Tuesday, November 4, 2008

New York Times breaks typographic barriers...

...with largest point font, ever.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Sarcastigate.com


This is where the action's at now: http://sarcastigate.com.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

"Toxic substance" does not include...



Excerpt from the Wisconsin Department of Commerce Regulation of Industry, Buildings and Safety, Sections 101.58 to 101.599 (The “Employees’ Right to Know Law”):

2. “Toxic substance” does not include:
a. Any article, including but not limited to an item of equip-
ment or hardware, which contains a substance regulated by the
federal occupational safety and health administration under title
29 of the code of federal regulations part 1910, subpart z, if the
substance is present in a solid form which does not cause any acute
or chronic health hazard as a result of being handled by an
employee.
b. Any mixture containing a substance regulated under title
29 of the code of federal regulations part 1910, subpart z, if the
substance is less than one percent, or, if the substance is an impu-
rity, less than 2%, of the product.
c. Any consumer product packaged for distribution to and
used by the general public, for which the employee’s exposure
during use is not significantly greater than the consumer’s expo-
sure occurring during the principal use of the product.
d. Any substance received by an employer in a sealed package
and subsequently sold or transferred in that package, if the seal
remains intact while the substance is in the employer’s workplace.
e. Any waste material regulated under the federal resource
conservation and recovery act, P.L. 94−580.
f. Lutefisk.
(k) “Workplace” means any location where an employee per-
forms a work−related duty in the course of his or her employment,
except a personal residence.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Little Beauties:



I guess the usual reaction to this is to think it's exploitative and deviant, which I do, but I also think it's kind of weak to point to it and suggest that it somehow evinces a deeper cultural psychology. I think this is a fringe practice, and I don't think it was created to please men. Instead, I think it was created to officialize and sanction an obsession with cuteness that is mostly harbored by older women. The sexualization of the girls is, I think, part of the usual topsy-turvy of the cute factor: like a puppy in sunglasses, or a little boy in a suit. Little kids dressing up like or acting like adults has a definite charm.

But, as with dolls and the Uncanny Valley, this charming precocity can spill over into seriously creepy territory.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Sneezing at the sun.

Photic sneeze reflex is a genetic autosomal dominant trait, which causes sneezing when exposed suddenly to bright light, possibly many times consecutively. It is also referred to as photic sneeze response, sun sneezing, photogenic sneezing, the photosternutatory reflex, being photo sensitive, ACHOO syndrome, and "Achooism," with its related backronym Autosomal dominant Compelling Helio-Ophthalmic Outburst syndrome. The condition affects 17 to 35 percent of humans.[citation needed]

The first mention of the phenomenon is probably in the later work attributed to Aristotle (Problems, book XXXIII).

Continue reading: Wikipedia

Monday, October 13, 2008

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Barry Sanders.