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"Hi, I'm __ and I am a wilfer" -- aimless websurfing and its effect on your life

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 22:08:52 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: "Wilfer" stands for (roughly) "What Was I Looking For" and refers to the habit of getting distracted and lost online when you actually meant to find something specific. I do this constantly.

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Are you a wilfer, lost on the internet?

You are checking your emails when you start daydreaming about where to go on your summer holiday.

This reminds you to compare the cost of local gyms. Then you suddenly decide to look up venues for your birthday party.

You may think you are browsing the internet in a slightly absent-minded manner. You are, in fact, "wilfing".

According to a survey for a financial website, almost seven in 10 internet users admit to the newly named habit.

The study of 2,400 people carried out by YouGov found more than a quarter of internet users wilf - a rough acronym of What Was I Looking For? - for two days every month.

Shopping is the online activity most likely to make users wilf. Men are more likely to admit to being wilfers than women. A third of the men questioned said the habit had damaged their relationship with a partner.

Tags: web, internet, psychology, adhd, productivity

Webware Browsing Finalist: Clipmarks VOTE!

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 20:32:50 GMT

clipped by: carrerinyes
clipper's remarks: Guess who I voted for

Clip Source: www.clipmarks.com

We're extremely proud to be among such stellar finalists, but we need your help to make the final cut! Click the badge below to vote.

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First look at vast 'book of life'

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:48:53 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks:

The encyclopedia now has placeholder pages for one million species, of which 30,000 have been populated with detailed information. There are also about a dozen highly developed multimedia pages giving a taster of what to expect in time from the EOL.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

The encyclopedia is scheduled for completion in 2017

The first 30,000 pages have been unveiled of a vast encyclopedia which aims to catalogue every one of our planet's 1.8 million species.

The immense online resource is designed to greatly enhance our understanding of the world's diminishing biodiversity.

The creators of the database say it could have an impact on human knowledge comparable to that which followed the microscope's invention in the 1600s.

It is designed to be used by everyone from scientists to lay readers.

The Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) - described as the "ultimate field guide" - is to encompass all six kingdoms of life, and even viruses - which many researchers do not consider to be living organisms.

The immense amount of information in the encyclopedia is being drawn from a variety of sources, including several existing specialist databases such as AmphibiaWeb and FishBase.

Tags: biology, life, encyclopedia, reference, eol, science

Chinese Factory Worker Can't Believe The Shit He Makes For Americans

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 10:00:07 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: "Sometimes, an item the factory produces resembles nothing I've ever seen," Chen said. "One time, we made something that looked like a ladle, but it had holes in its cup and a handle that bent down 90 degrees. The foreman told us that it was a soda-can holder for an automobile. If you are lucky enough to own a car, sit back and enjoy the journey. Save the soda beverage for later."

Chen added: "A cup holder is not a necessary thing to own."

Chen expressed similar confusion over the tens of thousands of pineapple corers, plastic eyeshades, toothpick dispensers, and dog pull-toys that he has helped manufacture.

"Why the demand for so many kitchen gadgets?" Chen said. "I can understand having a good wok, a rice cooker, a tea kettle, a hot plate, some utensils, good china, a teapot with a strainer, and maybe a thermos. But all these extra things—where do the Americans put them? How many times will you use a taco-shell holder? 'Oh, I really need this silverware-drawer sorter or I wi

Clip Source: www.theonion.com

FENGHUA, CHINA—Chen Hsien, an employee of Fenghua Ningbo Plastic Works Ltd., a plastics factory that manufactures lightweight household items for Western markets, expressed his disbelief Monday over the "sheer amount of shit Americans will buy."

"Often, when we're assigned a new order for, say, 'salad shooters,' I will say to myself, 'There's no way that anyone will ever buy these,'" Chen said during his lunch break in an open-air courtyard. "One month later, we will receive an order for the same product, but three times the quantity. How can anyone have a need for such useless shit?"

Chen added: "A cup holder is not a necessary thing to own."

