Meet The New Boss

She came to live with us on Saturday. She weighs two pounds, is ridiculously cute, is already an accomplished escape artist, has a mouthful of little-puppy-needle-teeth, and thinks everything is a nipple. Haven't picked a name yet ...

Sex Degrees Of Separation

In July 2009 Lloydspharmacy commissioned the polling firm YouGov to ask 6,000 people over 16 about their sexual behaviour, specifically how many sexual partners they have had. We then created 17 age ranges and calculated the average number of sexual partners within each of these ranges.

When you enter the age range of each person with whom you have had sexual intercourse, the calculator raids its database to work out how many previous sexual partners people within that age range have had on average. It then repeats this process for their partners, their partners, their partners, their partners and their partners.

This is added together to give a Sex Degrees of Separation total.

Sex Degrees of Separation is not intended to be a diagnostic tool. It is designed to give you a rough estimate of the number of indirect sexual partners you may have had, going back six degrees of separation.

Lloyds Pharmacy is one of the largest pharmacy chains in the U.K.

Lloyds Pharmacy | Sex Degrees of Separation

James Dean For Allan Gray Life Insurance

In all my years of advertising, I have never seen a treatment that was so detailed, so carefully thought through, and so deeply researched, than the treatment Keith gave us when pitching to handle this commercial. From beginning to end, his commitment to the job bordered on obsession." says Alistair King, Executive Creative Director at King James.

"This was an incredibly challenging board, says Rose. You just take it for granted that James Dean is so iconic, so to go and mess with him and replan his life, if it doesnt work its like youre desecrating his memory."

We really needed to deal with it with sensitivity. According to Karin Barry-McCormack and Paige Nick, the creative team from King James; "For both of us, this was without a doubt the most exciting, challenging and intricate television project we have ever worked on. And it was amazing to work so closely with such a passionate team and such a collaborative client."

For more great creative work visit my site: Chris Rawlinson

Client: Allan Gray
Agency: King James
Production: Velocity Films
Director: Keith Rose
Creative: Karin Barry-McCormack and Paige Nick

YouTube

CatCerto: Surprisingly Entertaining

(Someone [Ben Jonson? Samuel Johnson? Boswell in his Life of Johnson?] said something about women preaching being like dogs walking on their hind legs or something to the effect that one is not surprised that it is not done well but that it is done at all. Still looking for the exact quote.)

Thanks, Janie

YouTube

Raindrop Melody Maker From Lullatone

The folks at Lullatone describe themselves as an "art, music, and good ideas" group. Perhaps their soothing melodies are best appreciated by babies and toddlers, but their music has been used commercially by Toyota, Shiseido, and Hello Kitty, and has been licensed to MOMA and The 21st Century Art Museum in Kanazawa, Japan. Lullatone also produces a weekly show on Japanese TV that teaches children how to build instruments from materials found around the house.

Click the link to try the interactive Raindrop Melody Maker.

Raindrop Melody Maker

Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show

If you like Pee Wee's Playhouse and Japanese game shows, or if you've ever tried to follow a "how to" manual written by someone who doesn't speak English, you'll love GTCMS.



YouTube

Thanks, Barb

The "Best" Of Craigslist

More fun from Craigslist.

Coffin

Guaranteed to keep your Goth hide translucent white during these hot and bright summer days, this hand-made coffin is just right for the petit Vampire or Vampette. If you are just under 5 feet tall (or can shape-shift to something smaller) with a 29-inch wing span, you will feel cozy and safe sleeping away the pesky daylight hours with this tasteful but unassuming box tucked away in your lair.

Your minions can keep your chamber mobile with these fine handles made of Transylvanian hemp and the tucked and buttoned red padded lining will have you snoring until sun down. The hand-painted, one-of-a-kind, whimsical take on a Coptic cross is certain not to offend any version of Goth, vamp or even warm-blood who might have the privilege of actually seeing your private chamber.

It’s hard to let this beautiful treasure go, but we’ve just run out of room. And with all of the sensible people around (see True Blood), we just don’t need to be so private anymore. It can be found and taken for free in the 3400 block of Barranca circle near Mt Bonnell. Better hurry though. It is Big Trash week in our neighborhood.

Just A Simple Question

I was injured by a Crest Spin-Brush prototype. It put me out of work for six weeks. I'm a contract programmer by trade. It's a substantial amount of damages. I could try to 'find' a lawyer in the area who'd take my case, but then, that would be time on my side.

I've got till the new year to file, basically.

I've got the original evidence (the toothbrush) which Crest has requested, but my previous legal advice advised not to supply (which I agree with). The long and short of the defect is that the glue failed with baking soda toothpaste, and the bristles fell out out be so many little nylon darts that all wanted to go in their 'direction' (into my lungs). I inhaled some bristles, and I spent six weeks digesting/coughing them out (nobody really knows for sure where they 'went'). I'm pretty sure that the way it works is that digestive enzymes can denigrate nylon, and did. In any event, it was a 'blurb' on my earnings and health expenses, not my fault, and I'd like it back.

