Chicken! From a Cup!

Well, it's from a can, but I can't resist the Dr. Tran reference. Anyway, this guy's blog post about canned chicken has been making the rounds. What makes it special? They canned the whole chicken...



Mmmmmmm finger lick'n good.



Read about the whole experiment here.

Did You Know?

This is a fun video my mom sent me that illustrates the exponential nature of our world.



Big numbers set to Fat Boy Slim; it doesn't get any better than this!

My Name Is Simon!

Drawing is one of those things that appears to be entirely talent based. It's like some people are born able to draw and other people can't. I am solidly among the 'can't'. No amount of Bob Ross can help me.

Not to worry, technology has come to the rescue! The scribbler uses boring old math to turn my crappy drawing:



Into a modern work of art!



Isn't it amazing?

$126.00 without frame.

Gin Vapor

Here is a new one. A 'temporary' bar has set up shop in London offering gin and tonic air. With a ultrasonic humidifier they will pump fun juice into a room for $7 an hour.

Sounds like fun, but there are problems.

You have to wear protective clothing like this:



Half the reason for going out is to put on your bar cloths.

The second problem is what do you do with your hands? There is a reason that social activities revolve around food, drink, and smoking. It gives you something to do during a break in conversation.

What are you suppose to do here? Breathe deeper?

Car Pancake

I can't put into words the raw power shown in this video. Those crazy Mythbusters have busted the myth that a car would pancake between two semis in season 3. However, in last night's special they do their best to provide the necessary force to pancake a vehicle to the point of fused metal...

Somalia Coast Guard

This is an interesting essay about how to develop a modern day band of pirates.

Step 1: Dissolve your government. Overthrowing dictators is fun and educational, but it inevitably leaves the role of 'figurehead' unfilled. Somalia's dictator was overthrown in 1991 by some allied rival gangs who turned on each other after their victory.

Step 2: Lose your livelihood. With no government to apply regulations or protection, the coastal waters of Somalia become free for the raping of natural resources, mainly fish.

Step 3: Have radioactive waste wash up on your shore. In 1998 an Italian newspaper uncovered an illegal dumping deal between Achair Partners and Progresso. They were dumping incredibly toxic materials for $8 a ton. To dump that material properly it would cost over $1000 a ton.

Step 4: Take matters into your own hands. The local fishermen began patrolling their own waters. Effectively becoming their own coast guard, the fishermen began hijacking illegal vessels in their waters.

Step 5: Profit. With no government check coming in the mail, the fishermen soon discovered other ways to pay for their endeavors.

Funny how different a dictator looks when put in perspective.

AIG Buys Cows

A friend of mine sent me this analogy for why AIG went so terribly wrong. Here is the story of two cows.

You have two cows.

John Paulson borrows one cow so he can sell it for $100. He gives you $10 as collateral.

You buy your neighbors cow for $100, which you finance by taking out a $90 loan from the bank and use John's $10 to make up the rest.

You brag to everyone about your financial health. You have assets--two cows you own, plus one Paulson owes you--worth $300, and liabilities of just $100.

A third of the country goes vegetarian.

You thought your two cows were worth $200 and now they are worth $140.

You express confidence in your financial health. Your assets are now worth only $200--your two cows plus the one John owes you--but your liabilities are still only $100. If necessary, you could sell the assets at this distressed price and pay off all your loans.

You hold onto your cows because you are sure the market is "dislocated." Some day someone will want to eat beef again.

The rest of the country goes vegetarian. Your two cows are now worth $2 each to guys who want to make dog food.

John Paulson buys a cow in the market for $2 and he gives it to you as repayment of the loan. You now have three cows worth six bucks.

John wants his $10 back.

The bank calls. It wants its $90 back.

You call the Federal Reserve and ask for a bailout.

Religiosity

We've had an almost crushingly large amount of religious conversations lately, and I would be remiss to not archive at least a few of the links we ran across during our discussion.

The conversation ran over a wide range of topics, enough that I'm not going to attempt to encapsulate it here in it's entirety. Instead I'm jut going to provide the links to a few interesting nuggets, and I'll let you hash it out in your own head.

One of the first questions we bantered about was how much religion exists in the world, and how it is currently fairing. Turns out Gallup did an interesting survey to look at how 'religious' is our country.

It's an quick read, but the two main points that come from it are,

1. The more rich/first world your country is, the less stock you put in religion.
   
2. America is below average for global religiosity, but we're very religious relative to other rich/first world countries.
   

(As an aside, Gallup showed that the Southern States, such as Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas have similar religious fervor to Lebanon, Iran, and Iraq.)

The second path the discussion took was whether those people claiming religious ties were true believers or if they were more likely agnostic. The central question being does a religious person behave in a different manner than an atheist? Does belief in a supernatural higher being change a person's day to day life?

We didn't really get around to answering that, but we did get a lot closer to defining atheist and agnostic. The atheist looks something like this:

Now, what's the difference between an invisible, incorporeal, floating dragon who spits heatless fire and no dragon at all? If there's no way to disprove my contention, no conceivable experiment that would count against it, what does it mean to say that my dragon exists? Your inability to invalidate my hypothesis is not at all the same thing as proving it true. Claims that cannot be tested, assertions immune to disproof are veridically worthless, whatever value they may have in inspiring us or in exciting our sense of wonder.

and the agnostic looks something like the video below.

April Fools

Yay, the internet goes crazy!

Nine Inch Nails releases a new album produced by Timbaland called Strobe Light.

Expedia is now offering trips to Mars for only $99!

Warner Bros. acquires The Pirate Bay

Alpine Hero was Announced:



ThinkGeek is selling Squeeze Bacon, a Unicorn Chaser, and my personal favorite:

The Tauntaun Sleeping Bag.



Note the zipper is a lightsaber.