There are several 3D scanners on the market today that you can buy already put together, but those devices can be very expensive to purchase. A new 3D scanner has turned up that is a DIY device that you build yourself. The Atlas is designed to be inexpensive to build and to offer high resolution scanning and to do so … Continue reading
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Feeling the sting of rejection? Itching to get even with an ex? The San Francisco Zoo is offering the burned and spurned masses the chance to “adopt” a hissing cockroach or giant scorpion in honor of their special ex-someone for Valentine’s Day.
The zoo is highlighting two of its less-desirable inhabitants through the adopt-an-animal program that is usually used to raise money for the care of more cuddly or attractive creatures, such as penguins, lions and pandas. It has a Valentine’s special comparing the creepy characteristics of Madagascar hissing cockroaches and the giant hairy scorpions native to the Southwest U.S. to the ways of heart-breaking mammals with two legs.
“These invertebrates are aggressive, active, and alarmingly nocturnal. Much like your low-life ex, they are usually found in and around low-elevation valleys where they dig elaborate burrows or ‘caves,’ ” the zoo says on its promotion page for the desert scorpion (http://bit.ly/1yit8jl). “Also just like you-know-who, when a suitable victim wanders by, the scorpion grabs the doomed creature with its pinchers and stings the prey … Charming.”
For $50 and up, donors can adopt a scorpion and have the zoo send a certificate and stuffed stinger to the person who inspired the adoption. The cockroach valentine that the zoo says represents “the detritus of your love life” costs $25.
“With a little luck, this generous donation will release your bad love life karma so that you never have to encounter a cockroach again,” the zoo said.
The series finale of “My So-Called Life” aired 20 years ago today, and we do not intend for the above headline to come off as hyperbole. This one episode of television — called “In Dreams Begin Responsibilities,” a nod to Delmore Schwartz’s 1937 short story by the same name — features everything fans loved about the cult classic: crushes, betrayal, confusion, #realtalk, stolen glances and so much Jordan Catalano.
It also gave us … The Letter.
Jordan Catalano (Jared Leto) spends most of the episode trying to find the right words to apologize to Angela Chase (Claire Danes) for ignoring her over and over, sleeping with her best friend and being an overall boob. He uses those big dopey eyes to persuade Brian Krakow (Devon Gummersall), who secretly loves Angela, to write him a note to give her. Through a voiceover and a montage, the letter travels from Brian’s head to Jordan’s hand to Angela’s heart, and we are gifted the Best Teenage Love Letter Of All Time:
Dear Angela,
I know in the past I’ve caused you pain and I’m sorry. I’ll always be sorry till the day I die. I hate this pen I’m holding because I should be holding you. I hate this paper under my hand because it isn’t you. I even hate this letter because it’s not the whole truth, because the whole truth is so much more than a letter can even say. If you want to hate me go ahead. If you want to burn this letter go ahead, do it. You could burn the whole world down. You could tell me to go to hell. I’d go if you wanted me to. I’d send you a letter from there.
Sincerely, Jordan Catalano
It’s the kind of corny sentiment that is seems as important as a Death Cab For Cutie lyric, and as secret as a diary. When Brian asks Angela about it later, she says it’s too personal to share. This one piece of paper, she thinks, is the only key she needs to get inside Jordan’s brain. It isn’t, of course.
The last few minutes of the show are a perfect example of why “My So-Called Life” has endured for 20 years. Angela finds out Brian wrote the note and is pissed. She confronts him about it, but leaves with Jordan after having this beautiful, simple exchange:
Brian: You liked it though, right? It made you, like, happy?
Angela: Yeah.
Brian: That’s probably all that, you know, matters.
Angela: To who?
Brian: To, you know, the person who wrote it.
