Rules help maintain peace and order in society. They provide boundaries that protect us from doing harm due to some excessive behavior or action. At times, they are guidelines which could help us know what to do in certain situations.

However, in cases where there are no rules, it's difficult to determine to what extent we can do something, until somebody goes a bit too far prompting others to make rules against it. In this regard, people on Reddit shared what rules were made due to something they did.

The behaviors exhibited by these people were not ethically or morally wrong per se, it just bothered some people in authority. Some rules were a bit silly and funny like these two:

Others like this one seem to be necessary just to prevent any harm from befalling other people.

However, this rule made me crack up because it came out a misunderstanding, but the rule can be quite useful in the future, and really quite forward-thinking.

To see all 25 rules, check out Tastefully Offensive.

(Image credit: Mark Duffel/Unsplash; Tastefully Offensive)

People going on vacation sometimes go on a luxury cruise ship so that they can have a fun time at sea. It has a lot of amenities inside the ship, and you get to travel while on it. In the 1940s, Pan Am founder and CEO Juan Terry Trippe wanted a luxury airliner that would rival ocean liners, and so, he bought Boeing's most luxurious airliner at that time, the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser.

The Stratocruiser was a semi-double deck airliner which featured a cocktail lounge which could be accessed through a spiral staircase that led downstairs. It had bunk beds, spacious seats, a coat closet, and even dressing rooms for men and women. It would have been the perfect luxury airliner, until its propellers started falling off.

Despite having the more advanced R-4360 engines, the propellers were pushing the boundaries of the technology a bit too far. Several flights in the 1950s had suffered from engines dropping mid-flight and in April 1952, a Pan Am flight crashed into the Amazon rainforest when one of its engines and propellers tore off, killing everyone inside.

Pan Am crashed seven Stratocruisers from 1952 to 1959, and most of the others had been sold for scrap. Later on, the Boeing 707 became the new hot thing that airlines turned to, and with it began the dawn of the Jet Age. The junked Stratocruisers were later reused to build super-sized Guppies, which became cargo carriers for NASA's rocket parts.

(Image credit: Pan Am/HistoryNet)

Memes can come from anything as long as anybody finds a witty way to put words on a photo. Even the most mundane images or scenarios can be brought to life by memefying them, and putting another spin to the scene being depicted in the photo. Creativity is the key, as long as one has an eye for it, even the most obscure photos can become legendary. Just like these three military memes.

Of course, behind the memes that went viral online are real people who have encountered serious situations over their military career. The first meme is the "You don't operate, do you son?" featuring the retirement photo of former EOD specialist and Delta Force operator, Mike Vining. The second is the Grenade Meme, showing Chris DeBlanc, a Marine, who is casually throwing a grenade down a flight of stairs. The third is of Dan Pronk, a member of the Australian Special Air Service as a combat medic, who had been in Afghanistan doing a raid.

Despite these photos becoming viral on the internet, there's more to the stories of these three men than just those moments that were captured on camera. They share their stories as well as the tales behind the photos with Coffee or Die Magazine.

(Image credit: Mac Caltrider/Coffee or Die Magazine)

Queen Genepil was merely 18 years old when she was chosen by the Mongolian council to become the new wife of Bogd Khan. Her name was Tseyenpil and she was already married with children at the time, but the councilors had assured her that the marriage would just be for the sake of appearances as they merely wanted to maintain the image of the monarchy.

Had she refused the proposal, that would have been the end of it, and the councilors would have been forced to let the arrangement go. But Tseyenpil agreed and became the queen consort of the Bogd, and she was renamed Genepil. A year after their marriage, the Bogd died marking the end of the Mongolian monarchy.

Unfortunately, after the abolition of the Mongolian monarchy, the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party took over and its leader, Khorloogiin Choibalsan, who had been referred to as the "Stalin of Mongolia", became the supreme ruler. Much like Stalin, he began purging Mongolia of people whom the party deemed as dissidents and enemies of the revolution.

