Daily Surf

Mattel's "Vibrating" Harry Potter broomstick big hit among girls. Mattel pulls toy off the shelves!

2007-09-07T09:03:00.001-07:00

The Afgan Spice Girls!

2007-09-01T12:56:00.001-07:00

Pointless Family Photo of the Year!

2007-09-01T03:54:00.000-07:00

Finally Men's Underwear Advertised Right!

2007-08-31T07:49:00.001-07:00

Why Alberto Gonzales is Really Resigning

2007-08-29T12:57:00.000-07:00

The Ultimate Geek Clock

2007-08-26T03:32:00.001-07:00

What not to wear in the Emergency Room

2007-08-26T03:30:00.001-07:00

I thought the bible was the complete idiot's guide to the future.

2007-08-25T08:59:00.000-07:00

Yeah this works great now, but what about when the criminals get segways?

2007-08-25T08:58:00.000-07:00

The Most Awesome Mario Bros Tatoo!

2007-08-25T08:55:00.001-07:00

We waited 30 min NO SERVICE!

2007-08-25T07:08:00.001-07:00

A girl sent this to me after i met her at a party!

2007-08-23T05:16:00.000-07:00

As if death wasn't bad enough!

2007-08-21T05:59:00.000-07:00

How to Wash Your Clothes!

2007-08-20T03:53:00.001-07:00

Criteria for the proper tactical usage of the phrase "Oh Snap"

2007-08-18T10:26:00.000-07:00

The Worst Logo EVER!

2007-08-16T08:52:00.001-07:00

Do Not Enter!

2007-08-16T07:43:00.001-07:00

A Notice to Shoplifters!

2007-08-16T07:39:00.000-07:00

A Pirate's Computer!

2007-08-16T06:08:00.000-07:00

Great Ambulance Service Ad!

2007-08-15T04:43:00.000-07:00

In Case of Revolution Break Glass!

2007-08-15T04:39:00.001-07:00

Toothbrush Concept Brilliantly Simple!

2007-08-14T07:54:00.000-07:00

Brush & Rinse Toothbrush Brilliantly Simple

Normally when we write about a toothbrush it’s a high-tech rechargeable wonder with built-in timers and vibrating plaque-busting features. The Brush & Rinse however has nothing like that but in my opinion is far more useful than even the most expensive brushes on the market. The back of the toothbrush’s head has been specially engineered so that it can effectively redirect water from a faucet to your mouth for easy rinsing. As the designers put it:

At this point, no one should be using disposable cups for rinsing after brushing. No one should have to wash a glass or cup everytime they rinse. No one should have to lap water from their hand. No one should be forced to slurp excess water from toothbrush bristles. Current methods of getting water into our mouths for rinsing after brushing are sloppy, create waste, and place unnecessary stress on our bodies. And, people love water fountains.

The Brush & Rinse toothbrush has a retail price of $3 but doesn’t actually appear to be available for sale on the Amron Experimental website. However you can buy 1 of 27 original working prototypes for only $1,750 each.

Do You Know Enough To Enlist (in the US Military)?...

2007-08-09T11:09:00.001-07:00

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How the Acts of Patriots Have Changed....

2007-08-09T11:06:00.001-07:00

The Mark of Shame!

2007-08-08T09:35:00.001-07:00

Mark of shame: A Thai police officer models a "Hello Kitty" armband. Officers who break police rules will be forced to wear the hot pink armbands featuring the Japanese icon of cute as a mark of shame. If this idea expands to the U.S., how about using Barney?

Firefox Cookies!

2007-08-08T05:04:00.000-07:00

Where's the baby?

2007-08-07T08:20:00.000-07:00

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One of the most clever business card designs I've ever seen!

2007-08-07T08:10:00.000-07:00

This ad won't run next month...

2007-08-07T07:57:00.000-07:00

Amazing Lego New York City!

2007-08-06T11:19:00.001-07:00

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Calvin's dad explains the Theory of Relativity!

2007-08-06T06:29:00.000-07:00

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The Tulsa Police Know Exactly Where To Get Thier Cars From!

2007-08-06T03:04:00.000-07:00

Kevin Mitnick's Business Card!

2007-08-06T03:01:00.000-07:00

You have to see this famous hacker's business card, it's badass!

When Hitler Has Stolen Your Seat!

2007-08-05T01:52:00.002-07:00

Wal-Mart tries out a new wage in Mexico: $0 an hour!

2007-08-01T12:20:00.000-07:00

Teens at Work

Thousands of adolescents work as unpaid baggers in Wal-Mart’s Mexican stores. The retail giant isn’t breaking any laws—but that doesn’t mean the government is happy with the practice.

July 31, 2007 - Wal-Mart prides itself on cutting costs at home and abroad, and its Mexican operations are no exception. That approach has helped the Arkansas-based retail giant set a track record of spectacular success in the 16 years since it entered Mexico as a partner of the country’s then-leading retail-store chain. But some of the company’s practices have aroused concern among some officials and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that Wal-Mart is taking advantage of local customs to pinch pennies at a time when its Mexican operations have never been more profitable.

Wal-Mart is Mexico’s largest private-sector employer in the nation today, with nearly 150,000 local residents on its payroll. An additional 19,000 youngsters between the ages of 14 and 16 work after school in hundreds of Wal-Mart stores, mostly as grocery baggers, throughout Mexico—and none of them receives a red cent in wages or fringe benefits. The company doesn’t try to conceal this practice: its 62 Superama supermarkets display blue signs with white letters that tell shoppers: OUR VOLUNTEER PACKERS COLLECT NO SALARY, ONLY THE GRATUITY THAT YOU GIVE THEM. SUPERAMA THANKS YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING. The use of unsalaried youths is legal in Mexico because the kids are said to be “volunteering” their services to Wal-Mart and are therefore not subject to the requirements and regulations that would otherwise apply under the country’s labor laws. But some officials south of the U.S. border nonetheless view the practice as regrettable, if not downright exploitative. “These kids should receive a salary,” says Labor Undersecretary Patricia Espinosa Torres. “If you ask me, I don’t think these kids should be working, but there are cultural and social circumstances [in Mexico] rooted in poverty and scarcity.”

In a country where nearly half of the population scrapes by on less than $4 a day, any income source is welcome in millions of households, even if it hinges on the goodwill of a tipping customer. And Wal-Mart did not invent the bagger program that, as a written statement from the company notes, pre-dates the firm’s arrival in Mexico, nor is it alone within the country’s retail sector in benefiting from the toil of unpaid adolescents. But in Mexico City, for example, the 4,300 teenagers who work in Wal-Mart’s retail stores free of charge dwarf similar numbers laboring unpaid for Mexican competitors like Comercial Mexicana (715) and Gigante (427). Although Wal-Mart’s worldwide code of ethics expressly forbids any “associate” from working without compensation, the company’s Mexican subsidiary asserts that the grocery baggers “cannot be considered workers.” The Mexico City government’s top labor official dismisses that contention as so much corporate hogwash. “To my mind, that is not an accurate description because the bagger is providing a service on the store’s premises that benefits the company by serving the customer better,” argues Federal District Labor Secretary Benito Mirón Lince. “In economic terms, Wal-Mart does have the capability to pay the minimum wage [of less than $5 a day], and this represents an injustice.”

Certainly, Wal-Mart’s bottom line is healthy. Wal-Mart de Mexico reported net earnings of $1.148 billion in 2006 and $280 million in profits in the second quarter of this year, a 7 percent increase in real terms over the same period last year. Buoyed by the handsome bottom-line results of the preceding 12 months, Wal-Mart de Mexico Chief Executive Eduardo Solórzano announced plans in February to add 125 new stores and restaurants to its existing network of 893 retail establishments during the course of 2007. That ambitious expansion plan will represent new investment totaling nearly a billion dollars, according to company spokesmen.

And in its defense, Wal-Mart says it fully complies with a 1999 agreement covering the teenaged baggers that the Mexico City municipal government negotiated with the Supermarkets and Department Stores Association of Mexico. The company also says it goes beyond the obligations of that accord, awarding bonuses twice a year to baggers who maintain high grades in school and also providing accident insurance that covers the kids not only when they are on duty, but also when they are en route between home and workplace. The company’s written statement cited a study conducted by the Mexican government and a U.N. agency that found that teenagers participating in the baggers’ program were less likely to use illegal drugs than peers who panhandled or hawked merchandise on city streets.

Wal-Mart says the bagger program was designed “in accordance with the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) guidelines.” That’s questionable: Article 2 of the ILO’s Convention 138 specifically prohibits the employment of 14-year-old children. (When asked by NEWSWEEK specifically about this clause, a Wal-Mart spokesman said in a written response: "With respect to your questions about the ILO, I repeat that we subscribe to an agreement signed between the Supermarkets and Department Stores Association of Mexico and Mexican labor officials. I suggest you share your doubts with Mexican authorities as to whether the [1999] accord [with the Mexico City municipal government] is in line with ILO guidelines.") A study conducted by three student researchers at the Autonomous University of Mexico documented violations of the 1999 agreement at a Wal-Mart Supercenter store in southern Mexico City. These included inadequate training and forcing youngsters to work a double shift, thereby exceeding the six-hour limit per day established by the accord. Then again, things could be a lot worse. In February 2005, Wal-Mart agreed to pay the U.S. Labor Department $135,540 in civil money penalties to settle charges of 24 child-labor violations. Some of the accusations involved minors who operated forklifts, chain saws and other potentially dangerous equipment. Stuffing groceries into plastic bags would seem considerably less hazardous.

