To every man is given the keys
to heaven.
The same key opens
the gates of hell.
~ Buddhist proverb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2012 June 3
A Picturesque Venus Transit
Image Credit & Copyright: David Cortner
Image Credit & Copyright: David Cortner
Explanation: The rare transit of Venus across the
face of the Sun in 2004 was one of the better-photographed events in sky
history. Both scientific and artistic images flooded in from the areas that could see the transit: Europe and much of
Asia, Africa, and North America. Scientifically, solar photographers confirmed
that the black drop effect is really better related to the viewing clarity
of the camera or telescope than the atmosphere of Venus. Artistically, images
might be divided into several categories. One type captures the transit in front of a highly detailed Sun. Another category captures a double coincidence such as both Venus and an airplane simultaneously silhouetted, or Venus and the International Space Station in low Earth orbit. A third image type involves a fortuitous
arrangement of interesting looking clouds, as shown by example in the above image taken from
North Carolina, USA. Sky
enthusiasts worldwide are abuzz about the coming transit of Venus on Tuesday. It is perhaps
interesting to wonder whether any person will live to see -- and remember seeing --
both Tuesday's Venus transit and the next one in 2117.
Sentinels of the Arctic
Image Credit & Copyright: Niccolò Bonfadini
A Florida man was arrested this week after three women told
police he pulled a gun on them so he could cut into a McDonald's drive-through
line.
The women said their car was side by side James Lee Cruz's vehicle at the fast-food restaurant in West Palm Beach, when he took out a gun and pointed it at them. In fear, the women backed up and allowed Cruz to pass them.
The women then took down Cruz's license plate and called police as they followed him home. Cruz faces three counts of aggravated assault. Apparently Big Macs are much more irresistible now that McDonald's isn't using 'pink slime' anymore. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BUILD A BETTER BURGERhttp://health.chtah.net/a/tBPxilMBFYNexB8jO8zCFNC1E6S/top24
Fire up your thrill for the grill with these healthy recipes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Image Credit & Copyright: Niccolò Bonfadini
Explanation: Who guards the north? Judging
from the above photograph, possibly giant trees covered in snow and ice.
The picture
was taken last winter in Finnish Lapland where weather
can include sub-freezing temperatures and driving snow. Surreal landscapes sometimes result,
where common trees become cloaked in white and so appear, to some, as watchful
aliens. Far in the distance, behind this uncommon Earthly vista, is a more common
sight -- a Belt of Venus that divided a darkened from sunlit sky as the Sun rose behind
the photographer. Of course, in the spring, the trees have thawed and Lapland looks much different.
2012 May
Contemplating the Sun
Image Credit & Copyright: Steven Gilbert
Image Credit & Copyright: Steven Gilbert
Explanation: Have you contemplated your home
star recently? Pictured above, a Sun partially eclipsed on the top left by the
Moon is also seen eclipsed by earthlings contemplating the
eclipse below. The above menagerie
of silhouettes was taken from the Glenn
Canyon National Recreational Area near Page, Arizona, USA, where park
rangers and astronomers expounded on the unusual event to interested
gatherers. Also faintly visible on the Sun's disk, just to the lower right of
the dark Moon's disk, is a
group of sunspots.
Although exciting, some consider this event a warm-up act for next week's chance
to comtemplate the Sun -- a much more rare partial eclipse by the planet Venus.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Medical
examination..........
While examining his lady patient, the doctor tells her: "Your heart, lungs, pulse & BP are fine. Now let me see that little thing which gets you ladies into all kinds of trouble."
The lady started taking off her clothes.....
Doctor, stopping her: "No! No! Please put on your clothes. Just show me your tongue."
While examining his lady patient, the doctor tells her: "Your heart, lungs, pulse & BP are fine. Now let me see that little thing which gets you ladies into all kinds of trouble."
The lady started taking off her clothes.....
Doctor, stopping her: "No! No! Please put on your clothes. Just show me your tongue."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Manhattanhenge
Sunset on the Manhattan Grid
by Neil deGrasse Tyson, ©
2001-2012
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Rochester falcon-cams
High above the streets of Rochester, NY, atop the
Times Square building, is a nest box occupied by two Peregrine Falcons, Beauty
and Dot.ca. Five cameras give you an up close and personal view into the
fascinating world of these falcons as they raise their young and prepare them
for life on their own.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zoe Pollock, 10, gives "Jalouise" the donkey her first trim. A
pack of hairy donkeys have had their dreadlocks cut for the first time in 17
years to help them keep cool in the hot weather. The rare French breed, called
Baudet du Poitou, are not meant to be groomed, so their coat is left to grow
into long dreadlocks.
Too Cool, Ed ~ TY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reddit asks the question. Here are a few of the answers:
- I think that Gatorade tastes better when drank from the squeeze bottle.
- String cheese tastes best when it’s stringed-apart. Biting into the stick is not nearly as good.
- A sandwich will always taste better if someone else makes it even if it is identical to the one you made.
- Crawling up the stairs on all fours is faster than running
- Pizza can last forever unrefrigerated as long as it’s in the box.
- Coke tastes better from a glass bottle.
- A&W Root Beer is a prime example of pop that can taste vastly different depending on the source. It’s good no matter what, but coming from the fountain at the actual A&W restaurant takes it to a entirely new level of delicious.
- Dr Pepper tastes way better from a can than it does from a fountain.
- Grated cheese is far superior to cubed or sliced
- If I tilt my controller and myself, I will have a better chance of winning the game
- Broken candy canes/cookies/etc taste worse than whole ones.
- My 5 minute walk to and from the train station is enough to burn all the calories from the junk i eat all day.
- Sandwiches taste better when they’re cut diagonally.
- Everything tastes better when I’m drunk.
- Five Second Rule.
- A folded lays potato chip is better than a regular one.
- Both Feet under blanket, lava. both feet no blanket, frostbite. One foot covered, one foot uncovered, perfect balance..
- Milk tastes horrible when you drink it through a straw.
What most likely scientifically inaccurate
belief would you defend to your grave?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A man who lost a bet stripped naked and darted
onto the filed at Busch Stadium on Thursday night at the top of the 7th inning during the Cardinals and Phillies game. He
cavorted around for a while before he was caught by security. The man “appeared
to be drinking”. He was arrested and charged with being a spectator running on
the playing field and, because he stripped, lewd and lascivious
behavior.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Starfish belong to a beach vacation like sandcastles and
sunburn. They're not fish, of course, but rather close cousins of sand dollars
and sea urchins. Just the sight of these stellar sea creatures is enough to
excite even the most jaded of beachgoers. Plus, with their knack of showing up
in the most romantic spots, they seem to be the perfect gauge for which beaches
are the most scenic. Here are some stunning pictures of starfish sunbathing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Kiss me," said the young lady urgently. "Please
kiss me."
But the young man turned his head away, saying, "Of course not. How can I? I'm your own brother-in-law. Hell, we shouldn't
even be lying here making love."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But the young man turned his head away, saying, "Of course not. How can I? I'm your own brother-in-law. Hell, we shouldn't
even be lying here making love."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three guys go into a bar, one in a wheelchair, one
is blind and the other appears normal. A couple of minutes later, God walks in
to get a beer. He sees the guys and decides to have compassion on them.
He touches the blind guy on the forehead, and his sight is restored. He touches the man in the wheelchair and the guy jumps up and walks away.
He walks to the last guy and the guy yells, 'Whoa, God! I'm on workman's comp!'
He touches the blind guy on the forehead, and his sight is restored. He touches the man in the wheelchair and the guy jumps up and walks away.
He walks to the last guy and the guy yells, 'Whoa, God! I'm on workman's comp!'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Award-winning author and graphic novelist Neil
Gaiman recently delivered an inspirational keynote commencement
speech to the 2012 graduating class at The University of
the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Gaiman,
who confessed
that he never graduated from “an establishment of higher education” was granted
an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts (HDFA) by The University of the
Arts.
~~~~~
The problems of failure are hard.
The problems of success can be harder, because nobody
warns you about them.
The first problem of any kind of even limited success
is the unshakable conviction that you are getting away with something, and that
any moment now they will discover you. It’s Imposter Syndrome, something my
wife Amanda christened the Fraud
Police.
In my case, I was convinced that there would be a knock
on the door, and a man with a clipboard (I don’t know why he carried a
clipboard, in my head, but he did) would be there, to tell me it was all over,
and they had caught up with me, and now I would have to go and get a real job,
one that didn’t consist of making things up and writing them down, and reading
books I wanted to read. And then I would go away quietly and get the kind of job
where you don’t have to make things up any more.
The problems of success. They’re real, and with luck
you’ll experience them. The point where you stop saying yes to everything,
because now the bottles you threw in the ocean are all coming back, and have to
learn to say no.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Recently on BBC One’s Graham Norton Show, natural
history filmmaker Sir David Attenborough provided a live voice-over narration to
the viral video that shows a
tortoise mounting a Croc shoe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PRguitarman spotted this
display of promotional Spider-Man Pop-Tarts on
the shelves of his local store. These limited edition “Yum-Azing Vanilla”
flavored toaster pastries from Kellogg’s are a tie-in for the upcoming movie,
The Amazing
Spider-Man, which opens in theatres on July 3, 2012. They are sprinkled
with blue sugar spiders and available to purchase online at Pop-Tarts World.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So-called
sexual minorities, that is transgender persons, have been doing a lot of
fighting for recognition in the last few years. They want to be able to marry,
to go to school functions like proms together and the right to use whatever
bathrooms they wish. And if they can gain a few privileges for themselves, more
power to them.
But in this case, one "sexual minority" has gone a little too far in drawing attention to his (for lack of a better pronoun) cause.
Mao Sugiyama, a 22-year-old Japanese artist, had his penis and testicles surgically removed in order to live as an "asexual", that is without gender. But then he decided, in order to raise awareness about sexual minorities and to raise funds to help pay for the surgery, that he was going to cook his own genitals and served them to five paying diners in Tokyo.
Diners paid 20,000 yen for the plate with a portion of genitals. The meal was prepared under the supervision of a certified cook and diners were required to sign a waiver indemnifying Sugiyama and event organizers.
Steps were taken so the act met all relevant laws, including a ban on organ sales, processing of medical waste and even food sanitation requirements.
The genitals were braised and served with mushrooms and a parsley garnish.
Sugiyama said he received questions from some women and men asking 'Will there be a next time? Please host it again.' Apparently, the meal did not leave a bad taste in the diners' mouths.
But there is only one set of male organ," he tweeted. "I have no plan for the next time."
But in this case, one "sexual minority" has gone a little too far in drawing attention to his (for lack of a better pronoun) cause.
Mao Sugiyama, a 22-year-old Japanese artist, had his penis and testicles surgically removed in order to live as an "asexual", that is without gender. But then he decided, in order to raise awareness about sexual minorities and to raise funds to help pay for the surgery, that he was going to cook his own genitals and served them to five paying diners in Tokyo.
Diners paid 20,000 yen for the plate with a portion of genitals. The meal was prepared under the supervision of a certified cook and diners were required to sign a waiver indemnifying Sugiyama and event organizers.
Steps were taken so the act met all relevant laws, including a ban on organ sales, processing of medical waste and even food sanitation requirements.
The genitals were braised and served with mushrooms and a parsley garnish.
Sugiyama said he received questions from some women and men asking 'Will there be a next time? Please host it again.' Apparently, the meal did not leave a bad taste in the diners' mouths.
But there is only one set of male organ," he tweeted. "I have no plan for the next time."
READER
COMMENTS
I've read your column since the mid 90's. The story about the guy removing, cooking, and serving his genitals falls on the far other side of Bizarre News boundaries. You need to open a new department; Really F**ked Up People in the News. And to top off the story is that there is a waiting line for the next event. I'm really concerned what kind of world we're leaving the grandkids.
[Well, that was Japan. They don't exactly play by the same rules as the rest of the world.]
So that Japanese artist had his penis AND testicles removed to become asexual. Now he'll no longer be able to pee standing up. As for his having his genitalia cooked and served as food, how big were his equipment that 5 people could get a meal out of it? My guess a lot of sides (rice, etc.) were served with it.
[I think peeing sitting down is probably the last thing he's worried about. And I don't think the 'diners' were there for the portion size. This event wasn't held at a Golden Corral.]
Lewis, what is up with the cannibal stories lately? Last week was the guy who cooked and served his own penis and this week is the naked guy in Miami who tried to eat some homeless guy's face off.
[Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't that how pretty much every single zombie movie starts?]
I've read your column since the mid 90's. The story about the guy removing, cooking, and serving his genitals falls on the far other side of Bizarre News boundaries. You need to open a new department; Really F**ked Up People in the News. And to top off the story is that there is a waiting line for the next event. I'm really concerned what kind of world we're leaving the grandkids.
[Well, that was Japan. They don't exactly play by the same rules as the rest of the world.]
So that Japanese artist had his penis AND testicles removed to become asexual. Now he'll no longer be able to pee standing up. As for his having his genitalia cooked and served as food, how big were his equipment that 5 people could get a meal out of it? My guess a lot of sides (rice, etc.) were served with it.
[I think peeing sitting down is probably the last thing he's worried about. And I don't think the 'diners' were there for the portion size. This event wasn't held at a Golden Corral.]
Lewis, what is up with the cannibal stories lately? Last week was the guy who cooked and served his own penis and this week is the naked guy in Miami who tried to eat some homeless guy's face off.
[Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't that how pretty much every single zombie movie starts?]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Watching documentaries is always a fun and
educational way of passing your time. But for a documentary film to be
interesting, it must be relevant to your topic of interest. Thanks to a website
called Watch Documentary, you can now browse countless documentaries online
according to their topic. Watch Documentary is a free to use website that includes
links to documentaries, sorted categorically, and hosted at various places
online such as YouTube. You will find all sorts of topics ranging from
globalization to mystery. Simply click on a topic that you are interested in to
get started.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A wonderfully geeky take on the whole I (heart) t-shirts hey?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I learned all of this just from listening to
Elvis’ songs.
TRAVEL1. The typical train is 16
coaches long.
2. All food in Germany consists of hasenpfeffer and
black pumpernickel.
3. The Heartbreak Hotel is located at the end of
Lonely Street and its desk clerk dresses in black.
4. Hula dancers are best judged by their ability to
really move that grass around.
5. A harem in the Middle East contains 20
women.
6. So efficient is the US postal service that it will
return an unwanted letter within 24 hours of its initial posting.
7. There are few sounds that make you feel more
lonely than that of the midnight train.
8. If hitchhiking, it’s hard to choose a better
destination than Memphis Tennessee.
RELATIONSHIPS
1. When inviting a young woman to dance, you may
increase your chances by noting that chicken is being served in the
barn.
2. If rejected by the older sister in a family, by
all means have a crack at her little sister, who may have matured more than you
at first noticed.
3. Women named Marie are naturally
duplicitous.
4. It’s OK to date your cousin, providing she’s a
distant cousin “but not too distant with you”.
5. Girls named Daisy tend to drive you
crazy.
6. If caught without a partner during a dance at a
federal penitentiary, why not try dancing with a wooden chair?
7. Conversation with a girlfriend can become tiresome
if she fails to break up the conversation every now and then with a little
action.
8. A .44-calibre pistol is an excellent firearm
choice for a woman whose partner was doin’ her wrong.
PERSONAL GROOMING
1. If wearing suede shoes, particularly of a light
hue, one should make their protection one’s No. 1 priority, even above that of
preventing arson attacks on one’s own home.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM
1. There are few looks in life more intense than that
of a one-eyed cat peeping in a seafood store.
2. A passionate kiss can be measured by the fact that
even a team of wild horses would be unable to drag apart the two
participants.
3. The embrace of a grizzly bear provides a useful
point of comparison when considering the pressure necessary to demonstrate real
passion during an affair.
4. A good hound dog should be able to catch a
rabbit.
GEOGRAPHY
1. People are more likely to be alone during a blue
moon than during any other lunar event.
2. In the state of Kentucky, precipitation usually
occurs when a man is hitchhiking from town to town, having been abandoned by his
baby.
MEDICAL
1. The lips of attractive women tend to taste like
breakfast spread, in particular honey.
2. A temperature of 109 is quite common during the
early stages of an affair.
3. The experience of love, especially early in life,
can have serious medical consequences including sensations of itching, hand
tremors, leg spasms, heart palpitations and language difficulties.
HISTORY
1. American soldiers were unable to approach young
women in Germany in the period after the war, as local women wore signs in
German saying, “Keepen Sie Off The Grass.”
PHILOSOPHY
1. Children born in disadvantaged areas such as
ghettos should receive special assistance as this reduces the likelihood of them
turning to a life of crime, thus perpetuating an endless cycle of
disadvantage.
2. A rabbit’s foot, while widely considered a creator
of good luck, makes only a moderate contribution to one’s happiness compared to
the impact of finding a good life partner.
3. If you suspect someone is evil check their middle name because it may well be “Misery”.
3. If you suspect someone is evil check their middle name because it may well be “Misery”.
Now, show me one passage in Plato, Sartre or
Confucius that can match all of that for depth, width and wisdom. I’ve lived my
life by it, how about you?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SMITHSONIAN
From cradle to grave, no matter how much fingers grow,
everyone's fingerprints are unique and unchanging
Two doctors in Boston may have found a way to identify
which homeless people are most in need of urgent medical care
Venus' next transit of the sun
isn't until 2117—so read what to watch for, and make sure to look to the skies
on June 5th
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Photo Gallery: Animal
Fathers
Celebrate Father's Day with
this collection of animals that are known to be hands-on and sometimes even
overprotective animal fathers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Animal
Conservation
Find out what National Geographic
Society is doing to save animals all over the world, and learn what you can do
to help.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What ink for the blind has to do with marine
telegraphy and electrical pianos.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Those who do not know the
torment of the unknown cannot have the joy of discovery.”
Beveridge cites philosopher,
psychologist, and educational reformer John Dewey‘s seminal 1933 book,
How We Think, outlining Dewey’s model for conscious thinking: First we become
aware of the difficulty or problem, which provides the stimulus; then, a
suggested solution pops into the conscious mind; finally, a reason evaluates the
idea to reject or accept it — if the idea is rejected, the mind goes back to the
previous step and repeats.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dynamic animated anatomy of
going viral.
Researchers estimate that if everybody washed their
hands regularly, a million deaths could be prevented every year.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Explanation of How Color Vision Works circa
1938
Vintage black-and-white film explains the wonders of
color vision.
