Well folks, it looks like the Globe and Mail’s website (Canada’s largest-circulation national newspaper) has been hacked into recently (unless this is a clever marketing ploy), because after loading its front page, if you enter the Konami code via your keyboard, you’ll get a surprise.
Go ahead, try it.
up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, b, a, enter, shift+space
Type help to see available commands (Unfortunately, there’s only two).
Voilà. Press shift+space again to hide the console.
There are few things less sexy in the world than getting the flu. However, one of those things is being annoying and uninformed about the disease. Even with all the expansive swine flu coverage and available information, plenty of people have no idea what to look for when it comes to the flu and how to differentiate it from the common cold.
So, as flu season is truly upon us, a good place to start is Flu.gov. Conveniently enough, the US government’s put this site together to inform the public. Not only does it track confirmed cases, but it gives you tools to find vaccine locations and provides FAQs about the flu as well. We’re geeks, people. Being informed is our thing.
Some of the features that are particularly helpful on Flu.gov include a state-by-state drop-down option to localize the site. There are a few helpful graphics, too, that chart the flu’s progress across the US, helping you to access the risk in your area. And, in slick Web 2.0 fashion, Flu.gov includes everything from podcasts to streaming videos, resulting in more information than you can shake a syringe at.
Tips to remember:
– Get vaccinated. Really. Seriously? If you’re worried, go get poked. In some cases it’s free or very cheap, and I’ve heard of some employers even paying for their workers to get the shots. There’s no excuse to get one, really, even if you think your chances are low of getting the flu in the first place. Some people seem to have naturally high resistances to the flu, and often don’t bother. Others attract it almost every year. Either way, it’s something to consider.
– There are currently two kinds of flu active this season: the seasonal variety and H1N1, or the swine flu. There are vaccines available for both. But keep in mind that some are age-specific. Various locations may not have, for instance, the vaccine for children on hand. So check ahead.
– Common flu symptoms include sore throat, runny nose, headache, body chills, and fatigue. Unlike the common cold, these symptoms typically linger and don’t clear up after a few days. Exhaustion is one of the key symptoms, as it happens early in the flu’s progress. Fever is also important, as colds only rarely exhibit with high fever.
– While deaths from H1N1 are covered extensively in the news, keep in mind that flu–in general–typically proves more fatal in those with pre-existing conditions, the very young, and the very old. So, try not to freak yourself out. Put down The Stand and walk away from Outbreak. Trust me, you’ll feel better. If you’re sick: rest.
– Know the facts about how the disease spreads and how it mutates. In April, during the height of the swine flu media frenzy, GAS writer Jimmy Rogers did a piece called Science is Sexy: What is Swine Flu? How Does an Animal Disease Spread to a Human Host? If you’re looking for the science behind influenza, this is a great overview.
– A simple, common-sense approach to hygiene goes a long way. And if you have a fever over 100F, stay away from coworkers and public places. Rest, relax, play some WoW or watch the all of Firefly again. What? It works for me!
Tags: cold and flu season, flu, flu season, flu.gov, pandemic
Hmmm, Microsoft may want to think about re-branding their search engine name if they ever launch it to China, what do you think?
By Casey Lynn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]
A woman in Tennessee was recently arrested for… a Facebook poke. The poke in question violated an order of protection (i.e., restraining order), since an OP prohibits “telephoning, contacting or otherwise communicating with the petitioner.”
This definitely includes electronic communication (I’ve seen judges vehemently remind respondents that it means “no texts!” and “no emails!”). This is obviously important as cyberstalking becomes an increasingly prevalent problem. Though a Facebook poke is pretty much at the very bottom of the communication spectrum, since as the news article pointed out, it “conveys no other message but informing a user they have been ‘poked’ by another user.”
Pokes have always confounded me, to be honest. What does it mean? Could those pokes actually be ominous? I can definitely see how they could be annoyance, however; if it weren’t a violation of a restraining order, then the restrained person could in theory send a thousand pokes a day…
Violating an order of protection in Tennessee is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of 11 months and 29 days in jail, and maximum fine of $2500. The woman arrested had bond set at $1500 and will appear in court at the end of the month.
Watch as master juggler Michael Moschen, best known for his juggling performance in labyrinth, performs his incredibly famous, jaw-dropping piece where three balls and a triangle become a musical and visual work of art.
[Via Dark Roasted Blend]
In anticipation of the general release of Windows 7 on October 22, Microsoft has published a Windows 7 Personality Quiz (via Ina). Don’t you have to wonder what Windows 7 personality you are? Will you be “Bloated”, “Overhyped”, or “BSOD?” Let’s examine this little survey, because one of our favorite activities here on [GAS] is poking fun at Microsoft.
The very first question is telling:
Five hours is considered “almost inseparable?” I guess my 12-16 must qualify as cyber-Siamese. Whoever wrote the second answer needs to spend more time on grammar. And if you clicked the last answer, you were lying.
Skipping over to question five:
Can you tell me what the difference is between the first three responses? And where’s the option for people who think HD sucks?
We have a similar problem with the next question:
What’s the difference between the last two again? I was looking for “Will it eat up all my system resources and open a secret back-door to the vendor while not providing any real benefit?”
Where’s “Will I be able to find FreeBSD drivers for all the devices?” Actually, this is the best question so far, in that it poses some real options. Truthfully, though, it’s almost always a balancing act between these (unless you don’t care about brand).
Question 10 cracked me up:
I think two of these would have been enough. Actually, though, my sentiments are more like “Of course I joined them, even though they suck.” I guess that’s technically number 1.
