There’s something about a bee buzzing around the yard that drives dogs crazy, and even the smartest and most well trained dog can’t help but want to take a bite out of that bee when they see it flying from flower to flower.
Unfortunately, this means they must learn their lesson about bees the hard way, which can turn tragic if the dog in question happens to be allergic to bees.
But most of the time they’re left with nothing but a swollen mouth, a sore tongue and a lesson from Mother Nature that will stick with them for the rest of their lives.
The dogs on BuzzFeed’s list of 11 Dogs Who Learned The Hard Way Not To Eat Bees have just been taught a valuable lesson, and now they must live with the swollen shame of having been bested by an itty bitty bee!
In the spring of 1981, David Bradley was part of a select team working from a nondescript office building in Boca Raton, Fla. His task: to help build IBM’s new personal computer. Because Apple and RadioShack were already selling small stand-alone computers, the project (code name: Acorn) was a rush job. Instead of the typical three- to five-year turnaround, Acorn had to be completed in a single year.
One of the programmers’ pet peeves was that whenever the computer encountered a coding glitch, they had to manually restart the entire system. Turning the machine back on automatically initiated a series of memory tests, which stole valuable time. “Some days, you’d be rebooting every five minutes as you searched for the problem,” Bradley says. The tedious tests made the coders want to pull their hair out.
So Bradley created a keyboard shortcut that triggered a system reset without the memory tests. He never dreamed that the simple fix would make him a programming hero, someone who’d someday be hounded to autograph keyboards at conferences. And he didn’t foresee the command becoming such an integral part of the user experience.
Bradley joined IBM as a programmer in 1975. By 1978, he was working on the Datamaster, the company’s early, flawed attempt at a PC. It was an exciting time—computers were starting to become more accessible, and Bradley had a chance to help popularize them.
This week marks the 30th anniversary of the film Revenge of the Nerds, which was released back in 1984 when “nerd” was a really embarrassing thing to be called. The actors were nervous about appearing in a movie with “nerd” in the title! You remember the movie, but there’s a lot you probably don’t know. Like,
6. Filming on the University of Arizona campus had its problems. Just like the failed remake, the first film had college issues as well. The studio had been given permission to film on the campus, but revoked their filming privileges after reading the script. Producers had to convince the school they wouldn’t harm their reputation and eventually the school gave them the “okay,” with the many of the students posing as extras.
14. Robert Carradine and Anthony Edwards tested their nerd attire during Rush Week. The actors wanted to put their nerd outfits to the test and attended several fraternity rush events to see how their pocket protectors went over. According to Carradine, one frat house’s president gave them a single look and said “No way.”
Time has proven that nerds really do inherit the earth, and the stars of Revenge of the Nerds now look back at that time fondly, despite their misgivings. Read the rest of the list at Uproxx.
The forecast for La Crosse, Wisconsin, is for continuing mayflies. According to the National Weather Service, conditions are perfect for the emergence of mayflies along the upper Mississippi River, and the area teems with them every year. The swarm this year is thick enough to be caught on weather radar. What does it look like on the ground? Like this:
Polite society told Alice Huyler Ramsey that women shouldn't drive. So she motored across the country to prove them wrong.
In 1909, driving was a man’s work. As one doctor wrote, “A speed of 15 or 20 miles an hour in a motor causes [women] acute mental suffering, nervous excitement, and circulatory disturbances.” Some worried that riding in open-air cars would lead to “automobile face,” an unfortunate—and hypothetical—condition in which the wind would blow women’s mouths into permanent gapes.
These notions were terrible for women. They were also terrible for the auto business. Sexism was cutting the potential market in half! The car company Maxwell realized that getting women in the driver’s seat would boost sales, so it put PR man Carl Kelsey on the case. But Kelsey knew he needed more than a few newspaper ads to change public opinion; he needed a spectacle. He began looking for a woman he could challenge to drive from coast to coast.
