Deja Vu

2011-12-02T22:24:00.000-05:00

November 2011

2011-05-02T15:51:00.002-04:00

Relevant

2011-04-01T19:54:00.001-04:00

HELP Japan

2011-03-15T22:07:00.000-04:00

illustration by chibird

2011-02-11T23:45:00.001-05:00

When I watch people I get a tingly sensation in my head?!? | Is It Normal? | http://isitnormal.com

Everytime the cleaning lady comes to my office, why?

2011-02-08T21:44:00.001-05:00

Crazy Japanese Thing of the Day: Japan’s Sushi Candy:...: "

Crazy Japanese Thing of the Day: Japan’s Sushi Candy: And you thought Lunchables required a lot of prep-work.

[reddit.]

2011-01-11T20:55:00.002-05:00

via @kyotofoodie (http://twitpic.com/3or04x)

6 Professions Deader Than Print Journalism

2011-01-09T19:14:00.000-05:00

From "The best post everyday" blog:

Bonus: For some reason I find this the funniest of all the Courage Wolf pics. This is Baby Courage Wolf.

2011-01-09T19:12:00.002-05:00

I find this image fitting, as I was having a chat about this exact topic the other night..

(via orangefrizzante)

2010-12-31T22:12:00.000-05:00

(via orangefrizzante):

I wouldn't mind spending new year's somewhere warmer next year!

[benwarheit.]

2010-12-31T21:35:00.000-05:00

[benwarheit.]: "

why you got pockets

2010-12-31T19:07:00.000-05:00

why you got pockets: "

Video

2010-12-10T22:30:00.000-05:00

Video:

Afternoon Snack: Hipster Leaves. Also: I’m posting this on...

2010-11-13T20:59:00.000-05:00

Afternoon Snack: Hipster Leaves.
Also: I’m posting this on...: "

Afternoon Snack: Hipster Leaves.

Also: I’m posting this on Tumblr!!!

[bite.]

(412): Why are there maracas in...

2010-11-13T20:58:00.000-05:00

(412): Why are there maracas in...: "(412): Why are there maracas in the dishwasher?

This Walkway… Really Moves Me

2010-11-12T22:55:00.000-05:00

This Walkway… Really Moves Me:

2010-10-03T19:50:00.003-04:00

(330): just found a carrot inside...: "(330): just found a carrot inside of a baby sock. living with toddlers is like living with tiny hammered people.

Satellite Imagery of the Day: Burning Man 2010 as seen from the...

2010-09-20T20:26:00.000-04:00

Satellite Imagery of the Day: Burning Man 2010 as seen from the vantage point of the GeoEye-1 satellite.

Embiggen.

[kfmw.]

2010-09-04T19:19:00.001-04:00

Nathan Pyle: “The Other Numbers”

I’m going to need several of these to go into production ASAP.

[superpunch.]

2010-09-04T19:17:00.001-04:00

Make Your Own Gummi Candy [Food Hacks]: "
Gummi bears? Gummi worms? Why limit yourself to such pedestrian gummi-shapes when you could make your own shapes in whatever gummi-sharks-with-laser-beams fashion you'd like.
Craft-centric blog Skip to My Lou details how to make homemade gummi candies. The process is simple—about as simple as making Jell-o—and requires gelatin, Jell-o for flavoring, and a mold to shape your creations.
You could limit yourself to using store bought candy and cookie molds, but you'll never realize your dream of having an army of gummi Storm Troopers that way. Check out this tutorial about making gummi Lego blocks—the technique he uses to make molds for the Lego blocks could easily be adapted to make molds for anything your heart desires to see in delicious gummi-glory.

Homemade Gummi Candy [Skip to My Lou via Parent Hacks]

2010-09-04T19:10:00.001-04:00

How to Fall 35,000 Feet…..And Survive: "

Written by Dan Koeppel Illustrations by Nanospore

You’re six miles up, alone and falling without a parachute. Though the odds are long, a small number of people have found themselves in similar situations—and lived to tell the tale. Here’s PM’s 120-mph, 35,000-ft, 3-minutes-to-impact survival guide.

6:59:00 AM

35,000 Feet

You have a late night and an early flight. Not long after takeoff, you drift to sleep. Suddenly, you’re wide awake. There’s cold air rushing everywhere, and sound. Intense, horrible sound. Where am I?, you think. Where’s the plane?

You’re 6 miles up. You’re alone. You’re falling.

Things are bad. But now’s the time to focus on the good news.

