Sinlung Tops : Blog Title the same as above

Another Apple market: hot Russian spies

It can’t get much better than this: Beautiful Russian spy loves her Macintosh. Anna Chapman is one of the eleven people arrested for embracing America a little too much. Of course, what hip spy would be caught dead without a Facebook page? Not Anna. And getting a Macintosh was the best part of the first twenty-four days of 2010, twenty-six years to the day from the introduction of Macintosh.
But wait, it gets better. According to Yahoo, she had trouble getting her computer to make a wireless connection to transmit her reports. (Dang, that is reason enough to buy a Macintosh.) She should have never named her network “Free public spyfi.” Many news reports emphasize her as a “red-hot beauty,” or something to that effect, who lived a glamourous New York lifestyle—putin on the Ritz?
Hat tip to Minneapolis video producer and Mac addict, Mark Fawcett, for pointing this story out to me.

Ten myths about the Deepwater spill, busted by Oceana

At yesterday’s TEDxOilSpill, a daylong event in Washington, D.C. trying to find solutions to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Oceana CEO Andrew Sharpless took the time to answer ten questions about oil and energy usually asked by "people who don't support policies that could create something good out of this catastrophe." (Oceana is a nonprofit ocean conservation organization calling for an end to offshore drilling.)
Sharpless busts 10 myths about the spill — so use these answers when arguing with your cynical uncle:
1) Isn't this Deepwater Horizon drilling disaster like an airplane crash? And we don't shut down aviation when planes crash. A) No, this is not like an airplane crash. In an airplane crash, most of the victims are those who were on the airplane. The victims here are the millions of people living in the Gulf. This is more like the guy who built a campfire in the dry season, against regulations, and burned down the national forest. That's why we have regulations against building campfires during the dry season: Not because every camper burns down his campsite, but because all we need is one.
2) There are 3,600 drilling platforms in the Gulf. Are you going to shut them all down? A) We're not calling for a shutdown of the platforms, just of drilling. Once you've drilled, the risks decrease.
3) Isn't this just a deep-water problem? Can't we continue in the shallow water? A) Ocean drilling in shallow water is very risky. One of the top three oil drilling disasters of all time, Ixtoc 1, was in just hundreds of feet of water. [Sharpless added that last summer, a blow-out on the Montara rig off the coast of Australia spilled millions of gallons of oil in over 10 weeks before a relief well stopped the flow. Montara was just 240 feet underwater.]
Full list of busted myths at NationalGeographic.com

Denise Van Outen is a record breaker as she guzzles 250g of jelly in 60 seconds

She may have her hands full being a new mother to baby Betsy, but Denise Van Outen found time to break a world record yesterday.
As part of her role as a host of The Five O'Clock Show, the TV presenter guzzled down 250 grams of jelly in just 60 seconds with a blindfold on in a bid to enter the record books.
Wearing an orange summer dress with her hands tied behind her back, the 36-year-old managed an impressive performance as she ate the children's favourite in rapid time.

I don't think you're ready for this jelly... Denise Van Outen gobbles up some red jelly on The Five O'Clock Show yesterday

This could get messy: Blindfolded Van Outen aims for the plate and hopes for the best

Van Outen, who gave birth to daughter Betsy on May 1, joined old friend Melanie Sykes to co-host The Five O'Clock Show on Channel 4 this week.
It marked the first time she had been back to work since becoming a mother.
While Sykes joined her in the record books by putting on the most hair rollers in one minute, their guest, chef James Martin wasn't so successful by trying to put on as many bras as possible in a minute.
Last week, she hit out at nameless female TV presenters who are too 'sugary' for the cameras.

Lack of support: Chef James Martin tries... and fails to break a record for wearing the most bras in a minute

In an interview with the TV Times, the former Big Breakfast presenter levelled criticism at today's presenters who lack the upfront, 'real' personas displayed by women like her friend Sykes.
Although she doesn't name anyone in particular, squeaky-clean mother of one Holly Willoughby and The One Show's Christine Bleakley are the most popular female presenters fronting primetime shows at the moment.
And in stark contrast to the ladette culture new mother Denise once actively promoted, they are rarely seen falling out of bars or showbiz parties in a state of disarray.
She told TV Times: 'When we were presenting years ago on The Big Breakfast, the presenters were all very real.
'You had Zoe Ball and Sara Cox and we just said it how it is. We got labelled 'ladettes', but we were just opinionated women.

