Reverse Spoke Illusion

I love optical illusions - this one is one of my favorites. I'm not going to write any more this site is fantastic please go and see it.
Link
Read more!

The Answer Machine

Science fiction sometimes is incredibly inaccurate, however on occasion it is fantastically accurate. When it is accurate it amazes me for instance the idea for an 'Answer Machine' from a 1964 book Childcraft Volume 6: How Things Change



does this sound like Google to you?
Read more!

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Superbaby

A New Zealand couple have decided to call their newborn son Superman -- but only because their chosen name of 4Real has been rejected by the government registry.

Pat and Sheena Wheaton say they will get around the decision by the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages by officially naming their son Superman but referring to him as 4Real, the New Zealand Herald newspaper has reported.

The couple decided on the name after seeing the baby in an ultrasound scan for the first time and realizing their baby was "for real."

They decided 4Real was the best way to write it, but the name was rejected because the registrar said a name could not contain a digit.

"No matter what its going to stay 4Real," Wheaton told the Herald, "I'm certainly not a quitter."

Link
Read more!

Library furniture

Those of you that know me will know I love reading books, and I have loads, if you want to you can see them at LibraryThing.com

It has a wheel on the front - which on first glance looks purely artistic - but it actually enables you to treat this chair like a wheelbarrow. One day I'm going to own a house and equip it with a library - it will be full of furniture like this.

It might want some upholstery tho
Link

Read more!

Reincarnated Lama

In one of history's more absurd acts of totalitarianism, China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission.
According to a statement issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the law, which goes into effect next month and strictly stipulates the procedures by which one is to reincarnate, is "an important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation."
According to a 2005 Gallup poll, 20 percent of all U.S. adults believe in reincarnation. Recent surveys by the Barna Group, a Christian research nonprofit, have found that a quarter of U.S. Christians, including 10 percent of all born-again Christians, embrace it as their favored end-of-life view.

---

Beyond the irony lies China's true motive: to cut off the influence of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual and political leader, and to quell the region's Buddhist religious establishment more than 50 years after China invaded the small Himalayan country.
Barring any Buddhist monk living outside China from seeking reincarnation, the law effectively gives Chinese authorities the power to choose the next Dalai Lama, whose soul, by tradition, is reborn as a new human to continue the work of relieving suffering.

At 72, the Dalai Lama, who has lived in India since 1959, is beginning to plan his succession, saying that he refuses to be reborn in Tibet so long as it's under Chinese control. Assuming he's able to master the feat of controlling his rebirth, as Dalai Lamas supposedly have for the last 600 years, the situation is shaping up in which there could be two Dalai Lamas: one picked by the Chinese government, the other by Buddhist monks. "It will be a very hot issue," says Paul Harrison, a Buddhism scholar at Stanford. "The Dalai Lama has been the prime symbol of unity and national identity in Tibet, and so it's quite likely the battle for his incarnation will be a lot more important than the others."

So where in the world will the next Dalai Lama be born? Harrison and other Buddhism scholars agree that it will likely be from within the 130,000 Tibetan exiles spread throughout India, Europe and North America. With an estimated 8,000 Tibetans living in the United States, could the next Dalai Lama be American-born? "You'll have to ask him," says Harrison. If so, he'll likely be welcomed into a culture that has increasingly embraced reincarnation over the years. A non-Tibetan Dalai Lama, experts say, is probably out of the question. Link

Read more!

Veni vedi - no Visa?

UK tourist visas are often denied to would-be visitors because they "plan a holiday for no particular purpose other than sightseeing", a report says.
Others were turned down because they had never previously taken any foreign travel or could not speak English.
The "ridiculous reasons" for rejecting visas were set out in a report by the independent monitor of UK visas.
Linda Costelloe Baker's report said that despite such flaws there had been "significant improvement in quality."
But she said entry clearance officers could use "some ridiculous reasons when refusing visa for tourist visits".

---

She said a common reason for refusal was "you wish to go to the UK for a holiday. You have never previously undertaken any foreign travel before and I can see little reason for this trip".
In her report she says "this is a common reason for refusal but there was a first time for everyone who has gone abroad on a holiday and not having done it before is an acceptable reason for travel".
Another reason to reject a tourist visa was "you plan a holiday for no particular purpose other than sightseeing".
On the use of that reason, she says: "But that's what the UK is famous for, sights worth seeing."

She also highlights the case of a person whose request was rejected by an officer because they had "little or no idea what you plan to see or do".
This was, she discloses, because the person had answered the question on a form asking why they were going to the UK, with the words "annual leave vacation".

In one case, a man was refused a visa because the officer thought it not credible that he was going to stay in a hotel in Cirencester "far from [his] friends in Surrey and Kent".
The hotel was in fact in London and the man had told the officer that he had not wanted to put a burden on his friends for his entire 28-day visit.
Mrs Costelloe Baker said the man had been offered another application free of charge and she hoped he would get an apology as well.

