the car…
Witness Tom Nowak told station INC: “With one of those
straps you crank on a semi to hold down lumber, they were strapped with that
thing, wiggling and wobbling down the street.”
I’m stunned; seriously stunned. The kids, of course,
were all for it, and told the station that Aaron Stefanski (the father of three
of the children) and Jessica Clark (who is mother of the fourth child) asked
them if they wanted to do it, and they said, “yes, because it sounded like
fun.”
Why these parents thought it would be fun or a good
idea is anyone’s guess. I’m sure the alcohol didn’t help, but wow. The things that could have happened to these
children are unimaginable.
Fortunately they’re fine as plenty of witnesses saw it
happening (how could you miss such a spectacle?) and called the police before
anyone got hurt. A U.S. Marshall pulled them over after a few blocks, and
Stefanski was arrested. He’s been charged with Operating While Intoxicated and
Neglect of a Dependent, which doesn’t sound nearly severe enough for something
that could have killed four children.
Why am I not surprised? Having spent a
brief – but truly stupid – portion of my youth investigating the result of
drinking way too much of various alcoholic beverages, I recall some of the dumb
things I did. Sometimes I wish I didn’t remember.
Ditto, Thanks,
Ed
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Optimist, Pessimist &
Realist,
While you guys were arguing
about the glass of water,
I drank
it.
Sincerely,
The
Opportunist
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
IBM sees a boom in
cost-effective retrofits for skyscrapers
Getting a building in shape is a lot like eating
right. Under this approach, dubbed “the physiology of buildings,” a heating and
cooling system is akin to the respiratory system; elevators and corridors are a
circulatory system; and a building’s smart sensors with sophisticated computer
monitoring are the nervous system.
Each system affects others: water meters in bathrooms
work together with security systems to analyze occupancy, affecting how quickly
the building breathes in fresh air. Lighting, by heating a space, affects how
much power is used for cooling. With the right data, an owner can decide whether
replacing air conditioners makes better sense than a new roof.
The interaction of those systems adds up to an
ecosystem that can be measured and improved, like a visit to the doctor or a gym
membership. Bartlett, who studied biology, eventually sees buildings forming
part of a wider ecosystem that brings nature into cities, making them more
literally “green.”
That
'Environmental Engineer Program' that I was selected for was about this
topic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pacific garbage patch
changes insect mating habits — what’s next?
I bet you wouldn't be at all
surprised that Scripps was once my dream (when we were in high school, we met
Jacques Cousteau through my brother's SCUBA diving club)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(via blamoscience)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cross River gorillas hold the unfortunate distinction as the most endangered African
ape. There are less than 250 of them left. In this rare sighting from a
motion-activated camera in Cameroon, a group of 8 strolls by under a thick
jungle canopy.
It includes an amazing example of silverback male
chest-thumping (much different than you see it in the movies)!
He charges past the camera around halfway through, asserting his dominance to
the group, and to us (unbeknownst to him, of course). But sadly, one of them
also appears to be missing a hand. This could be a result of gorilla combat, or
it could be a reminder of the damage that we humans have inflicted on this great
ape species.
Will this be one of the last times we capture footage of
these gorillas? Or a call to action to save a species?
Previously: Gorillas in your midst: A tourist and gorillas
connect as fellow primates. Terrified, about to
pee their pants out of fear fellow primates, that is. Enthralling cross-species
interaction!
Carl Pyrdum's 2010 essay on the internal logic of Gothic manuscript illuminations uses a delightful series of illustrations and sprites from Super Mario Brothers. History at its finest:
If you look carefully (the image above–and all the images in this post–should expand if you click it), you can see that the two initial capitals on the page form separate platforms, not quite touching.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brewers for Boobs - presented by The
EastBurn and Migration Brewing
Migration
Brewing Company challenges other Oregon brewmasters to a friendly competition
that raises much-needed funds for the American Cancer Society’s breast cancer
early detection and local patient service programs at the 3rd Annual Brewers For
Boobs Saturday, May 12th ...from 12 a.m. – 9 p.m. at The
EastBurn (1800 East Burnside).
$10 minimum donation at the door earns your wristband, commemorative pint glass and 5 tasting tickets. Additional tickets for $1 each.
The fundraising event allows beer lovers to make a donation to the American Cancer Society to taste a selection of local brews and mingle with the brewers who make them. The brewery that raises the most money for the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer gets to issue the next year’s challenge. This year Migration has challenged Portland newcomer Gigantic Brewing as well as Double Mountain, Breakside, Lucky Lab, Natian and 2010 Brewers For Boobs champion Lompoc.
The Brewers For Boobs who compete at the Battle of the Breweries donate their time, beer, and swag to Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. The American Cancer Society fundraiser provides resources for local breast cancer patients, mammography for those without access, funds a cutting-edge research program and raises awareness about prevention and early detection.
$10 minimum donation at the door earns your wristband, commemorative pint glass and 5 tasting tickets. Additional tickets for $1 each.
The fundraising event allows beer lovers to make a donation to the American Cancer Society to taste a selection of local brews and mingle with the brewers who make them. The brewery that raises the most money for the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer gets to issue the next year’s challenge. This year Migration has challenged Portland newcomer Gigantic Brewing as well as Double Mountain, Breakside, Lucky Lab, Natian and 2010 Brewers For Boobs champion Lompoc.
The Brewers For Boobs who compete at the Battle of the Breweries donate their time, beer, and swag to Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. The American Cancer Society fundraiser provides resources for local breast cancer patients, mammography for those without access, funds a cutting-edge research program and raises awareness about prevention and early detection.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Best of talking animals.
Flash mob in the Copenhagen Metro.
Boxer dog's morning ritual.
Freshman creates an automated dorm.
The impossible texting and driving test.
Mariachi surprise.
Flash mob in the Copenhagen Metro.
Boxer dog's morning ritual.
Freshman creates an automated dorm.
The impossible texting and driving test.
Mariachi surprise.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We’re playing Russian roulette. The revolver has six
chambers, all empty. I put bullets in two adjacent chambers, spin the cylinder,
hold the gun to my head, and pull the trigger. It clicks. Now it’s your turn.
Before pulling the trigger, you can choose to spin the cylinder again or leave
it as it is. Which is better? Click for solution
…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This guy was watching TV as his wife was out
cutting the grass during the hot summer. He finally worked up the energy to go
out and ask his wife what was for supper.
Well, his missus was quite irritated about him
sitting in the air conditioned house all day while she did all the work, so she
scolded him. “I can’t believe you’re aking me about supper right now! Imagine
I’m out of town, go inside and figure dinner out yourself.”
So he went back in the house and fixed himself a
big steak, with potatoes, garlic bread and tall glass of iced tea.
The wife finally walked in about the time he was
finishing up and asked him, “You fixed something to eat? So where is
mine?”
“Huh? I thought you were out of
town.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Bumbling, Crawling
Sperms
In the movies, sperms have been portrayed as
swimming elegantly up the female reproductive tract to inseminate the egg. What
baloney. The truth is that they're much more like bumbling male drivers who
refuse to stop to ask for directions:
When Dr. Petr Denissenko of the University of
Warwick first saw sperm cells crashing as they negotiated the tight turns of
channels en route to a woman's egg, he couldn't help but chuckle. "I
couldn't resist a laugh the first time I saw sperm cells persistently swerving
on tight turns and crashing head-on into the opposite wall of a microchannel,"
he said. [...] Despite so many images of sperm swimming like fish,
researchers found that sperm rarely swim in the central part of the female
reproductive tract. Instead, they avoid the "middle lane" and crawl along the
sides of the walls. Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What a name
(scientifically, its Neoclinus Blanchardi). What an impressive mouth.
More information here.
"...a ferocious fish which has a large mouth and aggressive territorial behaviour. They can be up to 30 centimetres (12 in) wide and are mostly scaleless with great pectoral fins and reduced pelvic fins. With highly compressed bodies, some may be so widened as to appear eel-like. They tend to hide inside shells or crevices. After the female spawns under a rock or in clam burrows the male guards the eggs. They are found in the Pacific, off the coast of North America, from San Francisco, California, to central Baja California and their depth range is from 3 to 73 metres (9.8 to 240 ft)."
"...a ferocious fish which has a large mouth and aggressive territorial behaviour. They can be up to 30 centimetres (12 in) wide and are mostly scaleless with great pectoral fins and reduced pelvic fins. With highly compressed bodies, some may be so widened as to appear eel-like. They tend to hide inside shells or crevices. After the female spawns under a rock or in clam burrows the male guards the eggs. They are found in the Pacific, off the coast of North America, from San Francisco, California, to central Baja California and their depth range is from 3 to 73 metres (9.8 to 240 ft)."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Physics of Spilled
Coffee
Scientists are concerned about spilled coffee,
because long hours of research require coffee, and a spill can ruin your train
of thought, if not your valuable notes. Mechanical engineer Rouslan Krechetnikov
of the the University of California, Santa Barbara, and graduate student Hans
Mayer did some experiments after noticing coffee being sloshed at a fluid
dynamics conference (of all places).
Back at the lab, Krechetnikov and Mayer set up an
experiment: They asked a person to walk at different speeds along a straight
path with a filled coffee mug in hand. The volunteer did this in one of two
ways-either focusing on the coffee mug, or looking straight ahead. A camera
recorded the person’s motion and the mug’s trajectory, while a tiny sensor on
the mug recorded the instant of spillage.
A fluid’s back-and-forth movement has a certain
natural frequency, and this is determined by the size of its container. In their
paper published last week in Physical Review E, Krechetnikov and Mayer show that
everyday mug sizes produce natural frequencies that just happen to match those
of a person’s leg movements during walking. This means that walking alone,
without any other interference, is tuned to drive coffee to oscillate in a mug.
But the researchers also found that even small irregularities in a person’s
walking are important: These amplify the wilder oscillations, or sloshing, which
bumps up the chance of a spillage.
“This is a very cool study,” says Lei Ren, a
specialist in the biomechanics of walking at the University of Manchester in the
United Kingdom. “It reveals the sophisticated interplay between human body
dynamics and the fluid mechanics of spilling coffee.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Using only a 4-minute hourglass and a 7-minute
hourglass, how can you measure 9 minutes?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Giant otters sunbathing - Wildlife on One - BBC
The incomparable David Attenborough narrates the
video.
I've previously reported about lachryphagous moths, including this interesting cited observation:
I've previously reported about lachryphagous moths, including this interesting cited observation:
"The highly specialized Lobocraspis griseifusa
does not wait for an animal’s eyes to moisten. When it has landed, it sweeps its
proboscis across the eye of its unfortunate host, irritating the eyeball,
encouraging it to produce tears. It can even insert its proboscis between the
eyelids, ensuring it can feed even while its host is sleeping. Whereas a moth of
the genus Poncetia goes to the opposite extreme. It’s proboscis is so short it
must cling to the eyeball itself to drink. But it must be careful. If its
weeping host blinks, the moth is often crushed to death.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Psst! Your Vascular System is
Showing!
Actually, they're just painted on. UK's National Health
Service is worried that the upcoming summer Olympic Games would mean that blood
donors are too busy watching the games that they'd forget to donate. So it
embarked on a publicity stunt to raise awareness of the need for blood donation
in Britain.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stop, Breathe, and Watch
Kites
You’ve got a big day ahead of you and a lot to do
during it. Stop for five minutes and center yourself. This relaxing video by
Patrick Colpron shows a six-sail kite built and flown by Steve Polansky. It
dances across the sky and beach, accompanied by “Lighthouse”, a song by Patrick
Watson.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
IV Drips for Chinese Students Cramming for
College Entrance Exam
Passing the national exam is so competitive in China that
students resort to finding an edge - any edge - that can help them
pass.
This photo, purportedly of high schoolers given "amino
acid" IV drips while cramming, has gone viral:
Mr. Xia, director of Office of Academic Affairs, said
that what is delivered to the students intravenously is nothing but amino acids
to restore their health. “The state grants a 10-yuan subsidy for amino
acids to each graduating senior that will participate in the gao kao (National
College Entrance Exam). Any student that feels not well can go to the infirmary
and take amino acids on the IV drip,” Mr. Xia explained. He said that some
students had been below par recently due to the sudden weather changes in the
city of Xiaogan, and the school infirmary had been packed with students. In
order to spare students the trouble of running back and forth between the
infirmary and the classroom and save their time, the school decided to arrange
IV drip sessions right in the classroom. Link - via
Boing Boing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yogurt Makes Mice Slimmer and
Sexier
Put down that Viagra and reach out for some yogurt instead.
New studies by Eric Alm and Susan Erdman of Massachusetts Institute of
Technology revealed that yogurt not only make mice slimmer, it makes them sexier
as well.
“Maybe it has to do with the healthy bacteria that live
in our guts,” said Alm, an evolutionary biologist, explaining how there are 10
times more bacteria in the body than human cells. “Maybe probiotics in the
yogurt have something to do with the effects on weight.” To test the
theory, Alm and Erdman fed one group of mice a normal mouse diet and another
group the same diet with a mouse-sized serving of vanilla yogurt. “One
of the first things we noticed was their fur coat,” said Erdman, assistant
director of comparative medicine at MIT. “It was so thick and shiny; shockingly
shiny.” But shiny fur wasn’t the only thing that set the yogurt-eating
mice apart from their siblings: They were also slimmer, and the males had
“swagger.”
