20 seconds

"I had an auto-repair man once, who, on these intelligence tests, could not possibly have scored more..."

Thu, 23 May 2013 23:46:13 -0700

“I had an auto-repair man once, who, on these intelligence tests, could not possibly have scored more than 80, by my estimate. I always took it for granted that I was far more intelligent than he was. Yet, when anything went wrong with my car I hastened to him with it, watched him anxiously as he explored its vitals, and listened to his pronouncements as though they were divine oracles - and he always fixed my car.
Well, then, suppose my auto-repair man devised questions for an intelligence test. Or suppose a carpenter did, or a farmer, or, indeed, almost anyone but an academician. By every one of those tests, I’d prove myself a moron, and I’d be a moron, too. In a world where I could not use my academic training and my verbal talents but had to do something intricate or hard, working with my hands, I would do poorly. My intelligence, then, is not absolute but is a function of the society I live in and of the fact that a small subsection of that society has managed to foist itself on the rest as an arbiter of such matters.
Consider my auto-repair man, again. He had a habit of telling me jokes whenever he saw me. One time he raised his head from under the automobile hood to say: “Doc, a deaf-and-mute guy went into a hardware store to ask for some nails. He put two fingers together on the counter and made hammering motions with the other hand. The clerk brought him a hammer. He shook his head and pointed to the two fingers he was hammering. The clerk brought him nails. He picked out the sizes he wanted, and left. Well, doc, the next guy who came in was a blind man. He wanted scissors. How do you suppose he asked for them?”
Indulgently, I lifted my right hand and made scissoring motions with my first two fingers. Whereupon my auto-repair man laughed raucously and said, “Why, you dumb jerk, He used his voice and asked for them.” Then he said smugly, “I’ve been trying that on all my customers today.” “Did you catch many?” I asked. “Quite a few,” he said, “but I knew for sure I’d catch you.” “Why is that?” I asked. “Because you’re so goddamned educated, doc, I knew you couldn’t be very smart.””

- Isaac Asimov (via skinnybaras)

infinitylooper: Something to think about: The Earth is 4.6 billion years old. Let’s scale that to...

Thu, 23 May 2013 01:24:35 -0700

infinitylooper:

Something to think about:

The Earth is 4.6 billion years old. Let’s scale that to 46 years.
We have been here for 4 hours. Our industrial revolution began 1 minute ago.
In that time, we have destroyed more than 50% of the world’s forests.

This isn’t sustainable.

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Thu, 23 May 2013 01:16:40 -0700

pleasestopbeingsad: Street harassment is not a compliment.

Thu, 23 May 2013 01:09:01 -0700

pleasestopbeingsad:

Street harassment is not a compliment.

I often read feminist articles online, and sometimes just think about it as I go about my daily...

Thu, 23 May 2013 01:07:20 -0700

I often read feminist articles online, and sometimes just think about it as I go about my daily business, but it’s rarely a personal experience thing. I suppose technically today it wasn’t either, but it was close enough that I was and am super bothered by it. A friend/teammate of mine has an insane amount of game. Last week, we got out of the car and a dude walking by just introduced himself and told her she should take his number and text him sometime. She gets attention from boys without even trying, and in fact doesn’t even want their attention. She only takes their numbers so they’ll stop talking to her and then never texts or calls them. I mostly just thought it was funny that she did so well without any effort, but today she told me that she gave some dude her number because he was outside her apartment building and wouldn’t let her leave until she gave him her number and got a text from him so she would have his. So she couldn’t give him a fake number because he made her wait until she received the text from him, and she couldn’t just turn him down because who knows what strange guys will do and he knew where she lived. I doubt he’s actually dangerous, but it doesn’t matter because he’s threatening and pushy and creepy. It really bothers me that a guy like that is (possibly unintentionally) using the threat of physical response to his advantage to get girls phone numbers. Do guys like that even realize that while they are literally giving us no choice but to do what they want, we are only doing it because we’re afraid of them and what they could do if we don’t comply? I wish they would realize that if we’re only giving in to their demands because we feel pressured and not because we’re ever going to be interested. And I would hope that if they knew we felt threatened just by their “flirty” advances, they would back off. But I’m not even sure they would because despite the terrible tactics, they’re still getting what they want in the moment.

"This is a Holmes knocked from the pedestal of the dispassionate gentleman detective. His..."

Thu, 23 May 2013 00:27:47 -0700

“

This is a Holmes knocked from the pedestal of the dispassionate gentleman detective. His relationship with his addiction forms the core of his character, of secondary importance only to Watson in his development throughout the season. And Jonny Lee Miller’s fantastic incarnation of Holmes makes sure we feel the weight of addiction in a show that takes it seriously. He suffers the aftermath, and must face the realities of recovery — no easy thing for a man who trades on the illusion of invincibility with all the gusto of the Conan Doyle original.

Also keeping him humble: his supporting cast. There’s a popular misconception — the fault of many an adaptation — that Holmes is a supergenius accompanied by an admiring everyman and surrounded by dunces. Conan Doyle’s Watson and Gregson would beg to differ, and so this Holmes lives in no such vacuum; he’s never the only clever person in a room. When he reveals his addiction, Gregson (not unkindly) points out that as a detective, he had that covered. His sponsor Alfredo’s skills in the repossessionary arts outclass Holmes’s by a mile. He acknowledges Moriarty as more than a match for himself. Even housekeeper/librarian Ms. Hudson has the effortless memory to which Holmes aspires.

And in Watson, he’s found an equal — and that’s what the show’s not-so-secretly about.

”

- from io9’s excellent analysis of the first season of Elementary - Elementary Demonstrates the Right Way to Update a Classic Hero (via gallifreygal)

ladylorax: edamane: lolsofunny: What happens when you burn a...

