Nice Work

Via Arbroath.

Amazing radio-controlled plane video

Via kottke.

Pictures of albinos

Apparently in the 19th century, some photographers specialised in the genre of albino photographs. Here is a collection of 19th century albinos; they all seem to have mad hair. Via look at this.

Good chocolate

In more ways than one. It seems that my favourite cholcolate bar, Maya Gold from Green & Black's, is revitalising a whole region of Belize. Plus it tastes good.

Correlation

David of Ironic Sans has come up with a pretty cool concept: The Correlation Project. This is the sort of thing that someone really should do.

Place the states

Drag the ststes to where you think they fit. I got 60% perfect, with an average error of 214 miles. Via look at this.

Ouch

Nature stories

2 excellent nature headlines, both via Arbroath:

Marlboro man kills pigeon with sword

Lightning likely struck zebra that drowned

Noel Edmonds mocks the disabled

via b3ta.

Sushi etiquette

A fascinating series of articles on how to order and eat sushi, including details on its history. Fish side into the soy!

Useful French phrases

For anyone going to France this summer, here are some everyday phrases that are not necessarily in the phrase-book. Via look at this.

The sheep market

10,000 browseable sheep drawn by webmongs/artists paid 0.02$US per sheep. The average wage for this worked out at 0.69$US per hour. Click on the sheep and watch it being drawn.

World timeline

This timeline of world events and trends is pretty smart. It goes bak to 1750, and predicts forward to 2100. Apparently we can expect a period of increased social and civil unrest between 2010 and 2020. Via kottke.

Friday movie

Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Best X-men

In preparation for the film that comes out on Friday, a list of the 25 best X-men.

How not to land an aeroplane

I'm glad that I wasn't on that flight...

Religion of History's 100 most influential people

Muhammad is number 1, with Jesus trailing in at number 3 behind Isaac Newton. There are an equal amount of Atheists and Greco-Roman paganists on the list... Via look at this.

Worst film of the summer.

I watch stuff weighs in with details of what is sure to be the worst film this year, Garfield 2: A Tail of Two Kitties:

The question "What would it be like if the Dan Aykroyd/Eddie Murphy comedy Trading Places were done with the characters from Garfield?" has been asked by the mentally ill since the two have coexisted. Luckily, Garfield: A Tail(sic!) of Two Kitties finally provides the answer: "It's not funny and the whole 'royal cat' thing doesn't make much sense."

When football skills go wrong

Fast food nation

See the domination of fast food vendors (McDonalds, Burger King, and Wendy's) in an interactive google map. There are McDonalds within sight of each other in Manhattan. Via kottke.

Interesting charity

Now here's a forward-looking charity idea. Kiva lets you loan an amount of your choice to qualified entrepeneur in a developing country. You get your money back after 6-12 months, and are updated on the business.

Ukulele Orchestra play Nirvana

Via b3ta.

Bad tattoos

Some of these are astonishing. The best is the tattoo of Michael Jackson fondling Macaulay Culkin.

Not dead

Saudi Arabia was actually a pretty interesting place, and it seemed like its "dodgy" reputation is somewhat undeserved and based on hype. Fancy that. Photography was difficult due to most buildings seeming to be sensitive, government, or military, and having to avoid photographing people (photography is technically illegal in Saudi). I did manage to get a couple of shots inside the hotel. In the lobby was the remains of a patriot missile from Gulf War 1. Here are a couple of photos of it on flickr.

Away

I'm away until the end of next week, so no new posts. If I get kidnapped and beheaded, bye!

Thunderstorm avoidance

A groovy animation of FedEx planes avoiding a thunderstrom at Memphis airport. The only fact that I know about Memphis is that it is actually further west than Los Angesles.

Thought experiments

Some interesting thought experiments from the BBC Magazine site. I would let the runaway cart kill the 5 people, rather than flicking the switch to kill a bystander. What does that mean about me? Via look at this.

Rabbits with bakery items on their heads

I can't say anything more about this page than the title above. Bizarre. Only in Japan.

Hoff invaders

Play it here.

Alligator-drunkard encounters study

An excellent Onion article examining the results of interaction between alligators and drunkards. Highlights include the fact that the alligators "outperformed their inebriated human counterparts in the following areas: lunging, biting, crushing, dismembering, and swallowing", and the advice that "Sick or infant deer are considered a far safer match for most inebriated humans; kicking a raccoon or squirrel already dying by the side of the road is also recommended".

Chinese mirage

Unusual weather conditions meant that an image of the city of Penglai was projected out to sea on Sunday. Pretty groovy. Via Arbroath.

Boris Johnson tackles a German

This was in a charity England All Stars vs Germany All Stars match. I suppose stars should actually be "stars". Nevertheless, that was an excellent tackle Boris. One of the best ever.

Parasites cure asthma?

This article is the incredibly detailed (and very interesting) story of a man who cured his asthma by infesting himself with hookworm. This involved walking barefoot in human faeces in Cameroon. Via kottke.

Summer Burn

The summer burn is back. I did this last year and thought it was a nice idea: you make a CD of your favorite summer tunes, and send a copy to 2 addresses that they provide you with on midsummer’s day. You will, in return, get 2 different CDs from a pair of randoms. Last year I had to send my CDs to Edinburgh and Germany. Go here to sign up or get more information. Of course, it could all be a setup by the record companies to catch people making copied CDs, so don’t say that you heard about it from me...

Writer punches director

Nice way to settle a score. From TV in Japan.

Poster

God hates figs

God hates figs is a nice pun on the notorious similarly-named website. Goes to show that you can prove pretty much whatever point (within reason) that you like by quoting the Bible. See also God hates shrimp.

REM on Sesame Street

"Furry Happy Monsters"

Summer blockbuster preview

From the Onion AV Club. This article is a frank look at some of the upcoming summer films:




X-Men 3:

Why it's probably a waste of time: Four words: "Directed by Brett Ratner." No wait, six more words: "With Kelsey Grammer as The Beast."

Garfield 2: A Tail of Two Kitties:

Why it's probably a waste of time: As the sequel to the abysmal adaptation of a mediocre comic strip, A Tail Of Two Kitties is several generations removed from anything even resembling quality.

Snakes On A Plane:

Why it might be worth seeing anyway: After the film developed an eager following online, New Line filmed extra scenes reportedly featuring more nudity, more death, more of Jackson ranting about the motherfucking snakes he wants off his motherfucking plane, and unsurprisingly, more snakes. What about that doesn't sound promising?

via Kottke

Nice sign and road layout

Puppy test

Ever wondered whether you had the requisite skills to look after a puppy? Then take this amazing puppy test! Via Arbroath.

Colour blindness

This article (via Kottke) shows what a picture looks to various types of colour blindness (hover over the text at the right of the image). Take the colour blindness test here.

The modern alphabet

A is still for Apple, only it's Apple computer. The top hits when you type each letter of the alphabet into google. K is for K-Mart.