Have you noticed the video of an athlete in a race where she was taking her sweet time with the hurdles? Well, that was Jolien Boumkwo of Belgium in the European Team Championships in Krakow, Poland. It wasn’t that the country sent the worse runner because she was their only and/or best bet– it was due to the fact that they had no choice. Anyone was enough for the second heat of the 100-meter hurdles.

The two hurdlers they brought to the meet got injured, and if the country did not send a delegate to the starting line in the hurdle event, their team would be disqualified. Running out of choices, this is when Boumkwo entered the picture. The shot-putter volunteered. “I thought the chance would have been very small of me having to do this,” she shared. 

Boumkwo only learned that she will be running the day before, but she was not that nervous. She shared that she tried to not think about it too much and just enjoy it. “If I’m going to do this, I want to make the best of it and try to enjoy it,” she stated. Well, she did seem to have fun. The athlete smiled and waved to the camera, and the 29-year-old took the race seriously and took it hurdle by hurdle. Her goal was not to win, but to finish on her feet. She cleared every obstacle and finished in 32.81 seconds, which is pretty good for someone who wasn’t really trained for that sport.

Image credit: Aleksandra Szmigiel/Reuters

Billy Joel released the song "We Didn't Start the Fire" in the fall of 1989. It was a list of 118 newsworthy events that happened between 1949 and 1989, set to music. Joel himself didn't think much of the tune, but the song went to #1, and was quite meaningful to his fellow Baby Boomers.

Today, we have a new version that's almost like a sequel. Fall Out Boy released a cover of the song with lyrics that list things that happened between 1989 and 2023. There's a lot of them. The song has received mixed reviews so far. Some people love it because it contains what Millennials have experienced. Others criticized the song because the events aren't at all in chronological order, and some major things were omitted, like the Covid-19 pandemic and the fall of the Soviet Union. The lyrics are in the music video, and also listed at the YouTube page.  -via Digg

Conventional wisdom tells us that pizza was invented in Naples, Italy, in the 17th century. It was a simple street dish of flatbread, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese. And sure, that's pretty much what it is today, except it now comes delivered in a cardboard box, often with extra toppings. But archaeologists working in the ancient Italian city of Pompeii that was buried in ash fron the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD have uncovered a fresco that depicts a dish that looks suspiciously like pizza. Did the doomed city have their own version of pizza 2,000 years ago? Or is the Italian Culture Ministry, who released the image, looking for more funding?

That would depend on how you define "pizza." The dish depicted in Pompeii was certainly "other food served on flatbread," but there was no mozzarella cheese in that era, and tomatoes weren't available until they were imported from the Americas. What the Pompeii fresco shows is more likely fruit served on flatbread (focaccia), possibly pomegranate and dates, sprinkled with spices or pesto. -via Metafilter

One Mefite suspects it may even have been a pineapple pizza, which another Mefite declared was grounds for destroying the city by volcanic eruption.

(Image credit: Italian Culture Ministry)

Six Flags Magic Mountain will turn its 30-acre parking lot into a solar farm. The 12-megawatt solar carport energy structure will be installed over the visitor and employee parking lot, providing shade for visitors' cars. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/6djyIt8R0d

— Cheri Jacobus (@CheriJacobus) June 27, 2023

Talk about killing many birds with one stone! We've lamented about too much space being allotted for parking lots in America's car culture. We've talked about how great solar energy is, but it takes up a lot of space. And everyone has experienced trying to cool a way-too-hot car, which requires a lot of energy. And there are other benefits to this scheme, too.

The project will be California's largest solar energy project and the world's largest renewable energy site built by a for-profit organization, producing 20.8 million kilowatt hours of energy annually. 3/3

— Cheri Jacobus (@CheriJacobus) June 27, 2023

Six Flags is not the first place to install solar panels in a parking lot, but they might be the first place to make a lot of people aware of it. You see it at schools and government offices in California, but rarely at a private business in which the upfront cost dissuades the bean counters from making the initial investment. However, Walmart is beginning to roll out the idea in California. France passed a law earlier this year requiring that parking lots of a certain size install solar panels.

Construction on Six Flags' "solar carport" will begin later this summer and is expected to be completed late this year or in early 2024.  -via Fark

The Wright Brothers didn't get publicity for their airplane for a long time because their short flight in 1903 wasn't impressive enough to prove that the plane worked. They could have learned a lesson or two from Thomas Edison, who was a master at self-promotion. Take the credit first, then work out the details later.

In September of 1878, Thomas Edison told the press that he had invented the light bulb, and newspaper reporters wanted to come see it for themselves. But Edison's light blub was nowhere near ready. He simply wanted to get ahead of the other guys who were working on electric light bulbs. Edison's prototype bulbs tended to burn out after only a few minutes of emitting light, which wasn't at all useful. Taking back his grand announcement was unthinkable, as he had already established himself as America's greatest inventor when he unveiled the phonograph a year before. So Edison managed reporter's witness sessions in a manner that left them quite impressed, and the newspaper stories that resulted staved off any competition for the invention of the light bulb. More than a year later, he was glad to demonstrate a long-burning bulb after he worked the kinks out. Read about Edison's "full speed ahead" promotion of the light bulb at Smithsonian. -via Damn Interesting

(Image credit: Oaktree b)

In 1990, United Airlines offered a lifetime, unlimited pass for flights. It cost Tom Stuker of New Jersey $290,000, but with that pass, he's flown 23,000,000 miles, which is equivalent of three round-trip journeys from the Earth to the Moon.

