Your Daily Posterous Spaces Update

	June 8th, 2012 How Smokey Bear helped win World War II Posted about 20 hours ago by Mental_floss to Holy Kaw! Only you can prevent forest fires, but only Smokey could help us topple the Axis powers. Forest fires posed a terrifying threat during World War II. Fighting wildfires required huge chunks of precious manpower that otherwise could have been utilized for building tanks or guns. Infernos also swallowed up thousands of acres of wood, a crucial ingredient in everything from warships to gunstocks. To curb forest fires, the U.S. Forest Service and the War Advertising Council teamed up on a propaganda campaign. Walt Disney loaned the government the use of Bambi for a year to get things rolling, but the Forest Service wanted their own anti-fire mascot. Commercial illustrator Albert Staehle drafted an image of a shovel-toting bear. It took a few drafts, but after some government-mandated tweaks—including making the bear wear pants—Smokey was born. Read the rest at Mental_floss. Photo: CORBIS All the top stories from Mental_floss. Spell it out: 16 abbreviated company names explained Posted about 14 hours ago by Mental_floss to Holy Kaw! Dozens of companies use acronyms or initials in their names, but how well do you know what the abbreviated letters mean? Let’s take a look at the etymologies behind a few abbreviated company names. 1. CVS Sorry, drugstore fans, there aren’t three fatcat pharmacists with these initials running around out there. When the pharmacy chain was founded in Lowell, MA in 1963, it was known as “Consumer Value Stores.” Over time the name became abbreviated to simply CVS. 2. K-Mart Longtime five-and-dime mogul Sebastian S. Kresge opened his first larger store in Garden City, Michigan, in 1962. The store was named K-Mart after him. (Kresge had earned the right to have a store named for him; he opened up his new venture at the tender age of 94.) 3. IKEA The Swedish furniture giant and noted charity takes its name from found Ingvar Kamprad’s initials conjoined with a the first initial of the farm where Kamprad grew up, Elmtaryd, and the parish he calls home, Agunnaryd. 4. JBL The speaker company is named after its founder, James Bullough Lansing. But if Lansing had kept his original name, the company might have been called Martini Speakers. Lansing was born James Martini in 1902, but when he was 25, he changed his name to James Lansing at the suggestion of the woman who would become his wife. (The martini was already a popular cocktail at the time, and several of Lansing’s brothers had also changed their name by shortening it to Martin.) 5. BVD The stalwart men’s underwear maker was originally founded by a group of New Yorkers named Bradley, Voorhees, and Day to make women’s bustles. Eventually the trio branched out into knitted union suits for men, and their wares became so popular that “BVDs” has become a generic term for any underwear. Read the rest at Mental_floss. Photo: CC by Adam Fagen All the top stories from Mental_floss. 11 surprising stats about American social media Posted 1 day ago by Kate Rinsema to Holy Kaw! 2 One would have to live under a rock not to realize that social media has swept the nation, but rather than becoming static in its more mature phases, stats from Edison Research show social media is still evolving in ways you might find surprising. 1. Twitter users are 33% more likely to be Democrats An interesting finding, and representative of the type of custom queries we can answer for you in the next round of the Social Habit, this edition found that 40% of Twitter users are Democrats, compared to 30% of the U.S. population overall. The percentage of Republications and Independents on Twitter mirrors the U.S. average almost precisely. 2. The “Check-in” is the phenomenon that never happened 74% of Americans are unfamiliar with the concept of checking in to a location via mobile device, and only 3% have ever checked in. Even more damning, is that 4% had checked in when surveyed in 2011. This is a 25% decrease in check in behaviors in a single year. It’s not going to rebound, which is why Foursquare’s play is to be the new Yelp. 3. Only 33% of Americans have ever followed a brand in social media From 2010 to 2012 the percentage of Americans following any brand on a social network has gone from 16% to 33%. This is a sharp increase, but looked at from the opposite perspective, it’s shocking to me that 2/3 of Americans using social networks have never followed a brand. Companies still have substantial room for growth in connecting with customers and fans on social networks. Full story at Convince & Convert. What’s new in social media. Photo credit: Fotolia 開発 Posted 1 day ago by Koichi Mitsui to s a s u r a u 2 無味乾燥。 