This isn't a huge surprise if you do much air travel (from which vantage it is, in fact, noticed). But it's still pretty cool.
Forty Years Ago, America’s Farms Completely Changed Their Shape—And No One Noticed
Do you think you know what a cornfield looks like? You don’t know what a cornfield looks like.
Well, not truly random. Self-selected. But I trust the results will be fun.
Originally shared by +Doyce Testerman:
Take the XKCD survey.
Just do it. You probably aren't doing anything else as fun right now, anyway.
xkcd: xkcd Survey
Warning: this comic occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors). BTC 1FhCLQK2ZXtCUQDtG98p6fVH7S6mxAsEey …
Maps of data are cool. Maps from Census data are very cool. Maps from Census data modeled after 19th Century maps from Census data are extraordinarily cool.
Some years ago, I spent a bit of time playing with the "Where's George?" site, entering in the serial numbers of dollar bills to help track how such things move around. I didn't keep up with it because, well, time, and I didn't fee dedicated enough to purchase a little rubber stamp encouraging people to key in those bills when they ran across them.
Fast forward to this morning, and here's a report I got on a dollar bill I updated three years ago. Ironically enough, it's done a circuit from Minnesota to South Dakota to Denver to … Minnesota again.
Nothing profound here, just kind of interesting.
One would think the very concept of tattooing your penis would be intrinsically offputting enough that it would need not further support. But this article offers two further reasons to not … do … that … there.
1. Because if you tattoo your penis with your girlfriend's name, it might become a bit … socially awkward in the future if she becomes your ex girlfriend.
2. If you engage in illegal acts using your penis, it's a lot more identifiable with a tattoo on it.
(Shudders)
Penis tattoo of ex-girlfriend’s name helps police identify Oklahoma rape suspect
US unemployment rate falls to 5.9 percent — a six-year low — as 248000 jobs created · GOP candidate from ‘Duck Dynasty’ clan blames Richard Dawkins, atheists for Sandy Hook massacre · Cops kill Georgia grandpa in no-knock raid triggered by burglary suspect’s tip · Ferguson police make arrests as …
Posting mostly to bookmark this.
Find the Solution to Any Stain with This Searchable Database
Nobody likes a big ugly stain on their carpet or clothing. This searchable database has stain solutions for everything from automotive oil to mustard.
Or Sherlock's study: talc, gunpowder, rosin, and the faint whiff of formaldehyde.
Or the TARDIS: Oil, ozone, dust, and a thousand whiffs of foreign atmospheres.
Or Dumbledore's office: More dust, varnish, incense, and burning bird feathers …
Some things are perhaps better left as visuals.
(h/t +Marty Shaw)
Reshared post from +GeekAlerts
Does your nose know geek when it smells it? Frostbeard’s Geeky Candles provide an aroma for many geeky places, letting you finally know what certain fandoms actually smell like. #candles
(h/t +John E. Bredehoft)
Reshared post from +Jeff Schultz
How an envelope inserter works!
Letters are stacked in hoppers (in this case 2 letters) at the back of the machine. Letters are stacked on top of each other along the track and then pushed into an envelope that is traveling along parallel to the letters. The envelope is sucked open with a vacuum to accept the letters. Then the flapped is moistened with a little brush and sealed shut. Everything is flipped over to keep it in order and so the people operating the machine can watch for different mailing trays, etc.
(h/t +Zachary Cook)
Reshared post from +Alaa Alshafaee
(h/t +John E. Bredehoft)
Reshared post from +Dean Reimer
Here are some US "charities" to avoid like the plague. Your donations do little but fatten the pockets of the people soliciting from you.
America’s Worst Charities
Every year, Kids Wish Network raises millions of dollars in donations in the name of dying children and their families. Every year, it squanders almost every penny. The money gets diverted to enrich the charity’s operators and the for-profit companies Kids Wish hires to drum up donations.
Reshared post from +Google
Today we're revealing the 50 talented state winners of the 2013 U.S. Doodle 4 Google competition—selected from more than 130,000 submissions. We were amazed by the imagination and creativity these young artists showed in illustrating their "Best Day Ever…"
Now it's time for you to vote for your favorite! Starting now through May 10, you can vote for your favorite doodle from each of the five different grade groups. The national winner will be announced on May 22, and their doodle will be displayed on the Google homepage the next day for all to see.
See the winners and vote now: www.google.com/doodle4google/vote.html
Today we’re revealing the 50 talented state winners of the 2013 U.S. Doodle 4 Google competition—selected from more than 130,000 submissions. We were amazed by the imagination and creativity these young artists showed in illustrating their “Best Day Ever…” Now it’s time for you to vote for your favorite! Starting now through May 10, you can vote for your favorite doodle from each of the five different grade groups. The national winner will be announced on May 22, and their doodle will be displayed on the Google homepage the next day for all to see. See the winners and vote now: www.google.com/doodle4google/vote.htmlThis was at the intersection of 17th and Stout. 17th is one-way southeast; Stout is one-way northeast. The light rail runs on Stout the opposite direction, SW.
(Picture/diagram below.)
A. With the traffic signal favoring 17th, guy crosses against the walk/don'twalk signal from the S corner to the W corner of the intersection, across 17th. He's glanced up the street, seen the traffic is far enough away for him to jog across, so no worries, right?
Except he drops his cigarette before making it. A rational person, fully in command of himself, would continue across. His quick time calculation didn't include stopping and picking up the cigarette.
But, like most of us, he reacts to the immediate problem. He stops, backtracks, grabs the cigarette — then has to run to avoid being hit by a car and a bike.
B. The signal changes the other direction. Another guy, crossing from S to E across Stout, knows the he can saunter-jog across the couple of lanes before the traffic on Stout can go from a stop, cross 17th, and hit him.
So he saunter-jogs into the street … and then hears the ding-ding of the light rail train coming SW on Stout, which he didn't see (because he only looked at the one-way traffic that would be coming NE.
At least he doesn't try to outrace the train (since I would likely have been spattered by the impact, standing on the E corner myself). But he doesn't have time to make it back to the curb before the cars arrive.
Fortunately, there is a (very narrow) raised margin between the LTR tracks and the street lanes, and he is able to hop up on it before the (slowing) cars would run into him. I can't imagine it was comfortable with cars whizzing past one way, the train whizzing past the other, but once the train passed I saw him make it to the sidewalk.
…
So, cautionary notes.
1. Your time estimate of how long it will take you to jaywalk or cross against the signal shouldn't be "if everything goes according to plan." If you drop something (perhaps something more important than a cigarette), or if you slip or trip … will you still be able to make it?
2. Your assumptions should always be challenged. Like, which way threats may be coming along the street. Even on a one-way, you could have a bicycle, or a drunken driver, or, well, a train.
3. Waiting for the signal takes time, is inconvenient, and doesn't absolutely guarantee safety (cars plow through intersections all the time). But it's certainly much safer and has a wider margin for error.
Iiiiiiiit’s TAX Time! Woo-hoo!
I heard from the plugin developer yesterday, and when he finally got a free minute to try things out, I’d not set up something properly to let him test. Argh. Hopefully it won’t take another week to get better news.
Olympics
Election Politics
Other