Pictured above is an infographic created by the Washington Post, which interviewed Stuker. It shows just one year of flights. As you can see, he averaged more than one per day.

United Airlines doesn't offer this special pass anymore, but it doesn't resent Stuker's hustle. He's treated like royalty by the airline and given luxury hotel stays, gourmet meals, and limousine service as he travels over the world.

Stuker is arguably the world's foremost expert on airline travel and offers advice to flyers. This includes telling flight attendants that he remembers them from previous flights, even if it's a lie, because they'll provide extra service. That may be unethical, but he's certainly correct about his final piece of advice: if you use your cell phone, use headphones instead of playing the speaker.

That should be common courtesy, but is occasionally uncommon.

-via Flowing Data | Image: Washington Post

Long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or even The Incredible Hulk TV series, the world was treated to  3 Dev Adam, or Three Giant Men. The 1973 Turkish film featured Captain America, Spider-Man, and Santo with no authorization or input from Marvel or the characters' creators. It wasn't the first Turkish ripoff of comic book superheroes, but it was the first to feature several of them together.

But what really made the movie so unique was the fact that the comic books weren't even available in Turkey when this film was made! The characters were designed after old serials, movies, and cartoons. The producers of 3 Dev Adam gave us Captain America yielding a gun instead of his shield, Spider-Man as the villain of the movie with different powers, and Santo the luchador taking his mask off. Neon Harbor gives us the story of 3 Dev Adam for those unfamiliar with it. Those who have seen the movie are impressed to see clips in high-definition instead of bootleg quality. -via Digg

Update: Neon Harbor has issued a video correction on the inspiration for Captain America.

Maycee Kay Aycock and Sarah Marshall of Meredith College did not do well in the USA South Conference Championship golf tournament. The Meredith Avenging Angels were not going to be champions. Aycock and Marshall were the worst college golfers in America. Both women cried in the bathroom, when the mother of another player from another school told them they were heroes and shouldn't listen to the mean girls.

The full story is amazing. The Meredith College women's golf team started the year with six players, but by February was down to only two. They must have four players to compete in tournaments, and they must play a certain number of tournaments to be eligible for the championship. Furthermore, their conference had to have a certain number of teams to participate, and losing Meredith would cost the entire conference a shot at the USA South Conference Championship. Maycee Kay and Sarah answered a campus-wide call for players from coach Jimmy Hamilton and made the team, even though neither had ever finished a complete 18-hole round of golf. They didn't know the rules. Aycock had no clubs, and Marshall only had a child sized set.

Marshall scored 276 in one round of her first college tournament, which has to be some kind of record. In case you didn't know, the lowest score wins in golf.

"Did you ever see scores as high as ours?" they asked him.

"I didn't know scores got this high," he said.

But no matter how badly they played, and no matter how much they suffered, both physically and psychologically, they stayed with the game for the rest of the year. What Aycock and Marshall had done was save their team, and also saved their conference. You'll be glad you read about them. -via Metafilter

(Image credit: Meredith College)

The man behind OpenAI, the company that has been spearheading the wide use of AI in different industries has more tricks up his sleeve. Financial Times has revealed that Sam Altman, the CEO of the organization, is in talks to secure around $100 million investment for Worldcoin. 

Worldcoin is another of his ventures that involve scanning everybody’s eye and exchanging their data for some amount of crypto. It aims to invoke OpenAI’s vision of powerful automation, and promises to usher a “path to AI-funded UBI.” Sounds a bit vague to us, to be honest. With how the crypto industry has been facing quite a downfall, the news of Altman securing $100 million in investment for his project is quite surprising. But it is a testament to how he can persuade investors and how much weight his name brings to the table. 

While the idea of scanning every single eyeball in the world sounds a bit tedious and ridiculous to achieve, Worldcoin has been making progress on its project. According to Fortune, roughly 40,000 people’s irises got scanned with the company’s orb-shaped device per week starting in March of this year, for an estimated total of 1.4 million people getting their eyes scanned. That’s a lot– but not enough compared to the 8 billion people on the planet. 

Image credit: Engin Akyurt

If we ever found a piece of artwork made by a renowned artist for such a low price, we’d cry too. Thrift store enthusiast Nancy Cavaliere was in an establishment trying to find the next set of trinkets that would join her collection in her apartment when she discovered some interesting-looking ceramics that was being sold for $1.99 per plate. “I stumbled on the plates during my daily trip to the store,” Cavaliere told Newsweek. “On my way out I noticed some new china had been added to the shelves. My first reaction was that they would make a great tablescape, but then I turned them over and saw the Picasso tag.”

