Interestingness

Free Food For Customers Over 350 Pounds

Seeded on Tue Nov 9, 2010 12:38 PM EST (TIME)

Arizona's aptly-named Heart Attack Grill is offering free meals to anyone weighing in at over 350 pounds. Don't believe us? Just ask its new 600-pound spokesman.

food, health, obesity, odd, stupid, restuarant

Happy Meal ban: No toys for you! - CSMonitor.com

Seeded on Thu Nov 4, 2010 12:46 PM EDT (Christian Science Monitor)

San Francisco restaurants can't package toys with unhealthy meals, says Board of Supervisors. Happy Meals either have to become healthier or lose the toys.

food, health, toys, kids, mcdonalds

244,000 Germans Opt Out of Google Mapping Service - NYTimes.com

Seeded on Thu Oct 21, 2010 12:50 PM EDT (The New York Times)

Google on Thursday said 244,000 people in Germany had asked the company to remove images of their houses and apartments from its Street View maps, but that the requests would not derail its plans to activate the service this year.

google, technology, world, privacy, tech, internet, maps, street-view

One Library's Massive Menu Drawer

Seeded on Thu Oct 21, 2010 12:33 PM EDT (campaign.r20.constantcontact.com)

It may not sound too exciting - it may sound like your kitchen junk drawer - but the Tutt Library at Colorado College has compiled an impressive number of menus, giving us a window into how people ate and talked about food (and wrote menus) 100+ years ago.

food, odd, odd-news, library, menus, interesting

Facebook Vows to Fix a Flaw in Data Protection - NYTimes.com

Seeded on Tue Oct 19, 2010 10:50 AM EDT (The New York Times)

When you sign up for Facebook, you enter into a bargain. You share personal information with the site, and Facebook agrees to obey your wishes when it comes to who can see what you post.

technology, privacy, internet, sharing, marketing, social-networking, website, facebook

iPad Coming to Verizon Wireless and AT&T Stores - NYTimes.com

Seeded on Thu Oct 14, 2010 1:12 PM EDT (The New York Times)

Apple said Thursday that Verizon Wireless would begin selling the iPad at its stores on Oct. 28.

technology, verizon, apple, at-t, carrier, provider, ipad

Reusable sandbags

Seeded on Thu Oct 14, 2010 12:47 PM EDT (Boing Boing)

You soak them in fresh water and the polymer crystals expand to create an alternative to a sandbag. They're lightweight (a pound when dry), easy to transport to the disaster site, and simple to soak and set in place.

storm, flood, water, environment, sandbag, stormbag

Google Has Self-Driving Cars That Work Today

Seeded on Tue Oct 12, 2010 1:03 PM EDT (mentalfloss.com)

If you've been wondering where your jet-pack is, you may have to settle for Google's self-driving car.

technology

Smarter Than You Think - Google Cars Drive Themselves, in Traffic - NYTimes.com

Seeded on Tue Oct 12, 2010 1:02 PM EDT (The New York Times)

The car is a project of Google, which has been working in secret but in plain view on vehicles that can drive themselves, using artificial-intelligence software that can sense anything near the car and mimic the decisions made by a human driver.

technology

Wife Detained After Visiting Nobel Winner - NYTimes.com

Seeded on Mon Oct 11, 2010 12:55 PM EDT (The New York Times)

Prison officials had informed Mr. Liu that he won the award — a decision vehemently condemned by the Chinese government — the day before. In their hourlong visit, Mr.

world-news

Provocative Image of Christ Sets Off a Debate Punctuated With a Crowbar

Seeded on Mon Oct 11, 2010 12:55 PM EDT (The New York Times)

"This piece was destroyed by an act of violence and is no longer on exhibit," the sign read.

arts

Web Upgrade HTML 5 May Weaken Privacy - NYTimes.com

Seeded on Mon Oct 11, 2010 12:53 PM EDT (The New York Times)

In the next few years, a powerful new suite of capabilities will become available to Web developers that could give marketers and advertisers access to many more details about computer users' online activities.

technology

Johnny Depp's school mutiny

Seeded on Fri Oct 8, 2010 11:39 AM EDT (the Mail online)

