Miss Cellania's Blog Posts
Before the latter part of the 18th century, prison was a place to put people away and forget about them. Then the Quakers designed Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia to make prisoners penitent and to encourage their reform.
Read how the experiment failed, but opened the way for the development of the modern prison system. Link
Compared to other facilities of its day, Eastern State was a technological marvel, and at a cost of $800,000, one of the most expensive building projects of its day. At a time when President Andrew Jackson was still using a chamber pot, prisoners in Eastern State had their own private toilets. Inmates were also served three hearty meals (usually boneless beef, pork, or soup and unlimited potatoes) a day, and had their own exercise areas. The cells each had a narrow skylight so that the divine wisdom of god might shine down upon them! Eastern State was a paradise compared to other prisons of the time. Except, despite all the comforts that were even better than home, this paradise also drove men mad.
Read how the experiment failed, but opened the way for the development of the modern prison system. Link
Beakman's World was a kids' science show in the nineties. Today's Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss tests how well you remember the show. I am shocked that I scored 82%, since I never saw the show! Sometimes common sense (and a bit of TV production knowledge) comes in handy. http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/17794
(YouTube link)
Fortune cookies are a strange, unfamiliar food in China. They were developed in Japan and popularized in the US. Nana Shi began selling them online in China and found that she needed to include instructions! Link -via Dark Roasted Blend
I'm not familiar with a vegetable called a marrow (it seems to be some kind of squash), but this one is apparently the biggest ever at 113 pounds! There were lots of huge vegetables at a giant vegetable show in England.
There's a picture of the cucumber at The Daily Mail, but I can't tell how long it is. Link -via Unique Daily
The skin is craggy and dark, indicating it might not make the best offering at dinner, but it overtook the current world record by a whopping three kilos.
Grown by Ken Dade, from Norfolk, it had benefitted from the wet conditions during the spring and summer.
Show organiser Roy Davey is hopeful the show could yet produce another giant vegetable record. 'We have hopes for a record cucumber,' he said.
There's a picture of the cucumber at The Daily Mail, but I can't tell how long it is. Link -via Unique Daily
Any of these prison escape stories would make an exciting movie (and some of them already have). Not all of the escapees were hardened criminals; some were prisoners of war, and Alfréd Wetzler (pictured) along with his partner Rudolf Vrba escaped from Auschwitz by hiding inside a wood pile for four days! He later provided extensive details of the death camp to Allied forces.
Read about Wetzler and nine escape stories at The List Universe. Link -via the Presurfer
The 32-page Vrba-Wetzler report, as it became known, was the first detailed report about Auschwitz to reach the West that the Allies regarded as credible.
The evidence eventually led to the bombing of several government buildings in Hungary, killing Nazi officials who were instrumental in the railway deportations of Jews to Auschwitz. The deportations halted, saving up to 120,000 Hungarian Jews.
Read about Wetzler and nine escape stories at The List Universe. Link -via the Presurfer
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Why did I spent so much time trying to make a raisin milkshake when I could've been doing something fun like this? It turns out that you can make raisins dance in any kind of carbonated beverage. Link to an explanation. -via YesButNoButYes
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If you've ever wondered what your dog does while you are at work, this may enlighten you. Flickr user Bill Binns made a video of what his dog did from 8AM to 5PM. Relax, the time-lapse video is only about a minute long. Now I know the meaning of the phrase "It's a dog's life"! -via Unique Daily
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A graduation project by several students at the French animation school Gobelins: Julian Bocabeille (who now works for Dreamworks), FX Chanioux, Olivier Delabarre, Thierry Marchand, Quentin Marmier, and Emud Mokhberi. See a list of awards and a making-of featurette at the Ocktapodi site. Link -Thanks, Bill!
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At a recent appearance in California, theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking keeps relativity on a layman's level. -via b3ta
It's Friday and you are online reading blogs instead of working. This chart may hit a little close to home! Only a small portion is pictured here; you can see the entire chart at Project Sidewalk. Link -via Geek Like Me
An all-star gathering of legendary American astronauts appeared in Cleveland Aug. 29, 2008 to celebrate NASA's 50th anniversary. John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth, Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon, Jim Lovell, veteran of two Apollo missions, and Kathryn Sullivan, the first woman to walk in space joined 15 other astronauts from Ohio.
Link -via Digg
(image credit: NASA)
NASA also has an interactive timeline about their 50 years in the space exploration business. Link
Check out this Flickr set of classic video games recreated in Lego! Pictured is NES Castlevania. Link -via b3ta
(image credit: skinny coder)
The problem: grilling a hot dog bun on a barbecue without ruining the hinge. The solution: build a gadget. Evil Mad Scientists Laboratories has step-by-step instructions for making you own bun jig. Link
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