Firm friends: Van Outen's co-host Melanie Sykes also broke a record by putting on the most hair rollers in a minute

She said of Sykes: 'She's upfront and she's genuine, whereas you get a lot of women in television who seem so nice and then you think they can't be that perfect, it's not possible.

'That's why Mel's really good on TV and I think we're missing that now - there's no edge.
'Suddenly there's this whole turn, especially on prime time TV - you have to be sugary and just read the autocue and smile.'

Australia to ban ultra-skinny models

By Caroline Marcus

A model backstage at London Fashion Week. Australia is to tell designers not to hire hire models with dangerously low BMIs / AFP Source: AFP

New code of conduct for fashion industry
Mags to phase out cosmetic surgery ads
Designers told not to hire skinny models

SKINNY models could be banished from catwalks and magazines under a major overhaul of the fashion industry.

Diets for rapid weight loss and cosmetic surgery advertisements will also be phased out of magazines, while clothing labels will be asked to stock a wide range of sizes under a new industry code of conduct.
Designers will be asked not to hire either models with a dangerously low body mass index (BMI) or excessively muscular men.
Youth Minister Kate Ellis will today unveil a new body-image tick of approval, similar to the Heart Foundation's healthy foods tick, to be awarded to magazines, modelling agencies and fashion labels that meet the following criteria:
- Disclose when images have been retouched and refrain from enhancing photographs in a way that changes a person's body shape, for example, lengthening their legs or trimming their waist, or removing freckles, lines and other distinguishing marks.

- Only use models aged 16 or older to model adult clothes - both on catwalks and in print.
- Refrain from using models who are very thin - or male models who are excessively muscular.
- Stocking clothing in a wide variety of sizes in shops to reflect the demand from customers.
- Using a broad range of body shapes, sizes and ethnicities in editorial and advertising.
- Not promoting rapid weight loss, cosmetic surgery, excessive exercising or any advertisements or editorial content that may promote a negative body image.
In a world first, the Federal Government is trying to tackle the issue of body image so ordinary Australians do not feel pressured to attain unrealistic cultural ideals of beauty. Ms Ellis said she was determined to stop the glamourisation of unhealthily thin women, which has been blamed for children suffering eating disorders.
"Body image is an issue that we must take seriously because it is affecting the health and happiness of substantial sections of our community," Ms Ellis said.
"The symbol is a win for consumers. It will empower consumers to tell the fashion, beauty, media and modelling industries what they want and provide greater choice."
A panel of health and academic experts will spend the next six months defining the criteria that organisations have to meet in order to be awarded the body image-friendly symbol.
The Government has also committed another $500,000 to develop new education programs with the help of eating-disorder group The Butterfly Foundation.
The school program will see 2500 educators trained to teach 100,000 students aged between eight and 18 about positive body image, covering topics such as media literacy and self-esteem.
The code has already received the endorsement of teenage magazine Girlfriend, and Ms Ellis' office is currently discussing the code with leading modelling agencies.
The Australian Women's Weekly editor in chief Helen McCabe said her magazine would begin identifying digitally altered photographs of celebrities. Ms McCabe said readers wanted published images of women to be more realistic.
"As Australia's biggest-selling magazine, I am proud to be taking a leading role in what is going to be a gradual process for the industry," Ms McCabe said.

16 STONES of precious metal: World's biggest gold coin sold at auction for £2.68m

A Spanish precious metals trading company bought the world's largest gold coin for £2.68 million, its exact material worth, from the estate of an insolvent investment firm at a rare auction in Vienna on Friday.
The 220.5 lb piece, one of only five Canadian $1,000,000 Maple Leaf coins the Royal Canadian Mint has ever produced, was snapped up immediately in a written bid from ORO direct, a gold trading company based in Madrid.

