February 7, 2014
In psychology, sublimation [suhb-luh-mey-shuhn] is a mature type of defense mechanism where socially unacceptable impulses or idealizations are consciously transformed into socially acceptable actions or behavior, possibly resulting in a long-term conversion of the initial impulse. Sigmund Freud believed that sublimation was a sign of maturity (indeed, of civilization), allowing people to function normally in culturally acceptable ways.
He defined sublimation as the process of deflecting sexual instincts into acts of higher social valuation, being ‘an especially conspicuous feature of cultural development; it is what makes it possible for higher psychical activities, scientific, artistic or ideological, to play such an important part in civilised life.’ Sublimation is when displacement ‘serves a higher cultural or socially useful purpose, as in the creation of art or inventions.’ Psychoanalysts often refer to it as the only truly successful defense mechanism.
read more »
Posted in Health, Philosophy, Sex |
1 Comment »
February 6, 2014
A wardrobe malfunction is accidental exposure of intimate parts. It is different from indecent exposure or flashing, as the latter ones imply a deliberate exposure. There has been a long history of such incidents, though the term itself was coined in the mid-2000s and has become one of the most common fashion faux pas. In everyday context it often happens as a ‘nipple slip’ to women and is relatively common, but wardrobe malfunction suggests a public event or performance, particularly when there are allegations that it was deliberately staged for publicity reasons.
The American Dialect Society defines it as ‘an unanticipated exposure of bodily parts.’ Global Language Monitor, which tracks usage of words on the internet and in newspapers worldwide, identified the term as the top Hollywood contribution to English in 2004, surpassing words like ‘girlie men’ and ‘Yo!’
read more »
Posted in Humor, Politics, Sex |
Leave a Comment »
February 4, 2014
A temporal paradox is a thought experiment where a time traveler goes to the past, and does something that would prevent him from time travel in the first place. If he does not go back in time, he does not do anything that would prevent his traveling to the past, so time travel would be possible for him. However, if he goes back in time and does something that would cause him/her to not make a time machine he would not travel back in the first place causing him to make one then go back and not make one.
A typical example of this kind is the grandfather paradox, where a person goes back in time to kill his grandfather before he had any biological descendant. If they succeed, one of their parents would never exist and they themselves would never exist either. This would make it impossible for them to go back in time in the first place, making them unable to kill their grandfather, who would continue to produce offspring and restart the situation. But if they fail, their grandfather would live and produce offspring. This has the same affect as prevailing.
read more »
Posted in Philosophy, Science |
Leave a Comment »
February 3, 2014
An eponymous [uh-pon-uh-muhs] hairstyle is a particular style of hair that has become fashionable during a certain period of time through its association with a prominent individual. Imitation of such styles can sometimes be attributed to what became known in the 1980s as the ‘wannabe’ effect, a term used particularly with reference to young women who wished to emulate (i.e. ‘wanna be’ like) the American singer Madonna. A 2010 study of British women found that half took a copy of a celebrity’s photograph to their salons to obtain a similar hairstyle.
The quest for a particular eponymous style was caricatured in Plum Sykes’ novel ‘Bergdorf Blondes’ (2004), in which it was rumored that a glamorous New York heiress (Julie Bergdorf) had her blonde hair touched up every thirteen days (‘$450 a highlight’) by a stylist at her family’s store, Bergdorf Goodman. Thus, other ‘Thirteen Day Blondes’ who attained Julie’s precise color—likened to that of the ‘very white’ hair of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy—became known as ‘Bergdorf Blondes.’
read more »
Posted in Art, Humor |
Leave a Comment »
January 30, 2014
The spread of metrication [me-tri-key-shuhn] around the world in the last two centuries has been met with both support and opposition. All countries except Myanmar, Liberia, and the US have officially adopted the metric system. It has been partially adopted in the UK and Canada.
One argument used by opponents of the metric system is that traditional systems of measurement were developed organically from actual use. Early measures were human in scale. The prevalence in English of expressions such as a stone’s throw, within earshot, a cartload, or a handful illustrates both the intuitive accessibility and the inherently imprecise nature of analogous measurements and their units.
read more »
Posted in Language, Politics, World |
1 Comment »
January 29, 2014
Swords to plowshares is a concept in which military weapons or technologies are converted for peaceful civilian applications. An expression of this concept can be seen a bronze statue in the United Nations garden called ‘Let Us Beat Swords into Plowshares,’ a gift from the Soviet Union sculpted by Evgeniy Vuchetich, representing the figure of a man hammering a sword into the shape of a plowshare.
