Archive for February, 2005
Thus spake Evil Overload
February 28, 2005 at 1:22 pm
Scientists have developed a method for treating depression which invovles direct electrical stimulation of brain areas associated with mood:
All six volunteers reported acute effects once the current was switched on. These included a sudden brightening of the room and a “disappearing of the void”.
…after undergoing the £10,000 operation, some of the patients reported significant improvements. One woman in her forties, who previously suffered such lethargy she would not answer the telephone, started a business dealing in antiques. A former competitive cyclist started going to the gym to get himself back in shape and a woman struggling to cope with her children became active in her local parent-teacher association.
Link (via Boingboing)
Categories: Uncategorized
Add a Comment »
Thus spake Evil Overload
at 11:27 am
I would say “Now I’ve seen everything”, but the last time I said that, I was proven violently and horribly wrong, so this time I’ll just say Link
Categories: Uncategorized
Add a Comment »
Thus spake Joanne
at 7:10 am
Thus spake Antropologo
February 26, 2005 at 10:31 am
Thus spake Evil Overload
February 25, 2005 at 8:15 am
Thus spake Sheni
at 8:00 am
AllofMP3 is a Russian music website that has a huge catalog and allows users to download songs for $.02 a meg. At CD quality, this comes out to about $2.00 an album. And due to a loophole in Russian copyright law, it’s entirely legal. Or so we thought. This article on news.com says the Russians are cracking down on the sight and the party is coming to an end on March 7. Now I’ll have to find a new way to tempt identity theft.
Thanks Ben. And Austin.
Categories: Uncategorized
Add a Comment »
Thus spake Evil Overload
at 7:50 am
 |
Check this out. I’m completely in favor of inventions that make the future more futuristic-looking, and this company has designed several such items:
“A toaster made of glass, which celebrates toasting in a glowing and shining way that makes us look forward to enjoy a fresh piece of toast. At work, he shows himself and at the same time he explains how he works. He neither hides the bread, nor its preparation. In this way it is possible to receive him as an idyllic little light. He stages the bread and the way it gets toasted, which is accompanied by warm light and a tempting aroma.
Hollows at both sides allow to take hold of the bread without touching the toaster itself. The switch is designed like a remote control which also houses all electronic control components.”
Link (scroll all the way to the right to see the toaster entry)
(Gizmodo is the new black) |
Categories: Uncategorized
Add a Comment »
Thus spake Antropologo
February 24, 2005 at 5:12 pm
Kids will find out about it anyways, so why not educate them:
Found at: (a really great info source)
Categories: Uncategorized
Add a Comment »
Thus spake Joanne
at 4:34 pm
Thus spake Antropologo
at 3:48 pm
Thus spake Sheni
at 12:23 pm
This article in the New Scientist details a new push for research into a number of psychelics as treatment for problems ranging from addiction to OCD to headaches. It seems that some of the stigma is wearing off and the government is beginning to loosen the clamp on psychedelic research. Oddly enough, it seems they’ve found (gasp!) that they’re not necessarily bad for you. You’d think they would have figured it out by looking around and realizing that a surprising number of their colleauges are living proof.
Stolen from Boing Boing
Categories: Uncategorized
Add a Comment »
Thus spake Ennui
at 7:31 am
Thus spake Antropologo
February 23, 2005 at 2:01 pm
May the force grant Lucas enough directorial skill to give us a good movie this time.
Lots of spoiler photos:
Categories: Uncategorized
Add a Comment »
Thus spake Joanne
at 11:49 am
Thus spake Evil Overload
at 6:24 am
Thus spake Ennui
February 22, 2005 at 7:15 pm
The Visual Thesaurus offers stunning visual displays of the English language. Looking up a word creates an interactive visual map with your word in the center of the display, connected to related words and meanings. Click on these words or meanings to explore further.
Categories: Uncategorized
Add a Comment »
Thus spake Sheni
at 11:52 am
A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Iran and 380 have already been confirmed dead. The Bush administration is not to be reckoned with.
Link
Categories: Uncategorized
3 Comments »
Thus spake Antropologo
at 2:39 am
North Korea: High Probability of Nuclear Weapons
Iran: The Next Preventable Smoking Gun?
Israel: Nukes for 30 yrs. (made with U stolen from SRS)
“Many security analysts say the Bush administration is quietly planning - in violation of the global non-proliferation treaty, which was ratified by the U.S. - to create and test new nuclear weapons.
If it proceeds, they say, a host of other nations are sure to follow suit, just as China did in signing but not ratifying the test ban treaty. The law of unintended consequences could then trigger a new arms race, even an atomic war. ” more
CommonDreams
Categories: Uncategorized
Add a Comment »
Thus spake Evil Overload
February 21, 2005 at 8:46 am
Thus spake Evil Overload
at 6:59 am
 |
“ASPEN, Colo. (AP) — Hunter S. Thompson, the hard-living writer who inserted himself into his accounts of America’s underbelly and popularized a first-person form of journalism in books such as “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” has committed suicide.