(Yes, it goes beyond surviving the destruction of your aircraft.) Although gravity is against you, another force is working in your favor: time. Believe it or not, you’re better off up here than if you’d slipped from the balcony of your high-rise hotel room after one too many drinks last night.

Or at least you will be. Oxygen is scarce at these heights. By now, hypoxia is starting to set in. You’ll be unconscious soon, and you’ll cannonball at least a mile before waking up again. When that happens, remember what you are about to read. The ground, after all, is your next destination.

Granted, the odds of surviving a 6-mile plummet are extraordinarily slim, but at this point you’ve got nothing to lose by understanding your situation. There are two ways to fall out of a plane. The first is to free-fall, or drop from the sky with absolutely no protection or means of slowing your descent. The second is to become a wreckage rider, a term coined by Massachusetts-based amateur historian Jim Hamilton, who developed the Free Fall Research Page—an online database of nearly every imaginable human plummet. That classification means you have the advantage of being attached to a chunk of the plane. In 1972, Serbian flight attendant Vesna Vulovic was traveling in a DC-9 over Czechoslovakia when it blew up. She fell 33,000 feet, wedged between her seat, a catering trolley, a section of aircraft and the body of another crew member, landing on—then sliding down—a snowy incline before coming to a stop, severely injured but alive.

Surviving a plunge surrounded by a semiprotective cocoon of debris is more common than surviving a pure free-fall, according to Hamilton’s statistics; 31 such confirmed or “plausible” incidents have occurred since the 1940s. Free-fallers constitute a much more exclusive club, with just 13 confirmed or plausible incidents, including perennial Ripley’s Believe It or Not superstar Alan Magee—blown from his B-17 on a 1943 mission over France. The New Jersey airman, more recently the subject of a MythBusters episode, fell 20,000 feet and crashed into a train station; he was subsequently captured by German troops, who were astonished at his survival.

Whether you’re attached to crumpled fuselage or just plain falling, the concept you’ll be most interested in is terminal velocity. As gravity pulls you toward earth, you go faster. But like any moving object, you create drag—more as your speed increases. When downward force equals upward resistance, acceleration stops. You max out.

Depending on your size and weight, and factors such as air density, your speed at that moment will be about 120 mph—and you’ll get there after a surprisingly brief bit of falling: just 1500 feet, about the same height as Chicago’s Sears (now Willis) Tower. Equal speed means you hit the ground with equal force. The difference is the clock. Body meets Windy City sidewalk in 12 seconds. From an airplane’s cruising altitude, you’ll have almost enough time to read this entire article.

7:00:20 AM

22,000 Feet

By now, you’ve descended into breathable air. You sputter into consciousness. At this altitude, you’ve got roughly 2 minutes until impact. Your plan is simple. You will enter a Zen state and decide to live. You will understand, as Hamilton notes, “that it isn’t the fall that kills you—it’s the landing.”

Keeping your wits about you, you take aim.

But at what? Magee’s landing on the stone floor of that French train station was softened by the skylight he crashed through a moment earlier. Glass hurts, but it gives. So does grass. Haystacks and bushes have cushioned surprised-to-be-alive free-fallers. Trees aren’t bad, though they tend to skewer. Snow? Absolutely. Swamps? With their mucky, plant-covered surface, even more awesome. Hamilton documents one case of a sky diver who, upon total parachute failure, was saved by bouncing off high-tension wires. Contrary to popular belief, water is an awful choice. Like concrete, liquid doesn’t compress. Hitting the ocean is essentially the same as colliding with a sidewalk, Hamilton explains, except that pavement (perhaps unfortunately) won’t “open up and swallow your shattered body.”

With a target in mind, the next consideration is body position. To slow your descent, emulate a sky diver. Spread your arms and legs, present your chest to the ground, and arch your back and head upward. This adds friction and helps you maneuver. But don’t relax. This is not your landing pose.

The question of how to achieve ground contact remains, regrettably, given your predicament, a subject of debate. A 1942 study in the journal War Medicine noted “distribution and compensation of pressure play large parts in the defeat of injury.” Recommendation: wide-body impact. But a 1963 report by the Federal Aviation Agency argued that shifting into the classic sky diver’s landing stance—feet together, heels up, flexed knees and hips—best increases survivability. The same study noted that training in wrestling and acrobatics would help people survive falls. Martial arts were deemed especially useful for hard-surface impacts: “A ‘black belt’ expert can reportedly crack solid wood with a single blow,” the authors wrote, speculating that such skills might be transferable.