Kelsey found the perfect adventurer in 22-year-old Alice Huyler Ramsey. The Vassar grad had been out for a horseback ride the previous year when a car’s horn had spooked her mount. After the incident, her husband reasoned that cars were probably safer than horses and persuaded his wife to buck social norms by driving a Maxwell. She even competed in motoring competitions, where she jockeyed around hay bales and other obstacles.
When Kelsey pitched his idea to Ramsey over dinner, she jumped at the opportunity. Ramsey would later say, “I did it because it was a challenge and because I knew it would be fun.” She roped two sisters-in-law and a friend into joining her—strictly for company, of course; only Ramsey knew how to drive. Maxwell would provide them with a set of wheels, any supplies they needed, and a PR man to travel ahead of them to drum up coverage. On June 9, 1909, the quartet set out from a Maxwell showroom in Manhattan.
It looks like Randall Munroe of xkcd wants a job writing Ze Frank’s True Facts series. I think that second one is too subtle for a video. I had to read it twice to make sure it said what I thought it said.
A river runs through the Elephant Nature Park in northern Thailand. When it's time for this baby elephant to take a bath, all the nannies escort him into the river. They form a wall with their bodies so that he can wash and play without any worry of being swept away by the fast current.
As we've seen before, elephants take care of kids in their herd, even if the kids aren't their own children.
Get that roach out of your mouth! It hasn't been properly cooked yet. For that, you need to go to The Bug Chef. That's David George Gordon, a professional chef who specializes in preparing insects.
Gordon thinks that humanity's culinary future lies with the insect world. If your goal is to produce a large quantity of meat, then livestock insects, such as crickets, are much cheaper than pigs or cattle. They require less food, water, and land. They're also nutritious. KPLU explains:
Crickets are high in calcium, said Gordon. Termites? Rich in iron. Grasshoppers? About as much protein (by weight, dried) as beef. Bugs are really pretty good for you. The U.N. report notes that bugs have high proportions of omega-3 fatty acids, comparable to those in fish (and much better than beef or pork).
And most bugs are good protein sources. Scorpions, for instance, have lots of edible muscle tissue. “I like their tails and claws,” said Gordon. “There’s the equivalent of crabmeat in there.” Just take out the stinger first, folks.
Best of all, Gordon argues, bugs are delicious. He's published a cookbook of 40 recipes that you can use to make your insect preparation tasty. For example, you can deep fry tarantulas. Here's Gordon's recipe. It's coated in a tempura batter and accented with smoked paprika. Yummy!
YouTube member CycleJack was pedaling through Romford, Essex, UK on a wet day. He was traveling about 22 MPH. A car cut across his path and he hit the fender. CycleJack flew over the car, head over heels, but landed neatly on his feet. It was an impressive bit of unintentional acrobatics caught on camera.
And it's a good thing that CycleJack was wearing a camera. The driver tried to dispute that she was at fault. The video footage took care of that problem:
Safe to say the video has saved me a lot of hassle and 3 weeks later the cheque has already arrived from the insurance company.
Content warning: CycleJack uses a bit of foul language when the car hits. But who can blame him?
The seventh of eight daily Weird Al Yankovic videos is here, from his new album Mandatory Fun. “Lame Claim to Fame” examines the everyday person’s brushes with celebrities, however tangental they are, that highlight the way we worship celebrity and the people we call celebrities. Everyone’s got at least one of those stories. But all that aside, the video itself is a work of art. Directed by Tim Thompson, it consists of a dizzying sequence of moving collages.
What's your lame claim to fame? My great-great-grandfather was married to Pocahonta's granddaughter. If that's not lame, I don't know what is. Can you top that story?
A security camera in Strathcona County, Alberta, Canada captured an incredible moment. Al and Betty Perry were driving on a highway when a bolt of lightning struck their Chevrolet pickup truck. Both of them emerged shaken but physically unharmed.
