“Mysterious severed feet and the Crazy Statistician”
Remember those severed human feet that were being reported last year? As it turns out, there’s a very simple, if somewhat gruesome, explanation for them.
Archive of posts filed under the Amusing/Interesting/Appalling category.
Various amusing or interesting topics, or things that shock and appall me. Kind of a miscellaneous bin.
“Whose bear urine is this? – Intraoffice email at National Geo”
My wife’s high school newsletter apparently had a section titled “Overheard in the Halls,” which as I understand it detailed bits of conversation heard in passing, with no context, which sounded either very humorous or utterly bizarre. I think this would have qualified, in spades.
“Dot-dash-diss: The gentleman hacker’s 1903 lulz”
Wow… it seems that hacking, and hacker pranks, got their start well before the first computers were created. I can’t imagine how Marconi could have thought any clear-text wireless signal was secure against eavesdroppers. Even if his patented tuning system worked to keep the signal on a very narrow band, all it would take to …
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“Television show hosts eat each other’s flesh in front of studio audience”
I go to great lengths to satisfy my curiosity, but there are some lines I just don’t think I’d cross. (Via BoingBoing)
“Mysterious metal ball from space falls in Namibia”
A large metal ball that fell from space into the Namibian grasslands last month is not alien, officials say, but that’s about all they know for certain about the object. […] Uh-oh. Ape #1: Dear me. What are these things coming out of her nose? Ape #2 (looks through binoculars): Spaceballs. Ape #1: Oh, shit. …
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“A Very Portal Christmas Tree”
For those of you who don’t know, there’s a rather famous game called Portal. From the Wikipedia entry: […] The game primarily comprises a series of puzzles that must be solved by teleporting the player’s character and simple objects using “the handheld portal device”, a device that can create inter-spatial portals between two flat planes. …
“Technology confuse lizard! Lizard no like!”
I can’t figure out whether this is EPIC LIZARD-BRAIN FAIL or simply hilarious. Maybe I’ll settle for both. I especially find it amusing when, between rounds, the lizard looks up at the guy behind the camera, as if he really wants to convey his disgust at the proceedings. Here is a short clip of a …
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“New Apple ad says Siri-reliant Santa is a slob”
The ad is funny enough on its own, but this take on it had me laughing aloud.
“One week playing violent video games alters brain activity”
More news on the effects of violent video games. Only preliminary results, but it’s something to keep an eye on. As a somewhat-related item: most of us figure out the difference between reality and make-believe when we’re very young. Apparently those who don’t end up in organizations like the Red Cross, which is considering accusing …
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“Paul Krugman: save the economy by staging an alien invasion hoax”
A nice idea, but I suspect the execution would be pretty difficult. Hollywood special effects are a lot better now than in 1938, but there are many more science-educated people who would be a lot harder to fool too. All it would take is one slip-up, caught and pointed out by some bright teenager, and …
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