We sure love our fried potatoes. Which kind do you like best? There are french fries, curly fries, Tater Tots, potato wedges, and more, and you have to admit they are different, even though they are all fried potatoes. The Fry Universe gives us an elaborate 3D visualization of how they are different, which is a matter of surface area vs. volume. It's all in the frying, meaning how much of this food is potato, and how much is fried. Sure, we like both parts, but the frying is magic. Still, I am a bit disappointed they didn't include hash browns or latkes. -via Metafilter

Marvel Studios dipped its toe into the world of martial arts films this year with Shang-Chi and the Legend of The Ten Rings. Screen Junkies are here to point out how this movie uses all the usual tropes from Marvel superhero movies plus all the tropes you expect from a martial arts film (plus father issues), and yet it works better than you'd ever expect. After all, those film elements became ubiquitous because audiences liked them. While there's plenty to say, it's obvious that our favorite film critics really liked Shang-Chi and the Legend of The Ten Rings. Even if they are really bracelets.   

Early 20th-century modernist architecture was big in Southern California. There were innovative architects bringing sunlight and class to the homes of the nouveau riche, movie stars, and real estate moguls. Many became quite famous, and led lifestyles that rivaled those of movie stars. And then there was Jock Peters.

When the great 20th-century architect Richard Neutra arrived in Los Angeles in 1925 with his wife, Dione, and the couple’s young child, his first residence was 835 Kings Road in West Hollywood. There, the Neutras shared the home of fellow Austrian architect Rudolph Schindler and his wife, Pauline. Schindler, who designed the architectural landmark, had already made a name for himself in the United States by writing a “manifesto” that described, perhaps for the first time in so many words, an architecture in which, “The distinction between indoors and the out-of-doors will disappear.” A stint with Frank Lloyd Wright sealed Schindler’s reputation, as did the legendary soirees at Kings Road, where it was not uncommon for modern dancers to perform in the nude while Schindler’s guests drank freely, despite the strictures of Prohibition.

When the little-known 20th-century architect and designer Jock Peters arrived in Los Angeles in 1922, his wife, Herta, and their five children remained back home in Germany. Peters’ first lodging was a room at a local YMCA, which he shared with his brother George, who had landed in the United States almost a decade earlier. “I want to lead a quiet, insular life with you here,” Jock was soon assuring Herta in a letter home, “and shall try to avoid ambition and fame.”

Peters kept this promise, maybe too assiduously…

Peters started his career in California at a draftsman table, working for an architectural firm. But he branched out by getting creative for Hollywood studios, designing fantasy sets and interiors, a step that may be even more lasting than the expensive houses that brought acclaim to other architects. He went on to design stores and other commercial businesses, but he always kept a low profile. Now Peters' real influence can be recognized through the publication of his archives in the book Jock Peters, Architecture and Design: The Varieties of Modernism by Christopher Long. Read an overview of Peters' life and work at Collectors Weekly.  

Radon is a naturally-occurring radioactive gas that we are warned about in our basements. We know the dangers of radiation, which was driven home forcefully after Hiroshima and during the arms race. There was a time before that in which people sought out the miracle of radiation in cosmetics and even medicine. That belief hasn't quite died out.

There are places in the world that people go to and pay good money to be exposed to radon. Radon therapy seems to help some people, but is it a miracle cure, a placebo, or a matter of faith? Tom Scott visits the radonstollen (radon tunnel) in Bad Kreuznach, Germany. It's the site of a thriving pain clinic. The unique feature of this clinic is that the radon can be turned on or off! It sounds like the perfect place to propose a double-blind study on the effects of radon, but that probably won't happen. Even if you could find enough volunteers, good luck getting that idea past a university's ethics board.

If you know only two things about Benjamin Franklin, you know the story of how he flew a kite in a thunderstorm to capture electricity, and how he wanted to name the turkey as our national bird. If you know three things, you know he also liked beer. And then there's all that Founding Father stuff. You might like to learn how Franklin combined his electrical experiments with his fondness for turkey meat.

Two years before his famous kite experiment, Franklin decided to slaughter a turkey using electricity. He theorized that turkeys killed by electricity would be tastier than those killed by the usual method of decapitation. On December 23, 1750, Franklin set up the procedure. But instead of killing the turkey, he electrocuted himself! No, he didn't die, but he wrote about his injuries. We don't know what happened to the turkey, but it most likely ended up as Christmas dinner anyway. Read the story of that experiment at Smithsonian.

 

The 58-story Millennium Tower in San Francisco is the tallest residential building in the city. Whatever you may think of the wisdom of living in a skyscraper in an earthquake-prone city, residents began moving in in 2009, despite the fact that there were already signs of trouble with the building. Two terms come to mind when reading about the Millennium Tower: One is the "sunk cost fallacy," but that's a little too on the nose, and "throwing good money after bad," which means the same thing without the word "sunk."