And what causes this newfound sexual confidence? “She
noticed their testicles were protruding out really far,” Erdman
said.Swaggerin', yogurt-eatin', slim mice with a sexy strut and huge
testicles. Yogurt, what can't it do? Link
BRB, going to the market to get me some yogurt!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lies Told About Caramelizing
Onions
Tom Scocca is upset with celebrity chefs and
recipes that tell you to caramelize onions in ten minutes. You can
sauté onions in ten minutes, but caramelization takes around
45 minutes, meaning “the best time to caramelize onions is
yesterday.”
Here, telling the truth about how to prepare onions
for French onion soup, is Julia Child: “[C]ook slowly until tender and
translucent, about 10 minutes. Blend in the salt and sugar, raise heat to
moderately high, and let the onions brown, stirring frequently until they are a
dark walnut color, 25 to 30 minutes.” Ten minutes plus 25 to 30 minutes equals
35 to 40 minutes. That is how long it takes to caramelize onions.
But if you take the time to do it right, you’ll be
rewarded with some mighty delicious cooked onions. The article at Slate looks
into how chefs come up with their timetables, which are different from what goes
on in your kitchen. Link
-via Metafilter, where you can find a lengthy but helpful discussion on
onions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
See-Through
Caterpillar
This jewel caterpillar (acraga coa) is dressed to perfection.
Gerardo Aizpuru spotted it in a mangrove area on the Yucatán peninsula. You can
find more pictures of it at the link.
Link -via Geekologie
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ben Franklin’s “rules for making oneself a disagreeable
companion,” 1750:
- If possible engross the whole Discourse; and when other Matter fails, talk much of your-self, your Education, your Knowledge, your Circumstances, your Successes in Business, your Victories in Disputes, your own wise Sayings and Observations on particular Occasions, &c. &c. &c.;
- If when you are out of Breath, one of the Company should seize the Opportunity of saying something; watch his Words, and, if possible, find somewhat either in his Sentiment or Expression, immediately to contradict and raise a Dispute upon. Rather than fail, criticise even his Grammar.
- If another should be saying an indisputably good Thing; either give no Attention to it; or interrupt him; or draw away the Attention of others; or, if you can guess what he would be at, be quick and say it before him; or, if he gets it said, and you perceive the Company pleas’d with it, own it to be a good Thing, and withal remark that it had been said by Bacon, Locke, Bayle, or some other eminent Writer; thus you deprive him of the Reputation he might have gain’d by it, and gain some yourself, as you hereby show your great Reading and Memory.
- When modest Men have been thus treated by you a few times, they will chuse ever after to be silent in your Company; then you may shine on without Fear of a Rival; rallying them at the same time for their Dullness, which will be to you a new Fund of Wit.
“Thus you will be sure to please yourself,” he
concluded. “The polite Man aims at pleasing others, but you shall go
beyond him even in that. A Man can be present only in one Company, but may at
the same time be absent in twenty. He can please only where he is, you
where-ever you are not.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Those who wish to appear wise among fools, among the wise
seem foolish.” — Quintilian
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Famous Filched Ford
Ruth and Jesse Warren of Topeka, Kansas, bought a 1934 Ford
Fordor Deluxe Sedan. They hadn’t owned it very long when on April 29th, 1934,
Ruth noticed the car was missing. A month later the Warrens were informed the
car was in Louisiana, with 160 bullet holes in it after Texas lawmen shot and
killed Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. The Warrens had to go to federal court to
take back possession of their car, as the sheriff wanted to keep it for his
trouble. Even then, they had to pay a $70 storage fee! The Warren car became
more famous every year after that, as people flocked to see a part of history.
You can follow its story through lots of links to tons of pages full of
photographs and newspaper clippings. Link -via Everlasting Blort
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Suppose I switch on my reading lamp at time zero.
After one minute I switch it off again. Then I switch it on after a further 30
seconds, off after 15 seconds, and so on.
James Thomson asks: “At the end of two minutes, is
the lamp on or off? … It cannot be on, because I did not ever turn it on without
at once turning it off. It cannot be off, because I did in the first place turn
it on, and thereafter I never turned it off without at once turning it
on.”
What is the answer? Would the final state be
different if I had switched the lamp off at time zero, rather than on?
What if I carry out the experiment twice in succession?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Portland On The
Web: ABC News, Wall Street Journal, Forbes
& More
In this week's edition of article round-ups, lions are attacking babies dressed as zebras, we are America's art capital, Dallas tourism is on its way, and drinkspirits tells you how to imbibe locally.
Wall Street Journal: Our Next Art Capital: Portland?
Forbes: Team Evil Geniuses Manager Anna Prosser (Portland native, Miss Oregon) Believes More Female Gamers Will Turn Pro
Dallas News: Finding 'Portlandia' in Portland, OR
Portland Online: Our Road Map for the Next 25 Years
ABC News: Baby's zebra hoodie attracts hungry lion at Oregon Zoo
DrinkSpirits: Spirits from Portland, Oregon - DrinkSpirits Podcast
In this week's edition of article round-ups, lions are attacking babies dressed as zebras, we are America's art capital, Dallas tourism is on its way, and drinkspirits tells you how to imbibe locally.
Wall Street Journal: Our Next Art Capital: Portland?
Forbes: Team Evil Geniuses Manager Anna Prosser (Portland native, Miss Oregon) Believes More Female Gamers Will Turn Pro
Dallas News: Finding 'Portlandia' in Portland, OR
Portland Online: Our Road Map for the Next 25 Years
ABC News: Baby's zebra hoodie attracts hungry lion at Oregon Zoo
DrinkSpirits: Spirits from Portland, Oregon - DrinkSpirits Podcast
Pipeline is now hosted
locally and sustainably
We moved our hosting to Canvas Dreams yesterday. Canvas Dreams operates its own wind-powered data facility in Portland, Oregon and uses 100% sustainable wind energy. 99% of people can see the site now but some of you may get an error when going there. If so, it should be resolved within a couple hours.
We moved our hosting to Canvas Dreams yesterday. Canvas Dreams operates its own wind-powered data facility in Portland, Oregon and uses 100% sustainable wind energy. 99% of people can see the site now but some of you may get an error when going there. If so, it should be resolved within a couple hours.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Smithsonian Magazine Online
Were the last dinosaurs thriving or declining just
before Tyrannosaurus and kin disappeared?
The S. Dillon Ripley Center hosts an exhibit of
more than 300 of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' patents since 1980.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
National
Geographic
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pictures: Cheetahs of the
Kalahari
You won't have any trouble "spotting" these
big cats trying to survive in the extremes of the Kalahari in this photo
gallery.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Giraffe Freaks
Out
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A remarkable advertisement for the Canadian
Paralympics that was filmed in one take with no special effects.
Update: How it was done
Update: How it was done
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’ll never look at that movie poster the same
way again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A quick tour of Alaska's capital city
Juneau.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I need to think before I
answer
The wife asked me, “When you’re on a boys only
trip away, do you think about me?”
…. Apparently “Only to stop myself from coming too quickly” wasn’t the
right answer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cube is
a Google Maps game that runs in your browser. The game places players on a
giant, six-panel cube whose faces spin when generating each of eight new levels.
Players are given a series of tasks that all require you to tilt the cube to
move your marker to a number of targets in cities like York, San Francisco,
Paris, London, Tokio and Las Vegas.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beijing jianbing is a kind of breakfast crepe
widely sold in Beijing, China. The motorized cooking plate speeds up the process
for larger crepe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cockroaches. Just the word makes you cringe,
doesn't it? But recently discovered social traits of cockroaches might change
your mind. Or maybe not. They're still creepy-crawlies, aren't they? Here are
some interesting findings about cockroaches from research published by French and U.S.
biologists in the journal Insect Sociaux.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson claims the
title “scientist” above all other “ists.” And yet, he says he is “constantly
claimed by atheists.” So where does he stand? “Neil deGrasse, widely claimed by
atheists, is actually an agnostic.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is the most insane juggling .
Need something to help you procrastinate all week? A Google A Day may be just what you’re looking for.
The 37 Saddest Failed Kickstarters. I have so much second-hand embarrassment scrolling through these …
Need something to help you procrastinate all week? A Google A Day may be just what you’re looking for.
The 37 Saddest Failed Kickstarters. I have so much second-hand embarrassment scrolling through these …
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Things your Mother would
NEVER say…
– Yeah, I used to cut class a lot too.
– Go ahead and keep that stray dog, honey. I’ll be glad
to feed and walk him every day.
– That outfit isn’t sexy enough, here, unbutton your
blouse.
– Why don’t you hitchhike? It would totally be
cheaper.
– The curfew is just a general time to shoot for. It’s
not like I’m running a prison around here.
– Don’t clean your room so often. It makes the rest of
the house look bad.
– Can I borrow your new speed metal CDs?
– Naw, you don’t have to call me, I’ll eventually
figure it out if you’re in trouble.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Colbert Vs. Miracle Whip
Last month, Stephen Colbert
tore apart
Miracle Whip's stupid new advertising campaign aimed at hipsters. Today, the
bold marketing team at Miracle Whip responded by running this full page ad in
several newspapers. Your move, Colbert.
Miracle Whip ran
this full page newspaper
ad bragging about how they
were going to buy up all the ad time during The Colbert Report
yesterday. Last night, Stephen Colbert responded by pointing out their
flawed logic.
In response to Stephen Colbert's merciless mocking of their
campaign, on Thursday Miracle Whip ran newspaper ads threatening to "dominate
the airspace" on his show to expose his viewers to "hardcore Miracle Whip
attitude and revelry." And indeed they did! During Thursday night's episode of
The Colbert Report, Miracle Whip ran three new commercials that
reworked footage of hipsters partying on a roof, directly needling Colbert. From
one of them: "To Stephen Colbert, mayo-lover, an invitation to come over to the
other side. Where all is sweet and tangy. Come on Stephen, doesn't this roof
look fun?" As a form of meta-advertising, it really requires viewers to be in on
the joke, and sure it's generated some buzz, but will it really make people want
to give up mayonnaise?
Colbert, at the opening of the show, thanks Miracle
Whip, saying, "I could certainly use the money to buy more delicious
mayonnaise."
~~~~~~~~~~~
Miracle Whip vs.
Mayonnaise
Ever since Kraft Miracle Whip made its debut in 1933
at the Chicago World's Fair, it has been labeled a "dressing" rather than a
mayonnaise. Although it looks like mayo, it actually isn't. Here's why.
Why Miracle Whip isn't mayo: The
U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires that anything labeled "mayonnaise"
contain a minimum of 65 percent vegetable oil by weight. And though Kraft keeps
Miracle Whip's exact oil content a secret, the company confirms that it is too
low to meet the mayo standard.
What makes it different: While it contains mayo's key ingredients (egg, soybean oil, vinegar, water), Miracle Whip sets itself apart with a sweet, spicy flavor that some folks prefer. First introduced during the Depression, when its cheaper price made it alluring to people who couldn't afford more highfalutin mayo, it's now caught up, costing about the same amount per ounce as the real thing. At any price, Miracle Whip still has legions of devotees: According to Kraft, it's currently among the grocery industry's 20 top-selling brands.
What makes it different: While it contains mayo's key ingredients (egg, soybean oil, vinegar, water), Miracle Whip sets itself apart with a sweet, spicy flavor that some folks prefer. First introduced during the Depression, when its cheaper price made it alluring to people who couldn't afford more highfalutin mayo, it's now caught up, costing about the same amount per ounce as the real thing. At any price, Miracle Whip still has legions of devotees: According to Kraft, it's currently among the grocery industry's 20 top-selling brands.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Dilemma: Two thick white dressings with
similar flavor in similar-looking jars are bearing down on you from your
refrigerator, and you’re asking yourself just one question: "Do I feel lucky?"
Well, do ya, punk?
People You Can Impress: deli-goers
and anyone killing time in the checkout line.
The Quick Trick: Taste them both
side by side. The sweeter one is Miracle Whip.
The Explanation: In 1756, the French
under Louis François Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, duc de Richelieu, captured
Mahón on the Spanish-held island of Minorca. In honor of this victory, the duc’s
chef created a new dressing for his master: Mahonnaise. It wasn’t until 1905,
however, at Richard Hellmann’s New York deli, that Americans got to taste the
goods. But boy, did it catch on! Within seven years, he’d mass-marketed the
condiment as Hellmann’s Blue Ribbon Mayonnaise.
To be frank, mayo is one of those love-it-or-hate-it
things. The lovers know that, in its most authentic form, mayo’s a pretty simple
affair: raw egg yolks, oil, lemon juice or vinegar, and spices. Not much room
for improvement.
But in 1933, Kraft Foods though differently. Inventor
Charles Chapman’s patented emulsifying machine allowed regular mayonnaise to be
evenly blended with cheaper dressings and more than 20 different spices (plus
sugar). The result was Miracle Whip, which debuted at the 1933 Chicago World’s
Fair. Promising to create "Salad Miracles with Miracle Whip Salad Dressing," the
Whip was an instant hit (Note: It’s not known if the dressing is responsible for
any non-salad-related miracles.)
