Clipmarks |

9 Telltale Signs You're Probably an Asshole

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 11:47:49 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Takes all kinds!

Clip Source: www.themishmash.com

1. You wildly overstate your case.

2. You act as if the rules don't apply to you.

3. You preemptively tell others to fuck off.

4. This is your idea of holiday cheer:

5. You really believe it's that simple.

6. Rather than the pedestrian 'Beware of Dog' sign you instead opt for this:

7. You have a five year old do your dirty work.

8. You think you have all the answers.

9. One obnoxious purchase is not enough.

Tags: humour

The Art of Protozoa

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:29:09 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: amazing!

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

In this image entitled "Protozoa in Real Time," created in a college biology class, one can see the dynamic, energetic life that abounds in a drop of pond water.

The image was submitted as part of the 2007 International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge, an effort jointly administered by the National Science Foundation and the journal Science. Winners from the SciViz challenges can be seen at: http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/scivis/index.jsp.

Tags: art, science, water, protozoa

'Use it or lose it'

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 11:57:15 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: physorg.com

Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, UK, have concluded a study that proves a direct link between levels of physical activity in middle age and physical ability later in life – regardless of body weight.

Dr. Iain Lang headed the research team from the Epidemiology and Public Health Group at the Peninsula Medical School. The team found that middle-aged people who maintained a reasonable level of physical activity were less likely to become unable to walk distances, climb stairs, maintain their sense of balance, stand from a seated position with their arms folded, or sustain their hand grip as they get older.

Research showed that, among men and women aged 50 to 69 years and across all weight ranges, the rate of decreased physical ability later in life was twice as high among those who were less physically active.

Tags: health, body, physical activity, aging

America: A land of Excess and Extremes

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 23:02:33 GMT

clipped by: anthonyo
clipper's remarks: Wow, Puts Things In Perspective.

Clip Source: www.chrisjordan.com

Depicts 200,000 packs of cigarettes, equal to the number of Americans who die from cigarrette smoking every six months.

Depicts 170,000 disposable Energizer batteries, equal to fifteen minutes of Energizer battery production.

Depicts two million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the US every five minutes.

Depicts 106,000 aluminum cans, the number used in the US every thirty seconds.

Depicts 65,000 cigarettes, equal to the number of American teenagers under age eighteen who become addicted to cigarettes every month.

Depicts 29,569 handguns, equal to the number of gun-related deaths in the US in 2004.

Depicts 60,000 plastic bags, the number used in the US every five seconds.

Depicts 2.3 million folded prison uniforms, equal to the number of Americans incarcerated in 2005.

Depicts 125,000 one-hundred dollar bills ($12.5 million), the amount our government spends every hour on the war in Iraq.

Tags: america, waste, excess, extreme, trees, death, cigarettes

Google shuts down anti-Torture site..!

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 06:22:22 GMT

clipped by: TJColatrella

Clip Source: valleywag.com

Google shuts down antitorture activist's YouTube account

Google may not be evil, but it's not much interested in fighting it, either. At least, that seems to be the takeaway after Google-owned YouTube shut down award-winning journalist and antitorture activist Wael Abbas's account. Abbas had uploaded nearly 100 clips depicting police brutality, voting irregularities and antigovernment demonstrations in Egypt. And last year, some of Abbas's clips of police brutality against an Eygptian bus driver lead to the conviction of two policemen who were sentenced to three years in jail. But for now, Abbas's YouTube account reads, "This account is suspended."

Tags: journalism, activism, torture, egypt, yahoo, red china, you tube

Spammers Giving Up? Google Thinks So

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:26:34 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.wired.com

Bill Gates was wildly optimistic when he said in 2004 that the problem of spam would be "solved" by 2006. The volume of junk e-mail transmitted worldwide is still enormous. But a remarkable trend is underfoot, according to Brad Taylor, a staff software engineer at Google: The number of spam attempts -- that is, the number of junk messages sent out by spammers -- is flat, and may even be declining for the first time in years.

Google won't disclose numbers, but the company says that spam attempts, as a percentage of e-mail that's transmitted through its Gmail system, have waned over the last year. That could indicate that some spammers have gotten discouraged and have stopped trying to get through Google’s spam filters.

Google data suggests that incoming spam (the red line) has flattened or declined for the first time in years. (The blue line represents the percent of spam that is missed by Gmail filters and reported by users as arriving in their inboxes.)

Tags: internet, spam, google

Sleep Deprivation: tips for nodding off

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 16:47:08 GMT

clipped by: abailart

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Modern life is too demanding to turn out the lights and we're more sleep deprived than ever before. How can we get back in the habit of grabbing shut-eye?

The medical profession calls it tatt, short for "tired all the time". It's one of the most common complaints that doctors hear.

We just aren't getting enough sleep and it's slipping down people's list of priorities. It seems modern life is just too demanding - and exciting - to switch off.