Eating veggies may help smokers quit Posted about 20 hours ago by Futurity to Holy Kaw! 1 Eating more fruits and vegetables may help smokers quit and stay tobacco-free longer, a new study shows. “We may have identified a new tool that can help people quit smoking,” says Jeffrey P. Haibach, first author on the paper and graduate research assistant at University at Buffalo. Full story at Futurity. More research news from top universities. Photo credit: Fotolia Out of this world NASA images of Venus' pass by the sun Posted about 20 hours ago by Annie Colbert to Holy Kaw! 3 The "rarest predictable solar event" occurred on June 5, but if cosmic forces caused you to miss Venus' little soiree with the sun, then take comfort in knowing NASA took pictures of the whole space shindig. The space agency's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured incredible ultra high-definition images of the planet's rare pass across the face of the sun. The videos and images displayed here are constructed from several wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light and a portion of the visible spectrum. The red colored sun is the 304 angstrom ultraviolet, the golden colored sun is 171 angstrom, the magenta sun is 1700 angstrom, and the orange sun is filtered visible light. 304 and 171 show the atmosphere of the sun, which does not appear in the visible part of the spectrum. Full collection at NASA. Let's go to space. How flowers look with "bee-vision" Posted about 19 hours ago by Futurity to Holy Kaw! 1 Over millions of years, flowers in Australia and Europe have evolved to produce the same colors to attract bees, a new study finds. “Our research shows that the common factor here is the known color vision discrimination abilities of bees. The plants have, over time, developed petals that will attract bees to act as pollinators," says Adrian Dyer of the physiology department at Monash University. Full story at Futurity. More research news from top universities. Photo credit: Monash University 140 questionable characters: Celebrities' most controversial tweets Posted about 13 hours ago by The Week to Holy Kaw! 1 Celebrities usually learn to be tight-lipped in interviews, but that's not always so with their tweets. Whether, like Gwyneth Paltrow, they're using questionable language, telling a bad joke, or just revealing their own cluelessness, these celebrities prove they're just as infallible as the rest of us. Click through for a look at missives the famous tweeters probably wish they had never sent. View slideshow at The Week. All the top stories from The Week. Those who meditate boast better willpower Posted about 17 hours ago by Futurity to Holy Kaw! 1 People who meditate do better on tasks that require self-control because they are more open to their own emotions, new research finds. “These results suggest that willpower or self-control may be sharpest in people who are sensitive and open to their own emotional experiences. Willpower, in other words, may relate to ‘‘emotional intelligence’,” says Michael Inzlicht, associate professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. Full story at Futurity. More research news from top universities. Photo credit: Fotolia The tasteless lamp sure to raise a stink Posted about 14 hours ago by Kate Rinsema to Holy Kaw! Stepping on a pile of dog droppings is generally anything but illuminating, unless it happens to be part of the Pooping dog lamp, that is. Whathisname designed both a large and small dog style, but unfortunately they don’t appear to be for sale. So much for trying to weasel your way out of hosting any more family gatherings with your tasteless décor. Full story at Whatshisname via Technabob. Truly tasteless design. ¿Te gusta Animal Planet? No te pierdas hoy el estreno de 'Con el agua al cuello' Posted about 16 hours ago by Carlos Valerio to Conozca Más Admitámoslo. La mayoría de nosotros nos sentíamos realizados capturando pececitos de plástico en los puestos de la feria o comprando algún accesorio para nuestro solitario pez Betta. Sin embargo, para Wayde King y Raymer Brett –protagonistas de ‘Con el agua al cuello’–, jugar con peceras tiene un significado totalmente distinto. Ellos se dedican a diseñar y construir tanques y acuarios para celebridades, hoteles de lujo, empresas de renombre y millonarios. ¿El resultado? Acuarios inmensos y creativos en los que se encuentran algunas de las especies acuáticas más inusuales, coloridas y peculiares del mundo. Como dice Brett, "¡si puedes soñarlo, lo construiremos!”