Since the LHC has been successfully powered up yesterday and a lot of confusion remains on what CERN’S Big Bang machine truly does, I thought that some of you might like getting some extra information on the subject.
Created by CERN employee Chris Mann, the following presentation explains in relatively simple terms the inner working of the Large Hadron Collider, from the injection process all the way up to the collision phase.
Haven’t got enough yet? The LHC Rap is another great way to learn more about the multi-billion dollar device.
Have you ever looked at the nutritional information on the side of a bag of chips? 150 calories, 11 grams of fat… FOR 10 CHIPS!!!! Can anyone here truly stop at 10 chips, especially when lounging in front of a 2-hour movie?
Well, for the health-conscious geeks among you, Icelandic designer Hafsteinn Júlíusson has come up with the perfect solution, the 0-calorie, paper-based chip. Named “Slim Chip” for obvious reasons, the no-fat snack is made out of edible, non-toxic paper and comes in three varieties: peppermint, blueberry and sweet potato. And as far as taste is concerned, the designer puts it best: “It’s like eating tasty air.”
Since Slim Chips are only a concept for now, you’ll have to excuse me as I go soak a piece of letter-sized paper in some barbecue sauce. Got to find an alternative solution while Mr. Júlíusson commercializes his idea, right?
I’m sure you’ll agree with me that one of the best SNL comedy sketches of all time is Christopher Walken and his “gotta have more cowbell!”. Everytime I watch it, it just totally cracks me up.
Well today I came across a website called “More Cowbell” which enables you to upload a MP3 from your computer and then add cowbell and Christopher Walken to it! I don’t know about you but James Brown’s “I Feel Good” doesn’t sound the same again once you add cowbell to it and Walken exclaiming “don’t fear the Reaper!”
If you’re in the mood to see the SNL sketch again, here it is. Enjoy.
An article in the Journal of English Linguistics (Soda or Pop?, #24, 1996) explores the way we address our favorite drink. Soda, which the average American drinks about 43 gallons of per year, has a lot of different names. Those names have been mapped by county so that the regions where different names are predominant light up like a Christmas tree. Check it out below (click to enlarge):
As it turns out there are three predominant terms that people use when asking for a soft drink. The first is the most logical, “soda.” It’s the most popular in New England, the Mid-Atlantic (where I’m from), and the Southwest. The term comes from the original name for carbonated beverages.
The next one is “coke.” This one is interesting because it’s the shortening of the world’s most popular soda, Coca-Cola. Talk about brand association. A friend of mine from Texas (the word is most popular in the South) actually asks for a “coke” in her home town, and then when prompted to specify what kind, she’ll say “Sprite.” To me this is very counterintutive because Coke and Sprite are nothing alike, but that’s just how the lingo has evolved.
The last one, and the bane of my existance, is “pop.” In terms of geographical area, this one is by far the most popular. The parts of the North that aren’t in New England, the Midwest, and the Northwest all predominantly use the term “pop,” as in short for “soda pop.” Personally, this one has always just bothered me because soda is just “soda.” Everyone has their own way of doing things I guess though.
One thing that should be noted is that this is a map that gives a percentage of use to each county. The counties are not all equally populated, so these numbers really don’t speak to the overall number of people in the country who use these terms, just regional approximations. It would be interesting to see that data as well.
For more info on the paper and the derivation of soda nicknames, check out this article on Strange Maps.
Yes folks, now that the LHC has already fired 2 beams of protons, one clock-wise, and one counter clock-wise, you can be pretty sure that today won’t be the day you die. But it wasn’t supposed to happen anyways. Do you know why? Because no particle collisions have occured as of yet, and none will until October 21, 2008. But don’t worry, as we said recently, there’s absolutely no reason to be afraid.
This means that we’ll have to endure the endless paranoid rambling of wanna-be scientists for two more months, and that I’ll have to keep on moderating the 100’s of “We’re all gonna die” comments that we’re getting on some of our LHC-related posts. Bummer.
Just a quick post to point you guys to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) live webstream. The link we’ve posted a few days ago points to a very small video of the event, so we thought that you would appreciate seeing the whole thing in full screen.
I just love it when I stumble across a fantastic new blog, and last night was no exception. Yesterday’s new find was “The Art of Manliness” and the article that especially caught my attention was “The Gentleman’s Guide to the Calling Card”. I highly recommend you read it. Even though it’s aimed towards a male audience, it’s equally relevant towards females I would say.
A calling card was used in the 19th and early 20th century to introduce oneself at the front door of a house when you arrived to meet the resident. I’m sure if you’ve watched television period dramas, you’ve seen the butler stand at the door with the silver dish and the visitor placing their card on the dish. Well the calling card eventually became extinct as with all other things, but now in the modern technology-driven 21st century, it seems to be making a curious comeback.
Imagine you’re at a tech conference. You’re networking and talking shop. You want to exchange contact details with the others or you want to make sure that the guy you’re talking to remembers your blog URL. Or you want to get your Twitter ID out to as many people as possible. Maybe you want people to remember your Facebook profile URL? Then the best way to do that is to make calling cards with the details professionally printed on them and then hand them out.
As “The Art Of Manliness” blog post points out, a business card is too stiff, formal and offputting to a lot of people. Whereas a calling card can be designed to be informal, fun and curious. You can make it reflect your personality, cut out bland things such as your mailing address and phone numbers and instead focus on techie things such as your blog, IM address, social networking details and email. Focus on things that lets the recipient get to know you as a person.
Plus calling cards are great for dates. Nervous about asking someone out? Give them a calling card and let them check out your Facebook profile first!
Do you have a calling card? If so, what details do you have on it?