The series ends with Angela sitting in Jordan’s car, choosing what she wants over someone who wants her. It wasn’t intended to be the series finale, but the cliffhanger lets us sit with Angela’s poor decision for eternity. However dumb it seems to ride off into the suburbs with Jordan Catalano, it’s Angela’s mistake to make, and that’s the beauty of being 15. Relive The Letter below:
(function(){var src_url=”https://spshared.5min.com/Scripts/PlayerSeed.js?playList=518616477&height=351&width=570&sid=577&origin=undefined&videoGroupID=155847&relatedNumOfResults=100&responsive=false&relatedMode=2&relatedBottomHeight=60&companionPos=&hasCompanion=false&autoStart=false&colorPallet=%23FFEB00&videoControlDisplayColor=%23191919&shuffle=0&isAP=1&onVideoDataLoaded=HPTrack.Vid.DL&onTimeUpdate=HPTrack.Vid.TC”;if (typeof(commercial_video) == “object”) {src_url += “&siteSection=”+commercial_video.site_and_category;if (commercial_video.package) {src_url += “&sponsorship=”+commercial_video.package;}}var script = document.createElement(“script”);script.src = src_url;script.async = true;var placeholder = document.querySelector(“.js-fivemin-script”);placeholder.parentElement.replaceChild(script, placeholder);})();
Watch out for those gowns.
Naomi Watts tripped over Emma Stone’s gown while on stage with her “Birdman” co-stars accepting the award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. The stars were making quick speeches at the microphone and when Watts walked up to say something, she took a tumble over the sheer train of Stone’s Dior Couture dress.
“Oh my god, wow!” Watts said, as a wide-eyed Stone apologized for the mishap behind her.
Don’t worry, Naomi, It happens to the best of ’em (just ask Jennifer Lawrence).
As a physician and a researcher, I always like to know the source of health advice. Just because something is published in a science journal or reported on the news doesn’t mean it’s true. You need to look at how a study is designed, as well as decide if it seems to make sense. There’s a lot of ways statistics can be used to make information seem true, when in fact it may not be.
I just read a scientific study that claims separation anxiety from your iPhone can actually make you dumber. That’s right — test subjects got so anxious when separated from their iPhones their heart rate and blood pressure went up, and their ability to solve puzzles went down. Did this actually make them less smart? Were they forgetting dates and ways to add? No way. Maybe they briefly had trouble solving a complicated puzzle, but I don’t think it really makes us stupid, despite what the headline might say.
Here’s some other health advice that you should think twice about:
1. Hugs can cure the common cold.
With the flu rampant and cold symptoms abounding, it would be great it we could find a quick and easy way to either treat or prevent the cold. Well, a recent Carnegie Mellon study published just a month ago suggests that hugs can help protect against stress and thereby reduce infection. It even was supported by the federal government — so it must be true, right?!
I wish this one were true but there is just not enough science to back it up. In theory, chronic stress reduces our body’s ability to fight infection. But we still need much more research as to exactly how this happens. So before you go hugging strangers, be aware this study had many limitations. It was done in a few hundred people and involved surveys asking about social support, and then exposed participants to the common cold virus. I’m just not convinced by this type of study design. There are lots of reasons why people get the cold, and I’m not sure hugs change that. So personally, I’m trying to minimize hugs and close contact with anyone I think might transmit the cold or the flu.
2. Smelling farts can prevent cancer.
I’m not making this crap up, no pun intended! A recent press release from scientists at the University of Exeter went viral last year, prompting calls to cancer clinics. It was even published in a well-respected news magazine.
The study reported that although hydrogen sulfide is well known as a pungent, foul-smelling gas in rotten eggs and flatulence, it is naturally produced in the body and could in fact be a healthcare with significant implications for future therapies for a variety of diseases.
The belief is that hydrogen sulfide somehow protects the cell’s mitochondria — our body’s workhorse. The problem I have with this study is that there are no real data here. No one has conducted a study specifically about flatulence. And it doesn’t serve the public well for news magazines or universities to make these types of statements, which are pure hyperbole and misinform patients.
3. Baby urine can treat acne and treat skin rashes.
Having worked at Discovery Channel, I’ve been asked more than once (usually by viewers of “Man vs. Wild”), whether it’s safe to drink your own urine. The short answer is it’s fine because urine is sterile, but why do it unless you are truly stranded for more than a day with no source of clean water around?!
The more recent myth around baby urine is whether it can get rid of acne and treat skin rashes. A patient asked me about this a few months ago. Here’s the fact — Urine is mostly water, and babies’ urine is composed of even more water than yours or mine. I’ve been hit by baby urine multiple times in the face, and I definitely don’t think it improved my complexion. And my son’s wet diaper seems to create rashes, not cure them! So for now, continue to wash your face with a good, mild cleanser, and try benzoyl peroxide for acne — both have much stronger data than baby urine.
