Your Daily Posterous Spaces Update

	June 14th, 2012 Using your 15 minutes of fame to your advantage Posted 1 day ago by Lily Koi to Holy Kaw! 1 So you had your big break. Your company was featured on a TV show, and you're expecting to bring in the big bucks. The trouble is, it doesn't work that way. Open Forum points out that it takes work to turn that brief flare of fame into something tangible. For example: Start local Go to a major network’s local affiliate to get some practice and a video of your company representative on television. Even without a larger network spot in the offing, your story becomes more of a known commodity. The competition at this level is less intense so you will likely have more opportunity to be featured. Full story at Open Forum. The latest trends in advertising. Photo credit: Fotolia 5 Fictional Bears and Whether They'd Kill You Posted 1 day ago by mental_floss to Holy Kaw! From docile to deadly, we’ve ranked our favorite fictional bears by your likelihood of surviving an unplanned run-in with them. Paddington Bear Andean Bear The only bears native to Paddington’s home country of Peru, Andeans are docile omnivores. When they see (or smell) a human, their first move is to bolt up a tree. Unless you’re packing one of Paddington’s marmalade sandwiches, you’re probably in the clear. Smokey American Black Bear Unlike their grizzly cousins, black bears are pretty timid. Smokey might charge if he felt threatened or thought you were starting a forest fire, but it would be a bluff to make you run away. Fight back and you’ll probably live … to tell the coolest story ever. See the rest at mental_floss. All the top stories from mental_floss. 11 quirky code names for Apple products Posted about 16 hours ago by mental_floss to Holy Kaw! Apple uses secret internal code names for many of its products before they’re released. Over the years, they’ve come up with some really weird ones — including one that led to multiple lawsuits. 1. “Carl Sagan”/”Butt-Head Astronomer” – Power Macintosh 7100 Apple hoped to make “billions and billions” from this midrange model of the Power Mac. Naturally, they called it “Carl Sagan”…until Sagan sued Apple to make them knock it off. (Other code names for related products included “Piltdown Man” and “Cold Fusion”; Sagan didn’t like being associated, even secretly, with a hoax and pseudoscience.) Although Sagan lost the suit — probably because the code name was never used in public marketing — Apple changed the name. The new name: “BHA” (which was short for “Butt-Head Astronomer”). Sagan again sued, this time for libel, and lost. 2. “C1″ – iMac The original iMac went by the extremely boring code name “C1″ and Steve Jobs reportedly wanted to call the finished product “MacMan,” as an homage to the Sony Walkman. Terrified by the prospect of a product named “MacMan,” a group of advertising creatives thought up a series of alternatives, eventually developing “iMac” and convincing Jobs to use it. Ken Segall tells the story of how the iMac was almost a MacMan. (Shudder.) 3. “I Tripoli” and “Cube-E” – System 7.1 Apple’s “System 7″ operating system was a big deal, with the original version bearing the code name “Big Bang” as it heralded the addition of key features like QuickTime, crappy cooperative multitasking, and virtual memory. When the System 7.1 update rolled around, Apple built it to comply with IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) standards, hence the code names — “IEEE” is generally pronounced “I triple-E.” 4. “Kanga” – PowerBook G3 Prior to the much-beloved “Wallstreet” and “Pismo” PowerBook G3 models was an odd duck code named “Kanga,” possibly for the Winnie-the-Pooh character. Kanga was billed as the fastest notebook in the world, and it was effectively a G3 CPU crammed into a pre-existing PowerBook 3400 body. Because fully redesigned PowerBook G3 models hit the market just 5 months after Kanga debuted, Wikipedia reports: “Kanga has the dubious distinction of being Apple’s fastest depreciating PowerBook. See the rest at mental_floss. All the top stories from mental_floss. Alice Cooper's 'Born This Way' and 6 other unlikely Lady Gaga covers Posted about 23 hours ago by The Week to Holy Kaw! 1 The shock rocker's surprising riff on Gaga's hit puts him on a list of unusual Gaga imitators that includes Larry King and Joseph Gordon-Levitt Shock rocker Alice Cooper paved his way into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with obstinate tracks like "School's Out" and horror-show stage antics. Now he's covering Lady Gaga, the princess of pop. Cooper performed a rendition of "Born This Way" at this year's Bonnaroo music festival, joining a list of people you'd least expect to put their unique spins on Mother Monster's tracks: 1. Alice Cooper - "Born This Way" Embedded