The irony, of course, is that on the timeline of film innovation, color didn’t permeate Hollywood until the 1950s — mainstream film
technology in 1938 was confined to black-and-white, so all the live footage is
devoid of color, complemented instead by hand-drawn color
animation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mapping 450 years of mankind’s curiosity about
the living world and the relationships between organisms.
Tsunami-ravaged motorcycle to be preserved at Harley
museum in Milwaukee
A 29-year-old Japanese man’s Harley-Davidson motorcycle
was swept from Japan by last year’s tsunami. It was discovered on a beach in
Haida Gwaii, Canada.
A Harley-Davidson motorcycle from Japan that washed
ashore in Haida Gwaii after a devastating tsunami a year ago will be preserved
in the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The plans were announced Friday morning, after the
Japanese owner decided to preserve the motorcycle as a memorial to lives lost in
the tsunami rather than taking the bike back.
Masset resident Peter Mark found the 2004 FXSTB Softail
Night Train on Graham Island on April 18 after it drifted 7,000 kilometres
across the Pacific Ocean in a Stryofoam-lined storage container.
Harley-Davidson offered to ship the bike back to its
owner, 29-year-old Ikuo Yokoyama, and restore it to running condition. Yokoyama
— who is still trying to rebuild his life after losing three family members and
his home in Yamamoto, in Miyagi Prefecture — said he’d rather see the bike
displayed in the museum, in honour of those killed, injured and displaced by the
earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. Miyagi Prefecture, on the east coast,
was one of the areas hardest hit by the massive tidal wave.
“It is truly amazing that my Harley-Davidson motorcycle
was recovered in Canada after drifting for more than a year,” Yokoyama said in a
statement released by Harley-Davidson Friday morning. “I would like to take this
opportunity to express my heartfelt appreciation to Peter Mark, the finder of my
motorcycle.”
In the statement, Yokoyama said he has discussed with
many people what to do with the bike.
“I would be delighted if it could be preserved in its
current condition and exhibited to the many visitors to the Harley-Davidson
Museum as a memorial to a tragedy that claimed thousands of lives,” Yokoyama
said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bizarre
News
The women said their car was side by side James Lee Cruz's vehicle at the fast-food restaurant in West Palm Beach, when he took out a gun and pointed it at them. In fear, the women backed up and allowed Cruz to pass them.
The women then took down Cruz's license plate and called police as they followed him home. Cruz faces three counts of aggravated assault. Apparently Big Macs are much more irresistible now that McDonald's isn't using 'pink slime' anymore. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Officer allegedly broke in to do
laundry
RANKIN, Pa. - Police in Pennsylvania said an officer was charged with trespassing and criminal mischief for allegedly breaking into a neighbor's home to do laundry. Investigators said Rankin police Officer Jason Rocco was arrested after the owner of the home, who had not lived in the house for several months, told police he noticed the electric bill was unusually high and he visited the residence to discover the dryer running with clothes inside, WPXI-TV, Pittsburgh, reported Monday. Rocco was questioned by officers and he told them the back door to the home had already been broken and he entered the house because he "just had to do some laundry."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RANKIN, Pa. - Police in Pennsylvania said an officer was charged with trespassing and criminal mischief for allegedly breaking into a neighbor's home to do laundry. Investigators said Rankin police Officer Jason Rocco was arrested after the owner of the home, who had not lived in the house for several months, told police he noticed the electric bill was unusually high and he visited the residence to discover the dryer running with clothes inside, WPXI-TV, Pittsburgh, reported Monday. Rocco was questioned by officers and he told them the back door to the home had already been broken and he entered the house because he "just had to do some laundry."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last week, naturalists from the Ohio Department of
Natural Resource’s Division of Wildlife went on the dangerous mission of banding
some peregrine falcon chicks in the clock tower at The University of Toledo. Why
so dangerous? One of the chicks' parents was seriously displeased with the whole
thing.
Here's some GoPro cam footage:
Here's some GoPro cam footage:
http://youtu.be/dui1lOeKbb4
This is something they've been doing every year since 2007, when a nesting platform was installed on the top of the tower.
Here are some more pictures.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is something they've been doing every year since 2007, when a nesting platform was installed on the top of the tower.
Here are some more pictures.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Healthy Living from Health.com
http://health.chtah.net/a/tBPxilMBFYNexB8jO8zCFNC1E6S/top2
HOW TO LOOK BEAUTIFUL BAREhttp://health.chtah.net/a/tBPxilMBFYNexB8jO8zCFNC1E6S/top22
It's show-more-skin time, but don't panic! Find out how to get the perfect (rash-free) bikini line, sculpt your arms with self tanner, and rock some sexy beach-hair. Simple, and only a little sneaky!
IMPROVE YOUR MOOD WITH EXERCISEhttp://health.chtah.net/a/tBPxilMBFYNexB8jO8zCFNC1E6S/top23
For some people, it's as good as an antidepressant
HOW TO LOOK BEAUTIFUL BAREhttp://health.chtah.net/a/tBPxilMBFYNexB8jO8zCFNC1E6S/top22
It's show-more-skin time, but don't panic! Find out how to get the perfect (rash-free) bikini line, sculpt your arms with self tanner, and rock some sexy beach-hair. Simple, and only a little sneaky!
IMPROVE YOUR MOOD WITH EXERCISEhttp://health.chtah.net/a/tBPxilMBFYNexB8jO8zCFNC1E6S/top23
For some people, it's as good as an antidepressant
BUILD A BETTER BURGERhttp://health.chtah.net/a/tBPxilMBFYNexB8jO8zCFNC1E6S/top24
Fire up your thrill for the grill with these healthy recipes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forth Bridge nominated for UNESCO world heritage status
The Forth Bridge has come a step closer to being designated as a world
heritage site…The Forth Bridges Forum will now prepare a bid for consideration
in 2014, with a decision expected the following year.
Once the bids are submitted, they will undergo what has been termed ”a
demanding 18 month process of scrutiny and evaluation” by Unesco and its
advisory body, the International Council on Monuments and Sites.
Scottish Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “The Forth Bridge is a
Scottish icon that is recognised the world over.
“We are extremely excited that we have the opportunity to make the case for
the bridge being inscribed as Scotland’s sixth World Heritage Site…”
Scottish Secretary Michael Moore said the bridge was “a huge feat of
Scottish engineering skill”.
He added: “It was nominated for Unesco World Heritage Status by the UK
Government last year, and the fact it has topped the list and can now take its
bid forward is good news for Scotland…”
David Simpson, route managing director for Network Rail Scotland, said:
“The Forth Bridge is one of the most recognisable bridges anywhere in the world
and certainly the most cherished Scottish structure of the Victorian era.
“The bridge has become a source of pride and a symbol of Scotland’s
resilience and ingenuity, but we must never lose sight of the fact that it is first and foremost a working structure which still
carries over 200 trains a day.
The bridge is a beautiful work of engineering. As it was the
first day it opened for service in the Victorian era – as it is, today. A true
world heritage site.
Thanks, Ed
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
NOVA scienceNOW | Manhattanhenge | PBS
Manhattanhenge
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The happiness of the bee and the dolphin is to
exist.
For man it is to know that and to wonder at it.
~ Jacques Yves Cousteau
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every month has its own precious birthstone, and people
born during that month are advised to wear it and eat a small handful of it on
their birthdays. Here's a list of the birthstones by month:
• January: Garnet
• February: Amethyst
• March: Mercury
• April: Sunflower seeds mixed with Elmer's glue
• May: Moon rock
• June: Baby's tooth
• July: Hunk of the Berlin Wall
• August: No birthstone, to punish the naturally evil people born during August
• September: Phlogiston
• Bichat: Necco wafer
• November: Wad of wet $100 bills
• December: The fingernail of a loved one
• February: Amethyst
• March: Mercury
• April: Sunflower seeds mixed with Elmer's glue
• May: Moon rock
• June: Baby's tooth
• July: Hunk of the Berlin Wall
• August: No birthstone, to punish the naturally evil people born during August
• September: Phlogiston
• Bichat: Necco wafer
• November: Wad of wet $100 bills
• December: The fingernail of a loved one
The phlogiston theory (from the Ancient Greek
φλογιστόν phlogistón "burning up", from φλόξ phlóx "flame"), first
stated in 1667 by Johann Joachim Becher, is an
obsolete scientific theory that postulated the existence of a fire-like element called
"phlogiston", which was contained within combustible bodies and released during
combustion. The
theory was an attempt to explain processes of burning such as combustion and
the rusting of
metals, which are now collectively known as oxidation.
phlogiston theory
postulates that in all flammable materials there is present phlogiston, a
substance without color, odor, taste, or weight that is given off in burning.
“Phlogisticated” substances are those that contain phlogiston and, on being
burned, are “dephlogisticated.” The ash of the burned material is held to be the
true material. The theory received strong and wide support throughout a large
part of the 18th cent. until it was refuted by the work of A. L. Lavoisier, who
revealed the true nature of combustion. Joseph Priestley, however, defended the
theory throughout his lifetime. Henry Cavendish remained doubtful, but most
other chemists of the period, including C. L. Berthollet, rejected
it.
They used an archane word & an
obsolete theory for us Virgos, knowing we would look it
up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Neil DeGrasse Tyson Describes
iPhone
How would a world renowned astro physicist describe
the beauty of the iPhone? This is how... On The Verge interview with Josh
Topolsky.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A man walked into the office of an eminent
psychiatrist and sat down to explain his problem.
“Doctor, doctor! I’ve got this problem,” the man
said. “I keep hallucinating that I’m a dog. It’s crazy. I don’t know what to
do!”
“A common canine complex,” said the doctor
soothingly. “Relax. Come here and lie down on the couch.”
“Oh no, Doctor,” the man said nervously, “I’m not
allowed up on the furniture.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Love, friendship, respect, do not unite people as much as a common hatred
for something.” — Anton Chekhov
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks, Ed ~ I looked up the details ~
very cool
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once upon a time, long, long ago there were two
unique lions in the jungles of Africa. Both, it seems, had human-like qualities
that made them claim territory, daring the other to cross over the line. Strange
as it seems, the boundary between their turf was a well traveled trail through
the jungle.
All day every day, both lions lay in the brush
staring across the trail at their compatriot, daring him to cross into their
territory.
The local natives knew of this animal feud, but all
this was unbeknown to African Jack, a well-known and must publicized guide who
did not speak Lionese and was unfamiliar with the territory.
While he was leading a safari through the jungle,
walking all day and cutting vines with their machetes, all this constant hacking
brush had them worn to a frazzle. After seeing two or three of his safari drop
from exhaustion, African Jack decided to stop on the trail between these two
lions and camp for the night.
After sitting up camp, eating, and getting his safari
settled African Jack sat on a stump and began reading. While he was busily
engaged in the printed page, the two lions, simultaneously, pounced on African
Jack and ate him on the spot.
When the 6 o’clock news heard of the tragedy, they
reported, “African Jack killed this evening. The motive is unclear, but it is
reported he was reading between the lions.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Children’s Books You Don’t Wanna Read To
Your Kids
Heinrich Hoffman’s 1845 Struwwelpeter might be classic German children’s book, but it’s not the kind of book you’d want to get anywhere near your own lovely little ones. That’s because it’s filled with horrific nightmares and gory tales of terror. In the tale above for example,
Heinrich Hoffman’s 1845 Struwwelpeter might be classic German children’s book, but it’s not the kind of book you’d want to get anywhere near your own lovely little ones. That’s because it’s filled with horrific nightmares and gory tales of terror. In the tale above for example,
“The Story of Little Suck-a-Thumb” informs tots that A.) a vengeful tailor will lop off your appendages with hedge trimmers; and B.) your parents will shrug nonchalantly when it happens.
Read the rest of the scary stories at the link.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The US Department of Homeland
Security has released a list of the keywords and phrases the agency monitors
online to find potential threats. Obviously posting "Al Queda" and "dirty bomb"
online will get the government to start looking at you real closely, but "pork"
and other oddly normal words are also on the list....In response to a
freedom of information request, the department posted its Analyst's Desktop
Binder (a manual for the agency's security analysts) containing this hotlist.
The keywords cover domestic security, HAZMAT and nuclear, health concern,
infrastructure security and other threats. According to the Daily Mail, the says
it only uses this keyword list to look for genuine security threats, not signs
of general dissent. Nobody wants Big Brother looking over her shoulder—and you
shouldn't have to feel like you need to censor yourself in this way — but if
you're particularly paranoid about the government spying on you, you might
reconsider using too many of these keywords together when you post something
online. Here’s the full list..Pages 20-23 of the
manual.
Thanks Ed, Next time
I email you, I will be sure to use a page or so of them *evil
grin*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Senior
Moments... Brain Farts!
This would be hilarious if it weren't so true!http://www.rtbot.net/play.php?id=Xv1tMioGgXI
This would be hilarious if it weren't so true!http://www.rtbot.net/play.php?id=Xv1tMioGgXI
Thanks, Cindy
~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blondes dumb?!?!?
After many hours of extremely acrobatic and exhausting sex with a blonde he had just picked up, a man goes into the kitchen for some food to replenish his just spent energy. He pours himself a glass of milk and right before drinking it, he realizes his manhood is still pretty hot, so he sticks it in the glass to cool it off. Just then the blonde walks in and says, "Oh, I always wondered how you refilled those."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After many hours of extremely acrobatic and exhausting sex with a blonde he had just picked up, a man goes into the kitchen for some food to replenish his just spent energy. He pours himself a glass of milk and right before drinking it, he realizes his manhood is still pretty hot, so he sticks it in the glass to cool it off. Just then the blonde walks in and says, "Oh, I always wondered how you refilled those."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A man, called to testify at the IRS, asked his
accountant for advice on what to wear. "Wear your shabbiest clothing. Let him
think you are a pauper." Then he asked his lawyer the same question, but got the
opposite advice. "Do not let them intimidate you. Wear your most elegant suit
and tie."
Confused, the man went to his rabbi, told him of
the conflicting advice, and requested some resolution of the dilemma. "Let me
tell you a story," replied the rabbi. "A woman, about to be married, asked her
mother what to wear on her wedding night. 'Wear a heavy, long, flannel nightgown
that goes right up to your neck.' But when she asked her best friend, she got
conflicting advice. 'Wear your most sexy negligee, with a V-neck right down to
your navel.
The man protested: "What does all this have to do
with my problem with the IRS?"
"No matter what you wear, you are going to get
screwed."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Little Johnny had become a real nuisance while
his father tried to concentrate on his Saturday afternoon poker game with
friends and relatives. His father tried every way possible to get Johnny to occupy himself...television, ice cream, homework,
video games...but the youngster insisted on running back and forth behind the players and calling out the cards they held.
The other players became so annoyed that they threatened to quit the game and all go home. At this point, the boy's uncle
stood up, took Johnny by the hand, and led him out of the room. The uncle soon returned back to the poker table without
Johnny, and without comment the game resumed.
For the rest of the afternoon, little Johnny was nowhere to be seen and the card players continued without any further
interruptions. After the poker game ended, the father asked Johnny's uncle, "What in the world did you say to Johnny? I haven't heard a peep from him all day!"
"Not much," the boy's uncle replied. "I just showed him how to masturbate."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
friends and relatives. His father tried every way possible to get Johnny to occupy himself...television, ice cream, homework,
video games...but the youngster insisted on running back and forth behind the players and calling out the cards they held.
The other players became so annoyed that they threatened to quit the game and all go home. At this point, the boy's uncle
stood up, took Johnny by the hand, and led him out of the room. The uncle soon returned back to the poker table without
Johnny, and without comment the game resumed.
For the rest of the afternoon, little Johnny was nowhere to be seen and the card players continued without any further
interruptions. After the poker game ended, the father asked Johnny's uncle, "What in the world did you say to Johnny? I haven't heard a peep from him all day!"
"Not much," the boy's uncle replied. "I just showed him how to masturbate."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If you'd been where I'd been... if you'd seen the
things I'd seen!... you... you'd be me... Or someone following me
around..."
-- Alan Parker, Urban Warrior
-- Alan Parker, Urban Warrior
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If life is a test to go to heavean shouldn't
preachers and anyone who listens to them go straight to hell for cheating?
--Alex Hull
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What is the difference between apathy and
ignorance?
I don't know and I don't care." -- World Entertainment War
I don't know and I don't care." -- World Entertainment War
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Who Knew Leopards Were Such Goof
Balls?
http://youtu.be/JkHmr_apPec
Is it just me or is Cheetaroh a confusing name for a
critter that is a leopard, not a cheetah? Maybe he’s silly because he’s going
through an identity crisis.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now That’s One Good Looking Steampunk
Bike
"Here's an election update. Today Mitt Romney met with a group of wealthy Latino business owners. Or as Romney calls them, 'the Juan percent.'" -Jimmy Fallon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I admit that I get angry in traffic when driving to work. But it's pointless. It's much better to bottle up that anger and then unleash it when you get to work." -Craig Ferguson~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One snowy evening my brother, a regional police officer, stopped a car at a roadside check for drunk drivers. "Good evening, ma'am," he greeted the lady. "How are you this evening?"
"Fine, thank you," she replied.
My brother continued, "Anything to drink this evening?"
Surprised, the lady answered, "Uh...no, thank you."~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some people bend over backward not to insult others. A while ago, I overheard my sister, a travel agent, confirm her client's flight this way: "Your confirmation code is F as in Foxtrot, R as in Romeo, and I as in, uuuh, Native American."
watch?v=0f0frB1hDQI
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
English professors love to catch the errors students make in their term papers, and they love nothing better than to catch mixed metaphors. The "friends and survivors" of Calvin College English department collected this list of mixed metaphors and posted them on their web site:
"He swept the rug under the carpet."
"She's burning the midnight oil at both ends."
"It was so cold last night I had to throw another blanket on the fire."
"It's time to step up to the plate and cut the mustard."
"She's robbing Peter to pay the piper."
"He's up a tree without a paddle."
"Beware my friend...you are skating on hot water."
"Keep your ear to the grindstone."
"Sometimes you've gotta stick your neck out on a limb."
"Some people sail through life on a bed of roses like a knife slicing through butter."
Q: Where do sheep go for haircuts?
A: The "baa-baa" shop.
Q: What do you call a penguin in the Sahara Desert?
A: Lost.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A new survey just came out and it finds that sex is better when you're on vacation. Yeah, at least that's what my wife emailed me from the Bahamas." -Conan O'Brien
Memorial Day was a response to the unprecedented carnage of the Civil War, in which some 620,000 soldiers on both sides died. The loss of life and its effect on communities throughout the North and South led to spontaneous commemorations of the dead.
