Whenever we watch the Saw movies, or a particularly gruesome episode of The Tudors, people bite the big one in extremely awful ways. Although the sight is repulsive, we still want to take a peek because we're a little bit curious. What would the scariest kinds of death be like, and how long would they take?

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Seth's Blog » Willat Effect Experiments With Tea

2011-10-19T09:30:00.001+01:00

The Willat Effect is the hedonic change caused by side-by-side comparison of similar things. Your hedonic response to the things compared (e.g., two or more dark chocolates) expands in both directions. The “better” things become more pleasant and the “worse” things become less pleasant. In my experience, it’s a big change, easy to notice.

I discovered the Willat Effect when my friend Carl Willat offered me five different limoncellos side by side. Knowing that he likes it, his friends had given them to him. Perhaps three were homemade, two store-bought. I’d had plenty of limoncello before that, but always one version at a time. Within seconds of tasting the five versions side by side, I came to like two of them (with more complex flavors) more than the rest. One or two of them I started to dislike. When you put two similar things next to each other, of course you see their differences more clearly. What’s impressive is the hedonic change.

The Willat Effect supports my ideas about human evolution because it pushes people toward connoisseurship. (I predict it won’t occur with animals.) The fact that repeating elements are found in so many decorating schemes and patterns meant to be pretty (e.g., wallpapers, textile patterns, rugs, choreography) suggests that we get pleasure from putting similar things side by side — the very state that produces the Willat Effect. According to my theory of human evolution, connoisseurship evolved because it created demand for hard-to-make goods, which helped the most skilled artisans make a living. Carl’s limoncello tasting made me a mini-connoisseur of limoncello. I started buying it much more often and bought more expensive brands, thus helping the best limoncello makers make a living. Connoisseurs turn surplus into innovation by giving the most skilled artisans more time and freedom to innovate.

via blog.sethroberts.net

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What did the world's first language sound like?

2011-10-12T12:49:00.001+01:00

What languages sounded like before a few thousand years ago is one of the great unsolvable mysteries of modern science. Now two linguists have come up with a bold hypothesis: the speakers of the oldest known language spoke like Yoda.

via io9.com

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Bang

2011-10-03T14:12:00.001+01:00

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Urge to kill…fading…fading…fading

2011-09-28T11:02:00.001+01:00

Steven Pinker has a new book coming out next week, and I'm very much looking forward to it. It is titled The Better Angels Of Our Nature: How Violence Has Declined, and its premise is that humans have been becoming increasingly less violent over time. I'm very sympathetic to this view: I think cooperation, not conflict, has been the hallmark of human evolution.

via scienceblogs.com

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drink

2011-09-27T14:59:00.005+01:00

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drink

2011-09-27T14:59:00.003+01:00

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drink

2011-09-27T14:59:00.001+01:00

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Maps that offend the entire planet with a single image

2011-09-16T11:40:00.001+01:00

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Oldies

2011-09-13T10:34:00.001+01:00

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Voice or no voice

2011-09-13T09:32:00.001+01:00

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Winalot Diet

2011-09-09T17:28:00.001+01:00

The Winalot Diet**
A real story by a Man who was standing in a queue in Tesco's.........
I have 2 dogs & I was buying a large bag of Winalot in Tesco and was standing in the queue at the till. A woman behind me asked if I had a dog. On impulse, I told her that no, I was starting The Winalot Diet again, although I probably shouldn't because I'd ended up in the hospital last time, but that I'd lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IVs in both arms.
I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and the way that it works is to load your trouser pockets with Winalot nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry & that the food is nutritionally complete so I was going to try it again.
I have to mention here that practically everyone in the queue was by now enthralled with my story, particularly a guy who was behind her.
Horrified, she asked if I'd ended up in the hospital in that condition because I had been poisoned. I told her no, it was because I'd been sitting in the road licking my balls and a car hit me.
I thought one guy was going to have a heart attack he was laughing so hard as he staggered out the door.
Stupid cow..........why else would I buy dog food??

via mbclub.co.uk

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Elf

2011-09-09T09:26:00.001+01:00

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Man

2011-09-07T09:45:00.001+01:00

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Run!

