Sunday 29 December 2013

Entertainment stuff from the week 23-29/12/13


A creepy hello to my sinister and nasty readers!


The Torygraph has reported that the Cuntryside Alliance has declared the RSPCA to be "sinister and nasty". LMAO
https://www.facebook.com/SaveMe2010/posts/725625824123204

That's the same Cuntryside Alliance that represents regionalist xenophobia, technophobia, capitalist farmers' selfishness, animal-blood sports, and inter-species genocide; calling the same RSPCA that puts great efforts into actually improving the lives of animals without the terrorising behaviour of organisations like PETA and Hunt supporters, "sinister and nasty"!

Pot, kettle; kettle, pot... except this kettle's chrome. You have to laugh, don't you :-D


Here's a pretty good quiz from Richard Wiseman's blog. Have a go:

Can you cross out five letters in the sequence below and still be left with two English words?

F F I R V I E L D E T A Y P T U Z E Z R S L E

Answer at the bottom...


'Snow Falls In Cairo For The First Time In More Than 100 Years: Report'

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/13/cairo-snow_n_4441049.html?utm_hp_ref=green&ir=Green

It's the first time in 100 years, that snow has fallen in Cairo, according to the Los Angeles Times. Is there any verification for that?

I didn't find any. But it did sleet a bit, in Alexandria, in early 2013. This year!

'It Snows in Alexandria'
http://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/it-snows-in-alexandria.html

Plus, it regularly snows, up in the mountains, so funnily enough, Egypt is not unfamiliar with snow. And because both Alexandria and Cairo are on the Nile Delta, it seems unlikely that one would get sleet, and the other not, for as much as a century!

But if there's one thing we can take from this news, it's most definitely that winter disproves global warming!

Freak occurrences are certainly better indicators of long-term trends than the long-term trends themselves, haha ;-)

No, but seriously - the IPCC's report on Climate Change has been chosen by RiAus as one of their top-5 news stories for 2013:

'A Week in Science Top 5 science stories of 2013'

http://youtu.be/07-g9HgWHxA

Every year that goes by, more pollutant pours into the atmosphere, through human activities, making the increasingly-precise predictions also increasingly bleak.

But the Climatic Change obstructionists march on, unaffected...


Vladimir Putin -  Russia's President - has pledged to release from prison the two remaining members of feminist punk band Pussy Riot, the members of Greenpeace who illegally boarded a Russian oil rig in the Arctic, and "former oil tycoon" Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Pussy Riot release: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25490067
Greenpeace release: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25524589
Khodorkovsky release: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25483856

Khodorkovsky was imprisoned on the grounds of fraud, theft and money laundering, but is considered by some to have been imprisoned for campaigning against Putin's government, and thereby being a political prisoner.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25450785

It's thought that these releases are happening now, in a bid to ease the pressure on the Russian State, for its Human Rights abuses, ahead of the Sochi Winter Olympics of Homophobia, which is planned for February. The official line is that they're being peculiarly compassionate because it's the 20th anniversary of their constitution. I'm not sure i believe that.

But don't be distracted! These are only a few people - their releases are not as valuable as a change in Russian Law; specifically, the repeal of the recently-enacted homophobic ones.


'Walking with Dinosaurs (film)'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking_with_Dinosaurs_%28film%29

New Scientist has made me aware of a film, produced using the same startlingly-realistic production values of the BBC's 1999 series 'Walking with Dinosaurs'
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL50KW6aT4Ugx6C3hr36Onjvwv6NO723gI

It's not actually a documentary - it's got characters, voiced by actors, and all that rubbish - but it seems they have gone to efforts to make it realistic.

There are no Tapejaras in it, though (wrong time period) but there is a Quetzalcoatlus, whose human name derives from the Nuhuatl language for 'tail-feather' (quetzal) and 'serpent' (coatlus) via the Aztec god Quetzalcoatlus.

'The science behind Walking with Dinosaurs'
http://youtu.be/oYU_JOPzJYY

The 2011 series 'Planet Dinosaur' was also pretty awesome :-)
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL50KW6aT4UgwyxBDgijhjvZxsIxRM71d5


Here's something else that there's evidence about:

'Celebrities and health: The good, the bad, and the ugly'
http://youtu.be/8SkXqXjwwNo

I'm so proud of the British Medical Journal. Usually, presenting the truth about quack claims is left to Skeptic/Rationalists.

