February 2012
16 posts
Watchtheatlanticvideo:
How Water Drops Orbit a Needle in Zero Gravity
In this video from NASA, astronaut Don Pettit demonstrates how water drops orbit a charged knitting needle in the absence of gravity, modeling a solar system.
First of all, this is really cool to watch. Some of the drops get moving really fast. God, this makes me want to play around in space.
Second, I could listen to...
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Soundscape: Water World
These are all the sounds in the backyard right now:
The splish-splash of rain on the leaves that cover the ground.
The slow drip of fat raindrops falling from the corner gutter.
The muted thud of rain hitting the deck.
The purposeful slap of rain on cement.
That hum of faraway traffic that sounds like the ocean.
Portland’s up to its old tricks again.
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The Perils of Amazon Prime Instant Movies
Tonight, we stumbled upon Caligula. None of us had seen it but we’d all heard of it. Charlie was reading to us from Wikipedia as we watched.
Charlie: We’re watching Caligula. It’s supposed to be porn.
Chels: Oh, okay. Some half-naked lady is prancing through the woods. This isn’t so bad. Maybe people back in the 80s just overreacted. (THIS WOULD LATER PROVE TO BE UNTRUE)
Toph: (scene of nude...
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“You can never have too much avocado.”
– Toph, during Superbowl preparations, speaking one of the immutable laws of life.
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Three Little Birds | Bob Marley & The...
Karp's Wired interview and the origins of Tumblr →
Karp didn’t invent “tumblelogging”, the rapid-fire short-form blogging popularised by Tumblr. The tumblelog widely acknowledged as launching the trend was anarchaia.org, created by Christian Neukirchen, a 17-year-old high-schooler in Biberach an der Riss in south Germany, on March 27, 2005. Neukirchen described anarchaia as “experimental, impressionistic sub-paragraph...
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January 2012
52 posts
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mokin: Existential sales pitch →
mokin:
Joanna found this sales pitch in her predecessor’s files at her new job:
Have you ever read The Stranger by Albert Camus? If so, then you know that the book discusses the meaninglessness of life and the inevitability of death. If you have not read this novel, then I just provided you with a factoid that could make for some stimulating party conversation. Now, you’re probably wondering...
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“Until this tournament, I never fully realized how much Nadal means to tennis. I...”
– Brian Phillips writes about the epic Australian Open Final between Djokovic and Nadal and manages to lay out my exact thoughts on good ol’ Rafa. Go read the rest of the article for Phillips’ apt comparisons of our tennis greats to the ancient Greek warriors of the Iliad.
“28 ways to make meetings more interesting
1. Discreetly clasp hold of...”
– And 25 more:
28 ways to make meetings more interesting » The Guardian
(via iateabee)
I haven’t had to sit in boring meetings since I left my mind-numbing job two years ago, but I would have loved to give these a whirl. Numbers 10, 11, and 18 are especially good.
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onehelloworld:
Movies When You Die
“I’ve...
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Simple Song | The Shins
I was a little down...
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Future Timelines →
(via petervidani)
future-timelines:
The Wiki
2035 - A research group in Wales create bacteria in the lab that form crystals which resonate with radio frequency.
2041 - The same group demonstrates that they can modify a percentage of the glia in a mouse brain to resonate with RF, opening up the possibility for biological radio receivers. These glia are dubbed “radiocytes”
...
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“It’s both our worst nightmare and our dream come true.”
– Charlie, on the closing of all local Chili’s restaurants
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Emails with Charlie: Episode 1
Me: how is there not even ONE recipe for tapatio butter on the internet?? UGH the webz are failing me today.
Charlie: um...what is that?
Me: it's not anything. i was just eating a toast and i thought, hmm, i wish i had some spicy butter to put on this. like tapatio butter. i simply cannot be the first person to have thought of that.
Charlie: So... let me get this straight. You are looking for a recipe that includes butter and Tapatio... and nothing else? Seriously, you need a recipe for that?
Me: LOL I know I know, but I just wanted to know the ratio and if it would separate all weird
Charlie: Hahaha. "Chelsea's Test Kitchen 2012 - Round 1: Have you been searching for that oh-so-perfect spicy yet smooth and mouth watering buttery toast spread? Well, tonight, Chelsea will delve into the mysterious world of mexican chili pastes and local dairy solids and give you the BEST ratio of chili to butter to ensure that every spicy toast bite is as good as the rest. All your questions will be answered and don't miss out on our special look at butter choices. Organic or not? The answer may surprise you!"
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“All of us have our bad habits, but an especially bad one is indulging in...”
– No Proof Paula Deen’s High-Fat Southern Cooking Caused Her Diabetes - The Daily Beast (via nickdouglas)
A good reminder that reacting the way the sensationalist media would like you to - CAPSLOCK OUTRAGED AT EVERYTHING!!! ABOVE IT ALL!!! JUDGING EVERYONE ELSE!!! - isn’t the most gracious or...
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Mikey, everyone's favorite South Pole blogger,... →
This Q&A has some real gems, including stories of drinking, hooking up, and crazy 80s parties at the Pole. But my favorite bits are:
I haven’t seen any penguins. Apparently a skua [seabird] flew past the station one day and they announced it over the PA, but I missed it. Other than that, the only life we’ve seen is a slug that came here on a head of cabbage. We tried keeping it as a pet...
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