2011-09-06T09:13:00.001+01:00

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Voices Of East Anglia

2011-09-02T16:33:00.001+01:00

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Fantastic archive of 60s and 70s British street photography

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Rock and Roll! Music Stereotypes from Rock’s History

2011-08-30T14:40:00.001+01:00

via visualnews.com

Whether it’s the wail of Eddie Van Halen or Chuck Berry, this tongue-in-cheek look at rock and roll history hits a lot of high notes. Created by the ever strange crew at Cracked, the graphic takes the rock stereotypes of each generation since the 50′s, showing timelines for that times archetypes, subject matter, volume, thievery, profitability, competition and social impact. What was your favorite era?

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Leave

2011-08-26T16:29:00.003+01:00

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Yum

2011-08-26T16:29:00.001+01:00

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Amazing celebrity pencil drawings

2011-08-23T16:34:00.001+01:00

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Tele

2011-08-23T14:20:00.001+01:00

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Iconic Images: What's the most epic photo ever taken? - Quora

2011-08-22T10:37:00.001+01:00

via quora.com

Dr. Carl Sagan, who originally requested that the picture be taken, famously reflected on its meaning:

From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of particular interest. But for us, it's different. Look again at that dot. That's here, that's home, that's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.

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An Apollo astronaut on political quagmires

2011-08-22T09:41:00.001+01:00

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Yes!

2011-08-11T10:22:00.001+01:00

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FB this

2011-08-11T10:21:00.001+01:00

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Science

2011-08-11T09:59:00.001+01:00

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Romeo and Juliet

2011-08-10T09:31:00.001+01:00

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Ghost Story: Harry Dresden and the Jim Butcher Promise

2011-08-03T14:29:00.001+01:00

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BOOK REVIEW
Ghost Story: Harry Dresden and the Jim Butcher Promise

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Snigger snort snigger!! on Twitpic

2011-07-29T16:24:00.001+01:00

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This is a real sign - not photoshopped

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Scarlett

2011-07-26T10:54:00.001+01:00

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Data Cake | Epic Graphic

2011-07-22T16:12:00.001+01:00

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How Finland became an education leader - David Sirota

2011-07-22T10:15:00.001+01:00

Still from "The Finland Phenomenon: Inside the World's Most Surprising School System"

How has one industrialized country created one of the world's most successful education systems in a way that is completely hostile to testing? That's the question asked -- and answered -- in a new documentary called "The Finland Phenomenon: Inside the World's Most Surprising School System." Examining the nation with one of the most comparatively successful education systems on the planet, the film contradicts the test-obsessed, teacher-demonizing orthodoxy of education "reform" that now dominates America's political debate.

On my KKZN-AM760 radio show, I talked to Harvard researcher Tony Wagner, who narrates the film and who is the author of the 2008 book "The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don't Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need -- And What We Can Do About It." The interview became the basis for my recent newspaper column on the subject. Because that column generated so much feedback, I wanted to publish this abridged transcript of our larger discussion. You can listen to the full interview here.

What has Finland achieved, and what's the history behind its improved education system?

In the early 1970s, Finland had an underperforming education system and a pretty poor agrarian economy based on one product -- trees, and they were chopping them down at a rapid rate that wasn't going to get them very far. So they knew they had to completely revamp their education system in order to create a true knowledge-based economy.

So they began in the 1970s by completely transforming the preparation and selection of future teachers. That was a very important fundamental reform because it enabled them to have a much higher level of professionalism among teachers. Every teacher got a masters degree, and every teacher got the very same high quality level of preparation.

So what has happened since is that teaching has become the most highly esteemed profession. Not the highest paid, but the most highly esteemed. Only one out of every 10 people who apply to become teachers will ultimately make it to the classroom. The consequence has been that Finland's performance on international assessments, called PISA, have consistently outranked every other western country, and really there are only a handful of eastern countries that are educating with the same results.

So, Finland basically focuses on teachers and not on domestic testing. Those PISA tests that you cite are international assessments.

That's absolutely right. There is no domestic testing except a very quiet auditing program to test demographic samples of kids; not for accountability, not for public consumption, and not for comparison across schools. The fascinating thing is that because they have created such a high level of professionalism, they can trust their teachers. Their motto is "Trust Through Professionalism." The difference between the highest performing school in Finland and the lowest performing school in Finland is less than four percent, and that's without any testing at all.