"Best of British", as the xenophobic bigots say, hehe :-D


Speaking of bigots...

'UK set for first Scientology Church wedding after Supreme Court rules it a ‘place of worship’'
http://wwrn.org/articles/41315/

Christian cultists opposed the inclusion of Scientological superstition as "a Religion" because everyone knows it's batshit crazy... apart from Scientologists, of course.

I think this ruling might help secure advances for humanity, overall, however, as Courts and Politicians will be forced to accept that either they treat all batshit Religion with the same contempt, or be outright glaring hypocrites.

...Politicians, of course, are fine with hypocrisy, as long as it's mealy-mouthed, two-faced hypocrisy that doesn't draw too much attention. They won't like this!

BTW, the French made the wrong decision, when they classified Scientology as "a cult" and somehow not a religion!?

The only difference between a cult and a religion is connotation - a superstitious, authoritarian, factionalistic movement is called a cult when there's a cult leader who has ultimate say about what goes on.

A superstitious, authoritarian, factionalistic movement is called a religion, when that person's dead... or never existed in the first place!

If you find yourself wondering "what the hell is this Scientology thing, anyway?" then here are some resources:

'Scientology - Circus of the Stars'
http://youtu.be/DwiYjQyu0Tw

'Stupid Things Scientologists Say - Longer, more Gay version' (And the whole of the rest of this channel has good stuff on Scientology, too)
http://youtu.be/iUSKjy3BgrI

'Anonymous vs Scientology'
http://youtu.be/cuHF_br-DBs
'Scientology- Because it matters'
http://youtu.be/550sVAr_qPQ
'Scientology vs Godwins Law'
http://youtu.be/MYG5ayrd040

'Scientology: James Randi on L. Ron Hubbard' (Randi's so old, he can talk personally about the founding fathers of Scientology. The rest of this channel is about Scientology, too)
http://youtu.be/Oj-w09kpQcY

'Gruen Planet - The Master, Scientology, and Tom Cruise'
IMO, superstitions are the best examples of marketing that there have ever been. Think about it: there's the lights, the red carpet, the velvet curtain, the celebrity endorsement, but the display case... it's empty. There's no product. From religion to quackery and back again, it's pure marketing. If superstitionists are creditable for anything, it's that. Maximally manipulative marketing.
http://youtu.be/mToinfjfZyo

...and an outright silly one. FSM bless The Chaser :-D

'Chasers War on Scientology'
http://youtu.be/_rn7NVRpQSo


And here's a story that combines quackery and Scientology:

'Miami chiropractic office must quit making its staff practice Scientology following complaint'
http://wwrn.org/articles/41373/

Well, superstitions do tend to clump together :-D


...oh, and David Cameron stole this comedian's joke:

'David Cameron Stole My Joke'
http://youtu.be/AMCQ--KMFU0

Or, more likely, one of his aids spotted it, thought "that'll go down well at PMQs" and wrote it in.

They don't write their own speeches, you know.
http://www.wisegeek.com/do-politicians-ever-write-their-own-speeches.htm
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/why_dont_politicians_write_their_own_speeches/


...saving the most grim and hard-to-read stuff 'til last, as usual...


Probably one of the most important awards to win, Brighton & Hove City Council has won the 'Overall UK Loo Of The Year Award'. Yay for them :D
http://www.loo.co.uk/news/index.php

I suppose we shouldn't underestimate the value of sanitation, however. Thorough handwashing practices in UK hospitals has demonstrated an 80% reduction in contractions of MRSA. Simple as that!

Undoubtedly, however, this is an advert for the toilet industry. And no, when it comes to my contribution to advertising them... i wash my hands of all responsibility... with soap :-D


------------------------------------------------------ of the weeks

Word Of The Week: mondegreen -- a mis-hearing of a word or phrase, resulting in a new meaning. Mondegreen itself is derived from a mis-hearing of "I'm on the green"

Etymology Of The Week: tipple -- meaning drinking a little alcoholic beverage; probably from Norwegian 'tipla' meaning 'to drink slowly or in small quantities'

Perversely Popular Industry Of The Week: The Artificial Skin Cancer (Tanning) Industry

Joke Of The Week: How many atheists does it take to change a lightbulb? Two: one to actually do the job; and a second to film it so that religionists don't claim a god did it!

