Mr. T Can Bring You Out of Comma

This may have happened a long time ago, but I still think it puts Mr. T firmly in the category of "cool."

[Photo via finickypenguin]

Ask What She Reads Before Committing To a Date

"Some years ago, I was awakened early one morning by a phone call from a friend. She had just broken up with a boyfriend she still loved and was desperate to justify her decision. “Can you believe it!” she shouted into the phone. “He hadn’t even heard of Pushkin!”

We’ve all been there. Or some of us have. Anyone who cares about books has at some point confronted the Pushkin problem: when a missed — or misguided — literary reference makes it chillingly clear that a romance is going nowhere fast. At least since Dante’s Paolo and Francesca fell in love over tales of Lancelot, literary taste has been a good shorthand for gauging compatibility. These days, thanks to social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, listing your favorite books and authors is a crucial, if risky, part of self-branding. When it comes to online dating, even casual references can turn into deal breakers. Sussing out a date’s taste in books is “actually a pretty good way — as a sort of first pass — of getting a sense of someone,” said Anna Fels, a Manhattan psychiatrist and the author of “Necessary Dreams: Ambition in Women’s Changing Lives.” “It’s a bit of a Rorschach test.” To Fels (who happens to be married to the literary publisher and writer James Atlas), reading habits can be a rough indicator of other qualities. “It tells something about ... their level of intellectual curiosity, what their style is,” Fels said. “It speaks to class, educational level.” (Full Story)

[Photo via LikeCool]

How The Prius Stays So Efficient

"The Toyota Prius is packed with some pretty high-tech stuff, but at the heart of the Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD) is a simple little device called the Power Split Device, or PSD. The PSD is a planetary gear set that removes the need for a traditional stepped gearbox and transmission components, and also the familiar rev-lurch-rev-lurch of acceleration in an ordinary gas powered car. It acts as a continuously variable transmission (CVT) but with a fixed gear ratio.

If you have no mathematical or mechanical understanding of hybrid technology or even regular engine components, this will help you get a feel for how the PSD allows the car to use power from an internal combustion engine (ICE) , as well as 2 electric Motor/Generators (MG1 and MG2), all spinning at different and variable speeds. The PSD even allows the smaller of the two Motor/Generators, MG1, to act as a starter for the ICE, thereby eliminating another component of a traditional gasoline engine." (Full Story)

[Image via cleangreencar.co.nz]

Spreading Diseases One French Kiss at a Time

"A French group sets up a 'kissing chain' in New York's Union Square.

New York's Union Square played the host to a French kissing world record attempt which spread some love and happiness too."

I think they might be spreading more than "some love."

What The Courts Think Can and Can't Be Recorded in Public

I'm sure there a lot of videos of cheerleading competitions. What I am not so sure about is why this man has been charged for possession of child pornography. He hid a camera to film the competition. I think the man certainly has issues, but I don't know that he is a criminal. Maybe there is more to the story than they are reporting.


Another story makes this whole issue even more confusing:

"The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that a charge against a man accused of 'situating a camera underneath the skirt of an unsuspecting customer' must be dismissed because it had occurred in a public place. " (Full Story)

So let me get this straight: Our legal system says it's OK to take pictures up the skirt of a woman in public, but it's not OK to film a cheerleading competition. Sure, different states = different laws, but something about this doesn't seem right to me.

In case anyone was wondering, I don't believe additional laws is a good way to deal with "upskirt" pictures. Personally, I think modesty would do a better job of preventing them.

[Picture via Varsity]

The Watch That Won't Let You Forget Your Mortality

"The dial and rim of the glass are mirrored, so the wearer is reflected in the watch face (so there is no ambiguity about who the message is aimed at!) The Accurate is a link to the tradition of the memento mori - an object designed to remind us that life is brief and that we should seize the moment while we are here."



If you are having trouble reading the text on the hands, the small hand is en scripted with "remember" and the large hand with "you will die." I am not sure Mr. Jones exactly has a hit on his hands. At least not with mainstream culture.

Go here if you want to see more of his creations.