Cardellino says that the egg was both "edible and delicious." More importantly, we've all learned an essential survival skill that could mean the difference between life and death if we're ever besieged by zombies in a hair salon.
Imagine your address as not, say, 750 Bel Air Road, Bel Air, California, but instead block.horse.happy.
It could be if the founders of the app what3words are successful. Their system divides the entire world into 57 trillion 9-square meter areas. It assigns 3 random words to each section. The sequences are unique for all 57 trillion sections. April Joyner describes it at The Week:
An algorithm generates each three-word phrase. It filters out profanity, avoids homophones to reduce the chances for mistakes when an address is spoken (hear vs. here), and safeguards for slip-ups with singular and plural words. If you accidentally type engine.door.cubs instead of engine.doors.cubs, you'll get a location halfway around the world — your mistake should be obvious.
what3words co-founder Chris Sheldrick says that the system is already in use:
It's key that the three-word phrases are easy to memorize, because many of the people who are served by what3words' system don't have a smartphone to look them up. Instead, Sheldrick says, once they've been given their address by an aid worker, or a neighbor who has a smartphone on hand, they can simply make note of the phrase for future reference. He gives the example of Rocinha, a slum in Rio de Janeiro, where residents are beginning to use what3words as an alternate address system to receive mail.
A group of industrial design students at California State University in Long Beach wanted to develop a people-powered means to transport gear over short distances. Bicycles are too big and cumbersome, so they invented the Nimble: a kick scooter with a cargo platform.
The Nimble comes with a removable basket for loose items and a sturdy rack for larger objects. There's a kickstand to help it stay upright. You can see more photos at Core 77.
What's really important for women to look for when searching for a man to marry? The most popular and growing characteristics are mutual attraction, dependable character, and maturity.
Chastity used to be important, but that's taken a nosedive since 1939, as did housekeeping skills and neatness.
Max Roser, an economist, recently created a series of charts to illustrate a study published in 2008 about what men and women look for in a spouses, and how these values have changed over time. It's explored in depth at the Washington Post.
We've looked at what women want. Let's check in with the men. The above chart shows that men increasingly search for mutual attraction. There were also sharp increases in the importance of good looks and sociability.
The importance of chastity plummeted over the intervening 69 years. Emotional stability, though, is still very important.
Paglia was recently interviewed by Tyler Cowen, an economist and polymath. In that conversation, Cowen asked Paglia about a line she had written about her intellectual development during the 1970s. While other people had psychedelic experiences from LSD and other drugs, she was eating Indian food. Specifically, she ate lamb vindaloo to open her mind. She explains to Cowen:
COWEN: You once wrote, I quote, “My substitute for LSD was Indian food,” and by that, you meant lamb vindaloo.
PAGLIA: Yes.
COWEN: You stand by this.
PAGLIA: Yes, I’ve been in a rut on lamb vindaloo.
COWEN: A rut, tell us.
PAGLIA: It’s a horrible rut.
COWEN: It’s not a horrible rut, it may be a rut.
PAGLIA: No, it’s a horrible rut. It’s a 40-year rut. Every time I go to an Indian restaurant, I say “Now, I’m going to try something new.” But, no, I must go back to the lamb vindaloo.
All I know is it’s like an ecstasy for me, the lamb vindaloo.
COWEN: Like De Quincey, tell us, what are the effects of lamb vindaloo?
PAGLIA: What can I say? I attain nirvana.
Good Indian food will do that.
You can read or watch the rest of their conversation here, which includes Paglia's thoughts on the movies Ben-Hur and Star Wars Episode III.
What lies in your baby's future? He can't think beyond the present, so do your parental duty and read out his horoscope. Cartoonist Jim Benton has helpful scanned the stars and made mystical calculations for the next week.
When you want the finest toilets in the world, you go to Japan. And now Japan is stepping up its game even further with Taikou Juden's line of artistic toilets available in a vast variety of colors, patterns, and images. For example, pictured above is a toilet made to resemble the famous wood block print The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai.
I'm not sure about getting a camouflage toilet, though. When I need to go, I don't want to struggle to just find the toilet.
This week, The Vulgar Chef made lovely and classy egg rolls using just the ingredients of McDonald's Big Mac hamburgers, cheese, and egg roll pastry dough.
First, he placed shredded cheese between two layers of pastry dough. Then he added French fries, pickles, and sliced beef patty.
It looks delicious! McDonald's should actually offer this dish.