The main difference between Miracle Whip and
mayonnaise are the sweeteners: high-fructose corn syrup and sugar are the fourth
and fifth ingredients, respectively, of Miracle Whip.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Basic Mayonnaise
Makes 1 cup|
Hands-On Time: 05m |
Total Time: 05m
Ingredients
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- 1/8 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
Directions
- Place the egg yolk and salt in a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add the lemon juice and mustard; blend well. With the motor running, add the oil, drop by drop. This will take a few minutes. Don't rush it or the mayonnaise may "break," meaning the oil will separate from the egg. (Note: If your food processor has a small hole in the feed-tube pusher, pour the oil in there and let it drip through.)
- Once you've added the oil, sample the mayo and add more salt or lemon juice to taste. Cover tightly and refrigerate for up to 5 days. Stir before spreading.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Princess Peach Cleans Up The Mushroom
Kingdom
Princess Peach stopped smelling the roses long enough
to institute sweeping reforms throughout the Mushroom Kingdom, which have been
set to music and accompanied by animation that looks like it was drawn by a
nervous Koopa.
It’s more fun than having a plumber jump on your head,
and it’s so cute and catchy that the tune will lurk around inside your head like
a Shy Guy stalking around Bowser’s castle!
–via The Mary Sue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stop Motion Animated Music Video Destroys
the Games of Your Childhood
Hungry Hungry Hippos…Battleship…Pick-Up
Sticks…Rubik’s Cube — all destroyed and turned into paste by a ruthless and
relentless chef. Watch Ian Robertson’s excellent stop motion animated music
video for Delta Heavy’s “Get By.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Paralyzed Woman Completed London Marathon in
a Bionic Suit
Sixteen days after the London Marathon began, 32-year-old Claire Thomas
completed the race.
Before you think that's awfully slow, be assured that it's quite a
remarkable achievement: See, Claire is paralyzed form the chest down and wore a
bionic suit for the marathon race.
The £43,000 ReWalk suit she used for the marathon, designed by Israeli
entrepreneur Amit Goffer, enables people with lower-limb paralysis to stand,
walk and climb stairs through motion sensors and an onboard computer system.
A shift in the wearer's balance, indicating their desire to take, for
example, a step forward, triggers the suit to mimic the response that the joints
would have if they were not paralysed. Link - via Gizmodo
My mother was in a car accident in 1960
and ended up paralyzed from the hips down.
She would have loved this ReWalk suit ~
but, she would have danced.......
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A walk through mathematics!
A film for a wide audience!
Nine chapters, two hours of maths, that take you
gradually up to the fourth dimension. Mathematical vertigo guaranteed!
Background information on every chapter: see "Details".
Take a look at the contents of the film, or jump to
the film's guide.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Slate, Lindy West has an engaging and
intriguing review of Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural
History, a new book by Florence Williams on the
science, history, and future of breasts. The review concludes with "Five Things
I Learned About Breasts From Florence Williams' Breasts" (not excerpted here),
which I found fascinating:
Williams' journey begins when, alarmed by a news
article about toxins in breast milk, she decides to get her own milk tested.
And, surprise! It's packed with toxins—specifically, chemical flame
retardants—that Williams is funneling directly into her baby. ("Well, at least
your breasts won't spontaneously ignite!" her husband jokes, because that's
exactly what you want to hear when adjusting to the news that you're a human
baby-poison factory.) This sends her down a rabbit hole in search of deeper
understanding of her own anatomy— into the evolutionary history of mammals, to
Peru to investigate nursing and weaning, back to the first breast augmentation
surgery, and all over the world to interview more boob experts than you can
shake a pasty at.
And she discovers that breasts are complicated.
Impossibly so. She learns that it’s the breast’s permeability that make it such
an evolutionary powerhouse (lots and lots of estrogen receptors help human
puberty occur at the optimal time; nutrient-rich breast milk makes for giant
brains)—but that same permeability is also, partially, what causes one in eight
women to develop breast cancer. Our breasts make us great but they also make us
vulnerable, and you can’t help but come away from Williams’ book feeling a bit
helpless. (Self-examinations! Self-examinations are key!) While she makes the
story as dynamic as possible, there’s no escaping that this is science
journalism—there are lots of PBDE levels and octa-203 and penta-47 and dioxin
and “lobule type 4” and other such enemies of lively prose. But that’s OK—there
are enough surprises and genuinely horrifying learning moments to keep a reader
(especially a lady-reader), uh, latched on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here's a puzzle we talked about in the Gweek 050 podcast (we discuss it at the 1:07:26
mark). It's from a coin given to me on my visit to the Stupid Fun Club in
Berkeley. What is the secret message?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My wife sez that I'm too extravagant; that if anything ever happens to her,
I'll have to beg. I told her I'd be fine. I mean -- look at all the experience
I've got.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Collector of anomalies, esoterica, and
curiosities.
"NO LONGER WEIRD"31. postal worker hoards mail because he's behind in delivering it
32. bank robber hails taxi or municipal bus for getaway
33. the annual student cheating riots in Bangladesh
34. criminal on the lam goes on national tv talk show and mentions that he's wanted
35. dog steps on gun, shooting the master
36. pack of animals breaks into liquor cabinet or fermenting vat, get drunk
37. a loved one died at home, but the relative never gets around to burying him or her
38. school zero-tolerance policies for "weapons" that are purely, obviously ornamental
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By means of insightful hand-drawn diagrams, Eric
Sloane gives the best explanation I’ve ever seen of how weather works.
Originally created to help sailors 50 years ago, it works for pilots, outdoor
explorers, and anyone else dependent on a change of weather.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The drinker announced to the bartender, "It seems I've
been informally named advisor on 'Sexual Matters' at my company."
"That sounds interesting. Does this mean you'll be counseling the big bosses on relations with their secretaries?"
"I'm not sure yet," he answered. "During a staff meeting, I popped up to suggest a reduction in executive expense accounts and it was after that I was told if they ever wanted my fucking advice, they'd let me know."
"That sounds interesting. Does this mean you'll be counseling the big bosses on relations with their secretaries?"
"I'm not sure yet," he answered. "During a staff meeting, I popped up to suggest a reduction in executive expense accounts and it was after that I was told if they ever wanted my fucking advice, they'd let me know."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
85-year-old Holland Cokeley found a turtle in his back
yard. He picked it up, and recognized it as his son's turtle. “I picked it up,
and I thought ‘Oh geez, this is Jeff’s turtle!’” said Cokeley. “It’s been here
for 47 years, and it still has the same the same markings on it!” Jeff was
13-years-old in 1965 when he carved “JC” and “1965″ on the turtle’s bottom shell
and then released it back into the wild.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How to Go Green: Sex
This how to go green guide contains mature
content that might be unsuitable for younger readers.
Whether you're single and playing the field, settled
down with that special someone, or someplace in between, most of us consider
good, satisfying, sexy sex an important part of this complete
breakfast.
It might not be the first thing we think of while
working towards a sustainable and graceful life on this fragile planet, but
there's a lot we can do to make our sex lives greener. In the process of
greening the ecological footprint of our love making, we might also open up some
new doors to deeper pleasure, satisfaction, and romantic
connection.
Read on to learn how to make your sex life
greener.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What Gets Longer When Pulled, fits Between your Boobs, Inserts Neatly in a Hole, AND works best when it is jerked?
A Seatbelt.
"A
team of British engineers have developed a car that runs on human waste. I'll
bet that new car smell doesn't last very long." -Jay Leno
"The federal government has a new plan that will let people send texts to 911. Yeah, it's a little frustrating when you try to text, 'Burglar! Please hurry!,' and it auto-corrects to, 'Burger, please. Hungry.'" -Jimmy Fallon
"The original Avengers comic has a superhero called Ant-Man. They didn't put him in the movie, but Ant-Man would have been awesome. He could solve any problem, right any wrong, provided it took place at a picnic." -Craig Ferguson~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Writing: For the Sell of It' was the theme of our community college's annual writers' conference. When I called a widely published author and asked him to be our keynote speaker, my request was met with a long silence. He finally said, "I don't know what I would say to that audience."
"You're just being modest," I replied. "I'm sure you're extremely qualified to speak on that subject."
He suddenly broke into laughter. "I thought you said, 'Writing for the Celibate!'"
"The federal government has a new plan that will let people send texts to 911. Yeah, it's a little frustrating when you try to text, 'Burglar! Please hurry!,' and it auto-corrects to, 'Burger, please. Hungry.'" -Jimmy Fallon
"The original Avengers comic has a superhero called Ant-Man. They didn't put him in the movie, but Ant-Man would have been awesome. He could solve any problem, right any wrong, provided it took place at a picnic." -Craig Ferguson~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Writing: For the Sell of It' was the theme of our community college's annual writers' conference. When I called a widely published author and asked him to be our keynote speaker, my request was met with a long silence. He finally said, "I don't know what I would say to that audience."
"You're just being modest," I replied. "I'm sure you're extremely qualified to speak on that subject."
He suddenly broke into laughter. "I thought you said, 'Writing for the Celibate!'"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inspiration: "The World's Best
Quotes in 1-10 Words."
Love. —The
Prophets
Jesus, Gandhi, Buddha. All the world's
religious saints and prophets hold love as a central value, the glue that
anchors the universe.
We hear, "Love makes the world go round," and
"Love heals all wounds." These are familiar themes: love of friends, ideas, and
self. Love of God and of country. Even love of life itself. If I could only have
one word for all eternity, love would be my choice.
Know thyself.
—Socrates
In college I studied philosophy under
Professor Don Crosby, and met Socrates early. In career development,
self-knowledge is everything. In a career, you can be two or three degrees off
course and walk into a wall, instead of through a doorway. You don't have to be
far off to have it fail.
Career unhappiness often results from lack of
focus, and lack of focus stems from limited self-knowledge. But self-knowledge
takes time, introspection, and effort. So it's easy to avoid.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
National Geographic
Fish Tank Kings
http://newsletters.nationalgeographic.com/PS!WXJpHcNLbLEFBgIAAAAGCgFICgkxMTQ1NDgyMzEKCjE2MTM5NjE4NzUJAG6u9goJNzEyNjc2NDY0BQ==
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Healthy Living from
Health.com
Good news: You're not stuck with
your mom's slow-mo metabolism. Take these simple steps and you can burn more
calories without (necessarily) adding workouts. Phew!
HOW TO TELL IF YOUR KILLER HEADACHE IS A MIGRAINE18 symptoms that mean it's more serioushttp://health.chtah.net/a/tBPqrHPBFYNexB8i4tACFNC1EIp/top25
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SMITHSONIAN
The question was not "Should you
eat human flesh?" says one historian, but, "What sort of flesh should you
eat?"
Think Fast
The Red Cross made its first foray into peacetime disaster
relief to aid survivors of which natural disaster?
- Peshtigo Fire of 1871
- Johnstown Flood of 1889
- San Francisco Earthquake of 1906
- Galveston Hurricane of 1909
(Think Fast Answer:
Johnstown Flood of 1889) In 1889, the Johnstown Flood and ensuing fires
killed more than 2,200 people. Clara Barton's American Red Cross came to the aid
of some 25,000 survivors.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One More Day by Diamond Rio - The Last
Time
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"... doing what men do normally... bonding...
endlessly congratulating each other... and wandering around in small groups
looking for something to break.." ~ Robin Williams, World Series Debating, "That
there is life beyond Earth"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You have to run as fast as you can just
to stay where you are.
If you want to get anywhere, you'll have to run much faster."
- Lewis Carroll
If you want to get anywhere, you'll have to run much faster."
- Lewis Carroll
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Boeing 787 flies overhead on final approach to
DCA
Boeing provides this photo for the public to share.
Media requiring a high-resolution version of this or a similar photo for
publication should email BoeingMedia@boeing.com. Users may not
manipulate or use this photo in commercial materials, advertisements, emails,
products, or promotions without licensed permission from Boeing. If you are
interested in using Boeing imagery for commercial purposes, email imagelicensing@boeing.com or visit
www.boeingimages.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The deathstalker scorpion just might have the
coolest name in the animal kingdom...Often described as 'very aggressive,' it
hammers its stinger into many people every year, killing several." The bite of a
Goliath bird-eater is hardly worse than a bee sting to a
human---but this beast is among the nastiest things that could skitter across
your face in the dark night of the Amazon.
Give me a rainstorm in the night, a herd of pigs
trampling past, even a bear—but
if I’m camping without a tent, spare me the bugs. Because it’s the little things
in the woods that creep many of us out the most, and the thing is, not all of
them are so little—and worse, some have fangs and a hundred legs. Centipedes
that can overpower a snake, spiders a foot wide, rodent-sized scorpions and
other creepy crawlers of the forest floor offer good reason to sleep inside a
tent.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An elderly lady was
walking on the golf course on the island of Martha's Vineyard . She slipped and
fell.Obama who was behind her by chance, helped her to get up promptly. She
thanked him and he answered.
It was a pleasure to help you. Don't you recognize me? I am your president. Are you going to vote for me in the next election? "
The elderly woman laughed and replied: You know ... I fell on my ass, not on my head!"
