number of horns on a unicorn?

wonder what's the number of horns on a unicorn? I asked google & guess what was the answer? not less than 140140743899!! (I don't talk about great google calculator of course :p)

this picture is important, because soon that result is going to loose the first position because of pages like mine taking its position :) - edit: done =))

this is not the first time google gives such strange & ironic answers, if you searched a while ago for "she invented", you would have got a suggestion from big google stating: "Did you mean "He invented"?".

give it a try now, you won't get that weird (& sexist) suggestion, seems google recanted, instead you'll get a list of interesting results.

welcome to "lot of random letters" village

in fact it's llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch village


let's analyze and try to guess the subliminal messages in this weird and apparently retarded appellation:

it's composed of 58 letters: 40 are consonants & 18 vowels.

there are three As, one B, two Cs, one D, one E, one F, seven Gs ... hmmm, I'm getting something ... two Hs, three Is, no J!!! and no K ... interesting ... 11 Ls, zero Ms, four Ns, six Os, one P, no Q, four Rs, one S, one T, no U, no V, four Ws, no X, five Ys and no Z ... wow!

I managed also to extract the words: fair, air, go, rob & ant.

well, seriously & according to wikipedia, the original name of the village is llanfair pwllgwyngyl, it is as well a community on the island of anglesey in wales, the village's extreme long name is not an authentic welsh-language toponym, but was artificially contrived in the 1860s in an attempt to develop the village as a commercial and tourist center.

also according to wikipedia, the world longest place name in the world is (in two parts or else I'll have some troubles with my blog):

part 1: tetaumatawhakatangihangakoauaotamateaurehaeatu
part 2: ripukapihimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuaakitanarahu

it means in māori "the summit where tamatea, the man with the big knees, the climber of mountains, the land-swallower who travelled about, played his flute to his loved one".

any volunteers for the analysis?

never forget to read the fine print ...

this is a hilarious story (a bit old though) with a moral in the end: always remember to read the fine print!

Jodee Berry of Panama City, Fla., sits with her toy Yoda at her lawyer's office Wednesday. Berry, a former Hooters waitress, has sued the restaurant where she worked saying she was promised a new Toyota for winning a beer sales contest in April. Berry, 26, believed that she had won a new car, but she was blindfolded, led to the parking lot and presented a toy Yoda, the little green guy from Star Wars.

the story was published 29 July, 2001 on bbc news.

read more on the lawsuit on free republic.

extremely strange animal: camel spider

incredible facts about a very weird animal that lives in the sahara, the camel spider, in fact it's not a real spider according to wikipedia, it belongs to the solifugae order while spiders belong to the order araneae.

well, before relating the unbelievable & extremely strange facts on camel spiders, and to have a more clear view on them, it's a good idea to watch this short video:

now the facts!

the term solifugae is derived from latin, and means "those that flee from the sun". in the day time camel spiders always try to hide from the sun, that's why they could run after your shadow; one of the first things people say is "they chase you OMG!". if you hear someone saying that just say: "yeah, it's because they're after a shady spot and your big dumb body probably produces a lot of shade.".

more weird and even more scary, camel spiders can grow over two feet in length. they have a potent venom that numbs your flesh and dissolves it.

they can also lay eggs under your skin which have a gestation period of three months before they burst and dig their way out.

after their pupal stage, they grow wings for a short period and fly around, looking for preys so they can grow bigger. adults can get up to three feet in length, and eat small domestic animals.

they often burrow under the sand in large groups, waiting in ambush, to attack animals as large as cows and horses (and camels) as a pack.

camel spiders, can climb walls and hang from ceilings, to drop on unsuspecting people (or animals).

they are highly intelligent and live in gregarious burrow societies. They can scream and have a highly developed language!

archeologists and biologists discovered odd geometric shapes in the desert, camel spiders build small structures out of sticks and sand!

more scary and worrisome, if you're not careful, they will steal your car, and take your kids and raise them in the wild and teach them to bite tourists!

camel spiders beg for coins on street corners; they can play the violin and they write calligraphies with weed stalks and compose classical music when they aren't busy devouring things.