Now, my main problem is that I'm in the armpit of CA (Ukiah) and I've not got a whole lot of top-notch legal eagles available (my previous person got a scheduling problem, and the other two I've tried here weren't to my standards).

Basically, these guys (Crest) have already admitted fault (known defect of the original 'Dr. Johns' product), and they know the batch numbers, and they are obvious (I can send you a picture of any part you'd like).

I spent six weeks hacking up what felt like fishhooks stuck in my throat.

I didn't get a bit of REM sleep during that period, and became nearly psychotic. I had three instances where large objects got stuffed down my throat (two while conscious, and the third had multiple items stuck down every possible path--to no avail).

I can describe in lurid detail all sorts of really gross things about the way a bit of nylon stuck between your vocal chords and your esophagus feels like.

I don't want to ever re-visit those memories again.

I'd like to have a lawyer who could ream these assholes (I've tried to work with them, but their 'work' is only stalling and trying to get the evidence).

So, I figured, "craigslist" (of course!), reverse it.

This is about as cut-and-dried a case as you might get, but w/o the magic 'legal' letterhead, no cash will flow from Crest. I say, "Take a freakin' bulldozer to the dam, boys!"

So, I was negotiating with them for damages. If 'triple-damages' exist in this state, and you can get me my damages w/o court, demand double damages, and keep the rest.

If we have to go to court, demand triple and keep the rest.

I'm pissed, and I'm lazy, and craigslist seems a whole bunch better than trying to call you all individually.

Byte me, Crest.

•Compensation: standard legal fees
•Telecommuting is ok.
•This is a part-time job.
•This is a contract job.
•OK to highlight this job opening for persons with disabilities

i need help moving my chickens

I have approximately 1,243 chickens that need to be transported, i began my journey with my mini van but just was not working out, too many trips and too much shit and feathers, and with no ac it makes it very difficult when constantly tempted to roll the windows down, and because doing it all by hand i have lost 1 out of 4 chickens with my first 3 trips. if you have reasonable transportation for this chicken operation plz let me know. thank you. --Matt

Body Dumping Location Available

Don’t stuff grandma in the freezer!

By now you’ve probably heard about the Glen Burnie MD family that stored their 83-year-old grandmother’s dead body in a freezer: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/anne-arundel/bal-md.ar.freezer15jul15,0,168200.story. It turns out that no law was broken.

Yep, dumping a body is legal around here. Health care workers and other professionals are required to report deaths, but ordinary citizens are not. And, apparently, no state law prohibits the burial or storage of a body on private property.

I’m a laid-off Baltimore-area homeowner. After ten months of unemployment, and the future looking even more grim, I’m willing to consider allowing my backyard to be used for body dumping. Call it private burial if you prefer.

I could probably take a half-dozen bodies without arousing the attention of neighbors. It wouldn’t hurt to have one under the garden too.

Me: A discreet Baltimore County homeowner with a half-acre of easily tillable property on a quiet dead-end street.

You: An individual (not a health care worker or other professional required to report a death!) with the awkward inconvenience of disposing of a deceased relative, friend, colleague or acquaintance.

You must provide your own trash bags, tarp, quicklime, shovel, etc. I might be available to hold a flashlight, but I won’t do any heavy lifting.

Accidental deaths or natural causes only. I’m not going to get involved in any shenanigans with Omar wannabes. I will not be a participant in, or an accessory to, any sort of crime.

This is a limited time offer! Act now before the state legislature changes the law! If and when the law changes (measures failed 10 years ago, after the 1999 incident), you’ll be grandfathered, literally and figuratively.

Price is negotiable. Serious inquiries only.

For more info: http://welcometobaltimorehon.com/?p=338

Best Of Craigslist

Alchemia

Alchemia is a gorgeously detailed, imaginatively animated new point-and-click puzzle game from Springtail Studio. We meet the scrappy little hero as he agrees to help the ghost of a strange robotic bird find a new body and they set off together on their perilous adventures. The first part of the game is available online for free. The second part is available for downloading for a nominal fee.

Springtail Studio was founded in 2009 by two online gaming enthusiasts identified only as Tomas and Julian. Alchemia, their latest game, was released on 7 September.

Click here to play.

Springtail Studio

Are Forgotten Memories Still In Your Brain?

For anyone who’s ever forgotten something or someone they wish they could remember, a bit of solace: Though the memory is hidden from your conscious mind, it might not be gone.

In a study of college students, brain imaging detected patterns of activation that corresponded to memories the students thought they’d lost.

“Even though your brain still holds this information, you might not always have access to it,” said neurobiologist Jeffrey Johnson of the University of California, Irvine. His remarks appeared in the study he co-authored, published Wednesday in Neuron.