Auction workers present the largest gold coin in the world - a 100kg Canadian $1,000,000 Maple Leaf - during its auction in Vienna

A Spanish precious metals trading company bought the coin for £2.68 million from the estate of an insolvent investment firm

There were no counter offers in an auction room packed with more journalists than potential buyers. It sold for the catalogue sum, the coin's pure gold value based on Friday's market price. This was four times its face value.
The auction was ordered by the administrator of Austrian investment group AvW Invest, which filed for insolvency in May after its owner and chief executive was arrested on suspicion of fraud, breach of trust and other charges.
AvW had acquired the coin in 2007, joining an exclusive club of owners including Queen Elizabeth, who is also displayed on one side of the coin, two unidentified investors in Dubai and one who is so reclusive even his or her residence is unknown.
AvW had lent its coin, 21 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick, to Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum where it had been on display as part of its coin collection.
Its purity is 99.999 percent, the purest type in the market.
The Royal Canadian Mint launched the coin in 2007 to showcase its production facilities and steal the entry in the Guinness Book of Records for the world's biggest gold coin.
That title had previously been held by the Austrian mint, who in 2004 produced fifteen 100,000-euro coins weighing 1,000 troy ounces to celebrate the 15th anniversary of its best-selling Philharmonics coin.

One side of a gold coin named "maple leaf" displayed in a hall in Austrian auctioneer Dorotheum before being put into auction

12 brilliant and useful inventions

To see how technology is constantly being used to improve and simplify our lives, check out Toxel.com's round-up of brilliant and useful inventions.

See them all at Toxel.

5 strange pregnancies

Back pain, bloating, swollen ankles, a glowing complexion and various food cravings. These common symptoms make it seem like pregnancy is pretty much the same for everyone. Not so -- there certainly are some unique pregnancies out there.
Some strange pregnancies have occurred, including a pregnant man. Take a look at this list of strange pregnancies to learn more.

Pregnant With Your Twin: OK, so this isn't technically pregnant, but it's a pregnancy complication. Sometimes this results in conjoined twins, and in rare instances, it can result in one fetus being absorbed through the umbilical cord and undeveloped abdomen of the other.
Vanishing Twin Syndrome: While the cause of vanishing twin syndrome is unknown, doctors have some theories: Sometimes the vanishing fetus may have had chromosomal abnormalities; others may be due to implantation problems. In most cases, the vanishing twin does a disappearing act during the first trimester.

Full list at HowStuffWorks.com.

Meet the German WAGS

With most of the English WAGS out of the way following Fabio Capello's strict decree over contact, it'll be up to their German counterparts to provide the glamour in the stands for Sunday's clash.
The Italian manager gave the order because he was keen for his players to avoid any distractions at the World Cup.
However today he did give his players permission to meet their wives and girlfriends following the team's victory over Slovenia.
Matters are a little different in the German camp where their WAGS, staying in the five star Sheraton Pretoria, have been allowed more contact. They've also been given bodyguards by the German FA.

Loving the limelight: Bastian Schweinsteiger's girlfriend Sarah Brandner is one of the more high-profile WAGS due to her modelling career

Blonde ambition: Brandner has become a successful model since she started dating Schweinsteiger two years ago

So who are the women we'll see in the stands when Steven Gerrard and the boys take on Philipp Lahm's team in Bloemfontein?
A leading figure in the German WAGS is the Abbey Clancy of the group - blonde model Sarah Brandner, 21.
Brandner, girlfriend of winger Bastian Schweinsteiger, has become a celebrity in her native country since she started dating the Bayern Munich star two years ago.
Just months into their relationship, she garnered the most media attention from the German press at Euro 2008 and even gave fashion tips for TV on what to wear in the stadium.

Pop star lover: Dennis Aogo and his fiancee Alessia Walch in Italy last month

In a sight that would see anti-WAG Capello seeing red, the blonde sat in the front row of the Austria and Switzerland tournament two years ago, sharing a public kiss with Schweinsteiger for the cameras when Germany won a game.
Following in the footsteps of former England pop star WAGS Victoria Beckham and Cheryl Cole, is Dennis Aogo's fiancee Alessia Walch.

More...

The 22-year-old brunette is a guitarist with German pop group Mayor's Destiny and has been dating the 23-year-old defender for a year.
Arriving in South Africa earlier this month, the couple denied internet rumours she had previously dated Aogo's teammate, midfielder Sami Khedira - which could have been an awkward situation in the players' camp.

Glamour girls: Tim Wiese's girlfriend Grit Freiberg (left) and Mesut Ozil's girlfriend Anna-Maria Lagerblom - ex-wife of Finnish player Pekka Lagerblom

High-earners: Goalkeeper Tim Wiese and midfielder Mesut Ozil in South Africa this week

High-earners: Goalkeeper Tim Wiese (left) and midfielder Mesut Ozil in South Africa this week

Following Michael Ballack's injury, Bayern Munich defender Philipp Lahm has stepped in as captain. His fiancee Claudia Schattenberg, 26, is now one of the top WAGs.
If Germany do manage to reach the final, the couple will be cutting it very fine with their wedding plans.
The pair, who have dated for two years, are hoping to wed on July 14 - just three days after the World Cup final.
Another popular WAG is student Anna-Maria Lagerblom, the 28-year-old girlfriend of Werder Bremen winger Mesut Oezil who scored Germany's goal last night against Ghana.

