Sunday, 9 February 2014
Entertainment stuff from the week 3-9/2/14
Hi Olympians,
And especially to those of you who are, have been, or are yet to become Olympic athletes.
And especia-specially to those of you who are, have been, or are yet to become Queer Olympic athletes.
The Sochi Winter Olympics are here, and Google has made clear what they think of the hosts' attitude to those people, with a rainbow Google Doodle... which lasted just one day :-/
And oh yes, it was there on the Russian version of Google, too. I checked :-D
Unfortunately, i've heard from 'Human Rights First' that four LGBT activists have been arrested, in St. Petersburg, for displaying a banner of the Olympic Charter's Principle 6 - the one that simply says sport is a right for all.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152212041360747&set=a.10151958934615747.1073741827.7474340746&type=1
http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/2014/02/07/four-lgbt-activists-arrested-in-russia-as-olympic-games-begin/
That's not a good start, for the Russian hosts!
In the opening ceremony, IOC President Thomas Bach exhorted tolerance, again and again and again, but never mentioned what to be tolerant of. He never once mentioned sexuality, or love. Was this speech intended as a gesture of sincere goodwill, or merely to placate the more moral amongst us? And would it be apposite to describe their speech with this week's 'Word Of The Week'? I hope not.
President Putin has, in the run-up, been executing some classically suspicious behaviour, with some classically suspicious one-liners, as ribbed on The One Show:
'President Putin Is Village People (The Now Show, 24th January 2014)'
http://youtu.be/n29IJxOlF5I
So good luck to all of the Queers on 'Gay Mountain'. And the rest of the world, as well, of course. Especially if they're going to be showing this on a loop! What do you think of it? It's too extroverted for me, LOL
http://www.comedy.co.uk/videos/6916/gay_mountain/
'McDonald's worker's Happy Meals had a bit extra: heroin, authorities say'
"A McDonald's employee in Pittsburgh was arrested Wednesday after undercover police officers said they discovered her selling heroin in Happy Meal boxes, according to a criminal complaint."
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/29/justice/mcdonalds-happy-meals-heroin/
Interestingly, Stephens Dubner and Levitt wrote, in Freakonomics, about the structural similarities between the McDonald's business, and typical drugs businesses across America. I wasn't previously aware of it, but after attempting to Google a reference for their writings, i found Steven Levitt's TED video, on the same subject:
'Steven Levitt: The freakonomics of crack dealing'
http://www.ted.com/talks/steven_levitt_analyzes_crack_economics.html
It's quite poetic, really - that these two forms of business would come together, not just with utilisation of the same business model, but also with utilisation of the same premises... and cardboard boxes :-D
As Steven describes in his TED talk, the serfs of drug gangs typically also have a job working in somewhere, if not actually McD's, then very much like it.
This is an old video, but newly uploaded - James 'the Amaz!ng' Randi (that's a gerund, by the way) demonstrating how 'psychic surgeons' turn people's stomachs over, while extorting money out of them.
'James Randi Psychic Surgery'
http://youtu.be/LjF1sUZEy2U
It's gory, and a laugh for us, but frankly, it's no different to the make-believe that everyone in the I-SCAM industry perpetrates on gullible people.
The chiropractors (death by twisted arm), the acupuncturists (death by a thousand cuts), the ayurvedicists (death by lead poisoning) and the homeopaths (death by sheer preposterousness) all utilise the idea of 'no pain, no gain' to con people out of their money.
Ultimately, it's all proverbial smoke and mirrors - an elaborate bluff, developed only to persaude you to part with your money, in the empty hope that this particular grinning dickhead will help you in some way!
So stay skeptical, people. Stay skeptical :-D
'The Electric Highway | London to Edinburgh | Fully Charged'
"Only 3 years ago it took the BBC's Brian Milligan 4 days to drive an electric car from London to Edinburgh. This year we did it in 13 hours."
http://youtu.be/eHcC65ZoyBw
That driving attempt was made before any of this serious weather hit Britain's southern and western coastline, of course. MagMon supplies some handy tips for anyone who might find themselves faced with a flooded road:
'Who, What, Why: How do you drive in floods?'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-26082257
'The Dumbest thing ever said about Nuclear Power!'
http://youtu.be/d2PxY-wOrI8
An excellent video, to add to Thunderf00t's recent series of videos on nuclear power, and the hysterical beliefs of anti-nuclear campaigners. That's not people who campaign against the use of nuclear weapons (amongst whom i could be counted) but people who campaign against the use of any 'hot' isotopes, in any situation!
It seems so weird, to me, that people fear nuclear radiation so much, as a cause of cancer for example, to an extent that their fear eclipses chemical causes of cancer, which are far more potent. The dangers of nuclear radiation are vastly overestimated, distracting from bigger threats to our health.
'The Radioactive Bomber (that irradiated girls)'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu68Ap9SU7I
'Fukushima "Death Cloud" Kills hundreds on US Warship'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw33AVqzQxA
'Fukushima 'Death Cloud' and Flying: The REAL danger'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6Syv9arXqU
'Panic as Fukushima radiation 'found' on Californian beach!'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTJlkEE3edo
'Millions Die from Fukushima Fallout!'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN7Zm8XO7Zc
'FUKUSHIMA MUTATED MY CAT!'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qwOc3ytqaw
'Faces we don't forget: Psychologists explain how attractiveness prevents the recognition of faces'
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-02-dont-psychologists-recognition.html
Can this be true? Are we less able to remember the faces of people we find more attractive? I don't think so, and i'll tell you why...
When it comes to beauty studies, we must remember that beauty itself is largely subjective. Hence the quote:
"It is said that gentlemen prefer blondes. I hope then that lesbians prefer brunettes, otherwise we might have to organise some kind of rota system." - Johnny Pring
And yet, in the artificial circumstances of a study, the participants know they are being tested. They are likely to bend their perceptions of beauty (completely unconsciously, of course) to a popularised notion of beauty, because people like pleasing people, and participants in studies want to please the researchers.
They even use the example of Angelina Jolie as "the epitome of female attractiveness". She doesn't hit my buttons all that hard, though, i feel compelled to point out!
It is a known psychological/sociological phenomenon, that when groups of people are put in a situation where they must reach a decision of choice, they tend to converge upon the blandest option. Consequently, none of them are all that happy with the result, but importantly, no-one is majorly cross about it.
This is why restaurants tend to have generic menus, and will title themselves as a 'fish restaurant' for example, so that people know in advance what the options will be - any way, steaks and chips always seem to be on the menu!
So i suspect that what we see in studies, such as this one, is the participants biasing their perceptions of beauty towards the faces that they think they could reach agreement with the other participants, or the researcher, over. In other words, Angelina Jolie has a bland, dull, boring face :-P
When eyes meet, across a crowded room (or however it might happen, in reality) it is not blandness that really enthuses us - it is idiosyncrasies that do that. And when we really find them attractive, we can't get them out of our head, and so creep ourselves out with the vast amounts we can remember about them. Or am i alone... anyone? ... :-D
I think it's telling that this study finds 'more attractive' faces more difficult to remember. It certainly clashes with my experience! The data sounds valid, but i think they're misinterpreting it.
'Wibbly Wobbly Planet, Gaia's focusing, Chandra visits an old friend. Space Fan News #126'
http://youtu.be/-Jcfz3dkGMY
Scott Lewis tells us about an exoplanet that's orbiting not one, but two stars. That's not so odd, but take a look at its orbital path! Funky as what!?! :-D
BTW, that video's the first to be added to my new YT playlist 'Science 7' ...and there's room for 200 in each. There's a heck of a lot of nice, sciencey stuff out there, if you haven't seen much of it, and want to see more!
If only i'd seen this for last week's article, in which the exploding dairy farm story appeared. This is what it looks like, when an hour's worth of cow fart is set alight, as demonstrated for an Ri lecture, in 2009:
'How Much Methane Does A Cow Produce In An Hour?'
http://youtu.be/-X83sMnoy-U
Quite a lot, by the looks of things :-D
And let's finish with something hugely weird:
'Enormous jellyfish new to science'
It's not a jellyfish - it's just an inanimate amorphous blob... oh wait, that's what a jellyfish is!
http://doubtfulnews.com/2014/02/enormous-jellyfish-new-to-science/
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/new-species-of-giant-snotty-jellyfish-found-in-tasmania-20140206-323ko.html
------------------------------------------------------ contemporary stuff
'chimpnology' - cyriak
If you know cyriak, you know what's coming. Something hugely weird :-D
http://youtu.be/CBBvXth-O_g
'Tree shrew dines and defecates in toilet plant'
I once met a dyslexic girl, who preserved the shape of their shoes by stuffing tree shrews into them. She got lynched by PETA :-P
http://youtu.be/1mfA7DnaGTg
'NEW - 10 Amazing Bets That You Never Lose (Episode 10)'
http://youtu.be/CDh2FHx6nYg
'"Restaurant Decisions: The Musical" Tales Of Mere Existence'
http://youtu.be/sPmE925IXUo
'Gunshot produces world's longest echo'
Some things bemuse me. One of these, is the fact that this video, of the world's longest echo, gives us 35 seconds of a 75-second long recording. Would it have breached copyright, to give New Scientist the other 40 seconds!? Gah...
http://youtu.be/VZwVl4Fvl1k
'Skeptoid #400: It's Just Science'
http://youtu.be/ufP-DA3rEOk
It's not as good as the 'I'm A Climate Scientist' rap, featured in 'non-contemporary stuff' a few weeks ago though:
http://tapejarascience.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/entertainment-stuff-from-week-13-19114.html
'FLOBER - Le Bureau des Rêves'
A dark one, this week, from LeGoldenMoustache, and written by FloBer. But i have two questions:
1) What's wrong with Children of Bodom?
