Saturday, December 15, 2012

This world is a comedy to those who think...

It seems that the whole "power of positive thinking" deal is a load of crap. Whether you call it "the negative path to happiness" or "the premeditation of evils" sometimes just imagining in detail the worst case scenario can allay your fears and set you on a path to contentedness. The article goes on to describe how extreme goal setting in business can be counterproductive.
Hope you like it because Pantone named Emerald 17-5641 as color of the year for 2013 (for its sophistication and luxury). However, you make not actually be able to see it everywhere for technical reasons. I think the RGB and hex formats of this color are (1,152,117) and #019875.
Since I just watched Trinity and Beyond this week, here's a list of the 15 best nuclear war movies. Including Trinity I've seen 6 of them, 7 if you count watching Threads online in fits and starts.

Speaking of things I know very little about (movies), how about the 10 worst-reviewed movies of 2012? Sorry, Eddie Murphy. And what's up with the remake of Red Dawn?

How about which movies made the most money?

This week I learned what a "fupa" is. Google it yourself, but be warned.

Michelle Jeneke is BACK, and as bouncy as ever.

When it comes to magic, my favorite style is sleight of hand, at which Yann Frisch is pretty impressive.

Instead of blowing things up, Boeing's CHAMP missile turns them off.

Here's a great look at aviators' flight jackets from WWII.

MUST SEE science of the week: electron microscope images life on life on life.

Mario meets an Alien egg-layer.

Have you ever wondered how a Predator eats?

Smarty pants time #1. Another good essay by William Deresiewicz, this time about the sciences and the humanities that eloquently captures something I believe but have failed to effectively put into words. Science and the humanities are two sides of the same coin. Science asks "Is it true?" and the humanities ask "Is it true for me?"

A table-top double canon, easily readable by 4 singers seated around a table.
Can you name the 9 beers that Americans have stopped drinking? (I can hear my craft beer friends saying that Americans should never have started drinking them in the first place.) Here's a hint, Milwaukee's Best is #4 on the list with a 57.1% decline in sales from 2006-2011.

It's likely that you wouldn't want to recap a half-finished bottle of Milwaukee's Best but I can imagine wanting to save some of Rogue's Double Dead Guy for tomorrow. Hence the combo bottle opener and resealer.

What could you do with a Linux distro that runs on as little as a 486 with 16MB of RAM? Find out with DSL, Damn Small Linux.

Just jk or 4 r33lz? Capsules of gold leaf you swallow and then wait for your glittery #2.

88 slides on the state of the internet? I don't care how well respected Mary Meeker is, aint' nobody got time fo dat. Here are some highlights.
  • Use of Android phones is growing at 6x the rate of iPhones.
  • Nearly 30% of adults in the U.S. own a tablet.
  • Spending on mobile ads and apps has experienced a 129% CAGR since 2008 ($19B in 2012).
  • There's a slide about gesture-based interaction with your desktop PC. I just don't see that happening until everyone has arms like Popeye.
  • Since 2010Q4, shipments of smartphones and tablets have exceeded those of desktop PCs and laptops. The latter has remained flat while the former has continued to grow.
  • There's a slide about "re-imaginging" note taking from pen and paper to devices and services like Evernote. I just ain't feelin' that.
  • There's a slide about "re-imagining" education from classrooms to online. We've had that for a while. It's called the library.
  • Regarding the evolving digital landscape she says we're still in "spring training."
  • There's a series of slides on "asset heavy" vs. "asset light." An example of the former is a hotel and of the latter is a service like Airbnb. To which I say "you must be joking."
  • Interesting factoid cited about the federal government's budget: entitlement and interest expenses alone will exceed revenue in 15 years.
What clean, sterile, and abundant substance makes for a great plant fertilizer? Pee-pee.

If that didn't turn you off, here's another example of science solving the important problems of our day. How about a nice pair of panties for Aunt Flo?

Smarty pants time #2. Sorry - more about intellectual pursuits, this time science and poetry. I like the opening - science and poetry have never slept together without each keeping one eye open. But they have slept together. Both revel in the unknown, both are observers, and both indulge in wonderment.

More aviation pr0n than you can shake a stick at. This photo of the F-22 Raptor is my favorite from the entries for Code One Magazine's 2013 photo contest.
If you prefer your aviation photography from the inside, here are some sweet shots of amazing cockpits.

Someone mapped all the bombs dropped on London during The Blitz in WWII.

NASA's artist - escape the engineer's mindset.

An animated video tribute to the lowly GIF.

...a tragedy to those who feel. ~Horace Walpole

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