The World Bank Funds Israel-Palestine Wall

I didn’t know this. This is quite a big theme for me at the moment, because I’ve realised that we should be finding ways of reducing the walls between us, both literally and metaphorically. Obviously this is not a new realisation by any means, but it has been driven home by a brief dabble with ...

Friends will be the death of you

Those who eat with one other person consume about 35 per cent more than when they are alone; members of a group of four eat about 75 per cent more; those in groups of seven or more eat 96 per cent more. So says the New Republic on 22nd March 2007.

Going Commando

http://www.bumrapeisland.co.uk/browse.php

Another fantastic TED lecture

David Deutsch talking about fixing problems. “The limiting factor is not resource, it is knowledge.”

Advice in 7 words or less

Want affection? Offer genuine attention and appreciation. To persuade someone, tell a compelling story. For unqualified love, adopt a shelter animal. Don’t try to do anything important alone. First, understand why it is that way. Do one or two things really well. Find a need and fill it. Know what problem you’re solving. Never be ...

Sapid

sapid \SAP-id\, adjective: 1. Having taste or flavor, especially having a strong pleasant flavor. 2. Agreeable to the mind; to one’s liking.

Coffee

The amount that coffee makes one void oneself I’m surprised that coffee is not the most abundant, well irrigated, and most fertilised plant on the planet.

Hammertime

Marijuana Trumps Blackberries for Productivity

In 2005, a psychiatrist at King=92s College in London administered IQ tests to three groups: the first did nothing but perform the IQ test, the second was distracted by e-mail and ringing phones, and the third was stoned on marijuana. Not surprisingly, the first group did better than the other two by an average of ...

The wisdom of the Irish

What a great use of language: “…fan the flames of desire with the bellows of indifference…”

Draw a pig

Try drawing a pig. It’s supposed to tell you lots about your personality. Here’s mine.

I want to be able to do this

I think I’ve posted this before somewhere, however somethings are WELL worth repeating. This is one of them – some ubercool dancing from someone I wish I was.

Hypnotism and health

On a similar sort of vein as the placebo post, it’d be neat if you could hypnotise health, or health resilience.

Termagant

termagant \TUR-muh-guhnt\, noun: 1. A scolding, nagging, bad-tempered woman; a shrew. 2. Overbearing; shrewish; scolding.

Smallpox is too small and poxy.

I can only think of one predator that cities have, and that’s  contagious disease. Which is great, because I don’t like cities, and  people bother me quite a lot – especially in cities where they tow your car even when it’s parked right outside your house so they can dig up the road to fix ...

Placebo

Here’s fun. You know the placebo effect? Give some people sugar pills and they get better all on their own. But there are a bunch of people for whom this does not work, and they need the actual bona fide drugs to get better. Now here’s the neat bit: if you take this second group ...

TED talks

This is neat stuff. TED also has a video podcast which is well worth it, too.

David Hockney

Have you seen David Hockney’s art? It’s no wonder everyone thinks they can be famous these days when you look at that stuff. Here’s a lesson: Lack of talent + persistence DOES NOT create talent.

100 mile diet

http://100milediet.org/

Great music

I like Solid Steel podcasts: http://www.ninjatune.net/solidsteel/