Whether or not the Picasso tag was real, the plates were fascinating and cheap enough for her, so she checked out and ran back to her office to do some research. It turns out that the plates she got were part of a large set of ceramics that the famed artist did during his time. Realizing just how much value she just got for a measly $6 in total, she freaked out and started crying. 

Now, Cavaliere shares just how she screamed and threw up during the auction for her plates, which they were initially expecting to only sell for around $4,000 each. The collectors, however, surprised her when all of the ceramics sold for over $10,000 each instead. “It was absolutely bananas,” Cavaliere said. “I was watching the auction from the office ‘screaming crying throwing up.'”

Image credit: Nancy Cavaliere

Why are there so many Irish or Irish-like pubs around the world? They're popping up all over the place.

One contributing factor is the work of companies that mass-produce flat-pack Irish pub kits with all of the necessary components. Eater reports that all that's necessary is to assemble, stock, and open them.

Mel McNally, an Irish architect, launched one such company in 1990. The Irish Pub Company offers six different styles of Irish pub: Shop, Gastro, Victorian, Brewery, Country, and Celtic. You can find thee pubs around the world, including in the US, Canada, Switzerland, Russia, and Kazakhstan. But the company manufactures the components in Ireland, so they are, strictly speaking, Irish pubs. 

Another company named ÓL Irish Pubs has produced similar pubs in Oman, New Zealand, India, and other countries. A firm named Ballance Hospitality helps bars develop menus that reflect actual Irish foods mixed with those in demand by customers. This is a thriving industry.

It's unclear how long international markets will continue to favor the development of these "McPubs." But as long as the style is in demand, these companies will supply drinkers with the Irish experiences that they crave.

-via Messy Nessy Chic | Photo: Irish Pub Company

Elvis Presley died in 1977, but that's no reason he can't cover -and put his own style into- a song from 1992. This would have been a #1 hit for him.

Artificial intelligence is plenty scary when it tries to serve us misinformation or take away our jobs, but it's sweet when it's for purely entertainment purposes. Then again, I'm not sure how the Presley estate would feel about The King singing Sir Mix-a-Lot's song "Baby Got Back." That probably depends on whether there is any money to be made from it. A commenter at YouTube offered money if he could produce a full-length verion in time for his wedding. I felt inspired to laugh, and you will, too. This nonsense is the latest from Dustin Ballard, otherwise known as There I Ruined It. The tune is from Elvis' hit song "Don't Be Cruel," and the algorithm was programmed by MikeyNL1038.

Common sense would tell you that parents, and especially stay-at-home moms, look forward to the beginning of school in August so they can have some time away from hungry kids complaining that they're bored. Parents do often feel that way, but according to a study by three professors from Mississippi State University, mothers actually have a lot less free time during the school year.

On weekdays during the school year, moms average 25 minutes less sleep, 28 minutes less free time, and seven minutes less for exercise than they did during summer vacation. Fathers show this effect as well, but not as much.

See, during the school year, kids may be gone for six to eight hours, but every day requires a lot of prep, including getting children to bed at night and up in the morning, preparing breakfast (and maybe lunch), driving to and from school, managing extracurricular activities, and supervising homework. Generally staying on a strict schedule takes a lot of time and energy.   

The data came from the American Time Use Survey. Younger children didn't participate in the time survey, but teenagers ages 15-17 did, and it shows that school drains their time sleeping and unwinding as well. Read more details on this study at The Conversation.

Amazon Echo and Alexa are pretty cool virtual assistants to have so that we get to live in a science fiction future. But it doesn't feel like we're living in the future unless we can convince ourselves that we're actually on an old science fiction television show. You might prefer a virtual assistant more like Theopolis on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century than a subtle assistant that fits modern decor.

Instructables member dermbrian sympathizes. He repackaged his Amazon Echo to reflect vintage science fiction aesthetics. The new case is actually a cookie tin to which he added LED notification lights. One of these is ominously labeled "sentience". If that unfortunate event happens, dermbrian can use the toggle switch, which is as shut-off for the entire system in response to an AI uprising.

The voice is nice. But, personally, if I had a digital assistant, I'd want it voiced by Majel Barrett Roddenberry.

-via Hack A Day

The lowest car in the world

[📹 carmagheddon (IT): https://t.co/9z0IrZySua]pic.twitter.com/AvExqIFJnA

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) June 25, 2023

For the ultimate lowrider experience, we aren't just on the ground. We appear to be actually sinking into the earth!

Carmagheddon is an Italian car modification shop that produces the wildest and most surreal vehicles imaginable. They include a toilet go-kart, a compact car with a jet engine, and a car with springs for tires.

One of Carmagheddon's recent projects is a lowrider that fits entirely within the upper half of the original body. You can watch a lengthy build video in Italian here. I gather that the car now has only one drive wheel positioned in the center of machine. It's not remote controlled; there's actually a person squeezed inside.