Alan Watts on enjoying the spectacle of self-importance (5)
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Mark Frauenfelder (250)
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Christopher Ryan wrote a short profile of Alan Watts for Psychology Today. He included this quote from Watts' about the self-importance of humans: “The point is that rapport with the marvelously purposeless world of nature gives us new eyes for ourselves – eyes in which our very self-importance is not condemned, but seen as something quite other than what it imagines itself to be. In this light, all the weirdly abstract and pompous pursuits of ...
SEC boss told underling to stop investigating Madoff in 2004, then marries Madoff's niece (17)
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Mark Frauenfelder (250)
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Funny coincidence: The SEC's Eric Swanson, who told his underling lawyer to stop looking into Bernie Madoff's questionable activities in 2004, married Bernie's niece Shana Madoff in 2007. By the way, in April Shana contacted Wall Street Prison Consultants, a firm that "gives advice to future inmates on how to survive prison time and win an early release." According the the firm's website, Shana can "learn the ropes of federal prison" including: "Prevent Being RAPED, ...
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Ben said:
Wow. White collar criminal consultants.
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Rolf Schewe said:
Not surprised. He had to make maneuvers to stay around this long without getting busted. I doubt this was the only instance.
Photos of famous famous people with their faces turned upside down (29)
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Mark Frauenfelder (250)
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Page after page of this unsettling effect applied to well-known folks. (However, the photo of James Earl Jones looks about the same. And I guess you could argue that George W. Bush looks more distinguished). Celebrities upside down pictures
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lien said:
FUCKIN GENIOUS
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Thomas said:
man that's creepy
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Leif said:
the double chin on Evangeline Lilly (who?) is extremely disturbing
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Krishna said:
Weird set of photos!
People getting stuck on freshly tarred street (5)
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Heather McDougal on black widow spiders (6)
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Mark Frauenfelder (250)
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Heather McDougal, who writes about curiosities and wonders of nature on her blog Cabinet of Wonders, has a good essay about black widow spiders, which have infested her new trailer. Unlike brown recluse spiders, whose venom is cytotoxic, meaning it is meant to slow down the prey, partially digesting the tissues and making for failure of the prey's systems, the black widow spider's venom is based on a neurotoxin, which I would much prefer. In ...
Man who walked into Burning Man fire loses lawsuit (32)
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Anthony Beninati sued the organizers of Burning Man because he said they failed to restrain him from walking into a fire. He lost the lawsuit. Beninati's complaint stated that when he approached the bonfire, the flames were still roughly 40 feet high. He walked around the bonfire three times, each time "circl[ing] a little closer to the fire." Eventually, he walked still closer, into what was variously described as an area of "embers," "low flames," ...
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RapidEye said:
Perhaps he should check the presence of gravity atop the Empire State Building next - sheesh!!!
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Slightlynorth said:
Wow, fucking idiot!
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Isaac H said:
In his deposition, Beninati admitted he knew "fire was dangerous and caused burns" before he walked into one.
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Twi said:
Well...good for him.
Chinese iPhone knock-off looks just like an iPhone, barely works (14)
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Video of an iPhone knock-off from China. It looks OK, but as you might guess the software is slow and sucky. Apparently, some poor guy bought it on eBay and now wants his money back. Counterfeit iPhone 3G stops by MacMedics by way of disputed eBay auction
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Fred said:
This is hilarious, I kind of wish there was more footage of the iFake failing. Reminds me of my Neo Free Runner :/
CIA's former bin Laden expert: "The only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States." (25)
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Mark Frauenfelder (250)
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A grand piece of thinking from ex-CIA Michael Scheuer who told Glenn Beck: "The only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States." Scheuer is the former head of the Bin Laden unit at the CIA under Clinton and Bush. Michael Scheuer on US Security
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Helvick said:
You couldn't make this stuff up if you tried.
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Alex said:
facepalm
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Jim Stitzel said:
Yuck. I can't stand listening to this rhetoric. There's a reason why I distance myself from politics...
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Richard Jones said:
Maybe one day they'll take a step back and realise how screwed up some of these statements are...
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Mark said:
What exactly is the "American way of life?" Legalize drugs, cut carbon emissions dramatically and be an honest broker in the world. in other words, be the netherlands. and we'll all be fine.
