February 2, 2011
Oblique Strategies (subtitled ‘over one hundred worthwhile dilemmas’) is a set of published cards created by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt first published in 1975, and is now in its fifth, open ended, edition. Each card contains a phrase or cryptic remark which can be used to break a deadlock or dilemma situation. Some are specific to music composition; others are more general. Examples include: Use an old idea / State the problem in words as clearly as possible / What would your closest friend do? / Are there sections? Consider transitions / Try faking it!
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February 2, 2011
Victory gardens, also called war gardens, were vegetable, fruit and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks in United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Germany during World War I and World War II to reduce the pressure on the public food supply brought on by the war effort. In addition to indirectly aiding the war effort these gardens were also considered a civil ‘morale booster’ — in that gardeners could feel empowered by their contribution of labor and rewarded by the produce grown. This made victory gardens become a part of daily life on the home front.
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February 2, 2011
Ironic processing is the psychological process whereby an individual’s deliberate attempts to suppress or avoid certain thoughts (thought suppression) render those thoughts more persistent.
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February 2, 2011
The Game is a mental game where the objective is to avoid thinking about The Game itself. Thinking about The Game constitutes a loss, which, according to the rules of The Game, must be announced each time it occurs. It is impossible to win The Game; players can only attempt to avoid losing for as long as they possibly can. The Game has been variously described as pointless and infuriating. There are three rules to The Game: Everyone in the world is playing The Game. You cannot not play The Game. Whenever one thinks about The Game, one loses.
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February 2, 2011
A death erection, angel lust, or terminal erection is a post-mortem erection, technically a priapism (prolonged involuntary erection), observed in the corpses of human males who have been executed, particularly by hanging. The phenomenon has been attributed to pressure on the cerebellum created by the noose. Spinal cord injuries are known to be associated with priapism. Other causes of death may also result in these effects, including fatal gunshot wounds to the brain, damage to major blood vessels, and violent death by poisoning. A postmortem priapism is an indicator that death was likely swift and violent.
Death by hanging, whether an execution or a suicide, has been observed to affect the genitals of both men and women. In women, the labia and clitoris will become engorged and there may be a discharge of blood from the vagina. In men, a more or less complete state of erection of the penis, with discharge of urine, mucus or prostatic fluid is a frequent occurrence – present in one case in three.
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February 2, 2011
Erotic asphyxiation is the intentional restriction of oxygen to the brain for sexual arousal. It is also called asphyxiophilia, hypoxyphilia, or breath control play. Colloquially, a person engaging in the activity is sometimes called a ‘gasper.’
The carotid arteries (on either side of the neck) carry oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the brain. When these are compressed, as in strangulation or hanging, the sudden loss of oxygen to the brain and the accumulation of carbon dioxide can increase feelings of giddiness, lightheadedness, and pleasure, all of which will heighten sexual sensations.
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Posted in Death, Health, Sex |
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February 2, 2011
The fainting game refers to intentionally cutting off oxygen to the brain with the goal of inducing temporary syncope (loss of consciousness) and euphoria. There are two distinct methods used to achieve oxygen deprivation: strangulation and rapid breathing (self-induced hypocapnia). The fainting game is pursued primarily by children and teens to get a high without taking drugs. It is frequently confused with erotic asphyxiation, which is oxygen deprivation for sexual arousal.
The practice goes by many other names in different parts of the world, such as: Riding a Rocket, Airplaning, America Dream Game, Black Out Game, Breath Play, Bum Rushing, California Choke, California Headrush, Choking Out, Cloud Nine, Dying game, Dream Game, Elevator, Flatline Game, Funky Chicken, Harvey Wallbanger, Hyperventilation Game, Indian Headrush, Knockout Game, Pass-out Game, Natural High, Sleeper Hold, Space Cowboy, Space Monkey, Suffocation Roulette, Rising Sun, High Riser, Tingling Game, Trip to Heaven, Speed Dreaming, Wall-Hit, and Purple Dragon.
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February 2, 2011
Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome (SORAS) is a term used to describe the practice of accelerating the age of a television character (usually a child or teenager) in conflict with the timeline of a series and/or the real-world progression of time. Characters unseen on screen for a time might reappear portrayed by an actor several years older than the original. Usually coinciding with a recast, rapid aging is typically done to open up the character to a wider range of storylines, and to attract younger viewers.
The process originated in (and is most commonly used in) daytime soap operas. SORAS generally refers to cases in which a character’s rapid aging happens off-screen without any explanation, rather than to storylines in science fiction and fantasy in which a character ages rapidly due to technology, magic, or non-human biology. Coined by Soap Opera Weekly founding editor-in-chief Mimi Torchin in the early days of the magazine, the term is now widely used in the soap opera media.
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February 2, 2011
Quorn is the leading brand of mycoprotein food product in the UK and Ireland. The mycoprotein is extracted from a fungus, Fusarium venenatum, which is grown in large vats. Quorn is produced as both a cooking ingredient and a range of ready meals. It is sold (largely in Europe, but also in other parts of the world) as a health food and an alternative to meat, especially for vegetarians. As it uses egg white as a binder, it is not a vegan food.
During production, it is textured, giving it some of the grained character of meat, and pressed either into a mince resembling ground beef; forms resembling chicken breasts, meatballs, and turkey roasts; or chunks resembling diced chicken breast. In these forms, Quorn has a varying color and a mild flavour resembling the imitated meat product, and is suitable for use as a replacement for meat in many dishes, such as stews and casseroles. The final Quorn product is high in protein and dietary fibre and is low in saturated fat and salt. It contains less dietary iron than do most meats.
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February 2, 2011
Human echolocation [ek-oh-loh-key-shuhn] is the ability of humans to detect objects in their environment by sensing echoes from those objects. This ability is used by some blind people to navigate within their environment. They actively create sounds, such as by tapping their canes, lightly stomping their foot or by making clicking noises with their mouths (however, because humans click with much lower frequencies and slower rates than other animals, only larger objects can be sensed). The principle is comparable to active sonar in submarines and to echolocation by bats and dolphins.
Vision and hearing are closely related in that they can process reflected waves of energy. Vision processes light waves as they travel from their source, bounce off surfaces throughout the environment and enter the eyes. Similarly, the auditory system processes sound waves as they travel from their source, bounce off surfaces and enter the ears. Both systems can extract a great deal of information about the environment by interpreting the complex patterns of reflected energy that they receive. In the case of sound, these waves of reflected energy are called ‘echoes.’
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February 2, 2011
Near field communication or NFC, is a short-range high frequency wireless communication technology which enables the exchange of data between devices over about a 10 centimeters (3.9 in) distance. The technology combines the interface of a smartcard and a reader into a single device. An NFC device can communicate with both existing smartcards and readers, as well as with other NFC devices, and is thereby compatible with existing contactless infrastructure already in use for public transportation and payment. NFC is primarily aimed at usage in mobile phones.
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February 2, 2011
Keepon is a small yellow robot designed to study social development by interacting with children. It was developed at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) in Kyoto, Japan. Keepon has four motors, a rubber skin, two cameras in its eyes, and a microphone in its nose.
Its simple appearance and behavior are intended to help children, even those with developmental disorders such as autism, to understand its attentive and emotive actions. The robot, usually under the control of a teleoperator, has interacted with children in schools and remedial centers for developmental disorders since 2003. Keepon is currently available for purchase at $30,000, though a price drop is speculated after simpler mechanisms are developed.
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