Nikola Tesla holding in his hands balls of flame

First off, Nikola Tesla was fucking brilliant. And not just like Ken Jennings brilliant, either - I mean like, "holy shit my head just exploded (from all the awesome)" brilliant. The Croatian-born engineer spoke eight languages, almost single-handedly developed technology that harnessed the power of electricity for household use, and invented things like electrical generators, FM radio, remote control, robots, spark plugs, fluorescent lights, and giant-ass machines that shoot enormous, brain-frying fucking lightning bolts all over the place like crazy. He had an unyielding, steel-trap photographic memory and an insane ability to visualize even the most complex pieces of machinery – the guy did advanced calculus and physics equations in his fucking head, memorized entire books at a time, and successfully pulled off scientific experiments that modern-day technology STILL can't replicate. For instance, in 2007 a group of lesser geniuses at MIT got all pumped up out of their minds because they wirelessly transmitted energy a distance seven feet through the air. Fucking Nikola Tesla once lit 200 lightbulbs from a power source 26 miles away, and he did it in 1899 with a machine he built from spare parts in the middle of the fucking desert. To this day, nobody can really figure out how the fuck he pulled that shit off, because two-thirds of the schematics only existed in the darkest recesses of Tesla's all-powerful brain.

Badass of the Week | Nikola Tesla

"The beginning is half of every action." - Greek Proverb

Three Frames [Warning: NSFW]

It's not 1993 anymore.

In 1948, President Harry Truman signed an executive order ending racial segregation in the armed forces. In the 2008 presidential campaign, candidate Barack Obama promised to end another kind of discrimination in the military: the long-standing ban on gay service members. But nearly six months into his presidency, he has yet to make good on that promise. Congress also has taken no action.

Now the latest push is coming, at least in part, from elsewhere. Former Army linguist Jarrod Chlapowski told reporters in Washington on Wednesday that he and others hope to make a national cause of repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which prohibits openly gay people from serving in the military. The Clinton-era law has led to the dismissal of more than 13,000 gay service members.[...]

"A lot of people ask me, you know, 'Why is a straight, Irish Catholic former altar boy of the year in 1987 at St. Anthony's fighting for this?' " Murphy said at the launch of the tour. "Cause I took an oath. I took an oath as an officer. I took an oath as a congressman to support that Constitution and what that Constitution stands for — and that's equality." [...]

So far, Murphy has persuaded 151 Democrats and one Republican to co-sponsor his bill.

NPR | Veterans Call Out Obama On 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

frens

In A.D. 64 the Stoic philosopher Seneca pondered friendship. The Stoics’ intellectual adversaries, the Epicureans, had claimed that a man sought friends for purely instrumental reasons, “for the purpose of having someone to come and sit beside his bed when he is ill or come to his rescue when he is hard up or thrown into chains.” But Seneca knew better. A wise man wanted friends “so that he may have someone by whose sickbed he himself may sit, or whom he may himself release when that person is held prisoner by hostile hands.” Kindness was man’s duty but also his joy: “No one can live a happy life if he turns everything to his own purposes. Live for others if you want to live for yourself.”

The Believer | The Problem of Other People

keep your eyes peeled for subversive threats to society

Did you catch that? See the guy in the blue polo? That symbol on his shirt is the logo for the Human Rights Campaign, a gay and lesbian advocacy group. And in the background? That’s a rainbow flag towel on the golf bag.

GOOD Magazine Blog | Orbitz Explores Its Sexuality

why do you women in this town let me look at you so bold

The Mermaid problem is an observation occasionally mentioned in literature, concerning the difficulty of having sexual intercourse with a mermaid. Although mermaids are commonly depicted as beautiful, variably nude, and enticing, a man attempting to have sex with one would be thwarted by the typical portrayal of the creature: a fish from the waist down, with no vagina.
Wikipedia | Mermaid Problem

"I will meditate and then destroy you." - Dhalsim

good thing i am a musician and not a detective

I was crossing the Atlantic when things started getting really bad, the fever was hallucinogenic and shaking me like a leaf and I grabbed the sleeve of the Air France steward. "I'm not feeling well, I should see a doctor" I said and the reply came as a brilliant mix of death anxiety and french rudeness: "Uh, yes... Terminal D... go there maybe... when we land". After that the stewards and stewardesses took long detours. A ring of empty seats formed around me. Peoples eyes were kind but determined, they read "Poor you, I really wish you all the best but if you come near me or my kid I will have to stab you with this plastic fork". I got up and went to the bathroom where I fainted.

Now I'm in quarantine for ten days. I can see the summer through my window and it's just perfect. Summer is always best through a window.

Jens Lekman | SmallTalk

end the war on love

Sections 162 to 165 of the Kenyan Penal Code criminalize homosexual behaviour and attempted homosexual behaviour between men, which is referred to as "carnal knowledge against the order of nature". The penalty is 5 to 14 years' imprisonment. The age of consent is 16. Lesbian relations are not prohibited in the law.
Wikipedia | LGBT Rights in Kenya

In the wider scheme of things, I don't exist. The Kenyan gay man is a myth and you may never meet one in your lifetime. However, I, and many others like me do exist; just not openly. I know it's anonymous and thus contradicts the essence of what I am aiming to do. But if it does inform, educate, and demystify the Kenyan gay man, then the purpose is served.
Rants and Raves of a Kenyan Gay Man

Homosexuality has been referred to as "carnal knowledge of another against the order of nature" by the Ugandan government.
Penal Code Act 1950 (revised)
§ 145 (sexually neutral)
“Any person who— (a) has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature; (b) has carnal knowledge of an animal; or (c) permits a male person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature, commits an offence and is liable to imprisonment for life.”
Wikipedia | LGBT Rights in Uganda

Of course we hope that what happens does not come home to us. There are many who are very willing to jump on the bandwagon and abuse us. And our community is saturated with awareness of our sexuality. But they are blind. They just do not see us. A ‘homo’, the kind that Ssempa and Co talk about, has horns, a tail wrapped behind dark black, light-eating robes, wicked eyes and eye teeth, ready to bite and suck blood and ‘recruit’.

