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If you can’t read Japanese and would like to read the photographer’s comments, paste the links into the ‘Translate a Web page’ section of AltaVista’s Babel fish.
Photo: Steve McCurry
Cultures on the Edge. Cultures on the Edge is an online magazine which spotlights various indigenous cultures from around the world, many of which are endangered due to war and yes, development and modernization.
Check out their fantastic photo galleries: Link | Homepage – via Ursi
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This is one amazing duet.
Marmot’s iGlove has a click wheel built it so you can use your iPod without taking off your gloves in cold weather: Link – via Fosfor Gadgets
Got a minute? Here’s a 4×4 crossword from Loquacious Haruspex:
Across
1. Pear type
5. Woody’s son
6. Bodhidharma’s surfboard?
7. AgreesDown
1. Darl burned one
2. Layered cookie
3. Wintry vehicle
4. Fishes of Kurlansky’s fancy
The answer is here: Link
The bells may toll for Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls – a Washington-area library is tossing out books that haven’t been checked out in years.
Unfortunately, this means classics like books by Hemingway, Faulkner, Proust, and so on:
A software program developed by SirsiDynix, an Alabama-based library-technology company, informs librarians of which books are circulating and which ones aren’t. If titles remain untouched for two years, they may be discarded–permanently. "We’re being very ruthless," boasts library director Sam Clay.
As it happens, the ruthlessness may not ultimately extend to Hemingway’s
classic. "For Whom the Bell Tolls" could win a special reprieve, and, in the future, copies might remain available at certain branches. Yet lots of other volumes may not fare as well. Books by Charlotte Brontë, William Faulkner, Thomas Hardy, Marcel Proust and Alexander Solzhenitsyn have recently been pulled.Library officials explain, not unreasonably, that their shelf space is limited and that they want to satisfy the demands of the public. Every unpopular book that’s removed from circulation, after all, creates room for a new page-turner by John Grisham, David Baldacci, or James Patterson–the authors of the three most checked-out books in Fairfax County last month.
Link – via Metafilter
Whether you like her politics or not, there’s no denying that Nancy Pelosi had just made history today: The Congresswoman from San Francisco became the first woman speaker of the House of Representatives (and 2 heartbeats away from the Presidency).
Check out this weird product : Link [in Japanese] – via Tokyo Mango
This mysterious golf ball-sized metallic object fell from the sky in eastern New Jersey. The cops are baffled as to what it is (the FAA said it is definitely not an airline part):
From the folks at BlueCat Networks, see how an office network administrator got attacked by angry co-workers à la Platoon when the network went down (yes, it’s a clever ad).
Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] – via Videosift and AQFL
Chuan Shi, Wenying Lu, Chuan Shi and Yu Li designed this weird refrigerator and food storage system to look like a tree! Basically, the trunk is the fridge, and you "pick" your own fruit from the various "shelves". Link – via Gizmodo and Born Rich
Here’s a brilliant idea: build your very own blackboard idea globe!Link – via Make
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Ashley’s mom and dad called her their "Pillow Angel" – the girl has a rare medical condition called "static encephalopathy of unknown etiology." Ashley’s condition means that even though her body grows normally, her brain is "stuck" developmentally as a 3-month-old baby.
Ashley’s parents had now revealed that doctors have given Ashley a hormone treatment to limit her growth (as well as to remove her uterus and block the development of her breast), thus stopping her from growing into a woman. In effect, Ashley will forever remain in a child’s body.
Ashley’s parents say that because she will remain the weight of a child, it will be easier for them to move her around, bathe her and involve her in family activities – movement that will benefit her physical and mental well-being.
Dr Douglas Diekema from the University of Washington in Seattle, who was on the ethics committee that gave the go-ahead for Ashley’s treatment, told the BBC that the panel agreed "because the parents convinced us it was in fact in this little girl’s best interests".
"If she were smaller it would be much easier for them to continue to provide a much more personal level of care," he said.
But Agnes Fletcher of the UK’s Disability Rights Commission said is was "unnecessary medical treatment to deal with what is essentially a social problem", referring to "the poverty and lack of support" faced by families with disabled children.