media -- click here to see it. Cooper blasted out a surprise, guitar-heavy cover of "Born This Way" to close out his set at Bonnaroo over the weekend, complete with his own revisionist lyrics: "Called myself Alice/ Surprised my dad/ He just didn't understand." Cooper and Gaga seem like an odd combination on the surface, says Starpulse. "But once you see it, you can't help but think it sounds pretty good." Simply put, says William Goodman at Fuse, Cooper "slays" it. 2. Joseph Gordon-Levitt - "Bad Romance" Embedded media -- click here to see it. Joseph Gordon-Levitt broke out in a major way after starring in Christopher Nolan's 2010 hit Inception. Riding that wave of success, the actor covered Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" at an event to support his internet venture HitRECord, pulling off an "admirable rendition" of the song, says Celebuzz. "He makes good movies, covers good songs, supports online creativity — hard not to love this dude," says Chris Ryan at MTV. See the rest at The Week. All the top stories from The Week. 目を瞑って Posted 1 day ago by Koichi Mitsui to s a s u r a u 2 川の音。 Divine wine design (and other alcohol apparel) Posted about 22 hours ago by Kate Rinsema to Holy Kaw! As the old saying goes, “If you can’t beat’em, join’em,” and anyone who’s ever battled a stubborn red wine stain knows there’s a good chance that clothing is history. Micro’be is seeking to change all that, though, by making the wine the fabric for their most unique fashions. Scientist Gary Cass was inspired to create cellulose garments when he noticed a skin-like rubbery layer covering a vat of wine that was contaminated with Acetobacter bacteria (don't worry--it's non-hazardous and non-pathogenic). He worked together with artist Donna Franklin and used the bacteria to transform alcohol into a cellulose fabric by pouring and wrapping it against a mold or human body. The resulting material clings to the body and is entirely seamless. The team has also successfully used white wine, beer and even Guinness to create their material, but its inflexibility and smell could present a problem, unless reeking like you’ve been living in a bottle is a good thing. Full story at Bioalloy via Yahoo Shine. Funky fashion. Photo credit: Ray Scott Biochip may track flu in real time Posted about 18 hours ago by Futurity to Holy Kaw! Researchers have created a reliable and fast flu-detection test that can be carried in a first-aid kit and may lead to real-time tracking of influenza. “We wanted to make something simple,” says Anubhav Tripathi, associate professor of engineering at Brown University. “It’s a low-cost device for active, on-site detection, whether it’s influenza, HIV, or TB (tuberculosis).” Full story at Futurity. More research news from top universities. Photo credit: Mike Cohea/Brown Apple's 1980s fashion line needs more shoulderpads Posted about 19 hours ago by Annie Colbert to Holy Kaw! 1 Steve Jobs set the trend for Apple fashion with his simple black turtleneck, New Balance sneakers, and dad-colored 501s. Jobs' streamlined approach to clothing reflected the company's product line and Tim Cook's navy-navy-black look continues that approach. Apple's style prowess did not always look quite so perfectly effortless though, as seen in an Apple clothing catalogue put out in 1986. Apple historians will note that the date of publication postdates Jobs' departure. Although, seeing Steve model that sweet visor and oversized sweatshirt would have made for fashion history gold (or aluminum). Via Design Taxi. Take a bite out of Apple fashion. Meaning of the lines on a Solo cup revealed Posted about 18 hours ago by Annie Colbert to Holy Kaw! Little known fact: Nostradamus designed Solo red cups. That's probably not true, but how else do you explain why it took so long to decipher the meaning of the lines on the plastic cup? Via Kottke. Learn other helpful life facts. Graphite pencils draw on positive messages for motivation Posted about 17 hours ago by Annie Colbert to Holy Kaw! 1 The graphite pencil pack from Moderna Musseet in Stockholm offers motivation, inspiration, or whatever else your mind needs in moments of creative frustration. Via SwissMiss. Design that makes you smile. ¿Cómo viven los judíos ultraortodoxos en Jerusalén? Posted about 17 hours ago by Tere to Conozca Más 'Jaredí' es el término para denominar a un judío ultraortodoxo y se caracterizan por ser sumamente devotos. El principio de su sistema de creencias es la Torá, es decir, los cinco primeros libros de la Biblia y cuya autoría se atribuye a Moisés. Recientemente tuvimos la fortuna de visitar Israel y esto fue lo que vimos (y aprendimos): Jerusalén en una ciudad que se divide por barrios. Aunque ahora los límites ya no están tan claros ni para los habitantes mismos, sí hay algunos sectores que se caracterizan por los grupos que viven en ellos (en la Ciudad Vieja, por ejemplo, hay grupos armenios, cristianos, judíos y musulmanes). El barrio de Mea Shearim es en el que habitan los judíos ultraortodoxos.  