This is the antithesis of what we're hearing about in the United States in terms of so-called education "reform." When you hear the debate in the United States over education, the idea is that we need to demonize teachers and that the real way to fix our education system is to simply test the hell out of kids. Why do you think there is such a difference between the attitudes of our two countries?

First of all I want to point out that Finland is rated among the highest in the world in innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity. It's not your grandfather's socialist country in any sense of the word.

But beyond that, what I find so striking is that the reforms in [the U.S.] have been driven and led by businesses for the last quarter century. It was David Kearns at Xerox and Lou Gerstner at IBM calling for a national summit on education and they didn't invite any educators. They invited CEOs and governors and senators and congressmen.

Now, I understand and respect business needs for better skills, and I understand a certain mistrust of the education system based on the fact that it's the only profession where you're guaranteed a job for life. But what's different in Finland is that there has been a bipartisan consensus over 30 years about the importance of education and the importance of high-quality teaching as the real solution. It's been a partnership between businesses, policy makers and educators, and that's what we need in this country but don't have.

What would you say to folks who say you can't compare the United States' educational system to Finland's educational system because Finland has a homogenous population and the U.S. is a much more diverse population?

First, Finland is more diverse than people realize. Fifteen percent of the population speaks second languages. There are 45 languages spoken in Helsinki schools today. Point two for a point of comparison, and there are obviously huge differences, but it's not Finland as a country compared to US as a country. Finland has the size and population of about 33 of our states. So let's compare Finland to Minnesota -- very similar demographics, right? But not at all similar results in terms of international comparisons. So while it's true that there are differences, there's a lot we can learn from the Finnish story.

What about the role of economics? New York University professor Diane Ravitch often says that the education system in this country cannot alone solve poverty, and in many cases it will inherently reflect poverty. Finland is a much less economically unequal society. How much does that lack of poverty explain Finland's success as opposed to our own?

There are two answers to that. First of all, yes, race and class matter. You want to know what a test score in a district is, you find out how poor people are. There's no question that race and class, and the economic disparity in this country, go a very long way to understanding our achievement gap.

But having said that, I've been in some of this country's best schools in some of the wealthiest districts, and even some private schools, and I've seen stunningly mediocre teaching there with teachers teaching to the test. And the tests are primarily factual recall, memorization tests where students may pass, but will learn none of the skills that are necessary in the global knowledge economy.

This is what Finland has done that's different -- they've defined what is excellent teaching, not just reasonable teaching, and they have a standard for that. Second, they've defined what is most important to learn, and it's not a memorization-based curriculum, but a thinking-based curriculum. So even in our wealthiest districts we're not approaching that global standard of success and excellence.

If we could somehow wave a wand and implement Finland's education system right now here in America, what do you think the results would look like? Would they be so much better, keeping in mind those economic disparities and that economic inequality?

It's going to take generations and I do believe we're going to have to address these economic disparities. But I've been in schools with high poverty, KIPP schools, which like schools in Finland, have defined what is excellence in teaching and learning. I think you can see from the results that KIPP schools get, how graduates of KIPP schools go to college and succeed in college at higher rates than white, middle class kids. That's because of excellent teaching. So yes, race and class matter. We have to address those issues, and we cannot use that as an excuse for low achievement.

How did Finland manage to elevate the role of teacher in the eyes of the population to something that is not just an honorable profession, but a revered profession, whereas in the United States, teachers are so regularly denigrated?

They really think about teachers as scientists and the classrooms are their laboratories. So, as I mentioned -- every teacher has to have a masters degree, and it's a content degree where they're not just taking silly courses on education theory and history. They're taking content courses that enable them to bring a higher level of intellectual preparation into the classroom. That's the first point.

The second point is that they've defined professionalism as working more collaboratively. They give their teachers time in the school day and in the school week to work with each other, to continuously improve their curriculum and their lessons. We have a 19th century level of professionalism here, or worse, it's medieval. A teacher works alone all day, everyday, and isolation is the enemy of improvement and innovation, which is something the Finns figured out a long time ago. Get the teachers out of their isolated circumstances and give them time to work together.