After the bolt of lightning hit the truck, it immediately caught on fire and filled with smoke. The lightning destroyed the car's electrical system, so the automatic locks and windows wouldn't open.
Thankfully, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer who was a few hundred meters away witnessed the scene and rushed in. Constable Brian Jamot pulled the Perrys from their truck, which was partially melted. The Perrys credit Constable Jamot with saving them from certain death.
This video allegedly shows children of the Bajau people of southeast Asia. This ethnic group which ranges across Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines is sometimes known as the "Sea Gypsies" for their waterborne lifestyle. At a young age, a Bajau child may acquire remarkable skills in the water, as we've seen previously.
In this video, a canoe has capsized and filled with water. A young girl with impressive agility rolls it under her feet until she has bailed out the water.
In the 1790s, Jane and Mary Parminter, two wealthy women from Britain, built a home for themselves near Exmouth, Devon, UK. They named it La Ronde. Departing from the architectural norms of the time, they selected a hexadecagonal design.
It may seem silly, but this actually permitted the sisters to experience more natural sunlight than they might get from a convention design. The sisters could easily move to whatever spot in the house had the best light. To facilitate this movement, they made each room accessible to those adjoining by sliding wooden panels. So it’s possible to walk a complete circuit around the house without going into the central hallway.
Eleven-year-old Trinity Rhoades of South Jordan, Utah, played a game of hide and seek with her sister and cousins Tuesday. Trinity decided to hide in the washing machine, but once in, she couldn't get out.
Her sister and cousins tried remedies they recalled from cartoons. First they used butter to lubricate her legs. Then they tried using peanut butter. Then they resorted to ice, which only left the girl cold, so they then poured warm water over her. The children finally called Trinity's mom, who called emergency services. They found the girl not only stuck in a washing machine, but "wet, cold, and covered with condiments."
They eventually had to cut the dryer from the top of the combo unit, and Trinity was freed. She has some bruising on her legs, but is otherwise uninjured. -via Arbroath
During the American Civil War, the US Navy blockaded Southern ports and largely cut the Confederacy off from the rest of the world. But the South did have some successes at sea. Some fast ships were able to slip through the blockade. The Confederate Navy built an ironclad that held its own against a Federal ironclad. But perhaps the most effective naval effort of the South was the warships that it sent far out to sea to capture and destroy Union shipping. These ships damaged the Union economy and forced the North to use warships to chase the Confederates.
Among these Confederate commerce raiders, the most far-ranging was the CSS Shenandoah. During its year-long voyage, it traveled as far as Australia and the Bering Sea. It was the only Confederate warship to circumnavigate the globe.
Confederate agents purchased it in Britain and, in September 1864, sailed it out unarmed to the Portuguese island of Madeira. There it met another vessel which had been shipped with cannons and a crew. The crew of 73, led by Captain James Waddell (left), raised the Confederate ensign and went hunting.
Waddell and his colleagues took 6 prizes before sailing into Melbourne, Australia in January of 1865. After a few weeks in drydock for repairs, Waddell sailed into the Pacific in search of American whalers. The Shenandoah found the most prey in the Aleutians, where at one point it took 7 prizes in an 11-hour period.
By then, it was June of 1865. General Lee had surrendered his army. President Davis had been captured. General Johnston was negotiating the surrender of his army. For all practical purposes, the Confederacy had ceased to exist. Captain Waddell encountered these reports, even far away in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
He didn’t believe them and sailed on. This time, he turned south, planning to strike at the coast of California. Finally, in August, a British merchant captain convinced him that the war was truly over. Without a government to fight for, the Shenandoah could not legally continue to wage war. So Waddell dismantled the cannons, hauled down the Confederate colors, and sailed to Britain. He surrendered the ship to British authorities on November 6, 1865.
Over its year-long voyage, the Shenandoah took 38 prizes costing the United States $1.36 million—all while unsuccessfully hunted by the US Navy. It was the last Confederate military unit to surrender.
