don't mind the mess

Extrapolating

2009-07-04T00:57:00.002+01:00

Extrapolating, from XKCD if you hadn't guessed.

Red squirrels to launch counter-offensive from Isle of Wight stronghold

2009-06-29T19:07:00.001+01:00

England's indigenous red squirrel population is planning to break out from its Isle of Wight hold-out in a last ditch attempt to reclaim it's historic homeland from the occupying forces of greys.

Since the beginning of the last century when the first American grey squirrels escaped from captivity and began breeding in the wild, Britain's red squirrel population has been pushed out by its stronger, disease-resistant cousin.

Red Squirrels are now almost completely extinct in England, barring a few isolated off-shore colonies in islands such as Anglesey and the Isle of Man. But finally the red squirrels are leading a fight back. Rodent intelligence sources suggest they are planning a three pronged attack on the British mainland, eventually linking up with reds in the Scottish highlands, then to march south and confront the grey squirrels in large numbers.

However the invasion plans have met with the early hitch in that the Isle of Wight squirrels are unable to cross the Solent, and the reds have now appealed to Britain’s human population to supply little boats and acorn-sized grenades.

The squirrels are particularly hoping for support from their human 'ginger brothers' who 'know all about persecution' to join their ranks for the big counter-offensive. However, the British government seems unwilling to become dragged into another messy sectarian war, particularly against American squirrels. 'If they were Islamic squirrels, it might be different.'

India plans hot chilli grenades

2009-06-27T00:43:00.001+01:00

India plans hot chilli grenades

Indian defence scientists are planning to put one of the world's hottest chilli powders into hand grenades.

They say the devices will be used to control rioters and in counter-insurgency operations.

Researchers say the idea is to replace explosives in small hand grenades with a certain variety of red chilli to immobilise people without killing them.

The chilli, known as Bhut Jolokia, is said to be 1,000 times hotter than commonly used kitchen chilli.

Scientists at India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) are quoted as saying the potent chilli will be used as a food additive for troops operating in cold conditions.

And the powder will also be spread on the fences around army barracks in the hope the strong smell will keep out animals.

Other forms of pepper spray are commonly used for crowd control in many parts of the world.

From the BBC News website.

Schrödinger’s cat ‘most definitely dead’

2009-06-20T09:00:00.002+01:00

The international scientific community has finally reached a consensus as to the quantum state of Schrödinger’s cat, the subject of the famous paradoxical thought experiment postulated by Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger to highlight underlying problem of applying quantum mechanics to everyday objects.

Schrödinger wrote in 1935 that if a cat was sealed into a box with a radioactive substance and a flask of poison, which would break when the radiation reached a certain level, quantum mechanics would have it that, until the box was opened, the unfortunate feline would be both alive and dead. After years of exhaustive research physicists now believe that, after being sealed into a box for over 70 years, 'the cat is most definitely dead'.

NewsBiscuit reports that Schrödinger's cat 'most definitely dead'.

Miniature Pigs

2009-06-19T09:00:00.002+01:00

Miniature Pigs, from the ever-cute Zoo Borns.

Mini Sized Animals

2009-06-18T09:00:00.000+01:00

A fun selection of the cutest mini-sized animals

Extreme Ironing

2009-06-17T09:00:00.001+01:00

Extreme Ironing: shirt-ironing the hard way.

signs

2009-06-16T09:00:00.002+01:00

The Telegraph's weekly 'sign language' feature comments on the MP expenses scandal: Sign language: week 52

camouflaged elephants

2009-06-15T21:44:00.004+01:00

Elephants Hiding.

Mathematicians take aim at 'phantom' traffic jams

2009-06-11T16:22:00.002+01:00

Mathematicians take aim at 'phantom' traffic jams - at last! Fascinating (and useful!) research, which includes the word jamitons.

Belgium dead; lay undiscovered for two weeks

2009-06-10T21:31:00.001+01:00

NewsBiscuit reports: Belgium dead; lay undiscovered for two weeks.