Awesome Impeach Bush Banner!

2007-08-01T03:43:00.000-07:00

Supercell over Geneva!

2007-07-31T10:15:00.000-07:00

New STAR TREK Episode Starring George Takei To Premiere August 23!

2007-07-31T10:08:00.000-07:00

Oh My!!
New STAR TREK Episode Starring George Takei
To Premiere August 23!!

There’s a new “Star Trek” episode coming.

It stars George Takei as Hikaru Sulu and Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand.

It was written by TV vets Marc Scott Zicree (“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”) and Michael Reaves (“Batman: The Animated Series”). Zicree makes his directorial debut.

It boasts more than 700 effects shots.

It premieres Aug. 23 on the Internet on at the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills.

Viacom apparently has no plans to sue anyone involved!

Look! Press release!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEGEORGE TAKEI BACK AS SULUIN AUGUST 23 STAR TREK PREMIEREOscar and Emmy winners – along with the fans – team to complete Sulu STAR TREK episode begun 30 years ago

GEORGE TAKEI may be playing a hero on HEROES and serving as Howard Stern's recurring sidekick on subscription radio, but it's as the dashing Mr. Sulu, helmsman on the starship Enterprise, that he will be forever loved by the fans.

But he hardly imagined his greatest Sulu episode would come in 2007! Takei is starring in "World Enough and Time," a new STAR TREK episode produced by an amazing mix of Industry pros and fans that will be premiering at the Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills on August 23, 2007, with both the premiere and episode streaming real-time worldwide on the Internet – literally a world premiere.

Plus one lucky fan will win airfare to the premiere and exclusive dinner with Takei, the writers and director of the episode. (To register to stream the episode and/or enter the contest, log onto www.startreknewvoyages.com)

It all began when STAR TREK – NEXT GENERATION writer MARC SCOTT ZICREE learned of STAR TREK NEW VOYAGES, a high-quality series of fan episodes that were getting millions of viewers and beating the networks at their own game.

"I recalled a terrific Sulu story my friend MICHAEL REAVES came up with for STAR TREK PHASE II, a series Paramount was going to do in the mid-70s," Zicree recalls. "After a year of building sets and buying stories, the studio made the movies instead, so the script was never written. Ironically, Michael's story had Sulu aging 30 years and raising a family on an alien planet, so it seemed perfect timing to do it now."

Zicree suggested to Reaves, an Emmy-winner and also a STAR TREK – NEXT GENERATION writer, that the two of them write the script together. He then contacted JAMES CAWLEY, producer and star of NEW VOYAGES, who eagerly agreed to their proposal.

Finally, Zicree met with Takei and pitched him the episode (the two had been friendly acquaintances since Zicree had interviewed Takei for his landmark book THE TWILIGHT ZONE COMPANION). "I told him, 'You're a brilliant actor who never got the Sulu episode you deserved, and this is it." Zicree laughs. "He read the synopsis then and there and said, 'I'm in.'"
Utilizing the existing cast and crew of NEW VOYAGES, Zicree set about augmenting it with Industry pros from his own career on network shows, including top STAR WARS artist IAIN McCAIG (designer of Darth Maul and Queen Amidala) and Oscar and Emmy-winning makeup, effects and storyboard wizards from such TV shows and films as BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, LOST, HEROES and SPIDERMAN 3.

Guest roles included two more STAR TREK legends – GRACE LEE WHITNEY, reprising her role as Rand, and MAJEL BARRETT RODDENBERRY, Gene Roddenberry's widow, contributing her talents as the Enterprise's computer voice. Rounding out the cast was Broadway actress CHRISTINA MOSES, as Sulu's daughter Alana.
Shot in high definition with over 700 effects shots, "World Enough and Time" boasts a level of production far beyond a network show. More than that, Zicree is proud that the story works on an emotional level.

"People who see it are in tears by the end," he notes, adding that ardent fans of the episode include such noted writers as MARV WOLFMAN, creator of BLADE, and science fiction icon RAY BRADBURY.

With the world premiere finally in sight, Zicree can breathe a sigh of relief at having finished his first directorial effort (after over 100 script sales as a writer-producer). Mentors who advised him included such esteemed directors as GUILLERMO DEL TORO (PAN'S LABYRINTH), MICHAEL NANKIN (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA) and ROXANN DAWSON (HEROES). "But the best advice I got was from J.J. Abrams, who said, 'Pretend you know what you're doing!'"

What Do 300 Calorie Meals Look Like?

2007-07-29T03:43:00.000-07:00

Breakfast - 290 Calories
1 whole wheat English muffin
2 pats low fat butter
1 hard boiled egg1/2 cup of fruit
8 oz fruit juice
8 oz water

Cereal - 300 Calories
1 cup of cereal
8 oz 2% milk
1 banana
1 coffee or tea

Baked potato - 305 Calories
1 medium baked potato
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons salsa
1 cup sliced melon
12 oz water

Oatmeal - 325 Calories
1 cup oatmeal with raisins
1 cup of fruit
1 cup coffee or tea
1 banana

Soup - 350 Calories
1 bowl of soup
1 small tossed salad
2 tablespoons reduced fat oil and vinegar dressing
12 oz water
4 saltine crackers

Chicken - 345 Calories
6 oz of chicken
1 cup of green beans
2 pats of low-fat butter1 small tossed salad
2 tablespoons reduced fat oil and vinegar dressing
12 oz water

Chicken Salad - 350 Calories
1 large tossed salad
2 tablespoons reduced fat oil and vinegar dressing
6 oz sliced chicken
1 cup of low fat wheat thin crackers
12 oz water

Scrambled eggs - 360 Calories
2 scrambled eggs
2 strips of turkey bacon
1 piece whole wheat toast
1 pat of low fat butter
1 coffee or tea
8 oz water

Fish - 365 Calories
6 oz broiled white fish
1 cup of mashed potatoes
1 pat of butter
1/2 cup of peas
8 oz diet iced tea

Chicken and Rice - 395 Calories
6 oz cooked chicken
2 tablespoons of barbecue sauce
1 cup of mixed vegetables
1/2 cup of brown rice1 small tossed salad
2 tablespoons reduced fat oil and vinegar dressing
12 oz water

Always read the fine print...

2007-07-29T03:36:00.001-07:00

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Bush's Legacy!

2007-07-27T06:41:00.000-07:00

Amazing Similarities Between George W. Bush and Osama Bin Laden!

2007-07-27T06:34:00.000-07:00

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Brilliant Stop War Grafitti!

2007-07-27T03:20:00.000-07:00

What Happened to Us?

2007-07-26T07:33:00.000-07:00

Welcome To The Birthplace Of Bush - We Apologize!

2007-07-26T04:25:00.000-07:00

How to tell when Alberto Gonzales is lying!

2007-07-25T11:38:00.000-07:00

"hmm... maybe I'll catch the next one!"

2007-07-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

The Egg Chi!

2007-07-24T09:04:00.000-07:00

Dichotomy is a tough concept to illustrate! The yin yang symbol encompasses the ideas of dark and light, good and evil, etc., but it's a total cliche by now. I wanted to do something different. I tried to think of things you separate, and when I thought of separating eggs it just clicked.

It took me a few tries to make this happen: I cut the white shape (and the hole) out of thick paperboard to make a mold. The board wasn't thick enough, so I pressed white paper tape along the edges. Then I covered the shapes with nonstick cooking spray and held them down on a flat griddle. I poured several egg whites into the mold and turned the griddle on to cook it. Carefully removed the mold using an X-acto knife to help separate the edges and then transferred the white shape to the pan with a spatula. Cooked yolks aren't particularly attractive, so I cooked the bottom just enough to be able to transfer it (I went through several because they kept breaking). Once arranged in the pan, I hit everything with cooking spray to make it shiny, then used a butane lighter to lightly scorch the top of the egg white in spots so it would really look cooked.

I had my tripod on top of the stove pointed straight down, and a single monolight brolly box high overhead at top right. It took a while to get the light into the right position so the shiny outline of the pan would complete the symbol. The irony here is that my cooktop was knocked out by lightning last week and I don't have a new one yet, so I couldn't really cook this egg on the background shown. :-/

Processing: Convert from RAW at two exposure settings to help control darks and lights, dodge & burn, touch up edges slightly with Liquify, clone a few stray specks and lighten the scorch marks (they were too much), Photo filter to tweak a color cast, Levels, HSL and USM.

"Stop Persecuting me! Why are you waging a War Against Christianity?"..

2007-07-24T02:54:00.000-07:00

Calvin & Hobbes: "I Don't Believe in Ethics Anymore...The Ends Justify the Means"

2007-07-24T02:48:00.000-07:00

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Big Headed Advertising!

2007-07-23T13:23:00.001-07:00

A Picture Thats Worth $14 Million!

