It’s a double-wheeled pizza cutter shaped like the symbol π, and it’s doubly awesome because when you slice up a pizza, you’re literally exploring the relationship between a circle’s circumference and its diameter.
Now, I know it’s too late for Christmas, but maybe that special math geek in your life needs a Valentine’s Day gift?
It’s $18 at Think Geek.
(via Coudal)
by Amy Breen
This was shot in New Jersey over 20 hours. It’s no wonder why over 2,000 flights have been cancelled!
Hey kids! Impress your friends! We’re number 1! It’s not just New Year’s Day on Saturday, it’s also a trick of the numbers — look at all those ones!
And guess what? It won’t happen again until — click for more…
Click to continue reading “Fun with numerological illiteracy”
In 1974, an irritated Cleveland Browns fan sent a letter of complaint to the organization, asking them to please quell what he thought was dangerous behaviour on the part of some of their fans. Here’s the letter he sent:
And, here is the response he received:
(from Clevescene, via Coudal)
Brings to mind this classic “Deep Thoughts,” by Jack Handy:
If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier as to cut them all down? Well, maybe if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.”
Amy and I got a Boxee Box earlier this year and we adore it. As a “Merry Christmas Eve,” the Boxee folks highlighted this video. I thought it was perfect for sharing.
Everyone with a cat knows that it is impossible to wrap Christmas presents with one in the house, because they go absolutely nuts for those shiny, coiled ribbons.
And, everyone with a cat probably spends a shameful amount of money on fancy cat-toys that are designed to bounce and squeak and are invariably ignored about three minutes after the first toss, no matter if it’s spiked with catnip or made from real rabbit fur.
So, the obvious solution is to make some sort of cat toy from ribbon, right? I cannot be the first person to think of this, but on the assumption that I am, I hereby release it into the public domain.
What? You haven’t heard of Absurd Intellectual’s 2010 Politician of the Year, Jon Gnarr? What’s the matter with you? Don’t you follow international politics?
Jon Gnarr is the mayor of Reykjavik, Iceland, elected to that position in June of this year. What qualifies him as this year’s politician of the year is not the fact that he has been a punk rocker, writer, actor, comedian and a creative at an advertising agency. The best part about Mr. Gnarr is that he ran for mayor as a prank. And won.
In Reykjavik, municipal politics has political parties. Gnarr founded the Best Party to lampoon the political process. His political campaign included: Free towels in all swimming pools, getting a polar bear for the Reykjavík Zoo, “all kinds of things for weaklings”, a drug-free parliament by 2020, and (my new favorite buzz-word combination) Sustainable Transparency. On election day, the Best Party won 6 of the 15 available seats and took almost 35% of the vote.
As mayor, he continues with the central premise of his party: making fun of politics. In one of his first mayoral addresses to the city, he spoke like a true politician (ie. complete nonsense):
The odds of you being in Reykjavik are not great. The greatest part of mankind is elsewhere. It is scientifically proven. When I was little, I would often ask myself why I had been born in Reykjavik. Is it a coincidence where one is born? Is it subject to some universal law? Did I exist in any form before I was born? Did I have anything to do with where I was born? Why did Eva Braun and Adolf Hitler not bear any children? Did they not try to? Can it be that no child wanted them as parents? I don’t know, but I do not believe in coincidence. I do not believe that God plays dice, especially not when human lives are concerned. These thoughts inevitably lead one to consider Schrodinger’s cat. He is probably one of the most famous cats in the world (maybe after Ninja Cat). Still no one knows what it was called? What was Schrodinger’s cat called? Abracadabra? I don’t remember. Let’s call it Phoenix. That is a common name for cats. Phoenix was of the nature that it both existed and not. Therefore, it always existed, and even if Schrodinger killed his cat in a rather tasteless manner, it is still alive at Schrodinger’s house, while Schrodinger himself has been dead for a long time.
