The Lounge

The documentary, High Tech Low Life, is about two of China's citizen reporters or social commentary bloggers, who risk imprisonment to tell China and the world about government failures and corruption. It gives insight what it is like for some people who live in China. And, it tells us that the workings of the Chinese government are not only mysterious to us outsiders, but also to the Chinese people. The documentary also tells us that social commentary bloggers are ubiquitous and unstoppable, and they are changing the Chinese government and forcing it to be more open. But, they are only at the beginning of a long hard road. High Tech Low Life is on Netflix, or you ca…

My jungle cactus bloomed tonight, they smell wonderful and are almost a foot across....

here you must come up with 1000 facts, make sure to number them ^.^ 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000! 1. the energy in 215 big macs is the same amount of energy that can move a car up to 35 kilometres

I hope the electrics sell. The 80-186 mile range seems like it will suit the European market, where people ride trains much more than in the US.

While browsing Facebook, I came across a link to a very interesting website that has 40 maps that try to help make sense of the world. Although some of the maps are less than interesting, I found that quite a few of them are very intriguing. Enjoy!!!

Science Britannica, Professor Brian Cox, BBC2, starting 18th September, watch it! http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/geniusofinvention/celebrating-invention.html

The biggest list and the biggest dictionary of all time. This list and dictionary are so big that theres absolutely, positively, no chance of even looking at them. Not even a supercomputer could print this list out for you. I shouldn't even mention the dictionary. If you were to look at ONE ENTRY in this dictionary, the best computer in the world would crash. Give me a quantum computer, it will probably still crash just trying to look at these things. I call the list ' knowledge', and I call the dictionary ' time'. Just because knowledge and time are so big doesn't mean that they are not useful though, it just means that we, as humans, will never be able to look at them, …

Man shoots atheist friend over religious disagreement. http://www.examiner.com/article/oakland-man-murders-atheist-after-debating-god-s-existence

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-23962379 From the BBC News Magazine Monitor:

Would it be possible for some of the well connected SFN members to propose NASA the implementation of a strobe light beacon on the International Space Station in such a way to project a cone of perhaps 20 degree colored strobing light downwards as to tell the world its presence overhead during night passes ? It would be very significant, on an insignificant power consumption and perhaps cost, or a harmless green pulsed laser instead. I suggest such as the ISS is discernible to naked eyes with good vision. A light coming from it should be highly discernible too. Would that harm any technological issues?, for the ISS just to tell us, the world... "We are over you…

Although the internet makes educating oneself free, in many cases, the cost of refereed papers is too much for me and many other retired people. I really would like to read Eternity in six hours: Intergalactic spreading of intelligent life and sharpening the Fermi paradox, and other papers from time to time, but cannot afford them. Since university salaries and research grants are often paid by governments, it seems to me that I've already paid tax $ for many of them.

Hey everyone, I am planning on opening a non profit space agency. This agency would be full of civilians from all aspects of science, and other fields. We would have a number of different departments, and a lot of projects. Funding would come from donations, sponsors, inventions we come out with, books, and other idea's. If we find something that the world should know and we confirm it and confirm it again and again we will release the information to the public. This agencies headquarters and first location will be where I live in Boston MA. One project and the major project will be to create a human civilization on the moon. Awesome Idea, a lot of money I know, but I can…

Found that most people often dream about being chased, with physical difficulty to run away or escape from the chase but never getting caught. This is not about the meaning of such or especulate an explanation; but the common scenario to many. How many unrelated different personalities and personal life intricacies can experience such common dream ! ----> Do you get that one too ?

Ever get the feeling that living your life is actually someone playing you in a game? Or viewing your life on a screen or a filmstrip or something. Or maybe it's like Assassin's Creed, where they're trying to find certain details about your life.

There have been some deaths on this show that have left me wondering how realistic the circumstances have been. First off, Alexis' death in the segment "Sky Scraped", where apparently negative pressure in the sky scraper, combined with strong winds battering the office window, caused an explosion of glass everywhere into her skin. Then there was the death of a Mel Gibson parody named Max, who happened to have his intestines ripped out by the drain of his hot tub (He sat on it by mistake). Are these deaths really that accurate? Even the woman who drank too much water? I've wanted to ask you since a lot of you here are qualified in scientific fields, and I f…

If you had an enemy who was seeking revenge against you, The enemy is a psychopathic personality with large financial resources and will most likely seek revenge in the form of suffering. The enemy is highly intelligent and has the thought process to concoct an elaborate scheme, your initial thought is the enemy is going to set you up to take the fall for somthing so you end up incarcerated. That's what you want to protect yourself against. The reasoning is they would be able to control your environment by paying prisoners and guards to make your life miserable. Using today's technology such as a cell phone pinging off a tower, computer log's and IP addresses …

I know we have discussed this before, but for those of you who haven't read some of the stories of this remarkable invention. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23536914 There is something inspirational and heartwarming about such a simple idea revolutionising so many lives. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liter_of_Light

http://www.theonion.com/articles/royal-baby-eats-first-meal,33191/

This Ted Talk by a Yan Lang, a journalist who has been called "the Opra of China," is both heart warming and heartbreaking. She talks about events in China, many reported on their version of Facebook, a micro blogging web site.

We need to think of solutions instead of problems, because focusing on problems, that is fear, cause us to freeze and run away from the problem. On the other hand, focusing on the good things, the solutions, encourage us to try to achieve those solutions. Costa Rica produces the more happiness, love, health and wealth for the less expenditure of resources than any country on Earth, followed by Vietnam, Colombia and Belize according to happyplanetindex.org, see Table View. See also: Ted Talk, Happy Planet Index

Hello everyone. It's been a while for those who remember me from back in the day. 7 Years have passed and I just thought I'd swing by to see how things were doing. I'm going to see if I have enough time when not working to participate in some lively discussions. My main interests to be honest are economics and philosophy to be frank, so we'll se where this goes. (I'm a anarcho-capitalist/libertarian/voluntaryist of the Austrian Murray Rothbard type.) Salutations to blike, sayonara, capnref, ecoli, ydoaps and the all others I forget to mention. See ya' when I see ya!

I would love to be knowledgeable on a specific area or areas of scientific knowledge like you guys, but I love to chat, so for fun did you know that the German polymath Hildergard Von Bingen ( 1098 - 1179 ) believed that taking a bath in lettuces cured people from sexual desire. I don't believe that. However some of this remarkable woman's work in the field of medicine and plant healing is now considered to have more truth to it than once thought. I just thought 'WHAT THE HELL!!!' I'd enter something!!! Cheers - Mike

http://cakecrumbs.me/2013/08/01/spherical-concentric-layer-cake-tutorial/

Hi. This travel check list works very well for me all times. Improve it, add your items, delete what you like; print copies and should serve you well in the future. Just keep it where can be found when needed ============================================================ TRAVEL CHECK LIST ===Personal items: Comb, brush Cosmetics Dental care items Deodorant First aid supplies Glasses, lenses, cleaning supplies Hair dryer Hand, moisture lotions Insect repellent Medicines, vitamins Nail clipper Cologne, perfume Pocket knife, tools Prescription duplicates Cotton swabs, balls Razor, shaving cream Reading glasses Shampoo Sunglasses Sunscreen lotion ===Document…

This is supposed to be some sort of space drive that doesn't require fuel but I can't access the site, anyone else care to take a look? http://www.fastcompany.com/1837966/mustafas-space-drive-egyptian-students-quantum-physics-invention