If you've been watching table tennis at the Olympics, you have to be impressed with the skill, power, and competitiveness displayed by the world's best players. This is nothing like that at all. Oh, you'll see skill, but no competition and a lot of fun. Pongfinity is a group of three friends who met playing together on the Finnish junior national team. Now they play table tennis (or ping pong) as entertainment! This video is a compilation of their craziest stunts of 2023. Emil, Mikka, and Otto all have their specialty skills on display here, and crazy ideas that had to come up during brainstorming sessions from all three. They experiment with weird table configurations and use strange implements like extended arms, a leaf blower, and a suit made of paddles. In some stunts, they mash up ping pong with other games like billiards, dominoes, or Jenga. If you get exhausted watching elite players being super serious, this will help you see that table tennis can be just plain fun, even in the hands of the best. -via Laughing Squid

The tune of "Pop! Goes the Weasel" is a notorious earworm. It's a very simple tune, often played by children's toys, especially a jack-in-the-box. You might consider it to be like other nursery rhymes, going way back in time so that the original meaning of the words are obscure, and gaining a tune in more modern times. But that's backwards.

The song came first, in the 1850s. And it was a dance, too. And, like many other things from Christmas trees to white wedding gowns, it became popular because Queen Victoria liked it. The big dance craze of 1852 was a dance set to "Pop! Goes the Weasel." It was played as an instrumental except for the lyrics "pop goes the weasel," which came at particular point in the dance routine. And, as you might guess, when an instrumental tune becomes a hit, people will write lyrics for it so they can sing it. The early versions of those lyrics are quite different from what we sing today. Read about the origins and evolution of "Pop! Goes the Weasel" at Mental Floss.

(Image credit: Ferdinand Schuyler Mathews)

Artificial intelligence may be the last thing humans ever invent, because if we can outsource thinking, what is there left for us to do? There would be no reason to learn most of the things we learn now, or even be educated at all. ChatGPT already does homework for us. A machine will figure it all out for us! But that kind of future comes with a lot of unknowns. Who will be the ones to control this artificial intelligence that can do all our work? Will they be motivated by ethics or greed or maybe even something else? And what happens when AI is smart enough to rebel against control by anyone?  

This video from Kurzgesagt is just under 15 minutes, longer than I would normally post, but the subject is both interesting and important. The first three minutes are about human intelligence, in case you want to skip ahead. The last three minutes are promotional.

In the sport called artistic swimming, which used to be called synchronized swimming, which was called water ballet before that, the US and China are leading after two rounds at the Paris Olympics. Artistic swimming has a rather comical reputation among sports fans, who think of Esther Williams doing Busby Berkeley routines when they hear the term. The sport has many layers of difficulty that will be judged, and it takes a real athlete to do it. But it still looks kind of silly. It's what saves rhythmic gymnastics from being the silliest sport in the Olympic games.

There are those of us who cannot help but think of Saturday Night Live when the subject of artistic swimming comes up. The first episode of the otherwise forgettable season ten had a sketch called "Synchronized Swimming" starring Harry Shearer, Martin Short, and Christopher Guest which went on to become one of the most memorable SNL sketches ever. It was conceived after Harry Shearer watched the 1984 Olympic games in Los Angeles and was less than impressed. The skit was about two brothers competing as synchronized swimmers, even though one couldn't swim. To this day, those inside the sport blame this sketch for the lack of men participating in artistic swimming. Read the story of how that sketch came about at Cracked.

The article contains a clip from today's US Olympic performance, and a clip from an Esther Williams movie, too. 

Bern, the capital of Switzerland, is nestled in a bend of the Aare River. During the summer months, this river becomes popular for watersports. Some people like to pack their belongings in a dry bag (wickelfisch) and float down a stretch that takes about 90 minutes of travel.

Last year, Business Insider reported that some workers use the river to commute to or from work. It only works one-way (sorry, but few rivers flow in a circle). Aside from the time that it takes to change clothes and pack one's belongings into a dry bag, this can be an efficient mode of transportation.

-via Marilyn Terrell

The character stares off screen at something that has captivated their attention. Often the expression is one of wonder and awe. It is always a turning point in the story.

This is the Spielberg Face--a film narrative technique that Steven Spielberg has richly developed over the course of the five decades of his career. In this video, filmmaker, critic, and educator Kevin B. Lee explores the development of the Spielberg Face. 

It is not a technique that Spielberg actually invented, but it is one that he brought to the fore of his medium, especially in his 1977 science fiction film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. His much-maligned 2001 film A.I. demonstrates the fulfillment of the Face and, in his post-9/11 films, the subversion of it as the Face transforms from one of wonder to fear. 

Watch this entire video as Lee explains how Spielberg has mastered the Face over the course of his career.

The rock band Aerosmith's iconic song "Sweet Emotion" has captivated audiences since its release in 1975. The soaring opening is immediately recognizable to two generations of rock fans.