2) What the hell actually happens in his dream??? Tell me!!!!!!!!!
http://youtu.be/KUTtKnI90H0
'Amazing piece of metal (speculum)'
http://youtu.be/4ESW_NTIhBM
'Oranges are Flammable'
Slow-mo footage, showing the ejection and combustion of limonene - the chemical in oranges that burns.
http://youtu.be/zp8RwIQBRBo
'Robotic arm sculpts Charles Darwin's bust'
http://youtu.be/7AVi9IpNVNA
'Bionic hand gives lifelike sense of touch'
Lifelike in what sense? Lifelike in the sense that they can feel, and so can living people - yes; but not as well as most. Anyway - what an incredible advance!
http://youtu.be/lz3mDaZ90M8
'On the importance of balance'
http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/2014/02/06/on-the-importance-of-balance/
'The Sound of Atoms Bonding'
http://youtu.be/Ehw8PTA4QkE
'Incredible Moiré Patterns!'Who wants to see an old man fumbling his way to awesomeness? I do :-D
http://youtu.be/cvWF_Q5-Kt8
'The Vein Viewer // Life Fantastic 2013 CHRISTMAS LECTURES'
http://youtu.be/KZGrQZSF1xY
There's more from the Ri, down the page, in 'non-contemporary stuff'
'Science Bulletins: Biodiversity Unveiled—New Animal Discoveries of 2013'
That realisation that haunts me every time: "because of human disturbance to their ecosystems, many will become extinct before they are found." [shivers]
http://youtu.be/Grij9596Ayw
'Pizza Wedding Portraits'
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/unusual-art-and-fashion/pizza-wedding-portraits/
------------------------------------------------------ of the weeks
Word Of The Week: perfunctory -- describing an action carried out with diffidence and minimal effort
Etymology Of The Week: potassium -- from 'potash', literally ash made in pots. wet logs would be rendered down in huge pots, to make ash, which is a good source of what we now know to be the element potassium
Quote Of The Week: "Channeling is like bad ventriloquism - they talk funny, but their lips move" - Jamy Ian Swiss
Unfamiliar-to-Northerners Beverage Of The Week: Camel Milk Coffee
------------------------------------------------------ non-contemporary stuff
'Tchaikovsky, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies, en vasos con agua'
There's nothing like the music of a Gay man to set off an Olympics in a country where even mentioning homosexuality is now unlawful. But i notice this composition did get played at the Sochi opening ceremony! #darklyironichumour
http://micro.cibermitanios.com.ar/post/75635986806/tchaikovsky-dance-of-the-sugar-plum-fairies-en
'Michael Mapes’ Amazing Collage Portraits'
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/unusual-art-and-fashion/michael-mapes-amazing-collage-portraits/
Did you know there's such a game as Beach Tennis? Oh yes:
'Beach Tennis Basics by the ITF'
http://youtu.be/pEupr8mP0lI
Last week, i posted a link to a 'magic eye' music video. That had moving images, but no colour. This, on the other hand, has (some) moving images, and colour, and is from years ago. How's that work, then?
'Magic Eye Video'
http://youtu.be/_SrUTUuAJRc
This week, due to the aforementioned music video, the BBC's Magazine Monitor found themself getting nostalgic for paper. Nostalgia? On the BBC? I don't believe it :-D
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-26035877
ommadawnfan - the uploader of the 'magic eye' video - uploaded some of their old Beatles 45s, played at 33 1/3 speed. Here are those that i think work best... by which i mean "sound funniest":
'The Beatles 45s at 33 1/3 RPM Series - Nowhere Man'
http://youtu.be/pGcirJcn2YA
'The Beatles 45s at 33 1/3 RPM Series - I'm Down'
http://youtu.be/lrxsY3Wo8uY
'The Beatles 45s at 33 1/3 RPM Series - Strawberry Fields Forever'
This one sounds like they've been munching on something... but it ain't strawberries!
http://youtu.be/-awaik3mtJ0
'The Beatles 45s at 33 1/3 Series - I Saw Her Standing There'
http://youtu.be/-8wgt1yq1FA
Royal Institution videos:
'Tales from the Prep Room: Argon Ice'
http://youtu.be/zEjWWQIeV5U
'Tales from the Prep Room: Laser Diffraction'
http://youtu.be/pRZ7cSP1zMM
'Lighting a match with water'
http://youtu.be/f6QR2AN6_es
'Tales from the Prep Room: Lighting a match with a single drop of water'
http://youtu.be/digTC1Ne8Ug
'Steam trains, bridges and potential catastrophe'
http://youtu.be/-7d0Z9yhKSg
'Andrea Sella - Glassblowing and Didymium Glasses'
http://youtu.be/6Ul8CmUkO4E
{With this video, Thunderf00t demonstrated the filtering of an entire city's streetlamps, using the same effect: http://youtu.be/3ZiZe5o56vQ }
'Creating a Fireball - Pouring Water on an Oil Fire'
Short version: http://youtu.be/-4clsX2MTNw
Long version: http://youtu.be/NC45vREoEOg
'Contact Explosive - Detonating Nitrogen Triiodide'
Short version: http://youtu.be/H7oZafSywow
Long version: http://youtu.be/cWMlUDT2sK8
'Reacting Fluorine with Caesium - First Time on Camera'
http://youtu.be/TLOFaWdPxB0
'Tales from the Prep Room - Paramagnetism of Liquid Oxygen'
http://youtu.be/rz57PJToGEs
'Colour Mixing: The Mystery of Magenta'
http://youtu.be/iPPYGJjKVco
'Finding Tiktaalik: Neil Shubin on the Evolutionary Step from Sea to Land'
http://youtu.be/yvDQCa7rleI
'Sir David Attenborough Interview - Presenting the 1973 CHRISTMAS LECTURES'
http://youtu.be/CB5vMfPvJyg
'DemoJam - A Night of Science and Song at the Ri'
http://youtu.be/RiAWrH3-xFk
'The Vacuum Bazooka'
I've saved the best 'til last. And i want one for myself. But don't worry - you may share :-D
http://youtu.be/Rq62uPdKSWs
.
Sunday, 2 February 2014
Entertainment stuff from the week 27/1 - 2/2/14
Greetings all you cool methane-producers,
If you live in the Far Northisphere, it's that time of year again - the time when all the boys and girls of climate change obstructivism come out to point at the thermometers and say "look - global warming can't be happening - it's cold out" - yep, it's what's technically knows as... 'winter'.
'If There's Global Warming ... Why Is It So Cold?'
http://youtu.be/XZGsdnYqbjk
So what's a polar vortex, and why has the weather been so bad, recently? Well, in four words: irrelevant, and bad luck.
A polar vortex is a cold circle of air, and irrelevant to contemporary weather over America and the British Isles, as noted in New Scientist. The extremity of bad weather Britain's been having, while symbolic of the long-term trend toward greater extremities of weather, is more a product of Chance being clumpy than a sudden worsening in local climate.
That means it might be indicative of what's to come, but like all weather events, should not be confused with the climatic trends that have advanced, evidentially, decade upon decade, for the last 170 years.
It's been a great week for film reviews, however :-D
Mark Kermode has described 'I, Frankenstein' as "a turkey - the dialogue is absolutely lumpen - the film makes no sense at all", and 'That Awkward Moment' as "witless, charmless, unfunny, and unengaging", LOL
'Mark Kermode reviews I, Frankenstein'
http://youtu.be/WxWLLC1-ebc
'Mark Kermode reviews That Awkward Moment'
http://youtu.be/5i_y7UTDBTg
I'm not one to jump on a bandwagon of celeb-bashing, but these reviews are pretty funny. Mark Kermode's the only critic i really trust to distinguish subjective and objective opinion, and both seem to align quite well, with these films :-D
'An icon of Dunning Krugerism: Joseph files frivolous suit against NASA'
http://doubtfulnews.com/2014/01/an-icon-of-dunning-krugerism-joseph-files-frivolous-suit-against-nasa/
A couple of weeks ago, i wrote this parody piece, that i put only on a tumblr post (so not on here), and linked to to some people that i thought might appreciate it, on Facebook:
'Face Of Mohammed Mysteriously Appears On Mars'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/73957483607/face-of-mohammed-mysteriously-appears-on-mars
As i said, it was just a parody, but it seems there are always new kinds of nutjobs out there, who will 'see' (erroneously perceive) their delusions in reality.
In my parody, i make out that the mysterious rock, seen on Mars by NASA's Opportunity Rover, was in fact a jelly doughnut, bearing the face of Mohammed (pbuhmf).
This guy has decided that it is definitely biological, and that NASA is being negligent, by not investigating it further!
Um... they know it's a rock. It's just a rock. And it's a rocky kind of rock. Made of rock. Possessing rockyness... it's a rock :-P
"I’ll be blunt – this guy has a long record of crackpottery"
I am not surprised :-D
Other news:
'German cows cause methane blast in Rasdorf'
The detonation of methane, built up inside the cow shed of a German dairy farm, damaging the roof, and injuring one of the 90 cows inside.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25922514
'Road served as a major boulder holder in Italy'
"Several boulders let loose from the mountains above and cascaded down. No one was injured but the road was blocked. One of the largest boulders stopped just short of a house. And I MEAN JUST..."
http://doubtfulnews.com/2014/01/road-served-as-a-major-boulder-holder-in-italy/
'Candidate for year’s worst ghost photo already taken in Los Angeles'
"This pathetic picture, submitted to the newspaper by a believer who thought it was spooky and gave him nightmares."
This just goes to show: superstitionists have very low standards!
http://doubtfulnews.com/2014/01/candidate-for-years-worst-ghost-photo-already-taken-in-los-angeles/
------------------------------------------------------ contemporary stuff
'SURICATE - Siri'Scary, scary stuff... what's my mouse doing? ...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!
http://youtu.be/tbLkIaxxqzM
'Ron Jeremy on a Wrecking Ball'
Probably the world's most famous male pornstar, in a parody of Miley Cyrus' 'Wrecking Ball'. They copied the original, shot for shot, so you'll see as much of Ron as you would/have of Miley. Here's a side-by-side for proof:http://youtu.be/6BTK50QUqiY
http://youtu.be/6xljA6zJn4I
'FUKUSHIMA MUTATED MY CAT!'
