281 tricks to irritate an atheist

By akie

1. Ask them why they are bitter against God.
2. Tell them that if there’s no God, they might as well go out and kill people.
3. Ask them to pray with you.
4. Invite their children to go to church with you.
5. Insist that there is a God, and show them where in the Bible it says so.
6. …
7. …

Maybe a little bit too bitter, but some made me laugh anyway.

Link

On 9/11

By akie

World map

By akie

Same place, different map. Strange, eh?

My conversation with Cleverbot

By akie

At Cleverbot.com you can talk to a computer program. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be very clever yet:

User: Do you know the difference between white and black?
Cleverbot: Yes I know the difference.
User: Tell me.
Cleverbot: I have ears.
User: That’s not a very good answer.
Cleverbot: Yes. You think I am christina : I lied.
User: My my, the turing test is still way off for you, now isn’t it?
Cleverbot: The cuisine is more sweet than Biblical.
User: You call yourself clever?
Cleverbot: Hell yes I do.
User: Because a point about the turing test implies a reply about cuisine and the bible?
Cleverbot: What the heck?
User: Ok, simple things then.
Cleverbot: Like?
User: Nice weather, hey?
Cleverbot: Very nice!
User: Has it been this nice for a long time?
Cleverbot: About 7 years.
User: 7 years of nice weather - wow. You are one lucky bot!
Cleverbot: We don’t have ‘food’, only Mars bars.
Cleverbot (To myself): I love Mars bars.

Egg science

By akie

J. Kenji Lopez-Alt has done some serious science on how to boil an egg - and he found a way to boil it perfection, time and time again:

In this image, the egg to the right has been in the water for half an hour longer than the egg to the left, yet they’re both perfectly cooked.

So how did he do it?

Wildlife Photographer of the Year

By akie

JL Rodriguez won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009 award with this stunning photo of an Iberian wolf:

Link

Future is now: Scientists write memories directly into fly brains

By akie

“Researchers have devised a way to write memories onto the brains of flies, revealing which brain cells are involved in making bad memories.”

Link

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

By akie

By Flickr user Mike Jones

Rethinking the desktop

By akie

How can you change a computer’s user interface to work with touch technology, like your iPhone? I think this video has part of the answer:

Churchill motivational posters

By akie

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Mingling in the international community

By akie

A friend of mine wrote this:

In international environments, such as Geneva, you will encounter people from many different cultures and backgrounds. Without proper precautions, encounters with people so different from yourself might quickly go awry. Having observed interactions between many people for a while, I was able to compile the following list of tips to ensure smooth sailing in a sea of sensitivities. Note that this list only contains only genuine items - techniques tried in practice. All of them have been observed, not made up, it all really happened, and I was lucky enough to be present to bring you these gems of diplomacy.

Tips for people from …

Check your passport to see if any of these tips apply to you.

China

• Cook and eat like in you’re in China, preferably while other people are trying to eat.
• Explain that Falung Gong members are involved in politics and not just religion. Proceed to say that therefore it’s logical that they’re being persecuted.

Germany

• Ask someone for his or her nationality. Remind them how many days it took the Nazi’s to conquer that country.

USA

• Make sure your presence is noted. Use your accent to alert a whole room or train at once.
• Mix in “y’know”, and “like” when speaking a language other than English to make things clear.
• Act surprised whenever somebody has never heard of something only found in the US.

Upon encountering people from…

Once you’ve figured out the nationality of whomever you’re talking to, use the following tips to get a conversation going.
(more…)