2007-07-23T13:06:00.000-07:00

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Don't Wash Your Car!

2007-07-22T11:52:00.000-07:00

Scary But Incredible Images!

2007-07-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

Get Religion Out Of The White House!

2007-07-22T05:19:00.000-07:00

A World Map Of Faiths!

2007-07-21T11:07:00.000-07:00

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Geaorge W. Bush - Vietnam Service Record!

2007-07-21T10:56:00.000-07:00

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Maybe Your English Is Better..?

2007-07-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

Even More Crazy House Designs!

2007-07-21T05:12:00.000-07:00

Oh no, it's King George!

2007-07-20T07:36:00.000-07:00

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The Ass Family!

2007-07-19T06:02:00.000-07:00

The Same Color Illusion!

2007-07-19T03:59:00.000-07:00

Explanation: Are square A and B the same color? They are. Are too. To verify this, click on the above image to see them connected. The above illusion, called the same color illusion, illustrates that purely human observations in science may be ambiguous or inaccurate. Even such a seemingly direct perception as relative color. Similar illusions exist on the sky, such as the size of the Moon near the horizon, or the apparent shapes of astronomical objects. The advent of automated, reproducible, measuring devices such as CCDs have made science in general and astronomy in particular less prone to, but not free of, human-biased illusions.

Discovering Iran!

2007-07-18T05:18:00.000-07:00

20 Most Amazing Coincidences!

2007-07-18T04:12:00.000-07:00

1. James Dean's car curse

In September 1955, James Dean was killed in a horrific car accident whilst he was driving his Porsche sports car. After the crash the car was seen as very unlucky.
a) When the car was towed away from accident scene and taken to a garage, the engine slipped out and fell onto a mechanic, shattering both of his legs.
b) Eventually the engine was bought by a doctor, who put it into his racing car and was killed shortly afterwards, during a race. Another racing driver, in the same race, was killed in his car, which had James Dean's driveshaft fitted to it.
c) When James Dean's Porsche was later repaired, the garage it was in was destroyed by fire.
d) Later the car was displayed in Sacramento, but it fell off it's mount and broke a teenager's hip.
e) In Oregon, the trailer that the car was mounted on slipped from it's towbar and smashed through the front of a shop.
f) Finally, in 1959, the car mysteriously broke into 11 pieces while it was sitting on steel supports.

2. A falling baby, saved twice by the same man

In Detroit sometime in the 1930s, a young (if incredibly careless) mother must have been eternally grateful to a man named Joseph Figlock. As Figlock was walking down the street, the mother's baby fell from a high window onto Figlock. The baby's fall was broken and both man and baby were unharmed. A stroke of luck on its own, but a year later, the very same baby fell from the very same window onto poor, unsuspecting Joseph Figlock as he was again passing beneath. And again, they both survived the event. (Source: Mysteries of the Unexplained)

3. A bullet that reached its destiny years later

Henry Ziegland thought he had dodged fate. In 1883, he broke off a relationship with his girlfriend who, out of distress, committed suicide. The girl's brother was so enraged that he hunted down Ziegland and shot him. The brother, believing he had killed Ziegland, then turned his gun on himself and took his own life. But Ziegland had not been killed. The bullet, in fact, had only grazed his face and then lodged in a tree. Ziegland surely thought himself a lucky man. Some years later, however, Ziegland decided to cut down the large tree, which still had the bullet in it. The task seemed so formidable that he decided to blow it up with a few sticks of dynamite. The explosion propelled the bullet into Ziegland's head, killing him. (Source: Ripley's Believe It or Not!)

4. Twin Boys, twin lives

The stories of identical twins' nearly identical lives are often astonishing, but perhaps none more so than those of identical twins born in Ohio. The twin boys were separated at birth, being adopted by different families. Unknown to each other, both families named the boys James. And here the coincidences just begin. Both James grew up not even knowing of the other, yet both sought law-enforcement training, both had abilities in mechanical drawing and carpentry, and each had married women named Linda. They both had sons whom one named James Alan and the other named James Allan. The twin brothers also divorced their wives and married other women - both named Betty. And they both owned dogs which they named Toy. Forty years after their childhood separation, the two men were reunited to share their amazingly similar lives. (Source: Reader's Digest, January 1980)

5. Just like Edgar Allan Poe's book

In the 19th century, the famous horror writer, Egdar Allan Poe, wrote a book called 'The narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym'. It was about four survivors of a shipwreck who were in an open boat for many days before they decided to kill and eat the cabin boy whose name was Richard Parker. Some years later, in 1884, the yawl, Mignonette, foundered, with only four survivors, who were in an open boat for many days. Eventully the three senior members of the crew, killed and ate the cabin boy. The name of the cabin boy was Richard Parker.

6. Twin brothers, killed on the same road, two hours apart

On 2002, Seventy-year-old twin brothers have died within hours of one another after separate accidents on the same road in northern Finland. The first of the twins died when he was hit by a lorry while riding his bike in Raahe, 600 kilometres north of the capital, Helsinki. He died just 1.5km from the spot where his brother was killed. "This is simply a historic coincidence. Although the road is a busy one, accidents don't occur every day," police officer Marja-Leena Huhtala told Reuters. "It made my hair stand on end when I heard the two were brothers, and identical twins at that. It came to mind that perhaps someone from upstairs had a say in this," she said. (Source: BBC News)

7.Three suicide attempts, all stopped by the same Monk

Joseph Aigner was a fairlly well-known portrait painter in 19th century Austria who, apparently, was quite an unhappy fellow: he several times attempted suicide. His first attempt was at the young age of 18 when he tried to hang himself, but was interrupted by the mysterious appearance of a Capuchin monk. At age 22 he again tried to hang himself, but was again saved from the act by the very same monk. Eight years later, his death was ordained by others who sentenced him to the gallows for his political activities. Once again, his life was saved by the intervention of the same monk. At age 68, Aiger finally succeeded in suicide, a pistol doing the trick. His funeral ceremony was conducted by the same Capuchin monk - a man whose name Aiger never even knew. (Source: Ripley's Giant Book of Believe It or Not!)

8. Poker winnings, to the unsuspected son

In 1858, Robert Fallon was shot dead, an act of vengeance by those with whom he was playing poker. Fallon, they claimed, had won the $600 pot through cheating. With Fallon's seat empty and none of the other players willing to take the now-unlucky $600, they found a new player to take Fallon's place and staked him with the dead man's $600. By the time the police had arrived to investigate the killing, the new player had turned the $600 into $2,200 in winnings. The police demanded the original $600 to pass on to Fallon's next of kin - only to discover that the new player turned out to be Fallon's son, who had not seen his father in seven years! (Source: Ripley's Giant Book of Believe It or Not!)

9. A novel that unsuspectedly described the spy next door

When Norman Mailer began his novel Barbary Shore, there was no plan to have a Russian spy as a character. As he worked on it, he introduced a Russian spy in the U.S. as a minor character. As the work progressed, the spy became the dominant character in the novel. After the novel was completed, the U.S. Immigration Service arrested a man who lived just one floor above Mailer in the same apartment building. He was Colonel Rudolf Abel, alleged to be the top Russian spy working in the U.S. at that time. (Source: Science Digest)

10. Mark Twain and Halley's Comet

Mark Twain was born on the day of the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1835, and died on the day of its next appearance in 1910. He himself predicted this in 1909, when he said: "I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it."

11. Three strangers on a Train, with complementary last names

In the 1920s, three Englishman were traveling separately by train through Peru. At the time of their introduction, they were the only three men in the railroad car. Their introductions were more surprising than they could have imagined. One man's last name was Bingham, and the second man's last name was Powell. The third man announced that his last name was Bingham-Powell. None were related in any way. (Source: Mysteries of the Unexplained)

12. Two brothers killed by the same taxi driver, one year apart

In 1975, while riding a moped in Bermuda, a man was accidentally struck and killed by a taxi. One year later, this man's bother was killed in the very same way. In fact, he was riding the very same moped. And to stretch the odds even further, he was struck by the very same taxi driven by the same driver - and even carrying the very same passenger! (Source: Phenomena: A Book of Wonders, John Michell and Robert J. M. Rickard)

13. Swapped Hotel Findings

In 1953, television reporter Irv Kupcinet was in London to cover the coronation of Ellizabeth II. In one of the drawers in his room at the Savoy he found found some items that, by their identification, belonged to a man named Harry Hannin. Coincidentally, Harry Hannin - a basketball star with the famed Harlem Globetrotters - was a good friend of Kupcinet's. But the story has yet another twist. Just two days later, and before he could tell Hannin of his lucky discovery, Kupcinet received a letter from Hannin. In the letter, Hannin told Kucinet that while staying at the Hotel Meurice in Paris, he found in a drawer a tie - with Kupcinet's name on it! (Source: Mysteries of the Unexplained)

14. Two Mr. Brysons, same hotel room

While on a business trip sometime in the late 1950s, Mr. George D. Bryson stopped and registered at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. After signing the register and being given his key to room 307, he stopped by the mail desk to see if any letters had arrived for him. Indeed there was a letter, the mail girl told him, and handed him an envelope addressed to Mr. George D. Bryson, room 307. This wouldn't be so odd, except the letter was not for him, but for room 307's just-previous occupant - another man named George D. Bryson. (Source: Incredible Coincidence, Alan Vaughan)