This series just gets funnier. Just as in his WDPLAC series, Thunderf00t rips apart superstitionists ideas, using Science and Reason e.g. showing us the comparative power consumption of a hurricane, and 7.6 billion becquerels of plutonium radiation. Fascinating and funny :-)
http://youtu.be/5qwOc3ytqaw
'ScienceCasts: The Coolest Spot in the Universe'
http://youtu.be/J9_LmSTtpkI
'Burning Magnesium in Water - Periodic Table of Videos'
http://youtu.be/KS3A8reNZyw
'LEAKED Google Orientation Video'
I hope this kind of thing wards Google away from behaving like that, but then again, how much does satire really achieve?
http://youtu.be/GS0475iODGk
'FACEPALM!'My life in 5 minutes :-D
http://youtu.be/zbYf5_S7oJo
'Set Yourself Free'
How Ozzies keep their kids in school. No worries, mate, no worries... it's made by these guys, who have a "love for horror comedy" :-D
http://www.illegaladvertising.com/post/75152116278/set-yourself-free
'Richard Herring: Rudyard Kipling wrote exceedingly bad poetry'
He did indeed!
http://metro.co.uk/2014/01/24/richard-herring-rudyard-kipling-wrote-exceedingly-bad-poetry-4274549/
'This Magic Eye music video from indie band Young Rival will blow your tiny mind'
...if you can see it, that is. If you're inexperienced at this, my advice is to get really close to the screen, then pull out slowly, until you can see the rest of the image. But the content: basically, it's like a usual music video - singer leaning toward camera; guitarist guitarring; random stuff going on in between.
http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/01/this-magic-eye-music-video-from-young-rival-for-single-black-is-good-will-blow-your-tiny-mind-4286598/
For the giggles...
'Loving this random neuroscience paper title generator - they sound more useful than actual papers'
https://twitter.com/RichardWiseman/status/428676278388940801
It's not as funny as the 'Random Deepak Chopra Quote Generator' though :-D
http://www.wisdomofchopra.com/
------------------------------------------------------ of the weeks
Word Of The Week: succubus -- the female form of an incubus; both of which seduced people through sexual intercourse, and robbed them of their health by doing so; they are featured as supernatural characters in mythologies and devils in religious mythology
Anagram Of The Week: Nigel Farage -- Fe Real, Nigga
Absurd Crank Quote Of The Week: "The essential nature of the physical world is that it's not physical" - Deepak 'rubber-head' Chopra
Tweet Of The Week: "I just went to a meeting of The Anti-Measurement Society. There was well over quite a lot of people there."
------------------------------------------------------ non-contemporary stuff
FAKE SCIENCE CATCH-UP!
'How To Fall Asleep'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/75359111461/how-to-fall-asleep-children-however-are
'Get The Facts About Identical Twins!'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/75359107851/get-the-facts-about-identical-twins-also
'Why do redheads have freckles?'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/75359104314/why-do-redheads-have-freckles-also-moles
'Understanding shadows'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/75359114994/understanding-shadows-since-publishing-this
'Catch The Goofs!'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/75359099937/catch-the-goofs-also-i-have-noticed
'Extreme downhill trail Descenso del Condor in La Paz Bolivia'
Well, this looks exciting. Wouldn't like to do it, though :-O
http://youtu.be/XZV7DcUvIfc
Beware! There are some maybe-obscure references in this one :-P #nerdstylehumour
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/75138995433
Yeah - Screw babies - why shouldn't adults live? :-D
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/75138835771
'we all deal with situations differently'
What you don't know, is that 'the big C' started off as 'the little c'. It was about Rupert Murdoch. Needless to say, it was never made :-P
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/75040049228
'Wine isn’t just a beverage anymore'
What they did was to use bacteria to partially digest the wine, and use the resulting gooey solids as material to sculpt into a dress. Well, part of one! Basically, this is a kind of wine-cheese. Ewww :-D
My first question is: who the hell would want to wear this? My second question is: there's clearly too much wine in the world, that anyone can afford to do this with it! Back in the day, when i was a lad, wine was too expensive to waste :-P
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/inside-ripleys-world/inside-ripleys-books/wine-isnt-just-a-beverage-anymore/
http://www.stylist.co.uk/fashion/dress-made-from-fermented-red-wine-by-bioalloy-microbe-project#image-rotator-1
'3d Printed Ultrasounds'
Frickin' creepy. An eviscerated gynandromorph, manufactured for anatomical zoological purposes... that's perfectly fine. But with all its skin on? Who do these people think they are!?
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/body-oddity/3d-printed-ultrasounds/
That's it, for this week, folks. Seeya :-D
If you live in the Far Northisphere, it's that time of year again - the time when all the boys and girls of climate change obstructivism come out to point at the thermometers and say "look - global warming can't be happening - it's cold out" - yep, it's what's technically knows as... 'winter'.
'If There's Global Warming ... Why Is It So Cold?'
http://youtu.be/XZGsdnYqbjk
So what's a polar vortex, and why has the weather been so bad, recently? Well, in four words: irrelevant, and bad luck.
A polar vortex is a cold circle of air, and irrelevant to contemporary weather over America and the British Isles, as noted in New Scientist. The extremity of bad weather Britain's been having, while symbolic of the long-term trend toward greater extremities of weather, is more a product of Chance being clumpy than a sudden worsening in local climate.
That means it might be indicative of what's to come, but like all weather events, should not be confused with the climatic trends that have advanced, evidentially, decade upon decade, for the last 170 years.
It's been a great week for film reviews, however :-D
Mark Kermode has described 'I, Frankenstein' as "a turkey - the dialogue is absolutely lumpen - the film makes no sense at all", and 'That Awkward Moment' as "witless, charmless, unfunny, and unengaging", LOL
'Mark Kermode reviews I, Frankenstein'
http://youtu.be/WxWLLC1-ebc
'Mark Kermode reviews That Awkward Moment'
http://youtu.be/5i_y7UTDBTg
I'm not one to jump on a bandwagon of celeb-bashing, but these reviews are pretty funny. Mark Kermode's the only critic i really trust to distinguish subjective and objective opinion, and both seem to align quite well, with these films :-D
'An icon of Dunning Krugerism: Joseph files frivolous suit against NASA'
http://doubtfulnews.com/2014/01/an-icon-of-dunning-krugerism-joseph-files-frivolous-suit-against-nasa/
A couple of weeks ago, i wrote this parody piece, that i put only on a tumblr post (so not on here), and linked to to some people that i thought might appreciate it, on Facebook:
'Face Of Mohammed Mysteriously Appears On Mars'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/73957483607/face-of-mohammed-mysteriously-appears-on-mars
As i said, it was just a parody, but it seems there are always new kinds of nutjobs out there, who will 'see' (erroneously perceive) their delusions in reality.
In my parody, i make out that the mysterious rock, seen on Mars by NASA's Opportunity Rover, was in fact a jelly doughnut, bearing the face of Mohammed (pbuhmf).
This guy has decided that it is definitely biological, and that NASA is being negligent, by not investigating it further!
Um... they know it's a rock. It's just a rock. And it's a rocky kind of rock. Made of rock. Possessing rockyness... it's a rock :-P
"I’ll be blunt – this guy has a long record of crackpottery"
I am not surprised :-D
Other news:
'German cows cause methane blast in Rasdorf'
The detonation of methane, built up inside the cow shed of a German dairy farm, damaging the roof, and injuring one of the 90 cows inside.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25922514
'Road served as a major boulder holder in Italy'
"Several boulders let loose from the mountains above and cascaded down. No one was injured but the road was blocked. One of the largest boulders stopped just short of a house. And I MEAN JUST..."
http://doubtfulnews.com/2014/01/road-served-as-a-major-boulder-holder-in-italy/
'Candidate for year’s worst ghost photo already taken in Los Angeles'
"This pathetic picture, submitted to the newspaper by a believer who thought it was spooky and gave him nightmares."
This just goes to show: superstitionists have very low standards!
http://doubtfulnews.com/2014/01/candidate-for-years-worst-ghost-photo-already-taken-in-los-angeles/
------------------------------------------------------ contemporary stuff
'SURICATE - Siri'Scary, scary stuff... what's my mouse doing? ...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!
http://youtu.be/tbLkIaxxqzM
'Ron Jeremy on a Wrecking Ball'
Probably the world's most famous male pornstar, in a parody of Miley Cyrus' 'Wrecking Ball'. They copied the original, shot for shot, so you'll see as much of Ron as you would/have of Miley. Here's a side-by-side for proof:http://youtu.be/6BTK50QUqiY
http://youtu.be/6xljA6zJn4I
'FUKUSHIMA MUTATED MY CAT!'
This series just gets funnier. Just as in his WDPLAC series, Thunderf00t rips apart superstitionists ideas, using Science and Reason e.g. showing us the comparative power consumption of a hurricane, and 7.6 billion becquerels of plutonium radiation. Fascinating and funny :-)
http://youtu.be/5qwOc3ytqaw
'ScienceCasts: The Coolest Spot in the Universe'
http://youtu.be/J9_LmSTtpkI
'Burning Magnesium in Water - Periodic Table of Videos'
http://youtu.be/KS3A8reNZyw
'LEAKED Google Orientation Video'
I hope this kind of thing wards Google away from behaving like that, but then again, how much does satire really achieve?
http://youtu.be/GS0475iODGk
'FACEPALM!'My life in 5 minutes :-D
http://youtu.be/zbYf5_S7oJo
'Set Yourself Free'
How Ozzies keep their kids in school. No worries, mate, no worries... it's made by these guys, who have a "love for horror comedy" :-D
http://www.illegaladvertising.com/post/75152116278/set-yourself-free
'Richard Herring: Rudyard Kipling wrote exceedingly bad poetry'
He did indeed!
http://metro.co.uk/2014/01/24/richard-herring-rudyard-kipling-wrote-exceedingly-bad-poetry-4274549/
'This Magic Eye music video from indie band Young Rival will blow your tiny mind'
...if you can see it, that is. If you're inexperienced at this, my advice is to get really close to the screen, then pull out slowly, until you can see the rest of the image. But the content: basically, it's like a usual music video - singer leaning toward camera; guitarist guitarring; random stuff going on in between.
http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/01/this-magic-eye-music-video-from-young-rival-for-single-black-is-good-will-blow-your-tiny-mind-4286598/
For the giggles...
'Loving this random neuroscience paper title generator - they sound more useful than actual papers'
https://twitter.com/RichardWiseman/status/428676278388940801
It's not as funny as the 'Random Deepak Chopra Quote Generator' though :-D
http://www.wisdomofchopra.com/
------------------------------------------------------ of the weeks
Word Of The Week: succubus -- the female form of an incubus; both of which seduced people through sexual intercourse, and robbed them of their health by doing so; they are featured as supernatural characters in mythologies and devils in religious mythology
Anagram Of The Week: Nigel Farage -- Fe Real, Nigga
Absurd Crank Quote Of The Week: "The essential nature of the physical world is that it's not physical" - Deepak 'rubber-head' Chopra
Tweet Of The Week: "I just went to a meeting of The Anti-Measurement Society. There was well over quite a lot of people there."
------------------------------------------------------ non-contemporary stuff
FAKE SCIENCE CATCH-UP!
