It may be the wrong time of year to think about how fat you are -or maybe it's the best time of year to change your habits before you put the pounds on! HealthAssist lists 14 habits you want to examine to turn your health around and either lose weight or avoid becoming fat. Some you are familiar with, but others may be news. Who knew the way you dress makes a difference in how active you are? Link -Thanks, Karen!

Re Jin hand paints ants on decals that she tranfers to these spoons! Just another way to make your dinner guests go home and never come back. Link -via J-Walk Blog

This is sweet! A collection of geographic hearts found all over the world. This forest is found in Cantabria, Spain. Link -Thanks, David E!

The Max Planck Institute in Germany printed a lovely poem in Chinese characters on the front of their latest journal issue. At least they thought so. They had consulted an expert on China to find the right poem, but the expert was German, not Chinese. After publication, it turns out the poem is actually an ad for a brothel!

The use of traditional Chinese characters and references to "the northern mainland" seem to indicate the text comes from Hong Kong or Macau, and it promises burlesque acts by pretty-as-jade housewives with hot bodies for the daytime visitor.

The cover has since been changed, and the institute has issued an apology. Link -Thanks, Daniel Kim!

Phil Plait of Bad Astronomy blog has selected his ten favorite astronomy pictures from the year 2008. His descriptions are as entertaining as the pictures! This one shows spiral galaxy NGC 7331, which is about 50 million light years away. Link -Thanks, Amos Kenigsberg!

The new Palazzo Versace hotel in Dubai wants to provide every luxury to its guests. The latest planned innovation is a refrigerated beach!

The beach will have a network of pipes beneath the sand containing a coolant that will absorb heat from the surface.

The swimming pool will be refrigerated and there are also proposals to install giant blowers to waft a gentle breeze over the beach.

Versace's plans have shocked environmentalists. Rachel Noble, the campaigns officer at Tourism Concern, which promotes sustainable tourism, said that the carbon generated by such projects would contribute to climate change, whose worst effects would be felt by the poor.

“Dubai is like a bubble world where the things that are worrying the rest of the world, like climate change, are simply ignored so that people can continue their destructive lifestyles,” she said.

The hotel should open in late 2009 or early 2010. Link -Thanks, Chris Tackett!

The subway entrances in Toulouse, France are adorned with modern pixel art! Each station is different. I particularly like this Tetris station entrance. See more at Fubiz. http://www.fubiz.net/blog/index.php?2008/12/16/2512-subway-colors-and-pixel -Thanks, Matt!

Your trusty iPhone can help you get through the holiday season, whether you use it for entertainment, information, or for getting along with annoying relatives. Mental_floss has ten recommendations for iPhone applications that will prove useful, and might even make a great gift for an iPhone user! Shown is the application Classics that allows you to read great books (or keep the kids occupied while traveling) on your phone. Link

(YouTube link)
What are all those microwave ovens for? Watch and find out! From digital agency AKQA. -via Viral Video Chart

A woman can usually tell if her husband, boyfriend, or son wrapped a Christmas gift himself or had the store do it. Not anymore! A British shop will specially wrap a gift badly, so it appears the buyer attempted to give it the personal touch.

Firebox.com is paying 20 of its male forklift truck drivers and warehouse assistants to wrap presents as quickly as possible, using ugly brown duct tape and very little care.

And the $9 service, cheekily called CrapWrap, has attracted more than 500 customers since it launched last week.

Whether it's a book, DVD or something trickier such as a kitchen utensil, the team guarantees to make a mess of it.

I still don't know any man who would pay $9 rather than having the pros (or Mom) wrap a gift for him. http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,25642,24801456-5014239,00.html -Thanks, Bill!

Egyptologists worked for over a year to produce a digital 3D recreation of the face of Cleopatra, using ancient artifacts combined with modern imaging technology. The result is a beautiful face of mixed ethnicity.

Dr Ashton, of Cambridge University, said the images, to be broadcast as part of a Five documentary on Cleopatra, reflect the monarch's Greek heritage as well as her Egyptian upbringing.

'She probably wasn't just completely European. You've got to remember that her family had actually lived in Egypt for 300 years by the time she came to power.'

Link -via Digg

(image credit: Image Foundry Studios, LTD)

On January 20th, Barack Obama will become the first black US president. Today's Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss looks back at some other presidential firsts. Who was the first president for eleven different questions? I only scored 45%, because, um, I didn't know the answers! But I learned quit a bit. http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/20949

Ernest is a 15-year-old cat who lives at a shelter in Godshill on the Isle of Wight. He suffers from entropion, a condition where the eyelids roll inward and cause inflammation. Surgery might correct the condition, but veterinarians were concerned about how such an old cat would react to an anesthetic. The solution? Contact lenses!

Centre manager Paula Sadler, 56, said: 'Before Earnest was given the contact lenses he was quite squinty and had trouble seeing where he was going.

'Now his eyes have opened up and he has a new lease of life.

Link -via Fark

(Vimeo link)
Check out this excellent animated robot fight scene set in the year 2045. Vincent Chai produced this for his final project at the University Of Hertfordshire. It doesn't end like you think it will. Link -via Digg

Bath salts are a popular Christmas gift for the person who has everything. Now you can make them yourself with the classic scent of bacon!

Step 1
Heat up 4 strips of salt pork in a microwave. You could also use bacon, but the salt pork has more fat, giving you more grease for your mixture.

Step 2
Pour 2 cups epsom salt in bowl, then 1 cup borax.

Step 3
Drain fat away from meat and mix with a few drops of liquid smoke. The liquid smoke helps make the scent, it won't smell right without it.

Step 4
Mix the grease/smoke mixture into the salt mixture. Mix thoroughly by hand, or else it will not blend all the way. If there seems to be too much grease, add more borax and salt. If it is too dry, heat up more salt pork and repeat steps 1-4.

Step 5
Enjoy bacon scented baths by adding your salt whenever you take a soak. To store, just put it in a bottle and save it for later.

Link -via Unique Daily

Update: I just found out you can buy this already made!