Buy This Title

The Global Achievement Gap
by Tony Wagner

$9.99

via salon.com

On Salon, David Sirota interviews Harvard's Tony Wagner about his documentary, The Finland Phenomenon: Inside the World's Most Surprising School System, which looks at the way that the Finnish education system delivers consistent, high-quality education without testing, with long holidays for students, and with teachers who are considered national treasures.

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Calamities of Nature - Belief in Evolution Versus National Wealth

2011-07-20T12:40:00.001+01:00

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USA - the outlier!

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Boo

2011-07-08T11:17:00.001+01:00

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Women

2011-07-07T15:36:00.001+01:00

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Evolution of Alphabets

2011-07-07T10:02:00.001+01:00

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Interesting, but the animation is bloody annoyingly slow

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Dangerous Minds | Alex from ‘A Clockwork Orange’ stuffed doll

2011-07-06T14:28:00.001+01:00

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Enthusiasm - Boing Boing

2011-07-06T14:26:00.001+01:00

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Listopia - Future Peter Kay Material

2011-07-02T11:06:00.001+01:00

Help the Bolton funnyman regain his observational mojo

Facts and Opinions
like it ( 3 ) hate it ( 1 )
started: Jan 27 2009 by fourfoot
newest: July 1
has 19 entries

List Rules
Garlic? Bread?
Mum's bought Rola Cola!
Hilarious! But where is Northern fat fuck Peter Kay going to go next with his observational wit.
Help him out of his fat hole with new material.

Scarily convincing - are some of you writing material for him?

Jan 27 2009 by MikeAlx

Log in if you want to say something

via listopia.co.uk

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The 7 Types of Short Story Opening, and How to Decide Which is Right for Your Story

2011-07-01T13:06:00.001+01:00

A short story is like a chess game: The opening is a huge part of whether you win or lose. The first sentence of a short story doesn't just "hook" readers, it also sets the tone and launches the plot.

Sure, the opening sentences are important in novels, too. A strong beginning, in a novel, can help provide momentum that will carry the reader all the way to the last page, sometimes in one sitting. But short stories are different: the first sentence, or the first paragraph, often hangs over the whole rest of the story. Many short stories are really about one idea, or one situation, and that's what the opening sentences establish.

via io9.com

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America VS Taliban Chess Set

2011-06-29T13:53:00.001+01:00

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Awe

2011-06-29T12:56:00.001+01:00

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A Decaying Fantasy World of Composite Photos

2011-06-20T11:33:00.001+01:00

A Decaying Fantasy World of Composite Photos

0diggsdigg

It’s hard to tell fiction from reality in these dreamlike photo compositions by Jim Kazanjian. Each looks as if pieces of the world have been drawn together by some unknowable force, colliding in a dark world of smoke, fire and water.

Since receiving his MFA from the Pasadena California based Art Center College of Design in ’92, Kazanjian has worked professionally as a commercial CGI artist in both television and game production. He has collaborated with such notable clients as Nike, Adidas, NBC, CBS, HBO, NASA, HP, Intel and others. See more of his fantastic work at kazanjian.net.

Via: thedphoto.com

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Posted by Benjamin Starr

Benjamin Starr is known in some circles as the most amazing man in the universe. He once saved an entire family of muskrats from a sinking, fire engulfed steamboat while recovering from two broken arms relating to a botched no-chute wingsuit landing in North Korea. When not impressing people with his humbling humility, he can be found freelance writing, finding shiny objects on the internet, enjoying the company of friends and living out his nomadic nature. You can follow his movements on twitter @BenjaminStarr

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 15th, 2011 at 5:18 pm. It is filed under Artist Spotlight and tagged with art, artist, b&w, black and white, composite photography, computer art, fantasy, Jim Kazanjian, photo collage, Photography, Photoshop. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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Vintage ad for women who have no sex appeal

2011-06-16T16:13:00.001+01:00

via dangerousminds.net

Times have changed: From a different era, when women weren’t expected to achieve—from fashion magazines constantly shoving it down our throats—the unrealistic goal of the “emaciated runway model” look.