On May 5, 1868, Union hero Maj. Gen. John A. Logan issued General Orders No. 11, which set aside May 30, 1868, "for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion...."
From the practice of decorating graves with flowers, wreaths and flags, the holiday was long known as Decoration Day. The name Memorial Day goes back to 1882, but the older name didn't disappear until after World War II. Federal law declared "Memorial Day" the official name in 1967.
New York was the first state to designate Memorial Day a legal holiday, in 1873. Most Northern states had followed suit by the 1890s. The states of the former Confederacy were unenthusiastic about a holiday memorializing those who, in Gen. Logan's words, "united to suppress the late rebellion." The South didn't adopt the May 30 Memorial Day until after World War I, by which time its purpose had been broadened to include those who died in all the country's wars.
On May 30, 1868, President Ulysses S. Grant presided over the first Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. Some 5,000 people attended on a spring day which, The New York Times reported, was "somewhat too warm for comfort." The principal speaker was James A. Garfield, a Civil War general, Republican congressman from Ohio and future president.
General Orders No. 11 stated that "in this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed," but over time several customs and symbols became associated with the holiday. It is customary on Memorial Day to fly the flag at half staff until noon, and then raise it to the top of the staff until sunset.
(Facts from CNN.com)
In the United States, summer unofficially begins well before the solstice - typically after the Memorial Day holiday at the end of May (coinciding with the meteorological "summer" months of June, July, and August). That's a good-enough excuse to post about "Sumer Is Icumen In." Wikipedia provides an extensive review of the piece, including the Middle English text -
"If women have excessive belly fat and a muffin-top, it can be fatal. Especially if you mention it to her." -Jay Leno
"A lot of people say they use Facebook to reconnect with old friends. No thanks. If I'm not friends with you anymore, there's probably a reason. And that reason is I owe you money." -Craig Ferguson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For a romantic touch, I washed our sheets with lavender-scented detergent. When my husband got into bed, he sniffed. "What's this?" he asked.
"Guess," I said coyly.
"I have no idea," he said. "It smells like the stuff you use to line the hamster's cage."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In honor of Memorial Day, the teacher I worked with read the Constitution to her third-grade class. After reading "We the people," she paused to ask the children what they thought that meant.
One boy raised his hand and asked, "Is that like 'We da bomb?'"
I’m not sure if you’re supposed to call this a bicycle or a tricycle, since
it has two wheels in the back; regardless, it is one beautiful piece of
vehicular art.
Created by Roger Wood of Klockwerks, it was made for a show involving
kinetic sculptures, and it’s safe to say that his Steampunk bike was the most
eye-catching piece in the room.
This is what Pee Wee’s bike would look like if they made a Steampunk
version of Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, and I wouldn’t blame Francis at all
for trying to swipe this sucker!
Link –via BoingBoing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
"Eugene Polly, the guy who invented the TV remote control,
passed away. He will be buried between two couch cushions." -Dave
Letterman
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Here's an election update. Today Mitt Romney met with a group of wealthy Latino business owners. Or as Romney calls them, 'the Juan percent.'" -Jimmy Fallon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I admit that I get angry in traffic when driving to work. But it's pointless. It's much better to bottle up that anger and then unleash it when you get to work." -Craig Ferguson~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One snowy evening my brother, a regional police officer, stopped a car at a roadside check for drunk drivers. "Good evening, ma'am," he greeted the lady. "How are you this evening?"
"Fine, thank you," she replied.
My brother continued, "Anything to drink this evening?"
Surprised, the lady answered, "Uh...no, thank you."~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some people bend over backward not to insult others. A while ago, I overheard my sister, a travel agent, confirm her client's flight this way: "Your confirmation code is F as in Foxtrot, R as in Romeo, and I as in, uuuh, Native American."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gravity-defying cat comes down from fridge.
Squirrel stops train, watch till end.
2007: Lady attempts to buy $100,000 worth of iPhones.
Hans Rosling: Religions and babies.
Squirrel stops train, watch till end.
2007: Lady attempts to buy $100,000 worth of iPhones.
Hans Rosling: Religions and babies.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
jellyfish
Mental health break: Breathtaking slow-motion
footage of jellyfish by Anthony Yerba. (ᔥ Doobybrain)
Swoosh. Swoosh. Swoooooosh.
So alien, yet so calming. One of the extreme
oddities of nature’s forms, no?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today, the best news story of the entire day was
surely this unlikely report of a "sharp-dressed pig running loose on a highway"
outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Police chased the little porker, believed
to be a juvenile, but "failed to catch it before it scurried off into the
woods."
Full story at
Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review, WTAE Pittsburgh, and Associated Press.
Police say the pig appeared to be a baby and confirmed it was wearing a scarf. Police dont know why that is or who may own the animal.
Sharp-dressed pig@Sharpdressedpig
I'm running from the police. The irony is not lost on
me.
Just hoofin' it down
the highway. Like you wouldn't want to get the hell out of
Pittsburgh.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Poisonous vs.
Venomous
The key difference is in the biting. Venomous
animals internally create a toxin and then inject it into prey or foes.
Poisonous animals usually secrete their toxins on the outside.
So here's a rule of thumb: If you are dying
because an animal has bitten you, chances are, it was a venomous animal. If
you're dying because you touched an animal or (foolishly) put it in your mouth,
that's poisonous.
And then, of course, there's the slow
loris:
Because the loris manufactures toxin from specialized glands on its elbows, then transfers that liquid to small, curved teeth for injection, the loris is venomous. Alternately, mother lorises cover their offspring’s fur in the same potion, rendering them poisonous.
Read more about various poisonous and
venomous animals at Jason Bittel's blog,
Bittel Me This.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Suxamethonium chloride is a common hospital anesthetic
that has, off and on, moonlighted as murder weapon.
Used to paralyze patients so that doctors can more
easily put insert a breathing tube, the drug can kill very easily if the person
who gets a dose of it doesn't have access to things like respirators, or a
medical team. And when somebody is killed by "sux", the death can look
conveniently like a simple heart attack. More importantly, writes professional
chemist and anonymous science blogger Dr. Rubidium, for many years, there was no
way to test for sux in a dead person's bloodstream.
Her post is part of a bigger series, though. If you dig
weird, toxic chemicals, you should check out the "My Favorite Toxic Chemical"
blog carnival—a collection of horrifying and wondrous posts about
poisons.
Toxic Chemical Carnival: Day 1
Toxic Chemical Carnival: Day 2
Toxic Chemical Carnival: Day 3
Toxic Chemical Carnival: Day 4
Toxic Chemical Carnival: Day 5
Toxic Chemical Carnival: Day 2
Toxic Chemical Carnival: Day 3
Toxic Chemical Carnival: Day 4
Toxic Chemical Carnival: Day 5
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
André Kuipers, a Dutch physician and astronaut with the European Space
Agency, was on board the ISS when the SpaceX Dragon vehicle berthed. He
took this photograph, and wrote,
Inside of the Dragon module. Beautiful. Spacious,
Modern. Blue LEDs. Feels a bit like a sci-fi filmset. Of course it
is from Los Angeles.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grown-upville: Neighborhoods for the new
majority
Childless households are the new American majority.
Their tastes are shaping adult-friendly enclaves.
10 great neighborhoods for childless adults,
#8 The Alberta Arts
District, Portland, Ore.
- Median home value: $185,300
- Population 2010: 9,042
- Growth 2000 to 2010: 0.6%
- Household income: $39,993
- Households with children: 21.2%
- Walk Score: 78
You may have heard of Portland's Pearl District,
once a grubby, bohemian art district and now the city's expensive, cultured and
upscale place to be. The Pearl has a reputation as a playground for adults with
few amenities for children. We're more interested, though, in another Portland
neighborhood, the up-and-coming Alberta Arts District. It runs along Alberta Street, straddling three (Vernon,
Concordia and King) of Portland's 95 neighborhoods.
This historically black community "has got a grungy,
indie kind of vibe. It's definitely on its way up," says Sperling, who lives in
Portland. While it's still low-rent, funky, arty, lively and low-key, rents and
property values are starting to rise with the influx of newcomers. The Pearl is
mostly condos and lofts, while Alberta is home to older single-family homes
populated largely by 20- and 30-somethings. The price for this early-stage
gentrification is that many earlier residents are being pushed out, Sperling
says.
As Alberta grows in hipness, property values have
risen. New owners are rehabbing older homes. Restaurants, cafes and shops are
springing up.
Working artists set the tone. Their work hangs on
the walls of the cafes and shops lining Alberta Street. On the last Thursday of each month,
doors are opened in the evening and street performers, musicians and food
vendors line Alberta Street, creating a festival atmosphere. PortlandNeighborhood.com's interactive
map links to many Alberta Street
attractions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Los Angeles MC and beatmaker Jonwayne
chopped and screwed the soundtracks to Disney classics for his new free EP aptly
titled "Jonwayne Fucks Disney." He made the whole shebang using a Roland SP-404
portable sampler, Zoom H2
portable recorder, and an iPad to grab the samples from YouTube.
"Jonwayne Delivers Free Disney-Themed
EP" (XLR8R)
Direct download of "Jonwayne Fucks
Disney" (Rappcats)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A German woman, annoyed by
telemarketers who called her frequently, blew a whistle into the phone to
discourage further calls. The telemarketer who received the blast claims to have
suffered hearing problems, and now the whistle blower has a criminal record and
an €800 fine to pay.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Click here to play episode. Apps for Kids is Boing Boing's podcast about
cool smartphone apps for kids and parents. My co-host is my 9-year-old daughter,
Jane Frauenfelder.
Don't forget to be part of our "Listener Email"
segment. If you would like to have us read your favorite game or gadget
recommendation on the air, or if you have a question you'd like us to answer on
the show, email us at appsforkids@boingboing.net.
Include your age, and the city, state, and country you live in.
In this week's episode Jane's older sister Sarina tells us about Geared, a
puzzle game where you have to connect gears together. It's free in the iTunes
Store, and as an Android app.
We also talk
about other games, including Gears,
Anticlon,
and PrestoBingo Shapes.
If you're an app developer and would like to have
Jane and me try one of your apps for possible review, email a redeem code to
appsforkids@boingboing.net.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jon Bon Jovi Duet
with R2-D2
In a galaxy far, far away
(actually it's just 1980, but it feels that way), there was a duet sung
by R2-D2 and a certain singer named John Bongiovi. It was John's first
professional recording ever.
John Bongiovi? If that sounds suspiciously familiar,
it's because he later became famous as Jon Bon Jovi.
Listen at Jon Bon Jovi singing the lead vocal on the
song "R2-D2 We Wish You A Merry Christmas" over at Fanboy: Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lighting of the
Sails
An art performance from the
German collective URBANSCREEN lights up the Sydney Opera House with a
transforming projection. It’s part of a music festival called Vivid LIVE. The most dramatic
part comes at the end. -via Metafilter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Giraffe Weevil of
Madagascar
Photo: Axel Strauß/wikipedia
Photo: Axel Strauß/wikipedia
It looks so unreal but rest assured that the Giraffe Weevil of Madagascar
is real. You can probably guess how it got the name - but what you may not know
is that it uses that neck for fighting (actually, much like real
giraffes do).
Ark in Space has more fantastic photos: Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Japan’s hidden tropical island: Aogashima
Tofugu has a short article on this unusual and beautiful Japanese island: Aogashima.
Tofugu has a short article on this unusual and beautiful Japanese island: Aogashima.
Aogashima (“blue island”) is a tropical, volcanic
island in the Phillipine Sea. Despite being over 200 miles away from the
country’s capital, Aogashima is governed by Tokyo. In fact, a whole stretch of
tropical and sometimes uninhabited islands called the Izu Islands are
technically part of Tokyo. Volcanic islands? Not typically what comes to mind
when you think of Tokyo.
As you might imagine, Aogashima isn’t the most crowded
place in the world. As of this year, only about 200 people live on Aogashima.
The island only has one post office and one school. There are two ways on and
off the island: by helicopter or by boat. There’s only one, small harbor where
the boats go in an out of, and it seems to be a little unreliable. Because
Aogashima is so remote and isolated, it can sometimes be hard to get a boat to
or from the island safely. A fellow named Izuyan has been traveling to isolated
islands of Japan and taking excellent photos. Here's his Flickr set for Aogashima.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A
couple felt that their intimate life wasn't what it used to be, so they went to
see a sex therapist.
After listening to their complaints, the therapist suggested they try a new position.
"For example," the therapist said, "you might try the wheel-barrow. Lift her legs, penetrate, and off you go."
When they got home, the eager husband was all for trying this new idea right away.
"Well, all right," the hesitant blonde wife said, "but only on two conditions. First, if it hurts, you have to stop right away."
"OK, honey," the husband said. "What's the second condition?"
"You have to promise we won't go past my mother's house!"
After listening to their complaints, the therapist suggested they try a new position.
"For example," the therapist said, "you might try the wheel-barrow. Lift her legs, penetrate, and off you go."
When they got home, the eager husband was all for trying this new idea right away.
"Well, all right," the hesitant blonde wife said, "but only on two conditions. First, if it hurts, you have to stop right away."
"OK, honey," the husband said. "What's the second condition?"
"You have to promise we won't go past my mother's house!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"In Salt Lake City, Utah, two female junior high school teachers
were arrested after they had sex with the same 13-year-old student. I don't know
what the big deal is ~ in Utah, that's home-schooling." -Jimmy
Fallon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I Was Looking Forward to a Quiet Old Age"
Instead, Etta Shiber, a widow and former Manhattan housewife, helped smuggle stranded Allied soldiers out of Nazi-occupied in Paris
Read More >>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Instead, Etta Shiber, a widow and former Manhattan housewife, helped smuggle stranded Allied soldiers out of Nazi-occupied in Paris
Read More >>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3-D Scanning: Bringing History Back to Life
Specialists are using new technology to unravel a mystery in the Smithsonian collections
Watch Now >>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Specialists are using new technology to unravel a mystery in the Smithsonian collections
Watch Now >>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why
do men die first?
This is a question that has gone unanswered for centuries, but, now we know...
If you put a woman on a pedestal and try to protect her from the rat race... you're a male chauvinist.
If you stay home and do the housework... you're a pansy.
If you work too hard... there's never any time for her.
If you don't work enough... you're a good-for-nothing bum.
If she has a boring repetitive job with low pay... this is exploitation.
If you have a boring repetitive job with low pay... you should get off your lazy behind and find something better.
If you get a promotion ahead of her... that is favoritism.
If she gets a job ahead of you... it's equal opportunity.
If you mention how nice she looks... it's sexual harassment.
If you keep quiet... it's male indifference.
If you cry ... you're a wimp.
If you don't... you're insensitive.
If you appreciate the female form and frilly underwear...you're a pervert.
If you don't... you're gay.
If you like a woman to shave her legs and keep in shape...you're sexist.
If you don't ... you're unromantic.
If you try to keep yourself in shape... you're vain.
If you don't... you're a slob.
If she has a headache... she's tired.
If you have a headache... you don't love her anymore.
If you want it too often... you're oversexed.
If you don't... there must be someone else.
Bottom Line... Men die first because they want to.
This is a question that has gone unanswered for centuries, but, now we know...
If you put a woman on a pedestal and try to protect her from the rat race... you're a male chauvinist.
If you stay home and do the housework... you're a pansy.
If you work too hard... there's never any time for her.
If you don't work enough... you're a good-for-nothing bum.
If she has a boring repetitive job with low pay... this is exploitation.
If you have a boring repetitive job with low pay... you should get off your lazy behind and find something better.
If you get a promotion ahead of her... that is favoritism.
If she gets a job ahead of you... it's equal opportunity.
If you mention how nice she looks... it's sexual harassment.
If you keep quiet... it's male indifference.
If you cry ... you're a wimp.
If you don't... you're insensitive.
If you appreciate the female form and frilly underwear...you're a pervert.
If you don't... you're gay.
If you like a woman to shave her legs and keep in shape...you're sexist.
If you don't ... you're unromantic.
If you try to keep yourself in shape... you're vain.
If you don't... you're a slob.
If she has a headache... she's tired.
If you have a headache... you don't love her anymore.
If you want it too often... you're oversexed.
If you don't... there must be someone else.
Bottom Line... Men die first because they want to.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx
Zoo recently welcomed two baby lemurs, a
Conquerel's Sifaka and a Collared Lemur.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Music. We know it comes from everywhere.
The Guitar Pee by
Billboard Brasil is a custom made
guitar-shaped urinal that is specially rigged to allow men to make music with
their stream of urine. The urinal is currently is “touring bars” in São Paulo,
Brasil. Be sure to watch the video, as
they have set up a camera to show men rocking out with, well you know. And if
that wasn’t enough, they have a mobile app that
“streams” “MPee3s” captured at the time of flushing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oscypek is a smoked cheese made of salted sheep’s
milk, made exclusively in the Tatra Mountains region of Poland,
Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The first mention of cheese production in the
Tatra Mountains dates back to the 15th century - in a document from 1416. The
flavor of the cheese depends very much on herbs, grass (eaten by the sheep) and
the time of year the cheese is made. Some people claim that it tastes best in
the spring, because the milk is full of fat. Everything is made by hand by The
Gorale (literally, highlanders), a group of indigenous people found along the
southern Poland region of Podhale, in the Tatra Mountains.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kymera Magic Wand Remote Control
It's a motion-sensitive, buttonless universal remote control, shaped like a wizard’s wand. With just a flick of the wrist, you can control almost any TV, DVD, set-top box, hi-fi, or pretty much any equipment that uses a regular infra-red remote control. It can perform up to 13 functions, by doing 13 magical gestures.
Best used probably while wearing this
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's a motion-sensitive, buttonless universal remote control, shaped like a wizard’s wand. With just a flick of the wrist, you can control almost any TV, DVD, set-top box, hi-fi, or pretty much any equipment that uses a regular infra-red remote control. It can perform up to 13 functions, by doing 13 magical gestures.
Best used probably while wearing this
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Efforts to reflect away the sun's rays
might also make the sky whiter, one of many reasons some distrust such
geoengineering schemes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On Memorial Day Monday, at around 10:30pm,
Chicago's Shedd Aquarium welcomed
a new-born Pacific White-sided Dolphin calf to its Oceanarium. Shortly after the
birth, the calf swam to the surface, took its first breath, and began to swim
and bond with its mother. The gender of the calf has yet to be determined.