The ultimate learn-by-doing experience might be a lesson from Japanese parachutist Yasuhiro Kubo, who holds the world record in the activity’s banzai category. The sky diver tosses his chute from the plane and then jumps out after it, waiting as long as possible to retrieve it, put it on and pull the ripcord. In 2000, Kubo—starting from 9842 feet—fell for 50 seconds before recovering his gear. A safer way to practice your technique would be at one of the wind-tunnel simulators found at about a dozen U.S. theme parks and malls. But neither will help with the toughest part: sticking the landing. For that you might consider—though it’s not exactly advisable—a leap off the world’s highest bridge, France’s Millau Viaduct; its platform towers 891 feet over mostly spongy farmland.

Water landings—if you must—require quick decision-making. Studies of bridge-jump survivors indicate that a feet-first, knife-like entry (aka “the pencil”) best optimizes your odds of resurfacing. The famed cliff divers of Acapulco, however, tend to assume a head-down position, with the fingers of each hand locked together, arms outstretched, protecting the head. Whichever you choose, first assume the free-fall position for as long as you can. Then, if a feet-first entry is inevitable, the most important piece of advice, for reasons both unmentionable and easily understood, is to clench your butt.

No matter the surface, definitely don’t land on your head. In a 1977 “Study of Impact Tolerance Through Free-Fall Investigations,” researchers at the Highway Safety Research Institute found that the major cause of death in falls—they examined drops from buildings, bridges and the occasional elevator shaft (oops!)—was cranial contact. If you have to arrive top-down, sacrifice your good looks and land on your face, rather than the back or top of your head. You might also consider flying with a pair of goggles in your pocket, Hamilton says, since you’re likely to get watery eyes—impairing accuracy—on the way down. v

7:02:19 AM

1000 Feet

Given your starting altitude, you’ll be just about ready to hit the ground as you reach this section of instruction (based on the average adult reading speed of 250 words per minute). The basics have been covered, so feel free to concentrate on the task at hand. But if you’re so inclined, here’s some supplemental information—though be warned that none of it will help you much at this point.

Statistically speaking, it’s best to be a flight crew member, a child, or traveling in a military aircraft. Over the past four decades, there have been at least a dozen commercial airline crashes with just one survivor. Of those documented, four of the survivors were crew, like the flight attendant Vulovic, and seven were passengers under the age of 18. That includes Mohammed el-Fateh Osman, a 2-year-old wreckage rider who lived through the crash of a Boeing jet in Sudan in 2003, and, more recently, 14-year-old Bahia Bakari, the sole survivor of last June’s Yemenia Airways plunge off the Comoros Islands.

Crew survival may be related to better restraint systems, but there’s no consensus on why children seem to pull through falls more often. The Federal Aviation Agency study notes that kids, especially those under the age of 4, have more flexible skeletons, more relaxed muscle tonus, and a higher proportion of subcutaneous fat, which helps protect internal organs. Smaller people—whose heads are lower than the seat backs in front of them—are better shielded from debris in a plane that’s coming apart. Lower body weight reduces terminal velocity, plus reduced surface area decreases the chance of impalement upon landing.

7:02:25 am

0 Feet

The ground. Like a Shaolin master, you are at peace and prepared. Impact. You’re alive. What next? If you’re lucky, you might find that your injuries are minor, stand up and smoke a celebratory cigarette, as British tail gunner Nicholas Alkemade did in 1944 after landing in snowy bushes following an 18,000-foot plummet. (If you’re a smoker, you’re super extra lucky, since you’ve technically gotten to indulge during the course of an airliner trip.) More likely, you’ll have tough work ahead.

Follow the example of Juliane Koepcke. On Christmas Eve 1971, the Lockheed Electra she was traveling in exploded over the Amazon. The next morning, the 17-year-old German awoke on the jungle floor, strapped into her seat, surrounded by fallen holiday gifts. Injured and alone, she pushed the death of her mother, who’d been seated next to her on the plane, out of her mind. Instead, she remembered advice from her father, a biologist: To find civilization when lost in the jungle, follow water. Koepcke waded from tiny streams to larger ones. She passed crocodiles and poked the mud in front of her with a stick to scare away stingrays. She had lost one shoe in the fall and was wearing a ripped miniskirt. Her only food was a bag of candy, and she had nothing but dark, dirty water to drink. She ignored her broken collarbone and her wounds, infested with maggots.