MoOM

2009-06-10T01:07:00.002+01:00

The Museum of Online Museums - from Art of Photgravure to Zurich Museum of Design.

Music Popularity in school

2009-06-07T14:55:00.001+01:00

Music Popularity in school, from the excer-excellent Graph-Jam.

Extreme ant close up

2009-06-05T20:30:00.002+01:00

Extreme ant close up from the New Scientist - how close do you want to get to that ant?

Tweeting Too Hard

2009-06-04T09:00:00.001+01:00

Tweeting Too Hard, where self-important tweets get the recognition they deserve. (Please be warned about the occasional bad language).

Grim Reaper realises he was meant to collect Keith Richards ‘ages ago’

2009-06-03T09:00:00.001+01:00

A clerical error by Death, the Grim Reaper has permitted the Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards to enjoy three decades of life beyond his allotted time on Earth.

'We just found his collection form down the back of the old desk' admitted an embarrassed Grim Reaper, 'he was due to be collected back in 1977, at the pit of a downward spiral of heroin addiction and cocaine use.' Yet despite the raddled, deathly appearance of the ageing rock star, no-one seemed to notice the bureaucratic oversight, and Richards was permitted to carry on living for thirty years longer than he was supposed to.

'It’s all very embarrassing...' said a spokesman for the office of the Grim Reaper, 'we have apologised to Keith Richards and his family, and said that we will do our best to rectify the situation at the earliest convenient date. Although at the time of speaking, they still haven’t got back to us.'

This is not the first time that the Grim Reaper's office had let a collection slip through the net. Other major figures well past their death-due-date include Jimmy Carter, Gary Glitter and the IRA informer who was working for the British secret services.

The Grim Reaper's office explained that the process of converting from a manual to digital indexing system had left a number of individuals disappearing from the records altogether, with the result that they may never be called to meet their maker at all. 'We can't seem to locate the file on Lady Thatcher either. It means she will just have to remain on Earth forever, going older and madder, but always ready to return to 10 Downing Street if you ever decide to give her another go.'

Sir Terry on Tax

2009-06-02T09:00:00.001+01:00

Sir Terry Pratchett writes to the Times about tax:

Sir, I am very definitely a high-rate taxpayer, although in self-defence, I must admit I have become so simply by writing a lot of fairly harmless books over a very long time rather than by, for example, ripping the heart out of the financial system through unbridled greed.

So I am, therefore, somewhat peeved to find that, now, slightly more than every other word I write will be written for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who will undoubtedly waste the money on computers that don’t work and other people’s duck shelters.

I have been enormously buoyed up, though, by hearing from journalists and other pundits that "the rich won't end up paying the 50 per cent income tax because their smart accountants will find a way around it". When I put this to my own accountant, a senior member of a reputable London firm, he laughed and said: "Unless you want to go and live abroad for a very long time, or associate with some extremely unsavoury people, or invest in risky tax schemes, then for someone like you there is really nothing that can be done."

I assume he knows his stuff and the tax authorities know theirs, so why is this bland assertion repeated so regularly?

Sir Terry Pratchett

Salisbury, Wilts

PS. I have no intention whatsoever of moving to a firm of disreputable accountants.

"Inter-faith strife to end following launch of the ‘Wiki-Bible’"

2009-06-01T09:00:00.001+01:00

Newsbiscuit reports Inter-faith strife to end following launch of the 'Wiki-Bible'.

monitter

2009-05-31T09:00:00.000+01:00

monitter, another Twitter-based widget, allows you to track tweets including a number of keywords on Twitter. Useful if you're trying to follow what people are saying about a particular topic or three.

Old School Games online

2009-05-30T09:00:00.000+01:00

95 old school games you can play online. Asteroids, Donkey Kong, Mario Brothers, Pac-Man, Pong, Space Invaders, Tetris and many* more.

*88

GraphJam

2009-05-29T09:00:00.001+01:00

GraphJam: Music and Pop Culture in Charts and Graphs. Let us explain them.