The report covers the first nine months of 2006, which had been a very busy period for UKvisas.
Mrs Costelloe Baker, who is independent but appointed by the Foreign Office, concluded that overall "there has been a significant improvement in the quality of UKvisas work compared with 2005 and I have found that refusal notices are more consistent and less idiosyncratic".
Link

Read more!

Driving a Fjord

A Norwegian firm is looking to produce a new electric car with a range of ~112 miles on a charge and a top speed of 62mph.
Tesla Motors CEO Martin Eberhard flew to Oslo to take a spin and sent back his people to hammer out a deal to supply Think with high-power lithium-ion batteries. An executive from PG&E, the giant California utility, dropped by during his vacation to talk about giving Think a foothold in the Golden State. Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway scooter, paid a visit, became an investor, and is now working on what could be the next breakthrough in automotive technology
This all sounds great I'd love one if Think want to send me one - I'll try it out and give them a review. If it is any good I might even buy one.

---

Think CEO Jan-Olaf Willums takes the wheel. Willums, looking slightly rumpled like the academic he once was, turns the ignition, and the stub-nosed coupe silently rolls toward an open stretch of pavement. Suddenly he punches the pedal, and the car takes off like a shot, the AC motor instantaneously transferring power to the wheels. The only sound is the squealing of tires as Willums throws the little car into a tight turn and barrels back to where he started.

Willums's pitch is this: He's not just selling an electric car; he's upending a century-old automotive paradigm, aiming to change the way cars are made, sold, owned, and driven.
The company will sell cars online, built to order. It will forgo showrooms and seed the market through car-sharing services like Zipcar. Every car will be Internet-and Wi-Fi-enabled, becoming, according to Willums, a rolling computer that can communicate wirelessly with its driver, other Think owners, and the power grid.

Think plans to sell the car but lease the battery as a way to overcome one of the biggest conundrums of electric cars. The battery is by far the most expensive component of the City, which will list for about $34,000 in Norway. Take the battery out of the equation, and Willums says he can sell the car for about $15,000 to $17,000 in the United States, with a "mobility fee" of $100 to $200 a month that might also include services like insurance and wireless Internet access.

This looks sweet, I want one.

Link

Read more!

Huge Homer

PAGANS have pledged to perform “rain magic” to wash away cartoon character Homer Simpson who was painted next to their famous fertility symbol - the Cerne Abbas giant.

A giant 180ft Homer Simpson brandishing a doughnut was painted next to the well-endowed figure today in a publicity stunt to promote The Simpsons Movie released later this month.

The 17th century chalk outline of the naked, sexually aroused, club-wielding giant is believed by many to be a symbol of ancient spirituality.

Many couples also believe the 180ft giant, which is carved in the hillside above Cerne Abbas, Dorset, is an aid to fertility.

Homer has been painted with water-based biodegradable paint which will wash away as soon as it rains.

Ann Bryn-Evans, joint Wessex district manager for The Pagan Federation, said: “It’s very disrespectful and not at all aesthetically pleasing.

She added: “I’m amazed they got permission to do something so ridiculous. It’s an area of scientific interest.” Via

Read more!

Oldest Intelligence

Recent research shows that the child rasied as the eldest sibling in a family is likely to have the highest IQ.
A Norwegian team found first born children and those who had lost elder siblings and had hence become the eldest, scored higher on intelligence.
Experts have disagreed for decades about how birth order might influence intellect and achievement.

---

Supporters of the theory argue the eldest child gets more undivided attention from their parents from an early age.
Others claim differences occur in the womb before birth because with each subsequent pregnancy the mother produces higher levels of antibodies that may attack the foetal brain.
While others claim the relationship between birth order and intelligence is false, being biased by family size - historically, couples with lower IQs have tended to have more children than couples with higher IQs.
Frank Sulloway, of the Institute of Personality and Social Research at the University of California, has been studying how upbringing influences personality and intelligence. He told the Daily Telegraph the higher IQ in the first-born could, in part, be gained by their tutoring of younger siblings.
via BBC
Read more!

Facebook mobile

I don't know about you - but I have fairly recently discovered facebook. Unfortunately the powers that be at my work have a fairly draconian web filtering tool called websense. Websense does not like facebook, I suppose that is understandable to a certain degree – they are paying me to work after all.

Today it has come to my attention that Facebook has quietly launched its own WAP site that’s accessible to users of every operator. You access it by pointing your mobile browser to m.facebook.com. I’m actually very impressed.

---

It serves up a front page with your news feed of what friends have been up to, status updates (including a box to tap in what you’re doing right now), plus links to your friends’ photos, notes, and your groups and events, and a search box. It is supposed to sign you in automatically after your first visit – but that doesn’t work on my phone Sony Ericsson W550i.
The site is the way it focuses on the key bits of information and content that you might want to access on the go – you can tell someone’s thought hard about how and why someone might use Facebook on their phone. It loads up quickly, and works seamlessly. If you’re into Facebook – and it’s picking up a helluva lot of steam at the moment – this should be a bookmark on your phone.
Read more!

Unholy Smoke

Reverend Anthony Carr, of East Peckham walked into a police station in Tonbridge and started smoking. He said he flouted the ban to protest against the erosion of civil liberties.
The Police said they did not arrest him because it was an environmental health issue.
He added: "There are many things which are said to affect our health. You can't really regulate the minutiae of people's individual lives like that."