based on true comments from a youtuber

strange things with planes

let's see some weird & original things with planes & aircrafts.

for example, we hear often that planes are the safer transport means & that more chances are there that you die in your way to the airport than in plane crash; just to confirm this fact, do you know that more people are killed by donkeys annually than are killed in plane crashes?! (I remind you a donkey is also a transport mean).

first, here is a series of planes photos in strange positions because of mysterious events I don't know & can't guess, they might be things like the one illustrated in the sign above ... anyways, enjoy & try to guess by your self!

now something really extreme:

now more pictures with planes, only this time it's not about accidents:

I promised it's not about planes crashes or accidents, this one in fact is an advertisement ... of what? of the shop or whatever is in that building ...



this is what I call the convertible aircraft, I didn't know it was possiple to fly safely without a closed cockpit, especially on this kind of high speed/altitude planes



well, the most amusing for the end, it seems preflights in africa sometimes look like this!

see also murphy's law applications on airports & planes

attention dogs guardians, attention dogs!

no really! why should signs address only to humans?! why not to animals too?! signs makers just need to use the right language understood by cats, dogs or whatever, et voilà!

click to enlarge

of course only animals that can read can follow instructions, but it's the same for humans so ...

monology: studying human stupidity

all started with something I read claiming the study of stupidity was named "monology", so I started looking for any information on the word "monology". I have to admit I didn't find a lot, & I realized that monology is not the study of stupidity, its meaning according to thefreedictionary.com is

n.1. The habit of soliloquizing, or of monopolizing conversation.
It was not by an insolent usurpation that Coleridge persisted in monology through his whole life.
- De Quincey.

nothing to do with studies or stupidity; some also call the study of stupidity "stupidology", this word is even harder to find in any dictionary than the word "monology". in fact there's no official term for "the study of stupidity", it's simply called ... "the study of stupidity".

giancarlo livraghi, fascinated with stupidity (his own then humans') made a lot of research in the domain of stupidity, & in his article the power of stupidity, says he was surprised by the little amount of study dedicated to the topic:

There are University departments for the mathematical complexities in the movements of Amazonian ants, or the medieval history of Perim island; but I have never heard of any Foundation or Board of Trustees supporting any studies of Stupidology.

there are few works though covering the subject decently ...

one of the oldest was from walter b. pitkin (1878 - 1953), a book published in 1934, called "a short introduction to the history of human stupidity" (*); "short introduction", because pitkin knew there was a lot to do to cover human stupidity, & that he wasn't able to accomplish that task in the 300 pages of the book, so in the end of the book he added:

Epilogue: now we are ready to start studying the History of Stupidity.

pitkin claims 4/5 people are stupid. (quite stupid allegation in livraghi's opinion) he observes that in spite of the difficulty to give a definition to stupidity (for instance, geniuses are often considered stupid by a stupid majority), stupidity definitely runs the world (which is proven by the way the world is run) :

Stupidity can easily be proved the supreme Social Evil. Three factors combine to establish it as such. First and foremost, the number of stupid people is legion. Secondly, most of the power in business, finance, diplomacy and politics is in the hands of more or less stupid individuals. Finally, high abilities are often linked with serious stupidity, and in such a manner that the abilities shine before all the world while the stupid trait lurks in deep shadow and is discerned only by intimates or by prying newspaper reporters.

later on, from 1988, carlo maria cipolla (1922-2000) decided to explore the subject & elaborated his "stupidity theory". in his italian written book "allegro ma non troppo" ("happy but not by too much"), he describes stupid people as a group, more powerful by far than major organizations such as the mafia, which without regulations, leaders or manifesto nonetheless manages to operate to great effect and with incredible coordination.

he observes that the number of stupid people is broadly underestimated. that is something we notice every day. aware as we may be of the power of stupidity, we are often surprised by it where we least expect it. we often underestimate the awful effects of stupidity and, because it is so unpredictable, stupid behavior is more dangerous than intentional mischief; this could be summarized using "hanlon’s razor": «never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.» or simpler by robert heinlein's statement: «never underestimate the power of human stupidity.» (see children version of this last one in: give half a proverb to a child, watch the result ...).

