18 Cool Inventions From the Past

Johnny Carson Once Caused a Month Long Toilet Paper Shortage Embed This Quick Fact: <a href=" title="Johnny Carson Once Caused a Month Long Toilet Paper Shortage"><img src=" alt="" title="Johnny Carson Once Caused a Month Long Toilet Paper Shortage" border="0" /></a><br />Source: <a href=" title="Random Quick Facts">Random Quick Facts</a> Click Here to Read More Toilet Paper Facts Text Version Johnny Carson once caused a near month long toilet paper shortage in the U.S. in December of 1973. After several days of toilet paper shortages due to this hysteria, Carson went on the air to try to explain it had been a joke and apologized.

THE LAB Toilet Tech: A Power Generator Turns Falling Wastewater Into Electricity Here's a novel way to get a little more out of time spent in the bathroom. An industrial design student at De Montfort University in Leicester, UK, has created a clever power generator that turns falling wastewater into electricity. The HighDro Power is a waterwheel-like turbine that can be incorporated into the pipes of tall buildings to turn one man's waste into another man's wattage. Student Tom Broadbent's inspiration came when he emptied a bath in a hotel room and it drained quite quickly and with impressive force. He started tinkering around with ideas for harnessing the kinetic energy that accompanies each drained sink or flushed toilet, using rapid prototyping machines and vacuum forming to create the parts. Installed in series in a tall building, those generators can return quite a bit of power either to the building itself or to the grid. [Creative Boom via Core77]

Computer Gamers Decipher Structure of AIDS Enzyme - In the News Computer Gamers Decipher Structure of AIDS Enzyme Posted on Sep 20, 2011 To the astonishment of scientists, online gamers deciphered the 3-D structure of an enzyme of an AIDS-like virus in just three weeks, a feat that had evaded researchers for 10 years. The gamers used a “fun for purpose” video game called “Foldit,” developed in 2008 by the University of Washington, to unwind chains of amino acids and create an accurate 3-D digital model of the monomeric protease enzyme, a “cutting agent in the complex molecular tailoring of retroviruses,” including HIV. —BF AFP on Yahoo Games’ Plugged In: Cracking the enzyme “provides new insights for the design of antiretroviral drugs,” says the study, referring to the lifeline medication against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). New and Improved Comments If you have trouble leaving a comment, review this help page.

Give a Listen: It’s Conversational Commerce Russ: “Siri, are you ready to help me buy something online?” Siri: “Not yet, Russ, but I may be able to at some point.” Not the answer I was hoping for, but at least Siri was honest about it! Siri, of course, is the new voice-enabled personal assistant that comes with all of the new Apple iPhone 4S smartphones. Our particular interest in Siri here at Glenbrook is how this (or other) intelligent voice-aware agents might be enabled at some point to truly streamline how we buy stuff online. It’s easy to imagine the possibilities for using Siri to: Find the next Virgin America flight to Seattle, and book/buy an aisle seatFind a specific product online, select the merchant based on availability and total cost out the door, buy it, and have it shipped to your houseFind when “Moneyball” is showing next at my neighborhood cinema, buy two tickets and deliver ‘em to my phone From Intelligent Agent to Humble Personal Assistant Apple has not completely given up on those external data integrations.

Bairim by Timon Sager Naut Your Average Yacht Sell the house, sell the car, sell the kids (kidding!). But seriously, the Bairim luxury-yacht by designer Timon Sager is enough to make you want to leave it all behind and hit the high seas. It’s no-resistance design is hydrodynamically optimized for cutting through rough waters. Below deck, the polished interior is enhanced by advanced comfort features and water-level floor-to-ceiling windows on the port and starboard sides. Gotta love the classic wooden deck that opens to the interior and that center stairway leading to the water. Designer: Timon Sager <i>Contagion</i> doesn't skimp on science Ferris Jabr, reporter (Image: Claudette Barius ©Warner Bros Entertainment Inc) It's hard to name many Hollywood blockbusters that are as invested in the realities of science as Contagion. There certainly are plenty of enormously successful science-fiction films that abuse science in the name of drama, like Outbreak and The Day After Tomorrow, but very few Hollywood productions realistically portray the process of science, both its successes and frustrations. Directed by Steven Soderbergh - who previously directed Traffic and the remake of Ocean's Eleven - Contagion's all-star cast includes Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kate Winslet. The story begins with Beth Emhoff (Paltrow) coughing in an airport in Chicago, on her way back home to Minneapolis after a business trip to Hong Kong. Throughout the film there is the suggestion that the virus might be a bioweapon, but that idea is never validated. You can look again now.