It was a pleasure to help you. Don't you recognize me? I am your president. Are you going to vote for me in the next election? "
The elderly woman laughed and replied: You know ... I fell on my ass, not on my head!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On Sept. 9, 1942, a lookout on Mount Emily in Oregon’s
Siskiyou National Forest reported a plume of smoke near the town of Brookings.
The Forest Service contained the fire easily, but investigators turned up
something odd at the site: fragments of an incendiary bomb of Japanese
origin.
It turned out that a Japanese submarine had surfaced
off the Oregon/California border and 31-year-old navy officer Nobuo Fujita had
piloted a seaplane into the forest, hoping to start a fire that would divert
U.S. military resources from the Pacific. Recent rains had wet the forest, so
the plan failed, but it marked the first time the continental United States had
been bombed by enemy aircraft.
Fujita returned safely to Japan, where he opened a
hardware store after the war, and he became an agent of amity with the United
States. In 1962 he accepted an invitation to return to Oregon, where he donated
his family’s samurai sword to Brookings, and he invited three local students to
visit Japan in 1985. The city made him an honorary citizen shortly before his
death in 1997, and his daughter spread his ashes at the site of the
bombing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Art and Commerce
In 1896 the U.S. Treasury introduced some beautifully
high-minded currency — instead of American presidents, the “educational series”
of silver certificates bear neoclassical allegories:
On the $1 note, the Goddess of History instructs a
youth, pointing to the U.S. Constitution, a panorama of Washington D.C., and a
roster of famous Americans, including Franklin, Longfellow, Hawthorne, and
Emerson.
On the $2 note, Science presents Steam and
Electricity (as children) to Commerce and Manufacture. The reverse bears
portraits of Robert Fulton and Samuel Morse.
The almost impossibly glorious $5 note depicts
Electricity Presenting Light to the World. She is flanked by Strength, Fame, and
Peace. The New York Times wrote, “The arrangement of this composition,
the grace of pose in each figure, and the idea connected with the designs of
this artist entitle it to a place beside the finest allegorical designs in the
world.”
Unfortunately, the Treasury got a new secretary the
following year, one who favored simple, clear designs, and he canceled more than
$54 million in certificates as they came into the Treasury. “It can be said
authoritatively … that no more of the so-called ‘new certificates’ will be
printed,” the Times reported sadly in May 1897. “Neither will fresco
painters be called in to make designs for the substitutes.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘All the world loves a lover.’ But in Venezuela, they do
something about it. T.R. Lahey, in the Catholic periodical, Ave Maria,
is responsible for the statement that the postal authorities there allow love
letters to go through the mails at half price! But there is a condition. The
letters must be mailed in bright-colored envelopes (pansy-blue for loving
thoughts, and pink cloud effects; there would be a place for yellow and green to
express the feelings of envious suitors and jealous lovers). These bright tints
are intended to help the postal clerks and postmen to recognize the nature of
the missives; but what a temptation to the carriers to open the letters and cull
precious thoughts and phrases! – The Lutheran, Nov. 6,
1940
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Diamond Sutra: The World’s Oldest
Copyleft Book
In 1907, archaeologist Sir Marc Aurel
Stein discovered the Diamond Sutra, a 16-foot scroll containing the Chinese
translation of the Sanskrit Buddhist text, from the Caves of the Thousand
Buddhas in Dunhuang, China (the discovery in itself is fascinating,
but that's a different story). The Diamond Sutra has the colophon at the inner
end that reads:
Reverently made for universal free distribution by Wang Jie on behalf
of his two parents on the 15th of the 4th moon of the 9th year of Xiantong.
That date translates to May 11, 868, which makes the Diamond Sutra not only
the world's oldest surviving copy of dated printed book, but also the oldest
copyright-free /public domain work as well!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Four Colour Theorem
Imagine any simple map, where there are many
countries bordering each other, every which way. It takes at most four
colours to colour the map such that no two adjacent countries have the same
colour.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Collision and convergence in Truth and
Beauty at the intersection of science and spirituality.
On July 14, 1930, Albert Einstein
welcomed into his home on the outskirts of Berlin the Indian philosopher
Rabindranath Tagore.
The two proceeded to have one the most stimulating, intellectually riveting
conversations in history, exploring the age-old friction
between science and religion.
Science and the Indian Tradition:
When Einstein Met Tagore recounts the
historic encounter, amidst a broader discussion of the intellectual renaissance
that swept India in the early twentieth century, germinating a curious osmosis
of Indian traditions and secular Western scientific doctrine.
The following excerpt from one of Einstein and Tagore’s
conversations dances between previously examined definitions of science, beauty, consciousness, and
philosophy in a
masterful meditation on the most fundamental questions of human
existence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kids Today vs. Kids in
1982
An interesting infographic ( full version is here) for many reasons, including smoking, safe sex and graduation
rate stats. But pay special attention to that “career aspirations” section
there. We’ve got some work to do yet, science fans. The importance of STEM jobs
in our economy is only growing. We can’t let a generation slip away. (via PR
Daily)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is where the circus meets science? I’ll stick
to two-wheeled pedal-contraptions for the time being, but I like this MIT/Khan
Academy collaboration explaining basic physics through an accessible example:
The unicycle.
Basic principles of Newtonian physics are drawn
out, and it answered a question I’ve had for a long time: How do you turn on
one of those things? Plus, bonus points for the Etch-a-Sketch intro filming
this guy falling in the snow.
Strangely, no effort was made to explain the
Law of Universally Looking Ridiculous on a
Unicycle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Artful Edwardian-era erotica at the
intersection of the whimsical and the macabre
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.Somewhere between Henry Holiday’s weird paintings for Lewis Carroll and Edward Gorey’s delightfully grim alphabet fall Harry
Clarke‘s hauntingly beautiful and beautifully haunting 1919 illustrations for Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Mystery and
Imagination — a collection of 29 of Poe’s tales of the magical and the
macabre.
Live Webcam of tourists and the drivers who hate them at the famed Abbey
Road crossing. Abbey
Road Studios - Crossing Webcam(via @chris_carter_)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Researchers at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign demonstrated a robotic bird that lands perched on someone's
hand. From UIUC: Perching is routinely used by birds to land on objects such
as tree branches, power wires, or building ledges. According to the researchers,
there are two factors that make perching challenging to engineer: 1) the
maneuver’s duration is very short, on the same order as the aircraft dynamics,
and 2) a high level of position accuracy is required for a successful perched
landing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Want to know about commerical spaceflight? Wired has you covered with this
extensive package
In which bits of you leaked into your mum and stayed there.
Atul Gawande writes about 200
years of surgery! A perfect blend of writer and topic.
An astonishing, gruesome series about the federal dept
that kills invasive animals.
Octopus eats gull. With photos. Go Team Mollusc!
The nine stages of Story, as told by some plants. This, by
Paige Williams, is just wonderful.
This might be the most awe-inspiring Wikipedia page of them all: a timeline of the far future
“He is, for all intents and purposes except for his own, genetic material
that comes in the handy form of semen.” Alexis Madrigal’s wonderful opus about Big Dairy, featuring a cow called
Badger-Bluff Fanny Freddie
“The stories of
the elements are the story of our own lives.” Amazing project where pro
filmmakers create films showing how each element affects people. This needs your
support.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It would be a spoiler to say why. Just read the
post.
You wouldn't know it, not right away, but there
is something strange about this picture. It's a sunset, yes, but notice the
blush of color right above the sun. It's blue. And as you look up, the blue
fades into a faint rose or pink.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since Seinfeld went off the air in 1998, many
guest stars have gone on to enjoy rather impressive careers of their own. Can
you match the actor to the Seinfeld character he or she
portrayed?
Take the Quiz: Seinfeld’s Guest Stars
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
68 Photos Of Badly Dressed Celebrities, Large Hats, And Drunk People At The Kentucky Derby. Which is the stuff we really
tune in to the Derby for, anyway.
Now we have an alcohol breath spray that makes you instantly drunk for only a few seconds. Let us count the ways this could possibly go wrong.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Have you heard about the latest Polish parachute?
It opens on impact.
Now we have an alcohol breath spray that makes you instantly drunk for only a few seconds. Let us count the ways this could possibly go wrong.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Have you heard about the latest Polish parachute?
It opens on impact.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sign in a Paris hotel elevator
Please leave your values at the front desk.
Please leave your values at the front desk.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A young sky diver named Sherm
jumped out with his cock long and firm
two jerks and a spasm,
he had an orgasm
and spelled out "I love you" in sperm.
jumped out with his cock long and firm
two jerks and a spasm,
he had an orgasm
and spelled out "I love you" in sperm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"God wanted to have a holiday, so He asked St.
Peter for suggestions on where to go.
'Why not go to Jupiter?' asked St. Peter.
'No, too much gravity, too much stomping around,' said God.
'Well, how about Mercury?'
'No, it's too hot there.'
'Okay,' said St. Peter, 'What about Earth?'
'No,' said God, 'They're such horrible gossips. When I was there 2000 years ago, I had an affair with a Jewish woman, and they're still talking about it.'"
'No, too much gravity, too much stomping around,' said God.
'Well, how about Mercury?'
'No, it's too hot there.'
'Okay,' said St. Peter, 'What about Earth?'
'No,' said God, 'They're such horrible gossips. When I was there 2000 years ago, I had an affair with a Jewish woman, and they're still talking about it.'"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of the images
in the remarkable Wellcome Collection:
Anatomical fugitive sheet (Viscerum...1539) bound at the end of Valverde, Vivae imagines partium corporis humani...1566. Part of the engraving is composed of printed paper flaps that, when lifted, reveal the internal organs of the figure. This is one of a pair of male and female figures... The work was originally published in Rome, 1556.Four additional images (the male and the female, unlifted and lifted) at the link.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vocal Version of the Star Wars
Theme
After creating more than 90 tracks, vocal performer
Nick McKaig was able to duplicate the Star Wars main title theme. He merged
the tracks, but insists that the sound is “100% vocals and 100% my own
voice.”
-via American
Digest
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Owner of killer bear chokes to death on sex
toy
Found dead handcuffed to water bed; death likely
accidental, coroner says
Sam Mazzola, 49, was found dead in his Columbia
Station home on Sunday, face down on a water bed. He was bound to the bed with
handcuffs, chains and padlocks. Mazzola had a sex toy in his throat, which
apparently obstructed his breathing. He was also wearing a leather mask with the
eyes and mouth zipped shut and a two-piece metal sphere covering his head,
the coroner told The Morning
Journal. It appeared Mazzola died from an
"accident during sexual role play".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The world completely fell for a 280-pound black bear
last week that had its photo famously taken
while it plunged from a tree after being tranquilized on the University of
Colorado's campus. The poor thing was relocated 50 miles away but was apparently
trying to make its way back to its home range when it was hit by two cars
on a highway Thursday morning and died. One car was totaled and the other was
towed away. You'll be missed, Falling Bear.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Continuing
our "Women are Crazy" theme, this story concerns a Charlotte, North Carolina
woman who is accused of faking a pregnancy and hatching a plan to steal a baby.
Investigators
said the suspect started the scheme at the Beacon Hill Apartments weeks ago,
befriending a mother just to get her baby girl. The
suspect lied to her boyfriend about being pregnant, she even had family members
throw her a baby shower. Then, when the time was right, she lured the victim
with promises of employment, and when she had her alone pulled a knife on her
and took her infant.
Police say the 24-year-old woman brought the one-month-old infant to her boyfriend's apartment. "When she brought the baby inside the apartment," reported a police spokesperson, "she said, 'here is our baby.'" Since the victim was familiar with the kidnapper police were able to track down her and the infant within hours. So not the most carefully thought-out plan. She remains in custody, charged with kidnapping and attempted murder.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Police say the 24-year-old woman brought the one-month-old infant to her boyfriend's apartment. "When she brought the baby inside the apartment," reported a police spokesperson, "she said, 'here is our baby.'" Since the victim was familiar with the kidnapper police were able to track down her and the infant within hours. So not the most carefully thought-out plan. She remains in custody, charged with kidnapping and attempted murder.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Redneck' couple wed in mud
pit
PALATKA, Fla. - A pair of Florida mud-bogging enthusiasts
married at the same mud pit where the groom proposed a year ago. Kodie
Umphenour, 24, and Carina Pasco, 31, were wed Saturday at the Hog Waller Mud Bog
& ATV mud pit in Putnam County in a ceremony described on the invitations as
"Our Big Ol' Muddy Redneck Wedding," The St. Augustine Record reported
Wednesday. The wedding was preceded by several minutes of mud tossing among
guests and independent visitors to the mud pit. ATV riders were asked to silence
their engines during the ceremony. The wedding blended the families of
Umphenour, who has two children, and Pasco, who has four. Umphenour said the
wedding doubled as a honeymoon. "I've got to get back to work Monday," he said.
"This is our honeymoon."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Edison's
Electric Light Bulb
http://www.evtv1.com/player.aspx?itemnum=6110&aid=
At the turn of the Century, the greatest inventor was Edison as he creates the electric light bulb AND movie projector. Both brought the country out of the dark age!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the turn of the Century, the greatest inventor was Edison as he creates the electric light bulb AND movie projector. Both brought the country out of the dark age!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seabiscuit Actual Radio Broadcast: 1940 Santa Anita
Handicap
http://www.evtv1.com/player.aspx?itemnum=6339&aid=
Seabiscuit was a champ thoroughbred race horse. From an inauspicious start, Seabiscuit became an unlikely champion and a symbol of hope to many Americans during the Great Depression. Watch and listen to an actual radio broadcast from 1940.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seabiscuit was a champ thoroughbred race horse. From an inauspicious start, Seabiscuit became an unlikely champion and a symbol of hope to many Americans during the Great Depression. Watch and listen to an actual radio broadcast from 1940.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I can
go up or down, but I never move. What am I?