concretely, cipolla's theory of stupidity is composed of five fundamental laws:

1. always and inevitably each of us underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.
2. the probability that a given person is stupid is independent of any other characteristic possessed by that person.
3. a person is stupid if they cause damage to another person or group of people without experiencing personal gain, or even worse causing damage to themselves in the process.
4. non-stupid people always underestimate the harmful potential of stupid people; they constantly forget that at any time anywhere, and in any circumstance, dealing with or associating themselves with stupid individuals invariably constitutes a costly error.
5. a stupid person is the most dangerous type of person there is.

here are some quotes of other works & thoughts on the topic:

". . . on any matter not self-evident there are ninety-nine persons totally incapable of judging of it for one who is capable; and the capacity of the hundredth person is only comparative . . ." John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (1859; rpt. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974), p. 79.

". . . independent thought, to a good many men, is quite impossible, and to the overwhelming majority of men, extremely painful." H. L. Mencken, "The Genealogy of Etiquette," Smart Set 47, No. 1 (September 1915): 309.

". . . nine-tenths of the beliefs of nine-tenths of mankind are totally irrational." Bertrand Russell, "Is There a God?" (1952), in The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell, ed. John G. Slater and Peter Köllner (London: Routledge, 1997), Vol. 11, p. 548.

"People are not intelligent. It is very unreasonable to expect them to be so, and that is a fate my philosophy reconciled me to long ago. How else could I have lived for forty years in America?" George Santayana, letter to Bertrand Russell (c. December 1917), The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell (Boston: Little, Brown, 1968), Vol. 1, p. 57.

you may also want to take a look at james welles's "understanding stupidity".


* more extracts from the book on deuceofclubs.com

a reindeer dead frozen in the snow in norway

again weird & crazy nature acting, below is a picture of a reindeer also known as caribou frozen to death in a snow storm in norway, this makes me ask my self questions as stupid as the ones I asked in my post about that poor rat dead & painted in the middle of a street. I can't imagine that exact instant in whitch the animal couldn't make another step then was completely frozen, it's something I use to see in cartoons, but I guess reality is always stranger & more insane than any think humans can imagine ...

well, what have I to say now ... enjoy the picture?

click to enlarge

a choir made of three turkeys

this is a video I uploaded on three odd singing turkeys, they're really funny especially because of being synchro although it's not on purpose, it's just their animal instinct ... enjoy the video!

cool ki tricks, mind & body training

The best thing about mind/body training is how it makes you feel inside. But maybe the second best thing is, it lets you do impressive stuff you couldn't do otherwise. Like make it impossible for someone much bigger than yourself to bend your arm. Or make your body feel so heavy that two people can't lift you off the ground - even though they could a moment before. These Cool Ki Tricks are certainly cool, but they also teach you a lot about your mind/body state.

UNBENDABLE ARM

The classic (yet always impressive) Cool Ki Trick.

What Happens.

Someone tries to bend your arm when it's stiff, and succeeds. But when your arm is very relaxed, it becomes impossible to bend. This feels very strange. And it's probably one of the best first ways to get a feeling for the correct mind/body state. We try to always teach this to beginners the very first time they come to Aikido class. I remember coming home after my first class and trying to show this idea to my wife. I couldn't do it, but she could. It bugged me for weeks.

continue

KOKYU DOSA

A subtle test of ki which shows that size and strength really aren't that important.

What Happens.

Two people sit in seiza facing each other. You extend your wrists, and your friend holds onto them. Though your friend holds tight and uses all her muscle, you find it easy to push her over. Yet when she tries to push you, you're immoveable. This is probably the most fascinating of all the Cool Ki Tricks, but it's also the most subtle. Being able to push over someone who's bigger and stronger than you is certainly fun, but you may not be able to do it at first. Don't feel bad! In fact, it is an advantage to train with people that you find difficult to push over. And take heart in knowing that many Aikido students never succeed at pushing over their instructors, even after decades of practice. (You've got to figure, the instructors are practicing, too.)

continue

UNLIFTABLE BODY

Master this Cool Ki Trick, and you'll be able to freak people out at will.

