A weird experiment from Duke University:

Whether you are a Mac person or a PC person, even the briefest exposure to the Apple logo may make you behave more creatively, according to recent research from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and the University of Waterloo, Canada....

The team conducted an experiment in which 341 university students completed what they believed was a visual acuity task, during which either the Apple or IBM logo was flashed so quickly that they were unaware they had been exposed to the brand logo. The participants then completed a task designed to evaluate how creative they were, listing all of the uses for a brick that they could imagine beyond building a wall. People who were exposed to the Apple logo generated significantly more unusual uses for the brick compared with those who were primed with the IBM logo, the researchers said. In addition, the unusual uses the Apple-primed participants generated were rated as more creative by independent judges.

Link via Evangelical Outpost

The Quantum Sleeper is a bed that converts into a bullet-proof, airtight shelter that is shielded from biochemical attacks with filtered ventilation and rebreathing equipment. Options include a toilet, a short-wave radio, and motion detectors.

Link via Gizmodo via Ace

Alex previously linked to the amusing blog Stuff White People Like, a blog about white American culture.  Here's a spinoff: Stuff Christians Like, a satirical poke at American evangelical culture.  One of my favorites:  

#68.  Saying "I don't even own a TV." 

When someone tells me at a party, "I don't even own a TV," I immediately stop, drop and roll my way into another room. It's not the most graceful escape but it works. I am completely cool with people that don't have televisions. I think I watch too much. I wish I didn't know who got a really horrible angel tattoo on the show, "Biggest Loser." I wish my Tivo didn't know me better than some friends do. I don't think watching a lot of television is a good thing, but I can't stand how condescending people get when they've "conquered" television and want to tell you about it. Even worse is when they say, "I don't even own a TV, I like to spend time with my kids instead." Oh, low blow. What that sounds like is, "For me, my kids are more important than the show Lost, but then I'm not a horrible dad." If you don't own a TV, that is cool, seriously, but let's talk about something else if you see me at a party. Please.

Link via Thinklings

The Washington Post examined 209 items of technology, such as cassette tapes and physical currency, and social conventions, such as blind dates and body hair, that are on their way out.  Here's what the article has to say about short basketball shorts:

The practice of playing games in retro uniforms is common in basketball now; it gives teams another jersey to sell at the concession stands. But last December, in a game against the Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers took it one step further -- they wore throwback shorts. As in short shorts. For anyone who has mourned the days when a player's full legs were as conspicuous as his tats, it was a moment of glory.

A brief one. The Lakers immediately fell behind. Despite a halftime change to the usual baggy, floor-scraping uniforms, the players were so shellshocked from the sight of their upper thighs that they lost.

"I don't know what it feels like to wear a thong," said Kobe Bryant after the game. "But I imagine it feels something like what we had on in the first half. I felt violated. I felt naked."

Link via Evangelical Outpost

Writinghood author Chang Lee Peng has a list of what he considers to be the 10 most difficult words to spell in the English language, such as Floccinaucihihilipilification, which means "act or habit to deny the value of some particular things.”

Link via Evangelical Outpost

[YouTube Link]

Although familiar with Nimoy's bizarre music video "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins", I was unaware that he had a rather wide musical career. This video shows album covers from Nimoy's discography, as well as a few other images, set to the tune of Nimoy singing "Put A Little Love In Your Heart". 2 minutes, 27 seconds long.

Link via Ace

The scholarly journal The American Book Review has a list what it considers to be the best last lines from novels. A few samples:

7. He loved Big Brother. –George Orwell, 1984 (1949)

21. If I were a younger man, I would write a history of human stupidity; and I would climb to the top of Mount McCabe and lie down on my back with my history for a pillow; and I would take from the ground some of the blue-white poison that makes statues of men; and I would make a statue of myself, lying on my back, grinning horribly, and thumbing my nose at You Know Who. –Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle (1963)

37. P.S.
Sorry I forgot to give you the mayonnaise.
–Richard Brautigan, Trout Fishing in America (1967)

Link via Evangelical Outpost

[Video Link]Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee told reporters that when he was in college, he and his friends used to cook squirrels in a popcorn popper -- because that was the only appliance they were allowed to use. Slate V's Samantha Henig headed to Central Park intent on discovering whether or not one really could cook a squirrel successfully in a popcorn popper.