On the tenth day, she rested on the bank of the Shebonya River. When she stood up again, she saw a canoe tethered to the shoreline. It took her hours to climb the embankment to a hut, where, the next day, a group of lumberjacks found her. The incident was seen as a miracle in Peru, and free-fall statistics seem to support those arguing for divine intervention: According to the Geneva-based Aircraft Crashes Record Office, 118,934 people have died in 15,463 plane crashes between 1940 and 2008. Even when you add failed-chute sky divers, Hamilton’s tally of confirmed or plausible lived-to-tell-about-it incidents is only 157, with 42 occurring at heights over 10,000 feet.

But Koepcke never saw survival as a matter of fate. She can still recall the first moments of her fall from the plane, as she spun through the air in her seat. That wasn’t under her control, but what happened when she regained consciousness was. “I had been able to make the correct decision—to leave the scene of the crash,” she says now. And because of experience at her parents’ biological research station, she says, “I did not feel fear. I knew how to move in the forest and the river, in which I had to swim with dangerous animals like caimans and piranhas.”

Or, by now, you’re wide awake, and the aircraft’s wheels have touched safely down on the tarmac. You understand the odds of any kind of accident on a commercial flight are slimmer than slim and that you will likely never have to use this information. But as a courtesy to the next passenger, consider leaving your copy of this guide in the seat-back pocket.

Rainbow Overreaction of the Day: Weep ferociously. For, as long...

2010-07-04T18:04:00.000-04:00

I love nature as much as the next guy, but this is exaggerating!

Rainbow Overreaction of the Day: Weep ferociously. For, as long...: "

Rainbow Overreaction of the Day: Weep ferociously. For, as long as you live, you shall never know the sort of joy experienced by YouTuber Hungrybear9562 on one fine winter’s day at Yosemite National Park.

[huffpo.]

Yes it would, Sad Keanu. Yes it would.[reddit.]

2010-06-06T19:55:00.000-04:00

Yes it would, Sad Keanu. Yes it would.
[reddit.]: "

Yes it would, Sad Keanu. Yes it would.

[reddit.]

Photo

2010-04-22T12:20:00.000-04:00

Photo: "

"

Pinhole camera image of the Sun’s path

2010-04-13T15:48:00.000-04:00

Pinhole camera image of the Sun’s path: "

A beautiful image taken by a pinhole camera, showing the Sun’s path over six months:

From the explanation:

The picture clearly shows the path of the sun through the sky over the last six months. I believe you can see we didn’t have a great summer by the broken lines at the top. More sun shone in the month of October.

The post also links to a description of how to make your own.

Standing Cat In Boots

2010-04-13T15:32:00.000-04:00

Standing Cat In Boots: "

Well, sure.
Mariachi Cat is the new Keyboard Cat. Don't fight it.

The Best Links:

Standing Cat (the original) - Featured on BuzzFeed

via Reddit

Watch Video ›

2010-04-13T15:31:00.002-04:00

Sign Of The Times of the Day: You’re not my real dad,...: "

Sign Of The Times of the Day: You’re not my real dad, Norway!

[oddlyspecific.]

2010-02-17T14:34:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I told someone that in a few years I'll have probably traveled most everywhere I want and without the wanderlust I'll probably quit my job to settle in another field.. I guess I had never really thought of it that way, but I expect the one thing that could breathe new life into it would be finding someone else to travel with.

2010-02-11T01:04:00.001-05:00

I'm such a sucker for vampire movies.. 'Queen of the damned' was only rated 1.5/4 stars but I still got sucked in (LOL) and watched it all

2010-02-10T13:41:00.000-05:00

What a nightmare! Last night/this morning I dreamt a really emotionally chilling dream. I was friends with this large guy who's sense of humor was a little 'raw' but who was an all around good guy. Think '4chan' personified. So he's always joking, poking fun at others and stuff like that. He jokes that he likes guns too, but I don't really think anything of it. One day he has a gun at school, and to my utter heart-wrenching horror he just starts shooting people, with that same jaded sarcasm and wry smile on his face! I couldn't believe that I could be such a bad judge of character! When did his jokes cross the line into actual incomprehension that these were people and there could be no reason to do something so drastic! I woke up thinking about that guy from the 1976 shootings in Montreal and we have to help people like that before they get to that point.

2009-12-10T23:11:00.001-05:00

Volunteered at the Japanese cultural center and made mochi! I've never seen so much rice!