The phrase originates from the Book of Isaiah: ‘And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
read more »
Posted in Politics, War, World |
Leave a Comment »
January 28, 2014
Marcel Lazăr Lehel (b. 1974) is a Romanian hacker known as Guccifer, who was responsible for a number of high-level security breaches involving both current and former members of the United States government. He was arrested in early 2014 by Romanian authorities. The hacker first appeared in news media in 2013 after ‘The Smoking Gun’ reported he was responsible for hacking the AOL account of Dorothy Bush Koch, sister of former president George W. Bush.
Family photos of former president George H. W. Bush, who was in the hospital at the time, were circulated to the internet. He also circulated a self-portrait painted by George W. Bush, depicting the former president taking a shower. Guccifer went on to hack a number of AOL, Yahoo, Flickr and Facebook accounts, giving him access to information about current and former high-level government officials.
read more »
Posted in Politics, Technology, World |
Leave a Comment »
January 27, 2014
CuteCircuit is a fashion company based in London founded in 2004 by Ryan Genz and Francesca Rosella that designs wearable technology and interactive fashion. The company is among the first in fashion to offer smart textile-based garments with micro electronics. CuteCircuit designs dresses and costumes for international artist special performances or tours. Such as, Katy Perry’s catsuit for her performance on ‘American Idol,’ U2 leather jackets for their ‘U2 360 Tour,’ and Azealia Banks’ mermaid dress.
The Kinetic Dress, designed in 2004, lights up and changes its patterns following the person’s movement. The Hug Shirt is a t-shirt that recreates the sensation of touch, warmth, and emotion of a hug from the distant one using Bluetooth and sensors technology. The 2008 M Dress accepts a standard SIM card and allows to make and receive calls. Designed in partnership with Ballantine’s, TshirtOS is the world’s first t-shirt, that can be programmed by an iOS app to show images and texts, play music, take photos and share them.
Posted in Art, Technology |
Leave a Comment »
January 25, 2014
People of Walmart is an entertainment website founded in 2009 by brothers Andrew and Adam Kipple of Harrison City, PA featuring user-submitted photos of socially awkward or undesirable Walmart shoppers.
The brothers and their friend Luke Wherry started the site after seeing a woman in a t-shirt that read ‘go f*** yourself’ with a 2 year old in a harness and a man with a beard reminiscent of those worn by ZZ Top at a South Carolina Walmart. They created the website to share what they find truly remarkable, ignoring more stereotypical redneck or mullets. In addition to avoiding the ordinary, the trio refuse to post photos of people who are disabled or working Walmart employees.
Posted in Humor, Money |
Leave a Comment »
January 24, 2014
Cryptonomicon is a 1999 novel by American author Neal Stephenson depicting the exploits of two groups of people in two different time periods, presented in alternating chapters. The first group is World War II-era Allied codebreakers and tactical-deception operatives affiliated with the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park in the UK and disillusioned Axis military and intelligence figures whom they encounter.
The second narrative is set in the late 1990s with descendants of the first narrative’s characters employing cryptologic, telecom, and computer technology to build an underground data haven in the fictional Sultanate of Kinakuta. Their goal is to facilitate anonymous Internet banking using electronic money and (later) digital gold currency, with a longer range objective to distribute Holocaust Education and Avoidance Pod (HEAP) media for instructing genocide-target populations on defensive warfare.
read more »
Posted in Language, Technology, War |
1 Comment »
January 23, 2014
Robert Smigel [smy-guhl] (b. 1960) is an American actor, humorist, comedian and writer known for his ‘Saturday Night Live’ ‘TV Funhouse’ cartoon shorts and as the puppeteer and voice behind ‘Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog.’
read more »
Posted in Humor |
Leave a Comment »
January 22, 2014
The National Hobo Convention is held on the second weekend of every August since 1900 in the town of Britt, Iowa, organized by the local Chamber of Commerce, and known throughout the town as the annual ‘Hobo Days’ celebration. It is the largest American gathering of hobos, rail-riders, and tramps, who gather to celebrate the traveling worker. Traditionally there has been a parade on the Saturday at 10:00 a.m., where everyone can let their hobo spirit soar: ‘Some in rags, some in tags, some in velvet gowns.’
Other events during Hobo weekend include a Hobo 5K & Hobo 10K Walk/Run, Hobo King & Hobo Queen coronation, Hobo Museum, Hobo Auction, Hobo Memorial Service, Hobo Sunday Outdoor Church Service, Hobo Classic Car Show, Hobo Arts and Crafts Show, and various forms of hobo musical entertainment. A Hobo Jungle (a temporary hobo meeting place) is open throughout the event.
Posted in Money |
Leave a Comment »
