BlogCadre - interesting

Book of Short Stories

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 22:45:54 -0500

What a fantastic find! "Book of Short Stories" is a collection of short stories written by New York City fifth graders in 1931.

A book of grade schoolers' stories is always worth a gander, a safe bet for "ahhh, kids say the darnedest things". My own memorable fourth grade essay chronicled a day at my father's office, me summing up his duties as "sitting around all day cussing people out". So it's doubly intriguing to stumble upon a collection of fifth graders' stories from 1931! February 18, to be exact. Consider the world into which these kids were born. The first generation born following "the Great War" with its bloody new technologies: trench warfare, air forces, and mustard nerve gas -- these children also entered a world decimated by the Spanish flu pandemic wherein 50-100 million people died worldwide. Now "carefree" grade schoolers, aged ~10 to 11, when -- cue the Great Depression! Liven things up a bit more with that distraction the Dust Bowl and locusts -- you've quite a lively childhood.

Link

Vector Portraits by Andrew Bush

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:58:03 -0500

Between the years 1989 and 1997, Andrew Bush took photographs of people driving next to him while traveling 50 to 70 miles per hour throughout the southwestern portion of the United States. Link [via]

Ovulation caught on camera

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:07:04 -0500

For the first time, ovulation was caught on camera. These images taken by Jacques Donnez were captured by accident when a woman was undergoing a partial hysterectomy.

Link to article and set of images

Portraits of Phone Sex Operators

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 22:54:41 -0500

Phillip Toledano is coming out with a new book in July about phone-sex operators.

So much of commerce now is blind: online shopping, tech-support in Bangalore. We hope there is a person at the other end of the transaction, but it could be a machine; often the machine doesn’t seem very well programmed. The phone-sex industry, though, thrives on being faceless and intensely personal at the same time. Phillip Toledano’s new book Phone Sex (July 2008, Twin Palms) takes us into the boudoirs of nearly 30 phone-sex operators so we see their faces and also hear their stories—each operator gives his or her take on the business.

The Morning News posted a few portraits from the book as well as an interview with Toledano on their website. Be sure to read the captions underneath each portrait. My favorite caption?

“Gary was watching a ‘World’s Strongest Women’ show and saw a woman pick up a motorcycle.
‘Oh I could do that,’ I offered.
‘Could you?’ he responded, breathless.
‘Yes. How much do you weigh?’
‘160.’
‘Oh. I could bench-press two of you.’
‘Oh my god… I’d like to see you lift up my girlfriend’s car.’
‘What kind of car does she have?’
‘A Mazda Miata.’
‘Oh yes, I could pick up a Miata. In fact, I would love to.’
‘Really?!?!??! Oh my god! What if my girlfriend was inside?’
‘I would just pick it up, lift it to my shoulder level, and then hoist it up over my head, with your girlfriend inside. I’d slowly turn around in a circle with it held up in the air, with your girlfriend screaming in the front seat.’”

A part of me may miss getting paid for this when I move on.

Link [via]

Cassette From My Ex

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:21:02 -0500

If you are old enough to remember the days before CDs then you probably have a few mixed tapes tucked away in a box some where. Cassette From My Ex is a site where you can share your stories behind those mixed tapes and even share the soundtracks. Link [via]

Do you have a mixed tape story?

Circadian Clock Driven By Food Availability

Wed, 28 May 2008 22:00:36 -0500

Jason wrote up a post over at Hackszine.com about an interesting study that was conducted over at Harvard Medical School about a second circadian clock in mammals.

There was an interview with Clifford Saper, a professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at Harvard Medical School, in last week's Science Friday. The discussion was about a study which was just published in the journal Science about a second circadian clock in mammals that is driven by food availability. The research suggests that this second clock evolved as a sleep-cycle "reset" mechanism which allows mammals to very quickly adapt to optimize their wake period and maximize the chances of finding food during times when food is scarce.

This starvation override can take effect after only 16 hours of fasting. When the fast is cancelled by a sufficient caloric intake (read: real food), the body will shift its natural wake time to coincide with the event. So if you want to ditch your jet lag, or if you want to get up earlier in the morning, it might be as simple as fasting for the 16 hours prior to the time you would like to wake up, then eat a big meal. Your body will then override its normal light-based rhythm and wake at that same time going forward.

Link [via Hackszine.com]

Map of first moonwalk

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:15:48 -0500

Here is a map which shows the first moonwalk done on July 21, 1969. Link to full image.