Cocktail Of The Week: Screaming Orgasm (Orgasm + Vodka)

------------------------------------------------------ contemporary stuff

Lots of stuff, all jumbled up. Enjoy.... :-P

'YouTube Rewind: What Does 2013 Say?'

I recognised more than i did last year... is that a good thing? I'm not so sure :-D
http://youtu.be/H7jtC8vjXw8

'Why The Germans Can't Get Enough Of English Markets'
"And then we went and bought plugs" :-D
http://youtu.be/f6m9tvs3PhU

'How to train a deadly komodo dragon'
http://youtu.be/QLgs1xwlc6I

'Great animated illusions' via Richard Wiseman
https://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/2013/12/18/great-animated-illusions/

'Funny bodies move like laughing people'
http://youtu.be/9MZwQdxIo1s

'Jack Dee - Unwanted Christmas Presents'
http://youtu.be/U0-bXtakp3k

'Simon Cowell: I DID start the fire (song) starring Jon Culshaw'
Jon Culshaw! He's best known for Dead Ringers's TV and Radio series, but his skills are best demonstrated in this video: http://youtu.be/zMLjQjtcjkk
http://youtu.be/9iqXbAApIVQ

'Birding at the Museum: A Tour with Stephen C. Quinn'
A tour of the dioramas, at The American Museum of Natural History
http://youtu.be/AhrniwfiYkQ

'Tabletop volcano crackles with lightning'

http://youtu.be/PaLNrA9vYgc

'How to make cheese using armpit bacteria'
Delightfully disgusting :-D
http://youtu.be/NFPYy0m-GJ8

'Bouncing Liquid'
Probabilty says this has been fapped to. Very pretty, though :O)
http://youtu.be/SstY_Usuwxs

'This Video Will Hurt'
Brilliant, and absolutely true. Although they did miss a trick: they could have explicitly stated the fact that the placebo/nocebo effect should be considered a property of the subject - not the thing that's being done/given to them.
That means it's fraudulent to claim that a 'medicine' "works by the placebo effect", for example.
http://youtu.be/O2hO4_UEe-4

'Security pants'
NOT a banned commercial. HeadmunsTV appears to be a Thai comedy channel :D
http://www.illegaladvertising.com/post/70579576802/security-pants
For people who hate staring at silly pixellage:
http://youtu.be/TyNVpvZRwIY
{Gasp! She's not even naked :D }

'Amazing T-Rex Illusion!'

I'd worked out which trick this employed by the time i saw the 8 T-Rexes. Will you work it out?
http://youtu.be/A4QcyW-qTUg

'Oil of Wintergreen'
How to make a seasonal scent, for a wintry time of year. Sorry for the guys in the Southisphere, but i suppose you could have a go, anyway :-)
http://youtu.be/VTLnNWQhSMI

'Cassetteboy V Pewdiepie'
I don't even know who that guy is, and it's still funny :D
http://youtu.be/PCLxsKpxnsE

'The Mystery of the Red Cards' - Richard Wiseman
http://youtu.be/QpvEmNKyg9A

'Gingerbread Optimus Prime'
http://twicr.tumblr.com/post/70797653430/gingerbread-optimus-prime-selected-as-a-finalist

'A Working LEGO Hot Rod'

What do you get if you put 300,000 lego pieces together in just the right order, and then whack tyres on it? A working lego hot-rod!
And look at that baby go - air-powered 0-Max in less than a second, and a top speed of almost 5 mph :-D As usual, with lego, most of the fun must lie in the construction :-D
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/amazing-science/a-working-lego-hot-rod/

------------------------------------------------------ non-contemporary stuff

'Get Naked'
A funny advert for Four Seasons Condoms. "Cum again!" :o)
http://www.illegaladvertising.com/post/69573843787/get-naked

Appropriately followed by...