2009-12-10T10:29:00.001-05:00

2009-12-10T10:28:00.000-05:00

2009-12-10T10:27:00.000-05:00

2009-12-03T18:34:00.001-05:00

2009-12-03T16:59:00.000-05:00

Worst news week ever..
Two days ago I read this infographic saying the leading cause of death in men my age is suicide.. Then today I read about the 13 year old girl who killed herself over bullying about sexting. I mean, I get depressed as the next person, but honestly, how could the leading cause be suicide? So many people, potential, just wasted.
Now putting myself aside as an individual, I was pretty proud of being Canadian, then I read about how the tarsand barons are supposedly turning Canada into the worst nation for the environment.. I mean, it's the future were talking about. Having said that, no matter how bleak I don't think anyone should be considering killing themselves..

2009-11-30T07:57:00.000-05:00

Snow!

雪

2009-11-16T01:05:00.001-05:00

Hiking in なら tomorrow and きょと on Wednesday.

2009-11-16T01:04:00.001-05:00

おさか again today, hiking in tomorrow and probably on Wednesday. Awesome!

2009-11-12T20:11:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I visited わかやま's castle, grounds and keep. Today I'm going to downtown Osaka.

2009-11-11T20:21:00.001-05:00

in 日本

2009-10-27T18:19:00.001-04:00

"The Box" looks like a good Halloween movie

2009-10-24T21:46:00.000-04:00

2009-10-24T21:45:00.001-04:00

Today due to my intense sunburn I tried to visit mostly indoor locations.
I went to the 'best ethnic restaurant in maui', A Saigon Cafe. It was delicious and cheap.
Then I went to 'Maui Coffee Roasters', the oldest roasters on Maui. Their coffee was delicious.
Tonight I want to go back to the beach a little after the sun sets.
Tomorrow I'll go for Haleakala again.
I leave after-tomorrow, so I'm not sure if I'm going to have time to rent a windsurfer, but if I do it'll be then.

2009-10-24T01:52:00.000-04:00

2009-10-24T01:51:00.000-04:00

2009-10-24T01:49:00.000-04:00

2009-10-24T01:45:00.000-04:00

First day in Maui:
I woke up early, still on eastern time, and headed down to the beach right away. Went for a quick swim then into town, which was just waking up. I got a bagel and a coffee, and headed east. I guess I went for about 20 miles, before I turned back because I was too out of breath. I doubt it was the elevation, probably more because it's ALL UPHILL! Tomorrow I'll try again, with this new route I just learned will save me a lot of detours.
The beaches are great, I feel sorry that the folks back home couldn't enjoy it too, in fact I received a text message asking me how the beach was just as I was walking at Hookipa lookout. Really a nice beach.
The place I'm staying at is awesome: own entrance, half-bath, and access to everything. It's even a double bed, and at 40$, the price can't be beat.. It's in Pai'a, which is nice because it's close to the beach as well as all the usual commodities. The owner even lent me a bike! It's a nice bike, too, a road bike. I'm used to my mountain bike, though, so I guess I was a bit rough on the downhill and caught a flat. Luckily there was a tire repair kit on there!
It could have been worse, too, if I had caught the flat earlier in the day. As it was I had time to eat mochi for dinner, and have this cool smoothie on the way back. It was just the juice of two coconuts with the juice of an unripe orange and passionfruit, but it really hit the spot. I kept the coconut and the insides are really good, nutty, not at all what I was expecting (I don't particularly like the taste of coconut).

2009-10-11T12:27:00.000-04:00

2009-10-04T15:34:00.001-04:00

At the risk of sounding like a rich/spoiled kid, it's down to Hawaii vs. Amsterdam again. Both about the same $$, which do I choose?

2009-10-04T01:14:00.000-04:00

2009-10-04T00:10:00.001-04:00

Sold on Zombieland

2009-09-30T23:52:00.000-04:00

2009-09-30T18:55:00.001-04:00

Kind of want to go to the Matt and Kim show tonight.. 1am/15$ though, and not exactly my side of downtown..

2009-09-30T18:21:00.002-04:00

Here is the top of my current playlist:

Fanfarlo_15_Talking Backwards.mp3
01 Percussion Gun.m4a
01 Quicksand (Demo Version).m4a
02 Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up).m4a
01 Fixin' to Thrill.m4a
KK-02_Its_All_Over.mp3
KK-10_Battle_Of_Heaven_and_Hell.mp3
01 Black River Killer.m4a
Various_06_This Machine.mp3
Brownout_07_Olvidalo.mp3
04 Now We Can See.m4a
We Were Promised Jetpacks_01_It's Thunder And It's Lightning.mp3
Delphic_01_This Momentary.mp3
Various Artists_10_This Sweet Love (Prins Thomas Sneaky Edit).mp3
Pablo_05_Morning.mp3
01 When We Were Young.m4a
03+Splash+Woman+produced+by+Samik.mp3
Easily Embarrassed - Mirror's Backside.mp3

Bonus points to anyone who recognizes more than one song!