Las calles de Mea Shearim están llenas de carteles y desplegados que los jaredíes utilizan para comunicarse. En las casas no hay teléfono, televisión, radio y sólo unos pocos tienen computadora. Por ello, en las calles hay pliegos en los que se anuncian eventos o noticias y que todos pueden consultar.  Los judíos suelen casarse cuando son jóvenes (es raro que las mujeres pase de los 23 años) y tener un hijo cada año. En las calles de Mea Shearim, es común ver a los hombres separados de las mujeres. Ellos caminan por delante y ellas, junto con sus hijos, detrás de sus maridos.  Las mujeres jaredíes llevan el cabello cubierto porque se considera algo sensual y no deben ser deseadas por otros hombres que no sean su marido. Asimismo, ponen especial atención en la idea de la 'perversión'. En el Muro de los Lamentos (el lugar más sagrado para el judaísmo), por ejemplo, los hombres rezan de un lado y las mujeres del otro. De este modo evitan 'distraerse' con ideas perversas y se dedican exclusivamente a orar. Por otro lado, toda mujer jaredí viste siempre de falda o vestido. Esta costumbre obedece a que en Deuteronomio dice: "no vestirá la mujer traje de hombre, ni el hombre vestirá ropa de mujer; porque abominación es a Jehová tu Dios cualquiera que esto hace". Es decir, ellos no pueden llevar falda y ellas no pueden llevar pantalones.  El día del Shabbat, séptimo día y el más sagrado de la semana judía, inicia el viernes con la puesta de sol y termina el sábado con la aparición de estrellas (el día que nosotros estuvimos de visita, el término oficial del shabbat fue a las 8:20 de la noche).  Durante el shabbat está prohibido el trabajo y los judíos deben dedicarse a orar y a realizar todo aquello que provoque placer (sí, hasta la persona judía que nos lo explicó nos dijo 'ahora ya entienden por qué tenemos tantos hijos').  Con 'prohibido trabajar' se entienden una diversidad de actividades. Por ejemplo, no se puede limpiar la casa, cocinar o conducir un auto. Por ello, gran parte de ellos (aunque no sean ultraortodoxos) se hospedan en hoteles. En el que nosotros estuvimos había un comedor especial y exclusivo para ellos, un elevador que se detenía en todos los pisos (para que no tocaran ningún botón) y observamos jóvenes que transcribían la Torá.  Conforme avanza el viernes, las calles se van vaciando. Hay judíos que entran y salen de la Ciudad Vieja para dirigirse al Muro de los Lamentos. Los accesos a turistas están prohibidos en esta noche. Los hombres visten de negro –con sus mejores galas– y llevan sombreros. Los más grandes y vistosos son de piel y constituyen una herencia rusa. Quien no tiene recursos para comprarlos, lleva un sombrero más austeros.  No todas las mujeres van al muro a orar (de hecho, nosotros no vimos ninguna ni siquiera durante el sábado). A ellas se les permite faltar en caso de que tengan que amamantar o dedicarse a sus familias.  Durante una cena en el barrio ultraortodoxo, el hombre se dedica a la oración, luego la familia se sienta a la mesa en silencio, se parte el pan y se sirve el vino.  Los judíos (en general) tienen una alimentación específica. Nuevamente, basan los lineamientos en la Torá. Una de las características que observamos en los lugares en que comimos es que no mezclan carne con lácteos porque el Éxodo dice: "No guisarás el cabrito en la leche de su madre". (Por poner un ejemplo burdo: en McDonalds las hamburguesas se venden sin queso).  La noche del sábado, después de que termina el shabbat, en Mea Shearim los hombres salen de las sinagogas y se dirigen a sus casas. Algunos seguirán dedicados a orar el resto de la semana.  La dedicación a la oración de algunos jaredíes es una preocupación para el Estado de Israel. Dado que los hombres dedican todo su tiempo al estudio de los textos sagrados, las mujeres son quienes trabajan. Por ello –y por el tamaño de sus familias– algunos viven en condiciones de pobreza (sin embargo, sobreviven por la ayuda que se prestan entre sí).  Asimismo, pueden evadir el servicio militar (hombres tres años y mujeres dos), con el mismo argumento (la oración y el estudio de los textos sagrados). Aún está por verse cómo es que el gobierno resuelve esta situación.  