The star is currently in south-east London filming the fourth Pirates Of The Caribbean movie On Stranger Tides and arrived at the Meridian Primary School dressed in full character as Captain Jack Sparrow.

entertainment

Last of his Tribe

Seeded on Wed Oct 6, 2010 5:31 PM EDT (Mental Floss)

This lone man, believed to be the last member of his indigenous tribe, was first spotted way back in 1996.

odd-news

Microsoft Slate will be available by Christmas: Ballmer - CSMonitor.com

Seeded on Wed Oct 6, 2010 5:22 PM EDT (Christian Science Monitor)

A Microsoft slate to counter Apple's popular iPad tablet computer will be seen by the Christmas holiday, Microsoft's Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Tuesday.

technology

Yellowstone Lake yields thriving colony of life at bottom - CSMonitor.com

Seeded on Wed Oct 6, 2010 5:19 PM EDT (Christian Science Monitor)

What was believed to be a simple Yellowstone Lake ecosystem limited by the frigid snowmelt that feeds the lake actually contains thousands of species living off nutrients provided by geothermal features below the surface, researchers have found.

environment

Woody Allen on Faith and Fortune Tellers - Question - NYTimes.com

Seeded on Wed Sep 15, 2010 4:15 PM EDT (The New York Times)

At 74, Mr. Allen, the prolific filmmaker and emblematic New Yorker, has hardly found religion. But the idea of faith informs his latest movie, "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger," which Sony Pictures Classics is to release next Wednesday.

entertainment

U.S. Zeroes In on Use of Antibiotics by Pork Producers - NYTimes.com

Seeded on Wed Sep 15, 2010 4:14 PM EDT (The New York Times)

Now, after decades of debate, the Food and Drug Administration appears poised to issue its strongest guidelines on animal antibiotics yet, intended to reduce what it calls a clear risk to human health.

health

Shocker: Republicans overwhelmingly white - CSMonitor.com

Seeded on Fri Sep 3, 2010 12:51 PM EDT (Christian Science Monitor)

This just in: Republicans are disproportionately white and religious. Anyone who watched or attended the Glenn Beck rally on the Washington Mall last Saturday could tell you that. But Gallup has the numbers to prove it.

politics

Let Google Decide for You - Google Deciphers Your Reading Material

Seeded on Mon Aug 30, 2010 9:52 AM EDT (The New York Times)

It can easily do simple stuff, like distinguishing whether a page is in English or French. But if you feed it enough data, it can approximate whether an op-ed is "conservative" or "liberal" based on vocabulary.

technology

Giant Underwater Plume Confirmed. Gulf Oil Not Degrading

Seeded on Tue Aug 24, 2010 8:24 AM EDT (National Geographic)

Many scientists had predicted that oil-eating bacteria—already common in the Gulf due to natural oil seeps—would process much of the crude leaked from BP's Deepwater Horizon wellhead, which was capped July 15. (Read more about how nature is fighting the oil spill.)

bp, gulf, water, oil-spill, us-news

Honeycomb Clouds "Communicate," Rain in Unison

Seeded on Tue Aug 24, 2010 8:23 AM EDT (National Geographic)

Such open-cell marine clouds "communicate" with each other so that they constantly oscillate, or rearrange themselves, in a synchronized pattern, according to a new study from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

science

Out of the darkness with a solar-powered light bulb - NatGeo News Watch

Seeded on Tue Aug 24, 2010 8:22 AM EDT (National Geographic)

Social entrepreneur Stephen Katsaros invented a solar-powered light bulb he hopes will bring clean, safe light to people in the developing world.

science

Your Hair Reveals Whether You're a Morning Person

Seeded on Tue Aug 24, 2010 8:20 AM EDT (National Geographic)

Early bird or late riser? The mysteries of your sleep cycle may be unlocked by the hairs on your head, a new study says.RNA strands containing the clock genes are found throughout the body—including in white blood cells and the inside of the mouth—but human hair is easiest fo …

hair, odd, science, genes, rna, morning-person

On Primary Day, McCain Seeks Political Comeback

Seeded on Tue Aug 24, 2010 8:06 AM EDT (The New York Times)

Polls showed Mr. McCain, 73, with a comfortable lead — anywhere from 15 to 21 points, depending on who was doing the polling — over his Republican challenger, J. D. Hayworth

politics

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