Grey Matter

Square A and Square B are the same shade of grey. They ARE.Check out the proof and other brilliant illusions here.

The Plywood Tree

Here is an interesting site detailing what I guess you'd call, well I dunno what.

http://plywoodtree.grographics.com/


Basically, a guy creates a tree out of plywood, and then chops it down, recycles it into a sheet of plywood and then returns it to Home Depot for a refund. Some kind of statement I guess.

Personally, I really like the tree he made, and it is a shame to chop it down after all that work.

Buy some Uranium online

Not to be outdone by my previous post about how impressive the web has become, how about this: http://unitednuclear.com

Buy some radioactive material for the hell of it. I bet Osama is pissed off he can't get a Credit Card....but wait, they take paypal.

To be fair, I just noticed that this website will not ship outside of the US, which is really lucky for the rest of us at least that the US has narrowed down a safe haven to sell uranium and other radioactive material. There are obviously no idiots living in the land of the free.

The site has a disclaimer:
Because our products can be potentially hazardous in the wrong hands, we will occasionally terminate & refund orders if we feel you are juvenile posing as an adult, inexperienced with the materials ordered, or using our products to make any sort of explosive device.

That makes me feel all warm inside. How about you?

Simplistic Theory #2: Units of Time

Being the simplistic fella that I am, I link to come up with theories that measure certain sides of life, and in doing so, try to work out the best way to learn from the past to get the most out of the future.

One simplistic theory I came up with maybe 20 years ago was the theory of People Categories. It's highly un-PC, but it's the science of categorising a complete stranger based on how they look and act and comparing that data to what you already know. Basically, it helps determine how to deal with that person, what they are likely to enjoy or dislike, whether they are more likely to be a dick or an asshole.....that sort of thing. But that is Simplistic Theory #1, which I will go into detail another day.

Simplistic Theory #2 is the Theory of Units of time. Having been fortunate enough to live and work in different countries, I have picked up on a very little observed phenomin, fenomin, phanomin thing. The unit of time you need to work to is determined by your lifestyle. Lemme explain....
In NZ for example, you can drive anywhere in most citys in about 20mins, you can generally park right out the front FOR FREE, Stores are generally deserted. What this means is you can do ANYTHING in a unit of time that is 30mins long. Sometimes you might need 2 units, say meeting a friend for coffee. 3 units for a nice meal, 4 units to go have a BBQ at the beach. You get the idea. In Singapore, the unit was closer to 1 hr. London it was 2 hrs, Here in Taiwan, it's closer to about 3hrs.
I think I have worked out the pattern here, and here is the formula:

The quality of a lifestyle is inversely proportional to the unit of time used to maintain it.

WTF? Well, I think it should be an aim in life to get your unit of time down to as small as possible. Why? Well, think about when you try to hook up with friends, how it sometimes seems impossible to get a slot that matches. If I need 1 unit of time to go and buy a magazine here in Taiwan, then fitting in a coffee is going to be another 1 unit of time, so 6 hrs total. That's a big chunk of a day man....no can do. Let's do coffee July 23, 2009 at 2pm.
In NZ, a buddy want's to meet for Fish and Chips at the Marina?..no problem, be there in half an hour. With the food. And Beers.

What is the main cause of this? Well different places have different factors, such as population, congestion, weather, language barriers, scooters everywhere, notoriously bad punctuality...blah, blah. It all contributes to the required unit of time of a given place, which can be improved on with personal innovation.

So, why should we try to get our units of time down? Well, you get more out of life, that's why.

categories: [living_][strange_][thoughts_]

Paper Cuts

I got these pics by email today. No idea who did this, or if it is even one person...I figured this might have sort of cult following, so I did a wiki search on paper cuts. All I found of interest was Lingchi, a form of chinese torture known as 'a death by 1000 cuts'. Ouch.

I won't ramble on about this art, it speaks for itself. Click on a pic to enlarge (just slightly sorry)...