Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Budweiser waters down its beer, lawsuit alleges

Budweiser waters down its beer, lawsuit alleges

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/budweiser-waters-down-its-beer-lawsuit-alleges-1C8566405


=====


How could they tell ?




The satirical website The Onion has a list of changes made to Budweiser over the years.
My favorite:



1976: Removed the words "Tastes like ferrets smell if it's not ice-cold" from the Budweiser Pledge


http://www.theonion.com/articles/budweiser-can-sports-new-look,21116/




Tuesday, February 26, 2013

nerd tipper


Reenactor Humor


Monday, February 25, 2013

Soviet Toilet "flush"


Given the history of the Soviet Union, it should say "PURGE."



Friday, February 22, 2013

The Great Latke-Hamantash Debate

 

Background:


The University of Chicago has an ongoing winter event -- started by Jewish students to spoof the Rabbinic propensity to debate almost anything -- The Annual Latke-Hamentashen Debate.

 

As you probably know, latkes are oil-fried potato pancakes and are the traditional food eaten during Hanukkah, and hamentashen are the triangular cookies eaten during Purim.

 

Since 1946, the University of Chicago has hosted a debate over the central question: Latke or Hamentashen, which one is better?

 

The debaters use their field of experience to examine the issue. An architect might argue the case based on the aesthetic pleasure of a circle over a triangle.  A mathematician might base an argument on the proportions used in their respective recipes. One person even constructed an argument based on the Feminist perspective.

 

My friend Brian has given a lecture there. He based his argument on the sonic qualities of Latke vs Hamentashen, waving each one in front of a Theremin.

 

Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Latke-Hamantash_Debate

It gives some examples of the various diciplines that have been brought to bear on this cosmic question:

 

  • Professor Wendy Doniger of the divinity school, in a carefully footnoted paper entitled "The Archetypal Hamentasch: A Feminist Mythology", asserts that hamentaschen are a womb equivalent, and were worshipped in early matriarchal societies.

 

  • Professor Alan Dershowitz, during a debate at Harvard University, accused the latke of increasing the United States' dependence on oil.

 

  • When he was President of Princeton University, Harold Tafler Shapiro argued the hamentaschen's superiority by pointing out the epicurean significance of the "edible triangle" in light of the literary "Oedipal triangle."

 

  • Michael Silverstein, professor in anthropology, linguistics, and psychology, argues that it is not mere coincidence that the English translation of the letters on the dreidl spells out T-U-M-S.
 

A collection of many of the presentations has been published

The Great Latke-Hamantash Debate

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/presssite/metadata.epl?mode=synopsis&bookkey=166696

 

excerpt at: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/100235.html

 

 


 

Thursday, February 21, 2013

15 Awesome Chemistry Experiments | True Activist

 Animated GIF files showing 15 Awesome Chemistry Experiments
My favorite: Liquid Nitrogen Mixed With 1500 Ping Pong Balls

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

An Asteroid's Parting Shot

As you may have heard, the asteroid 2012 DA14 silently glided past Earth on Friday, Feb. 15, 2013. Observations using radar have shown it to be an elongated rock about 20 x 40 meters (65 x 130 feet) in size. Normally such a small rock would evince little interest, but this one came close, missing the Earth by about 27,000 kilometers (17,000 miles).


It still didn't get very bright; it was invisible to the naked eye. But with digital cameras and dark skies, snapping pictures of it was a matter of knowing where to aim, something photographer Colin Legg knows very well. From Perth, Australia, he captured this lovely time-lapse video of the asteroid moving past Earth right at the time of closest approach, 19:24 UTC. And he captured more than just DA14; there are some other surprises in the video, too.

You can see DA14 sliding through the video from top to bottom on the left side of the frame.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/02/19/near_earth_asteroid_2012_da14_seen_in_time_lapse_video.html


Friday, February 15, 2013

Uncle Charles

 

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Geek Valentine


Puritan Valentine's Day cards

Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy. " - H. L. Mencken

T.P. positions and what they say about you

 

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Thou fawning fly-bitten foot-licker!

 

Thursday, February 07, 2013

BBC News: Two hurt in attack by komodo dragon in Indonesia


Two men have been injured in an attack by a komodo dragon in a wildlife park in eastern Indonesia, park officials say.

The 2m (7ft) long lizard attacked a park ranger in his office, then turned on another employee who tried to come to his aid.
Both suffered serious leg wounds and were being monitored in hospital.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-21351127


Bob and Ray - Komodo Dragon  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM86QCvPDHE 



Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Haiku


Zombie virus spreads.
Finally, men like women
because of their brains.



Tuesday, February 05, 2013

The Persistence of Memory (but not of image)



André Cassagnes, Etch A Sketch Inventor, Is Dead at 86

 

Monday, February 04, 2013

You can get here from there


So, how *does* the internet reach all around the world?
Underwater cables.
Here's the map.  http://www.telegeography.com/telecom-resources/map-gallery/submarine-cable-map-2013/index.html




Game Over


And so it ends, and in a few days children all over the Third World will be wearing t-shirts that say, "Superbowl Champions 49ers."

Friday, February 01, 2013

Nerds of the World! Justice is yours!