Animal care staff estimate the calf to be approximately 3-feet in length and
weigh approximately 25-pounds. While mother and calf appear to be doing well,
this is a critical time for both, and aquarists will monitor them around the
clock for several months.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Waveform Necklace by Berlin-based designer David Bizer is a cool custom
necklace that is created using an audio recording of a voice. The necklaces can
be ordered
from Bizer in acrylic, wood or silver and are strung on leather, PVC or
elastic . Bizer has also recently provided a detailed tutorial on Instructables to make the necklace at
home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"New
research shows that eating organic foods can make people more arrogant and
judgmental. In fact, eating just one handful of organic bean sprouts has the
same effect as driving 1,000 miles in a Prius." -Jay Leno
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A
new study shows current members of Congress speak at a 10th grade level. When
reached for comment, Congressman Eric Cantor said, 'Nuh-uh!'" -Conan
O'Brien
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How the Chicken Conquered the
World
The epic begins 10,000 years ago in an Asian jungle and ends today in kitchens all over the world Read more about the mighty little bird that powers modern civilization >>
The epic begins 10,000 years ago in an Asian jungle and ends today in kitchens all over the world Read more about the mighty little bird that powers modern civilization >>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Iceberg Flips Over
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eating lunch? Then perfect timing! Juergen of Busan
for 91 Days blog has a video clip for your viewing pleasure: squirming
octopus tentacles on a plate. Apparently, it’s a delicacy
in Korea. Why, you’re welcome!
for 91 Days blog has a video clip for your viewing pleasure: squirming
octopus tentacles on a plate. Apparently, it’s a delicacy
in Korea. Why, you’re welcome!
Yum or Eew? Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rio Rancho High School (Rio
Rancho, NM) earned serious bragging rights after claiming top prize...at the
Vans Custom Culture Art & Design Showcase at the Long Beach Museum of Art.
A
co-worker returned after lunch carrying a dress from the cleaners. "Pretty,"
said one of the guys. "Big date tonight?"
"I picked it up for a friend," she replied, adding, "Do you really think I could fit in a tiny thing like this?"
Jerry smiled and said, "Do you really think I've lived this long by answering questions like that?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I picked it up for a friend," she replied, adding, "Do you really think I could fit in a tiny thing like this?"
Jerry smiled and said, "Do you really think I've lived this long by answering questions like that?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
English professors love to catch the errors students make in their term papers, and they love nothing better than to catch mixed metaphors. The "friends and survivors" of Calvin College English department collected this list of mixed metaphors and posted them on their web site:
"He swept the rug under the carpet."
"She's burning the midnight oil at both ends."
"It was so cold last night I had to throw another blanket on the fire."
"It's time to step up to the plate and cut the mustard."
"She's robbing Peter to pay the piper."
"He's up a tree without a paddle."
"Beware my friend...you are skating on hot water."
"Keep your ear to the grindstone."
"Sometimes you've gotta stick your neck out on a limb."
"Some people sail through life on a bed of roses like a knife slicing through butter."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There
is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but
indecision. --William
James
We do not know what is really good or bad fortune.--Rousseau
To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them. --Montesquieu
We do not know what is really good or bad fortune.--Rousseau
To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them. --Montesquieu
The
greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over
another.--William
James
How small, of all that human hearts endure, that part which laws or kings can cause or cure.--Samuel Johnson
The pursuit, even of the best things, ought to be calm and tranquil. ~ Cicero
How small, of all that human hearts endure, that part which laws or kings can cause or cure.--Samuel Johnson
The pursuit, even of the best things, ought to be calm and tranquil. ~ Cicero
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Cute And Clumsy Baby Elephant Playing With
A Soccer Ball
Well, I think the title says it all on this one folks!
This cute, clumsy baby elephant kicks the ball around for a bit, falling down
here and there and amusing every human in attendance. And now that the video has
been shared on the interwebs it can amuse people across the globe with it’s
clumsy critter antics. Yay! Why are baby elephants so darn cute regardless of
what they’re doing? Because they’re baby animals, that’s why! –via Best Week Ever
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Algorithm for the Perfect
Bra
Aarthi Ramamurthy and Michelle Lam left Microsoft to start
their own company — one that would use computers to generate the perfect bra for
every woman. They started by getting rid of the measuring tape:
“We went to bra fitting after bra fitting and spoke to
experts, and the best ones didn’t use measuring tape,” Lam said. “They had these
unwritten rules where they could look at a woman’s body and say, we think this
would be best. We were able to take these rules and distill them into code.”
[...] The algorithm then produces a page of custom recommendations and allows
shoppers to choose three bras to test, while the True & Co. experts choose
two “mystery” bras based on the customer’s answers to the quiz. These five bras
are shipped for free so women can try them on at home and decide what works.
Everything on the site is priced at $45, including high-end brands like Calvin
Klein and Natori. Link -via Gizmodo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Insane Athletes Working Out off the Side
of a Crane
Nothing provides motivation to finish that last
pull-up quite like hanging off the end of a construction crane far above the
ground. Watch these Russian daredevils tempt fate, strength and strong winds as
they get a terrifying but probably effective workout. -via Geekologie
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TimeScapes: Rapture
Tom Lowe, the creator of TimeScapes that Miss C
featured on Neatorama,
told us of his newest trailer for the movie, called TimeScapes:
Rapture.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Random
Facts:
A tree can absorb as much as 48 pounds of carbon dioxide per year and can sequester 1 ton of carbon dioxide by the time it reaches 40 years old.
One large tree can lift up to 100 gallons of water out of the ground and discharge it into the air in a day.
A tree can absorb as much as 48 pounds of carbon dioxide per year and can sequester 1 ton of carbon dioxide by the time it reaches 40 years old.
One large tree can lift up to 100 gallons of water out of the ground and discharge it into the air in a day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two
cows standing in a field. One turns to the other and says, "Moo."
The other one says, "Damn, I was just about to say that!"
The other one says, "Damn, I was just about to say that!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Geometric Tape Floor by Jim
Lambie
The trippy floor above was made by Glasgow-based artist Jim
Lambie, who applied strips of vinyl tape by hand
over a period of several weeks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q and A Quickies
--*
Q: Where do sheep go for haircuts?
A: The "baa-baa" shop.
Q: What do you call a penguin in the Sahara Desert?
A: Lost.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Federal Aviation
Administration today cleared SpaceShipTwo, Virgin Galactic's six-passenger
commercial space vehicle, to begin rocket-powered suborbital test
flights.
Read the
rest
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A blind Sumatran orangutan named
Leuser was poached, sold as a gift, rescueed by the Sumatran Orangutan
Conservation Program, and returned to the wild. Then, villagers seeking
entertainment shot him 62 times. He has been rescued again, and his story is told in photos
here. — Xeni
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
pernoctation
n. the act of staying up all night
n. the act of staying up all night
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lloyd Kahn, author of Tiny Homes: Simple Shelter, posted this photo of a 120-square-foot house built on a
trailer chassis. The house will feature a full kitchen, composting toilet,
outdoor shower, sleeping loft custom built in furniture and a fireplace. The
siding is reclaimed redwood fensing and flooring is maple re-purposed from an
old roller skating rink in Petaluma.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Above is an excerpt from Jim Henson's
1965 experimental short Time Piece, nominated for an Academy Award. It was
unique because, for one thing, it doesn't feature any puppetry! The surreal film
stars Henson and includes cameos from Henson Associates employees like Frank Oz
(Yoda, etc!), Jerry Suhl, Don Sahlin, and Diana Birkenfield. More info at the
Muppet Wiki. Watch the whole thing at
MySpace here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Andy Baio and Andy McMillan have
announced XOXO, a SXSW-like "disruptive creativity" conference in Portland.
They're pre-selling the tickets on Kickstarter, and if they don't sell enough,
they're not going to do it. They've made and shot through their targets already
-- don't worry!
We'd confirmed most of the
entire lineup by Monday, including the founders and CEOs of Etsy, Kickstarter,
Metafilter, 4chan, Canvas, Simple, VHX.tv and The Atavist, and the creators of
World of Goo, MakerBot, Indie Game: The Movie, Star Wars Uncut, Diesel Sweeties
and Black Apple. And Julia Nunes! (This is as close to WaxyCon as you're ever
going to get.)
Andy and I debated back and
forth about whether the project was ready to announce, and both of us were
nervous. It's a unique project for Kickstarter, and we didn't know if we'd
provided enough detail to convince people that we're working on something really
exciting. We'd run all the numbers, and to do everything we wanted without
cutting corners or selling out, the tickets would cost around $400. Was that
price too high? What if only business and marketing types sign up? Is the
festival too long, too short, too far to travel?
So many doubts, so many fears.
We were betting it all — pre-selling every single ticket with a $125,000 goal.
And we were serious: if it came up short, we'd walk away. Months of planning
would be wasted, but at least we wouldn't have lost our shirts.
Introducing XOXO
(Waxy)
673
Backers
$171,779 pledged of
$125,000 goal
15 days to go
This project will be
funded on Friday Jun 15, 7:00pm EDT.
Update: 50
hours after launching, we're sold out of conference tickets! Thank you! If you
missed it, you can still grab the DIY Kit to experience some of XOXO at home. Or
come out to the market, which will be open to the public on September
15-16.
YALE UNION (YU) is a center for
contemporary art in Southeast Portland, Oregon @ 800 SE 10th Avenue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
June 19th finds us
at The Jack London Bar, at
7:30pm, where we will talk about many of the peculiarities of this unusual case.
We will be joined by several biologists who have looked into these incidents as
well, and can provide us with a zoological perspective. Oh, and we’ll have cake!
June ALSO happens to be the 1st Anniversary of
Kick Ass Oregon History at The Jack London Bar. [Anniversary might be too
legitimate of a term. What do you call a first year milestone with your dirty
little secret?] We definitely need to mark the passing of one year since the
Telling of the Tale of The Hanging Danford Balch, our first show at The
JLB.
Very Typically weird Portland ~ I am
signed up for it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Papercraft War
Machine Statue
It seems like paper sculptures are getting
bigger, better and more complicated every day.
Take this 1:6 scale War Machine sculpture for
example, built complete with LED chest light and fiber optic lights in the eyes
and palms.
This little guy is so meticulously detailed, and
perfectly painted, that you probably can’t even tell that it’s made of paper
unless you look at it up close.
Check out the step-by-step photos of how the
template for the War Machine papercraft sculpture was created at the link below,
it might inspire you to create your own heroic works of paper art.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Space
Camping
In May 2012, mankind marked yet another milestone in
space exploration. No, I'm not talking about the launch of the SpaceX
Dragon - cool as that was - I'm talking about
space camping. That's right: Tent-maker Vango launched its camping tent
(with cute plush "vangonauts" inside) into space. Geeks Are Sexy has the clip:
Link
[Embedded YouTube]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Researchers from Yale University recently
discovered a mushroom in the jungles of Ecuador that is most magical indeed, for
this little fungus dines on polyurethane, a very common type of
plastic.
Here’s more on this amazing fungus:
The fungi, called “Pestalotiopsis microspore”, is
able to survive on eating plastic alone—while without the need for air or light.
Students Jonathan Russell and Pria Anand have written in the journal ‘Applied
and Environmental Microbiology’, that the enzyme the fungus uses to decompose
plastic has been isolated. Scientists hope to use the extracted chemical to
solve the plastic trash and help bioremediation projects. Now that’s a creative
way to help solve our global waste problem, unless it turns into an ever bigger
problem when the fungus develops a taste for human flesh! Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
24 Survival Tips For
Living Alone
Yes, it’s much easier to open a
stubborn jar when you put rubber bands around the jar and lid to get a better
grip. My aunt, who lives alone, once sent me a gadget to open jars with. I
appreciated the gift, but as I had recently found myself single at the time, it
depressed me to think that there’s an entire line of products for people who
don’t have spouses or even roommates. But once you get over the connotations of
reading a list that implies you are lonely and “Forever Alone,” these are some
pretty useful tips. In fact, you don’t even have to live alone to find them
quite handy! Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A New Gallup Poll On Americans’ Belief in Evolution
Is Out Today …
… and it’s full of rather sad figures. A full 46%
of those surveyed believe that God created humans in their present form within
the past 10,000 years. The number has essentially remained unchanged
for the past 30 years (44% in 1982).
You can check the Gallup report for the detailed results, but a few things jumped out at
me:
- Among people who never attend church, a full 25% still subscribe to creationist views.
- There’s only a 17% difference (58% vs. 41%) between Republicans and Democrats
- Almost four out of five Americans believe God had a hand in creating humans in some way
Now, I’m not bothered by the existence or acceptance of
religion, when used for good. Nor do I believe that accepting evolution means
that you must deny all other religious beliefs. Sure, the more one learns about
science and the universe the more one will experience the pangs of cognitive
dissonance and questioned faith. But those feelings and questions are part of
the human journey. They carve the unique facets of your identity that make you
truly you.
What bothers me is that evolution is at the core of so much
of science, and to dismiss its truth is akin to a mathematician dismissing that
1 is half of 2 or a chemist refusing to acknowledge the existence of electrons.
You simply can not fully immerse your brain in the workings of our living world
without evolution. Medicine, biology, nature … any of it.
And in thirty years of bloody knuckled work to bring
science into people’s lives, it feels like we still haven’t gotten
anywhere.
The most telling chart...
A reporteress on the St. Paul Globe speaks of a lady ‘who is a well-known real estate speculatress.’ The Pittsburg Press alludes to ‘the Presidentress of the Board of Lady Managers of the World’s Fair,’ and the Indianapolis Journal tells of the elopement of a ‘dime museum freakess.’
– Des Moines Leader, quoted in New York
Times, Feb. 13, 1891
Letter to the Times from the director of the
Royal School for the Blind, Dec. 23, 1986:
Sir,Radio 4 this morning (December 15) introduced the verb ‘anonymise’. May I therefore letterise you that such verbising terribilises the English language and should not be radioised by the BBC.Yours sincerely,Bernard Coote
“I would never use a long word where a short one would
answer the purpose,” wrote Oliver Wendell Holmes. “I know there are professors
in this country who ‘ligate’ arteries. Other surgeons only tie them, and it
stops the bleeding just as well.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ignaz Moscheles’ piano piece “The Way of the World” is
invertible — the music reads the same upside down.
Here’s pianist
Felix Noel playing it both ways, and here’s a printable score (PDF) if you’d
like to try it yourself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bastoy Prison: Private Island Paradise for
Norway’s Most Hardened Criminals
Norway's luxurious Halden
prison is for common two-bit lawbreakers.
Hardened criminals have their own place - actually their own private island that
they run themselves:
Located about an hour away from Oslo, Bastoy
Prison, if you can even call this place a prison, is located on a scenic island
accessible by ferry. The unique philosophy governing this place can be observed
from the moment you set foot on the boat, which is manned almost exclusively by
inmates. Instead of just trying to make a run for it as soon as they reach the
mainland, these hardened criminals greet visitors and help dock the boat. But
once you get to the island and see the kind of freedom and resort-like leisure
prisoners enjoy at Bastoy, it becomes clear why they wouldn’t want to go
anywhere.
This holiday version of Alcatraz has plenty of
beaches where inmates actually sunbathe during the warm summer months, plenty of
great fishing spots, tennis courts and even a nice relaxing sauna. Instead of
tiny cells, the around 115 prisoners on Bastoy Island live in cozy wooden
cottages painted in warm colors, and carry the keys to their own quarters so
they can come and go as they please. But you know what they don’t have at Bastoy
Prison? Armed guards and fences preventing anyone from escaping. And just so
we’re clear, the men here have been convicted of serious crimes, ranging from
drug trafficking to rape and murder. Still, they enjoy the kind of lifestyle
that is just unthinkable anywhere else, and that most people would actually pay
for as a vacation.
Oddity Central has more on this gangster's paradise:
Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Otter Swimming
Lessons
A mother otter teaches her pups to swim, in this
video from the Columbus Zoo. I thought it came naturally! -via Metafilter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5 Signs Humans Are Still
Evolving
Homo sapiens is not a finished product. In
fact, there is evidence that modern humans are evolving faster than ever before,
as mutations and natural selection continue to change us. How so? For one thing,
we drink milk.
Historically, the gene that regulated a human’s
ability to digest lactose shut down as they were weaned off of their mother’s
breast milk. But when we began domesticating cows, sheep and goats, being able
to drink milk became a nutritionally advantageous quality, and people with the
genetic mutation that allowed them to digest lactose were better able to
propagate their genes. A 2006 study suggests this tolerance for lactose was
still developing as early as 3,000 years ago in East Africa. That genetic
mutation for digesting milk is now carried by more than 95 percent of Northern
European descendants. Read about the other changes in humans over time at
mental_floss. Link
A
Brand is not a product or a promise or a feeling. It's the sum of all the
experiences you have with a company.
--Amir Kassaei
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Amir Kassaei
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If
you are not a brand, you are a commodity." --Philip
Kotler
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A product can be quickly outdated, but a successful brand is timeless." --Stephen King
A product can be quickly outdated, but a successful brand is timeless." --Stephen King
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
"Today,
members of the Secret Service told the Senate that there is an unwritten rule
amongst agents that what happens on the road stays on the road. Not to be
confused with that WRITTEN rule that they shouldn't have sex with prostitutes."
-Jimmy Fallon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Water Flea Waltz
Ain’t science wonderful? Here is a video of the
microscopic water flea performing a little musical ditty. -via Improbable Research, where you’ll find an additional video of a water flea playing
with a toy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ten Superior
Psychopaths
Superior psychopaths? The only place psychopaths could be described that way would be in fiction. And so it is, since the only way we can enjoy a psychopath is when we know they can do no real harm. Pajiba has a list of those TV characters that fascinate us because there are no limits to what they might do. Which is your favorite? Link
Superior psychopaths? The only place psychopaths could be described that way would be in fiction. And so it is, since the only way we can enjoy a psychopath is when we know they can do no real harm. Pajiba has a list of those TV characters that fascinate us because there are no limits to what they might do. Which is your favorite? Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Don Pettit has been producing regular science
education videos while stationed on the International Space Station as part of
his Science Off The Sphere series. They are fantastic! I
think science lessons would be much more fun if we got to do them all in
microgravity.
In the video above, he demonstrates wave oscillations
on water droplets using a laptop speaker. More great videos can be found here, including antibubbles and dancing
droplets.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A truly fun animated look at how viruses mutate,
jump species, cause pandemics, and what simple things we can all do to help
prevent them. Check out more contagion-readiness tips at
TakePart.
I’ve researched this myself (meaning “seen some
movies”), and I think that as long as we keep Gwyneth Paltrow away from Chinese
casinos, we should be fine.
