Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Can't wait (I'll think of something else for Friday)
Man or Ape?
How can you call a person so intent in destroying the boundaries between between species, so forcefully arguing that the term "person" should not be a judgement of anatomy but a judgement of behaviour, a "human"?
Hang
Today, I'm going to share with all of you a very beautiful musical instrument called Hang. It is similar to a steel drum except that it can cover a range of notes.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hang_%28musical_instrument%29
Enjoy the music.
Edit: Oh yeah, since the video links to videos on waterphones as well... Ever wondered how the soundtracks of those horror movies are made?
Monday, April 28, 2008
CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRLIIIEE........
Charlie the Unicorn: Candy MountainCharlie the Unicorn 2
pure genius....
Enjoy.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
A Fetish For Elevators
Okay, I don't have a fetish for elevators, but I came across this interesting article about elevators that tells us a lot about how much these mostly overlooked transportation tools have had effects on our lives.Some interesting points to note:
- Someone was stuck in an elevator for 41 hours before!
- The only documented free-falling American elevator did not cause any deaths even though there was one passenger on board.
- A lot of features we see in lifts today are actually attempts to psychologically make us feel more comfortable travelling in a small enclosed space.
- There's a lot of complexity to be considered when designing a lift.
- There's a relatively new method of dispatching lifts called the "destination dispatch" system which the MOE building at Buona Vista uses (they have like 10+ lifts serving that relatively short building, dounno why).
- There's also an "arrival immediate prediction lantern", which we usually see in shopping centers, where a lift is allocated to you as soon as you press the call button.
- There seems to be a fixed way people arrange themselves or behave in lifts.
- There's no point in jumping up before the point of impact in a free falling elevator.
And here's a very interesting part that I believe everyone should know:
"In the old system—board elevator, press button—you have an illusion of control; elevator manufacturers have sought to trick the passengers into thinking they’re driving the conveyance. In most elevators, at least in any built or installed since the early nineties, the door-close button doesn’t work. It is there mainly to make you think it works. (It does work if, say, a fireman needs to take control. But you need a key, and a fire, to do that.) Once you know this, it can be illuminating to watch people compulsively press the door-close button. That the door eventually closes reinforces their belief in the button’s power."
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/04/21/080421fa_fact_paumgarten
Oh, and here's a sped up video of the 41 hours the guy spent trapped:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/video/2008/04/21/080421_elevators
Have fun!
Friday, April 25, 2008
Evolving Lizards
Not more then 4 decades (or as Lincoln would say, twoscores and six years ago) since the introduction of Italian wall lizards (?) into an island, the lizards have undergone massive change for the 36 years there, which is a very very short timespan. The lizards showed significant changes in the structure of their head, tail, mouth and digestive tract, new structures not present in the earlier lizards grew out of stomach walls, and new ways of digesting food materialised.
Of course if you're Siang Ying and prefer larger lizards, the New York Time have this article on the relationship between T-rex and birds.
Pictures spam!
No videos today, just random photos that have been accumulating in my phone!First up, we have our very own sleeping KKK:
Five people agonising over physics prac:
Xia Yi's pretty chest!:
Gaby and Harold so gay they even synchronise their jog:
This is a very happy picture of very happy handsome boys:
We hid the boys' shoes hehehehe:
And our favourite sexy LAO DA!:
And I shall end off with a picture of Mr Ng's pencil case. It SCREAMS chemistry!:
Have a good weekend everyone!
Monday, April 21, 2008
kick his ASK!
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Argh, I forgot about Friday again
Not too long ago, scientists had found the first fossil of a snake with legs. And I find it sort of difficult to convey how exciting it seems to me in words. And I guess the picture below showing a 3D imaging of the fossil doesn't explain it too clearly either. (But there's a more informative video in the website.)
Nevertheless, this is how modern snake legs currently look like.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Techno Day...
Okay, since xkcd decided to make a comic strip on techno, I've decided to share with you all a cool video (more of the idea, and skill) that takes advantage of the limited vocabulary of a techno song.Watch, persevere through the starting, and be impressed!
There are similar stuff of different songs by different people out there on youtube, but I guess this is better since its quite simply done. For those interested, I think there's a version where people are used instead of fingers, but I don't think its appropriate.
Chow!
Saturday, April 12, 2008
WE ALL LOVE JACKIE CHAN
Top 10 Jackie Chan Stunts. GO JACKIE!Friday, April 11, 2008
It's friday again
I would like to call your attention to a creature living not too far from here that will die if you were to remove it from water, no it's not a fish and neither does it have any sort of gills. It is a frog. To be specific it is a frog with no lungs. So, it wouldn't be accurate anymore to say that all frogs go 'ribbit'. (Anyway, it wasn't accurate to say so in the first place)Amazing guitar player
Ok. This is just. I don't know. I'm speechless.Sunday, April 6, 2008
Batman Bin Suparman
I'm not sure if any of you have seen this (since some of my friends say they've read it a few weeks ago), but here:http://gizmodo.com/376486/superhero-presents-strong-case-for-id-cards-as-states-get-real-id-extension
P.S. W00t, he's our age, I REALLY want to know him.
Jazz Under the Stars......
That's right! We're having a concert under the stars so you guys can come chill out with us on a Saturday evening with the night sky above you (hopefully).
Food and drinks will be sold on the premises, but you can da pao your dinner and bring your picnic mat. Eat, drink, talk, with jazz numbers to entertain you. It'll be an around-the-world-ish thing with different sub-genres of jazz ranging from funk, to swing, to blues etc.
Ticket Price: $3 only.
Pre-concert jam will start at 6, and the programme will begin at 7. You dont wanna miss this party!
Tickets are on sale now!
Friday, April 4, 2008
Watch.
Just watch.NTU professor
Think you will enjoy this:Tuesday, April 1, 2008
A UN admendment
If you think that the UN seats shouldn't be filled with mostly European and other 1st world countries, think again. This article would convince you otherwise.To sum up, idiots from around the world managed to change a UN document to actually LIMIT the freedom of expression. Be afraid, be very, very afraid.
Imagining the Tenth Dimension
Hur hur, I'm studying out-of-syllabus physics this April Fools (and late into the night some more), wouldn't Mr Se be proud?Anyway, for those interested, here is a video I found that tries to explain string theory using an intuitive (though not fully accurate) method:
Read more about string theory on wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_theory
And here, check out a video of Xia Yi doing belly dance: http://youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0
Hehe...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_Gonna_Give_You_Up#.22Rickroll.22_Internet_meme