September 2009
2 posts
Dutch Oven →
bestofwikipedia:
Dutch oven is a fart chamber created by pulling a blanket over someone’s head and farting. The phrase is a slang description based on the cooking action of a Dutch oven where food is cooked and steamed inside a closed chamber. Performing a Dutch oven creates an area of smelly gaseous air in an enclosed space that must be breathed in. This is done as a prank or by accident to ones...
L'esprit De L'escalier or "what I should have... →
bestofwikipedia:
L’esprit de l’escalier or esprit d’escalier (stairway wit) is thinking of a clever comeback when it is too late. The phrase can be used to describe a riposte to an insult or any witty remark that comes to mind too late to be useful—when one is on the “staircase” leaving the scene of the encounter. The phenomenon is usually accompanied by a feeling of regret at not having thought...
August 2009
8 posts
Darwin Awards →
For the movie with the same name, see The Darwin Awards (film). Read more
A Darwin Award is a tongue-in-cheek honour named after evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin. Awards have been given for people who “do a service to Humanity by removing themselves from the gene pool” (i.e. lose the ability to reproduce either by death or sterilization in a stupid fashion). According to Wendy...
Dunning-Kruger Effect →
bestofwikipedia:
The Dunning–Kruger effect is an example of cognitive bias in which “…people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it”. They therefore suffer an illusory superiority, rating their own ability as above average. Stephen Colbert, a talk show character played by actor Stephen Colbert, exhibits...
The Register - Another Twitter Vulnerability →
For the past 24 hours, Twitter engineers have been fighting a gaping hole that makes it easy for hackers to hijack the accounts of users who do nothing more than view a booby-trapped message.
So far, the hole is winning.
The XSS, or cross-site scripting, bug resides in an application programming interface Twitter provides to makers of dedicated software that works with the service. The hole...
Canon G10 may be the new Leica
g10:
So the new Canon G11 has been announced and people are looking - including me! But I have been carrying the G10 in my pocket for the past year or so and it has gotten to be a habit to grab my keys, wallet, a quarter (gotta have some cash) and the G10. Without it now I don’t feel dressed.
Having a camera with you at all times is the beginning of the essence of the old Leica cameras....
Katzenklavier →
bestofwikipedia:
A cat piano or Katzenklavier is a musical instrument that consists of a line of cats fixed in place with their tails stretched out underneath a keyboard. Nails would be placed under the keys, causing the cats to cry out in pain when a key was pressed. The cats would be arranged according to the natural tone of their voices. The instrument was described by German physician Johann...
Google and Apple clash as US officials investigate... →
Google and Apple clash as US officials investigate iPhone
Principle of Evil Marskmanship →
bestofwikipedia:
The Principle of Evil Marksmanship (also known as the Stormtrooper Effect) states that enemy marksmen in action films are often very bad shots and almost never harm the main characters. Imperial Stormtroopers in the original Star Wars trilogy, despite overwhelming numbers, professional military education and training, full armor, military-grade firepower, and noticeable combat...