'How To Fall Asleep'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/75359111461/how-to-fall-asleep-children-however-are
'Get The Facts About Identical Twins!'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/75359107851/get-the-facts-about-identical-twins-also
'Why do redheads have freckles?'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/75359104314/why-do-redheads-have-freckles-also-moles
'Understanding shadows'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/75359114994/understanding-shadows-since-publishing-this
'Catch The Goofs!'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/75359099937/catch-the-goofs-also-i-have-noticed
'Extreme downhill trail Descenso del Condor in La Paz Bolivia'
Well, this looks exciting. Wouldn't like to do it, though :-O
http://youtu.be/XZV7DcUvIfc
Beware! There are some maybe-obscure references in this one :-P #nerdstylehumour
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/75138995433
Yeah - Screw babies - why shouldn't adults live? :-D
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/75138835771
'we all deal with situations differently'
What you don't know, is that 'the big C' started off as 'the little c'. It was about Rupert Murdoch. Needless to say, it was never made :-P
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/75040049228
'Wine isn’t just a beverage anymore'
What they did was to use bacteria to partially digest the wine, and use the resulting gooey solids as material to sculpt into a dress. Well, part of one! Basically, this is a kind of wine-cheese. Ewww :-D
My first question is: who the hell would want to wear this? My second question is: there's clearly too much wine in the world, that anyone can afford to do this with it! Back in the day, when i was a lad, wine was too expensive to waste :-P
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/inside-ripleys-world/inside-ripleys-books/wine-isnt-just-a-beverage-anymore/
http://www.stylist.co.uk/fashion/dress-made-from-fermented-red-wine-by-bioalloy-microbe-project#image-rotator-1
'3d Printed Ultrasounds'
Frickin' creepy. An eviscerated gynandromorph, manufactured for anatomical zoological purposes... that's perfectly fine. But with all its skin on? Who do these people think they are!?
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/body-oddity/3d-printed-ultrasounds/
That's it, for this week, folks. Seeya :-D
Sunday, 26 January 2014
Entertainment stuff from the week 20-26/1/14
Hi antihumans,
First up - a mini-essay i wrote, in the week: 'Neuromarketing: Good Or Bad?' which proves that i do finish mini-essays sometimes. And all in one day, too :o)
http://tapejarascience.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/neuromarketing-good-or-bad.html
And a quiz:
Which animal was discovered in Nelson Mandela's ear, this week?
The answer's at the bottom of the page...
What was that, what went supernova in M82? Well, what that was what went, was a supernova in M82!
'Bright Supernova in M82'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/74483942376/bright-supernova-in-m82-image-credit
"M82 is a mere 12 million light-years away (so the supernova explosion did happen 12 million years ago, [and that light is] just now reaching Earth), making supernova SN 2014J one of the closest to be seen in recent decades."
'Antimatter experiment produces first beam of antihydrogen'
http://home.web.cern.ch/about/updates/2014/01/antimatter-experiment-produces-first-beam-antihydrogen
As is probably common knowledge now [said with a Dunning-Kruger-like air] Supersymmetry explains the observation that matter is, fundamentally, made of fundamental particles, but it is also known that they might all have complimentary antiparticles - each of these might have a 'twin' - a mirror-image-like antiparticle that corresponds to it.
Electrons are matched with positrons, for example, and larger structures, such as hydrogen, can have antihydrogen. These are not negatively present - they are corresponding anti-particles - but they do annihilate when they meet their doppelgangers. This makes it incredibly difficult to isolate antimatter, using matter-made equipment, but they are known to exist.
In order to collect any, it must be held away from its container - this can be done with hugely powerful magnetic fields. The trouble is, those magnetic fields make it incredibly difficult to do spectroscopic analysis i.e. to 'see' what the matter is and how it interacts with light. The solution: to create a beam of antimatter, isolated from its container, but outside the magnetic fields, for long enough that it can be studied.
"the unambiguous detection of 80 antihydrogen atoms 2.7 metres downstream of their production" might seem like a small achievement (certainly small numbers, for Physics!) but it sets the stage for grander discoveries about antimatter. Roll on, 2014! :-)
Happy 10th anniversary Opportunity!
http://phys.org/news/2014-01-happy-10th-anniversary-opportunity.html
The Opportunity Rover wasn't expected to last until the end of 2004, and it's still going strong!
Held over from last week, because there was so much stuff:
'First instance of ball lightning captured on video and spectrographs'
http://phys.org/news/2014-01-instance-ball-lightning-captured-video.html
Ball lightning, though oft-reported, had not been caught on camera before, in such a way as to verify it as a real thing. All those videos on YT could be anything.
...but here's the video of it. The researchers have isolated the image, and presented its spectrum, to the right.
Interestingly, the hypothesis presented for this phenomenon, by the researchers, is the vaporization of silicon oxide, in the soil, which rises up and floats in the air as it burns out.
We've also recently heard about flames hovering above the ground, prior to earthquakes:
'Extraordinary earthquake lights explained -- they're not UFOs'
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57616750-76/extraordinary-earthquake-lights-explained-theyre-not-ufos/
The explanation they give, in that case, is that the energy of the preceding tremors energises (heats) certain types of rock, causing small amounts of plasma to form, which races up through cracks and out at the surface.
As excited materials tend to do, they give off light. That's how the Sun works. And lamps. Except lamps don't turn into plasma as they illuminate. Candles in microwave ovens, however...
So plasma is involved in both circumstances, the evidence suggests. The difference is that in 'ball lightning', the energy to form it comes from the atmosphere, and in 'earthquake lights', that energy comes from the ground.
Oh, and note the "they're not UFOs", in the title. Due to the lack of a real explanation, and the wont of bullshitters, they have exploited the opportunity to claim all kinds of ridiculous nonsense. [shakes head derisively] :-D
Speaking of bullshitters - a hysterically conservative lunatic in the UK has joined people of less-enlightened cultures in blaming bad weather on dem gayz!!!
'UK storms are divine retribution for gay marriage laws, says UKIP councillor'
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jan/18/uk-storms-divine-retirubtion-gay-marriage-ukip
The guy defected from the Conservative Party, to the nationalist party UKIP, because they weren't quite homophobic enough for his tastes - David Cameron saw more votes in allowing Queer people to marry each other, than joining his fervent, baying, bloody-toothed peers.
So there you go, Rest Of World - there are nutbags scattered all over the place :-D
...more nutbaggery:
'No, Edward Snowden Did Not Blow the Lid Off the Alien Conspiracy'
"What do Adolph Hitler, Edward Snowden, and extraterrestrials have in common? Who knows. But FARS is a semi-official news agency of the Iranian government, reportedly affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, which suggests that someone in Tehran thinks this new report alleging that Washington is secretly run by a malevolent race of extraterrestrials known as "Tall Whites"—who also, by the way, engineered Hitler's rise to power—will boost their country's geopolitical posture vis a vis the United States."
http://www.nationaljournal.com/defense/no-edward-snowden-did-not-blow-the-lid-off-the-alien-conspiracy-20140113
...aaand, again:
'Popular Blood-Type Diet Debunked'
The researchers found no correlation between blood-type and responsivity to any kind of diet, as should be expected by anyone who is aware that blood 'groups' - A, B, AB and O - are, to be pedantic, different to blood 'types', which are defined by the biological features of our blood cells. Of which, there are many, many, many more combinations. Blood groups are only what relate to transfusions.
The blood-type diet is merely a pseudo-scientific fad diet, invented by a naturopath (quack) in order to sell a book - surprise, surprise - 'Eat Right for Your Type', which presented no evidence in favour of the claims within it, at the time.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140115172246.htm
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0084749
...aaaaaand, again!
'Knees strewn with gold thread'
"When doctors examined an X-ray image of the knees of a woman experiencing severe joint pain, they found a gold mine: hundreds of tiny gold acupuncture needles left in her tissue."
http://doubtfulnews.com/2014/01/knees-strewn-with-gold-thread/
Look at that picture! Quackupuncturists just don't know how to stop!
"Not only is there no scientific evidence that this form of acupuncture works or does anything resembling what they claim, it’s also dangerous. The needles may migrate and damage other parts, they can cause a reaction or infection as the body tries to get rid of the foreign object and they make Xrays hard to read."
...aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, again :-D
'I get that cows are sacred and all, but drinking pee?'
"Urine-drinking Hindu cult believes a warm cup before sunrise straight from a virgin cow heals cancer – and followers are queuing up to try it"
Another claimed panacea -- rule of thumb: claimed cure-alls actually cure nothing!
http://doubtfulnews.com/2014/01/i-get-that-cows-are-sacred-and-all-but-drinking-pee/
Well, i knew all religion was batshit crazy... but cowpee crazy, too? Seems like it is... :-D
The side-effects of 'urotherapy' as the quacks call it, can involve anything related to ingredients in your wee. Any chemicals that are not entirely degraded in your body can build up, if you keep feeding it back in. This means it amplifies the hazards in 'herbal medicine', which involves munching on the hundreds of chemicals found in plant vegetation, potentially meaning overdosing on... pretty much anything. To conclude: don't rely on drinking your own piss, if you don't have to!
And out of the world of bizarre fiction, to...
'Peter Capaldi's first Doctor Who action figure looks great - it's just a shame about Clara'
http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-01-21/peter-capaldis-first-doctor-who-action-figure-looks-great---its-just-a-shame-about-clara
Nah, she looks good to me... she just looks like someone else... so who is this imposter?? :-D
'JILA Strontium Atomic Clock Sets New Records in Both Precision and Stability'
http://www.nist.gov/pml/div689/20140122_strontium.cfm
The new record-holder is 50% more precise than its predecessor, and just as stable... yet the buses still struggle to run on time :-/
For anyone who likes (electric) cars, and shiny things... and maybe even girls that go faster on tiny wings? {Roger Taylor shout-out :-P }
'London to Edinburgh.... in January'
http://llewblog.squarespace.com/electric-cars/2014/1/15/london-to-edinburgh-in-january.html
And here's the follow-up, post-trip:
'London-Edinburgh. Mainly Mundane.'
http://llewblog.squarespace.com/electric-cars/2014/1/26/london-edinburgh-mainly-mundane.html
"All-in-all, a 100% successful trip"
"But sir - we lost Mr. Rimmer!"
"...all-in-all, a 100% successful trip!"
#REF!