15. Twins brothers, same heart attack

John and Arthur Mowforth were twins who lived about 80 miles apart in Great Britain. On the evening of May 22, 1975, both fell severely ill from chest pains. The families of both men were completely unaware of the other's illness. Both men were rushed to separate hospitals at approximately the same time. And both died of heart attacks shortly after arrival. (Source: Chronogenetics: The Inheretance of Biological Time, Luigi Gedda and Gianni Brenci)

16. A novel that predicted the Titanic's destiny, and another ship that almost followed

Morgan Robertson, in 1898, wrote "Futility". It described the maiden voyage of a transatlantic luxury liner named the Titan. Although it was touted as being unsinkable, it strikes an iceberg and sinks with much loss of life. In 1912 the Titanic, a transatlantic luxury liner widely touted as unsinkable strikes an iceberg and sinks with great loss of life on her maiden voyage. In the Book, the Month of the Wreck was April, same as in the real event. There were 3,000 passengers on the book; in reality, 2,207. In the Book, there were 24 Lifeboats; in reality, 20. Months after the Titanic sank, a tramp steamer was traveling through the foggy Atlantic with only a young boy on watch. It came into his head that it had been thereabouts that the Titanic had sunk, and he was suddenly terrified by the thought of the name of his ship - the Titanian. Panic-stricken, he sounded the warning. The ship stopped, just in time: a huge iceberg loomed out of the fog directly in their path. The Titanian was saved.

17. A writer, found the book of her childhood

While American novelist Anne Parrish was browsing bookstores in Paris in the 1920s, she came upon a book that was one of her childhood favorites - Jack Frost and Other Stories. She picked up the old book and showed it to her husband, telling him of the book she fondly remembered as a child. Her husband took the book, opened it, and on the flyleaf found the inscription: "Anne Parrish, 209 N. Weber Street, Colorado Springs." It was Anne's very own book. (Source: While Rome Burns, Alexander Wollcott)

18. A writer's plum pudding

In 1805, French writer Émile Deschamps was treated to some plum pudding by the stranger Monsieur de Fortgibu. Ten years later, he encountered plum pudding on the menu of a Paris restaurant, and wanted to order some, but the waiter told him the last dish had already been served to another customer, who turned out to be de Fortgibu. Many years later in 1832 Émile Deschamps was at a diner, and was once again offered plum pudding. He recalled the earlier incident and told his friends that only de Fortgibu was missing to make the setting complete — and in the same instant the now senile de Fortgibu entered the room.

19. King Umberto I' double

In Monza, Italy, King Umberto I, went to a small restaurant for dinner, accompanied by his aide-de-camp, General Emilio Ponzia- Vaglia. When the owner took King Umberto's order, the King noticed that he and the restaurant owner were virtual doubles, in face and in build. Both men began discussing the striking resemblances between each other and found many more similarities.a) Both men were born on the same day, of the same year, (March 14th, 1844).b) Both men had been born in the same town.c) Both men married a woman with same name, Margherita.d) The restauranteur opened his restaurant on the same day that King Umberto was crowned King of Italy.e) On the 29th July 1900, King Umberto was informed that the restauranteur had died that day in a mysterious shooting accident, and as he expressed his regret, he was then assassinated by an anarchist in the crowd.

20. The 21st, a bad day for King Louis XVI

When King Louis XVI of France was a child, he was warned by an astrologer to always be on his guard on the 21st day of each month. Louis ws so terrified by this that he never did business on this day. Unfortunately Louis was not always on his guard. On June 21st 1791, following the French revolution, Louis and his queen were arrested in Varennes, whist trying to escape France. On September 21st 1791, France abolished the institution of Royalty and proclaimed itself a republic. Finally on January 21st 1793, King Louis XVI was executed by guillotine.

How physics should be taught!

2007-07-18T03:58:00.000-07:00

Inside The Surge In Iraq!

2007-07-17T14:10:00.000-07:00

Inside the Surge

Photojournalist Sean Smith from the Guardian spent two months embedded with U.S. troops in Baghdad, offering harrowing insight into the daily dangers soldiers and Marines are facing every day in Iraq

Smith captured a deadly attack on a Bradley armored vehicle, seen here.

In this photo, six American soldiers and an Iraqi translator are burning to death inside the armored vehicle. Cpl. Joshua Lake from Apache Company told Sean Smith, "It's a joke. We will have spent 14 months in contact, basically fighting all 14 months…first week in Baghdad we lost two guys in our battalion, and it hasn't stopped since."

The Bradley armored vehicle was blown up by an IED, and after the hit live ammunition in the Bradley began to go off, cementing the disaster.

By the time the 4th platoon reached the Bradley, it was too late to rescue their trapped colleagues.

Moments after arriving, the soldiers of the 4th platoon raid a nearby house, searching for the attackers. Several men are detained and left to be interrogated.

Cpl. Lake told Smith, "We got grenades going off, we've got an IED blowing up your vehicle…and then you are expected to go back in those four to six hours and relax! Your body never gets to come down, you're always on that heightened sense of alertness. You don't have the rest."

A few days later U.S. soldiers are back in the neighborhood looking for weapons and insurgents. They spotted a suspicious car circling the block, and the driver did not respond when told to stop. The soldiers opened fire and pulled the driver's body from the car.

They dragged the body to the nearest front yard and tried to revive the driver, unsuccessfully. A neighbor said that she thought he was a taxi driver coming to pick her up, and that he was

circling the block while looking for her house.

The man, who may have been a taxi driver, was killed because he failed to stop his car. According to Sean Smith, "Their [U.S. soldiers] first priority is to defend themselves. The frustration is not, 'Look how difficult this is.' The frustration is 'Look how difficult this is and what exactly for?"

This is the aftermath of an explosion in a munitions dump, an all too common scene in Iraq. U.S. soldiers were summoned to investigate a blast at an insurgent bomb factory. The man on the ground is an Iraqi soldier. After his injury, an American soldier helped tend to his wounds.

Spc. Gabriel Vassell told Smith, "…We have people up there in Congress with the brain of a 2-year-old who don't know what they are doing, they don't experience it. I challenge the president or anyone who has us for 15 months to ride alongside me. I'll do another 15 months if he comes out here and rides alomg with me every day. I'll do 15 more months. They don't even have to pay me extra."

This Iraqi soldier has taken the brunt of the explosion, but neighbors -- both children and adults -- are hurt as well.

The American soldiers set up an emergency first aid operation to try and help the wounded.

This Iraqi soldier has shrapnel wounds in his face and his body. An American soldier cleans his wounds.

The challenge extended by Spc. Michael Vassell of Apache Company to Congress and the president, to come experience the lives they live on duty in Iraq every day, echoes many Americans beliefs about the troop surge, and the war in Iraq. Every day, the abnormal -- screaming, explosions, carnage -- becomes more and more normal for the soldiers and Iraqi citizens.

Revenge for ATM Fees: How to Scam the ATM into Giving You $20's!

2007-07-17T11:45:00.000-07:00

If You Own An ATM, You Probably Want To Change The Default Password

from the 123456-really-isn't-very-secure dept

Nearly two years ago, we posted a story about how easy it was to find the user manuals for certain automatic teller machines online, and then use the default passwords listed in them to reprogram the machines so they'd give out $20 bills when they thought they were giving out $5s or $1s. The fix for this was easy -- change the default passcode -- but apparently it wasn't hard to find machines whose owners' hadn't changed them. Somehow, it really isn't too surprising to find out that, despite the publicity, some ATM owners still haven't bothered to change them, and are getting hit by the same scam. The owner of the machine in question this time, at a market in Pennsylvania, says that he was never told he needed to change the master passcode from "123456", and says it's not his job to know the technical ins and outs of the ATM he owns (despite, of course, owning it and the money inside); the ATM's manufacturer disagrees. As is the case with most things, there's probably enough blame to go around here. So, to the ATM company: it might be a good idea to reinforce the need for owners to change their machines' passwords. And ATM owners: change the default passwords.

Understanding Engineers: Feasibility!

2007-07-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

In an internal blogpost inside Atlassian, I described a certain problem as being ‘very hard’, to explain why our efforts were better spent elsewhere. Later, as I was walking across the bridge into work I had a moment to look at that statement through the eyes of a non-engineer. Atlassian prides itself on hiring really smart people. What use are they if they can't solve hard problems?

To that end, here's a quick lexicon of what computer programmers generally mean when they're talking about how hard some problem is, starting with the most extreme:

Impossible

The man most commonly regarded as the 'father' of computer science is the English mathematician, Alan Turing. Turing did a lot of work in World War II helping the Allies break the German military ciphers. To reward him, the British Government convicted him of gross indecency after the war (he was homosexual), took away his security clearance and put him on hormone therapy. His death not long after is generally accepted as suicide.

Anyway. Turing's most famous contribution to computer science is the Church-Turing Thesis. This describes a theoretical device called a Universal Turing Machine that is both capable of solving any computational problem that could be represented as an algorithm, and of emulating any other device that solves computational problems.