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The 13 Creepiest Christian Education Videos for Kids

2011-05-27T11:14:00.001+01:00

Make Your Version
The 13 Creepiest Christian Education Videos for Kids

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By Rachel Stewart [14 more lists]

13 items 11178 views

modified: May 26 2011

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Religious videos can be amusing for those who aren't necessarily believers, but these 13 videos are probably funny (and creepy) no matter what faith you follow. From the demon-looking clown in pain, to the Tropicana parrot instructing children to "obey", to the puppet show all about wanting to be a "sheep" and not a "hypocrite," these are some pretty creepy, albeit objectively hilarious tactics. Consider these videos next time you want to start a cult!

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funny-truths

2011-05-26T17:10:00.001+01:00

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10 poems everyone should know - Asylum.co.uk

2011-05-23T11:41:00.001+01:00

We're having an arty farty Friday at your favourite men's lifestyle website today. Whether you're digging into our review of the Idler Academy or devouring our deconstruction of shock value, you're guaranteed to be having some arty farty fun time.
And the art doesn't stop there, because we're about to hit you with some poetry. Yeah, poetry, what of it? We're fans of poetry at Asylum and we're not even afraid to admit it so there.
In fact we're such big fans of poetry we thought it was high time that we shared some of our favourite poems with you.
Poems we feel it is absolutely salient that everyone knows -- and no that doesn't included anything by Rudyard bloody Kipling... or does it?
Keep reading to find out if "If" made the list.

via asylum.co.uk

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CDC's Blog Post About Zombies Proves Apocalyptic to Website | Adweek

2011-05-19T16:12:00.001+01:00

via adweek.com

Yesterday afternoon, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tweeted out a link to a new blog post on their website called "Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse." A great marketing idea, we must admit—someone over there has been watching The Walking Dead. The only problem is, the surge of traffic took out their whole blog.

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Snoop: “I’m tryna bake some brownies"

2011-05-18T17:22:00.001+01:00

via failship.tumblr.com

Snoop: “I’m tryna bake some brownies but we missing the most important part of the brownies”

Martha: “Which is?”

Snoop: “no sticks, no seeds, no stems”

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Books | Demotivation.us

2011-05-18T15:22:00.001+01:00

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Racism in the Elevator - Alternate Version - HD

2011-05-18T12:59:00.001+01:00

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SUPPORT SCENT - GUIDE DOGS AUSTRALIA

2011-05-18T10:56:00.001+01:00

via youtube.com

Lovely idea for a campaign to help the blind.

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Avatars vs. Reality (16 Photos)

2011-05-17T17:28:00.001+01:00

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The last post - Penmachine - Derek K. Miller

2011-05-05T14:22:00.001+01:00

Here it is. I'm dead, and this is my last post to my blog. In advance, I asked that once my body finally shut down from the punishments of my cancer, then my family and friends publish this prepared message I wrote—the first part of the process of turning this from an active website to an archive.

via fireballed.org

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Late Bloomer

2011-04-27T15:49:00.001+01:00

via youtube.com

Sex ed, HP Lovecraft style.

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VS Naipaul’s Advice To Writers

2011-04-26T09:34:00.001+01:00

VS Naipaul’s Rules for Beginners

1. Do not write long sentences. A sentence should not have more than ten or twelve words.

2. Each sentence should make a clear statement. It should add to the statement that went before. A good paragraph is a series of clear, linked statements.

3. Do not use big words. If your computer tells you that your average word is more than five letters long, there is something wrong. The use of small words compels you to think about what you are writing. Even difficult ideas can be broken down into small words.

4. Never use words whose meaning you are not sure of. If you break this rule you should look for other work.

5. The beginner should avoid using adjectives, except those of colour, size and number. Use as few adverbs as possible.

6. Avoid the abstract. Always go for the concrete.

7. Every day, for six months at least, practice writing in this way. Small words; short, clear, concrete sentences. It may be awkward, but it’s training you in the use of language. It may even be getting rid of the bad language habits you picked up at the university. You may go beyond these rules after you have thoroughly understood and mastered them.

via indiauncut.com

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Euthanasia coaster: assisted suicide by thrills - Boing Boing

2011-04-20T15:42:00.001+01:00

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15 Movie Cliche Supercuts That Poke Fun at Hollywood [VIDEOS]

2011-04-18T09:57:00.001+01:00

via mashable.com

Do you sigh every time you see an overused plot device or hear a tired old cliché trotted out on the silver screen? We do too. In what should be required viewing for all Hollywood scriptwriters, we’re calling out the industry for its lack of imagination.