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Brent said:
Wtf
Citizen surveillance videos of litter louts (6)
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A neighborhood group in the UK has been videotaping people who litter and posting the videos on YouTube with a request for information about the "litter louts." My favorite part of these videos is where they repeat the act of littering in slow motion. (I think the videos need an ominous music soundtrack, however, like the kind used for the Diff'rent Strokes opener.) (Via Arbroath)
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Paul said:
Love it. Are they gonna start video taping all the smokers too? They are continually littering our air and streets.
Frazetta Meatcard challenge results (13)
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Some of the results are in for the Alpha-test Meatcard Challenge, and they are terrific. The rules were to photographically recreate one of several famous Frank Frazetta paintings (without using Photoshop or the like). The winners get business cards made from laser etched beef jerky. Frazetta Meatcard challenge results Previously:Meatcard contest -- recreate Frazetta paintings using live people ...
Silly PSA features bear shaving (5)
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Mark Frauenfelder (250)
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A girl discovers an overheated bear in the forest. She helps him by shaving his fur in hard-to-reach places. Says Japan Probe: "This commercial is apparently an advertisement showing how Nisshinbo cares about global warming and the environment."
Sichuan peppercorns: "There's a war in my mouth." (11)
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The Evil Mad Scientists are rightfully fascinated with Sichuan peppercorns. Sichuan peppercorns, oh yeah! Raven of Made with Molecules after eating them wrote, "There's a war in my mouth." They create a riot of numbing and tingling sensations, particularly if you can get relatively fresh ones (i.e. not stale from sitting around in a Whole Foods bulk bin). Raven links to an abstract about the particular anesthetic-sensitive potassium channels inhibited by hydroxy-alpha-sanshool, one of the ...
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billtron said:
The Grand Sichuan chain of restaurants in NYC (there's one on St. Marks) has these peppercorns, which are otherwise hard to find in the U.S. Order the deng deng noodles for $3 to see what they can do to your mouf.
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Andrew said:
actual conversation last week:me: this is like having satan in your mouth. twice.friend: but it would have to be two demons. because satan is just one guy.me: maybe satan and the devil, since they are differentfriend: i think it is more like satan and a demonme: but the demon is close to equal level with satan. like they are good friends.friend: yeah, that's what having this in the mouth is like.me: i am glad we are friends.
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Samir Talwar said:
Can you get these in Chinatown? I need a packet of these and a bag of wasabi peas, stat.
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Scott Trudeau said:
I went into a chinatown grocery and tried to find these. When I asked all they gave me were black peppercorns. Need to learn how to pronounce hoa tie^u.
Blog about awful library books (19)
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Michigan public librarians Mary Kelly and Holly Hibner have a blog featuring awful library books. The book above, Those Amazing Leeches, is a prime example of an awful library book. Awful Library Books (Via Hang Fire Books)
Colorado passes law to allow rainwater harvesting (14)
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Mark Frauenfelder (250)
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In March I pointed to an LA Times story about people in Colorado who were breaking the law by collecting and saving rainwater from their roofs to water their gardens during dry spells. Holstrom's violation is the fancifully painted 55-gallon buckets underneath the gutters of her farmhouse on a mesa 15 miles from the resort town of Telluride. The barrels catch rain and snowmelt, which Holstrom uses to irrigate the small vegetable garden she and ...
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wolfger said:
WTF? How was this ever not legal? Stealing the rain? You're joking, right?
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James Campbell said:
rain catching now legal... thank god that is settled...
Video drama about CIA's real project to drug unwitting US citizens with LSD (15)
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Operation Midnight Climax is "a new fictional web series about the true story of the CIA using hookers to test LSD on American Citizens." The year is 1953 and the CIA has just been formed. We meet Jake Kowalski (Quinton Flynn) and his Army buddy Reed Spencer (Todd Cahoon) in an undisclosed location where Jake, now a CIA spook, tells Reed about the government's MKULTRA campaign and the covert plans to administor LSD to unsuspecting ...
Mexican jumping bean video (7)
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Mark Frauenfelder (250)
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I enjoyed this short, creative BBC video that tells the story of the Mexican jumping bean. (Via Bits and Pieces) Previously:"MEXICAN JUMPING BEANS ARE REAL!" - Boing Boing
The Strain, by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan (15)
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I'm not a fan of vampire fiction, but The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan is more along the lines of a vampire-zombie-epidemic-in-New York-City, and wow is it terrific. The first chapter (after the short prologue, which didn't interest me and almost made me abandon the book) is about an airplane that lands at JFK from Germany and goes completely dark on the runway. It's so creepy that when I told my wife ...
"I'm Fat and Nobody Likes Me" (11)
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Maglev toy train (18)
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