I’m not a huge Letterman fan, but I’m even less of a Sarah Palin fan and this struck me as amusing:

There’s an interesting article at New Scientist about a 10-year old girl who was born with half of her cerebral cortex missing yet she’s still has a full vision:

“It was quite a surprise to see that something like this is possible,” says Lars Muckli, a neuroscientist at the University of Glasgow, UK, who was part of the team that imaged the girl’s brain.

Doctors discovered that she was missing the right half at the age of three, after she began suffering from seizures.

However, the seizures proved treatable and the girl – known as AH – lives an otherwise normal life. The left side of her body is slightly weaker than the right, but this hasn’t stopped her from bicycling or roller-skating.

But what’s most amazing, Muckli says, is her ability to see out of the left and right visual fields. Patients who have half of their cortex removed to treat epilepsy invariably lose half of their visual field. “They would only see half of the world; this is what’s expected,” he says.

That’s because, each eye sends visual signals to two different halves of the brain via two distinct bundles of nerves. The nerves on the side of the eye nearest the nose are routed to the opposite side of the brain. The nerves nearest the temple, however, send information to the same side of the brain as the eye.

In other words, each eye sends half of the signals to one side of the brain and the other half to the other side of the brain. The nerves are wired in such a way that the right side of the brain ends up processing the images that make up the left side of our vision and the left brain processes the right side images.

AH, on the other hand, has no right hemisphere to receive any signal from her left visual field. What’s more, her right eye never developed, so she should get visual information only from one half of her left eye – that is, from just one nerve bundle.

Brain scans performed by Muckli’s team explain why that’s not the case. Her retinal nerves that should normally connect to the right half of her brain instead set up shop in two parts of the left brain: the thalamus and the visual cortex.

The ability of the human body to adapt and overcome problems during development never ceases to amaze me.

Proving once again there’s a blog for every topic on the Internet I present to you The Cat-Ladder Blog:

A picture gallery and a tribute to all the fantastic cat-ladders of the world.

Since January 2007.

If you have a picture of a cat-ladder, please e-mail it to me and i will put it on the page.

Right now the website contains approximately 691 pictures.

Click the pictures for full size!

I wasn’t even aware there were such a thing as cat-ladders, but apparently they’re quite common and range from angled trees all the way up to elaborate spiral staricases. Here’s a typical example:

Click to embiggen!

And a more elaborate one:

Makes me wish I was handy with tools.

SEB Regular JethricOne sent me the following pic of a instructions on how to use an ice cube tray he bought recently:

Click to embiggen!

Apparently the tray makes long cylindrical ice cubes for use in sports drink bottles. It’s hard to imagine someone successfully ingesting one of these long cubes accidentally, but why take any chances?

It seems we’re getting into an ass-related theme during this Blogathon. Lots of people injuring themselves or others’ posteriors. As in one of the previous stories, this one involves the consumption of alcohol.

Viorel Firoiu, 48, of Romania was suffering from constipation and in his inebriated state hit upon the clever solution of using hand tools to cure it:

Dr Cristina Bontescu, spokeswoman for the local hospital where he turned up at the emergency unit, said: “He was a bit drunk and said he had been eating cherries that had left him badly constipated. He said he had a few drinks to dull the pain and then came up with the idea of poking a hammerhead up his backside in the hope of sorting out the constipation.

“But the hammerhead got stuck and then he came up with the idea of using a second hammerhead in order to try and get out the first - but then he lost the second one as well.”

It seems there’s a never ending line of people who find all manner of inappropriate objects to place up their rectums. Most of which, as in this case, require surgery to remove once inside the cavity. I realize that alcohol use lowers one’s inhibition and critical thinking skills, but it still seems like it would take a special kind of stupid to put two hammer heads up your ass.

... I’m going to build house where all the door handles will be like this one:

Click to embiggen!

Just to watch people get creeped out about them.

Via Crunch Gear.

Tasers seem like a good idea. A non-lethal means of subduing someone who could be a danger to themselves and others is just what the police need. Shame that so many of them can’t seem to keep from abusing it. Take, for example, this transcript of an office who used a couple of tasers on a suspects’ genitalia:

The exchange between Officer #3 and the suspect during the incident was captured on a police officer’s recorder. Murphy transcribed some of it in his report:

Officer #3: Do you feel this?