In all seriousness, so-called “animal reservoirs”
are a huge danger. That is where virus (or bacteria) populations are passed
animal-to-animal for a long time, mutating slowly and building up a huge number
of variants before jumping to humans, where they can wreak havoc. Our factory farms might just be pandemic
incubators.
Previously: Let Robert Krulwich
tell you the story of how a virus invades your body, along with a fantastic
animation. This would normally be scary, but it’s Krulwich, so it’s almost
fun.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fancy a Journey Into
Cryptography?
OR “Cipher? I Barely KNOW
Her!”
If you’ve ever wanted to know more about the past,
present or future of cryptography, Khan Academy has a complete video series on
the world of codes hosted by Brit Cruise.
Encryption has won wars and made our wired world possible.
How can simple number theory give us the world’s
most complicated lock and key?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Univers Revolved
Letters are an inherently two-dimensional affair. They can convey deep
meaning, but are confined to the flat surface of the page. Ji Lee, a designer
now with Facebook, was playing around with some 3-D software and noticed that he
could rotate litters around their central axis. All of a sudden, they became
toy-like shapes.
He was able to use the letter as a physical object, to break away from the
linear and build visual representations made from the actual letters of the
word.
For starters, can you figure out the words in the lower left? If you feel
like that’s too easy, Lee created the world in the bottom right for you to
explore (Hint: Try to find “ROCKET”).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A walking human gets about 75 MPG
(miles of travel per gallon of food energy). A biking human? Even better, at
290 MPG.
But when you factor in all the fossil
fuels that go into making that food, we only get 18 MPG
walking and 70 MPG on a bike. Check out the full rundown of the energetic
calculations at Do The Math.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://vimeo.com/40271657 (one
of the finalists)
What is a flame?
A couple months back we talked about a really cool science
communication contest called The Flame
Challenge. Alan Alda (yes, the actor) was always frustrated that his
teacher never gave him a good answer for “what is a flame?”Science communicators
everywhere submitted their videos, stories and illustrations to try and explain
a flame in simple, fun terms. I And the best part? The submissions were judged
by 11-year-olds. On Saturday, at the World Science Festival in
NYC, Mr. Alda will present the winner. Be sure to
check out all the finalists.
Light a fire of curiosity for someone today and share the story of a flame!
(via Center for
Communicating Science and World Science Festival)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Each
one of us is a mixture of good qualities and some perhaps not so good qualities.
In considering our fellow man, we should remember his good qualities and realize
that his faults only prove that he is, after all, a human being. We should
refrain from making harsh judgment of a person just because he happens to be a
dirty, rotten, no-good son-of-a-bitch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A new survey just came out and it finds that sex is better when you're on vacation. Yeah, at least that's what my wife emailed me from the Bahamas." -Conan O'Brien
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Diane Tran, an honor student in Texas, was thrown in
jail by a Judge Moriarty (!) after she missed too many classes at her high
school.
Tran said she works
both full-time and part-time jobs, in addition to taking advanced and college
level courses. But the judge said Tran's case was bigger than the individual
situation of one student. "If you let one run loose, what are you gonna' do with
the rest of 'em?," said Judge Lanny Moriarty. "Let them go too? A little stay in
the jail for one night is not a death sentence."
But Tran's classmates said she had a lot more to juggle than the average teen. "She goes from job to job from school. She stays up until 7 a.m. in the morning doing her homework," said Devin Hill, a classmate and co-worker.
On top of that, Tran said her parents spilt up and moved away, leaving her to support her younger sister. The judge admitted that he wanted to make an example of the teen. Tran had to spend 24 hours in jail and had to pay a $100 fine. Text from CBSAtlanta.com staff; photo via TNT Magazine, where it is noted that "under Texan law any student skipping classes for more than 10 days in a six month period faces jail time and a fine," but...
But Tran's classmates said she had a lot more to juggle than the average teen. "She goes from job to job from school. She stays up until 7 a.m. in the morning doing her homework," said Devin Hill, a classmate and co-worker.
On top of that, Tran said her parents spilt up and moved away, leaving her to support her younger sister. The judge admitted that he wanted to make an example of the teen. Tran had to spend 24 hours in jail and had to pay a $100 fine. Text from CBSAtlanta.com staff; photo via TNT Magazine, where it is noted that "under Texan law any student skipping classes for more than 10 days in a six month period faces jail time and a fine," but...
Thew Judge has since
reversed the decision.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reasons To Like Beer by
7-Year-Olds
A handful of 7 year old children were asked, 'what they thought of beer.' Some interesting responses, but the last one is especially touching.
7-year-old Tim- 'I think beer must be good. My dad says the more beer he drinks the prettier my mom gets.'
7-year-old Melanie - 'Beer makes my dad sleepy and we get to watch what we want on television when he is asleep, so beer is nice.
7-year-old Grady - 'My Mom and Dad both like beer. My Mom gets funny when she drinks it and takes her top off at parties, but Dad doesn't think this is very funny.'
7-year-old Toby - 'My Mom and Dad talk funny when they drink beer and The more they drink the more they give kisses to each other, which is a good thing.'
7-year-old Sarah - 'My Dad gets funny on beer. He is funny. He also wets his pants sometimes, so he shouldn't have too much.
7-year-old Lilly - 'My Dad loves beer. The more he drinks, the better he dances. One time he danced right into the pool.'
7-year-old Ethan - 'I don't like beer very much. Every time Dad drinks it, he burns the sausages on the barbecue and they taste disgusting.'
7-year-old Shirley - 'I give Dad's beer to the dog and he goes to sleep.'
7-year-old Jack - 'My Mom drinks beer and she says silly things and picks on my father. Whenever she drinks beer she yells at Dad and tells him to go bury his bone down the street again, but that doesn't make any sense.'
A handful of 7 year old children were asked, 'what they thought of beer.' Some interesting responses, but the last one is especially touching.
7-year-old Tim- 'I think beer must be good. My dad says the more beer he drinks the prettier my mom gets.'
7-year-old Melanie - 'Beer makes my dad sleepy and we get to watch what we want on television when he is asleep, so beer is nice.
7-year-old Grady - 'My Mom and Dad both like beer. My Mom gets funny when she drinks it and takes her top off at parties, but Dad doesn't think this is very funny.'
7-year-old Toby - 'My Mom and Dad talk funny when they drink beer and The more they drink the more they give kisses to each other, which is a good thing.'
7-year-old Sarah - 'My Dad gets funny on beer. He is funny. He also wets his pants sometimes, so he shouldn't have too much.
7-year-old Lilly - 'My Dad loves beer. The more he drinks, the better he dances. One time he danced right into the pool.'
7-year-old Ethan - 'I don't like beer very much. Every time Dad drinks it, he burns the sausages on the barbecue and they taste disgusting.'
7-year-old Shirley - 'I give Dad's beer to the dog and he goes to sleep.'
7-year-old Jack - 'My Mom drinks beer and she says silly things and picks on my father. Whenever she drinks beer she yells at Dad and tells him to go bury his bone down the street again, but that doesn't make any sense.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RANDOM TIDBITS
Memorial Day was a response to the unprecedented carnage of the Civil War, in which some 620,000 soldiers on both sides died. The loss of life and its effect on communities throughout the North and South led to spontaneous commemorations of the dead.
On May 5, 1868, Union hero Maj. Gen. John A. Logan issued General Orders No. 11, which set aside May 30, 1868, "for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion...."
From the practice of decorating graves with flowers, wreaths and flags, the holiday was long known as Decoration Day. The name Memorial Day goes back to 1882, but the older name didn't disappear until after World War II. Federal law declared "Memorial Day" the official name in 1967.
New York was the first state to designate Memorial Day a legal holiday, in 1873. Most Northern states had followed suit by the 1890s. The states of the former Confederacy were unenthusiastic about a holiday memorializing those who, in Gen. Logan's words, "united to suppress the late rebellion." The South didn't adopt the May 30 Memorial Day until after World War I, by which time its purpose had been broadened to include those who died in all the country's wars.
On May 30, 1868, President Ulysses S. Grant presided over the first Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. Some 5,000 people attended on a spring day which, The New York Times reported, was "somewhat too warm for comfort." The principal speaker was James A. Garfield, a Civil War general, Republican congressman from Ohio and future president.
General Orders No. 11 stated that "in this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed," but over time several customs and symbols became associated with the holiday. It is customary on Memorial Day to fly the flag at half staff until noon, and then raise it to the top of the staff until sunset.
(Facts from CNN.com)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Stag farts" - a traditional sign of summer
In the United States, summer unofficially begins well before the solstice - typically after the Memorial Day holiday at the end of May (coinciding with the meteorological "summer" months of June, July, and August). That's a good-enough excuse to post about "Sumer Is Icumen In." Wikipedia provides an extensive review of the piece, including the Middle English text -
Sumer is icumen in,
Lhude sing cuccu!
Groweþ sed and bloweþ med
And springþ þe wde nu,
Sing cuccu!
Awe bleteþ after lomb,
Lhouþ after calue cu.
Bulluc sterteþ, bucke uerteþ,
Murie sing cuccu!...
- and the Modern English
equivalent -
Summer has arrived,
Loudly sing, Cuckoo!
The seed grows and the meadow blooms
And the wood springs anew,
Sing, Cuckoo!
The ewe bleats after the lamb
The cow lows after the calf.
The bullock stirs, the stag farts,
Merrily sing, Cuckoo...
- and this
clarification:
The translation of "bucke uerteþ" is uncertain. Some translate as "the buck-goat turns", but the current critical consensus is that the line is "the stag farts", a gesture of virility indicating the stag's potential for creating new life, echoing the rebirth of Nature from the barren period of winter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
QUOTE:
"Are they dead that yet speak louder than we can speak, and a more universal
language? Are they dead that yet act? Are they dead that yet move upon society
and inspire the people with nobler motives and more heroic patriotism?"~
Henry
Ward Beecher.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A
new report suggests that Christopher Columbus may have secretly been Jewish.
What tipped historians off was Columbus' diary entry where he described his
journey to America as 'a real schlep.'" -Conan O'Brien~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If women have excessive belly fat and a muffin-top, it can be fatal. Especially if you mention it to her." -Jay Leno
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mathematical Impressions: The
Escher-esque illustrations of Anatolii Fomenko. More at the link
below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A lot of people say they use Facebook to reconnect with old friends. No thanks. If I'm not friends with you anymore, there's probably a reason. And that reason is I owe you money." -Craig Ferguson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For a romantic touch, I washed our sheets with lavender-scented detergent. When my husband got into bed, he sniffed. "What's this?" he asked.
"Guess," I said coyly.
"I have no idea," he said. "It smells like the stuff you use to line the hamster's cage."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In honor of Memorial Day, the teacher I worked with read the Constitution to her third-grade class. After reading "We the people," she paused to ask the children what they thought that meant.
One boy raised his hand and asked, "Is that like 'We da bomb?'"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At :52 seconds, Hans Rosling gives the shortest TED
talk ever.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sometimes it seems like cops, who are professionally trained
to use firearms, have the worst safety record. I am sure everybody is familiar
with the famous video of the cop who shoots himself in the middle of a gun
safety course. If not you need to click the link here: Gun Safety the Wrong Way
Only slightly less embarrassing is this story from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. At least the officer here was not giving a lecture on gun safety when his firearm went off accidentally, unfortunately the person he shot was his wife...in the ass.
Dauphin County District Attorney Edward M. Marsico Jr. said Harrisburg police officer William Owens was showing off his gun at his home when the firearm accidentally discharged several times, striking Lakita Owens once in the buttocks.
Marsico said investigators are working to determine whether alcohol played a role in the incident, and charges could be filed if the shooting is determined to have been reckless.
Owens, who was suspended without pay, declined to comment on the investigation. He said his wife is recovering from her injury. It will also likely be the last time she will take it in the ass from her husband.
Only slightly less embarrassing is this story from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. At least the officer here was not giving a lecture on gun safety when his firearm went off accidentally, unfortunately the person he shot was his wife...in the ass.
Dauphin County District Attorney Edward M. Marsico Jr. said Harrisburg police officer William Owens was showing off his gun at his home when the firearm accidentally discharged several times, striking Lakita Owens once in the buttocks.
Marsico said investigators are working to determine whether alcohol played a role in the incident, and charges could be filed if the shooting is determined to have been reckless.
Owens, who was suspended without pay, declined to comment on the investigation. He said his wife is recovering from her injury. It will also likely be the last time she will take it in the ass from her husband.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Baby bird found with 2
heads, 3 beaks --*
NORTHAMPTON, Mass. - A Massachusetts woman said she investigated bird sounds in her yard and discovered a baby cardinal with two heads and three beaks. April Britt of Northampton said she and her husband followed the sounds of squawking birds in their back yard to a tree where they discovered the baby female cardinal with the unusual deformities.
Johnny Gruelle, the man behind the Raggedy Ann doll, became a vocal antivaccination activist after his daughter Marcella died from what he claimed was a reaction to a smallpox vaccine she received. He even used the doll in posters promoting his stance.
The British version of G.I. Joe is called Action Man.
In 1976, Ideal Toys released a Joey Stivic doll, sold under the name "Archie Bunker's Grandson." It was the first anatomically correct male doll sold in the United States.
Mattel recalled their Cabbage Patch Snacktime Kids dolls in January 1997 after it was discovered that in addition to the supplied plastic food, the dolls also gobbled up the long hair of their "mommies" and didn't stop until they reached the scalp.
The first Ken dolls, introduced two years after Barbie hit the market, had a fuzzy, glued-on crew cut. Unfortunately, the hair rubbed off easily, and Ken's male-pattern baldness made Barbie look like she was dating her father.
In 1999, Mattel launched Rad Repeatin' Tarzan, a doll with a spring-loaded arm that waved up and down when Tarzan yodeled his trademark yell. However, when Tarzan was still encased in his restrictive box on toy store shelves, his arm moved up and down over his loincloth region only, and enough parental complaints eventually got hte doll recalled and revamped.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NORTHAMPTON, Mass. - A Massachusetts woman said she investigated bird sounds in her yard and discovered a baby cardinal with two heads and three beaks. April Britt of Northampton said she and her husband followed the sounds of squawking birds in their back yard to a tree where they discovered the baby female cardinal with the unusual deformities.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Can
you name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday?
Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frequently
you will see discussion on organic meats and roduce, and how organic is not only
better for you but also better for the environment. But
what exactly is organic and why is it better?
The
Organic Foods Production Act was finished in 2002. The act set a national
standard for all organic food including organic meat and organic produce.
Organic
food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the
conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future
generations.
Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation.
Before a product can be labeled "organic," a Government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards.
Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation.
Before a product can be labeled "organic," a Government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
QUOTE:
"You do ill if you praise, but worse if you censure, what you do not
understand."
HINT: (1452-1519), Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer.
ANSWER: Leonardo da Vinci.
HINT: (1452-1519), Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer.
ANSWER: Leonardo da Vinci.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RANDOM
TIDBITS
Johnny Gruelle, the man behind the Raggedy Ann doll, became a vocal antivaccination activist after his daughter Marcella died from what he claimed was a reaction to a smallpox vaccine she received. He even used the doll in posters promoting his stance.
The British version of G.I. Joe is called Action Man.
In 1976, Ideal Toys released a Joey Stivic doll, sold under the name "Archie Bunker's Grandson." It was the first anatomically correct male doll sold in the United States.
Mattel recalled their Cabbage Patch Snacktime Kids dolls in January 1997 after it was discovered that in addition to the supplied plastic food, the dolls also gobbled up the long hair of their "mommies" and didn't stop until they reached the scalp.
The first Ken dolls, introduced two years after Barbie hit the market, had a fuzzy, glued-on crew cut. Unfortunately, the hair rubbed off easily, and Ken's male-pattern baldness made Barbie look like she was dating her father.
In 1999, Mattel launched Rad Repeatin' Tarzan, a doll with a spring-loaded arm that waved up and down when Tarzan yodeled his trademark yell. However, when Tarzan was still encased in his restrictive box on toy store shelves, his arm moved up and down over his loincloth region only, and enough parental complaints eventually got hte doll recalled and revamped.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buzz Reset - Toy Story
3
Woody (Tom Hanks) and the rest of Andy's toys try to reset Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen). http://www.evtv1.com/player.aspx?itemnum=17107
Woody (Tom Hanks) and the rest of Andy's toys try to reset Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen). http://www.evtv1.com/player.aspx?itemnum=17107
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coming soon
The Medical Book
From Witch Doctors to Robot Surgeons
From Witch Doctors to Robot Surgeons
"Pickover contemplates realms beyond our known
reality."
-- The New York Times
-- The New York Times
"Pickover inspires a new generation of da Vincis to
build unknown flying machines and create new Mona Lisas."
-- Christian Science Monitor
-- Christian Science Monitor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zoonosis: When Cuddling Can
Kill
Did you know that H1N1 reached Russia by whale? Or that
you can get the flu from a bird and give it to a pig? Find out why viruses tend
to jump from animals to us, and why they seem to always pick the cute ones.
Viruses have numbers on their side, but not anything else. More »
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
An ordinary cremation consumes valuable energy and
consigns the body to flames, which has unpleasant connotations of hellfire and
damnation. In 1983 Kenneth H. Gardner invented a greener, more uplifting
alternative — the corpse is elevated through the roof and then cremated by
concentrated solar energy.
A temperature of about 1,700° F. is required to provide incineration and a total of about 3,000,000 BTU’s is required to consume a corpse. Thus, at a supply rate of about 1,000,000 BTU/hour, cremation would take about three hours. A concave mirror-reflector bowl similar to the steam-producing Crosbyton hemisphere in Lubbock, Texas is considered a suitable collector. At 65 ft. diameter, a bowl of this type can produce approximately 1,000,000 BTU/Hr. under full sunshine conditions from mid-morning to mid-afternoon.
Gas burners are still available “for auxiliary use
during inclement weather and/or when it is desired to expedite the cremation
process.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"By necessity, by proclivity, and by delight, we
all quote."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q: What do you get when you cross a fish with two elephants?
A: Swimming trunks.
Q: Why were all the dairy cows mad at the farmer?
A: He had no consideration for the feelings of udders.
Q: What did the little porcupine say when it backed into the cactus?
A: Is that you mom?
Q: What happened when a dog sneaked into the flea circus?
A: He stole the whole show.
Q: What do you call donating your body to a medical school?
A: A Dead Give-away
Q: What did the caveman give his wife on Valentine's Day?
A: Ughs and kisses.
Chinese Cruise Ship Hit A Bridge
Written In DNA
I Don’t Know What That Wet Stuff Is, But I Like It!