(De)motivational poster creator

2009-05-28T09:00:00.002+01:00

Create your own...

Twitscoop

2009-05-27T09:00:00.000+01:00

Twitscoop gives a real-time tag cloud of the most popular tags on Twitter. A fascinating insight into what the world is tweeting about.

Pretty Loaded

2009-05-26T09:00:00.000+01:00

Pretty Loaded is an archive of preloaders that preload other preloaders…which in turn reveal yet more preloaders. Copy that? It's a tribute to a vanishing art form amid a constantly changing digital landscape.

Or in other words, it's a neverending loop of all those little animations you get which tell you how much of the webpage has loaded. And it's really cool.

118118 live answers

2009-05-25T09:00:00.000+01:00

Live questions and answers from the 118118.com text service. What do people want to know?

ZooBorns: Baby bear

2009-05-24T09:00:00.000+01:00

This baby bear (middle picture) is possible the cutest baby animal you will ever see.

twistori

2009-05-23T09:00:00.000+01:00

Love, hate, think, believe, feel, wish. Twistori gives you a live stream of tweets on what people love, hate, think, believe, feel and wish.

The Ultimate Unit Converter

2009-05-22T09:00:00.001+01:00

Useful and fun at the same time, the ultimate unit converter not only converts units to other units, but converts them to real things too.

Who knew, for instance, that 437 metres was equal to 1.37 Chrysler Buildings, 8.74 Olympic-size swimming pools end-to-end or 3.15 Great Pyramids of Giza. Or that 1 Ben Nevis was equal to 1.24 Snowdons or 3.53 Empire State Buildings.

The quest for every beard type

2009-05-21T09:00:00.000+01:00

One man's quest for every beard type - with photographic evidence.

The Periodic Table of Videos

2009-05-20T09:00:00.000+01:00

The Periodic Table of Videos is a standard periodic table but with videos of the elements in action (where possible and appropriate). And there's some good hair as an added bonus!

The longest list of the longest stuff at the longest domain name

2009-05-19T09:00:00.000+01:00

The longest list of the longest stuff at the longest domain name. So long as we're clear on that.

Tag Galaxy

2009-05-18T09:00:00.000+01:00

Tag Galaxy brings together the majesty of a finely balanced planetary system and flickr tags in a fusion of planets and pictures. Well, it's a bit of fun anyway.

superuseless superpowers

2009-05-17T09:00:00.000+01:00

A collection of superuseless superpowers.

"Omnipresent Disorientation: Be everywhere, but never know where you are."

"PreMOMnition: The power to see what your mother is doing at all times."

StillTasty: Your Ultimate Shelf Life Guide

2009-05-16T09:00:00.000+01:00

How long will your favourite food or beverage stay safe and tasty? Now you can find out.

Sorting Algorithm Animations

2009-05-15T09:00:00.000+01:00

All you ever wanted to know about sorting algorithms and how they work. With demonstrations!

Six Word Stories

2009-05-14T09:00:00.000+01:00

Six Word Stories. Stories, in six words.

Matthias Rath - steal this chapter - Bad Science

2009-05-13T09:00:00.000+01:00

The Doctor Will Sue You Now. Shocking.

Internet Memes

2009-05-12T09:00:00.000+01:00

A timeline of internet memes.

Make your own "Hollywood" sign for your blog or website.

2009-05-11T09:00:00.001+01:00

Make your own...

Greg Rutter's Definitive List of The 99 Things You Should Have Already Experienced On The Internet Unless You're a Loser or Old or Something

2009-05-10T09:00:00.000+01:00

Greg Rutter's Definitive List of The 99 Things You Should Have Already Experienced On The Internet Unless You're a Loser or Old or Something - the good, the bad and the downright strange.

mathpi

2009-05-09T09:00:00.000+01:00

The day they discovered pi. Two words, 'maths' and 'geekery'. Actually, one of them may not be a word. The full version is also available, as are the lyrics. Should you want them.

Drum kit

2009-03-13T16:25:00.001Z

The ultimate keyboard drum kit. Great for use in a quiet office.