Vee love das fussball: Mario Gomez and girlfriend Silvia Meiche (left)

All loved up: Mario Gomez and girlfriend Silvia Meiche (left) and Miroslav Klose and wife Sylvvia (right)

Although dating the third generation Turkish-German player for two years, she is no stranger to WAG-dom, having previously been married to FSV Frankfurt midfielder Pekka Lagerblom.
Living in the limelight is something she's become accustomed to thanks to her sister Sarah Connor, a singer.
Among the more long-standing WAGs is Bayern Munich player Miroslav Klose's wife Sylvvia and Lukas Podolski's girlfriend Monika Puchalski.
Striker Klose, 32, who moved from Poland to Germany when he was seven, married fellow Pole Sylvvia six years ago and they have five-year-old twins, Noah and Luan.

Wedding belles: Captain Philipp Lahm and fiancee Claudia Schattenberg will marry just three days after the tournament ends

Wedding bells: Captain Philipp Lahm and fiancee Claudia Schattenberg will marry just three days after the tournament ends

Podolski - another Polish-German player who still has Polish citizenship after moving to Germany when he was two, has been dating Puchalski since 2003 and they have a two-year-old son Louis.
Frau Klose and Puchalski are long-time friends with fellow German WAG Grit Freiberg, partner of goalkeeper Tim Wiese. The pair have a three-year-old daughter, Alina.
A new addition to the German WAGs is model Kathrin, who started dating goalkepper Manuel Neuer last year and has embraced the team by modelling in the team shirt.
While many of the WAGS appear to be models or full-time mothers, Jerome Boateng's girlfriend Sherin Sendler is studying fashion.

Youngsters: Thomas Muller and his new wife Lisa married in December at the tender age of 20

Youngsters: Thomas Muller and his new wife Lisa married in December when she was just 20

Sendler has become close friends with Ozil's partner Lagerblom, with the two women been seen wining and dining around Pretoria in the company of two bodyguards hired by the German FA.
Among the youngest of the WAGs is model Lisa Müller, who married midfielder Thomas Müller in December at the tender age of 20.
Another young couple are Mario Gomez, 24, and girlfriend Silvia Meichel, 22, who have been dating since their teens.
While the German team appear to welcome the support of the players' WAGS, England manager Capello has not been so forthcoming.

Missing out: Michael Ballack, who was forced to step down as captain after being injured, and his wife Simone

In a recent interview with the Mail On Sunday's Live magazine, Capello said he warned his players about wannabe WAGS.
He said: 'I tell my players that girls hang around them because modern-day footballers already have millions in their bank accounts by the age of 25.
'Before, such girls used to hang around film stars or television celebrities. Now it's the turn of footballers, who are robustly built, and this helps them a lot.
'These girls are all the same, all part of a set. Adjusted here, inflated there. They are all interchangeable and false.'
Despite his dislike of WAGS, Emile Heskey's fiancée Chantelle Tagoe, Matthew Upson's girlfriend Ellie Darby and Glen Johnson's wife Laura were all spotted in the stands at Port Elizabeth yesterday to cheer the team on to victory.

We are the WAGS: The German WAGS - many of them partners of players no longer in the squad - at World Cup 2006 in Germany

All together now: The German WAGS - many of them partners of players no longer in the squad - at World Cup 2006 in Germany

First look at “The Social Network” movie poster

The first official poster from David Fincher’s film based on the story behind the creation of Facebook has been released. The Social Network stars Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake, and Andrew Garfield and hits theaters October 1. Does the flick poster get a thumbs up or a thumbs down?
Full story at Collider.

Wildebeest, tortoise, hamster and The Stag... Hyundai pokes fun at Jeremy Clarkson & co with 'Top Deer' adverts

It’s the Top Gear presenters as they have never been seen before.
In two new Hyundai adverts poking fun at the BBC2 programme, Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond appear as a wildebeest, a tortoise and, rather fittingly given his nickname, a hamster.
‘Top Deer’ pulls out all the stops, echoing the show’s videography, theme music and test drives for its Tucson Lx35 commercials.