'Vatican misspells Jesus on Pope Francis commemorative coins'
Yahweh's guiding hand, eh... Lesus Christ :-D
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/vatican-misspells-jesus-on-pope-francis-commemorative-coins-8873629.html


'Saturday Night Fry - Floric 19'
http://youtu.be/pgN9WIoFZPE

'Saturday Night Fry - A Lady of Consequence'
http://youtu.be/JBwpW21sfNk

'Saturday Night Fry - Into the Underworld'
http://youtu.be/YhnoYins_kI

'Saturday Night Fry - Don't Be Dirty'
http://youtu.be/T0TVOpChUnQ


''Prove It!' The National Revue company sing "When I'm 64" - forwards and backwards'
http://youtu.be/rwUUOSWThrc

'Arthur Smith singing Jingle Bells... backwards!' (my upload)
http://youtu.be/iMiNWET8nmM


'Time-Lapse Auroras Over Norway'

Beautiful stuff
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap131229.html

'Appearing camel!'
I bet you didn't know camels breed this way! Once every 6 minutes, the world camel population doubles - that's why everywhere they live is desert - they're the mammalian equivalent of locusts :-P
http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/2013/12/25/appearing-camel/

'Best magic video ever?'
I sense irony in the title, but contend that it might well be true - after all, Debbie McGee never gave us sideboob like that :-D
http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/2013/12/24/best-magic-video-ever/

'50 wonderful photos'
Yes - i like that one, too - but i also like the porpoise murmuration, and the lightning. Good pics :-)
http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/2013/12/26/50-wonderful-photos/

'TOP 20 of 2013 : Part Two' - Ripley's
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/unbelievable-but-true/top-20-of-2013-part-two/


'Not The Nine O'Clock News - I Like Trucking'
http://youtu.be/w9lmCpIzhFo

'Mr Bean - Blind Date'
No - that's not Debby Mcgee - it's Rowan Atkinson. But they do look similar, don't they :-P
http://youtu.be/VPkh8lxnxmQ


The answer to this week's quiz:

Remove the letters in "five letters" from the sequence, and you get:

F F I R V I E L D E T A Y P T U Z E Z R S L E

  F   R   I     D     A Y P   U Z   Z     L E

"Friday puzzle"

Did you get it?

.

Monday 23 December 2013

Entertainment stuff from the week 16-22/12/13

Hi Winterians,


So... another (arbitrary) year came, another year's swiftly going to leave, and we're all another year older, and another year closer to death.

Happy times :D

Christmas is here. Winterval's here. Ain't it Capitalised. And ain't it commercialised. Ain't it COMMERCIALISED. It's not what it used to be! Yadda yadda yadda...

Happy times :D

I can't bring myself to find more to moan about, comically or otherwise, this year. I did that a whole year ago, and this one seems to have sneaked up on me while i was doing other things!

It is tiring, for signed-up Xmas-aholics and free minds alike, to go through all these weird rituals. But for the latter, it's also despiriting - why should we have to get you cards and drag a big prickly fungus indoors to decorate, etc, etc, etc, when we see no reason to do it??

...what's that? You use a plant, not a fungus? Shit... this is going back to the store!

For us, 'tis the season to be moody. And like Levni says, it's easiest to survive if you stop caring, go with the flow, and instead see how much you can make everyone else pay for their own pleasure :-P

'"Tis The Season To Be Moody" Tales Of Mere Existence'
http://youtu.be/lBRe0xknVWo

...also, it probably helps to lace everything with alcohol. Even though, medically, that's quite bad advice!


Sarah I-know-foreign-policy-because-i-can-see-russia-from-my-house Palin is back, to enhance our festive cheer!

'Sarah Palin: Angry Atheists Want to ‘Abort Christ from Christmas’'
http://www.forwardprogressives.com/sarah-palin-angry-atheists-want-to-abort-christ-from-christmas/

LOL

Aborting Christ is wrong - but eating his flesh and drinking his blood, weekly, for eternity, and celebrating his gory method of death as a 'symbol of love' is a great idea! <s>


While everyone else tries to knuckle down to making the most of the festivities, certain Cross-tians are knucling down to their war on fun, with a supposed counter-war on Christmas.