See the full gallery on Posterous Kickball master move [video] Posted about 17 hours ago by Kate Rinsema to Holy Kaw! All hail the kickball king, Ricky Laforge! Sure, you might catch a truly acrobatic move during football season once in a while, but lest you’ve dismissed kickball as a kid’s sport, this video should give you a whole new appreciation of the lengths adults are willing to go for the score. Embedded media -- click here to see it. Full story at YouTube via Neatorama. One for the books. Has being 'cool' lost its bad-boy image? Posted about 16 hours ago by Futurity to Holy Kaw! 1 Rebellious and aloof daredevils may be disappointed to find out they are no longer cool, according to researchers, who say coolness has evolved from its bad-boy origins. "James Dean is no longer the epitome of cool," says University of Rochester researcher Ilan Dar-Nimrod. "The much darker version of what coolness is still there, but it is not the main focus. The main thing is: Do I like this person? Is this person nice to people, attractive, confident and successful? That’s cool today, at least among young mainstream individuals." Full story at Futurity. More research news from top universities. For some, salary boost feels like failure Posted about 15 hours ago by Futurity to Holy Kaw! 1 People with neurotic tendencies may actually perceive a pay increase as a sign of failure, according to a new study. “These results suggest that we see money more as a device to measure our successes or failures rather than as a means to achieve more comfort," says University of Warwick economist Eugenio Proto. Full story at Futurity. More research news from top universities. Photo credit: Fotolia 64 things to do with the kids this summer Posted about 15 hours ago by Kate Rinsema to Holy Kaw! 1 Schools out and that means the summer fun has begun, but before all you stay-at-home moms and dads and sitters out there despair, there’s plenty of fun to be had and things to keep the kids busy until the starting bell rings next fall. Although this amazing list by Tara Burghart of Go West Young Mom is based in the western suburbs of Chicago, plenty of the items are applicable in areas around the country and the rest can provide inspiration for seeking out similar activities in your own area. The local paper should provide plenty of listings and even making a calendar of upcoming events might be a great idea for a rainy day. So, why not break out of the rut this summer and make some memories that will last a lifetime? - Dance and picnic outside while listening to a band play in a park. (Free) - Sign up for your library’s reading program. (Free) - Head to a nearby suburb and check out a new park. - Catch a jarful of fireflies – and then make sure to release them! (Free) - Visit a farmers market. (Free) - Make your own sidewalk chalk paint. (Free) - Make homemade popsicles. You can use Dixie cups if you don’t have popsicle molds. (Free) - Have a water balloon fight in your backyard. (Free) - Camp out in your backyard. (Free) Full story at Go West Young Mom Ideas for parents. Photo credit: Fotolia 10 fascinating examples of melanism, albinism's opposite Posted about 12 hours ago by Kate Rinsema to Holy Kaw! 3 While most of us are familiar with albinos, or those with a condition wherein there’s a lack of melanin production causing an absence of pigment, there is also such a thing as melanism. The black panther is actually a leopard with this characteristic, but what about other members of the animal kingdom? Black deer Black deer? In my woodlands? It’s actually LESS likely than you think. According to Dr. John Baccus, director of the wildlife ecology program at Texas State University, “Even though we have more melanistic deer here than in the whole world, they’re still extremely rare. It’s the rarest of the white-tailed deer, even rarer than the big-antlered deer. I get the harvest records every year from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and generally, there are fewer than five of these melanistic deer that are harvested in any given year.” Melanistic zebras Melanistic zebras aren’t all-black, though on occasion they come close. Instead, the mutation acts on the width of the black stripes, crowding out the white to varying degrees. Sometimes the effect is startling and unusual, depending on the strength of the melanistic gene and how it acts on certain individuals. Full story at WebEcoist. Black sheep of the animal kingdom. The briefcase sofa Posted about 9 hours ago by Kate Rinsema to Holy Kaw! 3 The question really isn’t where could you use a sofa that folds up into a briefcase so much as where couldn’t you use one, and for under $130, this dream that fits in the palm of your hand (well, the handle part, anyway) can be yours. (Commence the dance of joy now.) Not only can it seat two adults comfortably thanks its 39” length, but the steel frame allows for decent back support and it even has built-in gadget holders to keep your phone off the grass, gravel, what have you. Pure genius. Full story at Kohl’s via Gizmodo. Infinitely useful inventions. Sent by Posterous. Change your email settings or unfollow. Other questions? We'd love to help.