What Happens.

This one is hard to believe. And the scary thing is, we have no idea how it works. You hold your arms at your sides and have two people grasp your forearms - one person on each side. On the count of three, they lift you in the air. It's easy. Then, you have them try it again. This time, they can't lift you.

continue

FINGER RING

Like super-gluing your thumb to your index finger, only you won't need to have them surgically separated.

What Happens.

You make a ring with your thumb and forefinger. Then you ask a friend to pry them apart. He sweats and strains, but he can't do it. An ideal way to introduce the idea of mind/body training to someone at a casual gathering. You know, the kind of occasion where having people attack you and then throwing them across the room might be frowned upon.

continue

see also:

13 strange body & mind afflictions

strange health advices

the prophecy of the titanic sinking

the titanic sinking, is probably the most famous in history, that happened during her maiden voyage exactly the night of 14 to 15 april 1912 after a collision with an iceberg, around 1500 people perished. the mean reasons of the legend made around the tragic end of the titanic are that she was was the largest passenger steamship & the most luxurious in the world at that time, it was also considered a pinnacle of technological achievement & above all to be practically unsinkable thanks to her double-bottom hull & 16 watertight compartments.

the novel that predicted the incident!

in 1898 (14 years before the titanic sunk), american author morgan robertson published a short fictional novel named "futility", the novel featured a british ship named "titan" (the novel is also known as "the wreck of the titan").

the ship was the biggest ever made by men, unequaled regarding her luxury & technology, her nineteen water-tight compartments (16 in the titanic) allow her to keep floating even if nine of them were flooded, making her "practically unsinkable" & that's why she carried only 24 lifeboats able to carry 500 people (the titanic: 20 able to carry 1266) from the 2000 passengers on board (the titanic: 2435). the total passenger capacity of the titan was 3000 (3745 on the titanic).

the titan as the titanic sank in april after being pierced by an iceberg on her starboard side, as the titanic too, the disaster took place in the north atlantic ocean, a few hundreds miles off u.s. coast, the collision happened near midnight for the titan & exactly 11.40pm for the titanic!

those are the most striking similarities, talking about differences, there were some of course, the titan for example was on her third return trip from new york, while it was the maiden voyage to new york for the titanic. these differences though, are nothings if compared to the numerous incredibly uncanny & bizarre similitude between the fictitious & real incident.

read the novel futility on titanic-titanic.com

some other droll facts on the titanic

as a bonus, here are some interesting facts from miamisci.org

• A first-class ticket for a parlor suite on Titanic cost $4,350, which would be approximately $50,000 today.
• First-class passengers had the luxury of paying for their leisure while on board: a ticket to the swimming pool cost 25¢, while a ticket for the squash court (as well as
• the services of a professional player) cost 50¢.
• The forward part of the boat deck was promenade space for first-class passengers and the rear part for second-class passengers. People from these classes thus had the best chance of getting into a lifeboat simply because they could get to them quickly and easily.
• The Titanic had its own newspaper, the Atlantic Daily Bulletin, prepared aboard the ship. In addition to news articles and advertisements, it contained a daily menu, the latest stock prices, horse-racing results, and society gossip.
• A medical officer greeted the third-class passengers. He wanted to be sure that none of the immigrants had any health problems that would prevent them from entering the United States.
• There were only two bathtubs for the more than 700 third-class passengers aboard the ship.
• Sixty chefs and chefs’ assistants worked in the Titanic’s five kitchens. They ranged from soup cooks and roast cooks to pastry cooks and vegetable cooks. There was a kosher cook, too, to prepare the meals for the Jewish passengers.
• Dorothy Gibson, a 28-year-old silent screen actress, was the resident movie star for the Titanic. She would later star in Saved from the Titanic, a movie made one month after the disaster. Her costume was the dress she wore on the night of the sinking.
• Tennis player R. Norris Williams and his father, Charles D., felt it was too cold to remain out on deck as the ship went down, so they went into the gym to ride the exercise bikes.

so sleepy or drunk baby?

this is the first video I upload to youtube, I got it via mobile, it's kinda hilarious, a little painful for the kid in it though.

well watch it & decide if the baby is just sleepy or is drunk, then choose to laugh like crazy or to feel sorry for him, enjoy! (& let me know if it's a must see :p).

edit: lol! I thought it was exclusive, but then found it was already uploaded twice, without sound though, I wonder if the sound in mine is authentic, I think that song matches well the scenes.

employment wanted - former marijuana smuggler

Having successfully completed a ten year sentence, incident-free, for importing 75 tons of marijuana into the United States. I am now seeking a legal and legitimate means to support my self and my family.

