30 Ways to Die by Electrocution

I found this on Digg. It is pretty dark, but slightly amusing. It reminds me of A David Sedaris story where he talks about a book that he bought that would show what you would look like in different death instances. In the words of Louie the Lightning Bug, you got to play it safe around electricity.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bre/sets/72157611077138836/show/

The VSL theory

Here is an interesting article about João Magueijo, a Cambridge University physicist, theory on Varying Speed of Light (VSL). More or less, his theory states that Light moved faster in the early ages of our Universe. Like most radical physic theories, this could dethrone Einstein and bring radical change to Cosmology, bringing a unfied theory of physics. Here is the article.

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/01/faster-than-the.html

Popcorn Fiction

I work at a library and see thousands of books on a daily basis. Personally I am a lover of good literature, and while taste is an issue of sole opinion, I think that I like books of a decent intellectual caliber. Now, I have been told my entire life, through the advice of my parents and other sources of morality, that you cannot judge a book by its cover. While this definitely holds up as an excellent metaphorical reminder for giving every person you meet a fair shake, I am pretty sure that you can actually judge literal books by their covers and determine whether or not your are diving head first into some popcorn drivel. These warning signs should save you from such a mistake.

1)To begin, if the authors name is larger than the title of the book, then you can assume that you dealing with a definite popcorn piece. More than likely it will fall under such a genre as Mystery, Romance, or inspirational. Most of the time they are most readily available in paperback.
2) If it happens that the book is in hard back, then you can except a full sized portrait of the author on the back of the book. You should be extra concerned if the author's name is embossed as well.
3) If you see a series of the authors work and all their title are similar, as in the share the same word in the title, then definitely be wary going into this.
4) Also, blurbs are a good way to know if the content of the book you are about to read is worth the time. Generally, if the best a critic or fellow writer can do is describe the book in a series of adjectives like sexy, passionate, and raw then you may want to try something different. an honest blurb can tell you a lot about the content of a books. For instance, one of my favorite blurbs comes from David Sedaris's Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. The blurb said, "If wit were measured in people, then David Sedaris would be Chine. His Talent is that huge." Now that is a blurb by a critic who was really blown away ( I mainly added this because I really like that blurb).
5) As a final precaution, and that is all this is, know that being on the New York Time's Best Seller List is not a a guarantee that the book is any good. Now several best sellers have been, but don't be fooled by this accomplishment waved so proudly above the title. This is like eating Mcdonald's, just because the sign says that over a billion have been sold. Is it good for you to eat at Mcdonald's? That is for you to decided, but the taste of the food is not determined by the amount of hamburgers sold. Books should be no different.

Now, this post is meant for humor's sake only and please don't feel insulted if you are a lover of any of these type of books :)

Geometry Wars

Do you need some trivial and fun thing in your life that will encompass way too much time and leave you hopelessly addicted? Then Geometry Wars is the game for you. My roommate downloaded it on his Xbox and now my life has new meaning. Essentially it is a series of arcade styled mini-games that favor Galaga with a touch of Tron. The gameplay is exceptionally easy and hopelessly addicting. You can watch the beautiful colors exploded all aver the screen while simultaneously watching the hours slip away.

Here is a brief history of the game taken from wikipedia:

Geometry Wars is a minigame created by Bizarre Creations as part of Project Gotham Racing 2 for the Xbox, accessible through the in-game garage. An updated version of the game, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, is available for download on the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade. It can also be played in demo form in Project Gotham Racing 3. It previously held the record for most-downloaded Xbox Live Arcade game. A new version, Geometry Wars: Evolved, has been produced for mobile phones and a version has also been released for Windows Vista, as well as a reduced-price Windows XP release on the Steam content delivery network. Another version named Geometry Wars: Waves is available to play in Project Gotham Racing 4. Geometry Wars: Galaxies was released for the Nintendo DS and Wii in November 2007. A sequel, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 was released to Xbox Live Arcade on July 30, 2008.

Check out the official website.

ASIMO in the Rose Bowl Parade

Here he is in all of his glory.

The Male Motor

I was recently at my parents house and noticed an old tattered book on the kitchen counter that my father picked up at a yard sale. He mentioned that it was one of his favorite books, based on the gross inaccuracies in it. The Male Motor by M. Sayle Taylor SC.D, Ph.D was first published in November of 1927. The primary concern of the book are the issues middle aged men face in regards to their prostate. Taylor fears that everyman is at risk of losing his sex energy in old age from being oversexed. I highly recommend that you read this on your own, but here is one of my favorite parts of the book in the chapter on masturbation.

“There are comparatively few men, whose memory serves them correctly, who can look back on a boyhood absolutely devoid of any phase of this practice. And in many cases the habit was begun long before the age of puberty had been reached. Usually, when begun in early boyhood, it is a social rather than a solitary game. Older boys, older or more precocious, ofttimes with nothing other than the exuberant spirit of play in their minds, initiate the boys into a gang or neighborhood clique, using exposure and some sort of competitive “game” as part of the initiation.
Fortunately most boys go through this stage just as they do the stage of petty-thievery, when cookies, pies, and jams are swiped- without becoming an addict. But when the habit carries over or is begun after the age of puberty has been reached, it then takes on a grim aspect. The sex anatomy, just budding into adult form, is taxed far beyond its capacity. When the practice is carried on over a period of years excessively (beyond natures recuperative ability), the harmful effect becomes so self-evident that is does not take the eye of a physician to discover what is wrong. The victim becomes sallow and anemic. The face loses its expressiveness, the eye becomes shifty, and the whole body takes on a languid air. Cowardliness, listlessness, slovenliness, and absent-mindedness are some of the characteristics of the victim of excessive self pollution.”
makes

As I understand it, this book is kind of hard to find and is something of a collectors item. Here is a link(sadly Amazon is out) if you are interested in buying this incredible book. They only have one copy though. It is perfect rainy day quick read that makes for interesting dinner conversation.

Tuxedo Junction Promo

Tuxedo Junction Promo Video from Unicellular Productions on Vimeo.