Clipmarks |

Would never happen in a hundred years. But it did, and it’s on video.

Fri, 02 May 2008 11:09:50 GMT

clipped by: alanocu
clipper's remarks: 14 Seconds - Watch the bat......

[Video]

Why gas in the U.S. is so cheap

Fri, 02 May 2008 00:29:02 GMT

clipped by: alanocu
clipper's remarks: Americans are feeling the pain of spiking prices at the gas pump more acutely than citizens in other countries because they've become accustomed to cheap fuel and large cars, experts say.

Clip Source: viewer.zoho.com

Clip Source: money.cnn.com

Despite daily headlines bemoaning record gas prices, the U.S. is actually one of the cheaper places to fill up in the world.

Out of 155 countries surveyed, U.S. gas prices were the 45th cheapest

The U.S. has always fought to keep gas prices low, and the current debate among presidential candidates on how to keep them that way has been fierce.

Cheap gas prices have also lulled Americans into a cycle of buying bigger cars and bigger houses further away from their work - leaving them more exposed to rising prices

Comparing gas prices across nations is always difficult. For starters, the AIRINC numbers don't take into account different salaries in different countries, or the different exchange rates.

The dollar has lost considerable ground to the euro recently. Because oil is priced in dollars, rising oil prices aren't as hard on people paying with currencies which are stronger than the dollar

Gasoline costs roughly the same to make no matter where in the world it's produced

Tags: fuel, gasoline

The Earth Will Be Just Fine, Thank You

Fri, 02 May 2008 09:41:45 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: Despite its many flaws, I’m a big fan of human civilization. I marvel at our capacity to organize matter and information, at our ability to learn from mistakes and pass that learning down to subsequent generations. Civilization—writing, cities, trade, the whole lot of it—makes us unique on this planet and, as far as we can tell so far, in our part of the universe.

Clip Source: ieet.org

The grand myth of environmentalism is that it’s all about saving the Earth. It’s not. The Earth will be just fine. Environmentalism is all about saving ourselves.

That may seem a bit counter-intuitive; after all, the Earth is certainly central to the rhetoric, the memetics of environmentalism. Most environmental discussions focus on ecological dynamics, with references to human beings typically limited to enumerations of the various insults we’ve visited upon the planet. Given the degree of culpability we bear for the current state of the planet, this is entirely appropriate.

But the rhetorical focus of environmentalism on the planet obscures the fact that what human beings have done to the Earth pales in comparison to past disasters hitting our world, from massive asteroid strikes to super-volcano eruptions killing off 90+% of the Earth’s species

And in every case, the Earth has recovered, and life has once again flourished.

Tags: myth, environmentalism, conceptual mistakes

10 Amazing Things You Didn't Know about Animals

Fri, 02 May 2008 13:30:28 GMT

clipped by: alanocu
clipper's remarks: After reading the comments at the source page, several people have suggested that some of this information is not quite accurate. There seems to be a lot of typos in the article, too. So I'm not sure what's going on at LiveScience.

I'm not sure about parrot linguistic processing being near the level of a 4 to 6 year-old......hmmmm

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

Crocodiles Swallow Stones for Swimming

It's been suggested these are used for ballast in diving.

Whale Milk Not On Low-Fat Diets

50 percent fat, whale milk has around 10 times the fat content of human milk

Birds Use Landmarks to Navigate Long Journeys

birds, like the Arctic tern, make a 25,000 mile round-trip journey

For Beavers, Days Get Longer in Winter

become near shut-ins during winter, living off of previously stored food

Mole-Rats aren't Blind

mole-rats have a keen, if limited, sense of sight

Baby Chicks and Brotherhood

a special chirp

announces the food find to nearby chicks

Many Fish Swap Sex Organs

hermaphroditism

Some fish change sex in response to hormonal cycle

Giraffes Compensate for Height with Unique Blood Flow

The heart must pump twice as hard as a cow's to get blood up to the brain

Elephants Do Forget, but They're Not Dumb

elephant EQ is 1.88

Humans range from 7.33 to 7.69

chimpanzees average 2.45

Parrot Talk More than Just Squawking

linguistic processing

as deftly as 4-6 year-old children

Tags: science, animals

May 1, 1964: First Basic Program Runs

Thu, 01 May 2008 19:00:29 GMT

clipped by: Mohir

Clip Source: www.wired.com

1964: In the predawn hours of May Day, two professors at Dartmouth College run the first program in their new language, Basic.