2009-09-29T22:21:00.000-04:00

2009-09-28T23:05:00.001-04:00

I need to know where to go!

2009-09-28T22:57:00.001-04:00

Might not wait for Japan and Australia for vacation in November.. I think I'm going to somewhere in 3 weeks. I want to go to Peru, or China

2009-09-23T22:41:00.001-04:00

Normally autumn is my favorite season, but this year I can't believe summer's over already.. I hope it's a dry autumn with a crinkly leaf

2009-09-23T22:26:00.000-04:00

2009-09-23T19:01:00.001-04:00

About to start 4th month in this half-finished apartment with no shower or stove. Grateful for frozen pizzas and my trusty rice cooker!

2009-09-23T17:58:00.001-04:00

Looking to set up a home-made DVR on my mac with a USB TV tuner and MythTV or something.. Hopefully I'll have it up and running soon

2009-09-23T01:23:00.000-04:00

4chan thread!

Japanese Dream

2009-09-20T09:33:00.001-04:00

I dreamt about a japanese girl who was avoiding attention from the public while trying to make friends with families sympathetic to her. The elder sister of the party she was visiting said that the amount of meat she brought, a lot, was a waste.

2009-09-16T23:14:00.001-04:00

Testing my fireplace

2009-09-16T22:23:00.000-04:00

2009-09-15T11:47:00.000-04:00

So although this might seem a little ADD..
These pictures are carefully culled from about 10x more from at least a dozen different sources..

Animated GIF thread!

2009-09-12T00:45:00.002-04:00

2009-09-12T00:30:00.003-04:00

Hey the other day I was having my short term memory problem I was talking on my cellphone (have you ever thought about how funny people's conversations sound when you can only hear one side of them?) and I was reminded of this old mac game called 'deja vu' where the protagonist wakes up and can't remember who he is. So talking on my cellphone (or talking to my-"cellph", i.e. myself) I ask them, "Did you ever get your driver's license?", which might be a good question to ask oneself if you can't remember who you are! Wow, complicated, I know, but I had to say the whole thing..

2009-09-11T11:22:00.001-04:00

"Body temperature down! I repeat, body temperature down!" (<-- said the way cops or army guys say it when one of their men goes down.) ...Ah, good times...

Why am I always attracted to 'dog' people? I am and have always been a cat person. I used to be fervent but I guess I used to like wolves too and since my teenage (I was a late bloomer) crises where I now have to admit that you can't be 100% on anything, I guess I can see how (some) dogs are OK.. I mean, I liked it when the two we have at home play-fought, or the one my bought (a big white shepard).

2009-09-10T21:00:00.000-04:00

Please help me focus my intentions, internet!

2009-09-08T23:19:00.000-04:00

I want to find someone who can relate when I feel like running away sometimes. Leaving everything behind and just driving off.

2009-09-07T21:20:00.000-04:00

2009-09-06T10:58:00.000-04:00

Discrepancies

2009-09-05T11:52:00.001-04:00

I have two minor qualms with what the average person my age does: swearing and illegal music downloads. I don't know why i find these things annoying or unattractive, or why I associate with people who by far all seem to agree there's nothing wrong with downloading music off the internet. Swearing, in my opinion, is just not attractive, despite the recent study that shows that it has the psychological effect of dulling pain.

"..Is it a coincidence that the word liberty has liber, which means book, as part of the word? Perhaps being free really means to go by the book"

Recipes You Can Make When You're Sick [Illness]

2009-09-04T08:30:00.000-04:00

Via RSS:

We seriously hope nobody is suffering through a fluke illness this long weekend. Whenever illness strikes, though, we can recommend these recipes that are light on ingredients and Sudafed-coated thought, and have a few home-remedy healing powers, too.

Serious Eats writer Tressa Eaton, suffering from an unseasonal fever, poured her waning energy into recipes that use (mostly) common cabinet ingredients, don't require sauteeing or mincing or anything much, and provide a warming, healing feeling. Her coconut chicken soup, for example, has a few wholly good things in it:

Garlic and ginger both have nutritive properties of their own, and they are fragrant enough that even with a stuffy nose you'll be able to taste them. I love adding coconut milk to hot soups. Its richness ups the comfort factor and there are many new studies showing that this traditional ingredient is anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-microbial.

