Don't Panic! Lighten Up!S


Sun

Meteorologist Goes Viral with Phony Apocalyptic Forecast

This summer's heat waves could be exponentially worse. What if we were dealing with volcanoes and tidal waves at the same time? Or if Godzilla was our only chance of survival against a superstorm?


In response to the Fake NBC12 Twitter account, meteorologist Aaron Justus of CBS 6 in Richmond, Va., created this parody weather report. The video was only released online, not on the air, but it certainly puts a little bit of perspective on the usual woes about July weather.

Smiley

Clarke and Dawe - Wimbledon 2012

Dennis Elbow meets Clarke and Dawe as Merkel breezes through the draw.


Smiley

5,000 Ducks March Through Streets In China

ITN News filed this report. In the Chinese city of Taizhou, duck farmer Hong Minghs knows that nature is best. So he marches his ducks to a feeding pond a couple times a year to get plenty of bugs to eat and save on food costs. People stuck in traffic behind the 5,000 bird march don't seem as pleased about the march.




Smiley

Eau de Novel: Book-scented perfume gives eReaders whiff of authenticity

book perfume
© Unknown
eReader adoptees who miss the nostalgic niff of real paper books, can now coat their Kindles and Nooks in Paper Passion, a perfume that bottles the very scent of bookshops.

The Paper Passion fragrance captures the odour of a freshly printed book, its maker claims, so if you share the late Ray Bradbury's sentiments that e-books "smell like burned fuel", perhaps a splash of the scent is the incentive you need to make the digital switch.

It may not have quite the same effect as a Jean-Baptiste Grenouille concoction, and any nerdy Apple fans are more likely to crowd round the stud who wears Cupertino "unboxing" cologne, but I'm sure there are plenty of bookworms out there who would be unconsciously lured to its literary seductiveness too.

The scent itself was created by perfumer Geza Schoen, who captured the odour as part of a Wallpaper* Magazine Handmade design exhibition in Milan. She says: "You have a book, you open it, there's a bottle inside and it smells of a book. It might be quirky, but the idea has a simplicity, a linearity."

Bottles of Paper Passion are now on sale and can be picked up for £70 each. Splash it all over.

Comment: Why not read a real book?


Magnify

Egyptian Democracy is either Dead or in Coma

Reports of Hosni Mubarak's death are exaggerated, and Egypt holds its first election since his ouster -- but the military dissolves the country's elected parliament. (05:19)


Pi

Sing a Song of Pi

Music and mathematics are intimately intertwined, but not always like this. The composer includes some cool Pi facts.


Writes asongscout:
This is a song I wrote to help me memorize π, since I can memorize music easier than strings of numbers. In my mind, I can hear the melody, and figure out the numbers.

Smiley

'Game of Thrones' Puts the Severed Head of Bush Jr. on a Spike

Bush
© Minyanville
Last week, Minyanville reported that former Apple CEO Steve Jobs will be battling Joker in theaters next year. Though some would argue that it's regrettable that the visionary will be played by the goofy and floppy Two and a Half Men star Ashton Kutcher, the Apple leader's legacy will still be less tarnished than that of another chief.

SPOILER ALERT!

In Game of Thrones, when newly minted King Joffrey shows his bride-to-be/captive Sansa Stark the severed head of her father along the city walls, it's gruesome and emotionally wrenching. But, at least dear departed Ned Stark had some good company with another past head of state.

Both Gawker and iO9 have confirmed that one of the heads in this scene is that of former President George W. Bush.

Bush Head on Spike
© Minyanville

Smiley

Then and Now: High School - 1958 vs. 2012

School Dance
© Economic Noise
Scenario 1:
Jack goes duck hunting before school and then pulls into the school parking lot with his shotgun in his truck's gun rack.
1958 - Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack's shotgun, goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack.
2012 - School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.

Scenario 2:

Johnny and Mark get into a fist fight after school.
1958 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.
2012 - Police called and SWAT team arrives - they arrest both Johnny and Mark. They are both charged with assault and both expelled even though Johnny started it.

Scenario 3:

Jeffrey will not be still in class, he disrupts other students.
1958 - Jeffrey sent to the Principal's office and given a good paddling by the Principal. He then returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.
2012 - Jeffrey is given huge doses of Ritalin. He becomes a zombie. He is then tested for ADD. The family gets extra money (SSI) from the government because Jeffrey has a disability.

Scenario 4:

Billy breaks a window in his neighbor's car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.
1958 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college and becomes a successful businessman.
2012 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse, Billy is removed to foster care and joins a gang. The state psychologist is told by Billy's sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has an affair with the psychologist.

Fish

Young Polar Bear Throws A Rock Breaking Window at the Zoo


Polar Bear get's ANGRY and throws a large ROCK cracking his own enclosures glass. Captivity must suck....

Two visitors at Rotterdam Zoo have captured the moment a polar bear almost shatters a submerged pane of glass in his enclosure with a rock.

The two men, filming the side of the bear's enclosure, capture the animal swimming around before they are caught by surprise as a rock thunders against the glass.

Fortunately for the men, the pane was strong enough not to shatter. The arctic beast has been relocated to a different pen while the glass is repaired.

Smiley

DDoS panic after Mr. Sulu posts link on Facebook

ISP can't believe George Takei has so many fans

Star Trek hero George Takei unleashed such a wave of interest after posting a link on his Facebook page - to a website which was selling a 'Takei T-shirt' - that the site's ISP assumed that the traffic was a DDoS attack and took the site down for several hours.

The Star Trek star posted a link to a gay-pride T-shirt with a Takei twist to his two million fans on the social network and the click-through rates were so high that his servers believed they were being attacked by a nefarious bot rather than customers with a genuine interest in Takei-themed T-shirts.

takei tee shirts
© UnknownThe Takei T-shirts that drove the internet wild
"Apparently, my fans here collectively can now resemble a coordinated worldwide web assault," Takei said in a Facebook post, after the site had been brought back online.