Thomas sitting in the cab before he fell to his death
APPROXIMATELY 150,000,000 YEASTS ARE KILLED.
Come to the award-winning 1987 film,
"The Very Small and Quiet Screams"
-- a cinematic electromicrograph of yeasts being baked.
"A must for those who care about yeast, and especially for those who don't."
+----------------------------------------------------+
| Evening showing in Johnson & Wales |
| Pirsig Auditorium: 7PM, 4/19 |
+----------------------------------------------------+
==============================================================
No Big Deal, I’m Just Swimming With a Polar Bear
The politician was sitting at his campaign
headquarters when the phone rang. He listened intently, and after a moment his
face brightened. When he hung up, he immediately phoned his mother to tell her
the good news. "Ma," he shouted, "the results are in. I won the election!"
"Honestly?"
The politician's smiled faded. "Aw hell, ma, why bring that up at a time like this?"
"Honestly?"
The politician's smiled faded. "Aw hell, ma, why bring that up at a time like this?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q and A Quickies --*
Q: What do you get when you cross a fish with two elephants?
A: Swimming trunks.
Q: Why were all the dairy cows mad at the farmer?
A: He had no consideration for the feelings of udders.
Q: What did the little porcupine say when it backed into the cactus?
A: Is that you mom?
Q: What happened when a dog sneaked into the flea circus?
A: He stole the whole show.
Q: What do you call donating your body to a medical school?
A: A Dead Give-away
Q: What did the caveman give his wife on Valentine's Day?
A: Ughs and kisses.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Random
Facts:
In its 2008 Death on the Job Report, the AFL-CIO ranked commercial fishing as the occupation with the highest fatality rate, with 150 deaths per 100,000 workers.
A report by the American Journal of Epidemiology states that long term job stress is worse for your heart than gaining 40 pounds or aging 30 years.
In its 2008 Death on the Job Report, the AFL-CIO ranked commercial fishing as the occupation with the highest fatality rate, with 150 deaths per 100,000 workers.
A report by the American Journal of Epidemiology states that long term job stress is worse for your heart than gaining 40 pounds or aging 30 years.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chinese Cruise Ship Hit A Bridge
Not quite the Titanic, but this oops probably means
that someone's getting fired:
Captain Guo Lai, at the helm of the Pearl No 7
line in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, eastern China, also reportedly failed to take account
of the fact that the £28 million ship - 518ft long and 98ft wide - was sitting
higher on the water because there were no passengers or cargo on board.
Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An S A now I mean 2 write
2 U sweet K T J,
The girl without a ∥,
The belle of U T K.
2 U sweet K T J,
The girl without a ∥,
The belle of U T K.
I 1 der if U got that 1
I wrote 2 U B 4
I sailed in the R K D A,
And sent by L N Moore.
I wrote 2 U B 4
I sailed in the R K D A,
And sent by L N Moore.
My M T head will scarce contain
A calm I D A bright,
But A T miles from you I must
M{ this chance 2 write.
A calm I D A bright,
But A T miles from you I must
M{ this chance 2 write.
And first, should N E N V U,
B E Z, mind it not.
Should N E friendship show, be true:
They should not be forgot.
B E Z, mind it not.
Should N E friendship show, be true:
They should not be forgot.
From virt U nev R D V 8;
Her influence B 9
Alike induces 10 dern S,
Or 40 tude D vine.
Her influence B 9
Alike induces 10 dern S,
Or 40 tude D vine.
And if you cannot cut a —
Or cause an !
I hope U’ll put a .
2 1 ?
Or cause an !
I hope U’ll put a .
2 1 ?
R U for an X ation 2,
My cous N ? — heart and ☞
He off R’s in a ¶
A § 2 of land.
My cous N ? — heart and ☞
He off R’s in a ¶
A § 2 of land.
He says he loves you 2 X S,
U R virtuous and Y’s,
In X L N C U X L
All others in his I’s.
U R virtuous and Y’s,
In X L N C U X L
All others in his I’s.
This S A, until U I C,
I pray U 2 X Q’s,
And do not burn in F E G
My young and wayward muse.
I pray U 2 X Q’s,
And do not burn in F E G
My young and wayward muse.
Now fare U well, dear K T J,
I trust that U R true–
When this U C, then you can say,
An S A I O U.
I trust that U R true–
When this U C, then you can say,
An S A I O U.
– Charles Carroll Bombaugh, Gleanings for the Curious
From the Harvest-Fields of Literature, 1890
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Portland On
The Web: CNN, Business Journal, Willamette Week &
More
Grimm begins filming season 2, "Mommyporn" takes place in the Heathman Hotel, and we keep winning at bikes and sustainability in this week's Portland On the Web roundup.
OregonLive: 'Grimm' kicks off Season 2 production with visit from Gov. Kitzhaber
Willamette Week: What exactly happens in Portland's Heathman Hotel in 50 Shades of Grey?
Business Times: National nonprofit Bikes Belong launches project for protected bikeways
Sustainablog: Cities collaborate in new EcoDistrict Institute
Canada.com: Artlandia: A cultural getaway in Portland
CNN: City smackdown: Portland
Grimm begins filming season 2, "Mommyporn" takes place in the Heathman Hotel, and we keep winning at bikes and sustainability in this week's Portland On the Web roundup.
OregonLive: 'Grimm' kicks off Season 2 production with visit from Gov. Kitzhaber
Willamette Week: What exactly happens in Portland's Heathman Hotel in 50 Shades of Grey?
Business Times: National nonprofit Bikes Belong launches project for protected bikeways
Sustainablog: Cities collaborate in new EcoDistrict Institute
Canada.com: Artlandia: A cultural getaway in Portland
CNN: City smackdown: Portland
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A teacher was having trouble teaching arithmetic
to Little Johnny . So she said , "If you reached in your right pocket and found
a nickel, and you reached in your left pocket and found another one, what would
you have?"
"Somebody else's pants." said the Little Johnny.
"Somebody else's pants." said the Little Johnny.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Life is something that happens when you can't get to
sleep." -- Fran Lebowitz
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's dinner time for this little dog.
Diver takes out a hook from a fish's mouth.
Impressive unicycle skills.
Diver takes out a hook from a fish's mouth.
Impressive unicycle skills.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Used Band-Aids
Here’s a terrific treat the kids will love -to make fun of!
But they’ll end up eating them as well, yelling “Ewww” the entire time. The
recipe for Used Band-Aids is simply cinnamon graham crackers with some frosting
for the pads, and maybe a bit of gross red jelly or jam in the middle. Link -via Buzzfeed
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Was heard on a public transportation vehicle while in
Orlando. "When you exit this vehicle, please be sure to lower your head and
watch your step.
If you fail to do so, please lower your voice and watch your language. Thank you."
If you fail to do so, please lower your voice and watch your language. Thank you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
For twenty-four years I've been in love with the
same woman.
If my wife ever finds out she'll kill me. -Henny Youngman
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If my wife ever finds out she'll kill me. -Henny Youngman
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ode to a Mammogram
For years and years they told me, "Be careful of your breasts."
Don't ever squeeze or bruise them, and give them monthly tests.
So, I heeded all their warnings.....and protected them by law....
Guarded them very carefully, and always wore a bra.
After 10 years of careful care, the doctor found a lump.
He ordered up a mammogram to look inside that clump.
"Stand up very close," the nurse said, as she got my tit in line,
"And tell me when it hurts," she said. "Ah, yes....that's just fine."
She stepped upon a pedal....I could not believe my eyes,
A plastic plate was pressing down....My boob was in a vice....
My skin was stretched and stretched from way up by my chin,
And my poor tit was being squashed to Swedish pancake thing......
Excruciating pain I felt, within it's vice-like grip,
A prisoner in this vicious thing.....My poor defenseless tit......
"Take a deep breath" she said to me. Who does she think she's kidding?
My chest is smashed in her machine, I can't breathe and woozy I am getting!
"There, that was good" I heard her say, as the room was slowly swaying.
"Now let's get the other one."........"Lord have mercy," I was praying.
It squeezed me from the up and down, it squeezed me from both sides,
I'll bet she never has this done to HER tender little hide.
If I had no problem when I first came in, I surely have one now......
If there had been a cyst in there, it would have popped Ker-Pow!
This machine was made by a MAN, of this I have no doubt.....
I'd like to get his balls in there.....for months he'd go WITHOUT!
For years and years they told me, "Be careful of your breasts."
Don't ever squeeze or bruise them, and give them monthly tests.
So, I heeded all their warnings.....and protected them by law....
Guarded them very carefully, and always wore a bra.
After 10 years of careful care, the doctor found a lump.
He ordered up a mammogram to look inside that clump.
"Stand up very close," the nurse said, as she got my tit in line,
"And tell me when it hurts," she said. "Ah, yes....that's just fine."
She stepped upon a pedal....I could not believe my eyes,
A plastic plate was pressing down....My boob was in a vice....
My skin was stretched and stretched from way up by my chin,
And my poor tit was being squashed to Swedish pancake thing......
Excruciating pain I felt, within it's vice-like grip,
A prisoner in this vicious thing.....My poor defenseless tit......
"Take a deep breath" she said to me. Who does she think she's kidding?
My chest is smashed in her machine, I can't breathe and woozy I am getting!
"There, that was good" I heard her say, as the room was slowly swaying.
"Now let's get the other one."........"Lord have mercy," I was praying.
It squeezed me from the up and down, it squeezed me from both sides,
I'll bet she never has this done to HER tender little hide.
If I had no problem when I first came in, I surely have one now......
If there had been a cyst in there, it would have popped Ker-Pow!
This machine was made by a MAN, of this I have no doubt.....
I'd like to get his balls in there.....for months he'd go WITHOUT!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I mean that quite literally. Harvard nanosculptors have developed a
technique to stack “bricks” of DNA (essentially small sequence blocks) into
defined shapes. By altering which DNA tiles go into a mix, different complex
forms can be assembled, including these letters, numbers and characters!
Check out Ed Yong’s full post written in the
genotypeface, and his full piece at Nature News.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ok, there’s nature films. And then there’s nature
films. The ones that make you stop and murmur unintelligible syllables in
lieu of words, that make you go grab someone out of the next room so you can
show them, that within a few minutes can wordlessly capture the diversity,
beauty, wonder and pure awesomeness of our planet.
That’s what Louie Schwartzberg’s films are. The one
above is called “The Beauty of Pollination”, and I won’t even
begin to guess how they got some of those shots. I made this face while watching
it.
Behold the specialized forms of flower and
pollinator! Head and mouth shapes line up perfectly with the contours of the
bloom! Sure, not being mobile might make a plant’s reproductive life as exciting
as ours, but natural selection has led to some amazing cross-species
adaptations.
There’s more at his YouTube
channel, which I highly recommend. (↬ Boing Boing)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you have an open mind, there's no limit to the
number of awesome celebrations you can find. Instead of just spinning a
globe and putting your finger on a random place, though, here's a guide to help
you find some of the best ones.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So geeks, how big is a billion? The answer, which
varies depending on where you live or how old you are, is not as simple as most
people think! We discuss millions, billions, trillions and centillions is this
film about the long and short scales. We also touch on quadrillions,
sextillions, milliards, billiards and the Greek myriad.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cool Character Design Tutorial
Video
This handy dandy little tutorial video comes to you
courtesy of ex-WETA Workshop designer Tim Gibson, who is more than happy to
share some tips and tricks on character designing with aspiring
illustrators.
Tim will help you take your characters from Meh to Me
Gusta! in this info packed five minute video, so get out your pencils and
drawing pad (or your Wacom tablet) and whip your character sketches into
shape!–via Drawn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tiny Houses on Tiny
Islands
Tired of those pesky neighbors? Here’s the solution!
The aptly-named Just Room Enough Island in Canada’s Saint Lawrence River has
just enough room for a single small house. When the water is low, the owners can
put their lawn furniture out on the porch and get some sun. It’s one of several
similar houses featured on the Tiny House Blog.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Super Mario Bros. Level Built inside
Aquarium
The fish show no interest, but that’s probably
because they’re working through Diablo III right now. In a few weeks,
they’ll take advantage of the wonderful if static gameplay that Cedrick Bearss
made available to them. -via @itscolossal
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Holy crap, this is the most terrifying
Garfield strip ever published
Even if you possess the absolute baseline of pop
cultural literacy, you're probably aware of Garfield, that orange comic strip
cat who's spent the past thirty-odd years terrorizing his man-child owner.
Garfield strips aren't heavy reading
whatsoever — in fact, they make Marmaduke look like obscurantist
performance art. This wasn't the case when cartoonist Jim Davis wrote "Primal
Self," a shockingly creepy vignette for the 1984 book Garfield: His 9
Lives.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Penguin 337 Captured
It's been a sweet few months of freedom for
Penguin 337, who broke
out from Tokyo Sea Life Park in a daring escape, but at the end, The Man always
win. Alas, the intrepid penguin has been recaptured: Link
We were rooting for you, little
guy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Extreme wind conditions cause this 747 to lift in its
place.
How to take a flattering portrait.
Simon's Cat in 'Tongue Tied'.
There's too much cuteness in this video.
MaKey MaKey: An invention kit for everyone.
How to take a flattering portrait.
Simon's Cat in 'Tongue Tied'.
There's too much cuteness in this video.
MaKey MaKey: An invention kit for everyone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I Don’t Know What That Wet Stuff Is, But I Like It!
He seems like he can’t decide if it’s fun or scary
-either way, barking seems like a good response.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Puzzle maven David Singmaster presented this conundrum
at the first Gathering for Gardner:
My daughter Jessica is 16 and very conscious of her age. Our neighbour Helen is just 8, and I teased Jessica by saying, ‘Seven years ago, you were 9 times as old as Helen; six years ago, you were 5 times her age; four years ago, you were 3 times her age; and now you are only twice her age. If you are not careful, soon you’ll be the same age!’Jessica seemed a bit worried, and went off muttering. I saw her doing a lot of scribbling.The next day, she said to me, ‘Dad, that’s just the limit! By the way, did you ever consider when I would be half as old as Helen?’ Now it was my turn to be worried, and I began muttering — ‘That can’t be, you’re always older than Helen.’‘Don’t be so positive,’ said Jessica, as she stomped off to school.Can you help me out?
He withheld the answer, but I think I see
it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By now I'm sure many of you have seen that
amazing eclipse photo by Michael Chow of The Arizona
Republic
I know I said I was done posting cool photos of the
recent annular “ring of fire” eclipse, but this one just found
its way to me and I can’t resist. Here’s the story behind the
photo.
(photo by Michael Chow, Arizona
Republic)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Are we in the golden age of superhero porn? It sure seems
like that. The Avengers continues to break box office records, and
meanwhile a ton of superhero porn spoofs come out every month. There will
probably be a dozen Justice League porn films before a real Justice
League movie ever comes out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Westermarck Effect minimizes the risk of incest
One of the most
common taboos across human societies of the past and present has been incest.
Virtually every known culture has considered it repulsive, especially when
involving siblings or a parent and child. The leading behavioural theory that
has been proposed to account for the ubiquity of this aversion is known as the
Westermarck effect, after Finnish scholar Edvard Westermarck, who proposed it in
his 1891 book The History of Human Marriage. The idea of the Westermarck effect
is that young children will become sexually/romantically desensitised to anyone
they live in close contact with over the course of the first few years of their
lives...
Note that crucially, the connection does not have to be biological; according to the theory, it applies just as readily to children adopted at a young age as to those raised by their birth parents... However, when a child is separated from biological family at an early age, there is no chance for the Westermarck effect to take hold; reunions between biological relatives who were separated much earlier sometimes lead into unforeseen emotional territory. ...
The Westermarck effect is a hypothesis, but there is evidence to support it... A study by American cultural anthropologist Melford Spiro that examined 3,000 marriages within the kibbutz system found that only about 15 weddings involved pairs of people who were raised in the same group of children. Furthermore, none of these pairs had been raised with their partners before the age of six...
Another source of evidence for the Westermarck effect comes from what happens when it is noticeably absent. Genetically related individuals who are not raised together often fail to be sexually and romantically blind to each other....Genes ensure that the two have a lot in common, and the absence of the Westermarck effect sometimes makes them difficult for one another to resist. This is a converse theory known as genetic sexual attraction (GSA)....
Note that crucially, the connection does not have to be biological; according to the theory, it applies just as readily to children adopted at a young age as to those raised by their birth parents... However, when a child is separated from biological family at an early age, there is no chance for the Westermarck effect to take hold; reunions between biological relatives who were separated much earlier sometimes lead into unforeseen emotional territory. ...
The Westermarck effect is a hypothesis, but there is evidence to support it... A study by American cultural anthropologist Melford Spiro that examined 3,000 marriages within the kibbutz system found that only about 15 weddings involved pairs of people who were raised in the same group of children. Furthermore, none of these pairs had been raised with their partners before the age of six...
Another source of evidence for the Westermarck effect comes from what happens when it is noticeably absent. Genetically related individuals who are not raised together often fail to be sexually and romantically blind to each other....Genes ensure that the two have a lot in common, and the absence of the Westermarck effect sometimes makes them difficult for one another to resist. This is a converse theory known as genetic sexual attraction (GSA)....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Russian Super Rich Made Paper Airplanes Out
of Money to a Brawling Crowd Below
Pavel Durov, the founder of Russian's social networking giant VKontakte
(the so-called Russian Facebook), was bored last wekeend. So he decided to make
paper airplanes and fly them out of his office which overlooked St.
Petersburg.
That's not so unusual, except he made the paper airplanes out of money, and
the crowds below began brawling for the banknotes:
Bored with his never-ending dolce vita, 27-year-old millionaire Pavel
Durov and his vice president spent their weekend making paper planes out of
5,000-rouble notes (around $160) and sending them into the St. Petersburg crowd
– right from the window of the social net’s central office. The
colleagues reportedly took great joy watching the crowd’s reaction. Stunned at
first, people quickly realized what was happening and got caught up in a big
street brawl – fighting for the notes.
“People turned into dogs as they were literally attacking the notes,”
one of the witnesses wrote. “They broke each other’s noses, climbed the traffic
lights with their prey – just like monkeys. Shame on Durov!”