Needless to say, this is controversial. Read the whole story before you decide whether this is morally right or wrong. Links: Ashley’s Blog | BBC | Times – via Internet Monitor
If that Ashley story makes you kind of sad, here’s something to cheer you up, from the always reliable Cute Overload!
Link to Dailymail or a demonstration on the Chicago River [Youtube video]
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Fresh Pics has a collection of buildings with a side painted with landscape. They’re great! Link
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Found at Too Shocking
Ironic Sans has posted a list of 18 inventions patented by celebrities. They were found using the recently launched Google Patent Search. The image above is from a patent filed by Michael Jackson and was used in his Smooth Criminal music video. Link – via Digg
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Size: 0.17 sq. mi. (0.44 km²)
Population: 783 (2005 census)
Location: Rome, Italy
The size of a golf course, the Vatican City [wiki | official website] is the smallest country in the world. It’s basically a walled enclave inside of Rome, Italy. It’s so small that the entire country does not have a single street address.
The Vatican City may be small, but it is very powerful. It is the sovereign territory of the Holy See, or the seat of the Catholic Church (basically its central government), which has over 1 billion people (about 1 in 6 people on the planet) as constituents.
The Vatican City was created in 1929 by the Lateran Treaty (which was signed by one of history’s most repressive dictators, Benito Mussolini) and is ruled by the Pope, basically a non-hereditary, elected monarch who rules with absolute authority (he’s the legislative, executive and judiciary all rolled into one) – indeed, the Pope is the only absolute monarch in Europe.
Another unique thing about the smallest country in the world is that it has no permanent citizens. Citizenship of the Vatican City is conferred upon those who work at the Vatican (as well as their spouses and children) and is revoked when they stop working there.
The Vatican City is guarded by the smallest and oldest regular army in the world, the Swiss Guard [wiki]. It was originally made up of Swiss mercenaries in 1506, now the army (also personal bodyguards of the Pope) number 100, all of which are Catholic unmarried male Swiss citizens. The Swiss Guard’s Renaissance-style uniform was commonly attributed as to have been designed by Michelangelo – this was actually incorrect: the large "skirt" pants were a common style during the Renaissance. Only their uniforms seem antiquated: most of the Swiss Guards carry pistols and submachine-guns.
The official languages of the Vatican City are Latin and Italian. In fact, its ATMs are the only ones in the world that offer services in Latin! And here you thought that Latin is a dead language…
For a country that has no street address, the Vatican City has a very efficient post office: an international mail dropped in the Vatican will get there faster than one dropped in Italy just a few hundred yard away – in fact, there is more mail sent annually per inhabitant from this country (7,200 mails per person) than anywhere else in the world.
The Vatican City has a country code top level domain of .va – currently there are only 9 publicly known .va domains [wiki]. It also has a radio broadcasting service, called Vatican Radio [wiki], which was set up by Guglielmo Marconi (the Father of Radio) himself!
The country’s economy is unique: it is the only non-commercial economy in the world. Instead, the Vatican City is supported financially by contributions of Catholics worldwide (called Peter’s Pence – hey, even the Pope accepts credit cards!), the sale of postage stamps and publications, and tourism.
Lastly, as an ecclesiastical paradise, the Vatican City has no taxes.
Size: 0.8 sq. mi. (1.96 km²)
Population: 35,657 (2006 estimate)
Location: French Riviera on the Mediterranean
Monaco [wiki | official website] is the second smallest country on Earth (it’s roughly the size of New York’s Central Park), yet it’s the most densely populated (23,660 people per km²). Actually, Monaco used to be much smaller than it is now – about 100 acres were reclaimed from the sea and added to its land size. At the narrowest, Monaco is only 382 yards wide!
The Principality of Monaco, its formal name, means that the territory is ruled by a prince. For the last seven centuries, Monaco was ruled by princes of the Grimaldi family from Genoa. (The whole thing started one night in 1297 when François Grimaldi disguised himself as a monk and led a small army to conquer the fortress guarding the Rock of Monaco. The coat of arms of the Grimaldi bears the image of monks with swords!) Now, the Prince shares legislative authority with a National Council.