Um, yeah - btw, that's a fairy on your tree, not an angel. You pagan heathens! :-P

'Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men and Women'
http://www.atheistcartoons.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/tistheseason.jpg

'To XMAS And Beyond'
http://youtu.be/rLjHAzqqOm0


'Merry Giftmas - A Holiday Poem'

http://youtu.be/vmH9WMnHOfw


'Top 10 Christian Fails Of 2013'
http://youtu.be/7Nx1y6ACscM

"Merry Mythmas, and a logical new year" Hehe :o)


Oh, and don't forget the Chinese landed on the moon, recently:
http://micro.cibermitanios.com.ar/post/70180688705/chang-e-3-y-yutu-en-la-luna

'Stunning Chang’e-3 Lunar Landing Video gives Astronauts Eye View of Descent & Touchdown'
http://www.universetoday.com/107369/stunning-change-3-lunar-landing-video-gives-astronauts-eye-view-of-descent-touchdown/

This is the first time humans have put something on the moon for 37 years, don't forget!

A triumph of Science and Rationality, over moronic reproduction of culturally habitual ritual.

...oops, did i wander from the seasonal, Xmassy subject?

Um... no :-P


------------------------------------------------------ contemporary stuff

'Father Christmas: Draw my Life!'
http://youtu.be/wmtBom4C7TU

'Rollin Christmas'
http://youtu.be/Qota928VTXw

'Captain Picard sings "Let it Snow!"' (via Richard Wiseman)
http://youtu.be/oiSn2JuDQSc

'The perfect something for the person who has everything'
Ripley's presents some of its favourite weird presents, available to give to... whomever you wish to unnerve ;-)
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/unbelievable-but-true/shrunken-heads-for-sale/

'Reindeer Eyes - Bite Sci-zed'
http://youtu.be/qGJ1N-FCNwk

'Lovely, clever, Christmas video'/'Seasons Greetings' via Richard Wiseman
http://youtu.be/dzWYcnE-S7w

'Best Christmas tree ever? Exfoliate Exfoliate'
Not if you hate Doctor Who, it's not :-D
https://twitter.com/RichardWiseman/status/412146104390914048

'Marcus Brigstocke's New Year resolutions'
A lovely poem :-)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-25323278

'IGUDESMAN & JOO: Feliz Navidad!'
Feliz Navidad to you all :-D
http://youtu.be/gmWiDK7VFhE

'Holiday Emergency (Christmas Vacation Remix)'
http://youtu.be/bvWud0HaC3M

------------------------------------------------------ of the weeks

Word Of The Week: emacity -- desire or fondness for buying

Expression Of The Week: 'moon on a stick' -- term used to imply a will to have everything, especially that which you can not have. "you want the moon on a stick!" coined by Richard Herring in the programme 'Fist Of Fun'

Etymology Of The Week: prandial -- meaning 'relating to dinner/lunch', from the latin 'prandium' - the noun for luncheon/late breakfast

Quote Of The Week: "If it weren't for electricity, we'd all be watching television by candlelight" - George Gobel

Trivium Of The Week: Scooby-Doo's real name is Scoobert, as revealed in the prequel series 'A Pup Named Scooby-Doo'. Only his mother calls him Scoobert

------------------------------------------------------ non-contemporary stuff

'Graeme Garden's 'Red' Lecture'
The book's out now, in all good bookshops ;-)
http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/radio/the_unbelievable_truth/special/graeme_garden_red_lecture/

'An apple a day and five more fact-checked proverbs'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-25428090

'TOP 20 of 2013 : Part One'
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/unbelievable-but-true/top-20-of-2013-part-one/


We can't finish this article without some oldies. After all, what else are they going to do, at this time of year :o)

'Festive greetings from Cyriak'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4ep3OIIKcM

'David Mitchell on Michael McIntyre's Christmas Comedy Roadshow'
http://youtu.be/uwpbpyYxIDA

The best Christmas Tree you're ever going to see (excluding the dalek, of course!):
http://biocas.tumblr.com/post/14504491964/madsciencechicago-the-most-creative-christmas

'A Christmas of Chemistry'
http://youtu.be/YV-8-heRM1I


And of course, The Darkness:

'THE DARKNESS - Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End)'
http://youtu.be/XJNWM9Qkj7s



I hope you have a Wondrous Winterval, everyone; and a Joyous New Year.

And for all of you who will be braving the tedious Xmas movies that clog up the TV programming... good luck!

;-)

.

Monday 16 December 2013

Entertainment stuff from the week 9-15/12/13

Hi taikonauts,


Well, as Graeme Garden tweeted, this week:

"Not long now to Christmas. Time to put the sprouts on."