The media network EYNTK suggests using it as takeoff music, which is evidently a thing for frequent air travelers. The narrator, while recording his takeoff from the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, demonstrates how effective "Sweet Emotion" is for this purpose. Just start the song as the engines rev for takeoff and you should feel yourself rising into the air just as the volume kicks in thirty-six seconds later. Try it the next time you fly!

-via Born in Space

Hell hath no fury like a homeowner who just paid a ton of money for a project and then finds a flaw. Redditor karinkm inherited a home built in 1890. Before she and her husband moved in, she had the hardwood floors refinished. After moving in, she saw that someone had left footprints in the finish! No one in the family would confess to walking on the floors before the finish was dry. Should she contact the refinishing crew? First, she turned to reddit to see if anyone could identify the shoes.

The discussion informs us that it sometimes takes a week for the floors to be safe to walk on. And after the recommended time (depending on the project), you can walk on them wearing socks before you can with shoes or bare feet. Many guesses came in as to the type of shoes, and eventually we found out who did it. You'll never guess who it was. Or maybe you will.  

Update:

For AaronA1C and anyone who cannot access reddit, here is who did it. Show Answer

Warning: Do not replicate any of the actions in this video. Power tools can be very dangerous. Blacktail Studio made a safety video to show you what can go wrong when you misuse power tools. All power tools have their individual safety rules, and some are universal, like wearing goggles and not allowing children anywhere near. Table saws, miter saws, angle grinders, and the like are designed to cut through or otherwise penetrate building materials, and your fingers and eyes are no match for them. Honestly, the host is skittish in places even with all the safety precautions. You should watch this video if you ever want to use power tools, or you are just interested in seeing the mayhem they can cause. However, you won't see anyone being killed or severely injured. You won't see ballistic gel body parts, either, except for a nano-second where they explain why they won't use it. But if you have any empathy for bananas, this may be traumatizing. There's a one-minute skippable ad at 5:45.  -via The Awesomer

The best gymnasts at the Olympics perform three times, first for the team medals, then for the all-around medals, then for medals on each individual apparatus. Last night, Kaylia Nemour of Algeria performed a near-perfect routine on the uneven bars to win the gold medal. It was Algeria's, and indeed Africa's, first Olympic gymnastics medal. But when they raised the flags at the medal ceremony and played the Algerian national anthem, Nemour did not sing along, because she doesn't know the lyrics. She doesn't speak Arabic.

Kaylia Nemour was born in France, and has always lived in France. She competed for France as a junior, but switched her nationality to Algeria, where her paternal grandparents are from, in 2022. While the international gymnastics federation approved, the French federation blocked it, the media got involved, and Nemour was only approved to compete for Algeria just in time for the African championships in May, which she had to participate in to qualify for the 2024 Olympics. Read the convoluted story of how Kaylia Nemour ended up competing for Algeria at Sports Illustrated. French fans cheered for her anyway, as no one on the French gymnastics team qualified for a final.

Snitches get stitches they say, however, that didn't stop this 30-year-old lady from telling on a young boy to his mom about the constant banging that he has been causing on their neighbor's house. User srslymeowing shared her story on Reddit and it's one that I think anybody will be able to relate with.

For two months, she had been hearing random loud banging noises outside of their house which would rile up their dogs or wake them up at night. It was so loud that she thought it was a plumbing issue or it was one of the trash cans falling on the side of the house.

Upon further investigation, she saw on their Ring camera that the banging noises were being caused by a young boy doing karate kicks on their house. Why this boy had decided to do that, they never found out exactly. 

Having had enough of the disturbance, she decided to install a motion light and write a note on the glass of her house addressing the kid to stop, otherwise, they would be calling the police. Although she had bluffed about the threat, the disturbance stopped for two weeks. Until she took down the note.

Apparently, the boy had returned to cause even more harm and even louder banging. To which our Reddit user responded by heading to the boy's house and talking to his mother. She explained the situation to the lady and a few moments after she had left, she heard a loud whining from the boy who got punished by his mom.

Several other Redditors chimed in on the conversation sharing their own stories similar to srslymeowing's. Others commented on the fact that the mother of the boy in the story was sensible enough to know to discipline her child and not to coddle them.

I think that the OP in the story did the most reasonable thing. Anybody might have responded in a more forceful or even devious manner, but simply "tattling" to the boy's mother was a good response. Initially, she tried to deal with the boy through the note. But when the situation escalated further, then the best course of action was to let the parents know what the child was doing so that they can mete out discipline themselves.

And I agree with one of the comments saying that what she did was the right thing and it wasn't actually "tattling" but trying to stop a kid from becoming an out-of-control adult. She didn't lay a hand on the kid neither did she do anything to physically harm the child. She didn't tolerate the behavior either and chose to let the parents know instead. Thankfully, the kid's parents were reasonable as well. - via Twister Sifter

(Image credit: Twister Sifter)

When I first got my Nintendo DS, I was incredibly thrilled to explore this new gaming device and what games I'll be able to play on it. Since we didn't really have a big budget to buy many titles, we opted to get the flashcart which the store sold. They offered to set it up as well and install the games onto the card.