To poke some loving fun, we’ve curated 15 fantastic “supercuts” lovingly compiled by some talented YouTubers. This clips make fun of hackneyed lines and fatigued filmic scenarios that appear all too often.

Take a look through the video gallery below to see our selection and let us know in the comments below which movie clichés make you groan.

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A Taxonomy of Gods

2011-04-15T17:10:00.001+01:00

via kk.org

How many ways can you be god? You know, when you make an artificial world, what are the different positions that you can assume as its creator? For this exercise I am imagining powers of creation that we humans do not currently possess, but seem on our way to acquiring -- such as being able to instill choice in our creations.

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If Fox News existed throughout history

2011-04-15T11:58:00.001+01:00

via dangerousminds.net

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Found Sign: Why the Internet is No Substitute for a Library - Boing Boing

2011-04-15T09:49:00.001+01:00

via boingboing.net

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50 Unexplainable Black & White Photos

2011-04-13T11:55:00.001+01:00

via buzzfeed.com

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Canadian Ad Says Women Are Like Used Cars [PIC]

2011-04-12T10:36:00.001+01:00

via buzzfeed.com

A woman's sexual history is like car value depreciation

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Wicked Plants on exhibit in San Francisco - Boing Boing

2011-04-12T09:15:00.001+01:00

via boingboing.net

San Francisco's gorgeous Conservatory of Flowers is hosting an exhibit titled "Wicked Plants," all about poisonous plants and their place in history, from the lethal ricin-producing castor bean, to hemlock -- aka "dead men's oatmeal" (above), to white snakeroot, the weed that did in Abe Lincoln's mom. The exhibit is named for Amy Stewart's book "Wicked Plants: Botanical Rogues & Assassins" that tells true tales of these fearful flora. For example, in 1978, Bulgarian dissident journalist Georgi Markov was assassinated with a poke to his leg from an umbrella tipped with ricin. From the Conservatory of Flowers:

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Tim Minchin's Storm the Animated Movie

2011-04-11T12:59:00.001+01:00

via youtube.com

Science adjusts its views based on what's observed. Faith is the denial of observation so that belief can be preserved.

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Gender stereotypes woven into language of toy ads - Boing Boing

2011-04-11T11:03:00.001+01:00

via boingboing.net

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Spellcheck Yo’Self

2011-04-08T17:34:00.001+01:00

via lamebook.com

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Attack of the Zombies!

2011-03-30T14:33:00.001+01:00

via sbs.com.au

Quick quiz: Guess how many zombie movies are being produced in the US and around the world this year – 15? 20? Guess again.

The answer: At least 40. The undead feature in 33 movies in 2011 according to the Zombie Zone News website. And that doesn’t include a bunch of other zombie films being developed or produced in the US and Europe.

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A Dark and Epic Music Video Battle

2011-03-30T10:25:00.001+01:00

via visualnews.com

"This beautiful clip is the newest creation of the multi-talented director Yoann Lemoine. Besides proving himself with this dark, tense and captivating clip, he also composed the title track “Iron” under his sudonym (sic) Woodkid. Lemoine continues to put out high quality everything, making him something of a one-man-band of creativity"

A touch of These New Puritans about this, but captivating nevertheless

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Run Woody

2011-03-29T11:33:00.001+01:00

via imgfave.com

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Sick Sad World

2011-03-26T15:43:00.001Z

via thechocolatebrigade.tumblr.com

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Sick Sad World

2011-03-26T15:41:00.001Z

via thechocolatebrigade.tumblr.com

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Hitler headlines from vintage tabloids

2011-03-24T13:42:00.001Z

via dangerousminds.net

The Police Gazette: a template for today's Daily Express!