In 1861, Monaco relinquished half of its territory to France in exchange for cash and independence. When the reigning prince realized that most of Monaco’s natural resources were on the land that got bartered away, he decided to bet the whole economy on … what else, gambling (see, casinos aren’t only for American Indians, it’s a time-tested, universal solution!)
And so began Monte Carlo [wiki], a region of Monaco well known for its glamorous casinos (a setting for Ian Fleming’s first James Bond Novel Casino Royale [wiki]) and its Formula One Grand Prix.
In 1918, Monaco entered a treaty with France for military protection – the treaty, however, also stipulated that Monaco would lose its independence (and become French) should the reigning Grimaldi prince died without leaving a male heir! When Prince Rainier III took over, he was a bachelor and most Monegasques (that means people of Monaco) were gloomy about the country’s future. However, he ended up marrying Hollywood actress Grace Kelly [wiki] – the marriage not only produced a male heir, it also helped burnish Monaco’s image as a glamorous place to be for the wealthy. (Monaco can rest easy now, a new treaty with France stated that the Principality will remain independent even without a male heir).
For a long time, Monaco had no income taxes and was a tax haven for wealthy foreigners and international corporations. This caused a unique thing about Monaco’s population: most of its residents are not native – in fact, only about 1 in 5 people are native Monegasques. After a long dispute with France, Monaco started to impose income taxes on all of its residents who are not born there. Its natural citizens are forbidden from entering casinos, but to make up for it, they do not have to pay any income taxes.
Size: 8 sq. mi (21 km²)
Population: 13,005 (2005 estimate)
Location: Western Pacific Ocean
Nauru [wiki] is the world’s smallest island nation, the smallest independent republic, and the only republic in the world without an official capital.
Nauru only has one significant source of income: phosphates from thousands of years’ worth of guano or bird droppings. This proved to be both a boon and a bane for Nauruans – for a long time, its residents enjoyed a relatively high level of income as the country exported its phosphate like there’s no tomorrow.
The government employed 95% of Nauruans, and lavished free medical care and schooling for its citizens. Most didn’t take advantage of this offer: only one-third of children went on to secondary school. The adults didn’t really work, either – office hours were flexible and the most popular pastime was drinking beer and driving the 20-minute circuit around the island. For a while, Nauru was a paradise – for a brief moment in 1970s, Nauruans were even amongst the richest people on the planet.
Nothing lasts forever and sure enough, Nauru’s phosphate reserves soon dried up and left 90% of the island as a barren, jagged mining wasteland. Wasteful investments (like buying hotels only to leave them to rot) and gross incompetence by the government (former presidents used to commandeer Air Nauru’s planes for holidays, leaving paying customers stranded on the tarmac!) didn’t help either.
As if that’s not bad enough, Nauru is also beset by obesity problem. Decades of leisurely lifestyle and high consumption of alcohol and fatty foods have left as many as 9 out of 10 people overweight! Nauru also has the world’s highest level of type 2 diabetes – over 40% of its population is affected.
So now, Nauruans are poverty-stricken and fat – but they are trying to turn things around. With no natural resource left, in the 1990s, Nauru decided to become a tax haven and offered passports to foreign nationals for a fee. This attracted the wrong kind of money (but a lot of it): the Russian mafia funneled over $70 billion to the tiny island nation. Things got so bad that most big banks refused to handle transactions involving Nauru because of money laundering problems.
This led Nauru to another extraordinary money-making scheme: it became a detention camp for people applying for asylum to Australia!
Size: 9 sq. mi. (26 km²)
Population: 10,441 (2005 estimate)
Location: South Pacific
Tuvalu [wiki] is basically a chain of low-lying coral islands, with its highest elevation being 16 feet or 5 meters above seal level. With total land area of just 9 square miles, Tuvalu is not only a teeny tiny island in the Pacific Ocean, it may not even exist in the next 50 years if sea level continue to rise (a controversial claim, nonetheless there were evacuation plans to New Zealand and other Pacific Islands). Even if the sea level does not rise, other problems such as population growth and coastal erosion still make Tuvalu a very vulnerable country.