------------------------------------------------------ contemporary stuff
'Pourquoi j'ai quitté Facebook (Adrien Ménielle)'
http://youtu.be/XP1AU6z_NGI
'Millions Die from Fukushima Fallout!' - Thunderf00t
This is how comic anti-nuclear hysteria gets... as far as i'm aware. Haha :-D
http://youtu.be/hN7Zm8XO7Zc
'Sodom and Gomorrah' - DarkMatter2525
Righteous, my ass! :-D
http://youtu.be/p6DnujiVCwo
'Magical vines' via Richard Wiseman
http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/2014/01/22/magical-vines/
'AO Bloopers - 2014 Australian Open'
Stepanek. Patience... Someone give that man a Guinness :-D
http://youtu.be/4ssq-OEZuxQ
'Dry Ice Depth Charge'
More on the evaporation of liquid CO2, from Nik2K, using a short section of straw, held sideways between tweezers.
http://youtu.be/WE8ufjCGgos
'Gollum Singing Wrecking Ball'
Very good. Andy Serkis would be so proud :-D
http://youtu.be/B9lN482M3yA
'Zero S electric Motorbike | Fully Charged'
Bobby Llew's shown an electric bike (as in motorbike) that can do 556 miles per gallon! (equivalent, obviously - no petrol!) With special guest... well, if you don't know who they are, shame on you for not watching Red Dwarf or Death In Paradise :-P
http://youtu.be/37Mzp3jEWWg
'"Freedom Industries" by Roy Zimmerman'
http://youtu.be/dd2aXYTQkPc
'Super Bowl 48: The most EPIC Super Bowl ever!'
Dusty explains what's going to make Super Bowl 48 the greatest ever :-D
http://youtu.be/7-WfKUGmQUg
'"MORE NFL" — A Bad Lip Reading of The NFL'
http://youtu.be/rRqKYXcL-2U
'Kung Fu Dung Beetles - Operation Dung Beetle - BBC'
Not, strictly-speaking, comedy; and not, strictly-speaking, contemporary; but newly-uploaded by the Beeb, and chuckleatable:
http://youtu.be/Zskz-iZcVyY
'Weather Phenomenon - Halo 'Three suns' filmed over Russia [sun dog]' via cibertimanios
A stunning parhelion, filmed over Russia. There are more pictures of parhelia, on my tumblr: http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/tagged/parhelion
http://youtu.be/pNTeVSkIwbE
------------------------------------------------------ of the weeks
Word Of The Week: hyperforeignism -- a mistaken translation resulting from the misapplication of foreign linguistic forms e.g. spelling latte with an accent (it doesn't have one) or habanero with a tilde (which it doesn't have)
Tweet Of The Week: "In lift. 2 guys talking. One says he is going to a session on focusing. Presses 9 th floor button. Gets off at 5 by mistake."
Pronunciation Of The Week: Hyundai -- HYUN-day (Korean) Hy-OON-die (British) HUN-day (American) Han-die (Californian Spanish)
Comic Observation Of The Week: The current President of Italy is called Giorgio Napolitano. He has a son called Giulio Napolitano. In 1962, Norman Wisdom played a character called Giulio Napolitani, in the film 'On The Beat'. I wonder whether they're anything alike :-D
------------------------------------------------------ non-contemporary stuff
'John Finnemore - 50 Things You Must Do Before You're 30'
http://youtu.be/w2mO6KTrSrw
'The Travelling Lemon Goes To Europe'
http://youtu.be/yGLoK9rmoH0
'WTF Happened to Movie Posters?' via Cibertimanios
http://youtu.be/VXJiBkFgprQ
'Which words crop up most frequently in song titles?'
Surprisingly, there are more "man"s than "woman"s, but "love" conquers both. How true [sighs] :-D
https://twitter.com/RichardWiseman/status/426681230726541312
'AXE PEACE'
I agree with the sentiment, but deodorant is really not going to solve complex social problems! :-P
http://www.illegaladvertising.com/post/73418309433/axe-peace
'Could have been worse'
They might be a danger to sick people, and should be banned from hospitals, but as guide animals, there could be far worse than dogs :D
http://www.illegaladvertising.com/post/73292755087/could-have-been-worse
'Divorce happens'
Bloody thumbnails! :-D
http://www.illegaladvertising.com/post/73520958358/divorce-happens
'Give it to Jesse Jane'
I'm pretty sure this idea's been done before :-D
http://www.illegaladvertising.com/post/74370100134/give-it-to-jesse-jane
On a side note: Birmingham (UK) is proud to be the home of HP Sauce. In celebration of 100 years of production, in 1998, the Queen Mother visited to address workers at the HP factory. Her Majesty was a little frail and unable to get her words out, so they turned her upside-down and smacked her on the bottom. The rest of her speech came out so fast, it was more than her audience could manage! Incidentally, the QM spent the last few months of her life, standing on her head, in a cupboard :-P
'Si miras fijo y de cerca esta imagen, desaparecerá'
Focus on the centre of this image, and the colour will seem to disappear!
http://micro.cibermitanios.com.ar/post/73667758243/si-miras-fijo-y-de-cerca-esta-imagen-desaparecera
'Do you see a nativity scene or two T-Rexes?'
My question: who are the dudes holding up the roof?
http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/2014/01/21/do-you-see-a-nativity-scene-or-two-t-rexes/
'Kinetic Sculpture - Fisher Technical Services, Inc'
http://youtu.be/5tCxMLjOCgc
'Trevor Noah - Melbourne Comedy Festival'
http://youtu.be/YZQ7NL-o6E8
'Trevor Noah - Live at the Apollo - London'
http://youtu.be/2LQw_J-sbeU
'Trevor Noah: Crazy Normal - President Jacob Zuma's Speech'
http://youtu.be/Q12H1dpOwdE
'Trevor Noah: That's Racist - Surfing AIDS'
http://youtu.be/-NuKhW3sJsA
'Trevor Noah: Crazy Normal - Attention All Passengers'
http://youtu.be/Xiqwkx4oujo
'Richard Herring: The Racist Origin Of The Belief That Black Men Have Bigger Penises'
Recently uploaded to YouTube, by me. Not so comic, but certainly interesting, Richard expounds the fascinating story behind the myth that Black men are hung like space shuttles.
http://youtu.be/FyNo1YrJMag
'Goldtatze: Your cats wants'
I want this for me :o)
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/goldtatze-your-cats-wants/
'FUR-CEDES BENZ ANYONE?'
I'd rather see them wrapped in
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/unbelievable-but-true/fur-cedes-anyone/
'So, how did you pose the taxidermy crocodile? Oh'
https://twitter.com/RichardWiseman/status/424683216692596736
"Just saw this on side of drinks cabinet. Am assuming it means I am fine to stick my thumb up my arse. Am I right?"
https://twitter.com/RichardWiseman/status/420907994558509056
'Look at the invisible tree'
http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/2014/01/16/look-at-the-invisible-tree/
'Can you keep and eye on the cross?'
http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/2014/01/14/can-you-keep-and-eye-on-the-cross/
'Ice Tsunami..Glacier like ice moving across Mille Lacs lake, damaging houses, Minnesota' via Cibertimanios
Amazing footage! Glacial ice, apparently, splintering into shards as it's pushed onto land and across these people's lawns.
http://youtu.be/ER2WSBtVoPw
'Gael Monfils - INSANE Forehands (HD)'
Ridiculously powerful strokes :-D
http://youtu.be/-Mx68OvBO9I
'Wet floor'
This reminds me of a Mitchell & Webb sketch.
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/73774827762
"There is a lot of moisture, but it's not actually a damp problem - it's actually water which the current owners deliberately keep here... i don't know if you can tell, but the floor level actually descends toward this end of the property, and the moisture is even more pronounced here!"
http://youtu.be/vGQkTCInpNc
John Howard, former Prime Minister of Oz, gettin' down wiv da yoof, bruv :-D
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/74062975979
Googly eyes. Aaargh!
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/73778528521
Time-lapse snow, in Connecticut:
http://micro.cibermitanios.com.ar/post/74333957809/ventisca-timelapse
'Glen Arbor Ice Boulders in the Making'
Just like with rocks, the rolling and abrasive friction that these lumps of ice experience, is roundening them off into smoothed boulders. Neat :-) Well, not that neat, and they're all dirty, too... [mumble grumble mumble...]
http://youtu.be/P4exUbA2sXQ
'20 Videos Of Bubbles Crystalizing In Freezing Temperatures'
http://www.buzzfeed.com/aaronc13/20-videos-of-bubbles-crystalizing-in-freezing-temperatures
The answer to the quiz:
It was a little bunny rabbit. The designers of the 10-metre-tall bronze Mandela statue, in Pretoria, were found to have added a tiny rabbit into the cast of his right ear, apparently as a trademark and as a symbol of the speed with which they had to complete the statue. The idea being that the Afrikaans for rabbit is 'haas', which also means 'haste'.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/01/23/nelson-mandela-statue-conceals-tiny-bunny-ear-pictures-video_n_4650730.html
For South Africans who didn't get that answer: [shakes head mournfully] :-P
Saturday, 25 January 2014
Neuromarketing: Good Or Bad?
Date started: 24/1/14 Date Completed: 24/1/14 Date First Published: 24/1/14
Inspiration: http://youtu.be/Td3_ONS1krM
You might be aware that i have done a mini-essay on a certain quack company that sells games, with the claim that it will make people keener of mind. That is not neuromarketing, and it is not the subject of this mini-essay. I want to write about the nature of marketing in general, and whether the use of techniques to exploit our susceptibility to persuasion, is something we should fear, and maybe even reject. That is what i shall do...
Like with any science, the techniques developed for use in marketing are tools that can be applied for good or evil.
Nuclear power, for example, can be used to light a city of 10 million people, or it can be used to destroy a city of 10 million people. What you choose to do with it, is a decision that could make you laudable or reprehensible. And that is why it's the politicians, with their fingers on the big red buttons, that should take the flack for nuclear weapons - not the scientists who pursue knowledge for knowledge's sake, naively or not.
And so it is, with the tools of marketing.
There is no (known) way of just reaching into someone's mind and... well, changing their mind. If you're sufficiently strong-minded, or aware of the tricks that might be employed, then you can more easily shrug off persuasive influences. Or, like me, you might just be really difficult to convince :-D
The intent of marketers is to hone a technique by which they can change people's minds. Oh yes - that is what marketing is for - please don't any of you embarrass yourselves by denying it! The entire point behind advertising, in general, is that it changes non-consumers of a product, into consumers of a product - your product - the one you advertised. If advertising never succeeded in this, then there would be no advertising para-industry, and no research being done into 'neuromarketing' either.