2^43112609-1 is prime

2009-03-13T16:22:00.001Z

Ever wondered what you might call a big prime number if you had to say it out loud?

Good news: bad news

2008-11-21T17:11:00.002Z

Is it friday?

Is it Christmas?

Matt Webb's 100 Head Cattle Drive 2008

2008-11-07T19:32:00.001Z

One man's quest for 100 cows: Matt Webb's 100 Head Cattle Drive 2008.

ZombieHarmony - One of the Best Free Dating Sites for Zombies

2008-11-05T19:59:00.001Z

...because the apocalypse doesn't have to be lonely!

NewsBiscuit: British competitor fails to 'crash out' of Olympics

2008-11-05T19:55:00.001Z

A British sports star has finished her attempt for an Olympic medal by neither winning in a blaze of glory nor spectacularly 'crashing out' but instead, after putting up a respectable showing, finishing somewhere in the middle of the field. Pippa Newington, taking part in an Olympic three day non-event, performed almost to the very best of her ability, but was beaten into 5th place by four other competitors, who just happened to be better than her. Her coach pointed out this merely reflected her performance 'on the day', and added that she should have done better, or perhaps maybe even worse, depending on your point of view.

NewsBiscuit: British competitor fails to 'crash out' of Olympics

large hadron collider webcams

2008-10-27T00:46:00.001Z

webcams at the large hadron collider - check out the latest progress.

Has the Large Hadron Collider destroyed the world yet?

2008-10-27T00:43:00.001Z

now you can check, has the Large Hadron Collider destroyed the world yet?

APOD: 2008 October 5 - Earth at Night

2008-10-13T18:55:00.001+01:00

amazing composite image of the earth at night.

Best Ad: Evolution of Logos

2008-10-13T18:49:00.001+01:00

a fascinating look at the evolution of logos over the past 100 years.

xkcd - A Webcomic - Steal This Comic

2008-10-13T17:59:00.003+01:00

no comment required... another great cartoon from xkcd.

useless number

2008-09-13T16:59:00.001+01:00

An international competition was held to discover the world's most useless number. The winner was 1.8015446x10^12, which claims to be the speed of light in furlongs per fortnight

The Shape of Music

2008-07-17T19:30:00.001+01:00

Roughly 2,500 years ago, Pythagoras observed that objects, such as the anvils he purportedly studied, produced harmonious sounds while vibrating at frequencies in simple whole-number ratios.

More complex ratios gave rise to more dissonant sounds, which indicated that human beings were unconsciously sensitive to mathematical relationships inherent in nature. By showing that the world could be described mathematically, Pythagoras not only provided an important inspiration for physics, but he also discovered a particular affinity between mathematics and music--one that Gottfried Leibniz was to invoke centuries later when he described music as the "unknowing exercise of our mathematical faculties."

For a thousand years, Western musicians have endeavored to satisfy two fundamental constraints in their compositions. The first is that melodies should, in general, move by short distances. When played on a piano, melodies typically move to nearby keys rather than take large jumps across the keyboard. The second is that music should use chords (collections of simultaneously sounded notes) that are audibly similar. Rather than leap willy-nilly between completely unrelated sonorities, musicians typically restrict themselves to small portions of the musical universe, for instance by using only major and minor chords. While the melodic constraint is nearly universal, the harmonic constraint is more particularly Western: Many non-Western styles either reject chords altogether, using only one note at a time or build entire pieces around a single unchanging harmony.

Together these constraints ensure a two-dimensional coherence in Western music analogous to that of a woven cloth. Music is a collection of simultaneously occurring melodies, parallel horizontal threads that are held together tightly by short-distance motion. But Western music also has a vertical, or harmonic, coherence. If we consider only the notes sounding at any one instant, we find that they form familiar chords related to those that sound at other instants of time. These basic requirements impose nontrivial constraints on composers--not just any sequence of chords we imagine can generate a collection of short-distance melodies. We might therefore ask, how do we combine harmony and melody to make music? In other words, what makes music sound good?