Thu, 23 May 2013 00:03:20 -0700

ladylorax:

edamane:

lolsofunny:

What happens when you burn a hole in a CD and blow air in it.

well okay then

SCIENCE

nannajane: in 7 years its going to be the 20s again so we can bring back swing music and the...

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:22:08 -0700

nannajane:

in 7 years its going to be the 20s again so we can bring back swing music and the aesthetics of that era but keep modern values who’s with me

daunt: motivatedslacker: blueandbluer: bubonickitten: gothicc...

Wed, 22 May 2013 00:02:06 -0700

daunt:

motivatedslacker:

blueandbluer:

bubonickitten:

gothiccharmschool:

And now, a break to look at adorable snow leopards.

thetadelta: Snow leopard tail nomming compilation, because tails are just awesome.

Photos are from: tanidareal, leopatra-lionfur, denisesoden, rheazblaze, bledsoevball30, and eisenmann87 from DeviantART and barrybaskin from Flickr.

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Tue, 21 May 2013 12:33:07 -0700

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:11:19 -0700

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Tue, 21 May 2013 10:05:48 -0700

meladoodle: we’re terribly sorry, but you can’t put your disobedient child in the stowaway luggage,...

Tue, 21 May 2013 05:49:47 -0700

meladoodle:

we’re terribly sorry, but you can’t put your disobedient child in the stowaway luggage, you’re just going to have to carry on your wayward son

nevver: Calvin and Hobbes

Tue, 21 May 2013 05:30:10 -0700

nevver:

Calvin and Hobbes

No, Pete, he’s looking for Carson, too.

Tue, 21 May 2013 05:02:33 -0700

No, Pete, he’s looking for Carson, too.

adult-chocolate-milk: amish-mafia-jimmies-overlord: fendoffthed...

Tue, 21 May 2013 03:11:31 -0700

adult-chocolate-milk:

amish-mafia-jimmies-overlord:

fendoffthedemons:

willshownomercyer:

Numbers stations are mysterious shortwave radio channels of indiscernible origin that exist in countries all across the world and have been reported since World War 1. They are identifiable by the unusual contents of their broadcasts: seemingly random sequences of numbers, words, letters, tunes, and Morse code, usually spoken by artificially generated voices of women and children.

The most common theory regarding the purpose of these bizarre stations is that they’re used by governments the world over to secretly transmit encrypted commands and messages to spies. That said, even though numbers stations have been discovered all over the globe and in any number of different languages, no government has ever officially acknowledged their existence. While the espionage theory is a logical one, with no official confirmation of their purpose the jury is still out.

One particularly odd station, UVB-76, has existed since the late 1970s and has broadcast a simple, repetitive buzzing tone 24 hours a day ever since. On very rare occasions, however, listeners have reported a Russian voice interrupting the buzz to read out sequences of numbers and words, always in a consistent format — this happened once in 1997, once in 2002, once in 2006, 56 times in 2010, and 14 in 2011. As with all numbers stations, its true purpose is and will probably remain unknown, but the increase in frequency of whatever it’s doing is certainly odd.

You can listen to well over 100 recordings of numbers stations for free on archive.org but be forewarned that they’re all kind of, well, eerie. They feel like something you shouldn’t be listening to, which stands to reason since apparently you’re not supposed to know they exist.

This is so cool

The Swedish Rhapsody is easily the most disturbing of these. It plays what sounds like ice cream truck music, and a little girl says the numbers…

UVB-76!~

all is fine

truebluemeandyou: DIY Harry Potter Monopoly Game from Design in...

Tue, 21 May 2013 03:04:14 -0700

truebluemeandyou:

DIY Harry Potter Monopoly Game from Design in Technology here. For how to make the board, cards, etc… go here. For the printable files (board, spells, potions, properties etc…) go here. *Read the comments on each post for additional tips and tricks for making this game. This must have truly been a labor of love and is so well done. This is obviously not for commercial use so please don’t sell it. First seen at Geek crafts here.

For lots more Harry Potter themed DIYs go here: truebluemeandyou.tumblr.com/tagged/harry-potter

luhaei: omg real life monopoly where is this

Tue, 21 May 2013 02:38:32 -0700

luhaei:

omg real life monopoly where is this

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Tue, 21 May 2013 02:21:23 -0700

Tue, 21 May 2013 02:13:43 -0700

20 seconds

"I had an auto-repair man once, who, on these intelligence tests, could not possibly have scored more..."

infinitylooper: Something to think about: The Earth is 4.6 billion years old. Let’s scale that to...

The Earth is 4.6 billion years old. Let’s scale that to 46 years. We have been here for 4 hours. Our industrial revolution began 1 minute ago. In that time, we have destroyed more than 50% of the world’s forests.

Photo

pleasestopbeingsad: Street harassment is not a compliment.

I often read feminist articles online, and sometimes just think about it as I go about my daily...

"This is a Holmes knocked from the pedestal of the dispassionate gentleman detective. His..."

ladylorax: edamane: lolsofunny: What happens when you burn a...

nannajane: in 7 years its going to be the 20s again so we can bring back swing music and the...

daunt: motivatedslacker: blueandbluer: bubonickitten: gothicc...

Photo

Photo

meladoodle: we’re terribly sorry, but you can’t put your disobedient child in the stowaway luggage,...

nevver: Calvin and Hobbes

No, Pete, he’s looking for Carson, too.

adult-chocolate-milk: amish-mafia-jimmies-overlord: fendoffthed...

truebluemeandyou: DIY Harry Potter Monopoly Game from Design in...

luhaei: omg real life monopoly where is this

Photo

The Earth is 4.6 billion years old. Let’s scale that to 46 years.
We have been here for 4 hours. Our industrial revolution began 1 minute ago.
In that time, we have destroyed more than 50% of the world’s forests.