You might find this trend increasingly scary - this bid to influence the way we think - to corrupt our decision-making processes, and leave us drowning in useless products that we can barely cram into our homes, at the expense of our bank balances. Well, you're not alone.
But neither is neuromarketing. As we grow up, we all learn rules that are gracefully titled 'social skills'. We might be autistic, and have great difficulty picking them up, but the intent is to convey them to us, and condemn us if we haven't mastered them by adulthood!
The whole point of 'social skills' is that they influence the way people treat us - by learning social skills, we learn how to sculpt others' perceptions of us - essentially, social skills are for manipulating our peers. And that is what marketing is for. Some people will even use this paradigm to encourage jobseekers, for example, to 'sell themselves' more.
But we won't necessarily use these abilities for evil - we might use them to persuade someone to take their medicine, for example, or finish their work, or see something through, consider someone else's point of view, or add persuasive power to a logical argument.
Neuromarketing is contingent on learning how people respond to advertising - their attention spans, features that catch their eye, the cultural contexts in which their product will sell better - black eye-liner to goths, for example.
Or nappies and baby-food to pregnant women. Sometimes the algorithms that are already in use know more about a teenage girl than their own father does: http://youtu.be/f2Kji24833Y
We know that the intent of neuromarketing is not selfless - it's not social, and it's not philanthropic - it's not the NHS persuading people to join a fitness group, or even the R&C persuading people to file their reports in time - it's intended to convince people to spend more money on products they didn't previously want to buy.
I'll attest this: i find the whole idea of neuromarketing... quite creepy. Another form of manipulation that i find creepy is seduction. Let's face it: the whole point of seduction is to change a person who doesn't want to have sex with you, into someone who does... ummmmm :-/
We could be using these skills to improve effectiveness in classrooms and lecture halls - by attuning to the pupils' and students' concentration spans, presenting data in a way that can easily be assimilated into their minds, and utilising examples that they find easier to engage with.
The techniques that are used in contemporary marketing, and the techniques that might be used in neuromarketing, are not intrinsically bad - they can help us learn - but in the avaricious hands of a profit-motivated company, they will be used to fill our heads with distractions and destructive thoughts. Think of tobacco advertising, and the marketing of 'fast food' to children, for instance.
But neuromarketing is the use of these techniques for the purposes of selling products. So with this specific definition: thumbs up, or thumbs down?
Thumbs down.
But the tools that are used in neuromarketing?
Thumbs up. Let's put them to good use.
If you haven't yet done so, go back and click on that link... or click on it, here: http://youtu.be/f2Kji24833Y The Checkout did a great expose that's well worth watching. It's certainly scary, the way the biggest companies - the ones most dehumanised by scale, and empathic distance from the customer - have committed to marketing schemes that are designed to, basically, own us!
We should all be very wary of any entity that seeks to hoard data about us, and certainly any of those entities that are explicitly motivated by profit. "Knowledge is power", as they say, and if a profit-motivated company knows our susceptibilities, then they have us 'by the short and curlies'. This is why the Data Protection Act exists - with equivalents, around the world - to protect people from abuse by entities that deal with information about them.
You might have heard about the genetic 'testing' company - 23andMe - that has been in the minds of Science reporters, recently, for, to put it bitterly, screwing people over. Their genetic tests don't actually work, it seems - and this is a common problem with profit-motivated companies that offer such tests. I've written, more generally, about the hazards of medical screening, before, but it seems 23andMe, akin with 'neuromarketers', have a secondary agenda - to stockpile people's personal data for sale to third-parties, in flagrant breach of their trust, but with the potential to make those like Anne Wojcicki and her company stinking rich!
23andMe, by the way, have been told to stop selling their genetic tests, by the USA's Food and Drug Administration, having spent the last six years blagging rather than presenting evidence of efficacy, and are also involved in a separate $5 million class action lawsuit for misleading advertising! {Class action lawsuits represent multiple people at once}
23andMe wrote on its blog in 2008 "Wikipedia, YouTube and MySpace have changed the world by empowering individuals to share information. We believe this same phenomenon can revolutionize healthcare". Not if those individuals deem you untrustable, it can't!
So the techniques employed in marketing are generic, and the techniques involved in neuromarketing are just more effective techniques than their predecessors. Those same techniques can also be used for good, rather than evil, and those that would use them for evil, whether blindly or sightedly, are designing a world that no-one can really be benefitted by.
When it comes to advertising, all the fatcats of the world face the same problem as in Medicine - like Ben Goldacre says in Bad Pharma - when it comes to medicine, we are all in this together. If the director of a pharmaceutical company gets immensely rich, by corrupting the medical evidence-base (censoring negative results) then they will hamper progress, and inhibit the development of working medicines. It won't matter whether they're rich or poor - if the 'best' isn't very good, then they can't do much better than the poor person.
We are all going to be consumers of medicine, someday, and we are all going to succomb to marketing, too.
It all comes down to what we're prepared to put up with -- someone who works in Pharma will strike a wry smile at misleading claims on TV... "that kind of thing funds our vacations, honeybun" ...and someone in Marketing will do the same when they walk down a city street plastered with adverts. They judge it to be worth it, because their special interest biases their perception.
But in an absolute frame of reference, is it worth it, to suffer this barrage of persuasion?
San Francisco banned the 'smellvertising' of cookie-flavoured milk, in 2006, on various bases, but the main one being the exacerbation of obesity. People who overeat generally feel more hunger than people who do not - i, for example, stay thin because i'm just not that hungry. 'Bigger' humans i have met seem eternally hungry - their hunger sparkable by the mere mention of food. Biologists know this as a system hinging on the chemical 'ghrelin'. There are two mechanisms by which we feel hunger - one proportional to the depletion of our fat cells, and one proportional to our exposure to tasty stuff. Our stomachs release ghrelin whenever we're exposed to a tasty smell, or even the idea of something tasty, and some people experience this more powerfully than others. There is only so much that self-control can achieve - fat people genuinely do have it harder than thin people!
On this basis, smellvertising, and food advertising in general, can be seen, evidentially, as abusive.
As we proceed into the 21st century, markets are likely to become less physical, and more Web-based. If this does indeed happen (which i predict it will not, with products like food, because people feel reassured by tactile experience) then advertising might become the only way for unfamiliar products to become familiar to us. In the past, you'd just see it in the store, and so the only function of advertising was to make you perceive it as better. I remember a reader of New Scientist writing in their Letters section, that their young son had remarked that if the product were worth buying, then it wouldn't need advertising. Give that lad a medal :-D
We really need to get a grip on what we're prepared to tolerate, in letting control of our lives be meted out to companies. But inevitably, getting a grip will require some form of regulation - and the industry won't take kindly to that. If we don't reel them in, now, we might lose all opportunity to, in the future.
My advice, in the meantime: neuromarketing - get smart, know their tricks, always remind yourself what you originally wanted, also remind yourself of what you really need, and remember that even algorithms should be treated as salespeople - don't take their word for anything, try to make decisions in a diplomatically-neutral environment where you're less susceptible to pressure, and don't make decisions when you're tired and vulnerable.
Other than that... good luck.
Oh, and stay skeptical people, stay skeptical.
...now i'm off to buy an electric golf trolley... FOR GOLF!!! :-P
P.S. There's no such thing as 'good luck' and subliminal advertising isn't a thing, either.
Inspiration: http://youtu.be/Td3_ONS1krM
You might be aware that i have done a mini-essay on a certain quack company that sells games, with the claim that it will make people keener of mind. That is not neuromarketing, and it is not the subject of this mini-essay. I want to write about the nature of marketing in general, and whether the use of techniques to exploit our susceptibility to persuasion, is something we should fear, and maybe even reject. That is what i shall do...
Like with any science, the techniques developed for use in marketing are tools that can be applied for good or evil.
Nuclear power, for example, can be used to light a city of 10 million people, or it can be used to destroy a city of 10 million people. What you choose to do with it, is a decision that could make you laudable or reprehensible. And that is why it's the politicians, with their fingers on the big red buttons, that should take the flack for nuclear weapons - not the scientists who pursue knowledge for knowledge's sake, naively or not.
And so it is, with the tools of marketing.
There is no (known) way of just reaching into someone's mind and... well, changing their mind. If you're sufficiently strong-minded, or aware of the tricks that might be employed, then you can more easily shrug off persuasive influences. Or, like me, you might just be really difficult to convince :-D
The intent of marketers is to hone a technique by which they can change people's minds. Oh yes - that is what marketing is for - please don't any of you embarrass yourselves by denying it! The entire point behind advertising, in general, is that it changes non-consumers of a product, into consumers of a product - your product - the one you advertised. If advertising never succeeded in this, then there would be no advertising para-industry, and no research being done into 'neuromarketing' either.
You might find this trend increasingly scary - this bid to influence the way we think - to corrupt our decision-making processes, and leave us drowning in useless products that we can barely cram into our homes, at the expense of our bank balances. Well, you're not alone.
But neither is neuromarketing. As we grow up, we all learn rules that are gracefully titled 'social skills'. We might be autistic, and have great difficulty picking them up, but the intent is to convey them to us, and condemn us if we haven't mastered them by adulthood!
The whole point of 'social skills' is that they influence the way people treat us - by learning social skills, we learn how to sculpt others' perceptions of us - essentially, social skills are for manipulating our peers. And that is what marketing is for. Some people will even use this paradigm to encourage jobseekers, for example, to 'sell themselves' more.
But we won't necessarily use these abilities for evil - we might use them to persuade someone to take their medicine, for example, or finish their work, or see something through, consider someone else's point of view, or add persuasive power to a logical argument.
Neuromarketing is contingent on learning how people respond to advertising - their attention spans, features that catch their eye, the cultural contexts in which their product will sell better - black eye-liner to goths, for example.
Or nappies and baby-food to pregnant women. Sometimes the algorithms that are already in use know more about a teenage girl than their own father does: http://youtu.be/f2Kji24833Y
We know that the intent of neuromarketing is not selfless - it's not social, and it's not philanthropic - it's not the NHS persuading people to join a fitness group, or even the R&C persuading people to file their reports in time - it's intended to convince people to spend more money on products they didn't previously want to buy.