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Letters of Note: Don't get pompous with me

2011-03-23T17:15:00.001Z

October, 1996. Having recently been interviewed for Rolling Stone, an angry Hunter S. Thompson writes a heated letter to his good friend and long-time collaborator, illustrator Ralph Steadman, and threatens to sever their relationship. Steadman's sturdy response, in which he essentially refuses to roll over, is golden.

via lettersofnote.com

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70s Porn Posters

2011-03-23T09:47:00.001Z

Souperman, 1976

Germany’s Der Spiegel posted a pretty good collection of porn posters from the 70s and 80s with a detailed breakdown of each film. To see more posters, go to Der Spiegel and use Google Translate.

Oh, and here are a few I found amusing:

Flesh Gordon, 1972

Alice in Wonderland, 1976

Blue Jungle, 1978

Marilyn and the Senator, 1975

via dangerousminds.net

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Zombie Apocalypse Preparedness Of The Day

2011-03-21T10:23:00.001Z

via infographic.posterous.com

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ZOMBIES! AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE UNDEAD

2011-03-15T13:13:00.001Z

via twitchfilm.com

Are you one of those folks who complains that zombies do not speak when the increasing legions of zombie fanatics yell 'Braaaaaiiiins!' during festival screenings? Or perhaps you are one of those higher-on-the-geek-scale types that cites Return of the Living Dead as the origin of that particular trend? (Editors Note: Guilty!) Do you debate with your friends about the nature of running zombies vs. shambling zombies, or whether or not Danny Boyle's 28 Weeks Later even qualifies as a zombie film? Jovanka Vuckovic is here to make sure that we can all just get along by educating expert and novice alike in Z-lore, according to history, legend and the ever increasing swell of popular culture. The horror-subgenre, (i.e. the zombie movie) has had a long and elastic history in literature and folklore, from The Bible to Haitian Voodoo, and in past couple of years was/is at its cultural zenith, particularly in the movies. Thus, Zombies! An Illustrated History of the Undead arrives with some pretty impressive release timing to bring everyone up-to-speed (so to speak.)

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Where Children Sleep: A Diverse World of Homes

2011-03-04T08:59:00.001Z

via visualnews.com

When photographer James Mollison was asked to do a project on children’s rights, he found himself thinking back to his childhood bedroom and the deep importance it played in his upbringing. Taking that idea with him around the world, he photographed a diverse cross section of children and the bedrooms they call home. His moving images remove the children from their home environment, showing them before a neutral background that mostly hides their economic status as if to say “kids are just kids.” Only when their bedroom is observed, however, does the full scope of their living situation become poiniently clear. Where Children Sleep, a beautiful hardcover book featuring 112 color photographs is now available from chrisboot.com.

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Make Serendipity Work for You - Harvard Business Review

2011-03-03T14:42:00.001Z

Serendipity has been voted one of the most popular words in the English language. It is also one of the hardest to translate. Conversationally, it is used as tantamount to luck, providence or chance. It has brought us Aspirin, the Pill, insulin, Viagra, penicillin, antihistamines and the smallpox vaccine, Scotchgard, Teflon, Velcro, Nylon, Ivory Soap, the Post-It note, and the technology behind the HP Inkjet printer. Google outgoing CEO Eric Schmidt liked to think of his online search tool as a "serendipity engine."

via blogs.hbr.org

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The right way to cook bacon in a pan

2011-02-28T10:08:00.001Z

via boingboing.net

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Banksy Takes Los Angeles: Documenting The Street Artist's Tour of Tinseltown

2011-02-23T15:47:00.001Z

via good.is

The British street artist Banksy is back in Los Angeles, just in time to create hype around his Oscar-nominated documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop. This past week, Hollywood has been abuzz with daily reports of new Banksy-claimed street art pieces—at least seven since we last checked.
The work pictured above—titled "Livin' the Dream"—was created on a traffic-choked corner of Sunset Boulevard, just steps from the Sunset Strip. Using a billboard promoting partying in Las Vegas as its canvas, the piece features Vegasified renditions of Disney's favorite couple: Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

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Star Wars rebooted as a Western, with humanized droids

2011-02-23T13:40:00.001Z

via io9.com

From the creator of Steampunk Star Wars comes a new reimagining: Western Wars. Sillof has re-imagined classic Star Wars characters as gritty Western ranchers. Which means we get R2 and C-3PO in creepy human form. Given that Star Wars copies so much from Westerns originally, it's fascinating to see this universe go back the other way.

