What does a president do after his term in office ends? If history is any indication, there are a lot of opportunities. See how well you know what past presidents did after leaving office in today's mental_floss Lunchtime Quiz. I scored 60%, better than I expected. http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/18857

Etsy seller trixiedelicious has all seven deadly sins featured on quaint vintage English and Japanese china plates. They are food safe and come with hangers for display. Link -via The Seven Deadly Sinners

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Of course, an engineer would build a simple machine to do the task! -via Geek Like Me

Consumer Reports has a checklist of seven things people do that compromise your online security. Are you guilty of any of these?

1. Assuming your security software is protecting you
2. Accessing an account through an e-mail link
3. Using a single password for all online accounts
4. Downloading free software
5. Thinking your Mac shields you from all risks
6. Clicking on a pop-up ad that says your PC is insecure
7. Shopping online the same way you do in stores

They have more details on each, and steps you can take to keep your identity secure. Link -via Consumerist

(image credit: David Flaherty)

How big does a TV have to be? As big as you want it! Status symbol, aid for failing eyesight, or a reward for your hard work, there are plenty of big screens to choose from. See a dozen of the biggest in Big Stuff: The 12 Monsters of TV. The picture shows the 231 feet wide Mitsubishi Diamond Vision at the Sha Tin Horse Race Course in China. Link -Thanks, Andy!

How not to install an air conditioning unit. This is nothing compared to the rest of the photos at English Russia. Link -via the Presurfer

7' 9" Bao Xishun is a father! Bao gained worldwide fame when he saved the lives of two dolphins. His wedding to Xia Shujuan was a lavish affair, sponsored by 15 companies. Their son was born Thursday at Zunhua Hospital in Hebei.

Bao's son measured 22 inches long at birth, the senior doctor at Zunhua Hospital in Hebei province told Reuters.

Although slightly taller than average for newborn children, Bao's boy came up well short of the 29.5 inches claimed as a record birth length last year, also in China.

"Bao is quite happy. The baby is healthy and a normal size," the hospital's senior doctor Zhang told Reuters.

Bao, a 7-foot-9-inch herdsman from Inner Mongolia, last year married Xia Shujuan, a pygmy by contrast at 5-foot-6 inches.

"I hope he or she can be about 2 meters tall," Bao, 57, said last year about his wishes for a child. "Then he or she can play basketball."

Link -via Arbroath

In the 1950s and 60s, Americans were taught to fear communism to the point of paranoia. Advertising was quick to take advantage of that fear. See a collection of such ads at Socyberty. Link -Thanks, RJ Evans!

These Nile Tilapia fish are twins, joined at the abdomen. Usually, such twins in the animal kingdom will die before being discovered, but this duo is eight months old. They live in an aquarium in Bangkok, Thailand. See more pictures at the Daily Mail. Link -Thanks, Moi!

The biggest franchises in the world all started with just one store. Some are so big and have been around so long that few know where the original was! Read how Starbucks, 7-11, and The Gap started out, and plenty of trivia. Did you know Taco Bell was named after its founder? That Arby's is named for the pronunciation of R.B, but that doesn't mean roast beef? And the first Whoppers cost 37 cents? Fifteen such chains are featured in this post. Link -Thanks, Freshome!

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New Zealander Robert Thompson completed a journey the long way across China on September 28th. And he went the whole way by skateboard! Thompson kept a blog of his latest journey, as well as his previous skateboard treks across Europe and the United States. Total length of his skateboard trips: 12,159km (7,555 miles). Link -Thanks, Jee!

Jamie Laughlin made a birthday cake for her co-worker John Linn. A really big cake!

When I first saw the monstrosity I thought, "My God! That thing's huge!" Little did I know its largest was simply the housing for my undoing.

The huge cake was a hat box with frosting. After the candles were lit, Laughlin pulled off the top and revealed the real cake underneath that bore the likeness of Rick Astley! Link -via Digg

Israel has developed a new weapon that should be less harmful than the rubber bullets they use against protesters. It's a liquid called Skunk, to be deployed from a water cannon.

Imagine the worst, most foul thing you have ever smelled. An overpowering mix of rotting meat, old socks that haven't been washed for weeks - topped off with the pungent waft of an open sewer.

Imagine being covered in the stuff as it is liberally sprayed from a water cannon.

Then imagine not being able to get rid of the stench for at least three days, no matter how often you try to scrub yourself clean.

Skunk is made from yeast, baking soda, and some secret ingredients that are completely organic. David Ben Harosh, an Israeli police superintendent, is proud of the Skunk project.

"It's totally harmless, you can even drink it,"

Link -via Metafilter

Another ingenious way to clog your arteries: The Fatty Melt. Make two grilled cheese sandwiches, grill a hamburger patty, then slip it between the two sandwiches. This would be three meals for me. Link -Thanks, raphael!

Believe it or not, an elephant in the lobby of this hotel is not a rare event! The Mfuwe Lodge in the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia was built on a path the local elephants take to find wild mangoes. Andy Hogg, the director of the company that runs the hotel, says:

"This is the only place in the world where elephants freely get so close to humans," says the 44-year-old.

"The elephants start coming through base camp in late November of each year to eat the mangoes from our trees.

"When they are ripe they come through and they stand about for four to six weeks coming back each day or second day to eat the mangoes."

When the lodge was built, no one realized the elephants used that route. Link to story. Link to hotel website. -via Arbroath