4. Chocolate can protect you from heart disease caused by air pollution.
Technically the study found it was a diet that included fruit and vegetables, wine as well as chocolate. Researchers found that elderly men were less likely to experience changes in heart function during heavy smog days if they ate foods loaded with antioxidants. Researchers seemed to be particularly excited about this finding since other than avoiding smog such as moving where we live, we don’t have a way to protect ourselves from it.
We do know that smog impacts the heart’s natural rhythm. And disrupting a heart rhythm can cause strokes and heat attacks. We also know that a food rich in antioxidants — molecules that help prevent damage to blood vessels and nerves — can protect our heart and brain. But connecting these two statements is not the way science works.
Although this study lasted over a decade, it was one of the lowest forms of scientific evidence — an observational study. There is no true cause and effect.
The major problem I have with this study is that when we talk about what we eat, it is as important what we exclude as well as what we include. Simply including some healthy foods while still eating lots of fatty and high-carbs food will not be a magic pill. You just can’t eat chocolate and think it’s going to be good for your health.
5. If you’re a woman with cats, you are more likely to commit suicide.
Now before you start writing a nasty email, there is science behind this fact. A common parasite, known as Toxoplasma gondii, is carried by cats. It is transmitted in their feces, so that’s why it is found in cat litter. We know that pregnant woman need to be careful around cat litter, but it also turns out that women who become infected with the parasite may be more likely to develop mental health problems, including schizophrenia. It’s all due to the parasite infecting the brain. The good news is that one can be tested for the parasite. At least in this study, researchers did promise to do additional studies.
One of the benefits of working as a consultant is that it offers the opportunity to view so many different styles of management and to observe the consequences of each style.
It is clear to me that there is not only one “correct” way of managing. Some managers are very involved in each decision made by their subordinates, others give more latitude to their employees to make decisions on their own. Some work in numerous formal meetings, others prefer more casual interactions. Some prefer that board members work exclusively through them, others see the merits of allowing relationships to form between numerous members of the staff and members of the board.
I have observed organizations that prosper in many different combinations and permutations of these differing managerial approaches.
But one management characteristic is essential in building a happy and productive institution: the ability to convey, with great clarity, all plans, directions and desires.
Vague managers always fail. Staff are left to guess what the executive is thinking and wanting. This always leads to wasted time, effort and resources, and arts institutions simply do not have any time to waste.
Vagueness also results in staff members working in differing directions, often at cross purposes; they are doing what they thought their leader wanted but interpreted vague instructions differently. Marketing and fundraising approaches are not coordinated, artistic endeavors are undermined and financial health can suffer.
And board members and other volunteers and donors have a difficult time rallying around imprecise visions for the future. Most board members require clear leadership because their interactions with the organization are sporadic, and they do not necessarily know or remember every detail about the operations of the organization.
Those managers who speak with clarity run happier arts institutions because staff members do not have to constantly re-do their work because they didn’t quite understand the initial instructions. As a result, these institutions can produce so much more. Productivity always leads to fulfillment, not to mention greater artistic and financial success. Most staff of arts institutions are committed to the missions of their organizations; when a lack of clarity impedes the achievement of that mission, it is demoralizing.
And a clear, precise leader can inspire the allegiance of the board members who understand exactly where they are headed, why resources are required, how to measure success and how they fit in to the work of the institution.
For some leaders, imprecise language results from simply a lack of communication skills.
But in my experience, lack of precision results most often from a lack of a clear plan. When a leader has not selected one path, it becomes difficult to explain where the institution is headed and how one is going to get there.
Lack of clarity as a leader results from lack of clarity in the plan going forward. Initiating a comprehensive planning effort can help the imprecise arts manager develop a clear game plan and eliminate a great deal of unnecessary discomfort within the organization.
The classic scenario goes something like, If we were the last two people on earth…
In “Z for Zachariah,” based on the book by the same name, that’s sort of the case. And then another dude shows up.
But let’s back up. The film opens on the most gorgeous landscape. Mountains and fog, forests and rivers. In some deserted city, Margot Robbie collects books from a library and wears a version of a hazmat suit when she is outside. When she gets closer to home, she is able to take the suit off, seemingly okay outside in the open air as she hunts and, well, survives. It is just Robbie and her loyal pet dog.
Chiwetel Ejiofor arrives on the scene soon after in some sort of a vehicle and protective suit. It is clear that they are living in a post-disaster, toxic world. And it appears that they are completely alone. Robbie lives in the house her father built, and we learn later that both her brother and father went out to find survivors after the disaster. For reasons unknown, the valley that the house rests in has remained untainted, unlike the surrounding lethal area.