Business Experience - Owned and operated a successful fishing business - multi-vessel, one airplane, one island and processing facility. Simultaneously owned and operated a fleet of tractor-trailer trucks conducting business in the western United States. During this time I also co-owned and participated in the executive level management of 120 people worldwide in a successful pot smuggling venture with revenues in excess of US$100 million annually. I took responsibility for my own actions, and received a ten year sentence in the United States while others walked free for their cooperation.

Attributes - I am an expert in all levels of security; I have extensive computer skills, am personable, outgoing, well-educated, reliable, clean and sober. I have spoken in schools to thousands of kids and parent groups over the past ten years on "the consequences of choice", and received public recognition from the RCMP for community service. I am well-traveled and speak English, French and Spanish. References available from friends, family, the U.S. District Attorney, etc.

Please direct replies to
Box 375, National Post, Classified,
1450 Don Mills, ON, M3B 3R5

note: brian o'dea the author of the odd & original classified received about 600 responses for it, read his full story on cbc news

sicko surrealist facts

sicko, for those who don't know, is the new movie from the controversial director michael moore on american health care system, its revelations prove once more reality can often be weirder than the fiction, the facts stating that for some, humans welfare is the last thing to care about & before it comes the selfish quest to make more & more profit, those facts are crazy, scandalous & sad ...

the most interesting sicko passages for me are first the one with a guy who got two fingers cut had to choose which one to recover, the one that costs $60.000 or the other costing $12.000. ironic & maybe funny but ... imagine a person who instead of his fingers have to choose between paying a fortune & live or not to pay & die ...

then there was mike travel to england where he was surprised being in a hospital in which all was free for patients, he was looking desperately for "the catch", it wasn't possible people were charged nothing for all the services!! finally he found the hospital cachier, bingo! but guess what? the cachier wasn't taking money, he was on the contrary giving away money!

finally there were those 9/11 rescue workers & volunteers who suffered from various ailments caused by their job & were taken by mike to cuba, in which they found a medecine costing 5 u.s. cents while is worth $120 in the u.s. & then they got the health-care they'd been denied in the world richest country ...

as an eyes opener, the movie is great, I just hope it's the trigger to make things change positively ...

well some fun now, talking about health care & insurance, did you ever thought of what you would do if you got a gay child? coa or the "coming out insurance" helps you to avoid any unpleasant surprises & will reimburse any "gay related expenses". checkout the comercial!

bush: you know what "w" stands for? whatever!!!

my united stats of whatever was initially a really funny song by liam lynch (another must see *), then many people started making their own versions of "my united stats of whatever", the one with george w. bush is of my favorites, so here he is saying "whatever" to the whole world ...

and of course here's the original video & its lyrics, as I said, if you didn't yet, it's a must see! ;)

liam lynch - united states of whatever lyrics:

I went down to the beach and saw Kiki
She was, like, all "ehhhh"
And I was, like, "whatever!"

Then this chick comes up to me and she's all, like,
"Hey, aren't you that dude?"
And I'm, like, "yeah, whatever!"

So later I'm at the pool hall
And this girl comes up
And she's, like, "awww"
And I'm, like, "yeah, whatever!"

Cuz this is my
United States of Whatever!
And this is my
United States of Whatever!
And this is my
United States of Whatever!

And then it's three A.M.
And I'm on the corner, wearing my leather
This dude comes up and he's, like, "hey, punk!"
I'm, like, "yeah, whatever!"

Then I'm throwing dice in the alley
Officer Leroy comes up and is, like,
"Hey, I thought I told you..."
And I'm, like, "yeah, whatever!"