Being a former queen consort, Genepil was accused, tried, and convicted of treason. She and her family were arrested in 1937, and a year later, executed. Despite this, her daughter Tserenkhand escaped the fate of her family and recalls how her mother had been taken at night and simply left a piece of sugar on their pillows.

(Image credit: Joy V Spicer)

Simone Segouin had only been 15 years old when the Germans invaded France, and for the next three years of her life, she helped her father shelter and feed the resistance fighters. She became acquainted with Roland Boursier who taught her how to handle rifles, explosives, and guerilla tactics. He gave her fake documents and a codename, Nicole Minet.

At the age of 18, she became a reconaissance agent for the French resistance by stealing a bike from the Nazis in Chartres, and pedaling around the area uninhibited. Later, having become an expert in the use of weapons and tactics, she led more daring operations against the Germans, capturing troops, setting traps, and sabotaging German equipment.

It soon escalated to bigger and riskier operations which included blowing up bridges and derailing German trains. Leading up to the liberation of France in 1944, she continued to fight with her comrades with a submachine gun slung on her shoulder until the joint forces of the French army, the US infantry, and the French resistance were able to retake Paris.

She became a second lieutenant and received the Croix de Guerre for her service in the resistance. She and Boursier had six children together although they didn't marry. After the war, she became a pediatric nurse in Chartres, and lived to be 97 before passing away this year on February 21st in Courville-sur-Eure.

(Image credit: US National Archives and Records Administration/Wikimedia Commons)

Since Disney's very first feature-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, was released in 1937, Disney has had 62 animated films to date. We might like some more than others, but one thing is for certain - Disney has spread joy and the love of film and animation into the hearts of young and old alike.

When it comes to Disney's animated film canon, people have generally sectioned them off into various eras. Currently, we're in the revival era, which started in 2009, with The Princess and the Frog.

With a new Disney film coming out, Rolling Stone goes through all of Disney's 62 animated films to rank them. One can guess which films got into their top 10, as a majority of them come from either the golden era or the renaissance period, but a few other films that others don't consider to be top-tier Disney films also made it to the top.

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Looking for cheap tickets to your next travel destination can sometimes be like finding a needle in a haystack. Most tickets will be around the same price, and even the cheapest ones you can find will barely be within your budget. A few savvy travelers however, found that there's a very interesting workaround to get affordable airfare, but it might be very risky.

It's called skiplagging, and it's when you buy a ticket with a layover flights, but you hop off at your intended destination without boarding the connecting flight. It's a loophole with some serious consequences. Although it's not illegal, airlines strictly prohibit engaging in the practice since it will be a huge cost to them. If they catch people skiplagging, then they can either ban them from future flights, strip them of loyalty status, or have them pay the full price of the ticket.

Skiplagged is a website based on the concept of skiplagging. It's intended to help consumers find the cheapest flights to their destination. It was founded by Aktarer Zaman who noticed these cheaper layover flights, and so built an algorithm that searches for them.

There are a few caveats when skiplagging. You have to travel without checking your bags as those will be routed to the final destination on the ticket. And you can't do roundtrip tickets because it will get canceled for a no-show on the second leg.

(Image credit: Erik Odiin/Unsplash)

It seems inevitable that whenever we have holiday parties and family gatherings, we must make polite conversation with the relatives and guests to show proper etiquette. So, we try our best to make small talk, initiate the conversation, and keep it going. However, there comes a point when somebody comes up with some very personal and, at times, pointed questions which we would rather not answer. How then should we react without being flippant or rude about it? Communication experts suggest the swivel method.

The swivel method is basically pivoting away from the awkward topic by acknowledging it, showing appreciation and empathy, and then subtly moving on to another topic. It's a form of redirection that doesn't make the person feel as though they have stepped on a landmine. With the swivel method, you don't ruin the mood and you keep the momentum going.

Now, it's a different case if people continue to press you on those matters. Generally, people don't mean to put you in an awkward position. It's best to assume that they are well-meaning with their questions, just that they are unaware which questions cross boundaries. If, on the other hand, we find ourselves being the person others feel the need to swivel from, Debra Fine, an etiquette expert, suggests to never ask questions that we don't know the answers to.