I'll attest this: i find the whole idea of neuromarketing... quite creepy. Another form of manipulation that i find creepy is seduction. Let's face it: the whole point of seduction is to change a person who doesn't want to have sex with you, into someone who does... ummmmm :-/
We could be using these skills to improve effectiveness in classrooms and lecture halls - by attuning to the pupils' and students' concentration spans, presenting data in a way that can easily be assimilated into their minds, and utilising examples that they find easier to engage with.
The techniques that are used in contemporary marketing, and the techniques that might be used in neuromarketing, are not intrinsically bad - they can help us learn - but in the avaricious hands of a profit-motivated company, they will be used to fill our heads with distractions and destructive thoughts. Think of tobacco advertising, and the marketing of 'fast food' to children, for instance.
But neuromarketing is the use of these techniques for the purposes of selling products. So with this specific definition: thumbs up, or thumbs down?
Thumbs down.
But the tools that are used in neuromarketing?
Thumbs up. Let's put them to good use.
If you haven't yet done so, go back and click on that link... or click on it, here: http://youtu.be/f2Kji24833Y The Checkout did a great expose that's well worth watching. It's certainly scary, the way the biggest companies - the ones most dehumanised by scale, and empathic distance from the customer - have committed to marketing schemes that are designed to, basically, own us!
We should all be very wary of any entity that seeks to hoard data about us, and certainly any of those entities that are explicitly motivated by profit. "Knowledge is power", as they say, and if a profit-motivated company knows our susceptibilities, then they have us 'by the short and curlies'. This is why the Data Protection Act exists - with equivalents, around the world - to protect people from abuse by entities that deal with information about them.
You might have heard about the genetic 'testing' company - 23andMe - that has been in the minds of Science reporters, recently, for, to put it bitterly, screwing people over. Their genetic tests don't actually work, it seems - and this is a common problem with profit-motivated companies that offer such tests. I've written, more generally, about the hazards of medical screening, before, but it seems 23andMe, akin with 'neuromarketers', have a secondary agenda - to stockpile people's personal data for sale to third-parties, in flagrant breach of their trust, but with the potential to make those like Anne Wojcicki and her company stinking rich!
23andMe, by the way, have been told to stop selling their genetic tests, by the USA's Food and Drug Administration, having spent the last six years blagging rather than presenting evidence of efficacy, and are also involved in a separate $5 million class action lawsuit for misleading advertising! {Class action lawsuits represent multiple people at once}
23andMe wrote on its blog in 2008 "Wikipedia, YouTube and MySpace have changed the world by empowering individuals to share information. We believe this same phenomenon can revolutionize healthcare". Not if those individuals deem you untrustable, it can't!
So the techniques employed in marketing are generic, and the techniques involved in neuromarketing are just more effective techniques than their predecessors. Those same techniques can also be used for good, rather than evil, and those that would use them for evil, whether blindly or sightedly, are designing a world that no-one can really be benefitted by.
When it comes to advertising, all the fatcats of the world face the same problem as in Medicine - like Ben Goldacre says in Bad Pharma - when it comes to medicine, we are all in this together. If the director of a pharmaceutical company gets immensely rich, by corrupting the medical evidence-base (censoring negative results) then they will hamper progress, and inhibit the development of working medicines. It won't matter whether they're rich or poor - if the 'best' isn't very good, then they can't do much better than the poor person.
We are all going to be consumers of medicine, someday, and we are all going to succomb to marketing, too.
It all comes down to what we're prepared to put up with -- someone who works in Pharma will strike a wry smile at misleading claims on TV... "that kind of thing funds our vacations, honeybun" ...and someone in Marketing will do the same when they walk down a city street plastered with adverts. They judge it to be worth it, because their special interest biases their perception.
But in an absolute frame of reference, is it worth it, to suffer this barrage of persuasion?
San Francisco banned the 'smellvertising' of cookie-flavoured milk, in 2006, on various bases, but the main one being the exacerbation of obesity. People who overeat generally feel more hunger than people who do not - i, for example, stay thin because i'm just not that hungry. 'Bigger' humans i have met seem eternally hungry - their hunger sparkable by the mere mention of food. Biologists know this as a system hinging on the chemical 'ghrelin'. There are two mechanisms by which we feel hunger - one proportional to the depletion of our fat cells, and one proportional to our exposure to tasty stuff. Our stomachs release ghrelin whenever we're exposed to a tasty smell, or even the idea of something tasty, and some people experience this more powerfully than others. There is only so much that self-control can achieve - fat people genuinely do have it harder than thin people!
On this basis, smellvertising, and food advertising in general, can be seen, evidentially, as abusive.
As we proceed into the 21st century, markets are likely to become less physical, and more Web-based. If this does indeed happen (which i predict it will not, with products like food, because people feel reassured by tactile experience) then advertising might become the only way for unfamiliar products to become familiar to us. In the past, you'd just see it in the store, and so the only function of advertising was to make you perceive it as better. I remember a reader of New Scientist writing in their Letters section, that their young son had remarked that if the product were worth buying, then it wouldn't need advertising. Give that lad a medal :-D
We really need to get a grip on what we're prepared to tolerate, in letting control of our lives be meted out to companies. But inevitably, getting a grip will require some form of regulation - and the industry won't take kindly to that. If we don't reel them in, now, we might lose all opportunity to, in the future.
My advice, in the meantime: neuromarketing - get smart, know their tricks, always remind yourself what you originally wanted, also remind yourself of what you really need, and remember that even algorithms should be treated as salespeople - don't take their word for anything, try to make decisions in a diplomatically-neutral environment where you're less susceptible to pressure, and don't make decisions when you're tired and vulnerable.
Other than that... good luck.
Oh, and stay skeptical people, stay skeptical.
...now i'm off to buy an electric golf trolley... FOR GOLF!!! :-P
P.S. There's no such thing as 'good luck' and subliminal advertising isn't a thing, either.
Sunday, 19 January 2014
Entertainment stuff from the week 13-19/1/14
Hi synthetic-breasted-DNA-shedding-cannibalist-novelists!
I'm running short on inventive intros. Can you tell? :-D
First up - please sign this - the more signatures there are, in petitions like this one, the more it'll show the Russian government that homophobic hysteria is not OK, and that there are plenty of people around the world who agree on that point. All people and nations can influence each other, so any changed mind is an achievement.
'To: Winter Olympians'
https://www.allout.org/en/actions/p6-gb?
That sexy top's being modelled by Belle Brockhoff, btw, whom, amongst other athletes, fears the way they might be treated, at the Games. Their fears are not unfounded - non-athlete residents have been subject to brutal homophobic violence, in recent years, with victims unable to name their perpetrators' crime, because it's unlawful to even acknowledge homosexuality, in Russia atm!
Please sign.
And, on with the show. You might have seen the last episode of the Sherlock mini-series. In it, they reference 23 and 24 Leinster Gardens - houses that are mere facades. Are they real?
'The 'houses' in Leinster Gardens'
http://150greatthingsabouttheunderground.com/2012/09/08/48-the-houses-in-leinster-gardens/
They're absolutely real - the facades are in Leinster Gardens, built to preserve the image of the street, from the road, but to leave room behind, for smoke from the London Underground trains to escape through!
As the article says of numbers 23 and 24:
"Like Dolly Parton, Blackpool and extreme political organisations of both left and right, it is all front."
Incidentally, i happen to know that 'Dolly the Sheep' was called Dolly, because she was cloned from a cell from another sheep's mammary gland.
"Who's famous for mammaries?", thought the scientists, "Why, Dolly Parton is", they giggled, "Then we shall call her 'Dolly'." And so it was.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is why scientists never present comedy shows... apart from Brian Cox, Dara O'Briain, Harry Hill, and, um... more.
Some scientists do have a strong sense of humour :-P
Exciting news from the world of synthetic biology:
'First Plastic Cell With Working Organelle'
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140114091707.htm
"Jan van Hest and his PhD candidate Ruud Peters created their organelles by filling tiny spheres with chemicals and placing these inside a water droplet. They then cleverly covered the water droplet with a polymer layer -- the cell wall. Using fluorescence, they were able to show that the planned cascade of reactions did in fact take place. This means that they are the first chemists to create a polymer cell with working organelles. Just like in the cells in our bodies, the chemicals are able to enter the cell plasma following the reaction in the organelles, to be processed elsewhere in the cell."
Other researchers have been working on replicating the equivalent mechanisms, with the specific materials that are used within real cells - fatty acids, for example - but i think the mechanisms are of highest interest. It doesn't really matter whether the specific components are the same, as long as the processes they go through mimic real cells.
In future, these simplified versions of real cells, made to order, will be incredibly useful in exploring the myriad of chemical reactions that go in inside the cells of every living organism on Earth - a world that is, as yet, very murky to us!
'DNA detectives able to 'count' thousands of fish using as little as a glass of water'
http://phys.org/news/2014-01-dna-thousands-fish-glass.html
"It might be unpleasant to think about when going for a swim in the ocean, but the water is a soup of cells shed by what lives there," [Ryan Kelly, University of Washington assistant professor of marine and environmental affairs, and lead author] said. Fish shed cells from their skin, damaged tissues and as body wastes. "Every one of those cells has DNA and if you have the right tools you can tell what species the cell came from. Now we're working to find the relative abundance of each species present," he said.
Wow! What the scientists did, was to identify different species by the genetic samples they left in the water. By collecting a glass of it, they could recognise those traces, and match them to the species they already knew.
This technique could be used to track the presence and abundance of known species, in the wild, without catching them.
The limitations are, of course, that it can't be used to identify unknown species, because their genetic 'fingerprint' would be unknown. Also, the technique didn't work for cartilaginous 'bony' fishes - rays and sharks - or the reptiles in the tank - turtles.
Potentially, this means that ocean and waterway surveys can be conducted without costing the lives of the species they're looking for... and no excuse for Japanese whalers who slaughter them 'for research'.
And here i go, bringing the mood down again --- sickening religious behaviour by a Christian man who blamed a Muslim for his wife's death -- he proceeded to find the next entirely-different Muslim man, and to eat him, in public, while passing strangers vomited in disgust!
'Cannibal Eating Muslim Man That Killed His Wife–CAUGHT ON TAPE'
http://informoverload.com/cannibal-eating-muslim-man-that-killed-his-wife-caught-on-tape/
Imagine if he'd arbitrarily picked somebody who instead happened to be White, or had epicanthal folds, or was short, or fat, or had collected sticks on an arbitrary day of the week.