---

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council said the law protected public health and they would follow up any reports of the smoking ban being broken.

A spokesman for the Bishop of Rochester said: "We regard this as a personal matter - the church would not wish to comment on the incident.

"Officially, the church doesn't condone breaking the law."
Link
Read more!

Credit for Clergy

One of South Korea's top banks has rolled out a new credit card for Protestant clergy that will give them breaks on Bible purchases and allow them to gather bonus points they can turn into donations for their churches.

The state-run Industrial Bank of Korea said on Friday it had introduced its "I am Pastor" card that will give clergy the equivalent of a few dollars off when they purchase religious books or other texts at certain authorized Web sites.

"Pastors are usually not issued credit cards, because they do not meet credit requirements," said bank official Kwon Han-sup. "We do not expect to make much of a profit out of this."

The pastor card also allows users to have discounts when purchasing petrol or movie tickets and allows them to collect points that they can use for donations to charity.

The bank said it introduced the card to better help serve religious leaders.

It plans to release similar cards for the other main religions in the country after working out products targeted to Buddhist and Catholic leaders.

"We wanted to make one type of card for all of them but realized the clergy of these different religions have different needs," Kwon said.

Link
Read more!

Boyfriend pillow for Japan singles

Japan's single women (and I suppose Men) are being offered the ultimate sleeping partner - a comfort to cuddle up to, but one which does not snore or make demands.

---

The Boyfriend's Arm Pillow, shaped like a man's torso with one sturdy arm, has been on sale since December and has so far been snapped up by 1,000 singles.
The pillow is only available in Japan, where it costs about 8,500 Yen ($80), and is available in blue, pink or green.
Link
Read more!

No Vroom at the Inn

What makes drving a car (or owning a car) sinful?
Well, according to the Vatican several things. The Vatican has issued its own rules of the road, a compendium of do's and don'ts on the moral aspects of driving and motoring.
Thou shall not drive under the influence of alcohol. Thou shall respect speed limits. Thou shall not consider a car an object of personal glorification or use it as a place of sin.
"Cars tend to bring out the 'primitive' side of human beings, thereby producing rather unpleasant results," the document said.

---

A 36-page document called "Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road" contains 10 Commandments covering everything from road rage, respecting pedestrians, keeping a car in good shape and avoiding rude gestures while behind the wheel.
The document's Fifth Commandment reads: "Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin."
It appealed to what it called the "noble tendencies" of the human spirit, urging responsibility and self-control to prevent the "psychological regression" often associated with driving.
Asked at a news conference when a car became an occasion of sin, Cardinal Renato Martino said "when a car is used as a place for sin."
One part of the document, under the section "Vanity and personal glorification," will not go down well with owners of Ferraris in motor-mad Italy.
"Cars particularly lend themselves to being used by their owners to show off, and as a means for outshining other people and arousing a feeling of envy," it said.
It urged readers not to behave in an "unsatisfactory and even barely human manner" when driving and to avoid what it called "unbalanced behavior ... impoliteness, rude gestures, cursing, blasphemy ..."
Praying while driving was encouraged [just don't close your eyes].
Vatican City, the world's smallest sovereign state, doesn't have many of the problems listed in the document.
It has about 1,000 cars, the speed limit is 30 kph and one Vatican official said the last accident inside Vatican City's walls was about 1-1/2 years ago, resulting in minor damage.
Link
Read more!

Development pornography

What is development pornography? I don't want you to get the wrong idea, DvP is pictures that are shocking, pull on your shamelessly pull on your heartstrings and often, as Reuters puts it, “still perpetuate a colonial idea of incapable Africans waiting passively for help from their white saviours”. This obviously doesn't just apply to Africans but to folks from all developing nations.
e.g.

His name is Brandon. This picture was taken by AIDG, AIDG had installed a biodigester at the orrphanage and in summer 2005 visited to check on it, they took this photo.
What is it about the pic makes me feel a bit … you know… manipulative? It’s the fact that he is a this super-cute dewey-eyed earnest-looking kid. It also makes me feel a bit naughty because but just as “Sex sells” in advertising, I know kiddies sell in development. A big reason is that when I think of “sustainable future”, all I can think of is children either reaping the benefits or suffering the consequences of our decisions today. Yeah, it’s not a particularly innovative association.

“Upwards of 90% of the images of the majority world that are seen in the western media are produced by white photographers from the USA or Europe. This results in a one dimensional view often driven by a negative news agenda or the need to raise money.”

It does beg the question as to whether a lot of what is now considered DvP is related to general laziness. Photo-editors and marketers are just falling back of easy associations to get their point across, wringing every last dollar out of imagery of the long-suffering developing country person until donors stop responding. They are failing to realize or underestimating the negative impact that the repetition of this type of imagery can have. When someone says Ethiopia, the first image in most peopls minds is famine. Despite their tireless work, many NGOs have done their target populations a serious disservice by leaving their donors with a similar knee-jerk association.

Link
Read more!