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Get inspired by visions of the future from science fiction's "second golden age"

2011-02-23T13:36:00.001Z

via io9.com

Sci-fi art from the second Golden Age of Science Fiction when books, magazines and films had some of the most amazing and memorable covers/artwork from artists like Peter Elson, Angus Mckie, Chris Foss and Tim White and John Berkey.

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The Photos We'll Remember: 2000-2010 - Timeline - LIFE

2011-02-18T16:20:00.001Z

via life.com

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Vintage Comic Women Take Charge

2011-02-17T17:28:00.001Z

via visualnews.com

Various examples

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Rear View Girls - Los Angeles

2011-02-17T14:20:00.001Z

via youtube.com

Hot ladies fit hidden camera to their posterior to catch all the sly men (and women)

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10 Creative Amputation Tattoos

2011-02-17T10:43:00.001Z

via buzzfeed.com

When life throws you a curve ball, get a tattoo

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50 Stunning Homes Built Into Nature

2011-02-17T10:42:00.001Z

via buzzfeed.com

There’s nothing more organic than a home that blends in flawlessly with its environment. Whether it be mountains, rocks or trees, these awesome homes fit right in.

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The Evolution of Ghosts

2011-02-17T10:36:00.001Z

via flickr.com

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weakly thunk

What You See Is Not What You Get

My dad put this up after a fight we had when I was a kid. I find that at the years pass by it gets truer and truer

GWS

The Telltale Quack | Sci-ence! A Skeptical Comic and Blog.

catzilla

fite

zomb

oh

the hell?

What's Up with China's One-Child Policy - Infographic

!

The scariest deaths you've watched on screen, and how they would really happen

Seth's Blog » Willat Effect Experiments With Tea

What did the world's first language sound like?

Bang

Urge to kill…fading…fading…fading

drink

drink

drink

Maps that offend the entire planet with a single image

Oldies

Voice or no voice

Winalot Diet

Elf

Man

Run!

Voices Of East Anglia

Rock and Roll! Music Stereotypes from Rock’s History

Leave

Yum

Amazing celebrity pencil drawings

Tele

Iconic Images: What's the most epic photo ever taken? - Quora

An Apollo astronaut on political quagmires

Yes!

FB this

Science

Romeo and Juliet

Ghost Story: Harry Dresden and the Jim Butcher Promise

Snigger *snort* snigger!! on Twitpic

Scarlett

Data Cake | Epic Graphic

How Finland became an education leader - David Sirota

Buy This Title

The Global Achievement Gap

Calamities of Nature - Belief in Evolution Versus National Wealth

Boo

Women

Evolution of Alphabets

Dangerous Minds | Alex from ‘A Clockwork Orange’ stuffed doll

Enthusiasm - Boing Boing

Listopia - Future Peter Kay Material

The 7 Types of Short Story Opening, and How to Decide Which is Right for Your Story

America VS Taliban Chess Set

Awe

A Decaying Fantasy World of Composite Photos

A Decaying Fantasy World of Composite Photos

Posted by Benjamin Starr

Vintage ad for women who have no sex appeal

The 13 Creepiest Christian Education Videos for Kids

The 13 Creepiest Christian Education Videos for Kids

funny-truths

10 poems everyone should know - Asylum.co.uk

CDC's Blog Post About Zombies Proves Apocalyptic to Website | Adweek

Snoop: “I’m tryna bake some brownies"

Books | Demotivation.us

Racism in the Elevator - Alternate Version - **HD**

SUPPORT SCENT - GUIDE DOGS AUSTRALIA

Avatars vs. Reality (16 Photos)

The last post - Penmachine - Derek K. Miller

Late Bloomer

VS Naipaul’s Advice To Writers

Euthanasia coaster: assisted suicide by thrills - Boing Boing

15 Movie Cliche Supercuts That Poke Fun at Hollywood [VIDEOS]

A Taxonomy of Gods

If Fox News existed throughout history

Found Sign: Why the Internet is No Substitute for a Library - Boing Boing

50 Unexplainable Black & White Photos

Canadian Ad Says Women Are Like Used Cars [PIC]

Snigger snort snigger!! on Twitpic

Racism in the Elevator - Alternate Version - HD