Anything that can be (deterministically) mechanically computed can be computed by a Turing machine. Anything that performs deterministic mechanical computations is really just a Turing machine. Engineers speak of computer hardware or programming languages that have this full range of computation as being "Turing complete".

In this framework, the word 'impossible' has a definite meaning. A problem is impossible if its solution can not be computed by a Turing machine.

Admittedly, this isn't a very useful distinction. On one hand, Turing machines are a mathematical theory. They're infinitely fast and have unlimited storage, and you have an unbounded amount of time to write your program for it. As such, many things that are theoretically possible are practically impossible (more on that later).

On the other hand (and this trips up engineers all the time), it doesn't ascribe any value to mostly solving a problem. No Turing machine can tell you if you're going to like a book or not, but Amazon makes a lot of money out of coming out with a close-enough guess.

Trivial

At the other end of the scale, we have problems that are trivial. This definition can be expressed in far fewer words:

I know how to solve this problem.

To a programmer, a problem is trivial if there is a clear solution, and the only thing that needs to be done is to implement it.

The only caveat is that triviality refers to how hard the problem is to solve, not how hard it is to implement the solution. So there is no necessary relation between a task being trivial, and how long it takes. To the programmer, once the plans for the bridge have been drawn up, the materials chosen properly and the model tested for how it would survive wind, traffic and earthquakes, actually building the bridge is trivial.

Unfeasible

(Grammatical correctness would suggest ‘not feasible’ as the proper alternative, but I suspect ‘unfeasible’ has enough current usage amongst programmers to ignore correctness)

A problem is unfeasible if enough of the solution is known to determine that you don't have the resources to solve it. You might not have the free developer resources, or the available expertise, or it might just need more hardware than you can ever afford.

The field of cryptography offers us a perfect example of a problem that is both trivial and unfeasible. The algorithms that encrypt and decrypt data are well-known and published. Assuming the algorithm works ‘as advertised’, to decrypt some data you just need to write a program that implements that algorithm, and throw enough computing hardware at the problem to run that algorithm with every possible key.

Cryptography works by choosing keys in a way that ensures there's not enough computing hardware available, practically speaking, to run that trivial program to completion. Decrypting such data is unfeasible.

Non-Trivial

An ex-Google non-engineer described 'non-trivial' thus in the Xooglers blog:

"It means impossible. Since no engineer is going to admit something is impossible,they use this word instead. When an engineer says something is "non-trivial," it's the equivalent of an airline pilot calmly telling you that you might encounter "just a bit of turbulence" as he flies you into a cat 5 hurricane."

This quote shows both the difference between the engineer and non-engineer's conception of non-triviality, and their different definitions of impossible (Flying through a hurricane isn't necessarily impossible, you just really wouldn't want to do it).

In clear opposition to the meaning of trivial, non-trivial means:

I do not know how to solve this problem completely.

Non-trivial contains dangerous unknowns. Some part of it is not yet understood, or lies outside the range of things the programmer has done before, or can quickly imagine a workable solution to. The more experienced the programmer who tells you a problem is non-trivial, the more concerned you should be.

Given time for research and experimentation, a non-trivial problem can be made trivial. Or it could be determined to be hard.

Hard, and Very Hard.

Hard problems are a class of non-trivial problem1 where some of the unknowns, some of the problems the engineer would have to find a way to overcome, are known to be difficult to find solutions to. These are problems the engineer has tried to solve in the past, or has seen the resources that other developers have had to throw at similar problems to solve them.
'Hard' can also be used to describe non-trivial problems with a big potential for 'unknown unknowns' - things the developer not only doesn't know the solution to, but doesn't even know what kind of problems he's likely to face.

Scaling out a web application is hard. There are any number of thorny problems to do with performance, distribution, data access, caching and so on that take quite a bit of effort to solve, and are often different enough from application to application for there to be no good, general solution. There are also inevitable thorny problems that you haven't even anticipated, lurking in the wings.

Very Hard is the extreme of hard problems. You'll often see both words capitalised for emphasis, even in the middle of a sentence. Indexing the entire World Wide Web and providing relevant search results in millisecond response times is a Very Hard problem. Breaking commercial-grade encryption within practical hardware and time limitations is a Very Hard problem. Peace in the Middle East is a Very Hard problem.

'Very Hard' is usually reserved for the class of problem that if you solved it, you could change the world. Or at least build a successful business on top of your solution.
1 Gary Capell pointed out to me in email that, in classic engineering understatement, hard, or even Very Hard problems can sometimes be referred to as ‘distinctly non-trivial’.

No Drowning - A Very Helpful Sign!

2007-07-17T06:36:00.001-07:00

Speed Camera Prank!

2007-07-16T15:09:00.000-07:00

40 Amazing Facts About Sleep!

2007-07-16T09:26:00.000-07:00

40 FACTS ABOUT SLEEP YOU PROBABLY DIDN'T KNOW...
(OR WERE TOO TIRED TO THINK ABOUT)

-The record for the longest period without sleep is 18 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes during a rocking chair marathon. The record holder reported hallucinations, paranoia, blurred vision, slurred speech and memory and concentration lapses.

- It's impossible to tell if someone is really awake without close medical supervision. People can take cat naps with their eyes open without even being aware of it.

- Anything less than five minutes to fall asleep at night means you're sleep deprived. The ideal is between 10 and 15 minutes, meaning you're still tired enough to sleep deeply, but not so exhausted you feel sleepy by day.

- A new baby typically results in 400-750 hours lost sleep for parents in the first year.

- One of the best predictors of insomnia later in life is the development of bad habits from having sleep disturbed by young children.

- The continuous brain recordings that led to the discovery of REM (rapid eye-movement) sleep were not done until 1953, partly because the scientists involved were concerned about wasting paper.

- REM sleep occurs in bursts totalling about 2 hours a night, usually beginning about 90 minutes after falling asleep.

- Dreams, once thought to occur only during REM sleep, also occur (but to a lesser extent) in non-REM sleep phases. It's possible there may not be a single moment of our sleep when we are actually dreamless.

- REM dreams are characterised by bizarre plots, but non-REM dreams are repetitive and thought-like, with little imagery - obsessively returning to a suspicion you left your mobile phone somewhere, for example.

- Certain types of eye movements during REM sleep correspond to specific movements in dreams, suggesting at least part of the dreaming process is analagous to watching a film.

- No-one knows for sure if other species dream but some do have sleep cycles similar to humans.

- Elephants sleep standing up during non-REM sleep, but lie down for REM sleep.

- Some scientists believe we dream to fix experiences in long-term memory, that is, we dream about things worth remembering. Others reckon we dream about things worth forgetting - to eliminate overlapping memories that would otherwise clog up our brains.

- Dreams may not serve any purpose at all but be merely a meaningless byproduct of two evolutionary adaptations - sleep and consciousness.

- REM sleep may help developing brains mature. Premature babies have 75 per cent REM sleep, 10 per cent more than full-term bubs. Similarly, a newborn kitten puppy rat or hampster experiences only REM sleep, while a newborn guinea pig (which is much more developed at birth) has almost no REM sleep at all.

- Scientists have not been able to explain a 1998 study showing a bright light shone on the backs of human knees can reset the brain's sleep-wake clock.

- British Ministry of Defence researchers have been able to reset soldiers' body clocks so they can go without sleep for up to 36 hrs. Tiny optical fibres embedded in special spectacles project a ring of bright white light (with a spectrum identical to a sunrise) around the edge of soldiers' retinas, fooling them into thinking they have just woken up. The system was first used on US pilots during the bombing of Kosovo.

- Seventeen hours of sustained wakefulness leads to a decrease in performance equivalent to a blood alcohol-level of 0.05%.

- The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska, the Challenger space shuttle disaster and the Chernobyl nuclear accident have all been attributed to human errors in which sleep-deprivation played a role.

- The NRMA estimates fatigue is involved in one in 6 fatal road accidents.

- Exposure to noise at night can suppress immune function even if the sleeper doesn’t wake. Unfamiliar noise, and noise during the first and last two hours of sleep, has the greatest disruptive effect on the sleep cycle.

- The "natural alarm clock" which enables some people to wake up more or less when they want to is caused by a burst of the stress hormone adrenocorticotropin. Researchers say this reflects an unconscious anticipation of the stress of waking up.

- Some sleeping tablets, such as barbiturates suppress REM sleep, which can be harmful over a long period.

- In insomnia following bereavement, sleeping pills can disrupt grieving.

- Tiny luminous rays from a digital alarm clock can be enough to disrupt the sleep cycle even if you do not fully wake. The light turns off a "neural switch" in the brain, causing levels of a key sleep chemical to decline within minutes.

- To drop off we must cool off; body temperature and the brain's sleep-wake cycle are closely linked. That's why hot summer nights can cause a restless sleep. The blood flow mechanism that transfers core body heat to the skin works best between 18 and 30 degrees. But later in life, the comfort zone shrinks to between 23 and 25 degrees - one reason why older people have more sleep disorders.

- A night on the grog will help you get to sleep but it will be a light slumber and you won't dream much.

- After five nights of partial sleep deprivation, three drinks will have the same effect on your body as six would when you've slept enough.