A History of Evil

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 22:46:39 -0600

Here is an animated mockumentary that omaggs2000 put together explaining the history of evil in western civilization from Ancient Greece to present day. If you don't enjoy the story, you will enjoy the animation. Link.

Image of suicides that occurred on the Golden Gate Bridge

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 16:31:45 -0600

Here is a sad look at the suicides that occurred on the Golden Gate Bridge since its opening in 1937. One square accounts for one suicide and the squares are placed in the location the suicide occurred. Link to full image.

Sugar substitutes may not help in weight loss

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 21:39:59 -0600

Research is showing that artificial sweeteners may not be fooling our bodies into losing weight.

In a series of experiments, scientists at Purdue University compared weight gain and eating habits in rats whose diets were supplemented with sweetened food containing either zero-calorie saccharin or sugar. The report, published in Behavioral Neuroscience, presents some counterintuitive findings: Animals fed with artificially sweetened yogurt over a two-week period consumed more calories and gained more weight — mostly in the form of fat — than animals eating yogurt flavored with glucose, a natural, high-calorie sweetener. It's a continuation of work the Purdue group began in 2004, when they reported that animals consuming saccharin-sweetened liquids and snacks tended to eat more than animals fed high-calorie, sweetened foods. The new study, say the scientists, offers stronger evidence that how we eat may depend on automatic, conditioned responses to food that are beyond our control.

Link to full article.

Map of the languages of Europe

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:18:55 -0600

Here is an interesting map that depicts the languages of Europe. Click on the link to view the original map and language key.

Cockroach Robots Infiltrate and Influence Cockroach Communities

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:15:21 -0600

They don't look much like cockroaches, but the robotic cockroaches created by Belgium researchers managed to infiltrate and influence cockroach colonies' behaviors.

Halloy and his colleagues suspected that a group decision emerges because every individual follows these simple rules: Wander around randomly, but spend more time in a place if you sense that it is (A) dark and (B) has other cockroaches.

So the researchers made sure their robotic cockroach could follow those rules. The robots had wheels, plus a light sensor and an infrared sensor to detect nearby roaches.

When they put these robots in with the living roaches, they all began to interact. Before long, the robots and cockroaches were huddled together under the same roof. "The robots and the cockroaches behave as a group," Halloy said.

So then the scientists decided to reprogram the robots and change one of their rules. "We change their preference for darkness," Halloy said. "We make the robots prefer lighter places than darker ones."

And they presented the group of robots and roaches with two shelters. One was dark, and one was light.

What the scientists found was that the whole group would generally end up resting in the brighter place, even though normally roaches would prefer a darker one.

The experiment, published in the journal Science, showed that just a few individuals can dramatically alter the behavior of the whole group.

Link [via digg]

Amount of space needed for different modes of transportation

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 16:50:29 -0500

Hanging in the city of Muenster Planning Office is this poster which depicts the amount of space required to transport the same number of passengers by car, bus and bicycle. Link to larger image. [via reddit]

Previously:
Doctors of the World poster, doctor to patient ratio around the world
The Miniature Earth
Worldmapper, a new way to look at the world

How to evolve a watch

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 16:17:15 -0500

Here is an interesting video that demonstrates a thought and modeling experiment on how to evolve a watch.

This is a fascinating video which shows that, Paley's hoary old argument notwithstanding, a fully functioning watch could evolve - if there were a population of watches subject to mutation and natural selection.

Obviously it's just a thought experiment, but it convincingly demolishes the cretinist dogma that complexity is prima facie proof that goddidit.

Link to video. [via Pharyngula]

What keywords do countries google the most?

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:54:05 -0500

What keywords do internet users google the most? Here is a list of commonly searched keywords by country*:

"sex" - Egypt, India, Turkey
"gay" - Chile, Mexico, Colombia
"Hitler" and "Nazi" - Chile, Australia, United Kingdom
"Jihad" - Morocco, Indonesia, Pakistan
"Terrorism" - Pakistan, Philippines, Australia
"Hangover" - Ireland, United Kingdom, United States
"Burrito" - United States, Argentina, Canada
"Iraq" - United States, Australia, Canada
"Taliban" - Pakistan, Australia, Canada
"Tom Cruise" - Canada, United States, Australia
"Britney Spears" - Mexico, Venezuela, Canada
"Homosexual" - Phililppines, Chile, Venezuela
"Love" - Phililppines, Australia, United States
"Botox" - Australia, United States, United Kingdom
"Viagra" - Italy, United Kingdom, Germany
"Car bomb" - Australia, United States, Canada
"Marijuana" - Canada, United States, Australia

(*The countries are listed from first to third.) Link. [via MonkeyFilter]