Think About This for a While

Stolen from Maetenloch's Overnight Open Thread :

'But the revelatory fact that takes a while to sink in is this: You had to be a millionaire to have one. The phone cost the equivalent of nearly $10,000, it cost about $1,000 a month to operate, and you couldn't text or play Angry Birds on it. When the first DynaTac showed up in a movie - it was Sixteen Candles, a few years before Wall Street - it was located in the front seat of a Rolls-Royce, which is where such things were found 25 or 30 years ago. By comparison, an iPhone 5 is a wonder, a commonplace miracle.

My question for the students is: How is it that the cell phones in your pockets get better and cheaper every year, but your schools get more expensive and less effective? '

Seven Animals that Eat Their Own Kind

Things on this list like polar bears and hamsters are sure to make the tree humpers reconsider their propaganda efficacy, but curiously absent from this list are abortionists named 'Gosnell,' and lawyers who are politicians that tell Planned Parenthood 'God bless you.'


We humans hardly deserve evolutionary success.

Uh, oh: Sex in Space May Not Be Safe

Dang. And that final frontier was third on Mrs. Locomotivebreath's bucket list.

From Space.com:

 'Sex is very difficult in zero gravity, apparently, because you have no traction and you keep bumping against the walls," biologist Athena Andreadis of the University of Massachusetts Medical School told SPACE.com in 2011. "Think about it: you have no friction, you have no resistance."

In spite of the challenges sex in microgravity poses, Woodmansee thinks that the Inspiration Mars journey could motivate other couples to take advantage of less ambitious cosmic destinations, such as low-Earth orbit, should they become commercially available.'

To boldly go where... OK. I'll stop.

Gold-Bedecked Skeleton May Have Been Ancient Queen

From the speculating Live Science:

'The woman's bones have been degraded by acid in the soil, making radiocarbon dating and DNA analysis impossible. Nonetheless, excavators believe she was at least 35 years old when she died sometime between 2500 B.C. and 2200 B.C., around the era Stonehenge was constructed.'

Or she could've been a thieving 12th century charwoman who fell into the moors upon her getaway from her pilfered employer. Or a returned alien abduction. Let's not hold back...

Related: Ancient Europeans Mysteriously Vanished 4,500 Years Ago.

*Happy Earth Day

I know its around this month somewhere...

 Join a dozen or so other self-loathing, deluded fascists who worship a planetary object, and get an autographed carbon credit from jet setting High Priest, Al Gore.  

Free tree spikes! Capitalist pig shooting gallery. Eugenics tattoos! Eco-terror DVDs. Fun for the whole commune! 

Now, at The People's Cube.

Related: Doug Powers reminds us that a co-founder of earth day sits in a very eco-friendly prison cell. What was his crime? He murdered his girlfriend in 1977 and stored her rotting corpse in his closet.

Respect the multi-culturalism.

Update: Gargantuan carbon footprint hypocrisy:

"President Obama declared today's 41st annual Earth Day proof of America's ecological and conservation spirit—then completed a three-day campaign-style trip logging 10,666 miles on Air Force One, eating up some 53,300 gallons at a cost of about $180,000. And that doesn't include the fuel consumption of his helicopter, limo, or the 29 other vehicles that travel with that car."

And let's not forget this lil tone deaf gem from last month: Obama Flies Personal Trainer from Chicago to White House.

Updated update: Shallow? Who said that feminists are shallow? Or obtuse?

*repost 

Scientists: No Bra Leads to Perkier, Healthier Boobs

Methinks these might be male scientists who studied the, um, subject for 15 years.

'The professor conducting the study, Jean-Denis Rouillon, measured the distance between nipples and shoulders of women aged 18 to 35. “Medically, physiologically, anatomically – breasts gain no benefit from being denied gravity. On the contrary, they get saggier with a bra,” he said.'

Uh, huh. Maybe those skinny, a-cup types don't need the support, but voluptuous women, like my beautiful Mrs. Locomotivebreath, say this study is bull sh!t, and simply an excuse for professional jollies, probably paid for with tax dollars.

Nice work, if you can get it.

Wii Whiteboard for about $50 (VIDEO)

The average white board presentation get-up cost about two grand. For the professional presenter, such a device offers a wide range of neat visuals for sales, motivation, demonstrations, etc.

But for the average gub'mint school teacher, or a shoe string small business person, or a medical volunteer in remote, impoverished countries, this lil Radio Shack Wii hack for about $50 bucks might be just the thing in such a situation.

Johnny Lee demos his cool Wii Remote hacks, which turn the $40 video game controller (+ a few extras) into a digital whiteboard, a touchscreen and a head-mounted 3-D viewer. (a great 5 minute video)


TY Bro!

Mouths of Babes: Cult of Global Warming Explained

Have no fear, I'll be back soon.

TY TS

New Study: Turin Shroud 'is not a medieval forgery'

From Nick Squires at the telegraph UK:'

'Experiments conducted by scientists at the University of Padua in northern Italy have dated the shroud to ancient times, a few centuries before and after the life of Christ.

Many Catholics believe that the 14ft-long linen cloth, which bears the imprint of the face and body of a bearded man, was used to bury Christ's body when he was lifted down from the cross after being crucified 2,000 years ago.

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Emma Watson Strips For Earth Day (VIDEO)

And according to her publicist, much to disrobed Emma's surprised, the Gaia deity also demands a naked Hollywood tool thrown into the volcano. Something about photography's carbon footprint and penance.

I don't understand the science. (yes, it's safe for work)

We've dealt with previous Earth Day narcissism here, there, and yonder.

Early Spring Snow Storm Pummels MidWest to Eastern Seaboard

Global warming. Is there nothing it can't do?