Whenever Greg Baskwell needs a helping paw, he can count on Finley. Finley will do anything to contribute. Need to wash the car? Finley is there. Need a helicopter landing pad? Count on Finley. Need bail money? You're on your own. Sorry, but there are limits.
Fifteen years ago, when Mike and Angela Hovak Johnson of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada got married, they ate food from Kentucky Fried Chicken. Since that time, they've always celebrated their anniversary by eating at KFC.
Then the local Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant shut down.
Mike Johnson didn't see that a a problem. He and his son drove to the nearest KFC in High Level, Alberta, ordered 15 buckets of chicken, then drove back. The trip was 870 miles long. That's a long way, but it's how the couple keeps their relationship fresh and crispy. CBC News reports:
"This year was the most difficult one to plan," said Angela. "But my husband didn't hesitate. He wanted to drive all the way to…
"High Level," said Mike, finishing her sentence. "So during March break, me and my son got up early one morning, drove 700 kilometres, picked up 15 buckets of KFC and drove 700 kilometres back — in one day."
According to Mike, his unusual to-go order got him a bit of a weird look in High Level, Alta.
"When I ordered 15 buckets, they said: 'uh, it might take a little while,'" he said. "I said: 'no problem,' so they cooked it up right away."
Robert E. Lee Elementary School in Austin, Texas is named after the famous Confederate general with that name. As the Confederate States of America was founded for the explicit purpose of preserving slavery, many people think that it is inappropriate to keep Lee Elementary's name. The school board has voted to rename the school and has asked the public for suggestions.
Among the potential new names are Donald J. Trump Elementary, Harper Lee Elementary, and Schoolie McSchoolface--a reference to the British ship that was to be named Boaty McBoatface.
Jaime Primak Sullivan wants her three young children to learn good manners. So when they didn't thank a Dairy Queen server for giving them ice cream, she threw it in the trash. She writes on Facebook:
The young lady (maybe 17) handed each child their ice cream. Not one looked her in the eye. Not one said thank you. Not to her, not to me... So I waited. I counted to 10
in my head as they dug into their ice cream and the young lady just looked at me (probably because she thought I was hearing voices) and I watched as my children strolled out the door. I followed them outside where I calmly collected their ice creams and my kids watched in horror as I deposited them into the nearby garbage can. All 3 launched into mass hysteria. I waited. Quiet. Calm. When they realized I had something to say, they quieted down.
I explained that one day, if they were lucky, they would work a job like that young lady. And I would hope that people would see them. Really see them. Look them in the eye and say thank you. We are too old at 8/7/5 to move through our days without exercising manners and honestly basic human decency.
So today, I am the meanest mom in the world.
Sullivan's post has gone viral, gaining 49,000 shares so far. Some commenters think that she did exactly the right thing, giving her kids some tough love about being polite. But Ronda Robinson at PJ Media disagrees:
Good parenting does not include setting your children up to fail or engaging in public humiliation. Punishment should be reserved for crimes. It shouldn't be a punishable offense to not say "thank you" or to fail "see" a teenager behind the ice cream counter. These are traits of childish behavior at best, or failed parenting skills at worst, depending on the children.
When your package has to get to someone immediately, call the Royal Norwegian Air Force.
The patient in the town of Bodø was dying. Doctors needed to perform a specialized procedure to save his life, yet they didn't have the necessary equipment to do it. But a hospital in Trondheim, 280 miles away, did have that equipment.
Hospital officials in Trodheim went to the nearby Air Force base. The Guardian reports that the officers there didn't hesitate and immediately fired up an F-16 fighter jet:
“They didn’t ask any questions, except for what size the machine was,” Anders Wetting Carlsen, chief doctor at Trondheim’s Saint Olaf hospital, told AFP.
In a further stroke of good luck, one of the fighter jets was equipped with an external hold that allowed it to transport equipment. The machine was loaded on to the aircraft, which made for Bodø at top speed.
The trip normally takes 35 minutes. But the pilot pushed hard and got there in just 25 minutes. This quick delivery saved the patient's life.
This is PuiPui, a Holland Lop and celebrity in the rabbit world. He's a fashion model without equal, dressing in only the most perfecty designed and crafted outfits. Whatever PuiPui wears is guaranteed to be the new look, so pay close attention.
This is Poldi, a pet owl. He's just one and a half years old.
Poldi lives with Tanya Brandt, a photographer. Recently, when Poldi and Brandt went out together, it started to train. Poldi sought shelter under a mushroom. The resulting photo is like something out of a fantasy movie!
You can see more photos of Poldi at play at Bored Panda.
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