Thursday, March 22, 2007

Weird and crazy things you didn't know

A rat can last longer without water than a camel.
Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks or it will digest itself.
The dot over the letter "i" is called a tittle.
A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.
A female ferret will die if it goes into heat and cannot find a mate.
Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.
A 2 X 4 is really 1-1/2" by 3-1/2".
During the chariot scene in "Ben Hur," a small red car can be seenin the distance (and Heston's wearing a watch).
On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily!(That explains a few mysteries....)
Sherlock Holmes NEVER said, "Elementary, my dear Watson."
Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made of wood.
The number of possible ways of playing the first four moves perside in a game of chess is 318,979,564,000.
There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with orange,purple and silver.
Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into spacebecause passing wind in a spacesuit damages them.
The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin in World War II killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.
Weatherman Willard Scott was the first Ronald McDonald.
If one places a tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion, it willinstantly go mad and sting itself to death. (Who was the sadist who discovered this??)
Bruce Lee was so fast that they actually had to s-l-o-w film downso you could see his moves. That's the opposite of the norm.
The first CD pressed in the US was Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA."
The original name for butterfly was flutterby.
The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law whichstated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.
The first product Motorola started to develop was a record playerfor automobiles. At that time, the most known player on the market was Victrola, so they called themselves Motorola.
Roses may be red, but violets are indeed violet.
By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you cannotsink into quicksand.
Celery has negative calories. It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with.
Charlie Chaplin once won third prize in a Charlie Chaplinlook-alike contest.
An old law in Bellingham, Washington, made it illegal for a womanto take more than three steps backwards while dancing!
The Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the bookmost often stolen from public libraries.
The glue on Israeli postage is certified kosher.
Bats always turn left when exiting a cave!
Thanks to Deborah for submitting this!!
And another via email --this comes by Suzie T....
In the 1400's a law was set forth that a man was not allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have "the rule of thumb"
The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred and Wilma Flintstone.
Men can read smaller print then women can; women can hear better.
It is impossible to lick your elbow.
The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska
The average number of people airborne over the US any given hour: 61,000
Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.
The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.
111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:
Spades - King DavidHearts - CharlemagneClubs -Alexander, the GreatDiamonds - Julius Caesar
If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what?
A. Their birthplace.
Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter "A"?
A. One thousand
Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common?A. All invented by women.
Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil?A. Honey
In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... "goodnight, sleep tight."
It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the "honeymoon".
In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them, "Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down."
It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's"
Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice.
~~~~AND FINALLY~~~~~~~~~~~~
At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow.

More than 20 weird and crazy sex facts

It is forbidden in some cultures, and abandon by others. However, the fact remains the same that it shall always be the most talked about subject in the universe, sex.

1. According to the Kinsey Institute, the biggest erect penis on record measures 13 inches. The smallest tops off at 1 3/4 inches.

2. The most common fantasy is oral sex.
3. 8% of us have regular anal sex.
4. 60% of men and 54% of women have had a 1-night stand.
5. Women buy 4 out of every 10 condoms sold.
6. In 1609, a doctor named Wecker found a corpse in Bologna with two penises. Since then, there have been eighty documented cases of men similarly endowed.
7. Men say the average erect penis is 10″. Women say it’s 4″.
8. A female orgasm is a powerful painkiller (because of the release of endorphins), so headaches are in fact a bad excuse not to have sex.
9. 56% of men have had sex at work.
10. Among the Mangaians of Polynesia, 18-year-old couples make love
an average of three times a night, every night, until their
thirties, when the weekly average drops to a mere 14.
11. 1 in 3 of us have had an extramarital affair.
12. 62% think there is nothing wrong with affairs.
13. The maximum speed at which erotic sensations travel from skin to
brain has been clocked at 156 miles per hour.
14. A honeymooning couple are suing Holiday Inn for ten thousand
dollars, claiming their sex life is now dysfunction because an
employee mistakenly walked in on them on their wedding night.
15. At least 500 Americans die each year from asphyxia in an attempt
to lessen oxygen flow to the brain in order to induce a more
powerful orgasm.
16. England’s King Edward VII, a man of considerable heft, had a
special table built so that he could comfortably engage in
sexual intercourse.
17. 29% of us are virgins when we marry.
18. The average sexual experience lasts about 39 minutes.
19. 58% like dirty talk during sex.
20. 22% rent porno flicks at least once.
21. Given today’s average frequency of sexual intercourse, it would
take the typical American couple more than four years to try
every one of the 529 positions described in the Kama Sutra.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Why is Digg being censored?

The usual late night Digg check before heading off to sleep, just to see if anything catches my attention…

http://digg.com/world_news/Brave_Mujahideen_Warriors_Use_Children_in_Car_Bomb_2

Why is an article with 179 Diggs:
A: NOT been promoted to the Popular section
B: No longer listed in the Upcoming section

I always received the impression that we had the power to choose what became front-page material.
Yes, admitedly the article finally did reach the front page momentarily later, but the principle remains, what happened Digg?

Here it is sitting on 179 Diggs after only 2 hours

Sitting in Upcoming section

Notice how it’s status has not been “Made Popular” despite the number of Diggs in short period.