Mathematicians John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz had been trying to make computing more accessible to their undergraduate students. One problem was that available computing languages like Fortran and Algol were so complex that you really had to be a professional to use them.

So the two professors started writing easy-to-use programming languages in 1956. First came Dartmouth Simplified Code, or Darsimco. Next was the Dartmouth Oversimplified Programming Experiment, or Dope, which was too simple to be of much use. But Kemeny and Kurtz used what they learned to craft the Beginner's All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code, or Basic, starting in 1963.

The college's General Electric GE-225 mainframe started running a Basic compiler at 4 a.m. on May 1, 1964. The new language was simple enough to use, and powerful enough to make it desirable.

Tags: basic, computers, history

Painting with Light

Thu, 01 May 2008 21:22:48 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners
clipper's remarks: The last shot is a good example of why you should wear dark clothing.

Clip Source: abduzeedo.com

Learning Light Painting

1. The tools

Besides your camera you will need a tripod and a torch

2. Light

I use a little light also used as a key chain. It s powerful enough to draw the characters and can be turned on/off just by pressing a button.

3. Camera settings

Shutter speed: As long as you need to create the scene.

ISO: I usually put it on 100 so I can set the shutter speed on a very slow value and I don t get any noise on my photographs.

Aperture: Set it doing a test shot without drawings, focusing on an element close to what you are going to draw.

Flash: Can be used to fix a person or a moving element in the scene.

White balance: Set it doing a test shot. Street lighting is usually yellow.

Focus: Obviously on manual if there is not enough light.

4. Tips

Light is your friend, you could use moving lights from cars etc.. for exemple, I did one while a train was passing under a bridge.

Wear dark clothes if you want to lower the chance of being visible on the photograph.

Tags: photography, art, light

ArtLex - Art Dictionary

Thu, 01 May 2008 13:52:23 GMT

clipped by: Lubaska

Clip Source: www.artlex.com

Art Dictionary

in art production, criticism, history, aesthetics, and education

Welcome to ArtLex. You'll find definitions for more than 3,600 terms used in discussing art / visual culture, along with thousands of supporting images, pronunciation notes, great quotations and cross-references.

Clip Source: www.artlex.com

fibula

figurative - Describes artwork representing the form of a human, an animal or a thing; any expression of one thing in terms of another thing. Abstract artwork is the opposite of figurative art in certain ways. Roy Lichtenstein made a series of images of a bull, demonstrating this kind of range in ways to approach figuration and abstraction ― beginning with the most highly figurative version, and proceeding through stages to the most abstract version:

Roy Lichtenstein (American, 1923-1997), the six prints in the "Bull Profile Series,"

Clip Source: www.artlex.com

African art

Clip Source: www.artlex.com

watercolour

Any paint that uses water as a solvent.

Clip Source: www.metmuseum.org

Tags: dictionary, art, definitions

How a boy born with no ears can hear again - and beat the bullies

Fri, 02 May 2008 08:39:56 GMT

clipped by: alanocu
clipper's remarks: His ears clip on to metal attachments on the side of his head. Joshua takes them on and off as simply as someone putting on glasses.

"I wouldn't say I was delighted with them, I am completely gobsmacked," he said. "I can't believe how good they are."

His mother added: "He has been full of himself since then. All the staring has stopped. I could never imagine the ears could be so good."