Complainant: Yes, sir.

Officer #3: Do you feel that? That’s my -

Complainant: Okay

Officer #3: -Taser up your ass.

Complainant: Okay

Officer #3: So don’t move.

Complainant: I’m trying not to. I can’t breathe.

“This exchange, especially the complainant’s response, strongly suggests that, at that moment anyway, the Taser was pressed between the Complainant’s buttocks and near his anal area,” Murphy wrote in his report on the incident.

Two circular burn marks 1 to 2 centimeters in size were found on the suspect’s buttocks, Murphy said.

Officer #3 also threatened to use the Taser on the suspect’s genitalia.

Here’s more of the transcribed recording of the exchange between Officer #3 and the suspect:

Officer #3: Now do you feel this in your balls?

Complainant: I do, sir. I’m not going to move. I’m not gonna move.

Officer #3 Now I’m gonna tase your balls if you move again.

A minute later, this exchange occurred:

Officer #3: Okay, I’m gonna take this Taser out of your asshole now. Are you going to fight with me?

Complainant: No, not at all, sir.

Considering that misuse of tasers is suspected in a few deaths involving the devices it’s clear that some police officers can’t handle the responsibility of carrying one, let alone a gun. Here’s hoping this asshole gets fired and brought up on charges for his stupidity.

Via Boulder Dude.

This was too awesome not to share:

These events always amaze me. The participants for this one showed up, learned the dance in 30 minutes and then performed it an hour later.

Is it just me or does it seem like a lot of companies are pulling fees out of their collective asses these days? It’s mostly the airlines, but there are other companies doing it like the folks at Xcel Energy in Colorado who have decided that they are going to charge the homeowners who have solar cells on their houses a fee for being connected to the power grid:

Tom Henley, an Xcel Energy spokesman, initially told 7NEWS that implementing the fee would level the playing field for electricity users who are currently subsidizing connectivity fees for solar users, who sometimes use no electricity in a given month and therefore, pay no electrical fees.

“We just don’t think it’s fair that customers that don’t have solar panels on their homes should subsidize these solar panel customers any further,” said Henley.

But when pressed, Henley admitted that currently, no Xcel electric customers pay extra to fund solar connectivity fees. In reality, Xcel absorbs those fees. The money from the proposed fee would not go into the pockets of electric customers, but would go back to Xcel.

Henley said the fee is a preventative measure to ensure that, down the road, solar customers do not get free rides.

“What we’re looking to do is stop that, avoid that occurrence from happening,” he said.

No, no. What you’re doing is attempting to get something for nothing. And your customers know it:

Mike Jacoby, who installed solar panels on the roof of his home two years ago, bristled at the notion that he is not doing his part.

Jacoby said the installation cuts his monthly electrical fee by anywhere from 33 to 50 percent a month. In return, his home acts as a power plant, generating energy for Xcel that can power some of the homes on his block.

“Mine are generating enough to feed five or six houses around me electricity, so there’s no free ride,” said Jacoby.

“That’s less energy that Xcel Energy has to produce. That’s less coal that they have to burn,” agreed Dan Ferguson, a solar consultant with Vibrant Solar.

Yeah, someone’s upset they’re not making money off the solar power users. Fortunately it looks like the solar power folks are going to fight the fee and I hope they win. This is a bullshit fee for bullshit reasons.

If you find that you absolutely have to express your unhappiness by urinating on her chair then you should limit the number of times you do it:

“The first two or three times, we had someone clean it up and then it got to be so often that after the fourth time we started investigating pretty hard,” he said. “We had a local contractor come in and put a hidden camera above her desk.”

[...] “We saw Steve Thompson, a second shift employee, urinating on the chair and then trying to wipe it clean with a paper towel,” he said.

“I’ve been a prosecutor for 25 years and we’ve had our share of unusual perversion,” said Clark County Prosecuting Attorney Steven D. Stewart. “This is the first time I’ve ever had a case where our defendant allegedly victimized somebody by urinating on somebody’s property. I understand it’s not rape, robbery, burglary or murder, but it’s pretty disgusting and it’s got most people here at the courthouse here upset.”

