May 22, 2013
Toilet paper when used with a toilet roll holder with a horizontal axle parallel to the wall has two possible orientations: the toilet paper may hang over (in front of) or under (behind) the roll. The choice is largely a matter of personal preference, dictated by habit. In surveys of American consumers and of bath and kitchen specialists, 60–70% of respondents prefer over.
Despite its being an apparently trivial topic, some people hold strong opinions on the matter. Advice columnist Ann Landers said that the subject was the most controversial issue in her column’s history. Defenders of either position cite advantages ranging from aesthetics, hospitality, and cleanliness to paper conservation, the ease of detaching individual squares, and compatibility with a recreational vehicle or a cat. Celebrities and experts are found on both sides. Some writers have proposed connections to age, sex, or political philosophy; and survey evidence has shown a correlation with socioeconomic status.
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Posted in Humor, Science |
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May 22, 2013
Hotel toilet paper folding is a common practice performed by hotels worldwide as a way of assuring guests that the bathroom has been cleaned. Elaborate folding is sometimes used to impress or delight guests with the management’s creativity and attention to detail.
The common fold normally involves creating a triangle or ‘V’ shape out of the first sheet or square on a toilet paper roll. Commonly, the two corners of the final sheet are tucked behind the paper symmetrically, forming a point at the end of the roll. More elaborate folding results in shapes like fans, sailboats, and even flowers.
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May 22, 2013
Transcreation is a term used chiefly by advertising and marketing professionals to refer to the process of adapting a message from one language to another, while maintaining its intent, style, tone and context. A successfully transcreated message evokes the same emotions and carries the same implications in the target language as it does in the source language.
Increasingly, transcreation is used in global marketing and advertising campaigns as advertisers seek to transcend the boundaries of culture and language. It also takes account of images which are used within a creative message, ensuring that they are suitable for the target local market.
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Posted in Language, Money, World |
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May 21, 2013
In the classic 1956 science fiction film, ‘Forbidden Planet,’ the extinct race of advanced beings of the planet Altair IV are known as the ‘Krell.’
The Krell had reached a stage of technological and scientific development so advanced that they were able to construct a machine with virtually unlimited power, a machine that turned their thoughts into reality.
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May 21, 2013
From 1955 through 1962, the TWA Moonliner was part of the first futuristic exhibit located in Disneyland’s ‘Tomorrowland.’ It was also an early example of modern product placement advertising by TWA’s Howard Hughes teaming up with Walt Disney.
At 76 feet (23 m) tall, it was the tallest structure in the theme park, 8 feet (2.4 m) taller than the Sleeping Beauty Castle. Adjoining the rocket was the ‘Flight to the Moon’ attraction, which later became ‘Mission To Mars’ in 1975. Continue reading →
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May 21, 2013
‘Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition‘ is an American patriotic song written by Frank Loesser and published as sheet music in 1942 by Famous Music Corp. The song was a response to the attack on Pearl Harbor that marked United States involvement in World War II.
The song describes a chaplain (‘sky pilot’) being with some fighting men who are under attack from an enemy. He is asked to say a prayer for the men who were engaged in firing at the oncoming planes. The chaplain puts down his Bible, mans one of the ship’s gun turrets and begins firing back, saying, ‘Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.’
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Posted in Philosophy, War |
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May 21, 2013
Brandon Bird (b. 1980) is an artist. He attended University of California, Santa Cruz and was an artist-in-residence from 2004-2006 at Risley Residential College at Cornell University.
His most common medium is oil paints on canvas, but works in a number of genres, including pen and ink and digital mediums. He has a significant cult following for his tendency to paint figures from history and popular culture such as Christopher Walken, Chuck Norris, and Abraham Lincoln, in absurd situations. He is a regular contributor to ‘The Believer’ (an American literary magazine that also covers other arts and general culture). He has also done work for ‘Las Vegas Weekly’ and rock band, The Aquabats.
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May 21, 2013
Oneironautics [oh-nahy-ruh-naw-tiks] refers to the ability to travel within a dream, usually on a conscious basis. A traveler in a dream may be called an oneironaut.
The idea of one person being able to consciously travel or interact within the dream of another person, known variously as ‘dream telepathy,’ ‘telepathic lucid dreaming,’ or ‘telepathic dreaming,’ has been explored in the realms of science and fantasy fiction; in recent works, such an interaction is often depicted as a computer-mediated psychotherapeutic action, as is the case in ‘The Cell,’ and ‘Paprika,’ as well as through the direct intervention of another sleeping person, as in ‘Inception,’ or ‘Dreamscape.’ The concept is also included in the fantasy series ‘The Wheel of Time’ as an ability ‘dreamwalkers’ are able to use. Continue reading →
Posted in Health, Philosophy |
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May 20, 2013
‘Captive Audience: the Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age’ is an American non-fiction book by legal expert Susan P. Crawford. It describes high-speed internet access in the United States as essential (like electricity) but currently too slow and too expensive. To ensure national competitiveness ‘most Americans should have access to reasonably priced 1-Gb symmetric fiber-to-the-home networks.’
Crawford explains why the United States should revise national policy to increase competition in a market currently dominated by Comcast, Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and Time Warner Cable. Meanwhile towns and cities should consider setting up local networks after the example of pioneers such as Lafayette, Louisiana’s LUSFiber and Chattanooga, Tennessee’s EPB.
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May 20, 2013
Michael Moss was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting in 2010, and was a finalist for the prize in 2006 and 1999. He is also the recipient of a Loeb Award and an Overseas Press Club citation.
Before coming to ‘The New Times,’ he was a reporter for ‘The Wall Street Journal,’ ‘New York Newsday,’ and ‘The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.’ He has been an adjunct professor at the Columbia School of Journalism and currently lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two sons.
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May 20, 2013
Mind-Blindness can be described as a cognitive disorder where an individual is unable to attribute mental states to the self and other. As a result of this disorder the individual is unaware of others’ mental states. The individual is also not capable of attributing beliefs and desires to others. This ability to develop a mental awareness of what is in the mind of an individual is known as the ‘Theory of Mind’ (ToM).
This allows one to attribute our behavior and actions to various mental states such as emotions and intentions. Mind-blindness is associated with autism and Asperger’s syndrome (AS) patients who tend to show deficits in social insight. It is also associated with schizophrenia, dementia, bi-polar disorders, and antisocial personality disorders.
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Posted in Health, Science |
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May 20, 2013
Paper bag parties are African-American social events at which only individuals with complexions at least as light as the color of a brown paper bag were admitted.
Hosts at many churches, fraternities and nightclubs would take a brown paper bag and hold it against a person’s skin. People whose skin was not lighter than a brown paper bag were denied entry The term also refers to larger issues of class and caste within the African-American population.
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