Archive for January, 2010
How to flatter someone – no matter how cheesily – and benefit from it
by Marshall Brain | January 26, 2010
It turns out that this is so easy. It doesn’t matter if you are sincere or not. It doesn’t matter how cheesy the flattery is. The way to flatter someone is simply to flatter someone. Research is indicating that it works every time: Flattery Will Get You Far The basic theory is that, even when [...]
Moscow, the largest city in Russia, is a bustling megacity with a storied past and a burgeoning future. Learn more about Russia’s capital city in this episode of The Coolest Stuff on the Planet.
Now that every studio on the planet is trying to get into the reboot biz, so-called Americanizations have lost a bit of their luster. Primarily reserved for horror movies and TV adaptations, these American remakes of foreign works have garnered vats of money for the studios, but little in the way of real prestige. Until now. Maybe.
Amidst all the reboots, 2010 will also usher in two of the more highly anticipated American remakes in recent years: April’s “Death at a Funeral” and October’s “Let Me In.”
The myth of the Sony ‘kill switch’ – “In Japan, a surprising number of consumers really do claim to believe that Sony products are programmed to break as soon as the warranty expires…” Report: Fifty Apple Tablets Detected Online – “Flurry Analytics said Monday that their monitoring software has detected what the company claims are [...]
At first thought, weaponry seems like a bad addition to the Olympics (unless we’re talking marksmanship, archery or, if you want to go ancient, javelin and shot-put). However, there’s a role for weapons in the Olympics that doesn’t culminate in competition or a swift arrest — it just involves a quick, compulsory melting.
London’s Metropolitan Police force recently announced that 58 tons of confiscated guns and knives — plus some keys thrown in for good measure — will be recycled into girders for the 2012 Olympic Games site in Stratford, East London.
How do bears survive the winter in hibernation without dehydrating?
by Marshall Brain | January 25, 2010
You Asked: How do bears survive the winter in hibernation without dehydrating? — Mike, Stockholm, Sweden Marshall Brain Answers: Many different mammals hibernate. In some species, body temperature can drop down near the freezing point. Heart rate and breathing rates slow way down as well. Bears do not hibernate nearly that deeply, but their body [...]
Good question – What is the second-fastest text input method?
by Marshall Brain | January 25, 2010
The fastest text-input method is obvious – it is the keyboard. But what is the second-fastest? Now you can find out: Pen v keyboard v Newton v Graffiti v Treo v iPhone For some time I’ve been meaning to test my small collection of PDA/smartphone gadgets to see which of their methods of input was [...]
Wednesday can’t get here fast enough. Either Steve Jobs will finally unveil the long-rumored Apple tablet computer device or legions of Apple fans (and tech journalists) will collectively lose their minds. Whispers and claims and even videos about the mythical device have hit a new high. If Jobs doesn’t debut a tablet device at Apple’s big press event on Wednesday, there may be a riot.
But with all the speculation, rumors and information about the tablet flying around the Internet these days I’m still left with a question: Who is going to buy a tablet computer?
So you may have heard about the Supreme Court’s recent decision to reverse longstanding limitations that banned corporations from directly contributing financially in elections. It’s kind of a big deal.
As reported in the Washington Post, for a few decades now, corporations have been limited to contributing to political action committees, which have set limits of $5,000 per calendar year, and kept corporations away from contributing to a candidate directly. Of course, there are always loopholes: Corporations have a way of strongly suggesting to its rising stars that contributing to a certain campaign would probably be good for the old career. Maybe even those employees’ bonuses later in the year will reflect an additional amount of the same sum they contributed. So you’ve got a few execs writing $5,000 checks to a Political Action Committee. It’s disingenuous, but tolerable. The limits for individual campaigns are even narrower: $2,400 per candidate, per election.
Reconceptualizing the wedding invitation: How long before there is a whole new wedding sub-industry – people making custom wedding invitation videos for people? According to this article: “Over $120 billion dollars are spent by soon-to-be newlyweds on items needed leading up to and after a wedding. It is an incredible industry to become a part [...]
Recent Postings by Category
BrainStuff
- Thank You and Best Wishes to Marshall Brain
- Contest – Design a $300 house and win $25,000
- How the Philtrum works – the place under your nose where your face comes together
The Coolest Stuff on the Planet
- Have a Coke and a Smile
- The Latest in Frugal Lodging: Camping in Somebody Else’s Backyard
- The Painted Beauties of Bucovina
Keep Asking
- Why can a 5 foot 8 inch man dunk a basketball on a 10 foot rim while some people of taller stature can’t?
- What happens to our sun once it runs out of fuel?
- How do we know the age of the universe?
Stuff Mom Never Told You
- Who invented the Christmas card?
- How the Kinsey Report Fueled Whiskey Sales
- How to Get Your Wedding Announcement into The New York Times
Stuff to Blow Your Mind
- Space Music: DJ Food and ‘The Search Engine’
- Stuff to Blow Your Mind: Hug it Out
- Space Music: Jay-Z and Beyoncé to Film Music Video in Orbit
Stuff You Should Know
- The Southern Death Cult, the Maya and Georgia
- Deformed Baby Spider Brains
- Amazing Medical Conditions: Maple Syrup Urine Disorder
The Stuff of Genius
CarStuff
- Why is NASA studying car safety?
- Tips for in-car Navigation Systems
- Tips for Using Bluetooth in the Car
How-to Stuff
- How to Swim with Dolphins (When Deep Water Terrifies You)
- How to Cure a Homemade Cookie Craving Without Turning on the Oven
- How to Know When It’s Time for a New Pet
PopStuff
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 36: Now Available in 3-D
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 35: Let’s do brunch!
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 34: Play it again, Sam
Stuff They Don't Want You To Know
Stuff to Change the World
- Who will own the Arctic?
- Obesity: The New Global Crisis
- Bill Gates Makes For A Pretty Decent Cartoon
Stuff You Missed in History Class
- Butch Cassidy: Should we read between the lines?
- Are we rooting for D.B. Cooper?
- Party Time: A Look at Unconventional Politics