Chen expressed similar confusion over the tens of thousands of pineapple corers, plastic eyeshades, toothpick dispensers, and dog pull-toys that he has helped manufacture.

Chen added: "For now, I must refuse the job. Somehow, the only thing more depressing than making plastic shit for Americans is destroying the plastic shit they send back."

NASA baffled by unexplained force

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 22:51:56 GMT

clipped by: kkcapricorn
clipper's remarks: Twilight zone?

Clip Source: www.unexplained-mysteries.com

Mysteriously, five spacecraft that flew past the Earth have each displayed unexpected anomalies in their motions

A decade ago, after rigorous analyses, anomalies were seen with the identical Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft as they hurtled out of the solar system. Both seemed to experience a tiny but unexplained constant acceleration toward the sun

John Anderson and his colleagues — who originally helped uncover the Pioneer anomaly — have discovered that five spacecraft each raced either a tiny bit faster or slower than expected when they flew past the Earth en route to other parts of the solar system.

The researchers looked at six deep-space probes — Galileo I and II to Jupiter, the NEAR mission to the asteroid Eros, the Rosetta probe to a comet, Cassini to Saturn, and the MESSENGER craft to Mercury. Each spacecraft flew past the our planet to either gain or lose orbital energy in their quests to reach their eventual targets. In five of the six flybys, the scientists have confirmed anomalies

Water Shortage: Worst nightmare becoming true

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 01:55:55 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: Amy Goodman interviews Peter H. Gleick and Maude Barlow about "water problems" appearing seriously on the horizon, globally.

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

For the longest time, people have taken water for granted. Most people don't think about where their water comes from. They just turn on the tap, and they expect it to be there. Those days are ending.

This notion that we'll have water forever is wrong. California is running out. It's got 20-some years of water. New Mexico has got 10, although they're building golf courses as fast as they can, so maybe they can whittle that down to five. Arizona, Florida, even the Great Lakes now, there's huge new demand.

The Nile River doesn't reach its end. The Colorado River, the Yellow River in China, they, for the most part, don't flow anymore to the sea.

You know those movies where there's the comet coming at the earth, and all of a sudden the governments of the world say, "Gee, we're not -- our differences aren't so big anymore, because we're about to all die"? That's really where we are. There is a comet coming at us. It's called water shortage.

Tags: water, climate change, earth, resources, water shortage, science

Americans Suck At Sex

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 14:57:52 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: This little chicki doesn't always believe in the American way

Clip Source: www.coedmagazine.com

Americans spend nearly three hours every week grooming themselves, but less than one hour on foreplay and sexual intercourse. It’s no wonder that only 46% of us describe our love lives as exciting, or existent for that matter.

Durex also revealed that Americans are having a lot less sex than just about everyone else in the world, and when we do, less than half are fully satisfied. Great job, U.S.

While Americans might be somewhat bored in bed, we have ideas about what we can do to improve their sex lives; most notably, less stressful lives (37%) and more romance (35%) top the list.

More than four out of ten (42%) enjoy sexual fantasies and erotica (41%) to boost the libido

Older people still enjoy a variety of activities to keep passion alive, as more than 52% of those 55 or older give oral sex and 29% act out sexual fantasies

Globally, 48% of those 55 or older practice oral sex and more than a third (36%) act out sexual fantasies

How Many People Did God Kill? How About Satan?

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 08:17:26 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: It's the final point that makes the clip.

Clip Source: www.rationalresponders.com

How many did God kill vs Satan?

It's impossible to say for sure, but plenty. How many did God drown in the flood or burn to death in Sodom and Gomorrah? How many first-born Egyptians did he kill? There's just no way to count them all.

But how does this compare with Satan? How many did he kill in the Bible?

Well SAB can only find ten, and even these he shares with God, since God allowed him to do it as a part of a bet. Steve's talking about the seven sons and three daughters of Job.

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job ... And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.

And heck, that's JUST in scripture. If god was real, TECHNICALLY he's killed every person that EVER lived, and I can't even think of the mindbogglingly huge numbers on that!