1/29/2009 01:44:00 AM

Devolve Me

So at this site you can upload a picture of yourself and see what you would look like devolved into a Homo heidelbergensis, Homo erectus, or even a Homo habilis. Sweet.

1/28/2009 11:39:00 PM

myriad - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

myriad - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary: "usage Recent criticism of the use of myriad as a noun, both in the plural form myriads and in the phrase a myriad of, seems to reflect a mistaken belief that the word was originally and is still properly only an adjective. As the entries here show, however, the noun is in fact the older form, dating to the 16th century. The noun myriad has appeared in the works of such writers as Milton (plural myriads) and Thoreau (a myriad of), and it continues to occur frequently in reputable English. There is no reason to avoid it."

Huhah!!! and they told me I couldn't use it like that.

1/26/2009 09:13:00 PM

PS - who plays video games like this?



Ridiculous. That guy is obviously in complete darkness. Shouldn't you at least turn your TV on if you're going to play some video games? No wonder they found a bunch of losers in their study.

Look at the other photos from the press release here

1/26/2009 09:06:00 PM

IF YOU PLAY VIDEO GAMES, YOU'RE A LOSER

BYU News - Release

'The research is based on information collected from 813 college students around the country. As the amount of time playing video games went up, the quality of relationships with peers and parents went down.

“It may be that young adults remove themselves from important social settings to play video games, or that people who already struggle with relationships are trying to find other ways to spend their time,” Walker said. “My guess is that it’s some of both and becomes circular.” '


I, on the other hand, have done my own scientific research (faculty mentor: kiefer sutherland), and have found a direct increase in the quality of my relationships as a result of video game usage. In fact, some of my best memories in the past 18 months of being back from my mission have been playing video games. And I normally get more dates when I play video games, too. I keep asking myself, "Why haven't I been doing this more often?" and "How can I increase my video game playing?"

The bogusness of this study is further proven through the following paragraph:
“Relationship quality is one of a cluster of things that we found to be modestly associated with video games,” Walker said. “The most striking part is that everything we found clustered around video game use is negative.”

You see, even without my improved relationships, I can still identify several positive things from video game use. For example, if you came at me with a trench gun and the juggernaut perk enabled, I would know to knife you in the neck instead of trying to get you by shooting you 25 times with the M1A1 Carbine. If that's not positive, I don't know what is. I mean, I've got skills like knowing when to throw a flash bang and how to use an aperture scope.

Not to mention the keen sense I have of people sneaking up behind me. Just think of all those people who get killed by lurkers in alleyways - I bet THEY wished they had played a little more video games! That's a negative effect of NOT playing video games. But they're not included in this study because THEY'RE DEAD!!!

Besides, I think it's pretty obvious from the website that the faculty mentor just did the research paper because she wanted to hook up with the undergrad.

1/23/2009 03:44:00 PM

A day in the life of Jeff




1/23/2009 03:35:00 PM

Sheep go to heaven, goats go to . . .

The Bible is quite clear on where goats stand in God's eyes. This may be why some particularly percipient Nigerians decided to take action. Whatever the reason, we are at least spared one more robber-goat.

1/20/2009 06:30:00 PM

The Deadliest iPod Ever


I plan on making extensive use of this.

1/18/2009 12:07:00 PM

animal testing

US Airways Jet Lifted From Hudson - WSJ.com: "According to material posted on the FAA's Web site, the type of engines on the US Airways jet were certified to be able to keep operating for five minutes at 75% of normal takeoff power after ingesting a total of five birds, each weighing 1.5 pounds. If a single bird weighing four pounds gets sucked into an engine, FAA standards require it to be able to shut down safely, without a fire or internal disintegration."

It might have been interesting to have been on the team to figure that out.

1/15/2009 09:05:00 PM

The Next Wave

These Japanese monkeys think they're human. I can vouch for their humanity. They tried to take my wallet once in Kyoto to buy a pair of shoes.