Meanwhile, those who triggered the fight were laughing and filming the
events. All in all, the young men sent down about $2,000. Later Durov explained
that all they wanted was to create “a festive atmosphere” in the city – that
weekend, St. Petersburg was marking City Day. Link (Photo: Facebookru.com)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jim Foley Campaign
Rap
Jim Foley is a candidates for appellate court judge in
…oh, somewhere, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that he and his bow tie have
the greatest campaign ad ever! -via Warming Glow
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sex Madness (1938) is an exploitation film directed by
Dwain Esper, along the lines of Reefer Madness, supposedly to warn teenagers and
young adults of the dangers of venereal diseases, specifically syphilis. Wild
parties, lesbianism, and premarital sex are some of the forms of 'madness'
portrayed. The educational aspect of the film allowed it to portray a taboo
subject which was otherwise forbidden by the Production Code of 1930, and its
stricter version imposed by Hollywood studios in July 1934. This was released
two years after "Reefer Madness," and
has the same producer and style. Those interested can view the entire movie at
this link [Warning: boring].
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
26 Wild Things You Probably Didn’t Know About
Fast Food
Did you know that due to a copyright issue, Burger King
is called Hungry Jack’s in Australia? If you are Australian, yeah, you probably
already knew that. But there are some things on this list that will be
new to you, like the fact that McDonald’s is Brazil’s largest employer, or that
you can buy a Bacon Potato Pie at McDonald’s in Japan. See the rest of these
trivia tidbits at Buzzfeed. Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Supershark
Take a story of an overgrown predator, add a sexy
retro soul soundtrack, and don’t forget the jiggling, bikini-clad beach babes!
How could you improve that formula? I know -add a walking tank! Oh
yeah, this was a real movie. -via Metafilter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vintage Photos From Atomic Bomb Testing
Site
This is what ground zero looks like when you’re a
testing mannequin in the 1950s. These rare photographs were taken by Loomis Dean
at an atomic bomb test site in Nevada around 1955, an eerie documentation of the
strangeness that went on during the Atomic Age.
Photo caption–”Scorched, male mannequin in suit of
dark fabric indicates a human would be burned but alive.”
Check out the rest of these photos, and read all
about Loomis’ documentation of the testing site, at the link to Life Magazine
Online below, they’re kookier than Kookie Burns! Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Monkeys + Synthesizers = One Cool
Ad
Leave a synthesizer unguarded around a bunch of
monkeys, lemurs, marmosets, suricates, baboons and a sloth and you might be
surprised by their musical talent. Then again, they might just trash their
instruments instead of using them to make slick electronic music! This is
actually just a fun, animal filled ad for the Volt Festival 2012, an
electronic music festival taking place on June 9th in Sweden. Oh well, the
critters in this commercial sure are cute! –via Best Week Ever
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Space Out On These Trippy
GIFs
Do you have a day to spare, staring at your computer
screen as GIFs threaten to suck your mind into a space warp? Then you’ll love
this gallery of 50 tripped out GIFs which are guaranteed to blow your
mind.
They might make you feel a bit uncomfortable in your
own skin after a while, so keep reminding yoursel-f-they are only animated GIFs,
your computer has not been taken over by a digital entity. Or has it?! (cue
dramatic music)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This song is familiar to most people because it topped
the charts for weeks in the early 90s. What is not generally recognized is that
the subject of the song is the death of
Clapton's four-year old son, Conor, who
accidentally fell from a 53rd-story window in New York. That knowledge may allow
you to listen to the piece with renewed appreciation...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rub Some Bacon On
it
Bacon: a sure-fire cure for anything! This song from
Rhett and Link will be stuck in your head for a while. If that happens, you know
what to do -rub some bacon on it! -via The Daily What
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fat or Fiction
Curious about calories? Serious about sugars?
Flummoxed by Fat? The website Fat or Fiction, made by Anna
Brooks, Christina Winkless, and
David Paul Rosser answers all
of your questions about the nutritional content (or lack thereof) of your
favorite naughty snacks in a few gorgeous interactive infotography: Link - via Notcot
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alexander Shtifanov from Ukraine has some serious
bartending skills!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's one of the most iconic photos in American
business. A ragtag group of bearded weirdos assembled for a company portrait of
Microsoft from 1978. It was taken just before the then-startup left Albuquerque
for Seattle. We all know what happened with the two guys in the bottom left and
bottom right corners - Bill Gates, and Paul Allen.
But what happened to the rest?
But what happened to the rest?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We use them every day - but what are the mysterious
origins of these symbols we take for granted? Here are a few short explanations
to demystify the meanings of our favorite symbols.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good Chemistry
A love story in chemistry. Everyone should have someone
to bond ionically with.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Deborah Blum takes you
on a journey of intrigue, murder, and chemistry. Great stuff:
“The 1850 murder of Gustave Fougnies in Belgium is not
famous because of the cleverness of his killers. Not at all. They – his sister
and brother-in-law – practically set off signal flares announcing their parts in
a suspicious death. It’s not famous because it was such a classic high society
murder. The killers were the dashing, expensive, and deeply indebted Comte and
Countess de Bocarmé. The death occurred during a dangerously intimate dinner at
their chateau, a 18th century mansion on an estate in southern Belgium. Nor it is
remembered because the Comte died by guillotine in 1851 – so many did after
all.
No, this is a famous murder because of its use of a notably
lethal poison. And because the solving of this particular murder changed the
history of toxicology, helped lay the foundation for modern forensic
science.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Getting the Book Invented
Properly
Long before we actually had e-readers, Douglas Adams
recorded the audio portion of this video in 1993 for his publisher, Voyager
Expanded Books. Now there’s a competition underway challenging animators to
illustrate Adams’ prophetic essay, and this entry by Gavin Edwards is a
standout. Link -via
Buzzfeed
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Combo Post: Dumb crook of the day tries for Darwin
Award
Thomas sitting in the cab before he fell to his death
A nearly 15-hour standoff ended early Tuesday in Dallas
when a robbery suspect who climbed atop a construction crane on the campus of
Southern Methodist University fell 150 feet to his death.
Lee Dell Thomas Jr., 44, had barricaded himself in the
crane’s cab Monday. He fell after Dallas police sent four officers up the crane
to try to remove him…
Thomas had one leg inside and one leg outside the window
of the compartment. Then, he clung to the crane’s edge for a moment before
falling to his death just before 2 a.m. Tuesday.
Thomas may have been involved in a robbery in Dallas,
police said…
Thomas was spotted in the crane’s control cab around 11:30
a.m. Monday, apparently trying to avoid arrest, local affiliates reported. Shortly afterward, he threw an
unidentified object from the cab.
The crane was being used to build a housing area near the
football stadium, according to CNN affiliate KTVT. The crane is also next to the
George W. Bush Presidential Library, which is under construction.
Video from KTVT showed the silhouette of a man holed up in
the cab of the crane, refusing to come down.
Local affiliates at the scene said Thomas got sick inside
the cab Monday, possibly because the compartment didn’t have air-conditioning.
Members of the media saw him take off his shirt and shoes, break out a window
and toss his clothing out.
Another one bites the dust – pretty much
literally. How do you hide from the law in a dead end 150 feet in the
air?
Thanks,
Ed
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anodizing (or the beauty of
corrosion)
Bill Hammock, the
Engineer Guy, explains how our hi-tech gizmos
work as well as they do because of a thin layer of corrosion. -Thanks,
Bill!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I found my son’s killer.
It took three years.
But we did it.
I should clarify one point: my son is very much
alive.
Yet, my wife Cristina and I have been found
responsible for his death.
That’s how Matt Might (of The
Illustrated Guide to a Ph.D. fame) introduces us to his heart-wrenching tale of a sick child.
Months of research, dozens of doctors’ visits and no answers found … only more
questions. Time was, and is, running out for their son.
So they decided to go beyond the cutting edge, and have
their genomes sequenced (the parts that encode proteins, anyway). Their son is
patient zero of a never-before seen disorder, and the knowledge to save his life
lies just beyond our reach.
It’s a must-read, and a reminder of why we toil in labs
across the world: To move that line a bit farther out, and help people like Matt
and his son.
If you’d like to help support this work, Matt is selling printed copies of his famous
Illustrated Guide to a Ph.D. with proceeds going to
research to benefit genetic disorders.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What do you get if you cross an insect with the Easter
rabbit?
Bugs Bunny.
Bugs Bunny.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Save the Yeasts
EVERY TIME A LOAF OF BREAD IS BAKED,
EVERY TIME A LOAF OF BREAD IS BAKED,
APPROXIMATELY 150,000,000 YEASTS ARE KILLED.
Come to the award-winning 1987 film,
"The Very Small and Quiet Screams"
-- a cinematic electromicrograph of yeasts being baked.
"A must for those who care about yeast, and especially for those who don't."
+----------------------------------------------------+
| Evening showing in Johnson & Wales |
| Pirsig Auditorium: 7PM, 4/19 |
+----------------------------------------------------+
==============================================================
SPONSORED BY
Brown Anaerobe Rights Coalition (BARC)
Student Bakers for Social Responsibility
Coalition for the ELevation of Life (CELL)
Campus Crusade for Fetal Matters
==============================================================
Defend all life: 'from greatest to least, from human to yeast!"
This poster printed on 100% yeast-free paper.
Brown Anaerobe Rights Coalition (BARC)
Student Bakers for Social Responsibility
Coalition for the ELevation of Life (CELL)
Campus Crusade for Fetal Matters
==============================================================
Defend all life: 'from greatest to least, from human to yeast!"
This poster printed on 100% yeast-free paper.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q. What's better than roses on your piano ?
A. Two lips on your organ ...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A. Two lips on your organ ...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hot Dogs For
Dessert?
When should you polish off a meal of hot dogs with
more hot dogs for dessert? When the later dogs are actually delicious sugar
cookies with a quick squeeze of yellow frosting. I know what I’m having this
Fourth of July!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Puppy-Go-Round
Or is it a puppy pinwheel? I can’t tell what these
dogs are being fed, and honestly it might be better to not know. But it must be
tasty, as the whole litter goes into full Busby Berkeley mode as soon as it’s
set down for them! -via The Daily What
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No Big Deal, I’m Just Swimming With a Polar Bear
You have to be pretty darn brave to get this up close and personal with one
of the biggest predators around. That being said, it’s pretty adorable and I’m
totally jealous. Would you dare to swim with this cuddly beast?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another great Japanese invention.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
X-Ray Journey Through
Man
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every Day is a
Holiday
Paul Loong was born in Malaysia, and served with the
British Royal Air Force during World War II. He spent three years in Japanese
prison camps. Then Loong worked for years to become a U.S. citizen, which
included joining the U.S. Army during the Korean War. But even then, he had to
fight for citizenship. Afterward, Loong became a doctor for the Veterans
Administration. And that’s just the barest details of his incredible life. Now
88 years old, Loong only recently began to share his wartime stories when he
revealed a diary he kept as a POW. Loong’s daughter, Theresa Loong, produced a
documentary on her father’s life that will air this weekend on PBS. Check your
local listings for Every Day is a Holiday. Link to
story. Link to film site. -via
Fark
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For three years, the young attorney had been taking his
brief vacations at this country inn. The last time he'd finally managed an
affair with the innkeeper's daughter. Looking forward to an exciting few days,
he dragged his suitcase up the stairs of the inn, then stopped short. There sat
his lover with an infant in her lap!
"Helen, why didn't you write when you learned you were pregnant?" he cried. "I would have rushed up here, we could have gotten married, and the baby would have my name!"
"Well," she said, "when my folks found out about my condition, we sat up all night talkin' and talkin' and decided it would be better to have a bastard in the family than a lawyer!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Helen, why didn't you write when you learned you were pregnant?" he cried. "I would have rushed up here, we could have gotten married, and the baby would have my name!"
"Well," she said, "when my folks found out about my condition, we sat up all night talkin' and talkin' and decided it would be better to have a bastard in the family than a lawyer!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A doctor fell into a well once.
He learned to tend to the sick and leave the well alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He learned to tend to the sick and leave the well alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After finding no qualified candidates for the
position of principal, the school board is extremely pleased to announce the
appointment of David Steele to the post. -- Philip Streifer, Superintendent of
Schools, Barrington, Rhode Island
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The only thing you can do easily is be wrong, and that's hardly worth the
effort. - The Phantom Tollbooth
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As a little girl climbed onto Santa's lap, Santa asked
the usual, "And what would you like for Christmas?"
The child stared at him open mouthed and horrified for a minute, then gasped: "Didn't you get my E-mail?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The child stared at him open mouthed and horrified for a minute, then gasped: "Didn't you get my E-mail?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A man called the undertaker one afternoon and
sobbed: "Come and bury my wife."
"But I buried your wife ten years ago," replied the undertaker.
"I got married again," the man sobbed.
"Oh," said the undertaker. "Congratulations."
"But I buried your wife ten years ago," replied the undertaker.
"I got married again," the man sobbed.
"Oh," said the undertaker. "Congratulations."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The future of CCTV. Watch what you do.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jocasta Jones is walking in a wood when she discovers
a deep freeze containing a man. She thaws him out, and he introduces himself as
Dum and shows her a book that explains how to build a time machine and a deep
freeze.
Jocasta and Dum marry and produce a baby, whom they
name Dee. Dee grows up, discovers the book, builds a time machine and gets
inside, taking his father and the book with him. The journey into the past takes
a long time, and Dee is forced to kill and eat his father to stay
alive.
Wracked with guilt, he emerges at his destination and
destroys the machine. He changes his name to Dum, but still fearful of being
punished, he builds a deep freeze and gets inside, taking the book with him. He
is awakened by Jocasta.
Now, asks University of Nottingham philosopher
Jonathan Harrison, “Did Jocasta commit a logically possible crime?” From her
perspective, Dum enters her life, they have a child, and husband and child both
disappear. But from Dee’s perspective, she has married her son and borne a
child. Is this incest?
(Harrison, J. (1979) “Jocasta’s crime”,
Analysis 39, 65.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Third Mario
Brother
Mario and Luigi might have all the glorious adventure
saving the princess and all, but someone has to keep the plumbing business
afloat. That job sadly fell on the third Mario Brother, Guiseppe. Geeks Are Sexy
blog has the story of the unsung hero: Link [video clip by
Dorkly]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fun Music Video – Zeroes And
Ones
This quirky music video is for the Baby Seal Club
song Zeroes and Ones, and it features a bunch of chickens wreaking
havoc on the beet headed employees at an Apple store. It’s poultry flavored
mayhem at its finest, and the song ain’t half bad neither! –via Laughing Squid
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Light Left On For 17 Years Racked Up
$17,000 Electricity Bill
Photo: Museo Archeologico Civico di Bologna
This is what happens when someone forgot to turn off
the light: A long-forgotten neon lamp that was switched on during the Great
Depression and left burning for about 77 years has been discovered hidden behind
a dusty partition at Clifton's Cafeteria. The find was made amid an extensive
renovation of the downtown eatery, according to the building's owner, Andrew
Meieran.
The neon fixture is believed to have been
installed in 1935 when Clifford Clinton purchased the lease to Boos Bros.
Cafeteria on Broadway and 7th Street and converted the place into a
forest-themed restaurant. [...] In 1949, the nook was covered over with
plastic and plywood when part of the restroom was partitioned off as a storage
area. But for some reason, workmen never got around to disconnecting
the electricity. For the next 62 years the illuminated tubing was hidden within
the wall. Meieran estimates that the neon tube has racked up more than $17,000
in electrical bills.
And, no-one noticed the
bill???
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
10 Amazingly Old Things That Still
Work
Alex recently shared the story of a light that was still
going after 77 years, but
if you think that’s impressive, then behold the one that’s been going for 111.
For more creations that have lasted amazingly long, check out this Oddee
article. Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Black Magic in Roman
Curses
Photo: Museo Archeologico Civico di Bologna
There ain't no curse like black magic curse! Newly deciphered tablets
revealed the use of black magic in 1,600-year-old Roman curses:
One of the curses targets a Roman senator named Fistus and appears to
be the only known example of a cursed senator. The other curse targets a
veterinarian named Porcello. Ironically, Porcello is the Latin word for pig.
Celia Sánchez Natalías, a doctoral student at the University of
Zaragoza, explained that Porcello was probably his real name. "In the world of
curse tablets, one of the things that you have to do is to try to identify your
victim in a very, very, exact way." Sánchez Natalías added that it
isn't certain who cursed Porcello or why. It could be for either personal or
professional reasons. "Maybe this person was someone that (had) a horse or an
animal killed by Porcello's medicine," said Sánchez Natalías. "Destroy,
crush, kill, strangle Porcello and wife Maurilla. Their soul, heart, buttocks,
liver ..." part of it reads. The iconography on the tablet actually shows a
mummified Porcello, his arms crossed (as is the deity) and his name written on
both of his arms. Owen Jarus of LiveScience has the story: Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Plant That Hunts Its
Prey
Think that plants are just sitting around
photosynthesizin’, think again: some plants like the parasitic dodder vine
actually hunt. Consuelo De Moraes of Penn State University discovered that the parasitic plant
can even sniff out its prey:
Dodder is a parasite—it lives off of other
plants. Instead
of waiting around for a suitable host, the vine hunts one down. Conseulo De Moraes of Penn State University planted a young dodder near a tomato plant and continuously filmed the pair for several days. Her time-lapse video reveals a growing dodder flailing around, tasting the air like a snake, until it finally brushes the tomato’s stem and begins to encircle its victim. Eventually it would sink tiny nozzles into the tomato plant to suck out vital juices. De Moraes discovered something surprising about the dodder: it can smell. The vine sniffs out its hosts, growing toward telltale chemicals released by its neighbors. And it is picky. Dodder prefers juicy tomato plants to slender wheat and healthy plants to sick plants. Link
of waiting around for a suitable host, the vine hunts one down. Conseulo De Moraes of Penn State University planted a young dodder near a tomato plant and continuously filmed the pair for several days. Her time-lapse video reveals a growing dodder flailing around, tasting the air like a snake, until it finally brushes the tomato’s stem and begins to encircle its victim. Eventually it would sink tiny nozzles into the tomato plant to suck out vital juices. De Moraes discovered something surprising about the dodder: it can smell. The vine sniffs out its hosts, growing toward telltale chemicals released by its neighbors. And it is picky. Dodder prefers juicy tomato plants to slender wheat and healthy plants to sick plants. Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Real Cats Pee Like
Men
Someone needs to install a urinal into his litter box to make this process
even easier for the little guy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Baby penguin meets a human for the first time.
Join the Army prank.
Leap, a new way to interact with computers.
Jet-injected drugs may mean the end of needles.
This is bound to happen to the rest of us at least once in our lives.
Conceptual juggling.
Join the Army prank.
Leap, a new way to interact with computers.
Jet-injected drugs may mean the end of needles.
This is bound to happen to the rest of us at least once in our lives.