5 trends driving the future of work As the year draws to a close, you may be assessing your career plans against the backdrop of holiday hoopla and the uncertain employment climate. To get a leg up, grab an eggnog and read on to learn about trends that could change how you'll be making a living in the years to come: Trend 1: Independent consulting to see hockey-stick growth curve According to a new study from MBO Partners, a company offering services to independent consultants, by 2013, the number of independent workers in America is expected to grow from 16 million to more than 20 million. Blame the economic turmoil or a change in values, but more people are demanding greater self-reliance, control and satisfaction in their professional lives. MBO CEO Gene Zaino highlighted results from the national study last week at the GigaOM Net:Work conference in San Francisco. Other key findings from the study: Trend 2: Order books, movies and now ... workers online Rosati points to technology and independence as the main drivers:

Fake Capsizing Boat Artist Julien Berthier created a boat, named Love Love, that looks like it’s sinking, but actually has a motor that allows it to be driven around, fully afloat. Check past the jump for a picture of the boat out of the water. As one can plainly see, the boat has a proper bottom: This picture of the boat in port was too hilarious not to include: Julien Berthier: Unique artist, troll of the high seas, or both? >>>See also: Optical illusion of little girl chasing a ball down the street used to slow down reckless drivers. (designboom via DVICE via Geekologie)

Google algorithm change shifts billions in ad spending - Mar. 8 By David Goldman, staff writerMarch 8, 2011: 12:07 PM ET NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Google's recent change to its search algorithm has dramatically shaken up the businesses of websites that moved up or down its search rankings. Sites whose rankings rose to the top found that their traffic and revenue soared -- but the adjustment had an equally devastating effect on those that were dropped. The Online Publishers Association, a group of content producers comprising many of the Internet's largest properties (including CNN.com), estimates that the algorithm change shifted $1 billion in annual revenue. Some of the losers felt the hit immediately. The stakes are high in the Google-placement game. With control of two-thirds of the U.S. search market, Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) steers a tremendous amount of traffic to websites. That means that positioning in Google's search results can be a life-or-death issue for a business. Impact on 'mom and pop' sites Righting a wrong Share this

Prospective 2100 Custom Tree House Plans, DIY Ideas & Building Designs No, really: would you want to design, build and live in an real fantasy tree house all year round? More and more people have decided to do just that and where treehouses were once novelty architecture for kids they are now (almost) mainstream structures, as attested to by the pictures above via Bella Seven. Many modern tree house designs and home designers and custom builders take a site-specific approach and construct their tree buildings around not only views and rooms but also have to account for access and structural support in unique and novel ways. Some of the results are little auxiliary spaces intended for guests or vacations while others are fully developed tree homes with everything need for daily living. While a lot of attention is paid to lofty plans by fashionable designers, there are many people who continue to use quite conventional home-building plans, techniques and materials to construct tree homes and cabins that look much like ordinary residences on the ground below.

How Things Used to Be You are visiting www.rawfoodinfo.com How Things Used To Be Hi friends, I don't know who wrote this article and some of it may not be accurate but it is still interesting musing... Rhio Next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and still smelled pretty good by June. Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. Houses had thatched roofs - thick straw, piled high, with no wood underneath. When it rained it became slippery, and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof, hence the saying, "It's raining cats and dogs." There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. The floor was dirt. They cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. Those with money had plates made of pewter. Source Unknown

Rapport CES 2012 Voici venu le temps de vous délec­ter avec la sep­tième édition du Rap­port du Consu­mer Elec­tro­nics Show de Las Vegas , ver­sion 2012. Comme d’habitude depuis 2006, je vous pro­pose ce docu­ment PDF gra­tuit pour faire le tour de l’ensemble des offres du monde des loi­sirs numé­riques. C’est à la fois un tour d’horizon très large de l’offre pré­sen­tée au CES mais aussi de la situa­tion du mar­ché elle-même. J’élargis par­fois le pro­pos à des pro­duits et solu­tions décou­verts pen­dant l’année pas­sée, notam­ment dans des star­tups fran­çaises ou autres, mais pas for­cé­ment mis en valeur pen­dant le CES. Cette édition 2012 du rap­port est télé­char­geable sous deux formes : Une ver­sion avec les images en pleine réso­lu­tion, indis­pen­sable pour un tirage papier et aussi pour lec­ture sur tablette, de 39 Mo : lien de télé­char­ge­ment . Nou­veau­tés mar­quantes dans l’édition 2012 Dans cette édition, vous trou­ve­rez notamment : Relec­ture et révisions Témoi­gnages de lecteurs Pho­tos