Random happy gibberish

Mark Wieczorek explains: “I got a forum full of pessimistic, negative curmudgeons to tell me the words that made them happiest. Then I stuck the words in a script so they’d form something resembling sentences.”

3 years ago
Possibly the most demonic pumpkin I’ve ever encountered, carved by Carl. Only finished in 4th place at this evenings pumpkin-off, due to poor performance in the all-important candle access category.

Possibly the most demonic pumpkin I’ve ever encountered, carved by Carl. Only finished in 4th place at this evenings pumpkin-off, due to poor performance in the all-important candle access category.

3 years ago

Burdock & Velcro

Burdock, the more obscure of the ingredients that comprise the traditional English drink Dandelion & Burdock, was the inspiration behind Velcro.

In 1941, Swiss inventor George de Mestral wondered why burdock seeds stuck so easily to his dogs fur, put some under a microscope, and copied the hook-and-loop system to stick other things together.

It took him 15 years to refine the system and get his first patent. The big breakthrough came when he made the hooks a lot smaller and more numerous than the loops; this way, hook-ups are guaranteed when the two touch.

3 years ago
3 years ago

An impressively witty after-dinner speech from Barack Obama: “If I had to name my greatest strength… my humility. My greatest weakness… it’s possible I’m a little too awesome.”

3 years ago

Money as debt

A 47-minute video that explains why money exists, how it’s created, and suggests how the world financial system can be improved tosupport a sustainable world future.

In a nutshell: ditch banks, have governments do all that stuff, and varyingly redistribute collected loan interest amongst the population to keep the value of currency steady.

Interestingly, there are hints (albeit extremely subtle ones) of this proposition in the part-nationalisation of the banks that GB’s been championing recently. Sounds like a subtle blend of capitalism and communism to me: viva the third way!

3 years ago
”

Everyone sub-consciously knows that banks don’t lend money they have. When you withdraw money, they don’t tell you you can’t because it’s been lent to somebody else.

Mark Mansfield
3 years ago
1: Three people of different nationalities walk into a bar. Two of them say something smart, and the third one makes a mockery of his fellow countrymen by acting dumb.
2: Three blokes walk into a pub. One of them is a little bit stupid, and the whole scene unfolds with a tedious inevitability.
3: How many members of a certain demographic group does it take to perform a specified task? - A finite number: one to perform the task and the remainder to act in a manner stereotypical of the group in question.
3 years ago

Nasal cycle

We don’t breathe equally through both nostrils - at any given time one of them is more open, with more air flow, alternating over a 4 hour cycle.

3 years ago
”

The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all comprehensible.

Albert Einstein
3 years ago