ANSWER: Stairs.
ANSWER: Stairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
QUOTE:
"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a
merrier world."
HINT: (1892-1973), English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor.
HINT: (1892-1973), English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor.
ANSWER:
J.R.R. Tolkien.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RANDOM
TIDBITS
One of the four areas of taste on our tongue is salt, which has been used as a food preservative since pre-refrigeration days. Scientists have also determined that the human body requires at least three grams of salt per day for things like proper temperature regulation, so we've developed a certain craving for salt as a matter of evolution.
Black pepper is indigenous to India but found its way to Rome in the first century B.C.E. Prior to that time, much of the available food was on the bland side, so a sprinkle of pepper gave otherwise plain fare a new zest. A heavier dose of pepper helped to camouflage the taste of spoiled food, which was a common problem in warm climates.
Ketchup originated in Asia as a pickled fish sauce called "ke-tsiap" and was comprised of anchovies, mushrooms, walnuts, and kidney beans. When British seamen brought the stuff home with them, they Anglicized the name first to "catchup" and then "ketchup." When the recipe made its way across the Atlantic in the late 1700s, New Englanders added tomatoes to the mix.
Mustard gas doesn't contain any mustard; the weapon is made up of chemicals that give it a mustardy smell and a brownish-yellow color, which is how it got its name.
When Best Foods bought the Hellman's brand in 1932, the latter already had solid name recognition in the eastern states. As a result, today the company's mayonnaise west of the Rockies is labeled Best Foods, while east of that area, it's still known as Hellman's.
Edmund McIlhenny originally packaged his famous Tabasco Hot Pepper Sauce in old cologne bottles capped with sprinkler-type fittings. The sauce was so hot (for that time) that he wanted to make sure folks sprinkled small amounts of it on their food, rather than pouring it on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of the four areas of taste on our tongue is salt, which has been used as a food preservative since pre-refrigeration days. Scientists have also determined that the human body requires at least three grams of salt per day for things like proper temperature regulation, so we've developed a certain craving for salt as a matter of evolution.
Black pepper is indigenous to India but found its way to Rome in the first century B.C.E. Prior to that time, much of the available food was on the bland side, so a sprinkle of pepper gave otherwise plain fare a new zest. A heavier dose of pepper helped to camouflage the taste of spoiled food, which was a common problem in warm climates.
Ketchup originated in Asia as a pickled fish sauce called "ke-tsiap" and was comprised of anchovies, mushrooms, walnuts, and kidney beans. When British seamen brought the stuff home with them, they Anglicized the name first to "catchup" and then "ketchup." When the recipe made its way across the Atlantic in the late 1700s, New Englanders added tomatoes to the mix.
Mustard gas doesn't contain any mustard; the weapon is made up of chemicals that give it a mustardy smell and a brownish-yellow color, which is how it got its name.
When Best Foods bought the Hellman's brand in 1932, the latter already had solid name recognition in the eastern states. As a result, today the company's mayonnaise west of the Rockies is labeled Best Foods, while east of that area, it's still known as Hellman's.
Edmund McIlhenny originally packaged his famous Tabasco Hot Pepper Sauce in old cologne bottles capped with sprinkler-type fittings. The sauce was so hot (for that time) that he wanted to make sure folks sprinkled small amounts of it on their food, rather than pouring it on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heinz
Ketchup With Matt Leblanc - Commercial
http://www.evtv1.com/player.aspx?itemnum=8087
Everybody has to start somewhere. This commercial for Heinz features a young Matt Leblanc setting his ketchup bottle on top of a building so he can run downstairs and catch the dripping condiment on his hotdog. Classic.
http://www.evtv1.com/player.aspx?itemnum=8087
Everybody has to start somewhere. This commercial for Heinz features a young Matt Leblanc setting his ketchup bottle on top of a building so he can run downstairs and catch the dripping condiment on his hotdog. Classic.
Astrophysicist Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson was asked by a reader of TIME magazine, “What is the most astounding fact you can share with us about the Universe?” This is his answer.
When you take something great, like the musings of the
mind of Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, and combine it with something else great, like
stunning images of life and wonder on and off of Earth … you get
this.
It’s the sort of video that makes you prop your chin up in
your hand, with your head tilted just so (yeah, like that), as you stare at your
computer screen mumbling things like “Ahhh“ and
“Wooahh” and other unintelligible noises that mean
“I approve of this, and it makes me feel
good.”
Watch it once, then twice, then with a
friend.
The Big Bang Theory - 'Neil deGrasse
Tyson'
Neil Tyson rebukes Richard Dawkins;-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dxff0k_TEzI&feature=related
We Stopped Dreaming
I thought Neil was just a brilliant man, but he's also a
great force for reason and an awesome debater.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Neil deGrasse Tyson @neiltyson
"@marycucumber What are some problems with visiting Mercury? Is it just the temperature?"
"@marycucumber What are some problems with visiting Mercury? Is it just the temperature?"
No. You need a space program too."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"One of the most anticipated movies of the year
comes out tomorrow. It's Marvel's 'The Avengers.' All the super heroes gathered
together. It's kind of cool to see all the characters responsible for my
virginity together in one film." -Jimmy Kimmel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dreams
are the touchstones of our character.--Henry
David Thoreau
Commitment leads to action. Action brings your dream closer. --Marcia Wieder
You cannot dream yourself into a character: you must hammer and forge yourself into one.--Henry D. Thoreau
Commitment leads to action. Action brings your dream closer. --Marcia Wieder
You cannot dream yourself into a character: you must hammer and forge yourself into one.--Henry D. Thoreau
The
future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.~
Eleanor Roosevelt
Hold
fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.
--Lanston
Hughes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stumbling Across
a Rarity, Even for the Rare Book Room
Apropos of item posted below, and just because I could find it online, here
is Paul Revere's engraving of the Boston Massacre.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Puzzle maven Noboyuki Yoshigahara noticed this sign on the glass door of an
Osaka restaurant:
What is its meaning?
The words PULL and PUSH were painted on opposite sites of the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A "radio historian" with
a lifelone fascination with old radio programs amassed a huge collection. "In
1974, he drove to Washington in a rented van and handed several thousand
recordings over to an affable and knowledgeable archivist named Leslie
Waffen."
In 2010 he noted that an eBay seller offered "a broadcast radio interview with baseball legend Babe Ruth as he hunted for quail and pheasants on a crisp morning in 1937" and realized that that was one of the recordings he had donated to the National Archives. He decided to investigate:
In 2010 he noted that an eBay seller offered "a broadcast radio interview with baseball legend Babe Ruth as he hunted for quail and pheasants on a crisp morning in 1937" and realized that that was one of the recordings he had donated to the National Archives. He decided to investigate:
Goldin purchased a
recording from “hi-fi_gal,” though not one of his donations. When it arrived in
the mail, Goldin ran the return address — Saddle Ridge Lane in Rockville —
through a reverse directory. It came back to Leslie Waffen, who had retired the
previous June as chief of the Archives’ audiovisual holdings...
Over the next 18 months, Goldin helped authorities build their case, reviewing documents, submitting his original receipts from Waffen and offering up experts to help sort and appraise the cache of 6,153 recordings seized from the retired archivist’s home.
When Waffen, 67, pleaded guilty in October to theft of U.S. government property, he admitted that he stole 955 items from the Archives – among them were original recordings of the 1948 World Series, which Goldin had donated, and a rare recording of the 1937 Hindenburg disaster.More details at the Washington Post.
Over the next 18 months, Goldin helped authorities build their case, reviewing documents, submitting his original receipts from Waffen and offering up experts to help sort and appraise the cache of 6,153 recordings seized from the retired archivist’s home.
When Waffen, 67, pleaded guilty in October to theft of U.S. government property, he admitted that he stole 955 items from the Archives – among them were original recordings of the 1948 World Series, which Goldin had donated, and a rare recording of the 1937 Hindenburg disaster.More details at the Washington Post.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You know what Portland has lot of? Microbreweries. I
think they are like regular breweries, but only serve midgets." -Craig
Ferguson
"A new study found that eating healthy adds $380 to your grocery bill every year. Or as Americans put it, 'Cool, I saved $380 this year!'" -Jimmy Fallon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A new study found that eating healthy adds $380 to your grocery bill every year. Or as Americans put it, 'Cool, I saved $380 this year!'" -Jimmy Fallon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My 7-year-old daughter came home from school one day, held up her middle finger, and asked me what it meant. I was so shocked that I could say only, "Shame on you," followed by, "If anyone does that to you, just say, "Shame on you" to that person.
Next week we were at the dinner table when my husband let out a huge belch. I reprimanded him by saying, "Shame on you."
Imagine my husband's shock when my daughter held up her middle finger, showed it to him, and exclaimed, "Mom, you forgot to give Daddy the 'shame on you' sign."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A New York retail clerk was suffering from aching feet. "It's all those years of standing," his doctor declared. "You need a vacation. Go to Miami, soak your feet in the ocean and you'll feel better."
When the man got to Florida, he went into a hardware store, bought two large buckets and headed for the beach.
"How much for two buckets of that seawater?" he asked the lifeguard.
"A dollar a bucket," the fellow replied with a straight face.
The clerk paid him, filled his buckets, went to his hotel room and soaked his feet. They felt so much better he decided to repeat the treatment that afternoon. Again he handed the lifeguard two dollars. The young man took the money and said, "Help yourself."
The clerk started for the water, then stopped in amazement. The tide was out. "Wow," he said, turning to the lifeguard. "Some business you got here!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This photo of sand dunes on Mars was posted at NASA's Astronomy Photo of the Day: Visible on the above image right are two flat top mesas in southern Mars when the season was changing from Spring to Summer. A light dome topped hill is also visible on the far left of the image. As winds blow from right to left, flowing sand on and around the hills leaves picturesque streaks. The dark arc-shaped droplets of fine sand are called barchans, and are the interplanetary cousins of similar Earth-based sand forms.You can search some similar pictures from earth dunes, but what I thought was more interesting when I searched was that the snow equivalents also have a name: sastrugi (or zastrugi):
The photo is from the South Pole (via The Big Picture), but could just as well be Minnesota.
Both words are apparently of Russian derivation. Barchan is also listed as being Turkic or Kazakh, and sastruga is via a German transliteration of the Russian.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oops, I invented the rocket! The
explosive history of serendipity
Velcro,
Vaseline, Teflon, penicillin, and now perhaps the rocket – they were all happy
accidents
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Black Hole Eating a
Star
Nom nom nom, said the black hole, which was caught
eating a star by a team of astrophysicists:
Usually when we get to see a star being swallowed
by a black hole, we’ll end up turning to take a look at it only after the
destruction has already begun. “What makes this so special was the fact that
they actually caught the black hole as it was ripping the stellar core apart,”
says Dr. David Floyd from the Monash Centre for Astrophysics in Melbourne.
The fact that we’ve managed to observe this event from beginning to end
means that there is a lot more information available than ever before. We know
the size of the black hole (approximately the same as the Milky Way’s central
black hole), the fact that the star was probably a late-stage Red Giant and that
it suffered its terrible fate because it got to within about 150 million
kilometres of the supermassive black hole (about the same distance from the Sun
to the Earth).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Anniversary of
Coca-Cola
John Pemberton earned a medical degree when he was only
19 years old -and then worked as a pharmacist, trying to invent new drugs. He
particularly needed a new kind of pain relief, as he was badly wounded in the
Civiil war and had become addicted to morphine for relief. After the war,
Pemberton settled in Atlanta, where he began work on a beverage combining coca
leaves and cola nuts. His objective was to create a pain reliever but when his
lab assistant accidentally mixed the concoction with carbonated water on May 8,
1886, the two men tasted it, liked it, and decided it might make a profitable
alternative to ginger ale and root beer. Pemberton sold the rights to Coca-Cola
(twice, actually, but that’s another story) as his behavior became more erratic.
He died only two years after his accidental invention and only a few months
after the Coca Cola Corporation was incorporated. The Coca-Cola that you may be
drinking right now has been reformulated a bit over the years, but the basic
beverage is 126 years old today. Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cat jumps to unbelievable heights.
Real working robotic transformer.
An inside look at famous voice actors.
Animal healing.
Deep ocean mysteries and wonders.
Real working robotic transformer.
An inside look at famous voice actors.
Animal healing.
Deep ocean mysteries and wonders.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The caterpillar of the Wavy Emerald Moth
(Synchlora aerata), family Geometridae, a species found throughout much
of North America. The larvae feed on many plants in the family Asteraceae
(like Liatris spp. and Rudbeckia spp.) as well as a variety of
other flowering plants. They are known to pluck the petals from the flowers of
their host plants and affix them to their backs using silk. Once the petals
begin to wilt and discolor, the caterpillar discards the old petals and picks
new petals, which camouflage the animal.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disneyland’s Club 33 Reopens for
Membership
The main dining room at Disneyland's Club 33
Good news, Neatoramanauts: For the first time in decades, Disney has
reopened membership to its secretive Club 33.
