Get Stuffed: How to do mouse taxidermy
This is why I love instructables.
Step 1. “Procure Mice.” Awesome.
Here’s what you’ll need if you follow the steps through to the end.
Friends gave me a “Beginners Guide to Taxidermy” for a wedding present, it basically covered how to preserve your dead pets. It’s a cool book. Here’s a taste of the sort of stuff it features…
Charting the social acceptability of peeing in public
This is no laughing matter. It’s serious sociology people. Get with the program.
So, because you all need to think more deeply about your innate desire to pee in public, here’s a graph representing the social acceptability of said action (or other peeing related actions) and the outcomes of such pressure on your bladder. This social pressure creates real pressure.
From the artist/sociologist:
This was something I used to help me think through the two main axes that determine peeing behavior – biological and social control. Urination is a biological function that has been subjected to a great degree of social control. Unfortunately, urban design has not kept pace with the demand for clean, easily accessible public restrooms for humans. And there has been no attempt to create any kind of system to deal with canine urine. In most cities it is illegal for humans to pee in public but both legal and widely accepted for dogs to pee where ever they like (in New York, they cannot pee on the grass in parks).
Sci-Fi for Kids
These College Humour mashups of kids books and popular science fiction series are pretty grand.
It reminds me of my favourite Strongbad Email…
There are five in total. What would you mash up?
Study finds Christians less likely to be brand fanboys
So, it turns out that having some sort of religious affiliation is likely to mean you’re not really excited about brands.
I have two immediate thoughts when reading this story:
1. Christians are too busy being fanboys about Christian brands (like theological movements, and ministry figures).
2. These people obviously didn’t focus enough on Apple in their research.
“The researchers theorized that both brands and religion contribute to a sense of self-worth and that the two sources of support would be in competition. Their findings confirmed that people who find more solace in religion are less entranced by brand names.”
“In an Internet-based study, 356 participants (68% Christian, 19% nonreligious, 4% Jewish, and the balance Buddhist, Muslim or “other”) were asked to make six choices between brand-name and generic goods, with realistic price differences. The researchers classified the products as either “expressive” (Ralph Lauren sunglasses vs. WalMart’s) or “functional” (Motrin vs. CVS ibuprofen). Subjects then answered 10 questions designed to gauge the importance of faith in their lives.”
The survey seems to suggest that quality is more of a factor for Christians (or people from other religions) than identifying with a brand. I suspect it’s because the more Christian you become the less you need a brand to create or reinforce your identity.
“A subject who attended worship services at least weekly was roughly 20% less likely to select an “expressive” brand than one who did not; there was no difference in the functional category.”
Are you a Christian and into Social Media?
If you are, and you have thoughts about how to use Facebook and Twitter in ministry – then you should totally head to Venn Theology (which I assume you all read already) and comment on this post. Do it.
Image: Well timed Dilbert from Church Crunch.
In a week or two I’ll start not cross promoting so much because I’ll assume you’ve all been made aware of it. But in the meantime, I like this post a lot. And I think it’s important and I’d like to make it a bit of a resource post when I have conversations with friends who are in ministry and are thinking about how to use “social media”… I have those conversations often.
Wikileaked: Absolutely the best Wikileaks release
I plan to write something about the whole wikileaks fiasco, though it’ll probably be long and boring.
In the meantime. Be sure to check out what experts are suggesting is the most interesting cable to be leaked by wikileaks. It’s not about K-Rudd. It is a statement guaranteeing the US’s most “special relationship”…
Here’s the header. Read the whole thing. It’s worth it.
Saturday, 12 December 1998, 16:13
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 LONDON 000368 NOFORN SIPDIS DOE FOR GPERSON, CHAYLOCK EO 12958 DECL: 12/12/2018 TAGS EPET, ENRG, PGOV, RS">RS, NI SUBJECT: ENGLAND: RELIABILITY AND LONGEVITY OF UK-US RELATIONSHIP CONFIRMED REF: A. LONDON 365 B. LONDON 366 Classified By: Consul General Robbie Honerkamp for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D )
Science Says: “Don’t freeze your coffee”
Serious Eats is your favourite food blog. You just may not know it yet. They conducted a blind taste test (with the help of my food hero J. Kenji Lopez-Alt.
The table was littered with tiny paper cups numbered one through eight, each representing a different method for storing coffee beans:
- 1. Whole beans stored at room temperature in a Ziploc bag (Ziploc bags are not hermetically sealed—air can still escape and enter the bag)
- 2. Whole beans stored at room temperature in a one-way valve bag (from which CO2 can escape but stale-making air can’t get in)
- 3 and 4. The same beans stored in the freezer
- 4, 5, 6, and 7. Ground coffee stored in the same 4 manners
The grinds and whole beans all came from the same batch. The coffee was stored for two weeks before we cracked it out, to get the full effect.
The taste test followed an earlier, less scientific, test, which came up with the following conclusion (which I agree entirely with)…
“Looking at the results with an open and caffeinated mind, my recommendation is to treat fresh-roasted coffee just as you would fresh-baked bread: Better to buy a little bit, use it up while it’s fresh, and buy more when needed. And, just as with fresh-baked bread, the second-best—though by a mile—option is to prepare it into individual servings and store them air-tight in the freezer (in the case of bread, that means slices; for coffee, that means premeasured doses you’d use to make a certain size batch of joe at a time), using only what you need at any time and never letting them thaw and refreeze.”
When beans thaw they sweat and their chemical make-up changes. It’s bad. Mmmkay.
How to keep your congregation in line
I imagine being in ministry is like training dogs to be obedient. All those pesky independent thinkers to keep in line. Which is why I’m glad this guy preached this sermon. So I can point people to this post – to remind them to RESPECT MY (future) AUTHORITY.
Angry Birds: Genus genius
I like.
From Flickr, via Kottke.org a while back
I also like these (from the same Flick(sta)r… zero-lives.
More new music: Interview with a Vampire
I caught this Vampire Weekend song on the Jools Holland show while channel surfing the other night.
It was catchy, and I had heard of Vampire Weekend but not heard from Vampire Weekend (at least not memorably) before then. A bit of YouTubing later and I’ve decided I quite like them.
Sounds good in theorem
Looking for a novel Christmas present? It doesn’t get any more novel than giving somebody their own brand spanking new mathematical theorem. Named in their honour. That’s the service Theory Mine is offering. For just $15 dollars. For the price of five reasonably priced coffees your loved one could be the talk of the mathematical fraternity, that is, if the computer that discovers new theorems can come up with something amazing.
It’s all very simple.
It’s the new thought that counts. Right.
Muse: An iPhone Video
It’s almost a week since Robyn and I went to see Muse. It was a pretty amazing concert. Here are some of the bits of lighting magic I managed to film before my phone went flat. The sound quality is awful. It is, afterall, an iPhone video. And we were sitting a long way away. As I write this I’m watching a Blur: Live at Hyde Park concert on ABC2. And I’m thinking “wouldn’t it be amazing to have musical talent and be in a band so you could perform to tens of thousands of screaming fans”…
Where’s ya bin? I bin at the beach
You may be wondering why things have been a little quiet here until about three hours ago. The answer. I was at the beach for a little break with my wife, and my parents.
It was even sunny.
Heading to Townsville on Monday, so blogging may be sporadic again for a while. I might try to queue something up though…