Weather class cancelled due to weather

By David Pescovitz at 11:15 pm Monday, Jan 31 • Comments • Share

From Cincinnati.com:

A Weather Spotter Training class scheduled for tonight at New Richmond High School has been canceled due to the ice storm expected to hit the area tonight.

"Weather spotting class canceled" (Thanks, Tomar Spedonez!)

Bryant Gumbel, 1994: "What is the Internet, anyway?"

By David Pescovitz at 11:08 pm Monday, Jan 31 • Comments • Share

The Today Show, 1994: Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric struggle to understand and explain the Internet and "that little mark with the 'a' and the ring around it." (Thanks, Rick Pescovitz!)

Tolstoy's "10 Rules of Life"

By Mark Frauenfelder at 9:00 pm Monday, Jan 31 • Comments • Share

Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project (a book about how to be more happy and grateful, which I enjoyed very much) ran this list of Tolstoy's "10 Rules of Life" on her blog:

[F]or happiness-project purposes, Tolstoy is particularly fascinating -- both because he wrote so extensively about happiness and because he made and broke so many resolutions himself. Spectacularly... Tolstoy wrote these rules when he was eighteen years old:

Get up early (five o'clock)

Go to bed early (nine to ten o'clock)

Eat little and avoid sweets

Try to do everything by yourself

Have a goal for your whole life, a goal for one section of your life, a goal for a shorter period and a goal for the year; a goal for every month, a goal for every week, a goal for every day, a goal for every hour and for evry minute, and sacrifice the lesser goal to the greater

Keep away from women

Kill desire by work

Be good, but try to let no one know it

Always live less expensively than you might

Change nothing in your style of living even if you become ten times richer

10 "Rules of Life" from Tolstoy

Egypt: Avaaz.org and Tor team up to fight the Internet blackout, you can help

By Xeni Jardin at 7:58 pm Monday, Jan 31 • Comments • Share

Help Tor fight the internet connectivity blackout in Egypt. "Your donation will go to providing satellite internet devices, other related equipment, to help with network access costs, and general support for Egyptians and people working with Egypt during this crisis and beyond. This fundraising drive is organized by the Tor Project. Money raised will be used by the Tor Project for work in areas where the Internet has been jacked." (avaaz.org via Jacob Appelbaum)

Fun things made with programmable LEDs

By Mark Frauenfelder at 5:30 pm Monday, Jan 31 • Comments • Share

My pals Tod Kurt and Mike Kuniavsky are the proprietors of ThingM, a company that makes nifty programmable LEDs and other smart electronic components.

They just sent out their latest ThingM newsletter showcasing a few cool projects that use BlinkMs: a robotic drum kit, cabinet handles that light up when you touch them, and books that blink.

BlinkM in Books with Personality

BlinkM in DrumKit

ThingM in Glowpull

Princess Diana Doll

By Rob Beschizza at 3:52 pm Monday, Jan 31 • Comments • Share

The Franklin Mint makes this charming porcelain Diana doll.

What a wonderful way to remember Diana! ... Miniature tiara and white "English Rose." Extraordinary blue eyes and shy smile foreshadow the beautiful Princess admired by millions.

If you find it slightly odd, that may be because it is not an accurate depiction of the infant Diana Spencer, but rather an idealized pedomorphic adult.

What's Happening in Egypt, the Action Movie Explainer: "Raiders of the Lost Mubarak"

By Sean Bonner at 3:11 pm Monday, Jan 31 • Comments • Share

After she realized many people couldn't wrap their heads around what was going on in Egypt, Furrygirl decided to turn to Hollywood staples and made this Raiders of the Lost Ark mashup version which explains things pretty clearly.

Full graphic follows, below...

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About Schmidt: Google's Chief Emphatic Officer

By Xeni Jardin at 2:20 pm Monday, Jan 31 • Comments • Share

Video Link. Literally. By Joe Sabia.

Egypt report from Human Rights Watch: "Impunity for Torture Fuels Days of Rage"

By Xeni Jardin at 12:45 pm Monday, Jan 31 • Comments • Share

A report released by Human Rights Watch documents how Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's government effectively condones police abuse by failing to ensure that law enforcement officers who are accused of torture are investigated and criminally prosecuted. HRW describes torture as "an endemic problem in Egypt." According to HRW, ending police abuse—and the cycle of impunity for those crimes—is a driving element behind the massive popular demonstrations in Egypt this past week. Snip from introduction:

'Work on Him Until He Confesses': Impunity for Torture in Egypt," documents how President Hosni Mubarak's government implicitly condones police abuse by failing to ensure that law enforcement officials accused of torture are investigated and criminally prosecuted, leaving victims without a remedy.