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Before (left): Joshua without his latex ears and After (right): With the new ones fitted

Born almost deaf and without any ears, Joshua Bull might have faced a life blighted by speech difficulties and the teasing of his peers.

But doctors have been able not only to restore his hearing but to rescue his appearance too by giving him artificial ears.

Far from attracting the attention of bullies at school, Joshua has won the respect of his teachers and other pupils for his courage.

Surgeons began by inserting one bone-anchored hearing aid into his skull, effectively bypassing the blocked ear canal, enabling him to hear properly for first time.

The youngster began senior school last September with no ears at all. Two weeks later, he turned up with two plastic ears.

The treatment was all done on the NHS and he will get new ears every six months until he is fully-grown.

"His little face and eyes lit up when it was put on, he could hear the birds sing for the first time.

Tags: incredible

Liquid sound

Fri, 02 May 2008 07:29:31 GMT

clipped by: valann 47

Clip Source: www.been-seen.com

Our senses absorb the world differently when we are under water. Apparently, we can absorb sound through our skin and bones while we are floating, the vibrations stimulating our senses and awakening our souls. This is the philosophy of Liquid Sound, a revolutionary spa technique pioneered in Germany.

Bathing in light and sound, say its creators, is as natural as the world around us: 'For thermal baths this is revolutionary, but for the oceans this is nothing new – the troubadours of the oceans, the whales, have been giving underwater poetry readings and concerts for 40 million years, live, day and night.'

In fact this sensual experience is so profound that even the deaf and hard of hearing can feel music under water.

If you want to float in a body-temperature salt pool while light and ambient tunes waft over you, visit the Liquidrom in Berlin, or one of the Toksana Thermae spas in Bad Sulza and Bad Schandau.

Tags: spas, bathing, senses

5 Cats that Look Like Wilford Brimley

Fri, 02 May 2008 20:32:18 GMT

clipped by: Charolastra

Clip Source: gatoisland.com

Tags: cats, wilford brimley

Star Wars Sex

Fri, 02 May 2008 14:15:43 GMT

clipped by: righthand

Clip Source: www.dayofthejedi.com

"Luke, at that speed do you think you'll be able to pull out in time?"

"Get in there you big furry oaf, I don't care what you smell!"

"Put that thing away before you get us all killed."

"You've got something jammed in here real good."

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought."

"Sorry about the mess..."

"Look at the size of that thing!"

"That's okay, I'd like to keep it on manual control for a while."

"I must've hit it pretty close to the mark to get her all riled up like that, huh kid?"

"Possible he came in through the south entrance."

"Hey, point that thing someplace else."

"There is good in him, I've felt it."

"Hey, Luke, thanks for coming after me -- now I owe you one."

"Back door, huh? Good idea!"

"I think you'll fit in nicely."

"Wedge! Pull out! You're not doing any good back there!"

May the Force be with you!

Top 10 Sexually Suggestive Lines in
the Original Star Wars Trilogy

"Look at the size of that thing!"

"She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid."

Tags: sex, comic

Lessons in Manliness: Theodore Roosevelt and the Spanish-American War

Fri, 02 May 2008 08:12:24 GMT

clipped by: alanocu
clipper's remarks: "Theodore Roosevelt, who arguably accomplished more than any other American man, called his experience in the Spanish-American War, “the great day of my life.” It was during his charge up Kettle Hill that Theodore Roosevelt’s leadership and confidence finally crystallized. He passed the test and emerged as a leader capable of ascending to the presidency."

Clip Source: artofmanliness.com

His actions during the war impart crucial lessons on manly leadership:

1. Walk the Walk.

Teddy pestered the Secretary of the Navy for a commission in the army. He then sold his cattle ranch and some of his possessions, and took out life insurance in preparation of receiving it. He was fully prepared to put his money where his mouth (and pen) was.

2. Know your limitations.

Teddy was never short on confidence, but he didn’t let cocksureness slip into arrogance.