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In the history of the US, there have only been four presidents who were assassinated, and out of those four, one stands out among the rest, and that's the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It happened on November 22, 1963 in Dallas. As JFK was riding on a presidential motorcade, two shots struck him dead.

The Warren Commission officially identified Lee Harvey Oswald as the perpetrator, although Oswald himself denied that he was the one who did it. Two days after JFK's assassination, Oswald was shot and killed by Jack Ruby. Despite the reports and several pieces of evidence pointing to Oswald being the killer, 65% of Americans still believe there's more behind the assassination of JFK, according to Gallup polls.

Due to the mysterious circumstances that surrounded the JFK assassination case, many people formed conspiracy theories that suggested varying notions, such as the CIA or FBI being the mastermind as there were officials who disagreed with JFK's policies, or that LBJ ordered the assassination, or perhaps the most outlandish of all, that JFK's own wife had him killed.

The fact that JFK's assassination was done long range, compared to the other three assassinations, which were all in close range, lends the case suspicion from the public and conspiracy theorists. Despite the shock of how JFK's presidency ended, perhaps we can instead turn to what his term accomplished no matter how short it had been.

(Image credit: History in HD/Unsplash)

There has been a lot of talk about AI in recent times as new developments continue to push the limits of what it can do, worrying some and getting some backlash from others. But as many have pointed out, despite the processing and predictive power of AI, it's not a perfect system. It cannot replace humans in one of the most critical aspects: creativity and innovation. And a new study proves just that, by pitting young children against the AI.

The children and the AI tools, specifically large language model (LLM) programs, were instructed to do some basic problem-solving tasks such as drawing a circle using one of three tools. The goal was to figure out which of the tools would be the best way to draw a circle. All of the human children were able to correctly choose the appropriate instrument, meanwhile, the AI only scored correctly 76% of the time.

Of course, there are limitations to the study, and it doesn't negate the fact that AI is very useful in performing many other tasks that are difficult, tedious, and time-consuming for humans to do. After all, humans built the machines in order to make our lives more convenient and efficient.

Perhaps what this study shows is that the threat of AI to upend human society is non-existent, if not merely insignificant. It's all about how people are using AI, and for what purpose, as many routine or menial jobs get relegated to algorithms and machines, thus displacing people. The challenge, then, is how we can keep up with the developments happening around us.

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Hayao Miyazaki is a titan in Japanese cinema. For over six decades, Miyazaki has been working as an animator, and has established himself as one of the legends in Japanese animation. He's such a commanding presence that he was even able to convince Takeshi Honda, a veteran animator, to set aside his role as one of the animators of the new Evangelion film in order to work on Miyazaki's latest and supposedly, his last film, The Boy and The Heron.

Honda recounts Miyazaki's appeal saying that this would most likely be his last film because no one in the Miyazaki family ever lived beyond 80. And so Honda acquiesced and agreed to work with him on the film. By the way, Miyazaki is now 82 years old and appears to have more left in him as there are further rumors that he has ideas for another film in the future.

As for Honda's experience working with Miyazaki, one would think that everything would be smooth and cooperative between two industry veterans, but to Honda's surprise, Miyazaki was very meticulous when it came to how the film was to be animated.

During the first few years working with him, Honda found Miyazaki commenting about the style of animation, which is distinctive of Ghibli films, and how he wanted certain features drawn in a particular way. However, Honda remarked that, after a while, he reverted to his own style, to which Miyazaki simply relinquished his persistence.

It took approximately seven years for The Boy and The Heron to be completed, and much of that time was spent trying to get the details just right, as one would expect from any Ghibli film. This is Miyazaki's eleventh feature, and purportedly based on his own life. The Boy and The Heron is scheduled to be released in North America next month.

(Image credit: MEXT/Wikimedia Commons)

Tomorrow will be Thanksgiving Day in the US. It has been celebrated for the past 400 years, but it wasn't always on the fourth Thursday of November. Sources say that it started in 1621 though that isn't confirmed. Also, Farmer's Almanac says it was celebrated on November 25th from 1668, but then it changed after that.