Top Deer: Wildebeest Jeremy Clarkson and James 'tortoise' May present the Hyundai adverts

Poking fun: Richard Hammond is portrayed as a hamster in the Hyundai commercials

In the first advert's opening scene, the wildebeest - which has a Clarkson-sounding voice - introduces the show, saying: ‘Tonight, I get my hooves on the new Hyundai Tucson Lx35, Captain Cautious installs airbags inside his shell and a hamster gets lost inside an improbably large boot.’
The car is then taken for a test drive by the wildebeest, who – placing his hooves on the wheel, adds: ‘You get controls at your fingertips, which is great, if you’ve got fingers.’
It concludes: ‘Unless you’re 100 per cent human, this SUV is about as appealing as a hamster sandwich.’

Test drive: Wildebeest Clarkson gets his 'hooves' on the new Tucson Lx35

Mocked: Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson, and James May are the targets of the Hyundai adverts

The second advert also mocks Top Gear’s mysterious ‘tame racing driver’ The Stig by introducing his animal doppelganger, with the wildebeest saying: ‘Some say his droppings contain traces of plutonium… all we know is that we call him The Stag.’
The videos have attracted more than 150,000 viewers on YouTube.
The adverts' shameless copying of the programme, which attracts more than 3million viewers, are bound to spark anger at the BBC - although officials are yet to comment.
It's not entirely clear what the motivation is behind Hyundai's mickey taking.
But a suggestion that it's revenge for Top Gear's describing the carmaker as, ‘Your slightly embarrassing Korean uncle. You know him - he's the one who's not quite as good at anything as most of your other relatives ... he's just a bit c**p' is leading the way...

Motorists might think twice about opening their car door on this monster bike

Here is one penny farthing you won't see in a museum.

The monster bike took three months to build and is made from steel tubes, bicycle parts and a tractor tyre.

It is the brainchild of Wouter van den Bosch, a Dutch art student and former mechanical engineer, who made the 450kg colossus from parts donated to him from friends and a tractor company.
The 29 year old, from Arnhem, in the Netherlands, has become a YouTube sensation after a video of him pedalling the creation received more than 600,000 hits in two weeks.

Wheelie big: Wouter van den Bosch with his monster bike, which took three months to build and is made from steel tubes, bicycle parts and a tractor tyre

He said: 'For the the past few years I have been into making mechanical mutations - changing the purpose devices or parts are designed for. Since this is my final year on my arts degree I wanted to plan something big.
'Six months ago I made some drawings for a bike, that soon started out to be a really big bike. I started harvesting parts from people I knew, so it was cheap to make, and began putting it all together.

'It was fantastic when it was ready and I took it out for the first time. I'm not sure if it's legal but I drove it around the block a couple of times to see if it works and to see people's faces.

'Some people look pleased and some were annoyed, saying "Hey get out of the way".
'I can understand it might be annoying for someone travelling to work on a Monday morning to have a monster bike blocking their cycle lane.'

On yer bike: Wouter shows how its done, riding his creation around the streets. With its top speed not much more than a crawl, it might not be best for rush-hour traffic

Before Wouter went to university he studied mechanical engineering and worked in a factory making equipment for oil rigs.

He is interested in creating hybrids, and last year transformed a set of kitchen devices into driving, drawing and flying machines.

He added: 'By blowing up the front tyre I wanted to add humour as well as social criticism.

'For example, the Hummer car is designed to be a flashy vehicle to show off in, but it weighs about 2,500kg and is normally used to transport just one person.

'The amount of petrol it uses is completely unnecessary.

'But with a little person like me, on this ridiculously big vehicle, doing all the pedalling myself, I hope it's also making a point as well.

'I try to think outside the box, I don't need to place my stuff into categories. My family and friends know I'm pretty crazy but they were still amazed at this latest effort.

'Is it art? I don't know if it is art. I just like to build stuff and make fun, I dont need to call it art.'
Since the video clip of Wouter went online he has had offers to exhibit the bike at museums and music festivals.

He said: 'The response has really amazed me. Now that the bike is finished and I am almost done with school I don't know what to do with the bike.

'Maybe the owner of Michelin will see the video and ask for his tyre back.'

How scientists see the world

The artist behind the web comic Abstruse Goose reveals how scientific minds perceive the world around them.

Full story at Neatorama.

