Saturday 24 September 2011

10 non-work-related items that I found fun or interesting

Smithsonian inventors quiz via Boing Boing by Maggie Koerth-Baker
Fun trivia game at the Smithsonian website
Given a list of inventions, how many of the inventors can you name in 6 minutes.
Cheat if you must, but know that every time you do, you make an adorable baby alpaca cry.
WORD OF WARNING: DO NOT, under any circumstances, click on the “more games” link if you value a) your sanity and/or b) your time!

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Genocide, terrorism, insurgencies: The world feels like an ever more violent place. It isn't in fact, war is on the wane. And where it still occurs, it’s less… more

Virtual pets starve after bungled resolution to Second Life’s “unauthorized food” war via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow
Wagner James Au sez, “Meeroos, an extremely popular species of virtual, breedable animal in Second Life, are now starving, because griefers have been selling their owners unauthorized food, and Linden Lab accidentally shut them down *and* their legitimate food supplier.”
Read it all
And, of course, visit the official Meeroo website

Are wind farms pushing the planet out of orbit? via Lighter Footstep by Shea Gunther
The Onion pre-empted the coal lobby with this brilliant spoof ad accusing wind farms of pushing the earth off of its orbit.
Check out Onion News

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
For the swaggering titans of mid-20th-century literature, violence was their muse. Then Joseph Heller dismantled their greatest subject...more

London Trams c.1950s via HOW TO BE A RETRONAUT by Chris

Pictures include:
  • Westminster Bridge
  • Addington Street
  • Addington Street 2
  • Beresford Road
  • Beresford Square
  • Charing Cross Embankment
  • Charing Cross Railway Bridge
  • Eltham Green
  • Greenwich High Road
  • Highgate
  • Holloway Road
  • Lambeth Palace Road (seen above because I thought I’d include the one with a Routemaster in it)
  • New Cross Road
  • Plumstead High Street
  • Southwark Bridge
  • Woolwich High Road
  • Woolwich New Road
  • A6
  • Tram interior, Westminster
  • Charlton (I wonder what happened to the tram depot.)
Access the rest of the photos here
Be aware, as always with these photo-heavy files, that this post may take a while to load.


The True Marvels of Engineering (and Techno-Gibberish) via the How-To Geek by Asian Angel
If you think you are up to date on your techno-gibberish, then get ready for a whole new level with this video [link below]. The narrator did this warm-up presentation on the first take and kept a straight face while doing it. Even better, play this for your friends and watch their eyes quickly glaze over.
[via Geeks are Sexy]
watch the video (warning: it’s not new so you may have seen it before)

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Back-of-the-envelope calculation: Over the past 10,000 years, humans have created 10,000 religions and 1,000 gods. Why?...more

How good was your start in life? via Mr Bojangles by Tom Ilube
Many years ago when I was a lazy good-for-nothing teenager whose top priority was seeking out the next bottle of beer and the odd cheeky cigarette, my father, in a fit of annoyance or possibly just stating an indisputable fact, said ‘if I had your start in life the sky would have been the limit’.
Read in full and understand your own SILI (Start In Life Index) position.

Pistol hidden in a Zippo case via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow
This tiny pistol hidden in a Zippo lighter case sold at auction in 2006 for $6,810.00 to an unknown bidder. It fired 6MM cartridges tooled to fit in a standard Ronson flint case.
*Rare "Zippo" Lighter Gun Together with Ronson Flint Dispenser with Ammunition (via Neatorama)


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