When George Washington became president, Congress requested that he declare November 26, 1789 to be Thanksgiving Day. But since then, other presidents have also moved the date around several times. During Abraham Lincoln's presidency, the last Thursday of November became the regular annual day that Thanksgiving was celebrated. However, things would change again in 1939.

Since the last Thursday of November was too close to December, former President Franklin D. Roosevelt decided to move it to the second-to-last Thursday so that people would have an allowance for their Christmas shopping. Still, not all states followed suit.

The House of Representatives also intervened. They drafted and passed a resolution which stated that Thanksgiving Day will be on the last Thursday of November. However, the Senate later amended this to the fourth Thursday in November which has been the date Thanksgiving is celebrated since.

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Many artists over the centuries have depicted hell in various ways, although most of them often involved fire, brimstone, people wailing, and what looked like demons or ghouls. Japanese artists have also been very creative in the way they illustrated hell or "jigoku". In fact, from the 12th to the 19th century, there have been many depictions of hell from Japanese artists. And a book has been published collating all of them in 600 pages.

There's the classic one shown above from the Jigoku-Zoshi, or hell scroll, showing flames coming out like tendrils from the ground with people trapped inside and big ogres with clubs making sure they don't get out.

Another picture shows a large monster with a horse's head and a human body holding a spear, apparently directing a toppling group of people from the inner gate of hell toward a deeper region.

Perhaps the weirdest one shows a demon flattening a human with a stick to make them into soba noodles.

For more concepts of hell, check them out at Spoon and Tamago. The book is called Hell in Japanese Art which features art by Yoshitoshi Tsukioka, Kyosai Kawanabe, Kazunobu Kano, and more, available on Amazon.

(Image credit: Tokyo National Museum)

DALL-E is ChatGPT's text-to-image model that uses prompts to create new images. Nick Gillespie tested it out by instructing DALL-E to make Pokemon versions based on Joe Biden, Donald Trump, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The results are uncanny.

With the prompts, DALL-E created a water/psychic type humanoid Pokemon named Democraflux for Biden, with white hair, a suit robe, and a signature move called "Unity Aura" that does exactly what the name suggests: it unites people. For Trump, DALL-E aptly made a fire/normal type Pokemon named Trumpertantrum, that looks like a chicken, and features his signature fiery locks and a trumpet for a beak. Finally, RFK got Justicarion, a fighting/flying type Pokemon, that looks like an eagle with green and brown feathers.

There are characteristics that DALL-E was spot on when creating the Pokemon, particularly how it designed Trump's Pokemon which was a playful and clever way of incorporating various personality traits of Trump. But Gillespie disagrees with other aspects such as those for Biden and RFK's Pokemon.

Although it's a great feat, ChatGPT and other AI bots are still far from being a perfect system. Just look at Margaret Atwood's review of a story created by an AI prompted to write something in the voice of Margaret Atwood.

(Image credit: Nick Gillespie, ChatGPT/DALL-E)

Brutalist architecture is a minimalist style that emphasizes the bare building materials and structural elements over artistic flourishes or decorative designs. Many college campuses in the US were constructed using this style resulting in buildings that look drab and nondescript.

In this video from Vox, they look at Evans Hall in the University of California Berkley, which has been rumored to be slated for demolition. Despite denials from the administration saying no such plans are under way, there have been subtle hints that point toward an eventual demolition of the building. The reason: because of poor seismic ratings.

That reason, however, is unconvincing as there are more buildings within campus that have similar seismic ratings. So, the real reason: because it obstructs views of San Francisco and beyond, which might be a roundabout way of saying that it looks ugly.

Still, many proponents of brutalist architecture are trying to raise awareness about the good sides of brutalism. It may not be like the postmodern architectural style featuring asymmetrical geometry, colorful facades, and playful designs, but they contend that brutalist buildings are expressive and bold. Truly, many brutalist buildings are imposing and very striking in their appearance.

So, before we start hating on these brutalist buildings, maybe we can try to see the good in them.

(Video credit: Vox/Youtube)