Why lithium works to treat manic depression

Lithium has been one of the most effective treatments for manic depression, clinically termed bipolar disorder, for more than 50 years. But scientists have never been entirely sure exactly why it is beneficial.
Now, new work by researchers at Cardiff University in the U.K. suggests a possible mechanism for why lithium works, opening the door for better understanding of the illness and potentially more effective treatments.
Full story at Futurity.

What you don't know about Nintendo

We all know that Nintendo is one of the largest gaming companies to grace and influence the gaming industry, but what you don’t know about Mario and the gang has been cleverly compiled in this awesome infographic:

See the full image at Picselate.

Your request is being processed... "American Chopper" Death: Roofer Dies At Paul Teutul Jr.'s New Motorcycle Business

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/175638/thumbs/s-AMERICAN-CHOPPER-large.jpg

MONTGOMERY, N.Y. — Authorities say a roofer working at "American Chopper" co-star Paul Teutul (TUH'-tul) Jr.'s new motorcycle business fell through a hole and died.
Police in Orange County say the Middletown roofing company employee stepped backward into a hole that had been cut in the roof and fell 40 feet Tuesday morning. They say the 26-year-old man from Beacon, whose name hasn't been released, died at the scene in Montgomery, 60 miles north of New York City.
Teutul is leasing space in the building to open his own motorcycle shop. He and his father, Paul Sr., had a falling out but plan to go head-to-head this fall when the cable TV series resumes.
Neither Paul Teutul Jr. nor other cast members were at the building when the accident happened.

Can we harvest electrical power from thin air?

In a nutshell, yes. The Economist recently published a fascinating article on the push for an entirely wireless world. The proposed technology, which originates back to a little over a century ago, would create a world system of giant towers that would form both a global wireless communications network and a means of delivering electricity over large areas without wires via ambiant radio waves from existing broadcasts.
Imagine that! No more low battery signals on our mobile phones, ever. And if you think this technological advancement is way off, you’d be wrong. Last year Nokia, the largest handset-maker, raised eyebrows when they began investing in its research and development.
Full story at The Economist.

Ten-Speed Dykes

‘The Real L Word’ purports to show lesbian women as they really live. Really?

Showtime
Sapphic Shangri-La: The ladies of "The Real L Word."

Within the first two minutes of The Real L Word, Showtime’s new lesbian-themed reality series, we hear the phrases “breast in mouth,” “sour cream on boobs,” and “eating...” something we’re not allowed to print. We go on to learn that “the hot bitches have arrived” (cue club-hopping scene) and that Los Angeles, where the show takes place, is full of a “more polished lesbian”—the kind who lives in Beverly Hills, shops at Gucci, and lets her woman do the cooking. We learn that “fetch” is a feminine-but-butch lesbian, that “pants and pumps” refers to whether you’re butch or femme, and, of course, the old lesbian U-Haul joke: What does a lesbian bring to a first date? A U-Haul, of course—because she’s moving in!

It’s worth a laugh, but if you think the unenlightened will learn anything about “real” mainstream lesbianism from The Real L Word, which premieres on Sunday, think again. This may be the first group lesbian reality program to hit mainstream cable, but the show is anything but barrier-breaking. Inspired by the original L Word series (and produced by its creator, Ilene Chaiken), the series is a kind of Housewives meets Queer as Folk, purporting to show the “real” lives of “real” lesbians who, as the Showtime marketing spin puts it, are “every bit as glamorous, fashionable, fabulous”—and “cutthroat”—as their hetero housewife sisters.

The show follows six women at work and at play—and all the drama that comes along with it. There’s Mikey, the show’s token butch, responsible for casting L.A. Fashion Week. There are Nikki and Jill, the Beverly Hills couple caught up in planning an over-the-top commitment ceremony. There’s Whitney, the show’s serial playgirl, caught red-handed with (multiple) women; and there are Tracy, a 29-year-old production exec, and Rose, the fiery party girl, both struggling to navigate the everyday challenges of each of their relationships. It’s dramatic, sexy, trashy, obnoxious—everything a good reality show should be, meaning “real” is actually fake and “lesbian” is synonymous with hot, horny, and willing to take your top off.