That recalling a memory triggers the neurological patterns encoded when the memory was formed is a tenet of cognitive science. Less understood, however, is what becomes of those patterns at moments of incomplete recall.

Maybe you remember breakfast at a certain restaurant, but not what you ate; perhaps you recall a particular conversation, but not what you said. It’s not known whether those details vanish from the mind altogether, or are subsumed by some larger pattern, or remain intact but inaccessible.

It wasn’t quite clear what happens to them,” said Johnson of lost details. “But even when people claim that there are no details attached to their memories, we could still pick some of those details out.

Read more at Wired Science

Composed By ... Birds

When a curious photo of a flock of birds perched on powerlines was printed in a local newspaper, Brazillian designer Jarbas Agnell spied something a little different.

Observing the arrangement of birds on the powerline resembled musical notes on a stave, Agnell transposed the image into a surprisingly beautiful melody.

Such happenstance should motivate struggling composers everywhere – inspiration is only as far away as your garden fence.

Source: Wired via Gizmodo

Ancient Dogoo Girl

The Ancient Dogoo Girl is a new series for children that will debut on Japanese TV in October. It's the "twisted story of a mysterious warrior girl who gets summoned after 10,000 years to fight the evil in today's society." With her talented, multi-functional breasts.

Sources: YouTube|RoboJapan and IMdB

Roly-Poly Panda

Watch San Diego Zoo officials get their first look at a four-week-old giant panda cub. Workers had to wait until its mother was comfortable leaving the cub alone before they could remove it from its den. Click here for video.

The giant pandas are on loan from China. In keeping with Chinese tradition, the male cub will not be named until he is at least 100 days old.

Senior zoo veterinarian Geoff Pye says the cub is healthy and starting to show its black-and-white markings. He says the cub has reached its "initial cute stage" and is "very roly poly."

Source: Reuters

Via: Jezebel

San Diego Zoo PandaCam

Anagrams | Defense Mechanisms

Listed below are anagrams for ten common defense mechanisms. Hold down the left mouse button and rollover the space between the brackets to reveal each answer.

 1. impotent cranial matzo  [compartmentalization]

 2. porcine jot  [projection]

 3. ogre sirens  [regression]

 4. pecan motions  [compensation]

 5. into roomier caftan  [reaction formation]

 6. bulimia snot  [sublimation]

 7. casino idiots  [dissociation]

 8. palmed insect  [displacement]

 9. rosier pens  [repression]

10. conjoint rite  [introjection]

BONUS ANAGRAM:  fuming udders  [Sigmund Freud]

The Evidence For Evolution

In this video, Richard Dawkins provides an introduction to his new book "The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution." He explains why this book was necessary, and what readers can expect from this highly-anticipated work. The book is available now in the UK, and will be released in the US on 22 September 2009.

The chart below, which is featured in the video, shows public acceptance of evolution in 34 countries. The United States ranked near the bottom, beaten only by Turkey. Credit: Science

Read the first chapter of "The Greatest Show" here.

Source: YouTube

The Wilder Shores Of Collective Behavior

From the publisher's Website:

From fads, crazes, and manias, to collective delusions, scares, panics, and mass hysterias, history is replete with examples of remarkable social behavior ... This massive collection of extraordinary social behaviors spans more than two millennia, and attempts to place many of the episodes within their greater historical and cultural context.

Perhaps the most well-known example of unusual collective behavior occurred in 1938, when a million or more Americans were frightened or panicked after listening to a realistic radio drama about a Martian invasion of New Jersey, based on an adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel War of the Worlds. Less known but equally remarkable scares based on Wells’ book occurred in Chile in 1944 (when Army units were mobilized), in Ecuador in 1949 (when riots broke out, leaving more than a dozen dead), as well as in Buffalo in 1968, Rhode Island in 1974, and Europe in 1988 and 1998.

The modern civilized world is by no means immune to such peculiar episodes. In the late 20th century, scores of people in the U.S. and Europe were wrongly incarcerated following claims of Satanic ritual abuse by authorities untutored in False Memory Syndrome. This episode recalls the European witch terror of the late Middle Ages, when innocent people were tortured and executed for consorting with the devil based on the flimsiest of evidence.

This encyclopedia is an authoritative reference on a broad range of topics: collective behavior, deviance, social and perceptual psychology, sociology, history, folklore, religious studies, political science, social anthropology, gender studies, critical thinking, and mental health. Never before have so many sources been brought together on the mesmerizing topic of collective behavior.

About the authors...

Hilary Evans is a British historian who holds a BA from Cambridge University and a Masters in English literature from Birmingham University. Robert Bartholomew is an authority on collective behavior and social deviance. He holds a Masters in sociology from The State University of New York at Albany and a Ph.D. from James Cook University. His studies have appeared in dozens of peer-reviewed journals including the British Medical Journal; Canadian Medical Association Journal; The International Journal of Social Psychiatry; The Sociological Quarterly, and Educational Studies.

