Ready, Aye, Ready

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2008/01/100_things_we_didnt_know_last_3.shtml

Nifty list of things revealed during 2007 as collated by the BBC.

Personal favourite:

5. Cloudy apple juice is healthier than clear, containing almost double the antioxidants which protect against heart disease and cancer.

Yeah, that's my preferred tipple!

(Via Kottke)

Link: http://www.canadiandesignresource.ca/officialgallery/

For some reason this amuses me: as a design project someone has come up with a toilet seat that changes colour based on when it was last used.

That's probably just a little too much information for most people...

(Via BoingBoing)

Link: http://www.inc.com/articles/2007/12/joel-spolskys-travel-survival-guide.html?partner=fogcreek

A selection of excellent points of how and when to travel, and then what to do if you're demoing a product to clients. It's valid as much for people doing training as sales and marketing.

Link: http://producten.hema.nl/

Some Dutch IKEA-knockoff put together this amazing advert. Ya gotta see it!

(Via PopGadget)

Link: http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/magazine/16-01/ps_scrabulous

Wired on the temptation to cheat while playing Scrabble -- er, Scrabulous -- online.

No post of consequence today, just a question.

Does the current "post-a-day" schedule work for readers? More? Less? Areas of interest? This is still very much a hobby site so don't expect that much, but I am interested in feedback.

Thanks, and have an excellent New Year!

Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/customer-reviews/B000JTOYLS/ref=cm_rev_prev?ie=UTF8&customer-reviews.sort%5Fby=-SubmissionDate&n=560798&s=electronics&customer-reviews.start=1

Some people have far too much time to play with. On the upside, a number of the "reviews" are screamingly funny.

(Via Nodwick)

Link: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5htAuRX-Y-ie1ld3CDzSeEX8XwH0AD8TJD4JO0

Synopsis of link: Police in Rancho Cordoba, California, are pulling people over to give them Starbucks coupons as a reward for appropriate driving.

Comment: The outreach concept is commendable but this is just not the way to do it. The BoingBoing commenters point this out, with one making the very clear statement:

Your 4th Amendment Rights, or $5 worth of Starbucks?
Make your call, Californians, make your call.

(Via BoingBoing)

Link: http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/archive/2007/12/09/a-special-where-s-wall-e-edition-of-why-for.aspx

Link is to a pretty good annotated list of the various cross-references between the various Pixar movies and shorts.

(Via Kottke)

Link: http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/12/canadian-isps-p.html

This is ugly; Rogers has started adding their own content to webpages sourced from a third party. I have no issue with their transfer cap as mentioned in the linked article but manipulating received data is an abuse of power when acting as the transport mechanism.

Link: http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/12/vidto_pedal_power_vs_toronto_police/

Funny video about a stripped 1986 Buick Regal, converted into a pedal-car, taking its first road test. The Toronto police were somewhat less than enthused about it.

(Via BoingBoing)

Link: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/12/24/medical-myths.html

Link is to a CBC story on various pieces of popular folklore, including the infamous one that the tryptophan in turkey makes you sleepy.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8

A Merry Christmas to you all; now go back to sleep.

(If you're reading this a bit later, leave the computer alone for a bit and go and chat with your family!)

Oh, yeah, and here's another YouTube video that's doing the rounds.

Link: http://news.wired.com/dynamic/stories/P/PREGNANCY_BALANCE?SITE=WIRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Wired News has a nifty article that tries to describe why -- physiologically speaking -- pregnant women aren't as likely as one would expect to lose their balance.

Too bad about the use of the phrases "elegant engineering", "design changes" and "tinkering" while they were doing so.

Link: http://www.regrettheerror.com/regret-articles/crunks-07-the-year-in-media-errors-and-corrections

Link is to a fine round-up of the more entertaining retractions, corrections and general oopses in the media.

Personal favourite:

The Ayrshire-based cable firm mistakenly aired the pornographic content, from adult channel Climax 3, to customers for two hours until the mix-up was discovered at midnight and the plug pulled on the offending material…

Two hours on both BBC channels and no one complained? Hmmm... I'm not quite sure what that says about Ayrshire viewers and the BBC.

(Via Kottke)