March 2010
2 posts
Chatroulette - piano improv →
See this guy do his stuff on youtube.
Woman gets the shock of her life on Antiques Road... →
Arizona State lawmakers in the Senate approved a measure to get rid of the statute of limitation for victims of child abuse to file lawsuits. However, this lifetime right to sue has one notable exception: for the church and school districts. If you are suing the Church for its failure to act to stop a pedophile, you still only have two years.
The lobbyist for the Catholic Church admits that...
February 2010
6 posts
Humour
A man is in a bar having a drink when he notices a well dressed guy come through the door with 5 beautiful women all over him. He also happens to have an Orange for a head. The man at the bar watches him flirt and buy rounds and flash bankrolls of money and get all the attention in the room for an hour before getting up the nerve to approach the man. “Excuse me, Sir…” he says,...
Antigrams
Whereas anagrams simply transpose the letters in a word to give us a new meaning, antigrams have a more sinister tendency. Rearranging the letters of the words on the page gives a new word or phrase that directly opposes or contradicts it.
Astronomers — No more stars
Funeral — Real Fun
Honestly — On the Sly
Within Earshot — I won’t hear this
Medicate —...
Heimlich manoeuvre
Aviva Ziegler: Almost everyone you speak to about a choking treatment will say ‘use the Heimlich manoeuvre’ and on any street, in any country you’ll probably get the same answer. But you might be shocked to learn that the Heimlich manoeuvre appears to have never been accepted practice in Australia. We are one of the only countries in the world where it’s not officially on...
January 2010
5 posts
You have the right to remain silent.
When the case Miranda v. Arizona reached the Supreme Court in 1966, coercive police interrogation took another blow. Ernesto Miranda had confessed to rape and kidnapping after two hours of interrogation, and the appeal to the Supreme Court alleged that Miranda was not aware of his rights to remain silent (the Fifth Amendment) and to counsel (the Sixth Amendment). The Court ruled in favor of...
“Fewer deaths occurred in Hiroshima in August 1945 than in Port-au-Prince last...”
– ABC The Drum Unleashed - Prioritising life
Creative newspaper headline →
From the Washington post.
December 2009
6 posts
Rain drop check box →
Maximize your browser for this one.
The dollar auction game
I heard about this game on a game theory blog.
The game involves someone auctioning off one dollar. Bidding starts at 5 cents and bids increase by five cent increments.
There are two main components to the auction.
The auction ends when no one bids higher. The highest bidder pays the price of his bid and gets the dollar as a prize.
The second highest bidder is also forced to pay his losing bid...
“Apple should pull the plug on the iPhone… What Apple risks here is its...”
– John C. Dvorak, 28 March 2007
November 2009
8 posts
Mininova goes Supernova
Mininova limits its activities to Content Distribution service at Mininova blog
Today is an important day in the history of Mininova. From now on, we are limiting Mininova.org to our Content Distribution service. By doing so, we comply with the ruling of the Court of Utrecht of last August.
“While there is, on average, only one supernova per galaxy per century, there is...”
– “Hypernovas” - The Most Violent Object in the Universe Confirmed
Available personalised plate - Personalised Plates... →
I was trying out combinations, and found this one is available.
15 Things Worth Knowing About Coffee →
How ships are launched. [VIDEO] →
Ever wondered how they got huge ships out of dry dock? Me neither, but here’s how they do it.
Physical Storage vs. Digital Storage →
October 2009
8 posts
Cell Size and Scale →
Zoom in from a coffee bean to a carbon atom.
http://www.youtube.com/warp.swf?v=oHg5SJYRHA0 →
Change “watch” to “warp” in the youtube url and you get this…
Average human lifespan, by era:
Neanderthal: 20 years
Neolithic: 20 years
Classical Greece: 28 years
Classical Rome: 28 years
Medieval England: 33 years
End of 18th century: 37 years
Early 20th century: 50 years
Circa 1940: 65 years
Current (in the West): 77-81 years
Today the average Zambian dies at age 37, the average Japanese at age 81.
Hands Down
The origin of this colloquialism seem to have its roots in mid-19th century horseracing. When a horse jockey is nearing the finish line far ahead of the competition, “with victory certain”, he could drop his hands, and relaxing his hold on the reins and still win the race. “By the late 19th century the phrase was being used in non-racing contexts to mean ‘with no trouble at...
“0.99999… = 1”
– Polymathematics: No, I’m Sorry, It Does.
WatchDyson unveils blade-free fan | Crave - CNET
September 2009
14 posts
Play the Petals Around the Rose game →
The name of the game is Petals Around the Rose.
The name of the game is important.
The score will always be zero or an even number.
It took me 50 goes to get it.
How Many Nukes Will It Really Take to Instantly... →
A quasi-scientific approach.
““These propulsion systems were used by NASA on moon rockets,” said Tom...”
– Futility Closet
The exception proves the rule.
A seemingly nonsensical familiar expression is ‘The exception proves the rule.’ Those who say it use it to convey a message that an inconsistency confirms the validity of the hypothesis, which is an absurd notion. The existence of white bears, for instance, doesn’t prove the statement “All bears are brown or black.”
The phrase’s meaning is actually quite...
Normandy 1944 - Then and Now →
Pictures of Normandy circa 1944 are recreated in the present day and shown side-by-side.
EEL SLAP →