Not getting enough has been found to increase the risk of obesity, heart disease and depression.

Sleep is as important as diet and exercise when it comes to the nation's health

But even if you cut back on the late nights, how to tackle the problem of falling asleep? Here are some tips

GET TENSE

Tensing until your muscles hurt may not seem the most sensible way of getting to sleep, but it's a popular and proven cognitive technique.

OLD CDS

POWER OF 'THE'

POWER NAP

WORK IN JAPAN

Tags: sleep deprivation

Suckers Wanted

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 21:04:21 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.motherjones.com

Our car is old. The 1993 Honda Accord has more than 145,000 miles on it, but it's paid for and still runs pretty well despite the rust. But this year my husband and I decided the time had come for an upgrade—not a new car, of course, but newer than the one we're currently driving.

Everything seemed to be above board until we got to the end of the buyer's order and discovered that if we signed the contract, we would waive our rights to sue the dealership in court, before a jury, should any dispute arise after the sale. Instead, as a condition of buying the car, we had to agree to submit to mandatory pre-dispute binding arbitration, handled by the dealership's pre-selected company, the National Arbitration Forum (NAF).

So we walked. Because there is nothing fair about mandatory arbitration.

Tags: taking, away, your, right, to, sue

Fury as British zoo kills two endangered monkeys

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 18:17:24 GMT

clipped by: michellezm

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

To an endangered animal, a zoo is supposed to offer sanctuary.

A macaque monkey may even consider itself fortunate to live in one - safe from poachers and predators.

Fortunate, that is, until the rare Indonesian animal falls foul of Newquay Zoo's strict approach to cage discipline.

Animal charities and conservationists condemned the 'awful' decision to kill two adult male monkeys who behaved aggressively.

Venus and Ia were put down by lethal injection despite being members of the most endangered species of macaque - there are just 100,000 in the entire world.

Keepers at the Cornish zoo say they killed two of their three male macaques because they could neither live together or be found new homes.

But the decision was slammed as 'unacceptable' after it emerged that a nearby monkey refuge had not even been contacted about the problem.

Matt Thomas, a keeper at The Monkey Sanctuary in Looe - just 40 miles away from the zoo - said: "They never contacted us.

Tags: primates, monkeys, apes, macaque, animals, creatures, fauna

Cutlery made from potatoes!

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 01:24:22 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

Clip Source: www.zible.com

A British company has come up with an ingenious method of turning potatoes into plastic. Vegware uses the technology to create disposable items such as cutlery and tableware.

It’s cheap too - a mixed bag of 10 knives, forks and spooks is only £2.97. For mass caterers, a bag of 1,000 knives costs £29.90 +VAT and shipping.

The cutlery gets its strength from potato or corn starch and its actually stronger than standard plastic cutlery. Being made from vegetable matter, the products are totally biodegradable, so they are dramatically better for the environment than plastics made from oil.

Tags: odd

Big Brother wants to see your reading list

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 11:46:42 GMT

clipped by: ljsdesign

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

U.S. prosecutors have withdrawn a subpoena seeking the identities of thousands of people who bought used books through online retailer Amazon.com Inc., newly unsealed court records show

The withdrawal came after a judge ruled the customers have a right to keep their reading habits from the government

But he said First Amendment concerns about freedom of speech were justified and outweighed the subpoena's law enforcement purpose

The subpoena is troubling because it permits the government to peek into the reading habits of specific individuals without their knowledge or permission," Crocker wrote. "It is an unsettling and un-American scenario to envision federal agents nosing through the reading lists of law-abiding citizens while hunting for evidence against somebody else

The initial subpoena sought records of 24,000 transactions dating to 1999. The company turned over many records but refused to identify the book buyers, citing their right to keep their reading choices private

Tags: civil liberties, civil rights, consumer, just wrong, amazon.com

Gold Leaf Facial, Anyone?

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 08:29:23 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken
clipper's remarks: Some people just have waaay too much money to spend. Waaay too much.

Clip Source: women.timesonline.co.uk

Classic luxury beauty treatments

Fluffy white towels, expensive creams and relaxing music just aren’t enough these days. Beauty junkies want jewels mixed in with their treatments.

‘Red Carpet Facial’ using diamonds

The gold facial

a facial infused with 24-carat gold

the perfect antidote to a hard day's shopping.

$275 – 90 minutes

The gold leaf facial

The face is covered in a sheet of 24 carat gold, in the hope that it will absorb some of the precious metal’s properties.

$400 for 90 minutes

The Evian bath

1000 litres

Daisies and floating candles

US$5,000

The Perrier facial

seven-step Perrier facial involves three face masks, facial cleansing and massages

Perrier facial £150

The caviar facial

90 mins, £125

The champagne facial

Caviar and diamonds

Champagne Facial, 60 minutes, $85

Tags: children, are, starving, all, over, the, world