Does My Butt Look Big?
Bagheera asks the question men everywhere dread. Of course I assured her she looked muhvelous.
Does PowerPoint Make You Stupid?
When I worked as a corporate speechwriter, my hardest job was weaning people off of their PP dependency and getting them to tell me what they did in conversational rhythms rather than bullet points. The people who downloaded the most data in pre-speechwriting interviews and delivered the best speeches at the events were the ones who'd never used that "gateway" program.
Does Rosslyn Chapel Have a Music Code?
That's what Tommy and Stuart Mitchell think. They claim the 15th century chapel's ornately carved patterns and cubes contain a musical sequence, concealed "because knowledge of harmonics may have been seen as dangerous, even heretical, by 15th Century church authorities."
Does The Five-Second Rule Work?
According to researchers at the University of Illinois, if you drop food on hardwood or tile floors and pick it up within five seconds, it probably is safe to eat.That's because it takes at least that long for germs to devour dropped dry food. It takes wet food less time to become contaminated—and if you drop food onto carpet, all bets are off. "That's an entirely different story and we haven't done that study yet."
Does the Orgasmatron Exist?
Unsurprisingly, Larry Niven has already explored the ramifications of this one.
Does Will Friedwald Have the Largest iTunes Library on Earth?
At 200,000 tracks, maybe so—but it only occupies 800GB, so he's using compression. My meager 12,000 track library eats a little over 200GB, using ALC.
Dog Gone
Winston Churchill referred to his depression as "the black dog." Matthew Johnstone taught his black dog to roll over by incorporating it in his art.
Dogs Read Facial Expressions
Apes and wolves do not. Not news to any dog owner, although I cannot speak for ape or wolf owners.
Don't Be a Douche
Jack Black on the need to stop piracy.
Don't Believe Everything You Read
Mitch Albom's essay on Barry Bonds is so sharply written I can almost forgive him for the two hours I spent reading The Five People You Meet In Heaven that I will never get back.