If you're using Chrome, the right column of this blog isn't displaying correctly. Switch to Firefox. If you're using the iPad, you're a tool. If you're using IE, go kill yourself.
(This person is kinda upset that I dissed their favorite browser. I actually use Chrome and I like it, but for some reason the layout here is different than on Firefox. And of course, the iPad and IE just plain suck. You tool.)

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Mange

Mange is a skin disease caused by parasitic mites, most often found in canines. It leads to fur loss and can cause the animal's skin to shrivel. Coyotes with mange are the most likely explanation to the chupacabra fallacy.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

GTL

I've been watching Jersey Shore a lot lately. I never thought I'd come to this, but the Jersey Shore episode of South Park inspired me to watch the whole first season (and will finish watching the second season soon).

And what did I learn? GTL. It stands for gym, tan, laundry. Every fucking day.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Pale Blue Dot

In 1990, the spacecraft Voyager 1 took a picture of our planet from a record distance of 3.7 million miles. This picture became to be known as the Pale Blue Dot.



In his book Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space, Carl Sagan makes us take a step back and realize that we are virtually nothing in the universe. Here is a famous passage:

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Ipecac

Ipecac is a syrup derived from a Brazilian plant that is commonly used to induce vomiting. Too much use might damage the heart and lead to death.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Have we exhausted any natural resources?

Kinda, but not totally.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Double standards

Chris Rock talks about two double standards that I hadn't thought about before:

Monday, October 25, 2010

Shared psychotic disorder

It's when one crazy person can make other people crazy just by being crazy.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

The medium is the message

The term The medium is the message basically means that people are more interested in a product itself than what it does. For example, one might want the latest gadget just because it's the newest thing out there, instead of using it for its features.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

MILF

The term MILF first appeared around 1995 on the internet, then was popularized in the movie American Pie.

Friday, October 22, 2010

How loud can a cicada get?

As loud as a rock concert--120 decibels.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Flipping YouTube videos to avoid copyright infringement

You can flip a copyrighted video--mirror it horizontally--and post it on YouTube without fear of it getting taken down (although there's no absolute guarantee that someone out there won't). YouTube has some kind of loophole in their terms or something that doesn't include flipped videos.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Johnny Bright Incident

The Johnny Bright Incident took place on this day in 1951 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Two college football players were involved: the white player Wilbanks Smith of Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State), and the black player Johnny Bright of Drake University. Long story short: The white guy, at the behest of one of his coaches, beats up the black guy for no reason other than race. Smith ends up breaking Bright's jaw.

Two Des Moines Register photographers captured a sequence of six pictures showing the incident. The sequence won the photographers the 1952 Pulitzer Prize for Photography, then made the cover of Life Magazine.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Ezail

Allen Iverson's (of Philadelphia 76ers fame) middle name is Ezail.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Amalia Rodrigues

Amalia Rodrigues was a Portuguese singer in the 1950s to '70s who was part of the genre known as fado (the Portuguese blues). In fact, you could say that she was the ambassador of fado; she became its most influential international star, earning the nickname "Rainha de Fado" (Queen of Fado).



Sunday, October 17, 2010

Rain check

A rain check is "an offered or requested postponement of an invitation until a more convenient, usually unspecified time."

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Teach Me How to Dougie

Apparently it's some dance. Or something. It started in Texas. Or something.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Flauta

A flauta is basically a taquito made with a flour tortilla. Had this today, deep fried.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Roundhay Garden Scene

Roundhay Garden Scene is the oldest surviving motion picture. It was released on this day in 1888, was shot at 12 frames per second, and is literally two seconds long. Yep, two seconds.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Carlos the Jackal

Before Osama bin Laden, Carlos the Jackal (real name: Illich Ramirez Sanchez) was the world's most famous terrorist. In 1970 he joined the leftist Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and in 1975 he took over the OPEC headquarters in Vienna and seized 11 hostages. He was convicted in 1997 and is still sitting in prison.

Now they're making a 5 and a half hour movie about him.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

The Most Interesting (Ly)Man in the World

The guy who narrates the PBS Frontline episodes, Will Lyman, also narrates the Dos Equis series of commercials, The Most Interesting Man in the World (not the actual man himself, just the voice).

Monday, October 11, 2010

Dashes, and Parentheses, and Commas, Oh My!

A guide of when to use each in your writing.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Rod of Asclepius

The Rod of Asclepius is the name of the medical symbol, with the snake on the staff. It's associated with the ancient Greek god Asclepius, who was the god of medicine and healing.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Difference between "further" and "farther"

Rule of thumb: use farther when talking about physical distance, and use further when talking about a metaphorical distance.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Ramiro!

Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo's middle name is Ramiro.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Duke

Duke is the name of the Java mascot.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Earlobe stretching

Why the fuck are people doing this nowadays? At least I've seen it only recently. They stretch their earlobes to fit some retarded version of an earring. A plug or something. Here's a guy doing it:



You know who stretches their ears? These people:



Pretty soon we'll be doing this...



...and this:

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Home wrecker

A home wrecker is a jealous female who tries to break up her admirer's relationship.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Togo's fake soccer teams

Apparently, some guys in the West African country of Togo love secretly sending out a fake soccer team to play against other national teams. And "Togo" gets its ass kicked badly. And the conspirators love getting caught.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Thomas Fuller

Thomas Fuller was a Virginian slave who was a mathematical genius. He did calculations in his head that often took him less time than most people with a pencil and paper. His case was used as an example by the abolitionists that blacks were not intellectually inferior to whites. Others remarked that he was nothing more than a savant.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Alligator-on-a-stick...

...is actually pretty damn good. Had it today at the State Fair of Texas, where Oklahoma kicked the shit out of the Longhorns.

Friday, October 1, 2010

LA Times bombing

The bombing of the Los Angeles Times building happened on this day in 1910. Two brothers who were union members--John J. and James B. McNamara--were mad at the newspaper for publishing anti-union editorials, so they, uh, bombed the building. James B. admitted to setting the explosive and was sentenced to life in prison. John J. was sentenced to 15 years for bombing something else, then returned as a union organizer.

The bombing left 21 newspaper employees dead and 100 injured.