Conceptual juggling.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Extraordinary Pink
Katydid
A pink katydid is rare, but (not) so rare that we
don’t have photographs to enjoy! It’s not a separate species, but a condition
somewhat similar to albinism. Read more about pink katydids and see stunning
pictures at The Ark in Space. Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the first day of fighting at Gettysburg, an old man in
a swallowtail coat and a high black silk hat presented himself to a Union
officer, volunteering to fight. When asked if he could shoot, he said, “If you
knew that you had before you a soldier of the War of 1812 who fought at Lundy’s
Lane, you would not ask such a question.”
It was the town constable, John L. Burns, born in 1793 and
now nearly 70. He exchanged his ancient musket for a modern rifle and joined the
7th Wisconsin volunteers, with whom he distinguished himself as a sharpshooter
throughout the battle. “He was as calm and collected as as any veteran on the
ground,” remembered Sgt. George Eustice. “He was true blue and grit to the
backbone, and fought until he was three times wounded.”
After the war he was hailed as the “hero of Gettysburg”
and visited by tourists, veterans, and dignitaries, and he even met Lincoln at
the dedication of the National Cemetery. He died in 1872 at age
78.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The tradition of building castells originated in
Valls, near the city of Tarragona, in the southern part of Catalonia towards the
end of the 18th century. Later it developed a following in other regions of
Catalonia and, since 1981, when the first castell of 9 levels of the 20th
century was built, it has become very popular in most of Catalonia.
A castell is considered a success when stages
of its assembling and disassembling, can be done in complete succession. The
assembly is complete once all castellers have climbed into their
designated places, and the enxaneta climbs into place at the top and
raises one hand with four fingers erect, in a gesture said to symbolize the
stripes of the Catalan flag. The enxaneta then climbs down the other side
of the castell, after which the remaining levels of castellers
descend in highest-to-lowest order until all have reached safety.
The sash (faixa) is the most important part of their outfit, since it supports the lower back and is used by other castellers in the team as a foothold or handhold when climbing up the tower. This tasselled piece of cloth varies in length and width and depends on the casteller's position inside the tower and also on choice. The length of the sash ranges from 1.5 to 12 m, and usually is shorter for those higher up in the castell. Performing castellers usually go barefoot as to minimise injures upon each other as they climb to their position and also for sensitivity when balancing and to have better feel and hold each other.
The motto of Castellers is "Força, equilibri, valor i seny" (Strength, balance, courage and common sense). Not a bad motto for life in general. More info here.
The sash (faixa) is the most important part of their outfit, since it supports the lower back and is used by other castellers in the team as a foothold or handhold when climbing up the tower. This tasselled piece of cloth varies in length and width and depends on the casteller's position inside the tower and also on choice. The length of the sash ranges from 1.5 to 12 m, and usually is shorter for those higher up in the castell. Performing castellers usually go barefoot as to minimise injures upon each other as they climb to their position and also for sensitivity when balancing and to have better feel and hold each other.
The motto of Castellers is "Força, equilibri, valor i seny" (Strength, balance, courage and common sense). Not a bad motto for life in general. More info here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Rise of Plastic
What did we ever do before plastic? After all, the
synthetic material is not all that ancient. “Plastic is so new, Freinkel began,
that among all the objects preserved in the sunken Titanic, none are synthetic
plastic, because there was hardly any available in 1912. Natural plastic,
however, was a familiar material. Amber was popular. Rubber was essential (all
plant cellulose is made of long-chain polymers). Ivory for everything from
billiard balls to piano keys was in such high demand that an 1867 paper warned
about the looming extinction of elephants. The first synthetic
plastic—celluoid—was developed as a substitute for ivory, and the elephants
survived. Wired posted interesting excerpts from a talk by Susan Freinkel about
the history of manufacturing objects of plastic. Link -via
Boing
Boing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
10 Incredible Confluences Around the
World
A confluence is a place where two (or more) bodies of
water meet. When two rivers meet and mix, especially rivers with water of
different colors, the confluence is quite dramatic. See pictures of the most
interesting meetings of contrasting waters from around the world at Twisted
Sifter. Shown here is the confluence of the Jialing and Yangtze Rivers in China.
Link -via
The World Geography
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eddie Deezen gave us 12 Baseball Feats That Only Happened Once.
Why Disco Died, from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader, was the followup to the previous article Why Disco Happened.
Why Disco Died, from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader, was the followup to the previous article Why Disco Happened.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You Gotta Pay the Piper
If you had to guess what German city has a big rodent
problem, you might think of Hamelin -and you’d be right. City officials say a
popular fountain has been put out of service after the rodents gnawed through a
power cable, according to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. The Lower Saxony
city is where, legend has it, the Pied Piper led all the rats out in 1284 with
his magic pipe into the Weser River, where they drowned. This time around, city
officials say they’ll just decommission the fountain, which was due to be
permanently closed anyway. Oh, why were they planning to close the
fountain? High maintenance costs. Seven hundred years later, the city is still
stingy about paying for municipal services. Link -via
Fark
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
…and he’s very angry!
Which reminds me of one of the most awesome tees of all time: Schrödinger’s Cat t-shirt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some states permit less-than-unanimous jury verdicts in
criminal cases. If a person is convicted of a crime in such a state by a jury
that splits, say, nine to three, then has the defendant’s guilt been proved
beyond a reasonable doubt? Does the mere existence of outvoted jurors (or their
doubts) establish a reasonable doubt that should overturn the majority’s vote to
convict? In Johnson v. Louisiana, 406 U.S. 356 (1972), the Supreme
Court faced this question and held that it does not; even a split jury can
convict a person beyond a reasonable doubt. But in Johnson, the Supreme
Court was itself split as much as it could be, five to four. Is there a
reasonable doubt as to what constitutes reasonable doubt?
– Peter Suber, The Paradox of Self-Amendment,
1990
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Man Who Lived in
AOL
Frank Zappa - “It’s Okay To Be Smart”
After completing a four-month incubator program
at AOL's Palo Alto campus, Eric Simons discovered that his badge still worked so
he decided to live there:
"I couldn't afford to live anywhere," Simons
recalled. "I started living out of AOL's headquarters." [...] For
someone with neither money nor an aversion to sleeping on others' couches, the
AOL building had plenty of allure. "They had a gym there with showers," Simons
said. "I'd take a shower after work. I was like, 'I could totally work
here...They have food upstairs, they have every drink on tap. This would be a
sweet place to live.'"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The UPS Van Smuggler
An enterprising human smuggler tried to use a
phony UPS van to make a special delivery to the United States: 13 illegal
immigrants from Mexico.
What can Brown do for you? Apparently not human
smuggling as the scheme was foiled by U.S. Border Patrol:
The van looked like a legitimate United
Parcel Service Inc. delivery vehicle, except the company decal on the back door
was slightly crooked. [..] Migrants told authorities they had agreed to pay
between $5,000 and $8,000 each to be smuggled into the United States, according
to the criminal complaint. Link Well, at least being stuffed inside a UPS van beats
being stuffed into a van's
seat! Previously on Neatorama: 10 Weird Items People Tried to
Smuggle
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sketches from Leonardo da Vinci’s
Notebook: The Large Hadron Collider
You may already know about Leonardo da Vinci’s
submarine design, or his sketches for helicopters, parachutes and airplanes. But
you not have seen his plan for a compact muon solenoid detector, almost
identical to the one now used by CERN in its Large Hadron Collider. That, at
least, is the idea behind this drawing by physicist Sergio Cittolin. View more
images at the link. Link
-via io9
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Bacteria Could Make You Poop
Rainbows
“‘The Oracle of
Wikipedia‘ finds the quickest Wikipedia link between two searches you
provide.
A really cool stop motion video that would be good on its own, but the music really makes it.
These lovely lightning photographs are electrifying (pun intended, yes. YES!)
Top 10 New Species Of 2012.
A really cool stop motion video that would be good on its own, but the music really makes it.
These lovely lightning photographs are electrifying (pun intended, yes. YES!)
Top 10 New Species Of 2012.
100 billion times more viscous than
water
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DeLorean Enters Bicycle Biz
Plutonium is expensive. It also can’t be good for the
environment.
So, DeLorean — yes,
that DeLorean — has entered the bicycle
business. According to estimates, these babies
will still set you back a whopping $5,000*…which, if you think about it, is
still less than Plutonium. No word on what happens if you pedal to
88mph. (*Flux capacitor not included.) [Source: DeLorean
Bicycles / Via HiConsumption]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frank Zappa - “It’s Okay To Be Smart”
“A lot of people who were born smart pretend to
be dumb so they can have friends, and that’s a tragedy, you know? … [forget
about] acting dumb to have friends, because those friends aren’t gonna do you
any good anyway.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The moon is about to become crowded.
In the next few years a slew of countries, including
China, India, and Japan, are looking to put unmanned
probes on the lunar surface. But more
unprecedented are the 26 teams currently racing to win the Google Lunar X Prize – a contest that will award $20 million to the first private
company to land a robot on the lunar surface, travel a third of a mile, and send
back a high-definition image before 2015.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Snowglobe Salt & Pepper
Shakers
Are you looking for a way to make your dining
experience more magical? You need the Snowglobe Salt & Pepper Shakers from
the NeatoShop. The pieces
of this enchanting set are shaped like waterglobes. They are sure to bring fun
and child like innocence back to your table. More importantly, however, they are
a great way to distract from really bad food.
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great
Salt
& Pepper Shakers!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The source of all this au naturel
flaunting lies not in the culture of fame, but in the design of our sexual
brains.
This flood of celebrity skin has prompted folks to
wonder, ‘Why are so many famous people exhibitionists?’ The source of all this
au naturel flaunting lies not in the culture of fame, but in the design
of our sexual brains. In fact, research has unveiled two distinct explanations:
Female exhibitionism appears to be primarily cortical, while male exhibitionism
is mainly subcortical.
“The desire of the man is for the woman,” Madame de Stael famously
penned, “The desire of the woman is for the desire of the man.” Being the center
of sexual attention is a fundamental female turn-on dramatized in women’s
fantasies, female-authored erotica, and in the cross-cultural gush of sultry
self-portraits.
Studies have found that more than half of women’s
sexual fantasies reflect the desire to be sexually irresistible. In one academic
survey, 47 percent of women reported the fantasy of seeing themselves as a
striptease dancer, harem girl, or other performer. Fifty percent fantasized
about delighting many men.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The evidence for precognition was staring us in the face all along. Hilarious
satire of psychology’s problems.
Deathtraps so beautiful you could cry. Jennifer Frazer on glow
worms.
10 science concepts that would make awesome
supervillains
What is the “Bible of Psychiatry” supposed to do?
Space junk piling up around Earth has reached a tipping
point.
“Citizens in Space is sponsoring… a $10,000 competition to
detect organisms at the edge of space.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The mudskipper
– a fish that drags itself along muddy land with its front fins (as in the video
below).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Judging by the lack of fur on this little guy, he
or she has a month or more of pouch-time to go before fully venturing out, but
limbs and snout will ocassionally make an appearance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mind The Map
I love old maps and this cleverly titled "Mind the Map"
exhibition (from the famous "Mind the Gap" phrase, if you're
familiar with it) at the London Transport Museum certainly has a lot of them:
the exhibition features the museum's maps and artwork about the London Tube.
Chris Michael of The Guardian has 14 of the best examples: Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Emily Schuman of Cupcakes
and Cashmere has created these Cappuccino Pops, delicious iced pops
made primarily with freshly brewed espresso, sweetened condensed milk, and
whipped cream. The original recipe
is from Everyday with Rachael Ray.
Yield: 10 Prep:
15 mins(plus cooling and freezing)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Smithsonian Magazine Online
The fight over Robert E. Lee's beloved
home—seized by the U.S. government during the Civil War—went on for
decades
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little girl asked her father, "Daddy? Do all Fairy
Tales begin with Once Upon A Time?"
And he replied, "No, there is a whole series of Fairy Tales that begin with 'If Elected I promise...'"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And he replied, "No, there is a whole series of Fairy Tales that begin with 'If Elected I promise...'"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Final Journey of USS
Iowa
Los Angeles Times photographer Don Bartletti snapped
this wonderful photo of the battleship U.S.S. Iowa passing underneath the Golden
Gate Bridge on its final journey.
Steve Chawkins of the LA Times has the story:
Coincidentally, the 69-year-old ship's stately passage occurred as tourists
thronged San Francisco for Memorial Day and for a citywide celebration of the
bridge's 75th birthday. "It's so fitting that this great warship goes
out for her last time on the bridge's 75th anniversary," said Bob Rogers, a
spokesman for the Pacific Battleship Center, the nonprofit that is funding the
ship's move and transformation into a museum. "So many battleships and
destroyers left for the Pacific out of San Francisco Bay," he said. "There were
very emotional feelings as they passed under the bridge to go out and very happy
feelings when they passed under it to return."
Link |
USS Iowa official website
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A clerk at a business in Henderson, North Carolina
punched a would-be robber and knocked him out cold just minutes after the man
barged in with a gun and demanded money. After the robber came to he was made to
clean up his own blood.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Think alpine sports and you'll probably think of skiing
and snowboarding, but there's another alpine sport that doesn't get the same
coverage - Alpine Finger Wrestling. The 35th edition of the annual Alpine Finger
Wrestling Championships took place in the Bavarian region of Schnaitsee, Germany
recently - with a handful of winners across the weight divisions thrilling the
highly enthusiastic crowd. The sport began when the art of finger wrestling was
used as a method of settling disputes in the Alps back in the 17th century. But
today, in 2012, finger wrestling is a sport in its own right. Well, in
Bavaria at least.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
California-based Imnopeas posted a recipe and detailed tutorial on
Instructables on how to make Cake Fries, crinkle cut french
fry-shaped cakes that is paired with a red raspberry ‘ketchup’. A store-bought
pound cake is cut with a zig-zag knife, and then baked to look like crinkle cut
fries. Pureed raspberries are the base of the ‘ketchup’. She was inspired by a
recipe by
Bob Blumer of Food Network’s
The Surreal
Gourmet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Law in Longyearbyen, Norway: No Dying
Allowed!
In the frozen Svalbard archipelago, far north of the Norwegian mainland,
temperatures rarely rise above freezing. This became a problem during the
influenza pandemic of 1917-1920 because the victims’ bodies did not decompose,
the virus inside of them did not die. So officials in the settlement of
Longyearbyen passed a clever law to prevent further destruction by the disease.
They banned death:
The cold earth had preserved the corpses and, unfortunately, had also kept
the influenza strain alive. There is no reason to believe that anyone was
infected by the resurrected influenza, but regardless, its discovery provided a
warning to the town officials. Realizing that Longyearbyen, quite isolated from
the rest of the world, had no way of handling its dead — and at risk to the
living — its leaders simply declared that dying was not permitted in the town.
Enforcement, of course, cannot be done via punitive action — “don’t die, or
else!” is a strange ultimatum, to say the least. Rather, Longyearbyen prevents
people from dying in town by a system akin to an administrative hokey-pokey. The
cemetery closed in 1930, accepting no future burials. Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why People Cheat and Lie (Just a
Little!)
There are a few bad apples that cheat a lot, but
surely most of us are honest people who'd never cheat, right? Not according to
research study by Duke University Economics professor Dan Ariely. His study
showed that almost everybody cheats just a little. In a series of experiments,
Ariely was able to increase or decrease the ratio of cheaters:
Much of what we have learned about the causes
of dishonesty comes from a simple little experiment that we call the "matrix
task," which we have been using in many variations. It has shown rather
conclusively that cheating does not correspond to the traditional, rational
model of human behavior—that is, the idea that people simply weigh the benefits
(say, money) against the costs (the possibility of getting caught and punished)
and act accordingly.
The basic matrix task goes as follows: Test
subjects (usually college students) are given a sheet of paper containing a
series of 20 different matrices (structured like the example you can see above)
and are told to find in each of the matrices two numbers that add up to 10. They
have five minutes to solve as many of the matrices as possible, and they get
paid based on how many they solve correctly. When we want to make it possible
for subjects to cheat on the matrix task, we introduce what we call the
"shredder condition." The subjects are told to count their correct answers on
their own and then put their work sheets through a paper shredder at the back of
the room. They then tell us how many matrices they solved correctly and get paid
accordingly.
What happens when we put people through the
control condition and the shredder condition and then compare their scores? In
the control condition, it turns out that most people can solve about four
matrices in five minutes. But in the shredder condition, something funny
happens: Everyone suddenly and miraculously gets a little smarter. Participants
in the shredder condition claim to solve an average of six matrices—two more
than in the control condition. This overall increase results not from a few
individuals who claim to solve a lot more matrices but from lots of people who
cheat just by a little.
Interestingly, increasing the payoff or the
probability of being caught has no effect on making people cheat
more.
The Wall Street Journal has the fascinating
(honest!) post: Link
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“We have our Arts so
we won’t die of Truth.”
Ray Bradbury and other
famous authors on truth vs. fiction (via explore-blog)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A sunrise in China’s Sea of Clouds is
shockingly gorgeous
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How much does it cost to be an unbeatable
evil overlord?
Peter Anspach's "The Top 100 Things I'd Do If I Ever Became An Evil
Overlord" is required reading for anyone
hoping to enter the growing field of supervillainry. But how much does it cost
to be a successful and rational evil overlord?
The speculative bean counters at Centives
have attached a price tag to each item on Anspach's list, and it should surprise
no one that truly thorough supervillainry doesn't come cheap.
31. All naive, busty tavern wenches in my realm will
be replaced with surly, world-weary waitresses who will provide no unexpected
reinforcement and/or romantic subplot for the hero or his sidekick.
Cost: $4,701,320 Notes: The unemployment benefits of
a thousand young ladies every year.
See the rest of the items, and their sources, at
Centives.
Love the comments
~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A sincere thanks to all those who’ve served their country
and given their lives for ours. You are not forgotten. You’ll find many of
America’s National Memorials in the District of Columbia, including the FDR
Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Korean War Memorial. Today’s quiz takes
you outside the borders of the capital to identify the states in which these 10
other National Memorials lie. Match them up by keying in the corresponding
number from the left column in the blanks on the right column. Good
luck!
The Memorial Day Quiz: National Memorials
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arlington is some of the most hallowed ground in the
United States. More than 400,000 fallen servicemen and women are buried there
and are honored with a service every Memorial Day. But despite its great
importance, the cemetery has had more than its share of scandals over the last
148 years.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alternative Energy
Revolution
Warning:
this comic occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for
children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced
mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why does a dog lick his balls?
Because he can't make a fist.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Because he can't make a fist.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ursa
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ursarodinia@aol.com
ursarodinia@aol.com
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