3. Pick the best men for your team.

surround yourself with the best men,

be the kind of leader men fall over each to serve under

4. Be one of the men.

When the Rough Riders arrived in Cuba,

Roosevelt walked alongside the men, refusing to ride while they were marching

5. Lead by example.

Don’t ask others to do anything you are afraid of doing yourself.

As bodies piled up all around him, TR stayed on his horse as an example of courage.

6. See it through.

In 2001, Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.

Tags: history, leadership

WWI posters

Fri, 02 May 2008 12:55:50 GMT

clipped by: boozich

Clip Source: muzich.blogspot.com

A 1915 French WWI poster soliciting for a Paris Day war charities fund raiser

Clip Source: muzich.blogspot.com

America Calls: 1917

This WWI enlistment poster shows Liberty shaking the hand of a sailor

Clip Source: muzich.blogspot.com

Veterinary Corps: 1919

Clip Source: muzich.blogspot.com

1918

New York State Land Army Membership Committee from WWI shows a young woman tending a garden, with a drawing of a soldier in the background: "Get behind the girl he left behind him. Join the land army." During WWI the government encouraged women to participate in the Land Army to help keep farm production from declining

Clip Source: muzich.blogspot.com

Join the Tanks: 1919

A U.S. Army Tank Corps recruiting poster

Clip Source: muzich.blogspot.com

A WWI recruitment poster from 1917 shows the Air Service insignia and a crew tending to a plane

Clip Source: muzich.blogspot.com

The Fruits of Victory: c. 1918

A woman dressed in stars and stripes poses with vegetables and jars of preserved food in this WWI poster

Clip Source: muzich.blogspot.com

c. 1918

Clip Source: muzich.blogspot.com

America Calls: 1917

This WWI enlistment poster shows Liberty shaking the hand

Clip Source: muzich.blogspot.com

A 1915 French WWI poster soliciting for a Paris Day war charities fund raiser

Keyboards 'dirtier than a toilet'

Thu, 01 May 2008 12:55:03 GMT

clipped by: Loganzweb
clipper's remarks: Working in IT, I know all about this, however years of exposur have meant I've built up an immunity.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Keyboards 'dirtier than a toilet'

Some computer keyboards harbour more harmful bacteria than a toilet seat, research has suggested.

Consumer group Which? said tests at its London offices found equipment carrying bugs that could cause food poisoning.

Out of 33 keyboards swabbed, four were regarded as a potential health hazard and one harboured five times more germs than one of the office's toilet seats.

Clipmarks |

Would never happen in a hundred years. But it did, and it’s on video.

Why gas in the U.S. is so cheap

The Earth Will Be Just Fine, Thank You

10 Amazing Things You Didn't Know about Animals

Crocodiles Swallow Stones for Swimming

Whale Milk Not On Low-Fat Diets

Birds Use Landmarks to Navigate Long Journeys

For Beavers, Days Get Longer in Winter

Mole-Rats aren't Blind

Baby Chicks and Brotherhood

Many Fish Swap Sex Organs

Giraffes Compensate for Height with Unique Blood Flow

Elephants Do Forget, but They're Not Dumb

Parrot Talk More than Just Squawking

May 1, 1964: First Basic Program Runs

Painting with Light

Learning Light Painting

1. The tools

2. Light

3. Camera settings

4. Tips

ArtLex - Art Dictionary

How a boy born with no ears can hear again - and beat the bullies

Liquid sound

5 Cats that Look Like Wilford Brimley

Star Wars Sex

Top 10 Sexually Suggestive Lines in the Original Star Wars Trilogy

Lessons in Manliness: Theodore Roosevelt and the Spanish-American War

WWI posters

Keyboards 'dirtier than a toilet'

Keyboards 'dirtier than a toilet'

Top 10 Sexually Suggestive Lines in
the Original Star Wars Trilogy