Eaton also provides some seriously easy peas and a super-thick smoothie that sounds like a pretty decent throat coater. For a full afternoon of cold or flu killing, try Kelly Abbott's "Grandma's Penicillin" chicken soup.

Article:

http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/IygdW_0S6P4/recipes-you-can-make-when-youre-sick

2009-09-04T01:07:00.000-04:00

2009-09-02T06:17:00.001-04:00

The Sweet Juniper blog has a gallery of abandoned Detroit houses that are being overcome by the foliage around them, trees and shrubs and plants growing around, on and in them.
Feral Houses (via Neatorama)
Update: Crap, this is a duplicate. Ah, c'est la vie. Enjoy it again, for the first time.

Previously:

Article:

http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/pOoRyNkZ2M0/detroit-houses-being.html

DIY fridge hack uses almost no electricity

2009-08-26T13:13:00.000-04:00

An Australian guy hacked a freezer into a super-efficient refrigerator:

Nearly every household on Earth has a fridge that totally wastes at least 30 kwh of energy every month. Most of the energy is wasted every time you open the door. Cold air is heavier and falls out on the floor every time you open your fridge and warm air rises to fill the space it left. But with a top opening fridge; even if you leave the door wide open, gravity effortlessly leaves the heavy cold air inside. [...]

His home-made fridge uses much energy in 24 hours as a 100W light bulb gets through in just an hour.

Not only is it energy efficient; but it's absolutely silent too. The thing is only running for a minute or two every hour. At all other times it is perfectly quiet and consumes no power whatsoever.

Home Design Find: Green Fridge Invention Uses Almost No Electricity

(via Atom Jack)

I can see why this hasn't taken off - space constraints. It wouldn't fit in my kitchen, or in the kitchens of any of the apartments I've ever lived in. This may cause a problem for mass production. Still, it's a smart solution.

Article:

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Technoccult/~3/8a6KCNCG8hQ/

xkcd - A Webcomic - Height

2009-08-23T01:38:00.000-04:00

They should have a new sim- game: sim-airline. You could choose the flight
routes, the more popular = more expensive, with real delays due to
weather, etc. It might even alert the untraveled public to the fact that
afternoon flights into the NY area are _probably_ going to be delayed, and
yes, it's due to weather which means the airline assumes no responsibility
for stranding you and/or your luggage anywhere between your origin and
your destination.

<http://xkcd.com/482/>

--
Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/

This Kilogram Has A Weight-Loss Problem

2009-08-21T09:32:00.000-04:00

This Kilogram Has A Weight-Loss Problem:

More than a century ago, a small metal cylinder was forged in London and sent to a leafy suburb of Paris. The cylinder was about the size of a salt shaker and made of an alloy of platinum and iridium, an advanced material at the time.

Since 1889, the year the Eiffel Tower opened, that cylinder has been the standard against which every other kilogram on the planet has been judged. But that's creating problems. According to scientists, the cylinder's mass appears to be changing.

(Thanks, inky)

Article:

http://givemesomethingtoread.com/post/168152064

Citroën Karin – today and tomorrow

2009-08-20T08:13:00.000-04:00

via http://www.todayandtomorrow.net/2009/04/23/citroen-karin/

Article:

http://ffffound.com/image/7f6e54d13f0dbe963d858132017b0e0157111259

Beetle shell ceiling

2009-08-18T10:58:00.000-04:00

1.6 million Buprestidae shells were glued to the ceiling of the Royal Palace in Brussels. The project is by artist Jan Fabre and his team of 30 beetle-gluers.

Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Arts | Digg this!

Article:

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/08/beetle_shell_ceiling.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890

I thought the nightmare was over...

2009-08-17T11:44:00.001-04:00

Last night I dreamed I went over to a friend's house I was looking forward
to seeing, but we watched a horror movie. I'm not a big fan of horror
movies just because I get scared. This one was anime about some characters
who had to escape some middle ages monster, but it seemed to have a happy
ending when everyone got away (if only in spirit). I was relieved when I
thought the movie was over, but then I got the worst sensation of
real-world implications to watching the movie, as in it continued and
physically hurt me to watch the end which was like "The Ring" in that it
seemed to happen after the movie. It was like "Suicide Club", which I'm
still trying to ignore just because I can't deal with it right now (<-
drama). Anyway, I think I overslept this morning just to deal with this
dream.. Just woke up now at 11!