If you dissent from the politically correct viewpoint, your only option here is to shut up. Not that I do – I’m having a hard time deciding between 1 and 3. I guess I’ll take 3, because I like to think that my motives are selfish..
This question gives me an uneasy feeling coming from the makers of Windows. It’s like when you were a kid and your bigger, older neighbor asked if you wanted to try a new wrestling move. And once again, we have three different versions of “Yes” to choose from, followed by an “I don’t know what you’re asking.” What about “No, I’m quite happy with WindowMaker, TYVM?”
This final question about age really adds insult to injury. Your choices are under 20, 20s, 30s, or old fart. Once you’ve answered this, you’re redirected to a page with auto-loading audio that you apparently can’t turn off without closing the page (the back button is broken, too).
This whole questionnaire seems aimed at casual computer users, not real geeks. It makes Steve Ballmer’s famous Developers chant sound like only so much hot air punctuated with alveolars and labiodentals.
Oh, and my result? I’m “Independent” – can you tell? Now, what edition of Windows 7 was that?
Today, at least in the US, it’s Columbus Day. While I won’t pretend that the claims by the famous Italian are somewhat up for debate, and certainly with their share of controversy, I’d rather offer someone else for your consideration for the discovery of this hemisphere: the 6th century Irish monk known as St. Brendan.
What, you expected Leif Erikson?
You see, nearly a millennium before Christopher Columbus’s famed trip on the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa-Maria, St. Brendan got the moniker “Brendan the Voyager” for completing a rather impressive journey that took seven years. According to the extant sources, St. Brendan went looking for the Garden of Eden, but may well have stumbled across the New World in little more than a leather-clad boat sometime between 513-530 CE. In fact, some even claim that Christopher Columbus himself was inspired by the monk’s journey, and is reported to have written in his travel log before leaving on his historic trip, “I am convinced that the terrestrial paradise is in the Island of Saint Brendan, which none can reach save by the Will of God.”
I first came across St. Brendan during a seminar in medieval history in my senior year of college. At the time I was rather intrigued with hagiography, the study of saint’s lives, and admittedly St. Brendan’s voyage was much eclipsed by my interest in St. Columba (not to be confused with Columbus) who recounted, it is said, one of the first sightings of the Loch Ness Monster. But what always stuck with me regarding St. Brendan was how unusual his story was (though, in all fairness, Brendan encountered his own sea monster, as well). While much hagiography is ascribed to the rather colorful imagination of medieval minds, in the 20th century many began to speculate about St. Brendan’s, and a rather intriguing amount of evidence pertaining to his trip emerged.
In the late 1970s, a man named Tim Severin decided to put the story to the test, seeing if he could navigate his way from Scotland to Nova Scotia using what he believed were St. Brendan’s “stepping stones”–Scotland, the Hebrides, the Faroes, Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia–in a boat modeled after vessels St. Brendan could have used. It was successful, if not hard-won. From Severin’s account:
Brendan [Severin’s boat] touched the New World at 8:00 p.m. on June 26, 1977, on the shore of Peckford Island in the Outer Wadham Group some 150 miles northwest of St. John’s, Newfoundland. She had been at sea for fifty days. The exact spot of her landfall has no particular significance to the story of the early Irish voyages into the Atlantic. It was merely the place where the wind and current had brought a twentieth-century replica of the original Irish skin vessels….
And while other theories have surfaced, including speculation on supposed ogham (Old Irish alphabet) in West Virginia, the jury is not yet out on the Columbus vs. Brendan debate. What do you think? Plausible? Poppycock? At very least, I love that this particular theory inspired such a geeky–and heroic–endeavor. That, if anything, should be celebrated.
Tags: christopher columbus, columbus day, conspiracy theory, discovery, history, revisiting history, st. brendan, voyage
Let’s say we have two balloons of the same size, but one filled with twice as much air as the other one. We then connect both via a flexible hose and let the air flow through. What will happen? Will the pressure in the one that has the most air cause the other one to fill up so that their size evens out after a while? The following video has the answer, which might surprise you.
Another good explanation of the phenomenon can also be found here.
[Via Neatorama]
We’ve all been there. You take a photo of somebody on your cellphone during an evening of merriment and when you see the image, your expression slips for a moment. That’s all it takes for the subject of the photo to demand to see it and, once they realise that their natural beauty has been replaced with bloodshot eyes and a reddened nose, you’ve got misery to deal with.
But no more. Because Adobe has somehow figured out how to get Photoshop onto the iPhone.
As you’d probably gathered, it’s not the full image editing suite, but rather an ultra-slimmed down version available without charge through the iPhone app store. The app – full name Photoshop.com Mobile for iPhone – includes standard manipulation options such as cropping and rotating, along with color changes and a few special effects such as soft focus, warm vintage, vignette and sketch.
The app also lets users create an account at Photoshop.com and store up to a 1000 images on the site which can then be accessed on their iPhone without being stored on the handset.
Control of the app is entirely through finger gestures on the touchscreen: for example, swiping a finger left or right on the screen will increase or decrease the severity of an effect. Those who’ve previewed it say it’s notably intuitive and accurate.
Of course, several other image editing apps are available, but none have the brand awareness of Photoshop, one of the few computer apps whose name has become a verb. (Incidentally, how come we Google for information and eBay our unwanted Christmas gifts, but nobody ever says they are going to “Amazon a book”?)
This guy has to be the greatest storyteller of all time. Watch:
Proof that a great story will get you out of almost any situations, whether you’re caught naked in the closet of a married women by his angry husband or not.