The bad news? It costs $25,000 to join, with annual dues of $10,000.
Disney officials announced that a limited number of memberships would
be offered in honor of Club 33's 45th anniversary and the completion of a major,
five-year expansion project at California Adventure. Less than 500
people are rumored to be on the Club 33 roster, and interest in membership grew
to such staggering levels that, about a decade ago, even the waiting list was
closed. But now — for an initial price tag of $25,000 and annual dues
of $10,000 — new members will once again have access to the New Orleans Square
restaurant, get sneak peaks at new attractions and other perks. The Los
Angeles Times has the details: Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Romanians Not Amused at Naked Founding
Father Statue
With much ballyhoo, the Mayor of Bucharest unveiled a
statue of Emperor Trajan, the forefather of the Romanian people when he fused
the Roman empire with the ancient tribes of Dacia.
But the public response was anything but
flattering:
"I have never seen anything so grotesque, a wolf
with a pitbull's head, a lizard's tail and a tumour on its neck, carried by a
guy who is visibly embarrassed by his nudity," said one woman passer-by. [...]
Satirical website Times New Roman (in Romanian) commented that
"Bucharest's mayor has just inaugurated the first monument dedicated to
Romania's stray dogs". Other commentators have wondered why "the dog is
levitating", and why the animal wears a scarf "while the emperor isn't even
wearing any underwear". Link - via News of the Weird
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cat-lift: Russian Edition (Кошачий лифт
по-русски)
Some people install cat ladders and others go high-tech
with self-serve cat elevators. YouTube user Ignoramusky shows us a quick-and-inexpensive way to
construct an elevator for your cats, providing them easy access to the second
floor. At least, easy for the cats. Or maybe it’s a way to steal
first-floor cats! -via reddit
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ruger is coming out with a new pistol in honor of the United States Senate
and The House of Representatives. It will be named the “Congressman”.
It doesn’t work and you can’t fire it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The film Rendezvous from 1976 shows an eight-minute drive
through Paris in the early hours of the morning, accompanied by sounds of a
high-revving engine, gear changes and squealing tires. Pedestrians are passed,
pigeons sitting on the streets are scattered, red lights are ignored, one-way
streets are driven up the wrong way, center lines are crossed, the car drives on
the sidewalk to avoid a rubbish truck.
While the car was later revealed to be a Mercedes Benz 450SEL 6.9 V8 and the soundtrack dubbed with the Ferrari V12 engine sound. Due to the content of the film it has become somewhat infamous for rumors surrounding the making of it and its exposition. Upon release it was not known who was driving the car and rumors circulated that it was an unnamed F1 racer. Most people belive it was Lelouch who was behind the wheel.
While the car was later revealed to be a Mercedes Benz 450SEL 6.9 V8 and the soundtrack dubbed with the Ferrari V12 engine sound. Due to the content of the film it has become somewhat infamous for rumors surrounding the making of it and its exposition. Upon release it was not known who was driving the car and rumors circulated that it was an unnamed F1 racer. Most people belive it was Lelouch who was behind the wheel.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An orangutan mother lets her newborn baby go for
its first climb. Filmed at the Los Angeles Zoo.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cracking The Credit Card
Code
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Photographer Taylor Weidman was given special
permission by the government of Nepal to travel in the restricted area of
Mustang, an area hidden in the rain shadow of the Himalaya in one of the most
remote corners of Nepal. Hemmed in by the world's highest mountain range to the
south and an occupied and shuttered Tibet to the north, this tiny Tibetan
kingdom has remained virtually unchanged since the 15th century.
Today, Mustang is arguably the best-preserved example of traditional Tibetan life in the world. But it is poised for change. A new highway will connect the region to Kathmandu and China for the first time, ushering in a new age of modernity and altering Mustang's desert-mountain villages forever.
Today, Mustang is arguably the best-preserved example of traditional Tibetan life in the world. But it is poised for change. A new highway will connect the region to Kathmandu and China for the first time, ushering in a new age of modernity and altering Mustang's desert-mountain villages forever.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Victorian Street Life in
London
In 1876, six years after the death of Charles
Dickens, the streets of the English capital still looked very much like the
famous author had described. Poverty, disability and filth were everywhere:
people lived a precarious and marginal existence working on the streets of
London. Two men became determined to document this – and the book they produced
shocked a nation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saxon bed burial
A teenager was the subject of a rare "Saxon bed
burial," as is nicely detailed in the video.
http://youtu.be/yNAPP0NFgUs
The girl, aged around 16, was buried on an ornamental bed -- a very limited Anglo-Saxon practice of the mid to later 7th century -- with a pectoral Christian cross on her chest, that had probably been sewn onto her clothing. Fashioned from gold and intricately set with cut garnets, only the fifth of its kind ever to be found, the artefact dates this grave to the very early years of the English Church, probably between 650 and 680 AD.
The girl, aged around 16, was buried on an ornamental bed -- a very limited Anglo-Saxon practice of the mid to later 7th century -- with a pectoral Christian cross on her chest, that had probably been sewn onto her clothing. Fashioned from gold and intricately set with cut garnets, only the fifth of its kind ever to be found, the artefact dates this grave to the very early years of the English Church, probably between 650 and 680 AD.
All of the bed burials that have been found were of
high status people, primarily women, and she was found with particularly
valuable grave goods. Most notable is the gold cross, 1.4 inches square, inlaid
with red garnets in the same style as the weapon fittings from the Staffordshire
Hoard. The four other pectoral crosses that have been discovered in Britain were
all pendants, hung from a loop on the top arm. This one has loops on the back
of each arm, three of them rubbed shiny, indicating that it was sewn into an
article of clothing and worn daily.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum
viditur.
(Whatever is said in Latin sounds profound.)"
-- fortune
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Whatever is said in Latin sounds profound.)"
-- fortune
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ptarmic
n. that which causes sneezing
n. that which causes sneezing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In 1976, Queen Elizabeth College chemist Leslie
Hough asked graduate researcher Shashikant Phadnis to test a certain chlorinated
sugar compound. Phadnis, whose English was imperfect, “thought I needed to
taste it! … So I took a small quantity of the sample on a spatula and
tasted it with the tip of my tongue.”
To his surprise, Phadnis found the compound
intensely and pleasantly sweet. When he reported his discovery to Hough, “‘Are
you crazy or what?’ he asked me. ‘How could you taste compounds without knowing
anything about their toxicity?’” After some further cautious tasting, Hough
dubbed the compound Serendipitose. It became the artificial sweetener
Splenda.
“Later on, Les even had a cup of coffee sweetened
with a few particles of Serendipitose. When I reminded him that it could be
toxic (as it contained a high proportion of chlorine), he simply said, ‘Oh,
forget it, we’ll survive!’”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
American sonic weapon being deployed in London during Olympics
The Ministry of Defence has confirmed a
sonic device will be deployed in London during the Olympics. The American-made
Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) can be used to send verbal warnings over a
long distance or emit a beam of pain-inducing tones.
Anyone placing bets on which
function the MOD is looking forward to testing on London
crowds?
The equipment was spotted fixed to a
landing craft on the Thames at Westminster this week…Royal Marines operating in
patrol craft from HMS Ocean are also heavily armed with conventional
firearms…
Oh, good. I was worried they
might not be equipped to kill anyone the old-fashioned
way.
The piercing beam of sound emitted by the
device is highly directional. Some versions of the LRAD are capable of producing
deafening sound levels of 150 decibels at one metre…
LRAD Corporation has previously sold the
device to the US Army, which deployed them in Iraq for crowd control. They have
also been bought by the US Navy and Air Force as well as a number of police
forces worldwide.
Thanks,
Ed
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What has four legs, is big, green, fuzzy, and
if it fell out of a tree would kill you?
A pool table.
A pool table.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Italian helps his buddy run for mayor — gets elected instead!
The new mayor of a mountain town in northern
Italy has been voted in almost completely by accident.
Fabio Borsatti, 50, stood in Cimolais as a
last-minute favour to the only candidate, worried not enough people would vote
if he stood unopposed. But, despite even Mr Borsatti’s own family voting for his
rival, the unlikely candidate won the poll.
He only realised he had become mayor when people
telephoned him, as he was watching football, to congratulate him…
“I wanted Gino [Bertolo] to win. Even my
relatives voted for him…My daughter, my sister, my father and my mother – they
all voted for him.”
But in the poll, Mr Borsatti obtained 160 votes –
securing almost 58% of the vote – compared with just 117 votes for his good
friend, Mr Bertolo.
Mr Borsatti has said he has no plans to resign and intends to carry out his duties for the 507 people who make up the
population of Cimolais, in Friuli Venezia-Giulia.
Thanks,
Ed
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Apple's 1984 spoof of
'Ghostbusters' goes after IBM
This is a 4-minute, uncut version of "Blue
Busters", a 1984 takeoff on 'Ghostbusters' that Apple produced to show at the
opening of its worldwide sales staff meeting in Hawaii in October 1984. The
video includes a cameo appearance by Steve Wozniak. Our thanks to Craig Elliott,
former Apple employee now CEO and co-founder of cloud-computing startup Pertino
Networks, for giving us access to this video.
Also shown at that meeting was another film in which Steve Jobs impersonates FDR. That film can be seen here:http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/watch-steve-jobs-play-fdr-apples-l...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Also shown at that meeting was another film in which Steve Jobs impersonates FDR. That film can be seen here:http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/watch-steve-jobs-play-fdr-apples-l...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carroll Shelby: Car world farewells a
legend
Decades after a heart condition forced him to
retire from racing, Carroll Shelby still loved to drive muscle cars. Well into
his 80s, the legendary car designer spent hours testing his last Mustang Shelby
GT500, which sets a new record for horsepower and hits a top speed of more than
320 km/h.
A one-time chicken farmer, Shelby had more than
a half-dozen successful careers during his long life: champion race car driver,
racing team owner, automotive consultant and safari tour operator. His fabled
Shelby Cobra sports car became an automotive and cultural icon, and he was later
credited with injecting testosterone into Ford's Mustang and Chrysler's
Viper.
When Shelby died on Thursday night in a Dallas
hospital, he also was one of the nation's longest-living heart transplant
recipients, having received a heart on June 7, 1990, from a 34-year-old man who
died of an aneurysm. Shelby also received a kidney transplant in 1996 from his
son, Michael.
Shelby first made his name behind the wheel of a
car, winning France's gruelling 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car race with
teammate Ray Salvadori in 1959.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Top Ten World Records of
Sex
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Portraits Of 38 Badasses Drawn
On Whiteboard Shirt
Okay, I have to
get my hands on one of these awesome whiteboard shirts! However, I’m guessing
it’s pretty hard to draw upside down, at least until your brain gets used to it.
Become a master like Phil Hansen, who quickly sketches 38 different portraits of
cinematic badasses on his shirt, and you too can have the fame and critical
acclaim afforded to those who keep the interwebs entertained. Yay for
creativity! Link –via
JazJaz
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One day a boy asks his
dad, "What's the difference between a pussy and a cunt?"
Dad thought for a minute and said, "Come with me." He took his son to his mother's bedroom, where she was sleeping nude. "Son," he whispered, "see that brown soft furry patch? That is a pussy."
The boy asked, "May I touch it to see how soft and furry it is?"
"No!" replied his father. "That might wake up the cunt."
Dad thought for a minute and said, "Come with me." He took his son to his mother's bedroom, where she was sleeping nude. "Son," he whispered, "see that brown soft furry patch? That is a pussy."
The boy asked, "May I touch it to see how soft and furry it is?"
"No!" replied his father. "That might wake up the cunt."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How Many
Times do You Need to Fold a Piece of Paper to Get to The
Moon?
Let's find out! Adrian Paenza schools us in
the lesson of exponential growth with this enjoyable TED-Education video clip
about folding a piece of paper. Previously: Fold a Paper in Half More Than 8
Times
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Portland On The Web: ABC News, Tech Crunch,
Men's Health & More
Portland lived up to its smuttier moniker, Pornland, this week, coming in at #16 on a list of America's Porn Capitals. More importantly, we're still sexier than Seattle who came in at #42, of course. Former Blazer Greg Oden said in a rare interview that when a young lady sends you 100 naked photos, it would be un-gentlemanly not to send at least one back. And, we still love pot, even going so far as to cook it into Mongolian barbecue. Here's a round-up of what the internet said about Portland this week.
Portland lived up to its smuttier moniker, Pornland, this week, coming in at #16 on a list of America's Porn Capitals. More importantly, we're still sexier than Seattle who came in at #42, of course. Former Blazer Greg Oden said in a rare interview that when a young lady sends you 100 naked photos, it would be un-gentlemanly not to send at least one back. And, we still love pot, even going so far as to cook it into Mongolian barbecue. Here's a round-up of what the internet said about Portland this week.
Men's Health: The Smuttiest Cities in America
ABC News: Got the munchies? A new pot eatery opens in Ore.
