Behold the many digits of Lei Yadi Min.
A one-year-old girl from China has set a new world record for having the most fingers and toes on any living person…
Continue reading… “Girl’s 26 Digits Breaks World Record for Most Fingers and Toes”
Chinese Develop Gait-Biometrics Surveillance
Another way to be under surveillance.
A confidential United States embassy dispatch released by Wikileaks provides details about a new technology developed by the Chinese Academy of Science to identify people by their gait.
The technology is designed to be deployed beneath existent flooring. From there it measures pedestrian pace and walking pressure to create a unique biometrics profile which can be used to identify and track the movements of individuals without their knowledge…
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Sex Ban Suggested for Belgian Coalition Negotiators
Sex bans have helped form governments in the past.
The partners of Belgian politicians are being urged to go on a sex strike until a government is formed. The country had general elections last June but parties have so far been unable to form a governing coalition.
Socialist senator Marleen Temmerman said after a week of a similar sex ban in Kenya in 2009, a government was formed. Previous attempts to pressure Belgian negotiators into agreement have included a “grow a beard” campaign.
Continue reading… “Sex Ban Suggested for Belgian Coalition Negotiators”
Some People Are Born Pessimistic
Some people are born to see the glass as half empty.
Some people cannot help being pessimistic, suggests a new study that found the amount of a chemical in the brain affects how we view the world. Researchers discovered that levels of a molecule called neuropeptide Y (NPY) directly relates to whether we have a “glass half empty” or “glass half full” attitude towards life.
A Statistician Solves a Scratch Lottery Code
A Lucky Scratch Card?
A Canadian geological statistician came to the realization that the numbers on some scratch lottery cards could not be random. “It wasn’t that hard,” Mohan Srivastava says. “I do the same kind of math all day long.”
“… I start looking at the tic-tac-toe game, and I begin to wonder how they make these things,” Srivastava says. “The tickets are clearly mass-produced, which means there must be some computer program that lays down the numbers. Of course, it would be really nice if the computer could just spit out random digits. But that’s not possible, since the lottery corporation needs to control the number of winning tickets. The game can’t be truly random. Instead, it has to generate the illusion of randomness while actually being carefully determined.”
Continue reading… “A Statistician Solves a Scratch Lottery Code”
Woman Grows Out Her Fingernails for 22 Years in the Hopes of Meeting Oprah
Atlanta mother and grandmother, Jazz Ison Sinkfield, has been growing out her fingernails for the last 22 years in the hopes of meeting Oprah and “a lot of more celebrities.”
So far her quest has only landed her on the local news, but her nails, the longest of which is 24 inches, are actually pretty impressive. Their length keeps her from doing everyday tasks like tying her shoes and putting on jewelry, and she pays $250 a month at the nail salon to maintain them, but Jazz is committed nonetheless.
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WikiLeaks Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
Another boost for the controversial WikiLeaks
A member of the Parliament of Norway says he has nominatedWikiLeaks for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.
Snorre Valen, a member of the Socialist Left party, announced his decision to nominate the whistle-blowing organization on his blog.
“WikiLeaks have contributed to the struggle for [human rights, democracy and freedom of speech] globally, by exposing (among many other things) corruption, war crimes and torture — some times even conducted by allies of Norway,” he wrote…
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Top 10 Tips and Tricks to Train, Exercise, and Better Your Brain
Keep your brain in shape!
While we’re always using our brains, we’re not necessarily doing much to keep them in good shape. Here are the top ten sites and tools to train your brain and exercise your mental muscles…
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Town Borrows All 16,000 Books From Library Threatened by Closure
The library with no books.
The residents of a small town in Britain have borrowed every single book from their local library in an attempt to stop it from being closed.
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WikiLeaks to U.S. Politicians & Media: “Stop Inciting Assange’s Murder”
Who is terrorizing who here?
The WikiLeaks Twitter account has just posted a press release calling for American politicians and media personalities to stop advocating the assassination of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Along with this release comes a handy website, PeopleOKWithMurderingAssange dot com, that gives startling quotations along with the name of the speaker. Each quotation is followed by a link showing the greater context of the often violent and disturbing words.
The site shows a new name and quotation every time you refresh the page; so far, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and many others, including government and military figures, radio hosts, newspaper columnists and TV news reporters, are featured on the site…
Continue reading… “WikiLeaks to U.S. Politicians & Media: “Stop Inciting Assange’s Murder””
