flickering pictures

CNN reports:

Exxon Mobil, the leading U.S. oil company, said its third-quarter net profit was $14.83 billion, [or] $1,865.69 per second, nearly $400 a second more than the prior mark.

No U.S. company has ever earned more profit in a single quarter.
To put things into perspective, $14.83 billion is enough to wipe out the crippling external debts […]

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Strange Maps, a delightful little site that has quickly become one of my favourites, tells the story of the “Routefinder,” a dapper-looking set of wrist-mounted scrolls that provided step-by-step directions for British intercity travel in the roaring 20’s:

The technology - a curious cross between the space age and the stone age - consisted of a […]

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Because they’re idiots, that’s why.

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The Los Angeles Times reports that peeling a strip of Scotch tape off the roll in a vacuum chamber releases enough energy to x-ray your finger. The process is called triboluminescence and apparently creates visible light, too — something you can try at home — though you likely haven’t noticed unless you’ve been taping […]

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I nearly fell out of my chair laughing when B sent me this link. Have a wander over to sarahpalin.com.

Hey Mark!
I was going to msg you with this, but saw that you’re marked “Do not disturb”. I was checking something on barackobama.com and thought why not check out johnmccain.com. I perused a bit and […]

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From the indefatigable Cool Things in Random Places:

The sport of shin kicking has been around since the 17th century [and was] reborn in 1951 at Chipping Camden, England. Although the games are not quite as brutal as the earlier versions, I’m sure players are secretly rejoicing that they now prohibit iron-capped boots. Players used to […]

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To the guy in Ozark, Arkansas who surfs this site with Opera on a Nintendo Wii, all I have to say is: awesome…
Image via Opera Software ASA.

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Now there’s something you don’t read every day.

Ben Weider, the only person ever to be president of both the International Federation of Bodybuilders and the International Napoleonic Society, died yesterday in Montreal.
For his contributions to fitness, philanthropy and the study of history, Weider was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, a Knight of […]

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I gotta say, this never gets old. And to the person at CNN who reads this little site, and plugs it even though I may sometimes bash his/her employer a little, thanks. : )
Click here or on the image for a larger screenshot, if you like.

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Incidentally, 420 miles is the distance from New York to Boston and back again. In (an admittedly unfair) comparison, Toyota advertises 45mpg (highway) for its Prius.
And the engineering students, by the way, don’t attend classes at M.I.T., Stanford or Cambridge, but rather at the Rashtreeya Vidhyalaya College of Engineering, Bangalore.
From the Times of India:

The […]

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