. A través de cada uno de los seis episodios de esta serie, seguiremos las aventuras de Wayde y Brett, dueños de ATM (Acrylic Tank Manufacturing), el negocio de construcción de acuarios más grande y exitoso de Estados Unidos con sede en Las Vegas. Ellos no sólo construyen tanques, el equipo, que también incluye diseñadores, ingenieros, instaladores y constructores, ha trabajado para clientes en diversas ciudades de los Estados Unidos como Nueva York, Texas, Florida y California. Algunos de sus tanques más  sorprendentes incluyen un auto reducido a la mitad, una rocola, una cabina telefónica y una rampa de patinaje. El programa se estrena hoy en Animal Planet a las 22:00 hrs. No te lo pierdas y sumérgete en este exótico mundo. Embedded media -- click here to see it. Painting with light Posted about 14 hours ago by Annie Colbert to Holy Kaw! 1 Photographer Simon Berger's stunning images painted with light look like he harnessed a lightning bolt and made it dance. Photographs by Simon Berger. Via This is Colossal. Take incredible photographs. Reciclaje de Unicel, una manera inteligente –y efectiva– de cuidar el medio ambiente Posted about 16 hours ago by Carlos Valerio to Conozca Más El reciclaje, más que una alternativa, es una necesidad. Sobre todo en materiales ‘no amigables’ con el ambiente, como lo es el poliestireno expandido (unicel). El reciclaje de este producto es un proceso novedoso, que cada vez busca más personas, instituciones y organismos que se sumen a los esfuerzos por transmitir e implementar este conocimiento. En este sentido, Dart de México, pionero en reciclaje de unicel, impulsa su programa con la intención de sumar cada vez más aliados. Actualmente la empresa cuenta con el apoyo de Instituciones académicas, empresas, gobiernos, particulares y asociaciones de plásticos en el país. “Cuidar el medio ambiente es responsabilidad de todos. Como ciudadanos comprometidos con nuestro país, debemos adoptar una nueva cultura de conciencia social que nos permita involucrarnos en programas que respondan de forma directa ante las necesidades de nuestra comunidad en la actualidad”, comentó Gerardo Pedra, gerente corporativo de programas de reciclaje de Dart de México. El procedimiento El reciclaje de unicel es un proceso sencillo. Primero es necesario recolectarlo en un centro de acopio en donde se transfiere a un proceso de termodensificación para extraer el aire del producto, que compone 95% del mismo. El 5% restante se convierte en un material sólido que es compactado en bloques de 20 kilos para facilitar su transportación y manejo. Posteriormente, los bloques son transformados en pellets de materia prima, que volverán a ser utilizados para la elaboración de nuevos productos como lo son marcos para fotos, reglas, molduras, carcasas para celulares y suelas de zapato. FOTOGRAFÍAS radioatlacomulco.com How birds saved us from terrifyingly large insects Posted about 7 hours ago by Kate Rinsema to Holy Kaw! Next time you curse a pigeon, just imagine if that annoying flock had consisted of enormous insects and throw in a word of thanks to the rats of the sky. According to a recent article by Matthew E. Clapham and Jered A. Karr published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, our fine-feathered friends are responsible for controlling the population of insects with wingspans as large as seventy centimeters from terrorizing the planet as oxygen levels increased. (Because nothing says “Tasty!” like a huge, juicy bug.) So, if you’re not too paranoid about catching some weird bird disease, give our little buddies some love and throw a few bugs in the old bird feeder this summer. Bon apetit! Full story at PNAS via io9. Weird science. Photo credit: Fotolia The face of Mark Zuckerberg carved into books [video] Posted about 7 hours ago by Annie Colbert to Holy Kaw! Red Hong carves faces into books, so what better subject for her art than Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg? See what she did there? Hong collected 36 copies of A Game of Thrones (the thickest book she found at the bookstore) to work as the base for her project. Before all you Seven Kingdoms of Westeros devotees get up in arms and swords, Hong assures fans that the carving doesn't cut off any of the words inside the books, keeping them perfectly readable. Embedded media -- click here to see it. Learn more at Oh I See Red. Having fun with art. 7 fields of breathtaking beauty Posted about 7 hours ago by Kate Rinsema to Holy Kaw! One of the characteristics of a devout traveler is appreciation of the scenery, be it dizzying peaks in the distance, luminescent fields at dusk, or simply the perfectly placed building. Steve at WebEcoist must surely be one of these unique brethren with his piece highlighting some truly incredible expanses from around the world. Just goes to show that the best pictures from a trip may not be at the destination so much as from the journey. Above Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido is famed for its sprawling fields of lavender nourished by copious rainfall and rich volcanic soils. The area around the city of Furano boasts an abundance of lavender farms and the lush, redolent fields of fragrant lavender draw tourists from across the nation and beyond. Taking cues from both the red and violet bands of the spectrum, pink reaches its full potential when expressed in the petals of flowers. Multiply the impact by several petals per flower and thousands of flowers per field and you’ve got wall to wall, sensory overload, maximum intensity pink and a close encounter of the bubble-gum kind. Full story at WebEcoist. The view waiting at the window. Sent by Posterous. 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