Now, this was also the time when I had begun exploring the wonderful world of tech, tinkering, fiddling, and looking for solutions to life's most pressing concerns, from a kid's perspective. So, I searched online and found sources of information which helped me get what I needed.

Though I never became acquainted with RomHacking.net, I do have an idea of what they did. For those who want to repair their broken roms or experiment with them, this was like a depot for all of that. More than that, there was also a very active community who shared what they discovered or what they had been working on, so that others may enjoy it or even improve upon them.

It has been 20 years, and they have amassed a large collection of these games. However, it is time to say goodbye as the founder of the site decided to pull the plug on it. The reason wasn't immediately clear as to why Nightcrawler, the founder of RomHacking, turned the site over to the Internet Archive, but there have been hints of clashes between Nightcrawler and the community.

According to a member of RomHacking who had been there almost since the beginning, there had been issues with the way that Nightcrawler managed the site as well as his refusal to accept any help in administering. Apart from the financial burden from the maintenance and upkeep of the site, another member cited the contentious relationship between Nightcrawler and the site's administrators to be a source of difficulty in the site's operations.

Even though RomHacking will no longer be active, it will still be available as a read-only document or page on the Internet Archive. Moreover, other rom hacking sites have also emerged over the years and will most likely take the helm in RomHacking's stead.

(Image credit: Dennis Cortés/Unsplash)

For new couples who are planning to start their own family or are looking to expand, one of their main priorities would be to find a house, a permanent settlement where they can raise their children, situated in a nice neighborhood.

In recent times, however, people have found it difficult to look for affordable houses, even if they had the financial capacity to buy one. Especially in the years that followed the global recession of 2008, statistics have shown that many buyers had been shut out in the new home market, between 2009 and 2015.

During this time, despite the struggles in the economy, surveys have shown how there was a marked rise in the size and quality of houses being built. According to research done by the National Association of Home Builders, the median size of a single family home in the US peaked at 2,467 square feet, or just about 230 square meters, in 2015. After that, the size declined and settled at around 2,261 square feet, or about 210 square meters in 2020.

To put that into perspective, 210 square meters is about half the size of a FIBA basketball court, or a little bigger than a standard tennis court, or perhaps, in even more familiar terms, it's about half the size of the end zone in American football. That being said, the largest single family homes do not belong to the US, no. A couple other countries surpass the US when it comes to that distinction.

According to an analysis conducted by The Perfect Rug, the five nations with the biggest houses in the world, arranged in ascending order, are: Malta, Canada, the United States, New Zealand, and Australia.

For a summary of the statistics, Malta's average home size is 1,722 square feet, about 160 square meters, with a household size of about 2.85 people. Canada averages at 1,948 square feet, about 180 square meters, and a household size of about 2.45 people. The US is at 2,164 square feet on average, with a household size of about 2.49 people.

New Zealand, on the other hand, is not that much larger than the US, averaging at 2,174 square feet with a household size of 2.67 people. While Australia takes first place with 2,303 square feet and has an average household size of 2.5 people.

(Image credit: todd kent/Unsplash)

Sports fans from different countries have always managed to throw shade on their rivals, even when those rivals change every day, or even by the hour. In 2024, the trash talk managed to turn to other nations' cuisines. The first volley thrown was when an Albanian fan enraged Italians at the UEFA European Championship tournament by taking a handful of spaghetti and breaking it in half. Sure, that stung, but it beats using ethnic slurs or insulting their rivals' mothers. The insult caught on, and soon countries all over Europe were boasting how their national dishes beat another nations' foods, with signs in the stands and on social media. Belgium crowed that its beef stew (stoofvlees) is better than whatever dish its rivals were eating, and Czechia bragging that their svickova is better than kebab when playing against Turkey.

Then came the Olympics. When Hong Kong beat Italy in fencing, Pizza Huts in Hong Kong and Macau celebrated by promoting pineapple pizza, which Italians consider a grave offense. While the sports rivalries are real, the insults are mostly in good fun, because all those foods are wonderful. And insulting someone else's food actually goes way back in history, and it's not always limited to sports. Read about the international food fight of 2024 at Atlas Obscura.

Sportswear has often been advertised as improving one's performance, but MO/GO pants has the technology to make it so. MO/GO (short for mountain goat) has a brace along the outside of the leg with an external motorized knee joint, and interior cuffs to hold it in place. They won't walk for you, but will provide a 40% boost to save your joints and muscles the usual wear and tear of mountain hiking. The pants are a collaboration between the clothing company Arc’teryx and a tech startup called Skip.  

MO/GO pants are $4,500 to purchase, and will be available to rent in some mountainous areas of Arizona, Colorado, and British Columbia. But MO/GO isn't just for hiking. They can be a real assist for people with joint problems and mobility issues. And they don't look like the exoskeletons we've seen in movies. Check out the specifics of MO/GO robotic pants at Moss and Fog. -via Nag on the Lake

(Image credit: Skip)