Amazing article about the relationship between maths and music - The Shape of Music.

capitol words

2008-07-16T16:54:00.001+01:00

Want to know what the most-used word in the American Congress was on any particular day in history? Well now you can!

Analogy by Jesson Yip

2008-07-15T08:42:00.001+01:00

Analogy is a typographic clock which fuses the immediacy of digital with the visual-spatial quality of analogue into a hybrid format. It presents an everyday object with a fresh twist.

Where democracy works in mysterious ways

2008-07-06T00:06:00.001+01:00

A well-written article about the Church of England general Synod, and why it is needed.

Paul Handley: Where democracy works in mysterious ways - Yorkshire Post

"OH, goody – it's the General Synod this weekend."

I'm sorry to report that this is not a phrase I hear very often. For four days on the York University campus, 450-odd Anglicans – 200 clergy, 200 laity, 50 bishops – debate long into the night. It's like an Open University summer school without the dress sense...

...But at least they talk, and a Church that airs its disagreements openly is surely better than one that deals with things secretly, and where dissent leads to ostracism or expulsion. And this is the gift of York: Synod members are forced to encounter each other and dwell on the issues facing the Church.

The Making of The Pentultimate

2008-07-03T17:53:00.002+01:00

The making of the pentultimate, a "deep cut vertex turning icosahedron puzzle" - or the most complicated rubix-type cube you've ever seen!

bunny kidnap

2008-07-01T16:33:00.001+01:00

A Portland 17-year-old is being held at the Long Creek Youth Development Center after allegedly trying to extort money from another teenager by kidnapping and threatening the victim's pet bunny.

The 17-year old, who police would not identify because of his age, is accused of breaking into a 16-year-old's apartment on Deane Street and stealing the grey pygmy rabbit. He then telephoned the 16-year-old demanding payment of a $100 debt.

"He threatened to injure the bunny", said Lt. Tony Ward, head of detectives for the Portland Police Department. He also told the 16-year-old's mother that the rabbit would only be returned once the debt was paid.

The mother called police.

Police recovered the rabbit in good condition from the suspect's mother. They charged the 17-year-old with burglary and theft in connection with the March 4 break-in and with robbery, assault and terrorizing in connection with a confrontation between the two boys Friday where police said the older one stole the other's skateboard, backpack and pocket money.

When police arrived to arrest the 17-year-old Monday, he resisted, Ward said, leading to additional charges of failure to submit to arrest and assault. Police would not say why the 16-year old owed the other boy $100.

from arbroath.

the best robbery in the world

2008-06-24T16:31:00.001+01:00

German police are looking for thieves who stole a mile and a half of the central reservation from a busy motorway.

The thieves made off with more than 20 tonnes of the metal strips from the A6 motorway in Vierheim near Frankfurt.

Police said they must have spent hours dismantling the 500 four metre strips of metal that made up the stretch of the central reservation.

They said the gang must also have used specialised equipment to take the strips apart and then move them.

A police spokesman said: "We are puzzled how the thieves were able to escape with their load without anyone noticing. A large truck with a lifting device would have been needed to transport all that metal.

"So far we have not been able to find a single witness who would have seen probably a large number of people with a huge truck moving parts of a motorway's central reservation."

pure genius via arbroath

snail mail

2008-06-19T16:50:00.001+01:00

Muriel, Austin and Cecil are snails for the electronic age.

The gastropods have been fitted with equipment to allow them to send e-mails on behalf of visitors to a website.

Instead of instantaneous communication, sent messages will travel at 0.03mph (0.05km/h) and could take days, weeks or even months to arrive.

It is part of a "slow art" project called Real Snail Mail at Bournemouth University in the UK which will be showcased in Los Angeles in August.

full story from the bbc website.

geeky crop circle

2008-06-19T09:27:00.001+01:00

Mathematicians are perplexed after a highly complex crop circle appeared in a Wiltshire field - depicting a fundamental mathematical symbol.

