Clipmarks | djkraz's Pops

Dead Sea Scrolls go from parchment to the Internet

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:07:08 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- More than 2,000 years after they were written, the Dead Sea Scrolls are going digital as part of an effort to better preserve the ancient texts and let more people see them than ever before.

The high-tech initiative, announced Wednesday, will also reveal text that was not visible to the naked eye.

Over the next two years, the Israel Antiquities Authority will digitally photograph and scan every bit of crumbling parchment and papyrus that makes up the scrolls, which include the oldest written record of the Bible's Old Testament.

The images eventually will be posted on the Internet for anyone to see.

Tags: bible, internet

" Women are not allowed to buy cucumbers, only men "

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:15:08 GMT

clipped by: xpersianx

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Besides the terrible killings inflicted by the fanatics on those who refuse to pledge allegiance to them, Al-Qa'eda has lost credibility for enforcing a series of rules imposing their way of thought on the most mundane aspects of everyday life.

They include a ban on women buying suggestively-shaped vegetables, according to one tribal leader in the western province of Anbar.

Sheikh Hameed al-Hayyes, a Sunni elder, told Reuters: "They even killed female goats because their private parts were not covered and their tails were pointed upward, which they said was haram.

"They regarded the cucumber as male and tomato as female. Women were not allowed to buy cucumbers, only men."

Other farcical stipulations include an edict not to buy or sell ice-cream, because it did not exist in the time of the Prophet, while hair salons and shops selling cosmetics have also been bombed.

Tags: cucumber

Nine year old told he's too good to pitch

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 03:13:52 GMT

clipped by: tommy2balmy
clipper's remarks: Incredible that the league would do this to him and his team.

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Nine-year-old Jericho Scott is a good baseball player — too good, it turns out.

The right-hander has a fastball that tops out at about 40 mph. He throws so hard that the Youth Baseball League of New Haven told his coach that the boy could not pitch any more. When Jericho took the mound anyway last week, the opposing team forfeited the game, packed its gear and left, his coach said.

Officials for the three-year-old league, which has eight teams and about 100 players, said they will disband Jericho's team, redistributing its players among other squads, and offered to refund $50 sign-up fees to anyone who asks for it. They say Jericho's coach, Wilfred Vidro, has resigned.

But Vidro says he didn't quit and the team refuses to disband. Players and parents held a protest at the league's field on Saturday urging the league to let Jericho pitch.

The controversy bothers Jericho, who says he misses pitching.

"I feel sad," he said. "I feel like it's all my fault nobody could play."

Tags: too good to play, baseball

Fun with a laser cutter: Tinysaur is Tiny

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:48:55 GMT

clipped by: ericskiff
clipper's remarks: This was cut using our new epilog laser at NYCResistor. Look at how little and awesome he is! I wonder how the heck Kelly put it together.

Clip Source: www.nycresistor.com

Martin sent us a dino pattern to celebrate our laser. I made a regular size dinosaur, but Kelly made a tiny tinysaur!

Where do you hide all the best object files on the internet? We want to play with them!

The tinysaur has been spotted again! - Link

Tags: dinosaur, tiny, laser, nycresistor

Love Letters From World War II Found In Waste Bin

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:17:06 GMT

clipped by: sahara

Clip Source: cbs4denver.com

Dozens of love letters from a World War II sailor were found in a thrift store trash can, and now a local historian is trying to locate the couple who exchanged the messages decades ago

A worker at the thrift shop run by AnimalSave, an animal rescue charity, pulled a shoebox full of letters from a waste bin.

"I'm always going through the trash because we throw away good stuff," Vicki Landucci said. "I saw this box of letters there."

At one point, more than six decades ago, they were the most important thing in the world to two people. The letters are all from Claude Dawson to his wife, Nadine, about his experiences in the South Pacific, and of course, about how much he missed her.

"They were so vivid, it was like being there," said Susan Raub.

Raud gave the letters to a local historian, but he has not yet been able to track down Claud or Nadine, or their family members

Video

Tags: love

A flooded Boulevard...pic

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 04:15:18 GMT

clipped by: mugofcoffee
clipper's remarks: Have you noticed the car far beyond???

Clip Source: www.time.com

Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Hydroplaning
Thanks to flooding caused by Tropical Storm Fay, Laine Kelly, 18, is able to skim along a flooded boulevard in Jensen Beach, Florida.