"Egyptians deserve a clean break from the incredibly entrenched practice of torture," said Joe Stork, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa Division at Human Rights Watch. "The Egyptian government's foul record on this issue is a huge part of what is still bringing crowds onto the streets today."

The case of Khaled Said, a 28-year-old man beaten to death by two undercover police officers on an Alexandria street in June, dominated headlines and set off demonstrations across the country. The local prosecutor initially closed an investigation and ordered Said's burial, but escalating public protests prompted the Public Prosecutor to reopen the investigation and refer it to court. "We Are All Khaled Said" is the name of the Facebook group that helped initiate the mass demonstrations on January 25, 2011.

[ Warning: disturbing content. The report contains graphic descriptions of torture. ]

Overview: Egypt: Impunity for Torture Fuels Days of Rage

Report (95 pages): "Work on Him Until He Confesses": Impunity for Torture in Egypt.The report is offered in in English and Arabic, English version of PDF here.

(via @ioerror)

Israeli Emergency Bandage

By Cool Tools at 12:35 pm Monday, Jan 31 • Comments • Share

I was first introduced to the Israeli emergency bandage several years ago as a medic in Iraq. It was a huge step up from the standard military dressings that we had been issued. The old military style dressings hadn't changed since WWII and were not really effective as the canvas ties didn't always hold the dressing where you needed it. A lot of guys were using gauze pads and elastic wrap which, while better, was cumbersome. The Israeli emergency bandage was the first of a new generation of bandages that made a difference when it really counts. It combines a sterile dressing, elastic wrap and a pressure bar to make a fast and easy to use trauma bandage. The long tail can be configured in various ways to hold the bandage in place or to immobilize the limb, plus it can be configured in to an improvised tourniquet. I consider it must carry item since I can use it as a multipurpose bandage, use the tail as an "Ace" wrap for sprains or to immobilize a fracture to a splint. The bandage comes in 4" and 6" for around $5-$11 and everyone in my family has one in their car first aid kit, backpack or office. [Note: Someone over at the Cool Tools thread pointed out that NPR reported that these bandages were effectively used after the shooting in Arizona. -- OH] -- Sandy Fraser, Paramedic Israeli Emergency Bandage 4" or 6" widths $5-$11 Comment on this at Cool Tools. Or, submit a tool!

Clumsy burglar breaks into lottery kiosk

By Mark Frauenfelder at 12:29 pm Monday, Jan 31 • Comments • Share

[Video Link] This fellow works hard for his money, doesn't he? (Via Cynical-C)

Fanciful zeppelins and trains

By Cory Doctorow at 11:14 am Monday, Jan 31 • Comments • Share

Etsy seller Gingerbees is selling prints of her late father Andrew George Brown's wonderful, fanciful steamcraft, with an emphasis on trains and zeppelins. Lovely stuff!

Gingerbees (Thanks, Wondermark, via Submitterator!)

Night of the Lil Dead: little people zombie movie with Penn Jillette, Adam Savage and more!

By Cory Doctorow at 11:10 am Monday, Jan 31 • Comments • Share

Ghostworks sez, "A behind the scenes look at 'Night of the Little Dead' - a short film directed by Ezekiel Zabrowski and Frank Ippolito starring Adam Savage, Penn Jillette, Bill Moseley, Aye Jaye, Erica Taylor, Gary Morgan, Martin Klebba, & James Hurley."

"Night Of The Little Dead" Behind the Scenes Trailer (Thanks, GhostWorks, via Submitterator)

Great mini-doc about Brazillian tattooist Maneko

By Sean Bonner at 10:38 am Monday, Jan 31 • Comments • Share

Maneko - Mini doc from 13thUnit on Vimeo.

This is a fantastic mini-documentary (about 8 minutes) about vegan straight edge tattoo artist Maneko from Brazil. Some great thoughts about appreciating the good things in life to help you get through the bad times.

Missing: Thousands of planets

By Lee Billings at 10:27 am Monday, Jan 31 • Comments • Share

This chart was assembled from data on the incomparable Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia , maintained and curated by the astronomer Jean Schneider. It depicts the 520 exoplanets detected between 1992 and 2010, divided up by detection technique. The accompanying data sheet includes a few notes and caveats about the assumptions I used to generate the chart. There's also an interactive version available.

Finding 520 planets in less than 20 years is an impressive testament to the skill of modern-day planet-hunters. And the rapid, recent acceleration of detections suggests that the next 20 years will see several thousands of additional planets added to our catalog. But given that there are hundreds of billions of stars in our galaxy alone, shouldn't we actually be finding more planets?

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