During World War II, thousands of American troops were stationed on the islands of Tuvalu and the island became an Allied base. Airfields were quickly constructed and after the war, abandoned. In fact, today rusting wrecks can be found on the islands, a constant reminder of its role in the War.
Today, Tuvalu also derives income from renting out its Internet country code top-level domain .tv, as it is the abbreviation of the word ‘television’. This scheme got off to a rocky start (the original company who tried to do it failed to raise the necessary funds), but finally proved to be the largest source of income for the country.
Size: 24 sq. mi. (61 km²)
Population: 28,117 (2005 estimate)
Location: North-central Italy near the Adriatic coast.
With the formal name of The Most Serene Republic of San Marino [wiki], it’s not surprising that San Marino has got lots of charms. Founded in AD 301 by a Christian stonecutter named (what else) Marino (or Marinus, depending on who you ask), who along with a small group of Christians, was seeking escape from religious persecution, San Marino is the world’s oldest republic.
Its history belies its simple motto: "Liberty." Indeed, San Marino was such a good neighbor that it was hardly ever conquered by larger enemies (it was briefly conquered in the 1500s and the 1700s, for like a month each). Even when Napoleon gobbled most of Europe, he left San Marino alone, saying it was a model republic!
San Marino takes its government seriously: for such a tiny country, San Marino has a very complex government structure, based on a constitution written in 1600. The country is ruled by an elected Council of 60, who appoints 2 captain regents (from opposing political parties, no less) to administer governmental affairs for six-month term. Talk about preserving liberties through division of authority!
Before World War II, San Marino was amongst the poorest countries in Europe. Today, with more than 3 million tourists visiting every year (half of San Marino’s income is derived from tourism), the people of San Marino are amongst the world’s richest people.
This week’s collaboration with What is it? blog is the photo above of this strange tool. Can you guess what it is?
For more guess the objects game, check out What is It? – no prize this week (still waiting to hear from my shirt screenprinters), so you’re playing for bragging rights.
Update 1/11/07: It’s a fire tong used to pick up hot coals. Closest guest is #1 withvous, who guessed a fireplace set. Congrats!
After 500 years of employing only male Tower of London guards, the famous landmark has hired its first female Beefeater:
The Tower of London has appointed a female Beefeater for the first time in its history. Since 1485, the Tower of London has only employed male Beefeaters, but in September the first Yeoman Warder will join the 35-strong guard.
She fought off competition from five other candidates, all male, and will replace a retiring Beefeater. A successful candidate must have served a minimum of 22 years in the forces as well as boast a long service and good conduct medal.
And no, that’s not the pic of a woman Beefeater: Link – via A Welsh View
Popular Mechanics has a compilation of the Top 10 Special Effects in Movie History as judged by some industry insiders: Link – via Gorilla Mask
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Cellar Image of the Day has a picture of this giant rabbit (22 lb!), bred by Karl Szmolinsky of Eberswalde, Germany.
See also: Bodmin the Gigantic Rabbit, and Neatorama’s most popular post of all time: Top 15 Amazingly Fat Cats
Look closely, every object in Thomas Broome’s art series called ModernMantra are cleverly spelled out: Link – via Notcot
Say No to Crack has the Top 10 Most Embarrassing Moments of 2006, this clip above is the most embarrassing newscast, the channel 6 weather guy who screamed like a little girl because of a cockroach.
Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] | See the whole list: Link
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Mike Libby "mods" regular (dead) insects and other critters like spiders using small gears and mechanical parts of of antique pocketwatches and wristwatches. If you haven’t seen his website (that went round the ‘Net not too long ago), here it is: Link – via Jaf Project
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The Uber Review has the Top 15 Google Logos: Link – via digg
Before those teeny tiny cell phones, "mobile" phones meant something else (like luggage): Link – via Boing Boing
Got bees? Here’s how to get rid of bees the redneck way! Link – via Gorilla Mask
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