The Palm Beach Post / Zuma |

pictures of animals all facing the same way in feeding!

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:16:23 GMT

clipped by: silvanaraihane

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Cattle shown to align north-south

Cattle partake in some directional grazing

Have you ever noticed that herds of grazing animals all face the same way?

Images from Google Earth have confirmed that cattle tend to align their bodies in a north-south direction.

Wild deer also display this behaviour - a phenomenon that has apparently gone unnoticed by herdsmen and hunters for thousands of years.

In the Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences, scientists say the Earth's magnetic fields may influence the behaviour of these animals.

The Earth can be viewed as a huge magnet, with magnetic north and south situated close to the geographical poles.

Many species - including birds and salmon - are known to use the Earth's magnetic fields in migration, rather like a natural GPS.

A few studies have shown that some mammals - including bats - also use a "magnetic compass" to help their sense of direction.

This sense may be quite widespread in the animal kingdom

nothing but tears baby shampoo

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:23:34 GMT

clipped by: kroqben
clipper's remarks: hopefully they make a product like this for pets too someday

Clip Source: www.theonion.com

Johnson & Johnson Introduces 'Nothing But Tears' Shampoo To Toughen Up Newborns

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ—After decades of coddling young children, Johnson & Johnson unveiled its new "Nothing But Tears" shampoo this week, an aggressive bath-time product the company says will help to prepare meek and fragile newborns for the real world.

A radical departure for the health goods manufacturer, the new shampoo features an all-alcohol-based formula, has never once been approved by leading dermatologists, and is as gentle on a baby's skin as "having to grow up and fend for your goddamn self."

"It's time our children got the wake-up call that's been coming to them," Weldon continued. "It's time they cried their precious little eyes out."

Chef Skiff's world famous guacolmole

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 22:59:02 GMT

clipped by: egoldstein
clipper's remarks: I knew he was talented, but a master chef...my goodness, is there anything Skiff can't do??!!

Clip Source: blip.tv

[Video]

Tags: skiff, guacomole

Trees stops growing because it can't pull water any higher

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:34:05 GMT

clipped by: milmufmas

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

A fundamental reason why trees can grow only so tall, and then no higher, has been discovered: they run out of water.

Date seed, 2000 years old, is successfully grown

All tree leaves have 'thermostat' that maintains temperature

World's oldest tree discovered in Sweden

One of the tallest tree species on Earth, the towering Douglas-fir finally stops growing because it is unable to pull water any higher, a new study concludes.

Although the research was done on this tree (which is not a true fir, despite its name), the findings are likely to apply to the mighty redwood too and the team is now extending its research to other species.

This limit on height is somewhere above 350 feet, or taller than a 35-story building, and is a tradeoff between efficiency and safety in transporting water to the uppermost leaves.

"This is not an easy thing to do. Think about trying to drink water through a narrow, 350-foot-long straw. It takes a lot of suction."

5,000-year-old skeletons laid on bed of flowers found in Sahara

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:45:22 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08
clipper's remarks: Serendipitous find...'were searching for the remains of dinosaurs in the African country of Niger when they came across the startling find.'

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Amazing 5,000-year-old skeletons laid on bed of flowers found in Sahara - proving desert was once green and lush

A tiny woman and two children were laid to rest on a bed of flowers 5,000 years ago in what is now the barren Sahara Desert.

Researchers discovered the slender arms of the youngsters still extended to the woman in a perpetual embrace.

The body of one of the children, an 11-year-old girl Tenerian girl buried wearing an upper-arm bracelet carved from the tusk of a hippo

Paul Sereno of the University of Chicago and colleagues were searching for the remains of dinosaurs in the African country of Niger when they came across the startling find.

The triple burial contained a woman and two children, their limbs intertwined

The first group, known as the Kiffian, hunted wild animals and speared huge perch with harpoons. They colonised the region when the Sahara was at its wettest, between 10,000 and 8,000 years ago.

Kiffians were tall, sometimes reaching well over 6ft.

Tags: sahara desert, skeletons, kiffian, tuareg, discovery, bizarre

Life in these United Police States!