Robbie meets Ejiofor when he is swimming in a waterfall, but he doesn’t realize that the water is toxic. She yells for him to get out, he doesn’t trust her. Both are deeply scared and cautious — because neither can believe they are actually seeing another human.
Director Craig Zobel creates an incredibly believable world. A world you might believe could exist if something terrible truly happened, and in their own subtle ways, we slowly learn how terrible it has been for both Robbie and Ejiofor as they have survived on their own, and inevitably lost many in the process.
Robbie, who is best known for her energetic performance in “The Wolf of Wall Street” as Jordan’s (Leonardo DiCaprio) wife Naomi, is much darker in “Z for Zachariah,” and it suits her well. Her hair is darker and her performance is one that will undoubtedly put the Australian actress on the U.S. map. In many ways, it’s her movie. We understand her loss the most, we feel her loneliness the deepest. We are most protective of her future.
The growing relationship between Ejiofor and Robbie is layered and complex, and then Chris Pine shows up. Add a second man to the equation and tensions are bound to multiply.
Zobel balances danger, suspense and the more delicate nuances of love expertly, leaving us unsure of both the threats outside the house as well as the danger within.
As the three characters work toward some type of rebuilding (Ejiofor is an engineer who is able to construct a water wheel and re-power the broken generator), they each have their own doubts and desires about how to exist in a world so different from the one they grew up in. When Ejiofor finds beer in the deserted convenience store down the road, things momentarily get dark. We see his darkness in bouts throughout the film but nothing is overt, until suddenly it is.
Robbie’s innocence and deeply embedded isolation make her perhaps the most complex character, and her desire to love and be loved attracts both Pine and Ejiofor into a post-apocalyptic love triangle.
“Z for Zachariah,” a film that everyone seems to be talking about at the 2015 Sundance International Film Festival, is one of the most compelling, if not commercial, of the independent films in Park City, Utah, this year. It’s bound to attract a “Hunger Games” older sibling audience, not to mention fans of “Children of Men” and “The Road.”
Katie Couric is back. And suddenly it’s 1994.
Fun having @katiecouric back in Studio 1A this morning! pic.twitter.com/WUV0hkVEvg
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) January 26, 2015
Couric was back in Studio 1A Monday morning to preview her new BMW ad with former anchor Bryant Gumbel ahead of this year’s Super Bowl. The commercial begins with the now classic 1994 moment during which Couric and Katie struggled on air to understand the term “Internet.”
“Katie said she thought it was ‘about,'” Gumbel said back in 1994, while trying to explain the “@” symbol.
“Or ‘around,'” Couric added. “What is Internet anyway?”
“What do you write to it like mail?” Gumbel later asked.
The commercial then fast forwards 21 years later to Couric and Gumbel sitting in the new BMW i3, experiencing a similar dilemma, this time with understanding how electric cars work.
Watch the full commercial:
There are times when having a different perspective of things would come in extremely useful. Case in point, this particular $399.95 Video Screen Microscope, which is a microscope that would be able to replace the standard eyepiece with a tablet-sized LCD screen that is capable of showing off objects at up to 1040X magnification. Yup, a whopping 1040X magnification, now how about that? The presence of an integrated 5MP digital camera will be able to capture not only still images, but videos as well, where it shows off objects on a 7″ thin-film transistor LCD at 800 x 480 resolution.
The microscope will come with a trio of objective lenses – 4X, 10X, or 40X, which will be able to offer optical magnification from 104X-1040X (up to 4160X when used with its 4X digital zoom). The objects can then either be illuminated from the top (where solid objects are concerned) or from the bottom (for prepared slides) using a couple of separate built-in light sources. There is a colored filter wheel which will help to block out wavelengths in order to make objects clearer. The camera itself will arrive with an integrated 128MB memory, allowing you to stash away up to 120 still shots, or up to 40 minutes of video at 1600 x 1200 resolution. In addition, there is also the presence of an SD memory card slot so that you can expand the amount of storage space by another 32GB. Throwing in a USB port, you can then download whatever content it carries onto your computer in double quick time.
[ Video Screen Microscope lets you check out the little details copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
There are not three, four or five, but six different night sky phenomena visible in this amazing astrophoto taken by Petr Horálek, European Southern Observatory’s photo ambassador.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
