Yes, they all connect up*.
- U.S. researchers create schizophrenic mice — I certainly did not know that mice liked to swim, I suppose I should look it up, and in future I’ll be able to get the best ever human-edited results.
- Wikipedia founder plans open-source search engine — will it be as not-quite-sure-if-it’s-entirely trustworthy as Wikipedia? Kind of like our next story, which is
- Bottled water and snake oil — bottled water is tap water in a bottle? I take that to work every day. It’s still as deadly and painful when lobbed through the air, and could kill, though ‘sticks and stones can break my bones…’
- Man ‘died at hands of young mob’ — this poor man was killed by sticks and stones, called ‘missiles’ in the news. I was very nearly hit by a missile of pigeon poop the other day.
- Hollywood Pigeons to Be Put on the Pill — some sort of consequence must come of controlling birds’ reproductive cycles.
* In my mind
I’ve been a passenger on many a motorcycle in my time, but I’ve never been the one to drive / ride these two-wheeled monsters.
That is not about to change.
Very recently, someone I work with offered to let me have a go on their 50cc Vespa. I’ve always fancied myself as more of a scooter gal than biker, so I was happy to accept.
The only thing I did not screw up at (and I was so convinced I would) was turning the throttle and moving off without losing control or balance. I could go into the whole sordid story, but I shall just say that being short and not very heavy means:
- I had no momentum or leverage to speak of to roll the scooter off its stand to begin with — always a bad sign.
- Turning involves leaning — a slight incline meant an inevitable disaster, but I comfort myself with the fact that I didn’t drop the scooter, I lowered it slowly to the ground.
A: “I read a story that we saw briefly on the news about why those patio heaters are bad.”
N: “… they’re bad for the environment, right?!”
A: “Yeah, so it seems.”
N: “Y’know, if a teevee journalist stopped me on the street and asked if I thought patio heaters were releasing too much carbon, I would say Not really, this is worse — *parp*!”
(Not verbatim — it happened yesterday. Cannae remember it word for word.)
(The House uses a lot of patio heaters.)
How to spot false friends on Facebook:
When tested on a new set of profiles, the software’s estimate roughly matched human grades 90 per cent of the time and exactly matched them 30 to 50 per cent of the time. The idea is to use these estimates to decide whether to accept a request to be a friend.
Or, you could only add those you know are real people (i.e. you know them). I’m sure you’ll agree this idea of mine is revolutionary and people should give me money to dispense advice.
Best. Michael Jackson-bhangra. Mashup. Ever.
(Thanks to my sister.)
Funny link from Terry, who typed, and I quote:
someone else does not like iPhone
Heh.
Why is this even news? So what if politicians smoked pot when they were younger?
It’s purely an experiment, and I tend to experiment with web thingamajigs by setting up a personal account first. I probably have the world’s most boring MySpace profile.
If Jane Austen was alive today, she might not be able to find a publisher. Well, that inspires a lot of hope amongst writers, I’m sure.
Heh.
- ‘Chastity ring’ girl loses case — evidence that using the words ‘freedom’, ‘religion’, and ‘human rights’ may get you nowhere. It’s patently silly to claim that a jewellery trend is necessary to the practising of the girl’s faith, unless she can be proven to be the town bicycle when she’s not wearing the ring, then she’s got mental problems and any religion cannot save her.
- Judge grants Shambo reprieve — the bull who may or may not have TB was saved by religion, however. He is not a stud bull, just revered. His testing positive for bovine TB has meant his fate has swung from certain death to isolation, although the judge who ruled to save him has said his decision does not preclude putting Shambo down later (it depends on the relative danger of a consumptive Shambo versus the rights and desires of the community who house him).
- Less wasteful chicken breed — there is no such protection for chickens, however, as scientists are trying to breed chooks that poop less (and poop less stinky poop as well). My question is, Where does the poop go? Will I get darker, gamier meat in my chicken rice in future?
I said poop three times in one sentence.
I’m opposed to any proposed ‘fat taxes‘:
A 17.5% rise on fatty, sugary or salty food would cut heart and stroke deaths by 1.7%, the study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health said.
As mentioned in the article, subsidies on healthy food might be the way to go. I think one should also start charging for health services (God forbid one should have to PAY for seeing the doctor in the UK, I know I’m speaking the words of the devil), I think those who choose to eat unhealthily and put their lives at risk should assume responsibility for their actions.
It’s unlikely that the government will be fining those who eat crap food in order to manipulate their behaviour, and as smokers know, even if taxes on their beloved products go up, they just pay more for it. Taxing fatty foods will give them a sheen (oily?) of illicitness, and since they taste good, people will keep eating them. When looking at family and personal medical histories, I think the NHS will be able to determine whose lifestyle choices have had a direct effect on their state of health, and they can be charged accordingly.
And that is definitely not a nanny-state proposal. Business, lah.
Here’s something for discussion. Say there is a hungry cat and a hungry penguin, and they both spot some fish lying on the street (let’s pretend it’s normal for penguins and cats to live in the same area). But there is a fast-approaching thunderstorm, and while the cat’s claws are likely to make mincemeat of the penguin, it really, really hates water. So who ends up with the fish?
I didn’t make this thought experiment generator, I just came up with the idea for it. But I’m dead pleased with how it’s turned out. I did not specify that cats and penguins had to be in it, this is what we call a happy coincidence.