Source: Anomalist Books

United States of Sin

A team at Kansas State University mapped the seven deadly sins by plotting per-capita stats on things like theft (envy) and STDs (lust).

Click on the graphic for a larger image.

Via: Wired

Haunting Face In Melting Glacial Ice

The image is from the Austfonna Ice Cap located in the Svalbard archipelago of Norway.

Source: The Daily Mail

Via: Urlesque

Virtual Brain Surgery

Neurosurgeons in Halifax, Nova Scotia can practice surgeries on exact models of their patients' brains. NeuroTouch is a prototype simulator developed by Canada's National Research Council (NRC) and several other research groups.

First, patient data from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is rendered into a 3-D, high-resolution model of an individual's brain. After the model is loaded into the system, doctors can touch and manipulate tumors and other virtual objects on screens in real time using a physical instrument resembling a scalpel. The instrument has six degrees of freedom and re-creates the force-feedback of the real tool and the varying resistance of tissue in brain regions with differing toughness. Meanwhile, photo-realistic on-screen imagery shows the simulated surgery, including bleeding and pulsing gray matter.

Sources: YouTube, CBC, Gizmodo, and MIT Technology Review

We All Have Days Like This

Source: YouTube

Via: The Daily What

Teen Cries Blood

Calvino Inman of Tennessee recently started crying tears of blood several times a day. The teen's mother says that MRIs and other diagnostic tests have failed to discover the cause.



The story has not been debunked by Snopes -- yet.

Source: Huffington Post and YouTube

Life Imitates Art

Source

Source

Via: Buzzfeed

One Million Giraffes

Ola Hellend from Stavanger, Norway believes in the power of the Internet:

My friend, Jørgen, doesn't believe I can collect one million giraffes by 2011. I'm gonna prove him wrong, but I need your help. You can create your giraffe(s) in any way you like, but not on a computer and no store bought objects. You must create your giraffe(s) yourself! Click here to read why. So far I've got 209,287 giraffes, so I need 790,713 more and I have 485 days left. Let's show Jørgen how amazing the internet is.

Read the article at The Telegraph

Website: One Million Giraffes

Everybody's A Critic

Shigeru Watanabe, a psychologist at Tokyo's Keio University, showed a series of children's paintings to pigeons. A panel of adults had already judged the paintings to be good or bad.

Then Watanabe used positive reinforceent to train the pigeons to distinguish between the "good" and "bad" paintings. Later he presented ten new paintings to the birds. Five of these works had been judged good by humans, five bad. The pigeons "recognized the good paintings as 'good' twice as often as they recognized the 'bad' paintings." Watanabe concluded that "pigeons are capable of learning the concept of a stimulus class that humans name 'good' pictures."

Source: 3 Quarks Daily

No Seatbelts Or Overhead Storage But More Leg Room

This is how UK-based company Design Q envisions solving the problem of high-density seating on short-distance flights.

Source: Runway Girl

Via: Gizmodo

Diana Kennedy In Edible Austin

Edible Austin just released a new article by Soll Sussman about legendary Mexican food aficianado and cookbook author Diana Kennedy. Soll is a wonderful writer and old friend. In this article, he and Ms. Kennedy visit a local farmers' market and talk about Kennedy's lifelong endorsement of environmentalism.

I first met Mexican cuisine expert and cookbook author, Diana Kennedy, more than 25 years ago while interviewing her at her farm in Zitácuaro, Michoacán—about a three-hour drive from Mexico City. Even then, when environmental activism wasn’t exactly common in Mexico, her home was known as the Rancho Ecológico for her intense practice of rainwater conservation and other ecological steps.

We became friends over the years during her stays in Austin, her U.S. residence, sharing long conversations about Mexican and American politics, environmentalism, movies and life. We talk only rarely about food. Frequently, she’s been the first to bring an ecological topic or practice to my attention—declining plastic bags in stores, for example—long before it became a common practice.

“I’m a pain in the ass in the supermarket,” Diana once told me, “because I will speak out in a very loud voice to the person who has one banana in a huge plastic bag, two apples in another…at least ten plastic bags with one little item in each.”

Over the past year or so, I’ve been hearing more and more from Diana about the growers at the Austin farmers markets and how impressed she’s been by their enthusiasm and commitment to sustainability. She suggested I write about them, and I agreed to—but only if my dear friend and movie-going buddy would accompany me on the journey. We’d make it an anthropological experiment of sorts—I’d tag along as Diana investigated and chatted with farmers. Much to my surprise, Diana agreed to the idea—but only if I promised to keep the spotlight on the farmers and away from her celebrity.

Read the rest of the article here.

Thanks, Soll.