Nothing really is something in both the cognitive and the physical senses!

Ryan S covered the cognitive bit quite thouroughly so I'll say this about physical vacuum: its "non-emptiness" has been pretty much demonstrated 60 years ago by the Casimir effect, which I think is really cool but I might be a nerd.
If we still have a concept of vacuum in science, it's only as a reference, an ideal case, like the absolute zero (which is basically the same thing, i.e. the lowest possible energy state).

Still, in everyday life saying that your glass is empty is less confusing than stating that it is full of air.

The problem isn't the english language, nor is it technophobia, or even (as the Huff-post article suggests) the French hating anglo-saxon culture. The problem is advertising.

Facebook and Twitter are brand names, Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. are profit-making organizations. The 1992 decree bans "clandestine advertising", which is defined as "verbal or visual presentation of the merchandise, the services, the name, the brand or the activities of a producer or service provider, when this presentation is made with a purpose of publicity" (my translation from http://www.csa.fr/infos/textes/textes_detail.php?id=5934)

What's debatable is the purpose, to me citing your facebook page is more an ad for yourself than for facebook, but I can see their point.

Neatorama just gave some megalomaniac conspiracy theorist some more coverage. That's what tabloids are for!

Feodor, you don't seem to have grasped the concept of optical illusions. The left eye in the picture "actually" (as in, the pixels that are displayed by your computer screen) is grey. Your brain then interprets the picture as having a filter placed over it, and therefore "sees" the eye as being blue.

So.. pixels -> grey; what you see -> blue. Hence: optical illusion.

By the way, to all the left-eye-greyness-deniers, the left eye is grey. It just is, you know it, everybody who can use MS paint knows it, and trying to find bluish pixels is missing the point.

Autogyros use their airspeed to propel their main rotor, not the engine. (and they're not really fast)
This, although it might look similar, is a completely different concept

That's great!
I like that he doesn't take himself too seriously and aims to make people laugh, as well as impressing them. Some street dancers come across as proud and a bit douchey, but not this one.

To vonskippy: it's called "danse" or more generally "art", I know some people have trouble making the distinction. But good effort on trying to sound clever.

Aaron: I hope that was meant as a joke

I'm 1m80, which is pretty average I think, and I'd still need to stand on my toes to manage to pee in a sink.. are american sinks mounted lower down, or do americans have huge legs?
Btw I'm in France and I haven't heard of this. I guess he either wanted an excuse to publish an article that condoned his peeing-in-the-sink habit, or he gets his information on facebook ;)

As long as they don't define what constitutes a "thought" and how people are supposed to record them, I'm afraid this kind of study doesn't mean anything.

The question I can't seem to find any answer to is: have they ever hidden the fact that this anonymous information is available to governments?

If they haven't, there's no reason to treat them as bastards. If law enforcement uses the information in a bastard-y way, then get mad at that.

I suggest reading the original statement (http://www.tomtom.com/page/facts) rather than someone opinion about it. Because let's be honest, the tone of the article doesn't seem all that impartial.

The TV channel is France 2, and the program is called "Le plus grand cabaret du monde".

They invite performers from all around the world, and there's often something quite amazing to see (although I have to say this particular one isn't one of my favourites).

However it's difficult to find any information on the performers, they usually just give their stage name and country of origin, but not much else.. (this guy is called Medir)

There's a small problem with the link (probably the www.neatorama.com in front of the url) ;)

@ Miss Cellania:

That's true..
But then again, being black or a woman also reduce your chances of getting a promotion, and I don't think we should call either of those disabilities ;)

I don't mind the idea of making the world's most expensive ice cream (after all, a royal wedding is the kind of setting where you'd expect that kind of thing).

But really, why not stick to edible ingredients?
Putting gold leaves on food is just tacky.. it's what 50 Cent would do!

I'd imagine a disability is something that prevents you from functioning normally. So what are you unable to do if you're 5'5? Reaching the top shelf in the supermarket? I don't think that qualifies...

@ Splint Chesthair:
So your point is: Yes the rule is stupid, but don't complain about it?
Thanks for proving my previous point!