The circle is, apparently, a coded image representing a complex mathematical number — the first ten digits of pi — and even astrophysicists admit they find it "mind-boggling"

more details and a picture at nothing to do with arbroath.

particles

2008-04-25T19:14:00.000+01:00

particles: pointless, but fun!

music maps

2008-04-23T17:35:00.000+01:00

find out who is listening to what and where.

danger

2008-04-22T19:45:00.000+01:00

generate your own warning labels. because you can.

Mouse Solves Maze

2008-04-21T18:12:00.002+01:00

University of Iowa neuroscientists studying spatial learning and the effects of stress on memory announced Tuesday that a little mouse ruined an experiment on cognitive performance by effortlessly navigating a maze that researchers spent nearly a year designing and constructing.

Hilarious account of a failed scientific experiment.

Warning: The linked article countains rude words. But it's still very funny.

contradictory spam

2008-04-18T17:42:00.000+01:00

the joy of pi

2008-04-17T16:33:00.002+01:00

the joy of pi - page 1 of 5...

I've been outside. It's overrrated.

2008-04-16T16:56:00.002+01:00

a great review of the new game 'Outside':

Traditionally Outside receives extremely high ratings by those who like to see others play it, and these people are in many cases comfortably ensconced Inside themselves. Outside was released many years ago, it was in fact the first massively multiplayer game, and yet it has always managed to avoid the double-edged Retro tag. In its favor, continual user updates have kept Outside current; there are always new things to see and do Outside. Participants are permitted, to some extent, to modify their own areas of Outside, which is a large part of the fun of the game. However it seems that in the end one is modifying Outside largely for the sake of it, and having done it, there is a distinct feeling of "now what?"

read the rest of the review

programming language inventor or serial killer?

2008-04-14T16:32:00.002+01:00

can you tell the difference?

Teenager charged with trying to extort money in bunny heist

2008-04-11T18:05:00.000+01:00

A Portland 17-year-old is being held at the Long Creek Youth Development Center after allegedly trying to extort money from another teenager by kidnapping and threatening the victim’s pet bunny.

The 17-year old, who police would not identify because of his age, is accused of breaking into a 16-year-old’s apartment on Deane Street and stealing the grey pygmy rabbit. He then telephoned the 16-year-old demanding payment of a $100 debt.

“He threatened to injure the bunny”, said Lt. Tony Ward, head of detectives for the Portland Police Department. He also told the 16-year-old’s mother that the rabbit would only be returned once the debt was paid.

The mother called police.

Police recovered the rabbit in good condition from the suspect’s mother. They charged the 17-year-old with burglary and theft in connection with the March 4 break-in and with robbery, assault and terrorizing in connection with a confrontation between the two boys Friday where police said the older one stole the other’s skateboard, backpack and pocket money.

When police arrived to arrest the 17-year-old Monday, he resisted, Ward said, leading to additional charges of failure to submit to arrest and assault. Police would not say why the 16-year old owed the other boy $100.

via arbroath

Motorway thieves steal central reservation

2008-04-11T18:04:00.000+01:00

German police are looking for thieves who stole a mile and a half of the central reservation from a busy motorway.

The thieves made off with more than 20 tonnes of the metal strips from the A6 motorway in Vierheim near Frankfurt.

Police said they must have spent hours dismantling the 500 four metre strips of metal that made up the stretch of the central reservation.

They said the gang must also have used specialised equipment to take the strips apart and then move them.

A police spokesman said: "We are puzzled how the thieves were able to escape with their load without anyone noticing. A large truck with a lifting device would have been needed to transport all that metal.

"So far we have not been able to find a single witness who would have seen probably a large number of people with a huge truck moving parts of a motorway's central reservation."

via arbroath

don't shoot the puppy

2008-04-04T17:13:00.001+01:00

it's very simple, just don't shoot the puppy.

shockwave traffic jam

2008-04-03T17:07:00.001+01:00

Traffic that grinds to a halt and then restarts for no apparent reason is one of the biggest causes of frustration for drivers. Now a team of Japanese researchers has recreated the phenomenon on a test-track for the first time.

