The heart of the matter

Hat tip: kinnon.tv

Science ponders "zombie attack"

This unusual but enlightening BBC news item is just too good not to share!

You learn something new every day.

Dissident Cobblers

Ominous changes are afoot in the capital of Europe!

Here in Belgium, if you buy a car and don't already possess the pair of licence plates that will remain yours for life, the local vehicle registration office will normally issue you with your first licence plate (the rear one, as it happens) by sending it to you through the post. You then have to visit a cobbler and buy the front plate yourself. Apparently, this business represents about 15 percent of Belgian cobblers' overall turnover.

It may not have made the world news headlines, but, shockingly, it seems that the days of this time-honoured tradition may be numbered: According to a recent news report, Belgian cobblers are "in uproar about a proposed reform of the way licence plates are issued". Under the proposed reform, "new EU-style licence plates issued from July 2010 would be sent out in pairs" by the licensing authority (emphasis mine).

It just so happens that I neither own nor drive a car. But this news does prompt me to ask: What next? Will holding the number of the Beast soon become a punishable offence in the new Europe?

Now, that really would be an unexpected turn of events, wouldn't it? I don't think it's likely to happen. But, then again, I've been wrong before.

Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, who was dying of pancreatic cancer, gave his last lecture at the university on 18 September 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving talk, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," Pausch discussed lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals.

I encourage you to invest 1 hour 45 minutes of your life to watch this remarkable video.



Hat tip: FutureLawyer

Wrap your mind around the LHC

What will the clever people at CERN come up with next? (Another World Wide Web?) Who knows? While we're waiting to find out, let's take a mind-expanding tour of the Large Hadron Collider:

CERN Rap from Will Barras on Vimeo.

They didn't teach physics like this when I was at school!

(Hat tip: Short Sharp Science)

People talking without speaking

Just thinking about saying something is enough these days. Thanks to the wonders of technology, now you don’t need to go to the trouble of actually saying it.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking.

Scary stuff!

Everybody always thinks they are right

That’s one of the maxims from “Things I have learned in my life so far” by New York-based graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister. It’s an insight worth remembering, I think. And once you’ve seen this brilliant “visual aid”, you’ll probably not forget it in a hurry. Enjoy!