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 22:47:10 GMT

clipped by: boniface
clipper's remarks: "This just isn't very surprising, is it? More and more often, honest, decent and law abiding citizens are finding that the police are at best adversarial, and more often than not, actually seem to take pleasure in agressive, bullying tactics.
We are learning, like citizens of police states everywhere, to lie to cops even when we don't have anything to hide. Personally, I would never trust a cop to act decently, honestly or professionally. Punks, thugs and bullies are far too well represented in all branches of police, sheriffs and constable offices today in America." --Falon

Clip Source: www.chron.com

Couple says dog dies while they waited for ticket

San Marcos police are investigating an officer who pulled over a speeding car, then kept the occupants waiting even though they were rushing a dying dog to an emergency veterinary clinic.

"This was not our finest hour," said San Marcos Police Chief Howard Williams. "It was not handled right by our officer, but whether there was a violation of our policy that is subject to punishment, I don't know."

Gonzalez and Hernandez said they pleaded with Stephens to allow them to continue on and later turn themselves in to be ticketed. They also said they offered for Gonzalez to stay behind while Hernandez drove with Missy to New Braunfels.

Hernandez said Stephens responded: "Chill out, it's just a dog, you can buy another one."

The dog had started choking at home, then threw up and went limp.

Gonzalez said Stephens then talked with two other officers on the scene and didn't allow him to leave for 20 minutes. Missy was dead by then, Gonzalez said.

What Kind Of Tree Would She Be?

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:00:26 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

MERRICKVILLE, Ontario — Diana Beresford-Kroeger pointed to a towering wafer ash tree near her home.

She favors what she terms a bioplan, reforesting cities and rural areas with trees according to the medicinal, environmental, nutritional, pesticidal and herbicidal properties she claims for them, which she calls ecofunctions.

And she grows more than 100 types of trees, including rare fir trees and Siberian cherry trees, and disease-resistant chestnuts, elms and butternut.

Ms. Beresford-Kroeger recently completed the book “Arboretum Borealis” about the boreal forest in Canada, which cuts across the northern half of the country. Canadian officials have recently announced plans to preserve 55 million acres — roughly half. “Trees are a living miracle,” Ms. Beresford-Kroeger said. “Leaves can take in carbon dioxide and create oxygen. And all creatures must have oxygen.”

CONEY ISLAND MOB BEATS EX-MARINES RESCUING GIRL

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:59:05 GMT

clipped by: Smoke TNT

Clip Source: www.nypost.com

August 11

A wolf pack of at least 30 thugs viciously attacked two hero ex-Marines in Brooklyn after they rescued a teenage girl who was being assaulted

And when the brother of one of the former servicemen tried to come to his rescue during the July 25 melee in Coney Island, he was beaten into a coma.

The former leathernecks, Valentyn Olenyev, 23, and Boris Bukler, 22, Russian émigrés who served tours in Iraq, were walking a female friend to her parked car on West 23rd Street at 12:30 a.m. when they spotted two men holding the screaming teen by her hands and legs.

"She was screaming, and all we did was look to help her. I got a bottle smashed over my head, and after that, I started fighting. But I got beat down.

"I was getting my ass kicked by 50 people."

he was pounded senseless by 240-pound Timothy Dixon, 23, who was swinging a metal baseball bat.

Bukler said, "Those in the crowd were yelling, 'Hey, white boys, you're in the 'hood now!' We were yelling back, 'We don't care - we live here!'

Mythical chupacabra caught on tape?

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:19:17 GMT

clipped by: Smoke TNT
clipper's remarks: Video at source.

Clip Source: www.necn.com

(NECN/KSAT) - The legend of the Cuero Chupacabra is getting new life. A pair of Dewitt County (Texas) sheriff's deputies caught a rare glimpse of what some believe to be the mythical creature. And, they recorded the entire encounter on their patrol car video camera.

"I've been patrolling these back roads for a long time and I never run across anything like this."

Last Friday, Cpl. Brandon Reidel was training a new deputy when they came across an unusual sight.

"We were out checking fence lines and we came around the corner and we saw this running down the road."

Thinking they'd spotted the elusive Cuero Chupacabra, Reidel turned on his dash cam.

"You need to record something like this b/c it's not everyday you find something that looks like this running around out in the middle of the county."

The short-legged, hairless critter with a long snout looks like a coyote, but Reidle isn't convinced.

"It just doesn't look like your average coyote or dog or anything."

Tags: weird, animals