The mathematical theory behind these so-called "shockwave" jams was developed more than 15 years ago using models that show jams appear from nowhere on roads carrying their maximum capacity of free-flowing traffic – typically triggered by a single driver slowing down.

After that first vehicle brakes, the driver behind must also slow, and a shockwave jam of bunching cars appears, travelling backwards through the traffic.

The theory has frequently been modelled in computer simulations, and seems to fit with observations of real traffic, but has never been recreated experimentally until now.

fantastic video (and the rest of the article) at the new scientist.

flickr related tag browser

2008-03-05T19:27:00.001Z

fun application that allows you to browse flickr images by related tags

cubes

2008-03-04T19:33:00.000Z

pointless, yet strangely pleasing.

klein's quartic curve

2008-03-03T17:53:00.000Z

The quartic curve is formed by Klein’s quartic equation - u3v+v3w+w3u=0.

it's pretty!

destroy the internet

2008-03-02T12:28:00.001Z

so many ways to destroy the internet. may have already posted this a while back but i can't find any trace of it.

bubbles!

2008-03-02T12:25:00.001Z

you can never have enough bubbles.

national insurance fraud

2008-02-29T23:13:00.003Z

what to do if you suspect national insurance fraud. found via steve tilley.

things for sale that i will mail you

2008-02-27T18:46:00.001Z

If you give me $1,626 I will go to the small Okinawan island called Iriomote and send you an envelope filled with star-sand (don't worry, I've been there before, I know where to go). I will send it from there.

the first of many things for sale that david will mail you (for a suitable fee...)

February is National National Awareness Month Awareness Month!

2008-02-21T22:42:00.001Z

Welcome to easilyamused.org's official NNAMAM page! Each February, we take time to take note of all the things of which we're asked to take note during each of the months of the year. (get that? good.)

Just what should you be aware of this month?

an inappropiately seasonal post

2008-02-14T17:48:00.000Z

no!

2008-02-13T16:32:00.000Z

amazing collages

2008-02-12T17:09:00.000Z

some amazing collages - takes a while to load but it's worth it.

there's some more here and probably elsewhere on the site too.

snuznluz

2008-02-11T18:13:00.000Z

Connects via WiFi to your online bank account, and donates YOUR real money to an organization you HATE when you decide to snooze!

Only $39.99...

pirates' pet peeves

2008-02-10T23:27:00.000Z

'Hook' always beats rock, scissors, and paper.

When someone snaps the strap on your eye patch.

Pranksters teaching your parrot words like 'fluffy' and 'rainbow' and 'I'm with stupid.'

Idiots actually trying to balance fifteen men on a dead man's chest.

Accidentally scratching your crotch with the hook hand.

Swishbucklers

When someone forgets to mark which direction is north on a treasure map.

Having to stay below decks just to avoid killing everyone on 'talk like a pirate day.'

Doubloons won't fit the snack machines at most ports.

Having to share a name with geeks who, rather than murdering and pillaging, illegally download Ashlee Simpson songs.

Converting Pieces of Eight to decimal system is too much math.

Parchment always gets stuck in the photocopier.

Stepping into a knot hole with your peg leg.

Being expected to fight every Ninja you see makes Bridge night uncomfortable.

Stuck with parrots because pot-bellied pigs have poor sense of balance.

unusual ebay feedback

2008-02-10T23:25:00.000Z

NEUTRAL: Item shipped promptly and in good condition, but I should not have to bid on birthday presents from my parents.

POSITIVE: I don't really remember what I ordered. But I've been sitting in the box it came in all day, and it's great!

NEGATIVE: Very nice monkey mascot costume, but it's a size 34, not a 63 as advertised.