Does this mean that I always existed, or that I never existed and do therefore not exist now? That can’t be! It would mean that all our existence was unreal and only existed in our own imagination. If I do not exist, then neither do you. I have a hard time believing that. The facts speak for themselves. If I am not real, then how could I fly to Finland, send myself a post card with a picture of Tarja Halonen, the President of Finland, fly back home and welcome the mailman that brought me the card? I don’t know. I am one of many Icelanders that believe in elves and trolls. I mainly believe in Moomin elves. It is more of a certainty than a belief. I have seen them and touched them. I know they exist. I have been to Moominworld in Naantali, Finland. I have evidence; photographs, video recordings and witnesses. I had a good talk with Moomin Papa. He told me that life in Moominvalley was much better after Finland joined the EU. He encouraged us Icelanders to join the EU. He also said that the Moomins had always existed, long before Tove Jansson “invented” them. The Moomins are eternal, at least in books.
I hope these thoughts shed some light on the history of Reykjavik and its culture. I hope you enjoy your time in Reykjavik, that you go swimming a lot and tell all your friends how fun Reykjavik is, and how everyone is always happy there and that you will never forget your hotel, and the eternally young cat Phoenix.
Iceland is in a bad way, financially. It seems to me that any city in a country which found itself for sale on Ebay not so long ago that can elect a comedian for mayor is a city worth visiting.
And perhaps inspiration for the next generation of politicians.
Worried about the Zombie Apocalypse ruining your Christmas? Don’t be! Here is an instructional video to make sure things go smoothly.
(courtesy a zombie-entranced Facebooking friend)
The Antikythera mechanism is one of those historical marvels (perhaps “mysteries” is a better word) that never fails to grab my attention and imagination whenever I come across an article about it.
Discovered in an ancient shipwreck in 1901, the Antikythera mechanism is an ancient clockwork computer from about 100 BCE. It was of a complexity that was not seen again for almost 2000 years. For whatever reason, the skill used to make the device was lost. In fact, it wasn’t until a high-resolution X-ray study was done in 2006 that the real purpose of the device became clear: it was a calculator used, among other things, to predict the movements of heavenly bodies and the timing of eclipses.
The level of knowledge about the movement of celestial bodies required for such a mechanism is boggling, but the degree of engineering needed to make the device is doubly so. How this knowledge was gained and lost is the fodder for a great debate, and the main source of my interest in the topic.
Recently, an engineer recreated the Antikythera mechanism. Out of Lego!
Seeing exactly how the thing works makes me marvel at those ancient nerds all that much more.
(via PCWorld)
Pop your package of beer-making ingredients into this special cask, just add water, and pop it away for a week, then come back to perfectly brewed beer? Sounds awesome.
It’s about $150 and it makes 10 L of beer at a go, so you could get a fast payback, that’s for sure.
Is it too late for Christmas? That’s okay, I’ll forgive you the belated gift.
(thanks, Andrea!)
Puns may be the lowest form of humor, but they still make me laugh. (Sometimes.)
This was one of those times.
Astonishing. The puppeteer behind Alf (Paul Fusco) stays in character through the bloopers and is generally pretty funny and quick-witted.
Then, he drops the N-bomb.
Like, a bunch.
Some commenters on BadTVBlog say that he is probably riffing on a contemporary episode of L.A. Law, but it’s still pretty startling thing to hear.
Ah, Alf, I’ll never look at you the same way again. Also, you cannot eat my cat.
(via BadTVBlog)
I love that this white-wine decanter has an ice chamber designed to keep the wine cool without letting melted ice dilute the wine at all. From the looks of it, the melted water won’t spill out when you pour the wine, either, so long as you’re reasonably careful.
Plus, it’s made from recycled windshields, which is why it has that green tint.
It’s $50 on Uncommon Goods, which is a little pricey, but not really that far-out. Unfortunately, it is currently sold out. Must be popular!