MySpace.com - View Image - sketches and drawings. - Photo 4 of 12

2009-08-16T02:14:00.000-04:00

via
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=42409183&albumID=1661266&imageID=29068880

Article:

* http://ffffound.com/image/88b47546cf564b602609674393b7875f92181f4f

2009-08-16T02:12:00.001-04:00

Why didn't Opera beta detect a new beta?

2009-08-13T01:50:00.001-04:00

Help I'm alive by Metric.. Feel like Boomer from Battlestar Galactica when she's having trouble deciding between the water and the trigger

2009-08-13T01:04:00.001-04:00

Why does the universe have to be so finite all the time?

2009-08-11T00:25:00.001-04:00

sicker than sickest dog

2009-08-05T14:04:00.001-04:00

Yay I received the iTunes giftcard I had won!

2009-07-31T11:23:00.001-04:00

In related new I just heard my itunes GC is on its way!

the macopoly sucks

2009-07-31T11:22:00.001-04:00

I know apple has a good product. I have a macbook myself, and I used to like the ease with which it would sync my itunes library. Now that I have an android phone, though, it's starting to seem like apple is a bit close-minded. Why can't they release an itunes authenticator to let me play my music and videos on my other devices? This is especially ironic in that I believe quite strongly that illegal downloading is hurting the industry and if you're going to have a song on your music player 1$ is nothing especially if you can pick and choose which songs from which albums you want.

2009-07-31T00:38:00.000-04:00

I went on a hike to Prevost today. A little far but cute and I got to seee a friend from high school I hadn't seen *since* high school! Overall quite a nice day..

2009-07-23T00:02:00.001-04:00

Just watched 'Suicide Club'.. So scary in that depressing way, now I can't stop acting all Hamlet-like

Addled

2009-07-22T23:25:00.001-04:00

Sometimes I think I go too fast in the direction of my goals and end up going too far past the mark and getting lost.
For example I was on track with the renovations on my day off and enjoying myself after the day when today I pushed further and got a little overwhelmed with all the changes all of the sudden.
With the listening to my dad and getting surprised by my much older cousin I haven't seen in a while, my step-mom who the building my new apartment belongs to coming back tomorrow on an already delayed overseas flight and drinking a very rare beer, it's been an odd day.

Add to that watching the scariest Japanese movie I've ever seen (Suicide Club) and you can imagine what kind of evening I've been having. I'm getting neurotic thinking about being down and the beer getting me down because alcohol is a depressant. Now I want tea but usually when I'm down I skip any treating myself since I think waiting the depression out is better.

Pish Posh

2009-07-20T01:41:00.001-04:00

Where I'm landed now.. Well the new apartment certainly is pretty awesome even though it's not finished. I sometimes still feel bad about going against my parents' wishes to change companies but I like my job a lot more now. My finances are OK, still nowhere near debt even this year hasn't been very good savings-wise.
At least I have my health, I should be happy but sometimes it's hard when I get down about being lonely or something or other and feel like I don't want to talk to my parents or brother because I never really had to growing up and it seems I don't want to be the kind of person to only talk to someone when they need a friend, even if I hope I can count on my family to always be there for me.
In general I'm pretty much living the dream, I feel like I give myself a 'carte blanche' when it comes to having fun or splurging on something, even if it's something I wouldn't have done even a few months ago.
Living alone is so liberating! Of course I still can't justify any of the fun I have, and this is going to sound extremely crazy but it's the little things, they're at once easy to do anyway if I feel like it, but when I am trying to be on my best behavior it's annoying not to be able to do things I used to take for granted.
Take listening to the radio in the car for example. I like listening to a pop station or another, but over the couple of years I've had my car I somehow managed to work all these little reasons why I 'shouldn't' listen to the radio, like that it uses the battery and therefore gas, or the stuff that's on the radio doesn't have very good cultural merit anyway or that listening to the radio will change me in the direction I'm trying to change away from (if that makes any sense) in order to be more attractive to the people I want to be with.
So that's about it, besides that everything is fine and if I can somehow find a way to deal with the fact that all these tiny unreasonable reasons always seem to pop up at the worst times to impede me from enjoying the most ordinary of pleasures I'll be all set.

2009-07-19T01:19:00.001-04:00

Really happy to have won that iTunes gift card!

2009-07-02T18:40:00.001-04:00

http://ping.fm/DJG2P

2009-07-02T17:00:00.001-04:00

I love my new apartment (even though there's nothing in it yet).. Camping and being forced to eat out is fun!

2009-06-23T11:11:00.001-04:00

There's something fun about living in a half-empty, half-moved into apartment.. The furniture can be moved around so much, etc.