Windy weather approaches :-P

For anyone who might be unaware, the correct way to prepare Brussels Sprouts, is the British way, which can be summed up with this handy phrase:

'If you can count them, they're not done yet'

Et voila! :-D


'China's moon rover leaves traces on lunar soil'
"China's first moon rover has touched the lunar surface and left deep traces on its loose soil, state media reported Sunday, several hours after the country successfully carried out the world's first soft landing of a space probe on the moon in nearly four decades."
http://phys.org/news/2013-12-china-moon-rover-lunar-soil.html

Follow the link for a couple of pictures. This is exciting - will it spur a new Space Race, without a Cold War? I hope so.


I've noticed that the last four letters of the URL for my YouTube playslist 'Justin Hawkins and The Darkness 2' spell: lolz

Haha :o)

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7SsI_Fc8OZMsoorXV5rgD0EHY0Pi6sJB&feature=mh_lolz


A lovely story from Ethiopia... sort of...

'This Ethiopian village has gained wealth, but has bred hostility'
To be more accurate - the Awra Amba have gained cultural, economic and happiness wealth, amidst ignominy and poverty, through being non-religious.
It is the neighbouring Christians and Muslims who have bred hostility, in bitter, envious hatred of their intentionally-demonised neighbours.
http://www.richarddawkins.net/news_articles/2013/12/13/this-ethiopian-village-has-gained-wealth-but-has-bred-hostility


This week's also been met with the world's first comprehensive report on the way atheists are set to be treated, around the world, according to State legislature.
You might already have predicted that it won't be rosey - atheophobia is commonplace.
http://www.richarddawkins.net/news_articles/2013/12/10/first-ever-report-on-the-rights-and-treatment-of-atheists-from-around-the-world?

Shamefully, the UK and USA do not have friendly-looking green stars of freedom and egality, and the UK has an orange diamond of 'Systemic Discrimination'.
This is true, but very slowly changing for the better... overall... in the long-term.

Culturally, of course, many of the world's nations would be due different classifications; hence the bemusement in the comments section.

You might notice that Uruguay has a green star. They've also been in the News, this week, for making it legal to purchase, possess, and consume cannabis, in quantities up to 40g, at $1 per gram.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/22/uruguay-legal-cannabis-1-dollar-gram

The reason: illegal cannabis trades are far more dangerous than the drug itself. Hopefully, their contribution will lead the rest of the world into sensical drug policy,


BTW, last week's petition seemingly worked :-)
https://twitter.com/RichardWiseman/status/411520620330254336

"Universities UK agrees entirely with the prime minister that universities should not enforce gender segregation on audiences at the request of guest speakers."

Absolutely right. No-one should be allowed to impose segregation on others, for their own sake. If someone doesn't want to be around men, but their friends do, they should have no right to make everyone else miserable!


'Pope Francis is TIME Magazine's Person of the Year for doing nothing at all'
Pope Frankie's featuring on this blog again, but this News is making me wonder what's going on in the heads of the people at Time magazine... have they lost the plot? If they have, they lost it a long time ago - John Paul II was selected in 1994, and John XXIII was chosen in 1962. Time is broken! LOL
http://www.richarddawkins.net/news_articles/2013/12/12/pope-francis-is-time-magazine-s-person-of-the-year-for-doing-nothing-at-all


------------------------------------------------------ contemporary stuff

'Amazing Animated Optical Illusions! #6'
http://youtu.be/q7KswC9wCSY

'I've Never Seen Breaking Bad (Wrecking Ball parody) Whitney Avalon Miley Cyrus'
http://youtu.be/gV66svFgO8o

'Father Ted -- 'Arses' compilation'
What a lot of arse!
http://youtu.be/1Vqe79fh0mg

'Talking boat...'17 seconds is probably long enough for this video... but LOL :)
http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/2013/12/11/talking-boat/

'big spider inside house'
Wow! Look what Greg does to this massive huntsman spider, in his house!
http://youtu.be/PNDLPwlA5ks

'North Korea's way with extreme insults'

My favourite Shakespearean insult is "Prince of Whales". I imagine the metaphorical character behaving something like this: "Hmm, yes, [nom], yes, so, [nom], yes, how long have you, errr, [nom], how long, err, have you been, umm, [nom], been a pork pie... oh, where've you gone? Never mind. Ah! And what are you..."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-25357021

