Lifehacker (main website link), one of my favorite blogs in my RSS reading list, posted a top 10 list of body hacks. A body hack is something nice or useful to do with your body. Finally I know what I can do when I get an ice cream headache.
Sao Paulo, Brazil: The City Without Advertising
In Sao Paulo, Brazil, the advertisers did not adhere to the city’s rules on outdoor advertising. In return, the city banned outdoor advertising entirely. So what does an 11-million citizens city look like without advertising? You can read a little more about it here or go directly to this set of pictures.
We hear about city-advertisers disputes a lot here in Israel, too. I wonder if an Israeli city will ever ban outdoor advertising. Probably when municipal corruption is gone and pigs fly. (via Digg).
Is Microsoft Dead? Define “dead”
Every time I hear someone claiming that Microsoft is dead I roll my eyes and try to stay calm while listening to a whole lot of nonsense. Recently, Paul Graham (famous hacker and also a partner in venture firm Y Combinator) wrote that Microsoft Is Dead.
While I usually distance myself from such clear cut statements, the article itself lists very good points why Microsoft is not the big fearsome monopoly it used to be, and how the new age of the Internet doesn’t take Microsoft as a threat like software companies did in the past. So while the main point in the article doesn’t seem to be that Microsoft is dead (at least not according to my definition of “dead”), it’s still a very good read. (via Download Squad)
Invisibility Technologies
There’s been a lot of hype lately regarding invisibility (cloaking) technologies. It’s amazing how, for years, scientists have been trying to create cloaking devices/clothes without success and now suddenly there are so many different technologies that achieve more or less the same result. Here is a very interesting review of cloaking technologies. (via Digg)
The 21 Biggest Technology Flops by Computerworld
Computerworld published a 21 items long list of the biggest technology flops. Most of them I remember, some of them were gone even before I realized there was a technology world. I even remember thinking that some were good ideas at the time. It’s an interesting read.
It’s amazing how Microsoft Bob gets a spot in these “flops” lists :) (via Digg)
Top 5 Ways To Hustle Free Drinks Videos
I don’t drink alcohol, but if you’re looking to get a free drink in a bar, here are 5 ways to hustle free drinks. One of them is actually physics-based and another is geometry-based.
Just one warning, though: for some of those tricks to work you need to be a charming woman and find some guys that you know won’t get mad once they realize what you’ve done.
Questions Couples Should Ask Before Marrying – by New York Times
The New York Times magazine published a list of questions couples should ask (or wish they had) before marrying. They included a list of 15 key questions from “relationship experts”. While the list is interesting and seems pretty much like what you’d expect, I was surprised to see number 7:
7) Will there be a television in the bedroom?
Is this really such a key question in a relationship?
Strange Houses
Here’s a nice collection of strange houses around the world. Some of them look like they have hard corners to reach. Enjoy.
How To Pick A Masterlock Combination Lock Video
If this was just a brute force technique I wouldn’t care about it so much, but after watching this video on how to pick a Masterlock combination lock by testing only 100 combinations (out of 64,000 possible) I’m very interested in knowing math-wise why this works. (via Digg)
Yahoo! Pipes – What A Great Idea
Yahoo! proves once again that there’s still innovation left in them, this time with Yahoo! Pipes. Yahoo! Pipes lets a user define a pipe, which is a way to customize the web to your needs. A simple example would be “take the latest articles in New York Times and find related pictures on flickr”. The number of possibilities is enormous. Here’s an article about 5 ways to use Yahoo! Pipes.
I’m really impressed with the idea. This can be used to create very nice, dynamic content by users. You can also check out the main Yahoo! Pipes website for some selected pipes. (via Digg)