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GamesArchive for July, 2009
1) 10 Amazing Chairs on the Cutting Edge of seating design 2) Microsoft to copy Apple Store design, will include “Guru Bar” 3) Charging Electric Cars in a Solar Forest 4) Heesen 164 Man of Steel 5) House 53 by Marcio Kogan 6) The history and future of airport design 7) William McDonough: The wisdom [...]
Drifting is the art of sliding sideways in a car. Keiichi Tsuchiya is said to be the king of drifting. He has put together the Drift Bible to explain the six essential techniques for drifting: 1) Side 2) Shift lock 3) Power over 4) Braking 5) Feint 6) Lift-off He also covers tuning/modifications needed for [...]
While most of your electronics and clothing probably carry the label “Made in China,” there’s one export that the United States seems to specialize in: turtle meat. The Chinese appetite for turtles — as well as a popular belief in the animals’ medicinal power — has led to a booming trade between the two countries, leaving conservationists concerned.
I can scarcely believe it was nearly two months ago that I urged everyone to visit a National Park for free. Where has the summer gone? (By the way, you’ve got just one more weekend to take advantage of the National Park Service’s offer — Aug. 15 through 16.) Well, there are a few things to look forward to as summer ends. For one, digging out the boots with the fur from the back of your closet. And for another, the premiere of Ken Burns’ latest documentary series on PBS, titled “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.”
Today was Theda Bara’s birthday, and as I am fond of pictures of old movie stars, we’re going to celebrate her.
Her name was Theodosia and she was born in Cincinnati, but that’s not a sexy enough beginning for a woman known as The Vamp, now is it? It’s said that the only silent film actors bigger than Theda were Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford (a post for another day), and they were as A-list as it gets.
Set to star in “A Fool There Was” when she almost 30, she was re-created as a vampire (only later shortened to vamp): pale skin, dark-rimmed eyes and dark mouth, wickedly sexy. She was the quintessential femme fatale.
You Asked: How do you cure stinky feet? — Stacey, Port Allen, La. Marshall Brain Answered: Feet stink because of bacteria. Sweat provides a medium for bacteria to multiply, and the bacteria produce the smell. Feet are especially susceptible to becoming malodorous because shoes contain the moisture. If you wear your shoes for 12 hours [...]
In yesterday’s post, I told you that charities are the reason that Congress decided on 18 miles per gallon as the limit on “clunker” trade-ins. Yet, despite that major modification of the program — which, by the way, was intended to alleviate some of the concerns that charities had prior to the start of Cash for Clunkers — a lot of charities are still unhappy. Just read this article from NPR’s Elizabeth Shogren if you want verification of that. But they’re not the only ones that don’t like it…
You Asked: What surgical method is used for a Liftstyle Lift? — Carolyn, Chattanooga, Tenn. Marshall Brain Answered: If you look at How Facelifts Work, a full “face lift” can be fairly major surgery. The basic idea behind the Lifestyle Lift is to try use fewer incisions to get some of the benefits of a [...]
When I was in college, I took a class on the gothic novel. One of the last novels we read was Vladimir Nabokov’s “Bend Sinister,” in which professor and philosopher Adam Krug runs afoul of his government. His son, David, is killed in an event that happens largely outside the bounds of the page. Part of our class discussion centered on how leaving it up to our imaginations made the scene more horrifying — a trick that’s part of some of the scariest horror movies.
You Asked: How does digital TV work compared to analog TV? — Roger, Hemet, Calif. Marshall Brain Answered: Let’s say you have an “old style” analog TV hooked up to analog cable, and a new digital TV connected to digital cable. What is the difference? In the case of the analog TV, it is taking [...]
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