'How to pronounce Qunu and Mandela’s middle name'

I still can't even manage to roll my 'r's, the way the French do. Rrrr.. rrrr.. rrrr... nah, not working :-(
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-25356745

'Amazing Household Use for Snail Poo'

Looks like shit. Funky shit :-D
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/crazy-animals/amazing-household-use-for-snail-poo/

------------------------------------------------------ of the weeks

Word Of The Week: agelastia -- inability to laugh; a mirthless person

{Sounds like it should have something to do with sagging skin, doesn't it :D }

Etymology Of The Week: mop -- from the walloon french 'mappe' meaning napkin (the cloth that gets put on the end of a pole, to make a mop) napkin comes from napron, meaning towel/cloth/tablecloth (the suffix 'kin' denoted diminutiveness)

Web-Site Of The Week: howmanypeopleareinspacerightnow.com Follow the link - it's very concise :-D

Coincidence Of The Week: "Today I was chatting about how safe the huge Star Flyer ride in Edinburgh is. Tonight there was an accident. Chance? Yes."

Religious Self-Awareness Of The Week: "Just heard vicar on radio. When asked if he was nervous about his church reopening on Friday 13th he said 'no, I'm not superstitious'"

------------------------------------------------------ non-contemporary stuff

'Urban Skiing—Skiing in Detroit'
This looks like a heck of a lot of effort just to jump down again. But hey - that's skiing in general - whatever gives youa  buzz!
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/incredible-feats/urban-skiing-skiing-in-detroit/

'The Headlines of my local paper'
http://imgur.com/a/POVpH

'Tossed'
And i suppose people who eat or work there are called... :-P
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/70076286019/tossed-and-i-suppose-people-who-eat-or-work

'Desert / Island'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/70076293909/desert-island-person-1-how-do-they-stay

"Listen, you can't live in the past forever."

http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/70076290111/listen-you-cant-live-in-the-past-forever-via


'Highlights of Lost Voice Guy's debut stand up comedy gig @ Mission in Sunderland - 4 February 2012'
http://youtu.be/BIXguZ584v0

'Voice by Choice comedy sketch by Lee Ridley, Lost Voice Guy'
http://youtu.be/CMm_XL3Ipbo

'Lost Voice Guy on Richard Herring's Edinburgh podcast - 11 August 2013'
http://youtu.be/ncw4xWVjT6g


Feedback updates:

Several readers noted a BBC report that "Scientists have already calculated that it would take an elephant balancing on a pencil to break through a sheet of graphene"
9 Nov
{Demonstration needed!}

BBC Radio 4 airs a programme called The Unbelievable Truth, and its writers, including David Mitchell and Graeme Garden, have a book out in time for the festive season. Brian Robinson observes that they have "grasped the nettle of new measurements": even if the theme of the programme is, er, lying.
Their discussion of cabbages claims that the largest cabbage ever recorded was "over three times the size of a spacehopper and weighed as much as Beyoncé". Brian now wonders "how many elephants it will take to measure how far the writers' tongues are in their cheeks".



9 Nov


"MEGA" as a prefix seems to be suffering devaluation. James Kennedy saw a sign at a BP outlet offering "50 million megapoints" on the Nectar scheme. We find the same incentive on a website called hotukdeals.com – though not on the official Nectar site.
James points out that because these "points" are redeemable in a major supermarket chain for £0.005, the alleged offer is worth £250 billion. That's enough to run the UK National Health Service for two-and-a-half years, so "perhaps government ministers should all pop out to fill their tanks," he says.
16 Nov

What should James Parsons make of the sign in a shop that sells beer declaring: "No alcohol that's opened to be consumed on the premises"? What is forbidden that's possible, and why?
23 Nov
{What is grammatical that's written, and how?}

RESTRICTIONS on visits to the Gibbs Farm sculpture park near Auckland, New Zealand, had Shane Dwyer and his wife impressed but a little concerned. The park's website emphasises that it is privately owned and is open just one day a month, by prior appointment only. And not everyone is entitled to visit: only "artists, educational institutions, charities and the public". Shane asks what the restriction means. Feedback deduces that official delegations of non-artistic uncharitable MPs are forbidden.
23 Nov

SUCCESSFULLY gaining entrance to a holiday destination, Simon Holloway saw a sign in the UK Wildfowl and Wetland Trust's reserve at Slimbridge, Gloucestershire. Above a charming picture of an otter, it says: "Otter talks 11.30 am, 3.00 pm."
"I waited," says Simon, "but didn't hear them utter a thing."