Thompson was found dead Sunday in his Aspen-area home of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, sheriff’s officials said. He was 67. Thompson’s wife, Anita, had gone out before the shooting and was not home at the time.
Born July 18, 1937, in Kentucky, Hunter Stocton Thompson served two years in the Air Force, where he was a newspaper sports editor. He later became a proud member of the National Rifle Association and almost was elected sheriff in Aspen in 1970 under the Freak Power Party banner.” Link |
Categories: Uncategorized
Add a Comment »
Thus spake Evil Overload
at 6:29 am
In order to take advantage of a loophole in local anti-nudity laws, a strip club in Boise, Idaho has re-invented itself as an “art studio”. Patrons can pay $15 for “art lessons”, and are given drawing materials and a chance to study the “models”. Link
(Thanks again, Nariman!)
Categories: Uncategorized
Add a Comment »
Thus spake Evil Overload
at 6:09 am
According to recent research, child development can be permanently affected by a vegetarian diet, or by mothers being on such a diet during nursing:
Professor Allen said: “There have been sufficient studies clearly showing that when women avoid all animal foods, their babies are born small, they grow very slowly and they are developmentally retarded, possibly permanently.”
“If you’re talking about feeding young children, pregnant women and lactating women, I would go as far as to say it is unethical to withhold these foods [animal source foods] during that period of life.”
Link
Thanks, Nariman!)
Categories: Uncategorized
Add a Comment »
Thus spake Adrian
February 19, 2005 at 3:25 pm
This Reason article explains New Urbanism’s approach to city planning and says that research shows that its design concepts facilitate crime. With city planning a hot issue in Athens, Georgia, I think many of you will find this interesting.
I find this fascinating because the New Urbanism concepts discussed have always sounded interesting and desirable. They include common spaces for people to interact and mixed-use neighborhoods that allow people to live and work in the same neighborhoods.
But here is where intuitions start to clash. A mixed-use neighborhood keeps “eyes on the street” at all hours of the day, which could mean less burglary might be possible there in comparison to a purely residential neighborhood where the residents are mostly gone during the day. But the commercial status of the properties in a mixed-use neighborhood legitimize the presence of anonymous people and reduce the control that residents have over the properties.
And here is an issue that Athens faces right now: New Urbanism promotes interconnected streets rather than isolated neighborhoods. Sure, there are negative psychological factors involved in closing off our living spaces from the rest of our communities. In Athens there are subdivisions that were supposed to have streets connected to other neighborhoods but there has been resistance in completing the projects due to traffic concerns. (Of course, such connectivity would be nice for non-residents that would have more routes to choose from while driving.) But this article says that openness contributes to crime and cul-de-sacs are safer where burglars have more trouble moving in and out.
Categories: Uncategorized
Add a Comment »
Thus spake Joanne
February 18, 2005 at 12:08 pm
Thus spake Antropologo
February 17, 2005 at 6:51 pm
NBC reports that Vitamin D is linked to prostate cancer.
In anthropology, traditional wisdom has held that Vitamin D needs are linked to the evolution of lighter skin. Vitamin D can be synthesized in the body, but sunlight is necessary to catalyze the reaction. With more melanin in the skin, Vitamin D production is more difficult, however melanin is necessary to protect people from excessive UV radiation. This isn’t a problem in equatorial latitudes where there is plenty of sunlight, but in higher latitudes (where there is less direct sunlight), Vitamin D production may decrease for individuals with high levels of melanin.
Anthropologists have usually explained that Vitamin D is necessary to reduce risk of rickets. Now we see how Vitamin D influences other health factors (i.e. prostate). The variability in rates of prostate cancer between dark-skinned and light-skinned males provide more evidence for human evolution.
Categories: Uncategorized
Add a Comment »
Thus spake Evil Overload
at 3:53 pm
Thus spake Evil Overload
at 1:10 pm
This looks like lots of fun, but I have no spare time to play with it. Someone needs to throw one of these together and post a link to it. This site has a step-by-step tool for choosing scenery, blocking, dialogue, and a soundtrack. Try it!
(Respectfully ganked from Dehumidifier)
Categories: Uncategorized
Add a Comment »
Thus spake Evil Overload
at 1:01 pm
Thus spake Joanne
February 16, 2005 at 2:42 pm
Thus spake Antropologo
February 15, 2005 at 9:18 pm
MSNBC: U.S. to ban flame sources aboard airliners
The proposed ban is partly based on the fears of another Richard Reid, who tried to light explosives in his shoes aboard a flight to the United States three years ago.
In my opinion, this idea is absurd. We already take off our shoes and send them through the X-ray machine. If this ban actually takes effect, airports are going to have lots of angry, agitated smokers on their hands and air travel is going to get a whole lot less pleasant for everyone.
On a side note: why do Republicans, as the party of ’small government’ only implement new rules and regulations?
Categories: Uncategorized
Add a Comment »
|
