Need I say more? Check out this funny PSA and kids, be sure to help out your grandmas and grandpas with the digital television switchover taking place on February 17, 2009.

(via Katya)

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Find out with decent accuracy (it worked for me, at least) the “age” of your brain with this cool applet from FlashFabrica. Just memorize the position of each number and then after they dissappear, click the circles in order from lowest number to highest. Fortunately, there is no need to brush up on your Chinese language skillz to play.

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Gas Station Gourmet:
“I eat weird gas station food and then write about it.”

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If all you see are three circles filled with dots of the same color, you are normal. If you see something different (such as different colored letters inside each circle) - immediately contact me in the comment section below.

You may be a tetrachromat: very rare and super human.

A tetrachromat is sort of like being a super taster of color vision. To date, only two or three people have been identified as potential tetrachromats.

You might be one.
(more…)

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As many of us had wished-upon those (bastard) classmates who were “successful” in high school: a recent study showed that 29% of high school seniors who were “doing well” failed to become financially independent by age 26, and 20% failed to meet their expected life goals at age 26.

Dr. John Schulenberg, professor of developmental psychology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor:

“We used to think that if things were going well in high school, they’d continue to go well.”

Ha. Ha.

(via Susan, via Psychology Today)

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(photo: AP)

Though technically they aren’t “lost” - they know exactly where they are - this population near the Peruvian/Brazilian border has had no known contact with the “outside world” until last month. Recent aerial photos taken in May 2008 offer the first proof of their existence and provide some clues to their way of life.

Some new facts about this recently discovered tribe:
• They don’t like airplanes.
• They aren’t very good at hitting airplanes with spears or arrows.
• They aren’t interested in maintaining front or back lawns.
• They believe that orange bodypaint is “the new black.”

Mail Online article.

(via Neatorama)

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Not all taco trucks are alike.

The Yum Tacos taco truck guide and news source for all things taco truck.

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• Wikipedia - the “Mother of all Wikis . . . and -pedias”.

• Uncyclopedia - like Wikipedia, but drunk.

• Conservapedia - like Wikipedia, but stupid and paranoid.

• Dickipedia - like baseball cards, about jerks.

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Last Fall, someone tried repeatedly to break into a neighbor’s apartment - windowscreens torn or pulled off, and attempts to pry open the window locks. I helped her to better fortify her windows and I decided it would be wise to protect my own.

I went with minor antipersonnel gardening: planter boxes beneath all of the windows, each filled with cacti. The project itself cost around $25 for each antipersonnel planter box, and it took an afternoon to do. IKEA (at the time) had sets of 3 small cacti for ~$5.00 and single large cacti for ~$5.00 each.

Some points to consider:
• This won’t prevent anyone from breaking in if they are hellbent on doing so. It provides ‘disincentive’ - making it uncomfortable or more difficult to casually approach and open windows from the outside. They provide a visual threat (I’ve considered adding poison oak to some of the planter boxes, also).

• The cost is relatively low.

• It is easy to do - Screw the planter box into the bottom of the window sill. I suggest you use BBQ tongs or pliers to handle the cacti when you’re planting them.

• It is easy to maintain - Cacti are low-maintenance and often only need watering on a monthly basis.

• It looks cool - every time I look out the window, it looks like I’m in Arizona.

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It goes without saying that there are certain things that white people love (usually because no one else wants to go near these things for good reason). Stuff White People Like is dedicated to chronicling the things that affluent white people go berzerk about:

• #74 - Oscar Parties
• #67 - Standing Still at Concerts
• #64 - Recycling
• #63 - Expensive Sandwiches
• #62 - Knowing What’s Best for Poor People
• #60 - The Toyota Prius
• #57 - “Juno”
• #49 - Vintage Clothing
• #47 - Arts Degrees
• #45 - Asian Fusion Food
• #44 - Public Radio
• #36 - Breakfast Places
• #28 - Not Having a TV
• #25 - David Sedaris
• #21 - Writer’s Workshops
• #17 - Hating Their Parents
• #16 - “Gifted” Children
• #11 - Asian Girls
• #10 - Wes Anderson Movies
• #5 - Farmers Markets
• #1 - Coffee

(via Susan)

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Check out The Gapminder World, which, for lack of a better description can be called an economist’s plaything. But for reals though, this site catalogs TONS of data about most of the world’s countries, from GDP and Child Mortality Rate, to newer, more unique statistics like Internet users per 1000 people and percentage of GDP dedicated to military spending.

Gapminder tracks the data from year to year and implemented a cool animation feature so you can see trends in these statistics and more. It’s simply fascinating, particularly if you want to understand more about global trends throughout recent history. Take, for instance, the average number of babies women in Niger, Pakistan, Ireland and the US have had, respectively, since 1975, versus income. Click the graph to enlarge:

(via Phil)

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Jorn Barger’s ‘Timeline of Knowledge Representation‘

This is impressive. A timeline of the recording of information, even by biological means.

