Salt is one of those ubiquitous ingredients that not only makes food taste better, but is a necessary part of the human diet. Chemically speaking, it’s a compound formed by sodium and chloride ions arranged in a lattice structure which is why it forms crystals.
While many take it for granted these days, there was a time when salt was more valuable than gold, influencing the growth and migration of civilizations and inciting wars. A recent tome to Salt recounts the epic history of this every-day ingredient revealing that it’s anything but mundane.
5 salts from around the world
Thursday, June 05, 2008
5 salts from around the world
Posted by Blacky at 9:52 am 0 comments
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Eight tips for making yourself happier IN THE NEXT HOUR
If you’re experiencing a blues emergency, you can lift your spirits right now by using some of the following strategies. The more items you tackle, the bigger the boost you’ll receive.
Eight tips for making yourself happier IN THE NEXT HOUR
Posted by Blacky at 8:31 pm 0 comments
Key to All Optical Illusions Discovered
Humans can see into the future, says a cognitive scientist. It's nothing like the alleged predictive powers of Nostradamus, but we do get a glimpse of events one-tenth of a second before they occur.
Key to All Optical Illusions Discovered
Posted by Blacky at 9:00 am 0 comments
The 30 skills every IT person should have
An IT manager's guide on how to be better at what you do, no matter how experienced you are.
The 30 skills every IT person should have
Posted by Blacky at 8:52 am 0 comments
The Panacea for Putting Things Off
Can you recall a time when you wanted to do something important, yet you’ve managed to make enough excuses to leave it for a later date? Putting something off once makes it easier to put it off again, and before you know it, several weeks have past and you still haven’t done it?
The Panacea for Putting Things Off
Posted by Blacky at 8:47 am 0 comments
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Navigating Food Labels
Did you know the label "100 Percent Natural" has different meanings for chicken fingers, cookies and various other foods? Or that those "cage-free" chickens might not ever have seen the outdoors? Here's a guide to help sort out what's meaningful, what's dubious — and what's total fluff.
Navigating Food Labels
Posted by Blacky at 8:50 am 0 comments
Five Secret Japanese Tricks to Make Life Better
In Japan, there's an organic, non-commercial cure for almost anything. It's a tradition that blossomed in the post-WW2 era when people had to save money and space for economic reasons. Today, this habit of utilitarian thriftiness paired with a quirky national sensibility has spawned a phenomenon called urawaza--a collection of offbeat life hacks and unmapped shortcuts.
Five Secret Japanese Tricks to Make Life Better
Posted by Blacky at 8:45 am 0 comments
Pringles can designer dies; remains buried in Pringles can
Dr. Fredric J. Baur was so proud of having designed the container for Pringles potato crisps that he asked his family to bury him in one.
Pringles can designer dies; remains buried in Pringles can
Posted by Blacky at 8:39 am 0 comments
Digital Forensics: 5 Ways to Spot a Fake Photo
This story is a supplement to the feature "Digital Forensics: How Experts Uncover Doctored Images" which was printed in the June 2008 issue of Scientific American.
Digital Forensics: 5 Ways to Spot a Fake Photo
Posted by Blacky at 8:36 am 0 comments
Digital Forensics: Photo Tampering Throughout History
Photography lost its innocence not long after it was born. As early as the 1860s photos were already being manipulated—only a few decades after Joseph Nicéphore Niépce created the first photograph in 1826. With the advent of high-resolution digital cameras, powerful personal computers and sophisticated photo-editing software, the manipulation of digital images has proliferated. Here, I have collected some examples of tampering throughout photography's over 180-year history.
Digital Forensics: Photo Tampering Throughout History
Posted by Blacky at 8:33 am 0 comments
Monday, June 02, 2008
How To Entertain Yourself in an Airport
Flight delayed? Have a long layover? Think you’re going to go crazy? Fear not. There are ways to keep sane and entertained.
How To Entertain Yourself in an Airport
Posted by Blacky at 1:26 pm 0 comments
Sunday, June 01, 2008
50 Weight Loss Secrets: Small Changes, Big Weight Loss
This is not a diet -- or a rigorous exercise program. (Nobody can stick to those for long.) Instead, it's a simple way to make weight loss a natural part of the life you already live. And guess what? It's fun! You don't have to give up the foods you love or join a gym. It's about balancing calories in tiny ways that add up to big benefits. You just adopt some tricks naturally lean people do. Pick the ones you like, stick with them, and you'll slim down and tone up -- for good!
50 Weight Loss Secrets: Small Changes, Big Weight Loss
Posted by Blacky at 10:41 am 0 comments
10 Items You Think Make You Cool, But Don’t
Being cool is normally subjective. But there are some things that unequivocally make you uncool. We’re not saying we’re cool, we’re just saying if you own any of these items, you’re not.
10 Items You Think Make You Cool, But Don’t
Posted by Blacky at 10:40 am 0 comments
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Scientific American: Swedish Spruce Is World's Oldest Tree
What's sixteen feet tall and 9,550 years old? It’s the world's oldest tree. The worn and weathered spruce grows in Sweden's windswept tundra. But, until recently, well, recent to the tree at least, it barely resembled a tree at all. Before this last warm century, the spruce grew more like a shrub to survive the harsh conditions of its cold landscape. But rising temperatures convinced the tree to give up its shabby lifestyle, shed the majority of its needles and go with the single-trunk look.
Scientific American: Swedish Spruce Is World's Oldest Tree
Posted by Blacky at 8:51 am 0 comments
Google Earth: Now in your browser!
Google just released a new browser plugin that lets users experience Google Earth from directly inside a webpage. The new plugin is accompanied by an API that web developers can use to easily incorporate Google Earth into their applications, just like what they did with Google Maps a long time ago.
Google Earth: Now in your browser!
Posted by Blacky at 8:47 am 0 comments
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Word Clock (Mac)
Word Clock is a typographic screensaver for Mac OS X. It displays a fixed list of all numbers and words sufficient to express any possible date and time as a sentence. Word Clock displays time by highlighting appropriate words as each second passes.
Word Clock
Posted by Blacky at 8:51 am 0 comments
Protect Your Stolen Mobile Phone
You've synced your email, address book, and calendar to your fancy smartphone, which has internet access, photos, and videos on it, too—but how do you keep a thief from ringing up your bill, or worse, stealing your identity using your phone?
Protect Your Stolen Mobile Phone
Posted by Blacky at 8:49 am 0 comments
RestyleMe Answers the Question: “How Do I Look?”
How do I look? It’s the classic question friends ask before they walk out the door. Most of us would say “fine,” but what if you had the chance to really point out the flaws in someone without feeling bad about it? RestyleMe is a social network for girls (and boys) who seek constructive criticism on how to fix their appearances. In other words, they want to be told how to look better. RestyleMe describes itself as “the ultimate style advice community website that features a novel way to get style advice.”
RestyleMe Answers the Question: “How Do I Look?”
Posted by Blacky at 8:47 am 0 comments
Old filmstrip: "Bicycle Safety"
Once again, Derrick Bostrom of Bostworld provided an invaluable service to the world by scanning a vintage educational filmstrip and uploading it to YouTube.
Old filmstrip: "Bicycle Safety"
Posted by Blacky at 8:45 am 0 comments