April 2011
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Animated Photos
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Harry Potter: Latinus Suckius →
While searching the web for some Latin reference, I came across this little gem.
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Random thoughts: solar energy and land usage. By...
One problem with Solar Cells for energy production is the vast area they consume. However, the reason is because at the current technology, these cells are opaque, which means that each square meter of cells takes one square meter of land. That got me thinking: why not use transparent solar cells?
That way, the solar cells’ grid could be stacked vertically, thus saving precious land...
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B.C. Students and Teachers Bash Israel...Again....
Educational institutions have an obligation to educate rather than proselytize, to equip students to debate intelligently and develop analytical skills. And to spend student money on issues supported by all those who pay student fees.
Instead, the B.C. Teachers Federation and some student-union societies have been focusing on bashing Israel.
Now, all parties involved are entitled to have...
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Watch out Google Maps: 3D mapping on steroids. By...
A Swedish aerospace technology company beats swords into ploughshares, turning missile tech into what some have called “Google Maps on steroids.” Nokia just released a product licensing the tech.
Last week, Nokia released an upgraded version of it mapping service, Ovi. The upgrade was a milestone for a company called C3 Technologies, a spinoff from Saab, the Swedish aerospace...
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On-line survays: cavets to avoid to make people...
DIY survey platforms make constructing questionnaires easy, but the results could be biased, contradictory, or deeply misleading.
Online surveys often have to compete for attention against the backdrop of Netflix, Gmail alerts, and 25 open browser tabs. The minimal cognitive effort given to answering questions may exacerbate all the problems that lead to biased or outright distorted...
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Prince William's bachelor party
Isn’t it going to be weird stuffing money into a stripper’s G-string when every bill has a picture of your grandmother printed on it?
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5 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Apocalypse Could...
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7 Basic Things You Won't Believe You're All Doing...
If you’re like us, you might sometimes have a problem with complex tasks, like trying to drive an ambulance and send a text message at the same time. But hey, at least most of us have figured out the simplest things that get us through the day, right?
Except, you know, some of the simple things we’ve done every day of our lives, like …
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Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: the Cracked Version
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a classic case of “I freakin’ hate my neighbor”, except with much more violence, and the other neighbors actually care.
Just The Facts
The conflict is over a century old, and mixes everything from nationalism to religion.
There have been 5 wars over this tiny strip of land since 1948, with dozens of battles, raids, and skirmishes between...
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Watch“צוף”, סרטו של עיתונאי הספורט עופר מתן, מגולל את סיפורה של קבוצת כדורסל בדיונית של פליטים מאפריקה, המקבלים מעמד חוקי כשחקנים זרים בארץ.
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בטאון החברה להגנת הטבע →
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Oldie: On the Witness Stand
A guy was on trial for selling drugs, and a neighbour was called as a witness. The prosecutor asked: “Did you ever get any cocaine from the defendant?” “No, sir,” answered the witness. “Did you ever get any from his wife?” “No, sir.” “Did you ever get any from his daughter?” “Excuse me, sir,” the witness said,...
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The Clean Energy Project
On Earth Day, April 22, 2011, Dr. Alan Aspuru-Guzik from the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University conducted a live webcast, where he provided an update on The Clean Energy Project. The Clean Energy Project has been running on World Community Grid since December 2008, and Dr. Aspuru-Guzik provided an excellent update on the project.
Talk Talk Q...
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An end-of-job-interview tip
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Inequality: of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%. By...
The following article refers to the USA, but may apply to other countries (e.g., Israel) also.
Americans have been watching protests against oppressive regimes that concentrate massive wealth in the hands of an elite few. Yet in our own democracy, 1 percent of the people take nearly a quarter of the nation’s income—an inequality even the wealthy will come to regret.
Illustration by...
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Resources for Jean M. Auel's books (Earth's... →
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Random thoughts: 1961 and 6009. By Ron Barak
1961 is a special year for me. As years go, it was nothing special on a global scale, but it does have one claim to fame that will not happen again until 6009.
Assuming the Human Race will still be around on 6009, and still will count years by the (wrong) birth date of a Jewish Rabbi from the Galilee, they will probably reflect that it took 4048 for this phenomenon to recur.
This got me...
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Oldie: Late for Work
Hugh came into the office an hour late for the third time in one week and found the boss waiting for him. “What’s the story this time. Hugh?” he asked sarcastically. “Let’s hear a good excuse for a change.” Hugh sighed and said, “Everything went wrong this morning. The wife decided to drive me to the harbour. She got ready in ten minutes, but then the...
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Russians insist: 'We never, ever had sex in space'
Russian or Soviet cosmonauts never had sex in space in the 50 years of human exploration of the cosmos. And that’s official, according to a Russian expert.
As for Americans, well, you’d better ask them.
“There’s no official or unofficial evidence that there were instances of sexual intercourse or the carrying out of sexual experiments in space,” Valery...
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A Mother's Diet While Pregnant Can Alter Her...
Image from Flickr user mauricesvay
Obesity is at an epidemic stage in America. It’s slowly killing a huge number of people and it’s costing tons of money. Consider this, an obese patient costs $443 more dollars per inpatient visit than a person at a healthy weight. In total, that costs the country billions a year. Many people and programs have considered different ways to...