Take a moment to browse through this.

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The modern American Santa Claus is the result of a huge mess of practices and figures that have collided at high speed throughout the ages. Here is a brief synopsis of the origins of the modern American Santa Claus, and a history of his evil assistant (who is all but gone in American culture), in an approximate chronological order:

Santa Claus:
Saint Nicholas - The 4th Century Bishop of Myra (in modern-day Turkey), he was known for giving to the poor. In particular, he was known for providing the dowries for three impoverished sisters - sparing them of a life of begging and prostitution. Saint Nicholas became (among many other things) the patron saint of children. Many cultures honor him on December 6th, weeks before Christmas.

(more…)

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This one is true. Even though we all wish it wasn’t.

In Japan, there are vending machines that sell underwear. Schoolgirls’ underwear. Previously worn and unwashed schoolgirls’ underwear.
Yes - an entire industry of trading-in the day’s underwear for a new pair. And underwear sold with a photo of the underwearer can fetch a higher price. The almighty Snopes has a nice article on this subject, which they report to be true.

(more…)

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According to his last wishes, the remains of Robert “Evel” Knievel will be set on fire and launched over the Grand Canyon.
Given his recent passing, his final numbers can now be tallied:

•Wives: 2
•Longest Coma: 29 days
•Pelvis Fractures: 3
•Number of Broken Bones: (sources vary from 35 to 40)
•Total Number of Days in the Hospital: 36 months
•Number of Times Running an Anaconda Mining Company Earthmover into the Butte Montana City Powerlines: 1
•Number of Mountain Lions Jumped at One Time: 2
•Greatest Number of Cars Jumped at One Time: 19
•Greatest Number of Greyhound Buses Jumped at One Time: 14
•Convictions of Assault with an Aluminum Baseball Bat: 1
•Arrests for Solicitation of a Prostitute: 1
•Liver Transplants: 1
•Back Taxes Owed in 1983: $1,600,000.00

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Two books I am currently in love with (and they have no words, only pictures):

“Wanderlust” by Troy M. Litten - A wonderful collection of travel photos that sum-up a profound principle: the journey can be as dynamic as the destination. Litten’s photos capture the world of transit around the globe: an orange-tiled hotel bathroom, cryptic restroom signs, airplane meals, greasy food carts on the street, vivid taxi paintjobs, cups of coffee in 18 different hotels and restaurants.

“Point It” by Dieter Graf - this book just may be the most brilliant travel tool ever devised. Graf has created a language-free travel dictionary; namely, it is a pocket-sized book of photos of nearly anything that one would need (or one might encounter) while travelling. You don’t know the Russian word for “eggplant” - just point at the picture of it on the vegetable page. You can’t speak Mandarin and you want to know what meat you’re eating - the waiter can point to the deer, the cow, the goat, the bunny, the elk . . .

Dieter Graf, thank you for saving my ass in Estonia more than once.

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Dear Friends,
Please stop sending me this amazing video. It is a hoax - it does not work. How they did it below . . .

Mountain Dew Glows!!!! Mountain Dew Light Hack!!! - The most amazing videos are a click away

I’m pretty sure they switch Mountain Dew with luciferin (the stuff in the small glass vial in glowsticks). The peroxide oxidizes the luciferin (making it glow) and the baking soda catalyzes the reaction (making it happen at a slower rate). If you doubt this de-bunking, consider this:

•Why do they suggest only a small amount of Mountain Dew (instead of the whole bottle)?
*Because it’s the right color and volume for the small amount of luciferin that comes in a glowstick

•Notice when they zoom in to the teaspoon with baking soda, notice the bottle of Mountain Dew before and after the zoom:
*The label has been turned around, perhaps this is when they made the switch.

I tried this at home - what the hell am I going to do with the rest of the F@#$ing 6-pack of Mountain Dew?

Stop posting this on your websites as a great Halloween tip.

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The downside of a wiki site is that any garden variety blockhead can and will insert fart jokes. Doing some research on eclipses, I stumbled across (and almost missed) this small piece of wikivandalism.





The lesson: subtle vandalism survives longer than large/obvious vandalism.

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I just came across a rather interesting website. Conceived by a partnership between the Library of Congress, the Center for History and New Media, and the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business; this site is dedicated to archiving business plans and other such organizational documents from companies of the dot-com era. A great resource for anyone wanting to venture out on their own, and learn from the mistakes and successes of those from the previous era. Check it ›

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Behold! The Super-Awesome Action Hero Name Generator!!! Push the button for non-stop crime-fighting Action Hero names!!! You can’t fight zombies with a name like “Scooter.” Push the button and get ready for ACTION!!! [Does not work well with Internet Explorer - the browser of the feeble].

©2007 Blogadilla
Concept (and names): Timbotron
Actual Labor and Creation: Steve B
Machete Photograph: Y. Trottier.

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