That's right. At Neatorama, we do more than just entertain you. We provide you with practical skills that you can use in your day-to-day life.

Video runtime: 2 minutes, 49 seconds.  Preceded by 30 second commercial.

Reuters has an article up about a recent survey of HR managers about the greatest interviewing mistakes that they've ever seen:

- When an applicant was offered food before the interview, he declined saying he didn't want to line his stomach with grease before going out drinking.

- A candidate for an accounting position said she was a "people person" not a "numbers person."

- Candidate flushed the toilet while talking to interviewer during phone interview.

Commentors, what is the worst interviewing mistake that you've ever seen or done?

Link via Ace of Spades HQ

Correlation doesn't necessarily equal causality, but a new medical study reveals that cat owners have a lower incidence of heart attacks and strokes than do non-owners:

Non-cat owners appear to have a 40 percent higher risk of dying from myocardial infarction than those who do have a cat, according to a study presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference last month in New Orleans. Researchers examined the data of 4,435 people from the second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. (Dogs didn't factor into the findings because fewer participants owned them.)

Picture via Flickr user avidpets

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/pets/5599262.html via Evangelical Outpost

Traditional British cuisine is becoming increasingly rare in British households:

The survey by Tesco found that only five per cent of 18-40-year-olds had cooked a spotted dick, compared to 14 per cent of 41-55-year-olds.Simlarly, six per cent of the younger group had made a Beef Wellington compared to 15 per cent of the over-40s.

Tesco claims that the five above dishes - as well as coronation chicken, sherry trifle and Lancashire hot pot - are prepared so infrequently that they could disappear completely by 2021.

Foreign dishes, however, are thriving. For instance, 71 per cent and 62 per cent of under-40s had made spaghetti bolognese or curry, respectively.

Picture via Flickr user tednmiki.

Link via Ace of Spades HQ

Scented candles -- if you're a married man, get used to the accursed things.

Or try an alternative. Manterns: scented candles for men. With soothing aromas like "Bacon cheeseburger" and "Sawdust", who could resist?

Commentors: what scents would you like to have wafting through your house?

Link via Jeff

Using a wiki program, the Bible is being translated into LOLCat. Here's the first few verses from Genesis 1:

1 Oh hai. In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh skiez An da Urfs, but he did not eated dem.

2 Da Urfs no had shapez An haded dark face, An Ceiling Cat rode invisible bike over teh waterz.

3 At start, no has lyte. An Ceiling Cat sayz, i can haz lite? An lite wuz.

4 An Ceiling Cat sawed teh lite, to seez stuffs, An splitted teh lite from dark but taht wuz ok cuz kittehs can see in teh dark An not tripz over nethin.

5 An Ceiling Cat sayed light Day An dark no Day. It were FURST!!!1

Very good stuff. Of course, you've never really experienced the Bible until you've read it in the original Klingon.

Link via Ace.

[Video Link]Acid Rain: A short film about a man who, over the phone, tries to stop his psychotic brother from going on a killing spree. Written and directed by Martin Malone. 10 minutes long. Mild language warning.

UPDATE:  In the comments, ted and cindy give me well-deserved rebukes for posting a film about a school shooting within days of the NIU shootings.  ted calls the post "Callous, insensitive, and ignorant to post this 3 days after a school shooting."  I can't argue with that.  I should have immediately thought of the NIU shootings when I watched this film and had the common sense and decency not to post it.  But I didn't think, and I'm sorry.

[YouTube Link]

A slideshow lining up the Democratic and Republican Presidential candidates with their respective Muppet identities, set to the tune of the Muppet theme music. 1 minutes, 5 seconds long.

Via Ironic Catholic