- Humans sleep on average around three hours less than other primates like chimps, rhesus monkeys, squirrel monkeys and baboons, all of whom sleep for 10 hours.

- Ducks at risk of attack by predators are able to balance the need for sleep and survival, keeping one half of the brain awake while the other slips into sleep mode.

- Ten per cent of snorers have sleep apnoea, a disorder which causes sufferers to stop breathing up to 300 times a night and significantly increases the risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke.

- Snoring occurs only in non-REM sleep.

- Teenagers need as much sleep as small children (about 10 hrs) while those over 65 need the least of all (about six hours). For the average adult aged 25-55, eight hours is considered optimal.

- Some studies suggest women need up to an hour's extra sleep a night compared to men, and not getting it may be one reason women are much more susceptible to depression than men.

- Feeling tired can feel normal after a short time. Those deliberately deprived of sleep for research initially noticed greatly the effects on their alertness, mood and physical performance, but the awareness dropped off after the first few days.

- Diaries from the pre-electric-light-globe Victorian era show adults slept nine to 10 hours a night with periods of rest changing with the seasons in line with sunrise and sunsets.

- Most of what we know about sleep we've learned in the past 25 years.

- As a group, 18 to 24 year-olds deprived of sleep suffer more from impaired performance than older adults.

- Experts say one of the most alluring sleep distractions is the 24-hour accessibility of the internet.

- The extra-hour of sleep received when clocks are put back at the start of daylight in Canada has been found to coincide with a fall in the number of road accidents.

Hacked Signs By MIT College Kids!

2007-07-16T05:27:00.000-07:00

A construction sign near MIT campus with scrolling messages about the Mass. Ave. bridge was changed such that one of the messages read "This sign has been hacked."

The sequence of scrolling messages also included an amusing string which read "Mass ave bridge closed," "Sunday 04/22/07 6am-3pm," "to appease godzilla."

Want to Play Work??

2007-07-15T12:16:00.000-07:00

Top 10 Things America Would Have if it was Actually a Democracy!

2007-07-15T12:10:00.000-07:00

10. Marijuana Decriminalization. A 2007 poll conducted by Zogby International indicates that a slight majority of Americans favour the abolishment of criminal penalties for minor marijuana offenses: “Forty-nine percent of respondents, including 57 percent of men, said they would support “a law in Congress that would eliminate federal penalties for the personal use of marijuana by adults and allow states to adopt their own policies on marijuana.” Only 48 percent of those polled said they oppose such a law; three percent were undecided. The poll has a margin of error of ±3 percentage points.” 1 Growing numbers are also in favour of outright legalization with 41% agreeing that “the government should treat marijuana more or less the same way it treats alcohol: it should regulate it, control it, tax it and only make it illegal for children.” 2

9. Universal Health Care. Various polls 1 2 find that Americans want significant changes to the current medical system, including guaranteed government coverage even if it means paying more: “Americans across party lines willing to make some sacrifice to insure that every American has access to health insurance. Sixty percent, including 62 percent of independents and 46 percent of Republicans, said they would be willing to pay more in taxes. Half said they would be willing to pay as much as $500 a year more.”

8. Stricter Campaign Finance Laws. A large majority (66%) of Americans support an increasing of regulations on how politicians obtain and spend money. 1 Regarding the 2000 election: “Nearly three-fourths of the voters participating in the survey said Texas Gov. George W. Bush’s $70 million fund-raising tally is ‘excessive and a sign of what’s wrong with politics today.” Similarly, 40 percent said Bush is the presumptive nominee because of “the amount of money he raised.’” 2

7. Equal Aid to Palestinians and Israelis. Increasingly dissatisfied with the mid-east peace process, Americans want more results for their high levels of aid money to Israel. “in polling conducted 2002-2003, majorities supported the US withholding or reducing its aid to Israel and the Palestinians, as a means of pressure to influence their behavior”. 1 Americans also favour increasing the levels of aid to the Palestinians contingent on acceptance of a negotiated peace proposal: “Asked in a May 2003 PIPA poll “if the Palestinians come to terms with Israel in a peace agreement, do you think the US should equalize the amount of aid it gives to Israel and to the Palestinians,” 67% indicated they would support an equalizing aid to Palestine.” and “In the same 2003 PIPA poll with a different sample, respondents were told how much aid is currently given to Palestine, and were then asked to provide their own assessment of how much aid should be given if Palestine were to make peace with Israel. The median response was to increase aid to $1 billion, more than 14 times the $70 million provided at the time. The average response indicated a willingness to increase aid to $2.37 billion (somewhat lower than the amount indicated for Israel).” The terms of peace are overwhelmingly accepted by the Palestinian population: “A total of 72.1% of Palestinians support the Taba or Oslo B Agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.” 2

6. Reducing Military Spending. When Americans were asked in a 2005 poll how they would structure the federal budget, the answers could hardly have been more clear: “Defense spending received the deepest cut, being cut on average 31 percent — equivalent to $133.8 billion — with 65 percent of respondents cutting.” This does not indicate an unwillingness to support the troops however: “respondents particularly preserved spending for troops, including for salaries (82%), the overall number of military personnel (61%), and development of new equipment for infantry and Marines (64%). Spending relevant to fighting terrorism was also preserved, such as for intelligence (62%), troops for special operations (58%), and advanced communications systems (69%). Also preserved was spending on capabilities for conducting peacekeeping (58%), fighting insurgents or guerrillas (56%), and work on new types of high-technology missiles and bombs (55%).” 1

5. Increased Social Spending. The same poll showing American’s interest in cutting defense spending also pointed to areas where spending would increase if people had control over the economy: “The largest increases were for social spending. Spending on human capital was especially popular including education which was increased $26.8 billion (39%) and job training and employment which was up $19 billion or a remarkable 263%. Medical research was upped on average $15.5 billion (53%). Veterans benefits were raised 40 percent or $12.5 billion and housing went up 31 percent or $9.3 billion. In most cases clear majorities favored increases (education 57%, job training 67%, medical research 57%, veteran’s benefits 63%), though only 43 percent of respondents favored increases for housing.” 1

4. Acceptance of the Kyoto Protocol. By a wide majority Americans agree that the United States should participate in the Kyoto protocol: “In June 2005, PIPA simply asked “based on what you know, do you think the U.S. should or should not participate in the Kyoto agreement to reduce global warming.” A strong majority of 73% favored participation. This was up a bit from September 2004, when only 65% favored it. Only 16% in June 2005 and September 2004 opposed participation.” 1 2

3. A Diplomatic Solution with Iran. Only 20% 1 - 40% 2 of Americans support a military strike against Iran to destroy its nuclear facilities. Diplomatic action backed by sanctions is supported by about 60% of Americans: “This ABC News/Washington Post poll finds sanctions the preferred option across the political spectrum”.

2. Pulling Troops out of Iraq. Both the American citizenry and armed forces support a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq: “Most Americans support the U.S. House provision setting a timetable that calls for most U.S. troops to be out of Iraq by September 2008, said a survey released on Wednesday. According to the CBS News poll, 59 percent of those surveyed favored the provision while 37 percent opposed it.” 1 Perhaps even more telling is the strong opposition to the war from within the army itself: “An overwhelming majority of 72% of American troops serving in Iraq think the U.S. should exit the country within the next year, and more than one in four say the troops should leave immediately, a new Le Moyne College/Zogby International survey shows.” 2

1. The Impeachment of George W. Bush. Majorities of Americans think that George Bush should be impeached for one of two possible crimes: unauthorized wire-tapping of the public and/or misleading the people in to a war with Iraq. On the matter of wire-tapping: “The poll found that 52% agreed with the statement: “If President Bush wiretapped American citizens without the approval of a judge, do you agree or disagree that Congress should consider holding him accountable through impeachment.” 43% disagreed, and 6% said they didn’t know or declined to answer. The poll has a +/- 2.9% margin of error.” 1 On the issue of Iraq: “The poll found that 50% agreed with the statement: “If President Bush did not tell the truth about his reasons for going to war with Iraq, Congress should consider holding him accountable by impeaching him.” 44% disagreed, and 6% said they didn’t know or declined to answer. The poll has a +/- 3.1% margin of error.” 2

How awesome is this for getting a test back from a professor??

2007-07-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

Click to enlarge!

Japanese pool with a secret!

2007-07-15T05:29:00.000-07:00

Cartoonist compares American troops to suicide bombers!

2007-07-15T03:15:00.000-07:00

Gorgeous aerial photo of Shanghai's urban landscape!

2007-07-14T10:04:00.000-07:00

The Best Photograph Of The Moon Ever!

2007-07-14T07:35:00.000-07:00

Have a look at this comparison of nuclear bombs, starting with the "microscopic" Hiroshima bomb!

2007-07-14T05:34:00.000-07:00

Top 15 Unintentionally Funny Comic Book Panels!

2007-07-13T07:37:00.000-07:00

Comics are great because as they get older not only do they get more valuable (at least my future children hope so because they ain't going to no college unless a certain Mr. Spiderman can afford to send them) but they also get funnier. Thank god our use of language changes over the years because it makes our old comics look stupid and that's funny.

Here's a collection of the Top 15 Funniest Unintentionally Funny Comic Book Panels of All Time.