What kind of a sick, corrupted mind could think such a thing morally viable? Well, actually, this other Christian dude thinks it:
'How Religion can make you happy to kill!'
http://youtu.be/K2Rx4cW6E6Y
Except he's a pale and pastey White man, boasting armchair bigotry. Either way - religion, yuck. :-(
There will never be peace in the world while do-gooders don't know what 'good' is!
A first for RC Christianity: this week, the Holy See (the Roman Catholic Church when it's speaking through its 'country' hat) reported to the UN, for the first time ever. And guess what about -- their systematised abuse and rape of children, around the world.
'Crime But No Punishment'
http://youtu.be/AcKn46n79jM
Did they show an intent to stop being such perverted anti-sexual deviants, however? No - they offered only empty promises - as usual - to prevent their faction's 'image' from slipping! It's possibly a sign of progress that they're apologising to the UN, though, or maybe they're just trying to make more use of their guise as a nation?!
As if to pile in on the coincidence, Roy Zimmerman has presciently recorded and uploaded a good 'ol song, to cheer us up, in deriding the factionalism that keeps people apart:
'"Norwedish Hate Anthem" by Roy Zimmerman with Joe Zimmerman'
http://youtu.be/4gWAUxP6RmM
They're both wrong, however. The English, the English, the English are best! I wouldn't give tuppence for all of the rest :-D
'Flanders & Swann - A Song Of Patriotic Prejudice (VIDEO)'
http://youtu.be/1vh-wEXvdW8
"This is a song calculated to offend practically everybody" :-D
In case you're wondering:
- Michael Flanders had polio, which left him paralysed from the chest down, meaning he had to breath from the shoulder.
- This performance is from the '60s - not the Teenies of Lloyd-George's Prime Ministership.
- And no, Donald Swann was always like that :-D
Away from Superstition, and back to Science, for some pleasant News...
'ScienceCasts: Countdown to Pluto'
http://youtu.be/eMaPAM3vfv0
NASA has officially started plugging New Horizons' arrival at Pluto. Unfortunately, that countdown's going to be quite long - it won't start sending back pictures until July of 2015!
There's more from NASA in 'contemporary stuff', btw...
'The Secret to Writing a Bestselling Novel'
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/the-secret-to-writing-a-bestselling-novel
If you have any awareness of anything, you'll probably be aware that there are all kinds of people willing to offer fatuous advice about how to do things. Writing novels is just one example.
Don't worry - Mignon is not trying to sell you anything - her podcast's free!
But the 'rules' she describes... not very useful, but certainly curious ;-)
Other things that happened this week:
MI5 and MI6 officers have been granted permission to break the national speed limits on the UK's roads. They have to abide by the rules of the road even if national security is threatened, but they will be given the same exemptions as police vehicles, ambulances and fire engines, Transport Minister Robert Goodwill has announced. Basically, that means they can treat red lights as 'give way' signs, and break speed limits on open roads, where it's safe to do so.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25703725
Guenter Zettl was awarded a copy of 'Painter Man' by 'The Creation', for correctly identifying it in a radio competition, 45 years before, when he was 18. The Stasi intercepted his postcard response, and censored it due to the illegality of listening to 'Western' stations. This week, the radio station Europawelle Saar awarded him a copy of the single. How cute.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25742917
Female capuchin monkeys were captured by film-makers for the BBC/Discovery Channel co-production series Wild Brazil throwing stones at potential mates as a form of flirtation. In-so-doing, their use of tools displays greater skill than the humans who behave with similar antipathy to lovers - they usually resort to punching, shoving and verbal abuse. Does this mean capuchins are more mature than humans? Discuss.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/25667268
A nun who had sex, got pregnant, and then birthed the baby somewhere in the central Italian city of Rieti, claimed she had no idea she was pregnant. She thought she merely had stomach ache. I have no idea whether she's also claiming pathenogenesis! Do i have to remind everyone that Jesus was a girl? It's impossible to produce an XY individual, when all of the genome comes from an XX mother. Either 'the big JC' was a lady, or Mary was a bloke in drag... or lying. Nah - people don't ever lie to save face, do they :-P
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25787757
I've held a ball lightning story over 'til next week.... just so you know :-P
I reckoned there was disproportionately much wordiness, for one week, in this issue.
------------------------------------------------------ contemporary stuff
To start - two awesome astronomy videos, from AMNH - the American Museum of Natural History:
'Science Bulletins: Signs of Water Detected on Distant Worlds'
http://youtu.be/gZTimovGIM4
{There's no narration in this one, so keep you peepers on the text!}
'Seeing Planets Like Never Before'
A demonstration of the incredible science that's done to peruse the exoplanets of our galaxy.
http://youtu.be/urQeIjx7Ibo
{When the James Webb Space Telescope comes online, in 2018, it'll give us masses more data to search for signs of life in}
And from Science@NASA - how to recover meteorites:
'ScienceCasts: New Year's Asteroid Strike'
http://youtu.be/uQ5DI97K_S8
'See Liquid Carbon Dioxide'
http://youtu.be/N_cHcOLcAvE
'Pouring Mercury into Liquid Nitrogen (slow motion)'
http://youtu.be/5I4rxfnCtxY
'How the Rosetta spacecraft will orbit a comet'
Funky-sounding music, for a funky-looking journey :D
http://youtu.be/GRjdqUDU3yI
'Hunting falcons rely on sailor's trick'
http://youtu.be/er3AASCnpRg
'Knight's Tour - Numberphile'
http://youtu.be/ab_dY3dZFHM
'Cassetteboy vs David Attenborough'
http://youtu.be/m108JMxpWb0
{Deleted on the grounds of nudity? Pathetic! Hopefully, the video will be returned. Update: Link to silly version with pixellated bits so we don't know what they could possibly have 'down there'. Gah! http://youtu.be/dXZ-ijNAFVM }
'Eating Grass For Jesus!'
http://youtu.be/Q2hf4GLAMzg
'SURICATE - Faites-Le Rire / Make Him Laugh'
http://youtu.be/R2xNMB3JIv8
'Top Wesh (Lucien Maine)'
The gangsta version of Masterchef! This week, on Top Gangsta, the candidates vie to impress the judges on Gangsta Stars.
http://youtu.be/ECGEoifu0as
Interesting goings-on at the Australian Open, this week:
'Ball kid classic catch (2014 edition) - 2014 Australian Open'
http://youtu.be/UDSQ9ivWJLY
And proof that even the best can completely shash up a serve!
'Wozniacki serve fail - 2014 Australian Open'
http://youtu.be/Y9dT8az6wCk
'Andy Murray's super shank serve - 2014 Australian Open'
http://youtu.be/PM2noQkZMPo
I feel so much better about myself :-D
'Sherlock Falling'
This was bound to happen. Internet memes, eh :D
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/73660673869
------------------------------------------------------ of the weeks
Word Of The Week: opprobrium -- harsh criticism or censure; often following someone's shameful conduct
Etymology Of The Week: Spain -- possibly via 'I-spania', from Punic for 'land of rabbits'
Gene Of The Week: Headbobber - Headbobber mice have characteristic ear problems including bobbing their heads (obviously), going round in circles, balance problems and deafness.
Quote Of The Week: "A stitch in Time makes it difficult to turn the pages" - Anon; very possibly me
Fact Of The Week: The first spherical magnets were made in the 16th century (or earlier), by grinding mined magnets, called lodestones, into spheres. These were called "terrellas" (little Earths) by William Gilbert, the physician to Queen Elizabeth I of England. He presciently believed the Earth itself to be a giant lodestone with a weathered surface.
------------------------------------------------------ non-contemporary stuff
'Is Katy Perry's Album a Biohazard?'
http://www.livescience.com/41006-katy-perry-prism-album-biohazard.html
'I'm A Climate Scientist - Extended Version - (CLEAN)'
http://youtu.be/H7wdKg8rYL0
'Wonders of the Stoner System'
What Brian Cox really did with licence-fee-payers' money :-P
http://youtu.be/30ruBtLIvJM
'Incredible Painted Dolls'
The best thing about this article, is that they censored the boobs on the Angelina Jolie doll! LMAO. That puts porn filters in perspective :-D
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/unusual-art-and-fashion/incredible-painted-dolls/
'Knife Throwing Mama'
Oh, the horrendous things people do for a giggle >:-(
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/uncategorized/knife-throwing-mama/
Some of cheekychickenhead's videos, that i've added to my YT playlist 'comedy 4' - casual, aussie humour, newly-discovered by me. I like :o) Starting with the oldest... and most psychotic, haha :-D
'Survivor Parody'
http://youtu.be/BuNWALRR9r4
{This is what Survivor is, btw, if you don't know it}
'TaDa Look at Me | Olympic Events'
http://youtu.be/EV8ZShRbIe4
'ROFLMAO'
"I've got to get on the floor!"
http://youtu.be/OaRgC4vweqY
'Flagged | I've made it big time!'
http://youtu.be/83oHNnRTngQ
'Keep Your Day Job'
http://youtu.be/IADGIzmwtn0
'Yentl Bra'
Are four boobs better than two? Answers on a postcard... :-P
http://youtu.be/-2QTlD7WFj8
'Gift wrapped'
Best. Freudian Slip. Everrrr. :-D
http://youtu.be/DF2DoyL_98g
Pokemon tribute to Miley Cyrus:
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/73663991978
Are those dogs mocking that baby? Bitches!
http://niebosaur.tumblr.com/post/63653429701/dogs-imitate-crawling-baby
<<<Tapejara receives 3 points on its blogging licence for using such a trite joke>>>
'futurama songs'
Songs from Futurama. Self-explanatory, really :-P
http://youtu.be/aaawT2ylOmc
And this DIY 'cheap and cheerful' not-really-a-valid-medical-test says you are... oh :-/
"u have a demon"
http://islivalive.tumblr.com/post/73475135127
'Unlikely things for Andy Murray to think - Mock the Week - Series 12 Episode 9 - BBC Two'
http://youtu.be/ZQOyjfkhxPA
'Chris Packham's The Smiths references - Springwatch 2009'
Chris Packham is a Leg End. There is nothing more to say :-D
http://youtu.be/FT9hGAlt89o
'Clever Old Dog'
Featuring the dog that plays fetch with himself.
http://llewblog.squarespace.com/journal/2014/1/12/clever-old-dog.html
.
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