I guess you could say he was really pissed off, eh?

Yeah another bad pun. It’s only going to get worse as the night goes on you know.

If you’re not sure what a button does sometimes you’re better off just leaving it a mystery:

The Boeing 767-300 was undergoing a heavy maintenance check at the company’s Alliance Airport hangar, when the nose gear suddenly folded up, as it would if the plane was in the air.

[...] At the time, mechanics were running the aircraft through a series of functional tests, according to Tim Wagner, a spokesman for the airline.

Amazingly, no workers were injured when the gear collapsed. During ground tests, mechanics often sit in the cockpit or stand near the belly of the plane.

I’m sure it’s a mistake any under-trained airline technician could make.

This is a bit old, but I didn’t get around to it when it first hit the net.

SEB Tip of the Day: No matter how mad you are about how your McDonald’s order was handled repeatedly calling 911 about it will get you arrested:

Jeremy Martin, 23, was charged with improper use of the 911 service, the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon reported.

Martin allegedly called the 911 dispatcher and explained that he had paid $10 but only received a single burger and an order of fries, according to the Web site.

The police dispatcher told the man it was not a police matter and requested he try to resolve the matter with the manager of McDonald’s.

But the man identifying himself as Martin demanded that a police officer arrive at the restaurant, threatening to sue.

“This is a 911 emergency,” the man said, according to the Web site. “I got robbed for eight dollars.”

Certainly I can see calling the police and filing a report or maybe filing a suit in small claims court, but 911 is a bit overkill and being insistent on it when you’ve already been told not to call is just making an ass out of yourself. Especially when it’s all of eight dollars. Grow the fuck up.

Here’s a random thought that came up in the chat room for the live feed I’m running: What would you do in return for big corporate sponsorship?

Me? I’d be willing to shave my beard off for a big fat check from, say, the Gillette company. Or Remington. Whoever. It would have to be a pretty big check, though, as I look pretty crappy without a beard. It’s the only reason I look like I have a chin. I think it’s been almost 10 or 12 years since I last shaved my beard off. It’s sort of become my signature, but I’m not above getting rid of it for a mound of cash.

So if anyone from a razor/shaving cream/related industry is watching this and feels like this would be a great promotion—I mean look at my beard it’s like one of those steel wire scrubbers thingies—feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you’re offering to see it disappear. I’ll even do it for a commercial.

The Blogathon folks have put forth a challenge to us participants to post a picture of our workspace to their Flicker group and then blog about it. So here’s mine:

As you can see, this is the desk of someone who is very ADHD. Which makes sense because I’m such a person. We could almost have a contest to see if anyone can name every item in that picture, though that probably wouldn’t be fair as some of the items are pretty well buried.

Amazingly enough I have no problems finding whatever I’m looking for.

Seems EA is once again trying a potentially controversial promotion for their upcoming game Dante’s Inferno at this year’s Comic Con. They’re hold a contest where the price is a date with a booth babe:

Electronic Arts is running a Dante’s Inferno contest at Comic-Con that promises “a sinful night with two hot girls” as a reward for snagging multiple pictures with any booth babes—or, as the contest puts it, committing “acts of lust.”

The promotional flier asks entrants to Facebook, Twitter or email in their pictures with booth babes. The grand prize winner, handpicked by EA staff, wins “a night with the hottest girl at Comic-Con, dinner, booty and more.”

Since when did EA get into the pimping business? That’s what their promotion makes it sound like they’re doing anyway.

As it turns out EA isn’t really serious about you sinning with the boot babes. The official rules at www.sintowin.com forbid any actual sinning:

“Judges reserve the right, in their sole and absolute discretion, to disqualify any Submissions that are inappropriate for any reason, including without limitation, for depicting or mentioning sex, violence, drugs, alcohol and/or inappropriate language,” reads the fine print.

So apparently they want you to run around getting your picture taken with as many booth babes as possible and “committing acts of lust” but they don’t want any pictures that depict or mention sex or any of the other potential sins one might engage in. Seems somewhat contradictory, doesn’t it? Do they really expect these people to read the fine print and abide by it? I feel a little sorry for any booth babes they end up caught up in this promotion. This could go badly very quickly.