15. Joker's Boner

I think most of the comic goes on like this. That's all the Joker ever talks about, really.

14. Rod! Rod! Rod

I can't tell if she's hoping for it or is suddenly surprised by it.

13. Archie Beats off

How convenient that the water comes up to their waists.

12. Shut up, Sue

This one really isn't too unusual for early Fantastic Four comics. Sue really didn't know her place back then.

11. Spider-spunk

Aunt May should know better than to snoop around a teenage boy's room.

10. Wonder Woman's eye-lash emergency

God, women can be so vain.

9. Captain America, wanker

This one's for our Cockney audience.

8. Butt-stroked?

No idea what this is from or what butt-stroking means to this guy but it's funny that this isn't the first time it's happened to him.

7. Barry Arren, Frash

It's one thing to have a character that's an insensitive stereotype, but did the editor really have to get in on it too?

6. Robin takes off his panties

I'm sure this little perv does this all the time. I mean look at who his role model is.

5. Dr. Doom and Crazy Black Man

Most likely this one actually intended to be funny but was it meant to be a story that showed how it's hard for a pimp working with a Dr. Doom tranny?

4. Wonder Woman - just like a woman only smart

Well you really can't say this guy is a mysoginist. He's totally got respect for Wonder Woman so that's pretty progressive of him.

3. Hope she has a safe word

It's hard to believe this one is real and that any version of Batman in the last 60 something years would sound natural saying this. But there it is.

2. Lois' morning after

Robots just don't quit unless you let them go around back. Lois learned the hard way.

1. Oh, Batman. You didn't.

This is my all-time favorite. That Batman has really got problems.

Hidden message in American clothing sold in France!

2007-07-13T04:47:00.000-07:00

Why Doesn't Evolution Get Rid of Ugly People?

2007-07-13T04:27:00.000-07:00

Why isn’t everyone beautiful, smart and healthy? Or, in a less-polite formulation, why haven’t ugly, stupid, unhealthy people been bred out of the population—ugly people because no one will have them as mates, meaning they don’t get the chance to pass their ugliness to the next generation; stupid people because they’re outgunned in the race to financial success (that is, acquiring resources needed to survive and reproduce); unhealthy people because they die before they get a chance to reproduce?

Evolutionary theory predicts that the unfeeling hand of natural selection would lead to a culling of disadvantageous traits—or, as biologists more delicately phrase it, “depletion of genetic variation in natural populations as a result of the effects of selection.”

But look around, and you’ll see that that has not happened—not in people, and not in wild animals where homely and infirm offspring are born all the time.

Evolutionary geneticists try to explain this paradox by positing that mutations for disadvantageous traits keep popping up no matter how hard natural selection attempts to wipe them out, but in their more honest moments the scientists admit that in real life undesirable traits are way more common than this mechanism would account for; “ugly” mutations just don’t occur that often. In a groundbreaking study, biologists at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland have figured out why, at least in one species: genes that are good for males are bad for females and, perhaps, vice versa.

The scientists studied red deer, 3,559 of them from eight generations, living on Scotland’s Isle of Rum. They carefully noted each animal’s fitness, who mated with whom, how many offspring survived, which offspring mated and with what results. Bottom line: “male red deer with relatively high fitness fathered, on average, daughters with relatively low fitness,” Edinburgh’s Katharina Foerster and her colleagues conclude in tomorrow’s issue of the journal Nature. “Male red deer with a relatively high lifetime [fitness, which includes their reproductive success, the only thing evolution cares about] sired, on average, daughters with a relatively low [fitness].” The reverse also holds. Males that were relatively less successful in their reproductive success and fitness had daughters that were extra successful.

The reason is that any particular gene-based trait may have very different effects on males than in females. Extrapolating to humans (and oversimplifying, sorry) you might imagine that a particular shape of the nose or turn of the chin would look drop-dead hunky on a male, but horsey on a woman; dad got to mate because his looks attracted a female, but the result of their togetherness produced daughters whose pulchritude was less than obvious. Traits that evolutionary psychologists tell us make women unfit for mating (having the “wrong” shape) remain abundant in the human race because the DNA for the traits, when inherited by sons, confers a selective advantage; when those sons have daughters, presto—more females with less-than-hourglass shapes. Or as the Edinburgh biologists put it, “optimal genotypes differ between male and female red deer, because a genotype that produces a male phenotype with relatively high fitness will, on average, produce a phenotype with lower fitness when expressed in a female.”

This discovery reminds me of other seminal studies that contribute to our understanding of why “bad” genes persist. The best know is the gene for sickle-cell disease, which is prevalent through the Mediterranean region and much of Africa. Why wouldn’t natural selection get rid of it? Because, it turns out, carrying one copy of the gene increases your resistance to malaria (this is explained well here), which is prevalent—surprise!—in the exact same regions.

Much of the theorizing about fitness in human biology has been undermined by empirical studies (see, for instance, “Adapting Minds” by David Buller ). The study of red deer provides one more cautionary tale for those who would be tempted to weed out “undesirable” traits in the human population. On a less lofty note, it should make us think twice before we reject as a mate someone who does not conform to the “fitness” stereotype promulgated by evolutionary psychologists (such as a waist-to-hip ratio of 0.7 for women, and alpha-male behavior for men). You may think, subconsciously, that you’re choosing someone who will transmit “good genes” to your kids, but just ask yourself how that perky little nose will look on your son or those rippling pecs on your daughter.

The Amount You Love America!

2007-07-12T05:41:00.000-07:00

Amount you love talking about loving America

How well you know the words to the "Star Spangled Banner"

Variety of cheeses you're willing to eat

Percentage of your car covered in stickers of this color

Amount you're a terrorist

Thinking Stephen Colbert is funny

Thinking Stephen Colbert is being serious

Amount that this color is for queers and homos who aint welcome here in the first place.

Amount Of Porn You Watch!

2007-07-12T05:33:00.000-07:00

I wrote my congressman (Earl Blumenauer D-OR) urging him to support the impeachment of Cheney. This is his reply!

2007-07-11T09:24:00.000-07:00

Dear Sir,

Thank you for contacting me with your deep concerns about the behavior of this administration. I have heard from a number of people who are ready for this president, to be censured, even impeached. Recently, Rep. Dennis Kucinich introduced legislation calling for the impeachment of Vice President Cheney. Certainly having endured the travesty of the Republican impeachment of Clinton, I can understand and sympathize with the drive to impeach the President and Vice President.

I believe that an impeachment process on an administration that is already on its way out the door would hinder the time and efforts of our slim Democratic majority in congress. The practical matter is that given the rules of the Senate, there is no way that an impeachment process would lead to the removal of the President or Vice President. Instead, it would create a media circus that would detract from our mission of reversing the policies (both domestic and international) of what the public continues to see as a failing presidency. With Democratic control of both houses of Congress, the legislative branch is already exercising its oversight and investigations role into many areas of the Bush Administration. We are conducting investigations into pre-Iraq war intelligence, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and the firings of US attorneys, the Valerie Plame leak, and the way the Iraq War is being conducted.

While there is a part of me that would love to see this President and Vice President publicly admonished by Congress, I feel the American people have done that through their votes in the 2006 elections. If I were Karl Rove I would like nothing better than an impeachment process that wouldn't go anywhere, and would distract people from the very real failures of this administration on the important issues our country faces.

I would never discourage anybody from pursuing their passion. My passion is to hold this administration accountable and to enact progressive legislation, while we lay the foundation for a new administration in less than two years. Thank you again for sharing your opinion with me.

Sincerely,
Earl Blumenauer
Member of Congress

Bush And The Three Brazilian Soldiers!

2007-07-10T08:02:00.000-07:00

The Son Of A Marine, At His Father's Funeral!

2007-07-10T07:52:00.000-07:00

Stunning picture! The little boy trying to keep it together as the Marine hands him the flag. Sent a shiver down my spine when I stumbled upon this one.

"Has your credit card number been STOLEN on the Internet?"

2007-07-10T05:34:00.000-07:00

Whew!!! I entered in every card I have and none of them have been stolen.

Getting Owned By Graffiti!

2007-07-09T13:39:00.000-07:00

This is great graffiti that everybody likes to see!

This Has Got To Be The Craziest Residential Building Ever!

2007-07-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

10 Things Your Grocery Store Doesn't Want You to Know!

2007-07-02T11:19:00.000-07:00

Grocery shopping seems like a harmless enough activity. It’s a chore, but it’s one that most of us do at least once a week, without giving much thought to what’s going on behind the scenes at the supermarket.

How we shop has become a science that’s studied endlessly. “Market researchers have worked for years to come up with ways to make sure shoppers see as many products as possible, because the more they see, the more they buy,” says Marion Nestle, author of What to Eat: An Aisle-by-Aisle Guide to Savvy Food Choices and Good Eating.

So to make yourself a smarter shopper, learn about the top tricks and other secrets lurking at the supermarket.