Moments later in the Upcoming section:

Upcoming? Not any more

Gone!

Digg was meant to give us the people control, 179 Diggs in 2 hours is more than enough evidence of it - so what happened guys?

UPDATE:

Just tracked another article like the one I was previously refering to:
I dont entirely agree with the articles content, however 202 Diggs and 12 Hours later, still nothing for this article.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Legend of Zelda Wii case mod

wii-zelda-mod-1.jpg

Sweetest Wii case mod I've ever seen? Almost. I modded my Wii last week to look like a Ferrari. Oh, wait, that wasn't a mod. That was my actual car. I'm filthy rich!

One more shot of the Wii mod after the jump.

wii-zelda-mod-2.jpg

Maserati covered with 1,763 lbs of shattered glass

glass-maserati-3.jpg

glass-maserati-2.jpg

This is a Maserati Quattroporte covered with 1,763 lbs of shattered glass. It was put together by Italian artist Luca Pancrazzi and is currently outside the Moscow Museum of Modern Art welcoming guests to the second Moscow Art Biennale that runs through April 1st. If this was a Ferrari or Lamborghini I'd probably be on the floor right now, cursing the heavens and crying like a little baby.

glass-maserati-1.jpg

Google Maps has a hidden "Super Zoom" feature

google-super-zoom.jpg

Google Maps apparently has a super zoom function for certain locations. Some of them are additional images inserted for partners like National Geographic, but others are actual satelilite photos of random locations. To access the super zoom function just do this:

1. Select a location and switch to satellite view
2. Zoom in as far as you can, and click “link to this page” at the top right
3. Replace the "z" parameter in the URL with a higher value like 20, 22, or 23

It's actually kind of scary to think about. The original zoom levels were okay, but this is to the point where privacy is actually an issue. That guy looks like he's actually staring at the camera. How can I do my daily nude cartwheels knowing Google might be watching me from space?

Lindsay Lohan shows off her naughty parts

Lindsay Lohan was spotted at Plumm in New York City last Thursday chain smoking and drinking Red Bull all night. And because this is Lindsay Lohan, she decided to pull her skirt up to her waist and give everybody a peek at her private parts. She's just walking around and removing her clothes in public now. I mean, c'mon, at least pretend it's an accident. Put your hand up to your mouth and go "Oops." Fake that your clothes are on fire. Something more than just, "Hmm, I feel like showing people my vagina" and whipping it out.

Google Launches Pay-Per-Action; a Threat to Affiliate Networks?

If you’re reading this post, then you can expect a flurry of news covering Google’s beta launch of its Pay-Per-Action (PPA) product for AdWords. Yep, after years of hinting, Google is finally ready to let us test their platform on a CPA (cost per action) model. (If this sounds familiar, reports surfaced back in June, that Google was offering a limited test of CPA)

The beta test is restricted to AdSense for content in the U.S., will run separate from the regular auction model, and you may not even get a chance to test it for a few weeks, while they roll it out. That being said, this is a significant expansion of the CPC (cost per click) model, with advertisers being given the option of paying when a customer buys a product, signs up for a newsletter, or completes any other actionable task on the advertiser’s web site.

On the publishing side, AdSense publishers will be able to opt-in to display PPA ads from Google and even whether they wish to display a single ad, a cluster of ads or match to a specific keyword that is relevant to their page content. Publishers also get to preview the ads, including company name, logo etc, before the ads go live.

As the broker between the advertiser and the publisher, Google will take its cut of any incentive offered. For example, if the advertiser offers $2 per sign-up, the publisher may see only $1.50 offered for the same sign-up. Google will pass on to publishers the net-incentive only.

Publishers also get a new “text link ad” format (I wonder what Patrick Gavin will have to say about that), which allows them to display JavaScript ads that appear as a single text link. Publishers will be able to search for text link ads that match their chosen text string. Perfect for bloggers looking to monetize their site, but would prefer to add embedded text links, rather than whole blocks of ads.

Now, here’s where my post title comes in to play.

A platform that allows advertisers to offer a reward based upon a sale or sign-up?

A platform that allows publishers to select text, flash or images when displaying advertisers incentives?

What does that sound like to you?

To me, it sounds like a clear threat to the likes of Commission Junction or LinkShare – or any other affiliate marketing network. Google, for all intents and purposes, has just entered the affiliate marketing arena, with the battle cry that they can do affiliate marketing better than the affiliate networks can.

Now, I feel obliged to inform you that when I posed this suggestion to Rob Kniaz, product manager for Google’s advertising products, he was very quick to deny any intention to compete in the affiliate network space. “We think this is different from the traditional affiliate marketing industry”, said Kniaz. “[It’s an] extension of the current AdWords product”. Oh really? Kind of like how Google doesn’t see itself competing with Microsoft’s office suite.

When I pushed Kniaz to explain why Google is so keen to distance itself from any associations with affiliate networks, his response was that the new PPA platform offered “more automation, more options, more control” than affiliate networks.

Sounds like fighting words to me!

UPDATE: You can view more details of PPA here.