Grantland: Oden on Oden
Porland Monthly: New airport app = Cheap Tickets
OregonLive: The Simpson's Map of Portland
TechCrunch: Techlandia - Portland wants to help local start ups grow to 100 million
Neighborhood Notes: 20 locally owned businesses opened in April
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once thought to be the most densely populated place on Earth,
with 50,000 people crammed into only a few blocks, these fascinating pictures
give a rare insight into the lives of those who lived in the Kowloon Walled City. The city
was a phenomenon with 33,000 families and businesses living in more than 300
interconnected high-rise buildings, all constructed without contributions from a
single architect.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another great color feature from the BBC:
Future site, which also brought you the feature earlier today about whether we all see the same
colors. This latest piece asks where the names for colors come
from.
Unlike so many other language-based
classifications (like having dozens of words that describe
snow, or not having a word for
“war”), colors are thought to be arise
from a natural need to classify a sensory input. In other words, the spectrum is
the spectrum and we all see it … every language should have to fill in the
names, right?
Wrong. Not only do some
cultures just not recognize certain colors (like the fact that blue and green
are often not differentiated in Vietnamese), but pre-literate languages seem to
adopt colors into their lexicon in a very particular order! Looks like you can’t
get a word for “green” without several other steps happening first (like black,
white and red).
A fascinating look at where the cultural and
neurological aspects of language intersect.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First Rule of
History:
History doesn't repeat itself -- historians merely repeat each other.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
History doesn't repeat itself -- historians merely repeat each other.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brian received a phone call:
"HI, I'm phoning on behalf of the ????? Children's Workshop where we can help you with special offers, ....etc"
I interrupted her and informed her that I didn't have any children.
"Do you have any grandchildren???", she then asked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"HI, I'm phoning on behalf of the ????? Children's Workshop where we can help you with special offers, ....etc"
I interrupted her and informed her that I didn't have any children.
"Do you have any grandchildren???", she then asked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Is an 8-hour sleep a modern
artificial construct ?
In 2001, historian Roger Ekirch of Virginia
Tech published a seminal paper, drawn from 16 years of research, revealing a
wealth of historical evidence that humans used to sleep in two distinct
chunks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Debbie Does Cakes: bizarre realistic cakes made by Debbie
Goard
Tree frog cake, 2012Picture: Debbie Does Cakes / Rex
Features
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do we all see colors the same
way? Imagine the two of us, arm in arm, looking at a sunset, where
the horizon is fretted with golden fire and the deep blue night encroaches from
the opposite side of the sky. “What beautiful colours”, I say, and you agree.
And then, in the space of the following silence, I am struck by a
worry. I can point at the sky and say it is blue, and you will
concur. But are youreally seeing that blue the way I am seeing it? Perhaps you
have just learnt to call what you see “blue”, but in actual experience you are
seeing nothing like the vivid, rich, blue I see. You are an imposter, calling my
blue by the same name as yours, but not really seeing it the way I do. Or, even
worse, perhaps I am the one seeing a pale imitation blue, while you
see a blue that is infinitely richer and more splendid than
mine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Most cities have a seedy underbelly - hidden
dangers that lurk below the surface out of every day sight. Certain places,
however, are plagued by dangers so great the warning signs are clear. Take a
look at the most hazardous places in the world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the betting game known as craps, the player starts
by rolling two dice and combining their values. On the first roll, 7 or 11 is an
automatic win (a “pass”), while a roll of 2, 3, or 12 is an automatic loss
(“craps”). Every other roll is called a “point” and allows the roller to keep
rolling in an effort to match that point.
On the first roll of the dice,
what are the odds of a craps roller rolling a point instead of a pass or craps?
Here is the SOLUTION.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What exactly do people do in a think
tank?
The 13 Loneliest Outhouses on Earth. I understand you want them located away from the main house, but these are far away from anything!
10 Memes That Originated from TV Shows. With examples and guidelines for proper usage.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Linguistic Association Between Testicles and
Valor: the connection between ballsy and courageous.Bizarre nested Klein
bottles Does this path have an infinite length? [animated gif]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The study of stupidity is called
‘monology’.
When Albert Einstein died, his final words
died with him. The nurse at his side didn’t understand German.
It costs more to send someone to reform
school than it does to send them to Eton.
It is illegal to play tennis in the streets
of Cambridge.
In parts of Malaya, the women keep harems of
men.
Sir Winston Churchill rationed himself to 15
cigars a day.
People in Siberia often buy milk frozen on a
stick.
The two highest IQ’s ever recorded (on a
standard test) both belong to women.
Marie Currie, who twice won the Nobel Prize,
and discovered radium, was not allowed
to become a member of the prestigious French Academy because she was a
woman.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mansion Used in 1970s Porno Film Deep Throat Listed
For Sale
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If men could get pregnant, abortion
would be a sacrament.
-Gloria Steinam
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-Gloria Steinam
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This coming Solstice on
June 21st is "World Peace and Prayer Day" as called for by Chief Arvol Looking
Horse, the Present Chief and Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe of the
Lakota, Dakota, Nakota Nation of the Sioux.
The exact... time of Solstice is Monday June 21 4:28am PDT.
Please join in by adding your prayers, meditations and ceremonies on this day to help stabilize our collecti...ve situation in this time of great challenge.
The exact... time of Solstice is Monday June 21 4:28am PDT.
Please join in by adding your prayers, meditations and ceremonies on this day to help stabilize our collecti...ve situation in this time of great challenge.
So let us unite spiritually, All Nations, All Faiths, One Prayer. Along with this immediate effort, I also ask to please remember June 21st, World Peace and Prayer Day/Honoring Sacred Sites day. Whether it is a natural site, a temple, a church, a synagogue or just your own sacred space, let us make a prayer for all life, for good decision making by our Nations, for our children’s future and well-being, and the generations to come.
Onipikte (that we shall live),
Chief Arvol Looking Horse
19th generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe
------------------------
i walk the red road by
first asking permission of the First People of Turtle Island where ever I maybe.
I am a person of mixed heritage. I love the earth and I am listening to the
wisdom of the elders.Raven Redbone10-19-2010
Description
I am here to contribute
and give another voice to the “The First Peoples” who have and continue to give
to our world. It is my honor, privilege and a great blessing to highlight and
serve all our ancestors. I continue to work at educating, promoting and
highlighting our ancestral pasts and make a contribution to Indian Country
Today! To me its my responsibility to educate and show the Indian Persp...ective that until recent years has not been allowed. The world needs to
move forward in an Indigenous mind set in my opinion to continue! I have been
honored and blessed to be part of a wonderful people whose whole way of living
is harmonious with Our Earth and all life. Each Day I walk in reverence on
Mother Earth and live an ecologically sound lifestyle in reverence to Mother
Earth. I live by the ancestoral ways, respecting each other, loving each other
and our Mother. My family and I celebrate all the old ceremonies in honor of the
Ancestors. We recycle, walk, and cherish her. We are the next generation of
ancestors. – Raven
All who join this group promise to conduct themselves with honor and decency, and to maintain a respectful attitude towards others. Racist comments of any nature will not be tolerated. The administrators of this page reserves the right to remove anyone who does not abide by these standards. This includes, but is not limited to any post that is sexist, racist, negatively directed towards another individual and/or group, inflammatory or otherwise inappropriate.
People are asking about the the photos. If you are respectful and use proper references I do not see why not. I ask that of all the photos. All things in a good way.
All who join this group promise to conduct themselves with honor and decency, and to maintain a respectful attitude towards others. Racist comments of any nature will not be tolerated. The administrators of this page reserves the right to remove anyone who does not abide by these standards. This includes, but is not limited to any post that is sexist, racist, negatively directed towards another individual and/or group, inflammatory or otherwise inappropriate.
People are asking about the the photos. If you are respectful and use proper references I do not see why not. I ask that of all the photos. All things in a good way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A very great vision is
needed for the future! The human being who has it must follow it as the great
eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky."
Tȟašúŋke Witkó, Chief Crazy Horse
Tȟašúŋke Witkó, Chief Crazy Horse
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A tourist is visiting New York City when his
car breaks down. He jumps out and starts fiddling under the hood. About five
minutes later, he hears some thumping sounds and looks around to see someone
taking stuff out of his trunk! He runs around and yells, "Hey, bud, this is my
car!"
"OK," the man says, "You take the front and
I`ll take the back."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How can you tell if a blonde is a
redneck?
If she can chew tobacco and suck dick at the same time
If she can chew tobacco and suck dick at the same time
and still know which one to spit
out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Chork is a utensil set
that cleverly combines chopsticks with a fork. The Chork can be used in three
ways: as a standard fork,
as a trainer set of
chopsticks, or as chopsticks. They are made of food grade hi impact polystyrene
and come in either red or black. Currently, they are available to purchase
at Fab.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eiffel or eyesore? London's Orbit tower
completed
ArcelorMittal Orbit
Orbit tower: a drunken party animal of a
building
Colossal and
imperfect, Anish Kapoor's sculpture at the Olympic Park is the body of us all,
writes Jonathan Jones
London got a towering new venue Friday, as authorities
announced completion of the Orbit, a 115-meter (377- foot) looped and twisting
steel tower beside London's new Olympic Stadium
that will give visitors panoramic views over the city.
LONDON – Critics say it looks like a roller coaster gone badly awry. Fans say it's a landmark to rival the Eiffel Tower.
LONDON – Critics say it looks like a roller coaster gone badly awry. Fans say it's a landmark to rival the Eiffel Tower.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How to Count
Infinity
“Some infinities are bigger than other
infinities.” - Hazel Grace Lancaster
Are there really more numbers between 0 and 1 than
there are integers? MinutePhysics explores, in typically wonderful fashion.
(by minutephysics)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DIY The Avengers Bookmark Craft
Project
Here's a cute idea from the blog Crafts by Amanda: a DIY Avengers bookmark
using a bit of paint and jumbo craft sticks. I'm partial to the Hulk one: he
just looks so irasicbly cute! Link - via Nerd Approved
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
12 of the Most Beautiful Bays in the
World
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Las Vegas Sign:
When the now 88-year-old Betty Willis came up with
the design for Las Vegas’ iconic “Welcome” sign, it was almost by accident, but
even so, she knew she wanted it to be special. As the ever-candid graphic
desinger revealed in an interview back in 2005:
“That sign was the result of an all-night bull
session in which one of the first drawings was retrieved from the wastebasket.
Everything you could flash or spin, we did it. We thought the city was fabulous,
so we added the word.”
As she recalled in an earlier interview, back in
2002, “I wanted to create something that people would remember, so I tipped the
square on its side and curved the ends. The lettering and everything about the
sign went against the designs of that time.”
No
bells or whistles were to be spared, so silver Roosevelt “dollars” were added
behind the letters that spell out “WELCOME” as a nod to Nevada’s status as the
Silver State. “We knew the sign would be recognizable because of the odd shape.
We wanted people to remember the town and come back. The circles were expensive.
So we put in a lot of them,” explained Willis to the New York Times.
Apparently, it still irks the ever-feisty designer
that the hand-drawn lettering of the word “fabulous” looks amateurish to her. “I
sweat blood when I take a good hard look at it,” she says.
The sign was sold to Clark County for $4,000 and
erected in 1959, but the design was never copyrighted, since Willis felt the
city needed as much free publicity as it could get. “When a logo is successful,
people remember it. It’s a pretty good job that sign has done.” The only time
we’re aware of its designer, who now lives on Social Security, earning a dime in
later years from her much-reproduced creation was in 2008, when she hosted an
autograph session signing prints of the sign photographed at night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One Holi Mess: India’s Incredible
Color-Soaked Festival
The Hindu Holi festival may be a mess, but it makes
for some vivid pictures!
The spring festival of Holi, celebrated across many
parts of India, but especially in the north, is a time when barriers are torn
down and the usual rules, if not entirely broken, are at least well and truly
bent. It’s a time when adults can be children again, and children can get away
with all kinds of mischief. The air is full of laughter and joyful shouts as
brightly colored powders and water fly. See photographs, and read about Holi at
Environmental Graffiti. Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nintendo
Dominoes
ShanesDominoez and Dieckdomino put together 30,000
dominoes that fall and evoke classic Nintendo products. And they have some
pretty elaborate structures to knock down! -via Geeks Are Sexy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Looking at Mom with
Love
A tender mother-child moment, brought to you by the National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest. This picture was
taken at Camp Leakey, Tanjung Puting National Park in Indonesia. The contest is
open for entries until June 28, or even later with an additional fee, but oy,
look at the competition! Link (Image credit: miranda rachellina)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How Full Grown Trees Are Dug up and
Transplanted
http://youtu.be/1IV10M1RbEA
It’s called a tree spade — a piece of heavy equipment
previously unknown to me but apparently widely available. Here’s one in
Berwick, Australia slicing into the earth several feet below the surface, then
carrying then entire mass down the road.