1. The shopping carts have cooties.

According to studies done on shopping carts, more than 60 percent of them are harboring coliform bacteria (the sort more often associated with public toilet seats). “These bacteria may be coming from raw foods or from children who sit in the carts,” says Chuck Gerba, Ph.D., a microbiologist at University of Arizona. “Just think about the fact that a few minutes ago, some kid’s bottom was where you are now putting your broccoli.” According to studies done by Gerba and his colleagues at University of Arizona, shopping carts had more bacteria than other surfaces they tested—even more than escalators, public phones and public bathrooms. To avoid picking up nasty bacteria, Gerba recommends using sanitizing wipes to clean off cart handles and seats, and to wash your hands after you finish shopping.

2. Dates are open to interpretation.

Except for baby formula and food, product expiration dates are not required by Federal regulations (some states, however, have their own rules requiring product dating). Labels that give a “Best if Used By” date are more of a suggestion than a safety issue—the food will taste best if eaten by the date on the label, but won’t necessarily be unsafe if eaten after that. If a product is stamped with a “Sell-By” date, that is how long the store should display it. Once you bring it home, perishable products (like meats) should be kept refrigerated and used within a few days. For more detailed charts explaining the shelf life of various products, go to USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service.

3. Kid-friendly food is purposely placed within their reach.

Anyone who shops with a child (or several) in tow has to keep an eye out for products the kids grab and toss into the cart. “I always tell parents never to bring a kid to a store,” says Nestle. “The packages with the cartoons on them are often placed on low shelves where even toddlers can reach for them.” A trip down the cereal aisle will confirm this. “Sugary cereals are at kid’s eye level, while the healthier, all-bran options are usually on the highest shelves,” says Tara Gidus, R.D., a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. It’s the same situation at the cash register, where candy and gum are strategically placed to encourage impulse buys by adults and kids can easily grab low-lying products.

4. They cut up food so they can charge more.

In the produce department there are luscious-looking slices of pineapple and melon, veggies cut up and ready for cooking or salads. At the meat counter, chicken breasts and beef are cut into chunks and marinated—ready for immediate grilling. There’s no denying that these pre-cut foods can make life incredibly easy. And nutritionists agree that if they get people to eat more healthfully, there’s nothing wrong with them. But realize that you’re also paying a tremendous premium—sometimes up to twice as much as uncut versions of the same food—just so you don’t have to bother picking up a knife.

5. Good-for-you foods require bending and reaching.

Not surprisingly, grocery store eye candy (which sometimes is actual candy)—those foods with enticing come-ons and delectable photos on the packaging that aren’t on your shopping list—are prominently placed to encourage you to reach for them. Even in the pasta aisle, you’ll find the most popular noodles (including packaged mac and cheese) at eye level. Look up to the highest or lowest shelves if you want to find healthier whole wheat options.

6. End-of-aisle displays are there to distract you from your mission.

“Food companies pay the stores to place their products where they can be seen most easily—such as in a display at the end of an aisle,” says Nestle. That prime real estate is likely to hold high-profit items or grouped items (such as marshmallows, chocolate bars and graham crackers for s’mores) designed to inspire impulse buys. And although sometimes those aisle-ends are used to promote sale items, we will buy even when there is no discount. “People are 30 percent more likely to buy items on the end of the aisle versus in the middle of the aisle—often because we think what’s at the end is a better deal,” says Brian Wansink, Ph.D., director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University and author of Mindless Eating.

7. Bargains aren’t always a bargain.

Who can resist an offer like “buy five, get one free,” or “three for $1”? Apparently, very few people can. “Any time you see numbers in a sign, you’re likely to buy at least 30 percent more than you may have purchased otherwise. “So if you go looking for soup and the sign says “limit 12 per person,” chances are you’ll purchase several more cans than you intended to buy,” he says. And of course, if you buy more than you need, it’s not necessarily a bargain. Or worse yet, it could lead to over-indulging. “Mindless shopping leads to mindless eating,” says Wansink. “Once the stuff is in the house, you’ll eat it whether you really want it or not.”

8. You’ll walk the store the way they want you to.

There’s nothing haphazard about the layout of your grocery store. Sure, some of it is practical (like refrigerated cases along the periphery or meat cases in the back by the store’s loading dock), but some is carefully calculated to help you part with more money. Walk in the front doors and chances are you’re faced immediately with hard-to-resist items (not on your list) like fresh-cut flowers or just-baked loaves of bread. Just try walking past them en route to a carton of milk without tossing something extra into your cart. In fact, research has shown that 60 percent to 70 percent of what ends up in our carts is unplanned.

9. The salad bar can make you sick.

Raw produce at the salad bar, pre-made salads at the deli counter and other pre-cooked prepared foods all have the potential for harboring harmful bacteria (like E. coli, salmonella and Norovirus). “The biggest contributors to unsafe food are foods that are held at unsafe temperatures, handling of food by individuals with poor hygiene, and refilling partially used containers of perishable food with fresh food,” says Michael Doyle, Ph.D., director of the Center for Food Safety and Quality Enhancement at University of Georgia. He recommends that consumers pay attention to cleanliness, freshness (all prepared food should be thrown out if not sold by the end of the day), and way food is stored (cold foods need to be kept at 41 degrees or below; hot foods at greater than 135 degrees). As for those bulk bins of candy and trail mix—while it might be a bit gross to think about people reaching in and “sampling” the goods with their dirty fingers, according to Doyle, the risk of catching anything from them is very low. “Harmful microbes are not likely to grow in bulk-bin foods because most of those foods do not contain enough moisture to support microbial growth,” he says.

10. They don’t always clean as often as they should.

Health inspectors routinely visit supermarkets to look out for the red flags that may signal unsafe conditions for your food. But you can do a little snooping yourself. Flies in the produce or meat departments could be depositing bacteria on raw food. Roaches scurrying across the floor could also be harboring dozens of different diseases. And of course, check the shelves and products for dirt and grime—cans that are covered in dust may be an indication that they’ve sat around past their shelf life.

Awesome World Imbalances Shown on Unique Maps!

2007-07-01T10:12:00.000-07:00

These computer-modified maps (or rather cartograms) were produced in an unique collaboration between two universities - project WorldMapper.They show the world how it really is - with the countries either shrunk or blown out of proportion, depending on the chosen parameter. These maps are a great tool in the modern world trends analysis. Visit the WorldMapper Project's page for other thought-provoking comparisons.(click to enlarge all images)

World's House Prices

HIV (distribution by countries)

Alcohol Consumption

Immigration

War Deaths

Military Spending

Toy Imports

Toy Exports

Killed by Disasters

Wealth in 1500

Wealth in 2002

The Secret Features of the iPhone!

2007-07-01T09:56:00.000-07:00

A list of iPhone dissapointments!

2007-07-01T06:41:00.000-07:00

Here's the list:
1. Bluetooth is ONLY good for connecting a headset. That's it.
2. There is no file browser on the device at all. Data must be organized (if at all) in the appropriate application.
3. The camera is a simple application that has ONE button: the shutter. Pictures come out okay on the device, but nothing too fancy on a monitor, especially if it was an attempt at a macro shot.
4. SIM card is damn near impossible to open, if at all. I didn't look into it extensively.
5. Web browser is slow, even over WLAN. Even the simple OneList web app that was created takes around 20 seconds to load over WLAN. You can not highlight, cut, copy, or paste and text from a website, and you can not save any images you find from a website either. The only nice thing about it is the tabbed browsing, which crashed on me when I went to Engadget and YouTube on two tabs. This is the only application that allows you to use the keyboard in landscape mode.
6. The keyboard sucks. It gets slightly better after the iPhone "learns" you, as the employees said, but even then, it's not a device you can use with one hand comfortably, much less without looking.
7. You can only send one picture at a time in an email.
8. No custom ringtones (yet, as we were being told) and the alert tones can not be changed whatsoever.
9. The default ringtones are incredibly lame.
10. The only form of customization outside of a lame default ringtone is the wallpaper, which you'll only see when you need to unlock the device or when you get a phone call.
11. "Picture pinching" or using two fingers to zoom on any content is certainly fun to play with, but not practical whatsoever. This operation depends solely on using the device with two hands. 12. No document editor or native viewer. You can not store documents on the device to be viewed, they can only be viewed as attachments when they're sent to your in an email.
13. Visual voicemail is laggy and reacts about the same way as pushing the fast forward and rewind buttons on traditional voicemail systems. The only advantage is for those that get that many voicemail messages a day that they need to sort them according to priority.
14. NO games. None.
15. No voice dialing.
16. No speed dialing (which can be made up by the "quick list", but getting to that quick list isn't as fast as holding a single key on a real keypad).
17. No video.
18. No MMS.
19. It's still <4GB for $500 and <8GB for $600
20. It only takes around 2 hours to explore every menu without any options for expandability except to scrounge around for new web apps that will load slowly and nowhere near as smoothly as the native apps.

This device looks like it was aimed at the general consumer who has the money to spend on such a flashy device, but it leaves so many basic features behind that it's almost impossible to consider it a success as a mainstream device. It encourages the advanced user to move away from MMS and into email to send images, but leaves out any advanced features advanced users would be accustomed to, and still retains a huge price tag on top of it.

It's certainly pretty and Americans will buy it because of that simple UI, but anyone who's familiar with other operating systems would be appalled. This phone needs to be unlocked and cracked WIDE open to make much better use of the multi-touch system. That, or it needs an immediate update in iTunes to rework every feature.