Back in 2007, we posted a photograph that Marcy Light took of her son Daniel doing a one-fingered handstand at Four Corners. There was a spirited discussion on how the picture was taken, and we even posted one blogger's theory. Now we have the definitive answer. Marcy posted the procedure at her blog, (Don't Be) Too Timid and Squeamish. Link -Thanks, Marcy!

Scott Widak is a 47-year-old artist with Down Syndrome. He is also terminally ill with liver disease. His nephew Sean O’Connor posted his story on reddit and said Widak really enjoyed receiving mail. His address was only up at the site for four hours, but produced an amazing response.

Following the post, Widak received hundreds of letters from all over the world, including the United States, Sweden, Finland, Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom and Mexico. According to O’Connor, there is still mail coming in.

In addition to beautifully written letters, Reddit users have sent custom artwork, art supplies, DVDs and personal keepsakes that they wanted to pass on to Widak.

Sony Music Entertainment sent him 15 CDs/DVDs, which were mostly by Johnny Cash.

“The mail that’s arrived has all been extremely positive and thoughtful,” says O’Connor. “My family and I are amazed at how so many strangers could come together for a random act of kindness.”

See pictures from Widak's family at Mashable. Link -via The Daily What

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Sometime in the future, your consciousness may be salvaged after your body dies and stored digitally in cyberspace. What could possibly go wrong? Tom Scott speculates on the computer world called "Life." The subtitle is "the singularity, ruined by lawyers." Link -via Metafilter

Here's a sure-fire way to ruin a perfectly good funeral: wake the corpse up. It happened last week in Egypt. Hamdi Hafez al-Nubi of the village of Naga al-Simman suffered a heart attack while working as a waiter. Hospital officials pronounced the 28-year-old man dead.

His family says grieving relatives took him home and, according to Islamic tradition, washed his body and prepared him for burial Friday evening.

A doctor sent to sign the death certificate found it strange that his body was warm. At closer observation she discovered he was still alive.

His mother fainted upon hearing the good news.

But the funeral was not a waste- the family turned it into a celebration of al-Nubi's survival. Link

If bands were sandwiches, they would have some interesting ingredients.

AC/DC: Beer-battered kangaroo sausage, sliced hard-boiled egg, low-calorie port cheese, Dutch crunch.

The Pogues: Gin-fed lamb, whiskey-marinated turkey, beer-braised pork shoulder, mustard, soda bread.

Van Halen: Grilled 17-cheese sandwich on white bread; side of nacho cheese soup.

Ted Nugent: Cubed Grizzly bear, white buffalo brisket, unicorn haunch, Jim Beam barbecue sauce, white bread.

Oh there's lots more of these at McSweeney's. Link -via Nag on the Lake

(Image credit: Flickr user Marshall Astor)

Hollywood has given us lots of movies about drugs, drug dealers, and drug users. But they can't use the real thing on the set: it's expensive, illegal, and the actors would have died on the set of Blow or Scarface. Wired magazine looked up what movies and TV shows use to depict various drugs on film. Link -via Gizmodo

Over forty years ago, General Mills introduced its first monster cereals, Frankenberry and Count Chocula. You might not know that there were a total of five different monster cereals in the series, some not as successful as others. Read about each and a theory on what makes a monster cereal successful at Food Diggity. Link -via the Presurfer (Image credit: Glen Brogan)

This indoor grotto and koi pond also serves as a staircase connecting two floors at the home of redditor kyky05. It was constructed by the people who owned the home before his family bought it. See more pictures here. Oh yes, there was a second, more conventional staircase as well. Link

The elephant keepers at the Marghazar Zoo in Islamabad, Pakistan, ordered a supply of alcohol each of the past twenty years -for the elephants. They said the  alcohol was necessary to calm the elephants down during mating season. The orders were filled each year, and listed under the elephant's food expense budget. But the elephants never drank the liquor.

The bills amounted Rs80,000 at maximum and minimum at Rs40,000.

Locally-manufactured liquor would be supplied to the zoo and the cost would be added to the food expense.

Veterinary doctors while speaking to Express News said that alcohol cannot be consumed by elephants.

Once that fact came to light, an investigation was opened. Two of the zookeepers have been suspended. Link (related video) -via Arbroath

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This parody of LMFAO's "I'm Sexy and I Know It" starts a little weak and gets better as it goes. Just beam me up, Scotty! -via I Am Bored

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This cat acts like he's discovered heaven. It's a good thing they didn't let him near a whole watermelon! -via reddit

We see stories about the animal kingdom and the selflessness of animal moms, accompanied by adorable pictures that only make human moms feel more inadequate -if that's possible. But not all animal species are great nurturers. Take harp seals:

Mothers of these precious little ones are highly dedicated for the first twelve days. In fact, they do not eat at all during that period. Unfortunately, once the feeding is over, that’s it for mother-child bonding—she’s out of there, ready to mate again.

Unlike many other species with such abrupt weaning periods, the harp seal pup can’t go on to survive on its own yet. Instead it is left stranded on the ice for the next month and a half, leaving it incredibly vulnerable to predators.

Read the rest about harp seals and other not-so-great animal moms at mental_floss. Link

(Image credit: Flickr user Luke Bryant)

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Marvel comics characters cause inadvertent chaos in this animation by Junaid Chundrigar. -via Metafilter

The organization Project Prevention offers drug addicts (mostly women) $300 cash if they agree to sterilization or long-term birth control. Founded in North Carolina, the program has expanded to the UK and hopes to work in Kenya, Ireland, and Haiti.

Not so fast, say critics, including Niamh Eastwood of Release, a drugs law organization in the UK. "By encouraging sterilisation, Project Prevention is taking away reproductive rights for women at a point when they are not able to make a clear decision about such an important issue," Eastwood wrote in a lengthy editorial. "Harris’s retort is that, if they are not able to make an informed decision about their health, they are not able to look after a child. However, it is not that simple. As a society, we must protect the fundamental human rights of every person, including their sexual and reproductive rights."

There are accusations that Harris focuses specifically on black women, and others who say that Harris views all addicts as "eternal victims," and doesn't seem to give a care what happens to these women as long as unwanted babies are not born.

Other critics question the wisdom of giving cash to drug addicts at all. The project's founder, Barbara Harris, has adopted drug-addicted babies and says most of the women contacted have already had children and know what they're doing. Link

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Back in 1984, Apple produced this video parody of the movie Ghostbusters to show at their company-wide sales meeting in Hawaii. Back then, their main competitor, IBM, was called "Big Blue," so Apple aspired to be "Blue Busters." Jobs and Wozniak appear briefly. -via The Daily What