Such a large and heavy building built close to the sea needs an extremely stable foundation. The Millennium Tower was built on a ten-foot-thick slab over 950 concrete piles installed 80 feet deep. Engineers thought that was enough, and predicted the building would settle four to six inches over its lifetime. But the building settled 16 inches by 2016, and not evenly. The top of the skyscraper was 12 inches out of plumb! That's twice what building codes allowed, but the residents were assured the building was safe. Still, there were numerous lawsuits to be settled.

What next? Engineers came up with a plan to fix the Millennium Tower, even though the repairs to the foundation would cost twice the original construction cost. And when they started the repair process, plans went awry again. Read the story of the Millennium Tower from an engineer's perspective, or watch it in video form, at Practical Engineering. -via Nag on the Lake

pic.twitter.com/e1uGogMQHx

— Marina Amaral (@marinamaral2) November 20, 2021

Theaters put their rules up on the screen before film showings to remind people to turn off their cell phones, keep quiet, and put their empty popcorn tubs in the garbage. The cell phone reminder is useful to those of us who never think about our phones until the ringer chimes. While most other rules seem like just common sense and common courtesy, we know there are plenty of people who have neither. And it was ever so. Even at the beginning of cinema, people had to be reminded that there are others in the room.

pic.twitter.com/ESVNIOOh1y

— Marina Amaral (@marinamaral2) November 20, 2021

Marina Amaral collected slides that were shown before silent films in 1912 to remind people that while that hat is lovely, other theater patrons would like to see around it. You can see how how these slides worked to set the standard back when the movegoing experience was new. Sadly, some of these etiquette rules are still needed today, but you have to wonder if they do any good. On the one hand, someone who is prone to talk loudly over a film or harass other patrons is not going to be swayed by a posted rule. On the other hand, having the rules posted gives a theater owner grounds to evict a transgressor. See more of Amaral's collection of slides at Twitter or at Threadreader.  -via Fark

"Man, the internet sure has changed!" You say or hear that statement quite a lot. It's true that new technology, shared experiences, and cultural shifts take place at the speed of light thanks to the ease and reach of the internet. When so many changes take place in just a few years, you can lose track of what once was. Quick, do you recall which came first- Napster or Wikipedia or wifi? Those milestones seem to exist in a lump now, although the internet we have now evolved in a series of steps. I remember when we talked about "web 2.0" for a long time before the term "social media" was settled on, and it wasn't all that long ago.

Mental Floss has a refresher on the subject of internet history, with 20 milestones that may strike you as profound, or maybe just nostalgic. At any rate, they help to explain how we got where we are today.

It could be worse. pic.twitter.com/Q1LTpg5i2c

— God Creating Animals (@GodAnimalBooks) April 29, 2021

God Creating Animals is a series of books for early readers based on Tweets by Charles Peterson and drawings by Brian Russell of Underfold Comics. The Twitter account for these gives us a glimpse at how all animals are different and have their unique niche in the ecosystem -with humor! Check out some of the Tweets in which animals learn their features and purposes.

God: you're a moose.

Moose: what if there is more than one of me?

God: still a moose.

Moose: oh.

God: what's wrong?

Moose: I thought my plural was Meese lmao.

God: lol.

Moose: can you even imagine how silly that would be.

Goose: [narrows eyes].

— God Creating Animals (@GodAnimalBooks) August 30, 2021

God: you’re a dog.

Dog: what does that mean?

God: you’re happy.

Dog: yay!

God: loyal.

Dog: let’s be best friends forever!

God: and very forgiving.

Dog: we all make mistakes.

God: lastly, I need you to help the humans.

Dog: [tail wag] do what?

God: be just like you : )

— God Creating Animals (@GodAnimalBooks) September 3, 2021

God: you're a frog.

Frog: what does that mean?

God: you’re an amphibian.

Frog: so I can breathe on land and-

God: -underwater yes.

Frog: oh my gosh I’m a mermaid?!?

God: no that’s not what I me-

Frog: [happy whisper] I’m the littlest mermaid.

— God Creating Animals (@GodAnimalBooks) November 18, 2021

God: you’re a squid.

Kraken: actually I’m a kraken.

God: what’s a kraken?

Kraken: nothing what’s a kraken with you? lol.

God: haha that reminds me of updog.

Kraken: what’s updog?

Dog: [tail wag] just happy to be here.

Kraken:

God:

Dog: thanks for asking : )

— God Creating Animals (@GodAnimalBooks) May 8, 2021

You can keep up with the voluminous animal jokes at the Twitter account. While the jokes fly thick and fast, one thing that always comes through is that God really loves his animals.

Hey you stop scrolling!