That serves us very well. We are too human to approximate to the stereotypes.
Gay Uganda

an update

So many links added in the sidebar! Get clicking because I love all of them.

"Anything that won't sell, I don't want to invent." - Thomas A. Edison

A research project cuts the electric cord, wirelessly charging an electronic device.

The idea of wireless power transfer is, of course, not new. Physicist Nikola Tesla proposed it in the late 19th century. However, funding for his projects ran out at about the same time that the modern world decided to take a wired approach. And for more than a century, wires have done the job well enough. But with the advent of portable electronics that seem to need constant charging, wireless electricity is coming back in style, and researchers are exploring ways to make it practical. In addition, plug-in electric vehicles are another motivating factor, as plugging in a car (or forgetting to plug one in) is a burden that consumers may not want to bear.

Technology Review | Intel's Wireless Power Play

"If a bullet should go through my head let that bullet go through every closet door." - Harvey Milk

Youtube | The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)

"Layeth the smacketh down."

Transforms a grumpy look into a smiling face

Deadline


Making of Deadline

regret

He has even begun to regret having plastic surgery and spends much of his time staring at his reflection in the mirror.

'I don't know what I was thinking back then,' he recently said. 'Everyone makes mistakes when they're young, I guess. But I still look OK, don't I? I mean, for 40?'

When reminded that, in fact, he was about to turn 50, Jackson gave a sad, half smile.

'It all went by so fast, didn't it? I wish I could do it all over again, I really do.'

But for Michael Jackson, it seems, the time for a comeback has passed. 'I'm tired,' he said last week. 'I've got nothing left to give. I just want to be left alone. Is that so bad?'

DailyMail | As He Turns 50...

Humans and dolphins are almost the only species who continue to play into adulthood

BBC Prime | Dolphins: Deep Thinkers (28 minutes)

it's the final countdown

To understand the units of time we need to investigate the number systems of ancient civilizations. How did the Sumerians count to 12 on one hand and to 60 on two? What advances did the Babylonians make and how did they use this number system for measurement? And what refinements did the Egyptians make to time measurement to give us the system we still use today?

Scienceray | Why are there 60 minutes in an hour? 

In today's world, the most widely used numeral system is decimal (base 10), a system that probably originated because it made it easy for humans to count using their fingers. The civilizations that first divided the day into smaller parts, however, used different numeral systems, specifically duodecimal (base 12) and sexagesimal (base 60). [...]
Although it is unknown why 60 was chosen, it is notably convenient for expressing fractions, since 60 is the smallest number divisible by the first six counting numbers as well as by 10, 12, 15, 20 and 30.

Scientific American | Why is a minute divided into 60 seconds, an hour into 60 minutes, yet there are only 24 hours in a day?

he is pulling everyones leg and makes everyone realize what a bad ass he is and then one his opening tour date he will show up

Now I can let these dream killers kill my self esteem-or use my arrogance as steam to power my dreams!!!

Rapper Kanye West does not read books or respect them but nevertheless he has written one that he would like you to buy and read. [...]

His book is 52 pages -- some blank, others with just a few words -- and offers his optimistic philosophy on life. One two-page section reads, "Life is 5% what happens and 95% how you react!" Another page reads "I hate the word hate!"

"This is a collection of thoughts and theories," West, 31, said in an interview about his spiral-bound volume, which was written with J. Sakiya Sandifer.

West said he put his thoughts in a book because "I get paraphrased and misquoted all the time." He calls his wisdom "Kanye-isms."

"My favorite one is 'Get used to being used,'" he said.

"I feel like to misuse, overuse or abuse someone is negative. To use is necessary and if you can't be used, then you are useless."

So does he fancy himself a modern-day Confucius?

"I'm trying to end the confusion," he said, laughing and adding, "I'm gonna put that on the next album."

Reuters | "Proud Non-Reader" Kanye West Turns Author

"A golden rule: to leave an incomplete image of oneself." - Emile M. Cioran

Six years ago, I spotted a guy in his late forties in a bookstore in New Jersey. He was buying books about offshore banking and a travel guide to Costa Rica. He paid with a credit card. Afterwards, when he sat down in the bookshop café, I decided to talk to him. “I bet you want to buy a condo in Costa Rica and bank your money in Belize,” I said. “But if you’re running from someone, you’d better avoid paying for those books with your credit card.” We talked for a while. Before I left, I gave him my business card. He was the first person I helped to disappear.

Since then, I’ve helped more than 30 people vanish – people who had problems with ex-spouses, with business partners or with criminals. Normally, it takes me between one month and three to make the necessary preparations. Depending on the case, I charge between $10,000 and $30,000, but I work free of charge for women who are being stalked.

People who hire me are usually afraid for their lives. The guy in the bookstore was a whistleblower who had worked as an accountant in a mid-sized company with government contracts. He had testified against his employer in a fraud case. Somehow, information about him had leaked and former colleagues had threatened him. He could have gone to the police, but he didn’t trust them any more.

Before I started helping people disappear, I had worked as a “skip tracer” for more than 20 years. Skip tracers are private investigators who specialise in finding people, and I was good at my job. Over the years, I located more than 50,000 people. Helping a person to disappear required reverse engineering: I asked myself how I would have found a person, and tried to smear the leads.

Financial Times | First Person: Frank Ahearn