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The Sharing Economy. By Danielle Sacks
It’s 8:30 a.m. in Silicon Valley, and Neal Gorenflo is already busy sharing. Inside his Mountain View town house, just a few short blocks from the Caltrain station where commuters pour out each morning on their way to Google, Gorenflo hands over his 15-month-old son, Jake, to a nanny he shares with his neighbor. At a local coffee shop, he logs on to a peer-to-peer banking site called Lending...
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Interesting blog discussion: Israel is an... →
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Can Your Name Make You a Criminal? By John Cloud
Waltraud Grubitzsch / DPA / Corbis
In the Shel Silverstein–penned Johnny Cash hit “A Boy Named Sue,” a father explains that he gave his son so improbable a name because “I knew you’d have to get tough or die, and it’s that name that helped to make you strong.” It turns out that your first name may also help make you a criminal.
In a new study to be...
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3D porn film is a box-office smash in Hong Kong
A pioneering 3D erotic comedy has taken the Hong Kong box office by storm, beating the first-day record set by Avatar and drawing viewers from the mainland as it considers a global release.
The $3.5m (£2m) Cantonese-language production, 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy, has earned 17m Hong Kong dollars (£1.3m) since opening last week on 73 screens. Sex and Zen – a remake of a 1991 Hong Kong...
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Dropbox: Painless and Free Backup By Ken Hess
At home, you use Linux. At work, you use Windows. How do you share files between them? If you said, “USB drives” or “CDs” or “DVDs” there is a better way: Dropbox. Dropbox provides you with the ability to sync files between computers via a daemon. Additionally, they’re available on the web for those times when you don’t have physical proximity to one of your computers but you still need...
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Death on the Med: BBC's Panorama inquiry into the...
Part 1 Part 2
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MIT Creates The One Video Game You'll Be Thrilled...
“As game designers,” MIT’s Scot Osterweil says, “we’re convinced that game playing is a lot like science: There is problem-solving, exploration, collaboration, hypothesizing, testing and learning from your failures.”
Osterweil, research director of MIT’s Education Arcade, is one of the masterminds behind a new science game made for the Smithsonian Institution....
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Prezi: Presentations With a Twist By THURSDAY BRAM
Math is not linear on Prezi
Just about every presentation app works the same way: Whether you rely on Powerpoint, Keynote or another presentation application, you’re sharing a series of slides that progress in a linear fashion. While you can craft beautiful presentations, you’re up against a format that never changes. One web-based application is working on changing that, though: Prezi...
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Better Place has set up the first electric car...
Project Better Place - How It Works
תחנה ראשונה בישראל
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New Tech Makes Detecting Spoiled Meat Easier, Less...
Detecting whether or not meat inside the plastic wrapping at your supermarket (or in your fridge) is still good could soon be much simpler with a clever sensor that changes color in the presence of rotten food.
Vacuum-packing of meat products is a great 20th Century innovation—it presents the meat so consumers can see what they’re buying, enables easy handling in the...
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5 Rules for Remembering Names BY Amber Mac
1. Hear the name (really listen for it).
2. Spell the name.
3. Comment on the name.
4. Use the name during a conversation.
5. Use the name when leaving.
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Making A Loft That's Just 366 Square Feet Feel Big...
ARQUITECTURA-G works magic with a tiny apartment in Barcelona.
Should the apartment gods conspire against you, forcing you into a hovel the size of a closet, you’d better pray to the cosmos that ARQUITECTURA-G comes dashing to the rescue, T-squares planted firmly in hand.
The Spanish architecture firm recently turned a measly 366 square feet into the broke city dweller’s equivalent of a palace,...
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Recycled 747s
Image by Alan Radecki
The awesome Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet revolutionised commercial air travel. With more than 1,400 rolled off the production line to date, this select group is revolutionising the Jumbo’s life-after-flight potential, from environmental consideration to the world’s wildest recycled home and hostel.
The Jumbo Hostel
Image via EWR
(Image licensed under Creative Commons...
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השפה העברית, על קוצו של בול →
מתברר שהשירות הבולאי והאקדמיה ללשון עברית עשו יד אחת ועיצבו בול חדש. הנה הוא פה, משמאל.
בול חדש. נו, שוין. אתם בכלל חושבים על הבולים שאתם מדביקים על המעטפות?
עיצוב בולים, כמו תרגום, הוא אמנות ואומנות “שקופה”, כלומר שיוצריה בדרך כלל נחבאים אל הכלים, מרצונם או שלא מרצונם. אלפי אנשים, לפעמים מיליוני אנשים, משתמשים ונהנים מהיצירה, אבל רק מעטים נותנים את דעתם על היוצר או על תהליך...
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Georgian woman cuts off web access to whole of...
Entire country loses internet for five hours after woman, 75, slices through cable while scavenging for copper
By Tom Parfitt in Moscow
The woman damaged a fibre-optic cable with her spade
An elderly Georgian woman was scavenging for copper to sell as scrap when she accidentally sliced through an underground cable and cut off internet services to all of neighbouring Armenia, it emerged on...
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FBI proof of extraterrestrial landings on Earth in... →