The Boss wants to tell you something : ) pic.twitter.com/EFojPedMn3

— God Creating Animals (@GodAnimalBooks) October 20, 2021

-via Metafilter

We've published many videos of deep sea exploration taken by an ROV (remotely operated vehicle) sent down by NOAA's ocean exploration research ships. The amazing videos they record are often accompanied by real-time commentary from the scientists back on the ship who are seeing these creatures at a safe and comfortable distance. Their enthusiasm makes deep sea exploration all the more pleasant for those of us who have no idea what we're seeing.

Ze Frank considers himself in that category, and thought it would be a good idea to have someone in on the conversation who doesn't have an advanced degree in marine biology or whatever. He made it happen, with an injection of confusion, horror, and humor edited into the dialogue.

We've already read about the worst Christmas gifts, which was quite sad. Here's a gift guide that's a little more lighthearted that recommends actual products you can order -as long as you allow plenty of time for delivery. Supply chain issues, you know. When you feel obligated to give a gift to someone you really don't like, you don't show your hand by getting something way too cheap, or used, or ridiculously mundane. No, you get them something with plausible deniability. It's new, it's trendy, it came at the expected price, but it will eventually cause problems for the recipient.

Naomi Kritzer has published her annual gift guide for people you hate, broken down into categories. How about a kit or some supplies for a difficult new hobby that the recipient never expressed any interest in? Or maybe gadgets for a home office that is already cramped, or even your public office, where a tape dispenser that plays the cymbals when you use it will amuse coworkers (shown above). There are always single-purpose kitchen appliances that will be little used, but take up valuable kitchen space, whether on the counter or in the pantry. And you might consider a subscription to a magazine that completely counters the recipient's political ideology. Charity donations are good for that, too. Read more of these ideas, with links to specific products for giggles, at Will Tell Stories For Food. -via Everlasting Blort

"When it rains, it pours." You've probably said this when something bad happens, then something else bad happens, or many bad things happen all at once. It's an old proverb that makes sense, right? Except it's not an old proverb at all. It's an advertising slogan from Morton Salt. Their advertising agency originated the saying, which has nothing to do with coincidence, but everything to do with humidity.

Morton salt was innovative in other ways. The distinctive cylindrical box with a spout on top is the way every brand of salt is packaged now, but it was so unique when it launched in 1911 that they patented the metal pouring spout. And that's all before we get to the Morton Salt girl, which is explained in detail at History Daily. -via Metafilter

Enjoy a minute of creative animation by Michel Gondry (previously at Neatorama), starring a dozen eggs doing quite ridiculous things. You may wonder why it appears to be making a big deal about this being shot on an iPhone, which is how most people record video these days. That's because it's an ad for Apple, specifically the iPhone 13 Pro. Maybe Apple thinks there may be people out there who don't understand that an iPhone will record nice footage. There's no doubt that Gondry put in plenty of work on the animation after the footage was shot. -via Nag on the Lake

We've all heard of King Solomon's mines, but that's mainly because of the 19th-century adventure book that was made into quite a few movies. The mines are not mentioned in the Bible, but King Solomon was crowned in precious jewels and made extensive use of copper. In the 1930s, archaeologist Nelson Glueck found evidence of ancient copper mines in southern Israel's Timna Valley. He declared the area the site of King Solomon's mines.

By the 1970s, archaeology had grown skeptical of the designation, and as a discipline was starting to look askance at claims made by archaeologists with an agenda of proving Biblical claims. There was no concrete evidence that King David or his son King Solomon even existed. In Timna, an Egyptian temple was uncovered that long predated the era of Solomon, and the mines were deemed to be part of the northern reaches of the Egyptian Empire.

Israeli archaeologist Erez Ben-Yosef took another look at the mines of Timna in 2009. He had no Biblical agenda; he was an agnostic looking for historical changes in the earth's magnetic field. What he found were artifacts that carbon dating placed at 1000 BC, far later than the Egyptians, but right around the time of David and Solomon. Since then, many more artifacts have emerged at the mines from that time period, including fibers of purple fabric. The puzzle for archaeologists is that while there are plenty of artifacts, there are no buildings, no permanent structures, besides the much older Egyptian temple. It's possible the mines could have been worked by Edomites, who were nomadic, or by Israelites, who also mainly lived in tents at the time. Read what we've found at Timna so far and what it could mean at Smithsonian.   

The blurb at Digg said this video was about how Jean Shepherd gave birth to "a salacious historical novel that was completely make up..." Of course, my first thought was, aren't all novels made up? But I soon learned that he didn't write I, Libertine, he just made up the fact that it existed at all. And people fell for it! In the process, Shepherd made a point about pretentiousness and cultivating one's image through pure lies.

Jean Shepherd was a radio star and humorist with plenty of stories to tell. Decades after the I, Libertine saga, he used some stories from his own childhood to write and narrate the film A Christmas Story.

By the way, the book is out of print, but you can still find a few vintage copies of I, Libertine for sale. -via Digg