POSITIVE: A+++++. Items are exactly as described. Best case of kalashnikovs I've ever bought. Allah Akbar!

pin code

2008-02-08T22:58:00.000Z

site revealing everybody's pin code - check whether yours has been discovered.

befuddlr

2008-02-08T22:55:00.000Z

fun little game that takes an image from flickr and turns it into a little puzzle for you to do. oh, and you can upload your own images too if you like.

visual dictionary

2008-02-04T22:38:00.000Z

We present a visualization of all the nouns in the English language arranged by semantic meaning. Each of the tiles in the mosaic is an arithmetic average of images relating to one of 53,464 nouns. The images for each word were obtained using Google's Image Search and other engines. A total of 7,527,697 images were used, each tile being the average of 140 images. The average reveals the dominant visual characteristics of each word. For some, the average turns out to be a recognizable image; for others the average is a colored blob.

check out 80 million tiny images.

string ducky

2008-02-04T22:37:00.001Z

a concise summary of string therory in two minutes or less. using a rubber duck.

Sign language lady actually stuck inside TV

2008-01-29T17:48:00.001Z

The BBC have admitted that the lady who does the sign language for deaf children on cBeebies was actually trapped in the corner of the screen and has been frantically waving all this time to try and attract attention.

‘It was horrible’ said Susan Waterford ‘I don’t know how to sign or anything so I just waved my arms around randomly, hoping someone would notice – pulling strange faces occassionally and nodding to the outside of the TV set where I wanted to be.’

A direct translation of the gestures being made by Ms Waterford apparently had Konnie Huq of Blue Peter saying ‘Fish car never never harpsichord love banana. ‘We thought it was an item on the surrealists’ said one deaf viewer. But Ms Waterford’s situation was eventually realized when other deaf viewers contacted the BBC to complain that her language made no sense and that they found her random gestures to be something of an insult to their disability.

‘It was like the BBC were just putting a token figure in the corner to wave her arms about to just look as if they were doing something for deaf people.’ said a spokesman for the RNID. ‘The majority of viewers with perfect hearing just ignored her, even when she started doing obscene hand gestures, waving her joined index finger and thumb at the viewer or repeatedly raising her middle digit to the camera. That wasn’t what Bob the Builder was saying at all.’

A spokesman for the BBC insisted that the mistake had been a one-off adding that the Corporation had a good understanding of deaf issues and that their generous provision for deaf people was regularly publicized on the radio.

from the excellent newsbiscuit.

mardy

2008-01-28T22:36:00.000Z

'Mardy' is a word that, although extremely descriptive and very useful, is not widely known outside the Midlands region of the United Kingdom. It should be.

Because it is not widely used, 'mardy' is difficult to describe to non-users, its meaning being quite elusive. Context helps, though:
One can be a mardy cow
One can be in a mardy
And no one would want you to have a mardy on them

hilarious article about mardiness from the bbc's h2g2.

Very good if you need to write on paper

2008-01-28T22:33:00.000Z

Since taking delivery of my pen I have been very happy with the quality of ink deposition on the various types of paper that I have used. On the first day when I excitedly unwrapped my pen (thanks for the high quality packaging Amazon!) I just couldn't contain my excitement and went around finding things to write on, like the shopping list on the notice board in our kitchen, the Post-it notes next to the phone, and on my favourite lined A4 pad at the side of my desk.

Read the rest of the review, and there's quite a bit of it!

Suspicious Looking Device

2007-12-21T16:52:00.000Z

The only function of the Suspicious Looking device is to appear as suspicious as possible, whether carried in hand or placed indiscrimately in public places.

don't throw cigarettes

2007-12-19T17:04:00.000Z

space-saving genius

2007-12-10T18:11:00.000Z

maths is beautiful

2007-12-08T11:30:00.000Z

yellow, the southampton university chaplain, gets maths:

Looking at it, I think there is only one word for it...Beautiful. It is a beautiful elegant proof, which surprises me because I always thought that Arts subjects were about beauty and elegance and science and maths was about functionality. I'm not quite so sure any more. I think, I might just possibly be beginning to 'get' maths.

amazing magic

2007-12-06T16:27:00.000Z

a fun magic trick with a twist.