-via Joe Carter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Magnetic Implant to Hold iPod
Nano
Tattoo artist Dave Hurban of Dynasty Tattoo in
Newfield, New Jersey, likes to have his iPod Nano handy, so he decided to attach
it to his wrist with magnets: Hurban explained that the technique he used to
get the four magnets under his skin to hold the iPod in place is actually a
fairly typical one in the world of body piercing. “Those magnets are actually
called micro-dermal anchors,” Dave explained, “and in body piercing they are
very common. The tops are actually just 5 millimeter magnetic tops.” If you
check out the admittedly cringe-worthy video of the process that the design
firm Kaleidoscope Kreative shot, you can witness Hurban planting those very
anchors, with a look of placid concentration on his face. “I took the ends of
magnets and actually adhered them to the back of the iPod, and that’s how they
click into my skin.” Jeff Saginor of Digital Trends has the story:
Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Man Stole Own Bicycle Back After Spotting it
on Craigslist
Danny Lesh noticed that his stolen bike ended up for sale on Craigslist.
When police declined to intervene, Danny decided to take justice into his own
hands (or feet, in this case): After haggling over the Craigslist price,
Lesh says, he asked for a test ride. The vendor agreed, and Lesh pedaled around
the block back to the waiting cab. He tossed the Cannondale in the trunk and
rode off. The vendor called about half an hour later, demanding Lesh return the
bike and threatening to notify the police himself, though it appears that call
never materialized.
The DCist has the story: Link | Video Clip over at NBC4 Washington
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Teacher Used “Cone of Shame” to Discipline
Teens
Pasco County high school teacher Laurie
Bailey-Cutkomp has a unique way to discipline her misbehaving ninth graders:
with the "cone of shame". Now, she's in trouble for treating students like
dogs:
In the movie, the character Dug (a dog) wears
the "cone of shame" as a punishment for being disobedient.
Bailey-Cutkomp, who reportedly worked previously in the veterinary
field, brought a cone into her classes after students asked about them. Bad
idea or effective tool to enforce teenage discipline? Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Real Life Robinson
Crusoe
For many of us, moving to our own private tropical
island of paradise is a fantasy, but not for Brendon Grimshaw. In 1962, bought
an island in the Indian Ocean for £8,000 and replanted it with 16,000 trees,
grasses and then he invited a few friends ... BBC's Simon Reeven paid him a
visit: Hit play or go to Link
[YouTube] - via Boing Boing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On a deserted industrial estate in the commuter town of Newark, Nottinghamshire, there is a graveyard. But this is no ordinary resting place for the dead. Few know of its existence; even fewer come to pay their respects... Welcome to the graveyard of decommissioned BT phone boxes. This warehouse, run by payphone specialist X2 Connect, is home to more than 150 of them – from a rare 85-year-old red kiosk to state-of-the-art three-cornered machines...More information at The Telegraph.
Since last month, when BT announced plans to sell off 60 of its classic red phone boxes, X2 Connect has been busier than ever. For the first time in 25 years, private buyers have the chance to own one of the K6 boxes, designed in 1935 for King George V’s Silver Jubilee, for a starting price of £1,950 – and demand has been huge...
Some 70,000 K6s were installed across Britain as part of the first nationwide programme of public telephone kiosks. Now, just 10,770 remain, including two in Normandy, France, that were installed for the 50th anniversary of the D-Day landings, and a few in Malta, Bermuda and Gibraltar. But as payphone use declines thanks to the spread of mobiles, 60 per cent of kiosks are losing money, with an 80 per cent drop in the number of calls made in the last five years. In 2002 there were 92,000 BT phone boxes on our streets; now there are 51,500.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
City of (Sunspot)
Lights
Sunspot AR1476 (photographed above over the Eiffel Tower) has been
monitored all week, as the Jupiter-sized coronal “active region” has been
pointed squarely at Earth, ready to release a wave of magnetic energy in the
form of a solar flare or coronal mass ejection. Last night, a CME was detected, racing toward Earth at over 1,000
km/s.
This awesome animation from the Goddard Space Weather
Lab demonstrates the forecasted wave and
glancing blow we await on Earth (we aren’t in any danger, but satellites may be
disrupted):
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Robert Puelo, 32, was apparently being disorderly in a St. Louis market.
When the clerk threatened to call police, Puelo grabbed a hot dog, shoved it in
his mouth, and walked out without paying for it. Police later found him
unconscious in front of the store: paramedics removed the six-inch wiener from
his throat, Where it had choked him to death.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Behold the biochemical pathways of the cell.
For decades, these wall charts have adorned the hallways and laboratories
wherever biochemists are at work. They are at once both reference and
art.
The version pictured above (click here for the holycraphuge version) is state of the art, a subway map of interacting pathways, intersecting
reactions, and a road map for the journey to make any building block our cells
need. Each node is an enzyme or product, separated by color into metabolic
subdomains. You really must head over to KEGG and play with the interactive
version, where each dot comes alive, an interactive chemical
structure.
I’m also a big fan of Gerard Michal’s legendary wall charts of
yesteryear. Watching the evolution in design from his 1974 version to
a later 1993 map, his
layouts are chock full of vintage German aesthetic.
Behold the biochemical pathways of the cell. For decades,
these wall charts have adorned the hallways and laboratories wherever
biochemists are at work. They are at once both reference and art.
The version pictured above (click here for the holycraphuge version) is state of the art, a subway map of interacting pathways, intersecting
reactions, and a road map for the journey to make any building block our cells
need. Each node is an enzyme or product, separated by color into metabolic
subdomains. You really must head over to KEGG and play with the interactive
version, where each dot comes alive, an interactive chemical
structure.
I’m also a big fan of Gerard Michal’s legendary wall charts of
yesteryear. Watching the evolution in design from his 1974 version to
a later 1993 map, his
layouts are chock full of vintage German aesthetic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beautiful Images Of Earth, Taken From A
Satellite 450 Miles Up
The U.S. Geological Survey curates the most remarkable
satellite imagery, and offers it for sale.
Since 1972, NASA’s Landsat program has been constantly
monitoring Earth from above. Hundreds of images are beamed back from the Landsat
satellite from 450 miles above Earth, providing visual data for everything from
climate studies to Google Earth.
Here’s a tribute video from NASA, showing how our regular
observations of the planet can track geographical changes, natural disasters,
and man’s impact on the planet. Viewed from far or near, we have a beautiful
home, and one that we still struggle to fully understand.
Bonus: Check
out Landsat’s Earth As Art collection! You won’t be sorry, and it should make for some pretty good
dashboard fodder, Tumblr friends.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Trekkies and We Know It
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Herman the hypochondriac began sobbing before a doctor. "I'm
sure I've got a liver disease, and I'm gonna die from it."
"Ridiculous," said the doctor. "you'd never know if you had the disease or not. With that ailment there's no discomfort of any
kind."
"Right," said Herman, "those are my exact symptoms."
"Ridiculous," said the doctor. "you'd never know if you had the disease or not. With that ailment there's no discomfort of any
kind."
"Right," said Herman, "those are my exact symptoms."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A new wind energy
concept
Apparently only at the concept stage now, but one advantage over wind turbines is that it eliminated the rotating blades, with their consequent noise and risk to birds:
Apparently only at the concept stage now, but one advantage over wind turbines is that it eliminated the rotating blades, with their consequent noise and risk to birds:
New York design firm Atelier DNA has an
alternative concept that ditches blades in favor of stalks. Resembling thin
cattails, the Windstalks generate electricity when the wind sets them
waving...
The proposed design calls for 1,203 "“stalks," each 180-feet high with concrete bases that are between about 33- and 66-feet wide. The carbon-fiber stalks, reinforced with resin, are about a foot wide at the base tapering to about 2 inches at the top. Each stalk will contain alternating layers of electrodes and ceramic discs made from piezoelectric material, which generates a current when put under pressure. In the case of the stalks, the discs will compress as they sway in the wind, creating a charge.Further details at Discovery News.
The proposed design calls for 1,203 "“stalks," each 180-feet high with concrete bases that are between about 33- and 66-feet wide. The carbon-fiber stalks, reinforced with resin, are about a foot wide at the base tapering to about 2 inches at the top. Each stalk will contain alternating layers of electrodes and ceramic discs made from piezoelectric material, which generates a current when put under pressure. In the case of the stalks, the discs will compress as they sway in the wind, creating a charge.Further details at Discovery News.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angry Birds Theme Park
Love Angry Bird but wish that there's a bit more you can do
than fling digital birds around on your smartphone? Well, now you can fling your
body around in this Angry Birds Land theme park in Finland. Angry Birds Land
includes 12 rides, an adventure course and themed food outlets (lots of pig?).
It's aimed at families and young children. Angry Birds developer Rovio helped
the park's staff design the experience. Finnish-ing touches are still
being put in place: gamers will soon be able to visit the "Magic Place"
attraction, where guests can somehow upgrade their mobile Angry Birds games.
Tom Phillips of EuroGamer has the story and more pics: Link - via Geekosystem
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scenes from a Cactus Shop in
Japan
Kohei Oda’s specialty shop is the place
to go when you’re in great neat of a cactus in Hiroshima. Write that down just
in case you should ever find yourself in that situation. In the meantime, look
at the unusual and often monstrous-looking cacti that he’s collected for
customers. Link (Google Translate) -via Spoon &
Tamago
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why A Lot of Asian Kids Wear
Glasses
All those long hours studying make Asian kids really
good at school, but that academic accomplishment comes at a steep price -
ophthalmically speaking: Up to 90% of school leavers in major Asian cities
are suffering from myopia - short-sightedness - a study suggests.
Researchers say the "extraordinary rise" in the problem is being caused
by students working very hard in school and missing out on outdoor light.
The scientists told the Lancet that up to one in five of these students
could experience severe visual impairment and even blindness.
BBC's science reporter Matt McGrath has the
report:Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When it comes to outlandish new design ideas, Dubai is
certainly ahead of the curve. The glittering emirate has already got the tallest
building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, and even the Earth itself - in the form
of dozens of man-mad islands just off its coastline. So it is no surprise to
hear that architects are set to take on a new challenge - building a
half-submerged hotel, complete with underwater rooms offering views of life
below the surface of the sea. The 'Water Discus Hotel' - a spaceship-shaped building perched
in the water and looking not unlike a Jame Bond villain's lair - is set to be
the first of several planned across the region.
Water Discus Hotel is a design concept for a hotel that is
partially underwater. The hotel consists of two large disc-shaped structures,
one above and one below water. The 21 guest rooms are located in the underwater
disc, with floor to ceiling windows providing a view of life undersea. Water
Discus Hotel was created by Polish firm Deep Ocean
Technologies. The first hotel is in early development for construction in
Dubai.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Five children, scions of the frosty bite
Dire wolves that hunt in the dead of the night
House of Stark, Winterfell, now the winter’s come
King in the North, bow down, now a war is on
Dire wolves that hunt in the dead of the night
House of Stark, Winterfell, now the winter’s come
King in the North, bow down, now a war is on
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A whole mess of awe from Wikipedia.
A look into events of the distant future, as calculated from
today.
Such as:
- 36,000 years from now, Ross 248 becomes the closest star to the Sun.
- 11 million years from now, the Martian moon Phobos will collide with the surface of Mars.
- On Sunday, December 4th, 292,277,026,596 A.D. the 64-bit Unix time stamp will exceed the limit of a 64-bit number.
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he-star-stuff:
I AM STARSTUFF necklace :)(Submitted by meganleestudio)
The pain of having a J in my name. No amino acid coding for me.
But this? This is something special. Buy it for the neck that supports a
brain you love.
(via staceythinx)
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Even Monkeys Can Sense a Raw
Deal
Are animals moral? It’s an ongoing debate, and one
that is prone to anthropomorphizing animal behaviors. But scientists have been
able to track down cases of moral judgment in certain species. Here’s a pretty
hilarious example.
Capuchin monkeys love grapes. But they’ll also eat
cucumbers if you give them one. They just really prefer grapes. This team had
the monkeys complete a task, simply putting a stone in the handler’s palm, and
then they got their food reward. Only they could see what the other monkey was
getting. The first round goes fine, and one gets a grape while the other is
given only cucumber. Next round? Well, that’s in the video :)
The researchers concluded that the monkeys were, in
fact, weighing the deal they got, and responding with feelings of envy and
frustration. Even more, when both get
cucumbers, they are perfectly happy with that snack! It seems to be all about
fairness and cooperation for them. It fits with the social nature of primates,
as cooperating groups would be biologically rewarded.
While pretty funny, it definitely shows signs that
some of our core emotions may have very basic neurological roots!
Here’s a link to the full videotaped talk on monkeynomics and moral behavior in animals by Frans de
Waal.
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Image of the Day Gallery
Teenaged girls use make-up to feel older
sooner.
Their mothers use make-up to feel younger longer.
Their mothers use make-up to feel younger longer.
No job is so simple that is can't be done
wrong.
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NASA was interviewing professionals to be sent to Mars.
Only one could go, and he couldn’t return to Earth.
The first applicant, an engineer, was asked how much he
wanted to be paid for going. “A million dollars,” he answered, “because I want
to donate it to M.I.T.”
The next applicant, a doctor, was asked the same question.
He asked for two million dollars. “I want to give a million to my family,” he
explained, “and leave the other million for the advancement of medical
research.”
The last applicant was a lawyer. When asked how much money
he wanted, he whispered in the interviewer’s ear, “Three million
dollars.”
“Why so much more than the others?” the interviewer
asked.
The lawyer replied, “If you give me $3 million, I’ll give
you $1 million, I’ll keep $1 million, and we’ll send the engineer.”
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Ursa
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ursarodinia@aol.com
ursarodinia@aol.com
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