April 2008
45 posts
Boy taken to foster care because his dad bought... →
Nope, I’m not kidding.
It was “Mike’s Hard Lemonade”, a product that contains 5% alcohol, but it was advertised at the point of sale as lemonade, and lemonade is what the man asked for; no one said anything about alcohol, and a doctor said the child was unaffected.
Male wasps make love to orchids →
… saying it with flowers.
Wake Up and Die: Activating Dormant Bacteria to... →
A vaccine against lung cancer? →
When learning maths, abstract symbols work better... →
Suprise result from a scientific study on learning.
Deadly Sins of Web Design →
Hat tip: Guy Kawasaki
Vicious Circle of Belly Fat - Scientific American →
Abdominal fat cells produce a hormone that can make you hungrier, leading to more belly fat and so on.
Infected with Insanity: Could Microbes Cause... →
“It looks like when you sent this letter, you were operating on the premise that...”
– Blue Jeans Cable in response to spurious threatened legal action by Monster Cable. Fight em, Blue Jeans Cable!
Story, and full response letter: Blue Jeans Cable Strikes Back - Response to Monster Cable — Audioholics
In Weak Rivets, a Possible Key to Titanic’s Doom →
That and the iceberg, of course.
Kiwi man drug dealing in the US kept girlfrend's... →
… in a hotel room he lived in costing $300 a night.
Lawyers: never ask a question you don't already...
Preston Burton, Defense lawyer for alleged upscale pimp Deborah Jeane Palfrey to a call girl testifying under indemnity: [what about the contract you signed], clause No. 5: "Individuals caught performing illegal activities of any nature will be terminated."
Rhona Reiss, PhD (aged 63): "I didn't sign any agreement saying I wouldn't do anything illegal." (i.e. The rule technically did not prohibit illegal activity.)
Burton (surprised): "You're an educated woman, How did you understand it?"
Reiss: "Don't get caught."
(source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/09/AR2008040903903.html )
“Agnostic: I don’t believe there is a God. Because I haven’t seen the evidence....”
– - Vox Day, in his book “The Irrational Athiest”. I’m reading the first chapter now, and very much enjoying it. (Amazon linky here).
Here’s where I came across it: John Scalzi’s Whatever - The Big Idea: Vox Day.
US man gets $2.6m for domain name →
Geek love: US patent application 20070078663 →
“Method and instrument for proposing marriage to an individual”. I can’t decide if this is romantic or stupid!
“Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something…”
– New York Man to mugger. Read on!
Long-Lost Brother Saves Man's Life →
WatchExcuse me while I squeze my brain through this 1-inch hole. (via Google Video)
Cartoonist Al Jaffee →
This Daring Fireball linked list entry links to those Mad magazine fold-ins that I always loved - now in interactive web form. Yay!