From the Kansas City Star: 

'A winter storm warning will be in effect from 7 p.m. Saturday till 7 p.m. Sunday for the Kansas City region.

The National Weather Service at Pleasant Hill forecasts snow accumulations of between 8 and 12 inches across much of eastern Kansas and western Missouri.'



The entire winter weather advisory extends from Colorado to New Jersey, and is in affect until Monday.

Snow from this storm covered the field in Commerce City, Colorado, during most of Friday's World Cup qualifier, as the U.S. soccer team beat Costa Rica 1-0.

The calendar says 'spring,' but has anyone told Al 'jazeera' Gore, yet?

*What If There Is a God and It's Not Barack Obama?

'This unexpected schism is caused by recent experiments at the Large Handout Deficit Collider, in which generated sequester particles did not cause the universe to implode as predicted.'

Plus, a magnificent scheme to annihilate Schrodinger's Fat Cats.

Gulag gaiety at the People's Cube, Comrades. 


*(a note to proglodytes: this is satire)

Watch 24 Hrs of Global Internet Activity in 8 seconds

'The animated map, from an anonymous researcher, is beautiful, mesmerizing — and made using highly illegal means.'
 

(graphic courtesy of The Week)
 
So, how did they do it? I'll let Peter Weber at The Week explain:

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Whale Skeletons and the Sex Strategy of Zombie Worms

Yes, really.

Simple deduction concludes that massive organic structures, like whale skeletons, must exist after each aquatic mammal's death, yet unlike elephant graveyards, whale skeletons are rarely seen on the ocean floor by modern humans.

Until now.

From Live Science: Antarctic's First-Ever Whale Skeleton Found

"For the first time ever, scientists say they have discovered a whale skeleton on the ocean floor near Antarctica. Resting nearly a mile below the surface, the boneyard is teeming with strange life, including at least nine new species of tiny of deep-sea creatures, according to a new study."

I'm not sure if it's simply the 1st time ever in Antarctica, or the first time ever on any ocean floor. Probably the latter.

And the zombie worms? Yeah. It's got those. Click here. 

Actor Kelsey Grammer's Wind Energy Investment a Bust

"Former Frasier star Kelsey Grammer told TMZ on Tuesday that wind technology was the worst investment he’s ever made.

Grammer told the tabloid that though his finances are good, he lost hundreds of thousands of dollars on a small wind investment."

Don't feel bad, Kelsey. The American tax payers have been fleeced out of BILLIONS by Obama's bankrupt  'green' energy scams.

&&&

*E-Book Reader, C. 1935, sort of...

Because 'Photo-Mechanical Reader' just don't cut it...

Michael S. Hart is the man largely credited with creating the first electronic book - in 1971. He typed his first e-book, the Declaration of Independence, while a student at the University of Illinois. Hart typed the text into a computer (a huge Xerox mainframe computer in the Materials Research lab), and sent out a message on ARPAnet (the fore runner of the internet), and announced it was available to download. Six people took him up on the offer. The world's first e-book was born.


Or how about a 1939 Plexiglass Pontiac? Although, I don't know why.

&&&

Another Brutal Global Warming Event Prompts Extreme Heat Warnings for Kansas, Missouri

 

Oh. Wait. 

I think it's another snow storm. Is there nothing global warming can't do? Call this one 'son of snow-mageddon,' but we're still going to get upwards of a foot of snow - just over a longer time frame from Monday night to Tuesday morning.

From Rick Montgomery at the KC Star:

"Expected snow accumulations, beginning around 6 p.m. today(Monday), to range from 6 to 10 inches across much of northeastern Kansas and western Missouri. “But there’s likely to be a narrow area of much higher amounts, where we could get a foot,” said (meteorologist Scott Blair of the National Weather Service station in Pleasant Hill).

The weather service on Sunday issued a winter storm warning lasting 24 hours for the Kansas City area starting with light rain around 3 p.m. today.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback warned that the coming storm could be worse than the last one because of strong wind, ice and heavy snow accumulations. Kansans were urged to restock home and vehicle emergency kits with food, water, blankets, flashlights and medicine."

There are no official school closings, as of yet, but the city of Kansas City has alerted residents to park their vehicles off-street so as not to impede the snow plows, and I recommend PTO on Tuesday for those with a job/jobs. Obama voters can go beg a snow shovel will probably demand tax payers subsidize pizza delivery  and satellite TV, or something.

(graphic courtesy the Weather Channel )

The Generation App

 More offbeat 'toons here.

'In 1992, Neil Postman published his book 'Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology.' He defines a technopoly as a society in which technology is deified, meaning “the culture seeks its authorisation in technology, finds its satisfactions in technology, and takes its orders from technology”.

Yet Postman definitely is not a luddite (those who would reject the modern age), but rather advocates for people to “use technology rather than being used by it”.

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Obama's State of the Union lowest-rated since 2000

From Dylan Byers at Politico: (were he and Dennis Miller separated at birth?)

"In general, viewership for Obama's State of the Union addresses has been in constant decline. He drew 52.4 million in 2009, 48.0 million in 2010, 42.8 million in 2011 and 37.8 million in 2012. His 2013 address was the second-lowest rated since Nielsen began recording viewership in 1993.

In the ratings race, NBC was number-one in total viewers and key demos among both broadcast and cable networks. The network averaged 6.469 million total viewers, topping CBS at 6.400 million, ABC at 5.494 million and Fox (not to be confused with Fox News) at 2.120 million, according to Nielsen numbers provided by NBC communications."

FOX News beat CNN on cable. Overall, NBC continues to be America's lowest rated network.

*Rocket Science is Easy, Meeting Girls is Hard

For those men where Valentine's day is a galaxy far, far away.

NASA Scientists Plan To Approach Girl By 2018



*repost
Ty tO