And then up comes Zafo
I'm, like, "yo, Zafo. What's up?"
He's, like, "nothin'"
And I'm, like, "that's cool."

Cuz this is my
United States of Whatever!
And this is my
United States of Whatever!

azlyrics

* there were two must see on this blog before liam lynch's video: the one-second taser burst ... & lord of the rings characters with strange voices

raising vibes game: thinking positive

this is a game from optimistlab that consists of sharing 5 tips to "raise vibes" then to tag 5 bloggers & let them do the same, full rules here.

to be able to participate I needed someone to tag me, I asked misssy m from the misssy m misssives & she kindly accepted, in fact I heard of this game from a post of hers.

well, I really think I'm not the best placed guy to teach people how to be positive, because I my self I'm negative in my thinking; trying to improve though & maybe this post would first help me to think more positively, to change the world, one needs to start with one's self no? then if the five tips I hardly collected can help even a single person, that really would be the top!

ok, let's start, my 5 tips to fight negative thoughts, or let's say to fight bad moods, but you're warned! I'm pretty sure this is not what you're expecting!

1. take a shower! at once you'll feel better. as many things, taking a shower is a boring task to me, but once taken, I always feel fresh in my body but especially in my mind.

2. never say: "if X was done differently, Y would have been better", if it's to learn from your mistakes why not? but if it's just to blame your self or others, better to leave it; 1st no one knows what would have happened, & second no one could turn back to the past to change things, maybe the things that you think bad have saved you from worse life eventualities?

3. this one is a bit serious: if sometimes you look at people in better situations than you & feel underprivileged, try to look at people in worse situations too, there's a saying I know, it's something like: "seeing others worries, makes you forget yours", when I remember children in some parts of the world are dying for stupid reasons such as the lack of water, food or medicines or in wars, I feel idiot being depressed because of internet connection broken ...

4. think of this: we are all winners coz we won the first contest we entered ever & the most important ever, the contest of getting to life! how many spermatozoons were competing & ours got to the highly desired ovum? millions!! damn we're lucky!! (though, for those who are so depressed that they'd preferred they would never existed, this fact would mean the contrary ...).

5. listen to the song "don't worry, be happy" by bobby mcferrin, it's not my favorite & honestly rarely play it, but I seriously think it has something magic, let's finish with its lyrics:

Here's a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don't worry, be happy.
In every life we have some trouble
But when you worry you make it double
Don't worry, be happy.
Don't worry, be happy now.

(Chorus)
Don't worry, be happy. Don't worry, be happy.
Don't worry, be happy. Don't worry, be happy.

Ain't got no place to lay your head
Somebody came and took your bed
Don't worry, be happy.
The landlord say your rent is late
He may have to litigate
Don't worry, be happy.

(Chorus)
(Look at me -- I'm happy. Don't worry, be happy.
Here I give you my phone number. When you worry, call me,
I make you happy. Don't worry, be happy.)

Ain't got no cash, ain't got no style
Ain't got no gal to make you smile
Don't worry, be happy.
'Cause when you worry your face will frown
And that will bring everybody down
Don't worry, be happy.

(Chorus)
(Don't worry, don't worry, don't do it.
Be happy. Put a smile on your face.
Don't bring everybody down.
Don't worry. It will soon pass, whatever it is.
Don't worry, be happy.
I'm not worried, I'm happy...)

digitaldreamdoor

now I need to tag 5 bloggers ... will start doing that within few hours ...

play it strange, artistic & poetic

exploring the web I came across a weird flash game full of symbols & poesy, if you expect a regular flash game, challenging & addictive, you won't be served, instead of that, this game was made to be a peace of digital art.

the name of the game is: game, game, game and again game (click to play & enjoy btw ;))

here's what's his author jason nelson says about it: "game, game, game and again game, is a digital poem/game/net artwork hybrid of sorts. There are 13 curious levele filled with poetics, hand drawn creatures, scribbles backgrounds and other poorly made bits. The theme (cringe) hovers around our many failed/error filled/compelling belief systems, from cosumerism to monotheism. But more, it repels the tyranny (cringe) of clean design and cold smoothness of much of the web/net-art."