23 Nov


SUPERMARKET ASDA startled Freddy Heppell by requesting: "Please put unwanted leaflets from magazines in this bin. This bin is also located in aisle 42." When he attempted to observe it in that aisle, it was not there. Perhaps its quantum waveform had collapsed and it was no longer in a superposition of aisles.
30 Nov

MORE dimensional confusion arises in the reporting of last month's alleged UK discovery of gun parts made in a 3D printer.
Nicola Normandale reports BBC news presenter John Humphries reading, apparently untroubled, the headline: "Police in Manchester have seized what they believe are parts for the first 3D gun ever found in this country." "As opposed to all those tricksy 2D guns we've been used to in the past?" she asks. Nicola also points us to a headline in The Guardian newspaper on 25 October: "Police may have jumped the gun on '3D gun' find". Indeed.
30 Nov
{Surely a 2D gun would be more dangerous - it would be so much easier to smuggle!}

A THEORETICAL treatment of the question over what mass, if any, software and other data have continues to elude us (9 November). Readers have, however, offered practical suggestions. A couple of you suggest that "burning" information onto a CD will reduce its mass. But further investigation reveals that the data is, in fact, recorded on a rewritable CD by a laser changing a crystalline metallic film to an amorphous state; and on a write-only disc by a laser's effect on a photosensitive dye. So now we know.
Others recalled the days when software was stored on punched cards – transporting Feedback back to the special sensory experience of a basement full of computer science students in 1970s nylon shirts. Douglas Shiell notes that "presumably the net mass of the software was negative, since it was expressed as holes in the card". Indeed it would be, compared to a card full of "blank" characters, each encoded with no holes.
30 Nov

WARNING: the radio advert to which Barry Cash alerts us is presented at tinyurl.com/dino-ad with an apology – listening to it "probably decreased your IQ by a couple of points". It's by Ken Ham, founder of answersingenesis.org, and is aimed at the Next Generation Science Standards for US schools. It is no doubt fuelling the continuing opposition in states such as Kentucky and Texas to the standards' inclusion of the science of evolution and of climate change (5 October, p 7).
The ad warns: "Evolutionists use dinosaurs more than almost anything else to indoctrinate children into millions of years of evolutionary ideas." How can there be millions of years of ideas, when the ad goes on that "God tells us that he created all land animals the same day that he created Man, about 6000 years ago... there were even dinosaurs on Noah's Ark"?
The temporal confusion gets worse. Ham's website also reckons that there is "no reason to panic" about climate change. Arguing – or rather, asserting – this, the site blithely reproduces a graph of global temperatures over the past 12,000 years.


7 Dec


DERBYSHIRE County Council in the UK responded to questions from the newspaper Planning about delays in processing minerals and waste applications: "Our records show that in the future we will be well above the target." James Cox wants to know when they will start keeping records of future winning lottery numbers, and whether he can join in.
7 Dec

A TV advert for SCS sofas announces that they are made of "a blend of real leather and science". Charlotte Austin thinks they sound "comfy"
7 Dec
{I think they sound unbiblical. Don't mix your fibres![Godly rage] }

SCANNING a specification sheet for an underwater LED lamp from Norwegian company Imenco, Chris Hall was confused by the claim "life expectancy 50,000 hours (+/- 7 years)". Since 50,000 hours represents about 5.7 years, he writes, "does that mean you could receive the product 'pre-failed'?"
How did that get written, we wondered. We concluded that the following notice should be posted at every copywriter's desk (and possibly every translator's): "If you don't understand the difference between 'plus or minus' and 'more or less', stick to selling homeopathic nostrums."
7 Dec

FINALLY, the membership renewal form for a local UK family history society that we discussed on 12 October asked: "Have you signed the Data Protection Act?"
Andy Ball observes that only one person has signed this Act "and it's unlikely that Her Majesty has anything more to learn about her family history".
16 Nov

.