“Reality TV’s Highest Highs and Lowest Lows: Click to relive 10 memorable moments in reality television”

All of which would be totally unsurprising, if this were Jersey Shore. The problem is, The Real L Word isn’t—and it’s the only show on TV portraying real lesbians. So as lame as it is to say that every gay program has a “responsibility” to the “greater cause,” it’s lamer to pretend it doesn’t. Because, well, people are watching: a recent GLAAD survey found that a third of Americans who said their feelings toward gays had become more favorable attributed that, in part, to characters they saw on TV.

So while Chaiken may not purport to introduce America to Lesbianism 101—as she once told The New York Times, “I won't take on the mantle of social responsibility"—between the tits and ass, the lights-out groans, and constant references to “f--king,” she does more to glamorize that tired old Sapphic fantasy (girls making out? hot!) than to teach us anything about real-life lesbians. Even an on-air discussion of “sexual fluidity”—the idea that people can be attracted to others, regardless of gender—is completely negated, as references to “pants and pumps,” Mikey’s complaint of “starving to death” because her woman hasn’t cooked her dinner, and the production’s entire undertone, which is more or less an excuse to show hot chicks making out, couldn’t be any more stereotypically gendered. It’s entertainment, sure. But if The Real L Word wanted lesbians to be seen as real people, for real—maybe it should have stripped away the pseudo-“reality” and shown real life.
Jessica Bennett is a senior writer covering culture and society. Find her on Twitter.

Airplanes Punch Holes in Clouds, Make it Rain

If you've ever been lucky enough to see a hole-punch cloud form in the afternoon sky (above), you'd be forgiven for thinking a UFO landed somewhere near by. But according to a new study, the clouds form when much more pedestrian flying objects -- turboprop and jet airplanes -- fly through and change water droplets into ice crystals.
Droplets in many clouds exist in a strange supercooled state; they can be as cold as -34 degrees C (-35 degrees F), well below freezing, and yet remain in liquid form. When airplanes come cruising through, they can cause a quick drop in temperature that freezes the droplets. Suddenly the cloud is populated by ice crystals. Droplets begin condensing around them in a chain reaction and then -- poof! -- a hole of blue sky appears where fluffy white cloud had been.
Planet Green: What's Your Water I.Q.?

WATCH VIDEO: Explore the science behind hurricanes, flash floods, lightning and other weather phenomena in this playlist.

Where does the water and ice go? It falls to Earth, either as snow or rain -- sometimes a fair amount of it.
In 2007 Andrew Heymsfield, of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Colorado was a on a research flight west of Denver International Airport when he and his team flew right below a big hole-punch cloud. When they went back and looked at footage from a ground-looking camera on the plane, they found the area directly beneath the hole had been coated in two inches of fresh snow.
Of course, not all planes that fly through clouds seed them this way. Generally speaking, there's a "goldilocks" set of conditions that must be met -- clouds that are too high in the atmosphere are too cold, and may already be frozen. Low clouds are warmer, and a plane's disturbance won't produce ice.
Turboprop planes are better than jets for producing the effect, too, because they tend to fly at the right altitude to encounter clouds with supercooled droplets, and they generate thrust by pushing large amounts of air that cools in their wakes (as opposed to heated jet exhaust).

Still, Heymsfield and colleagues write in a new study in Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society that on average, 7.8 percent of Earth is covered in clouds ripe for "plane seeding." Heymsfield notes that precipitation from this effect isn't likely to alter global weather patterns, it may have a local effect.
SLIDE SHOW: See gorgeous sunsets and other sky wonders.
In some cases, planes flying through a cloud for an extended period form "canal clouds" that can be tens of miles long, and visible from satellite. The circular hole punch form probably forms when planes ascend or descend through a cloud layer.
(The image below, from the study, was taken by NASA's Terra satellite in 2007, and shows a cloud bank riddled with canals and hole punches. State boundaries are shown in blue.)

Why Travelers Go South: North Seems Uphill

By Bruce Bower

People making travel plans may unwittingly heed a strange rule of thumb — southern routes rule. In a new experiment, volunteers chose paths that dipped south over routes of the same distance that arched northward, perhaps because northern routes intuitively seem uphill and thus more difficult, researchers suggest.
Volunteers also estimated that it would take considerably longer to drive between the same pairs of U.S. cities if traveling from south to north, as opposed to north to south, says psychologist and study director Tad Brunyé of the U.S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command in Natick, Mass., and Tufts University in Medford, Mass. For journeys that averaged 798 miles, time estimates for north-going jaunts averaged one hour and 39 minutes more than south-going trips, he and his colleagues report in an upcoming Memory & Cognition.
“This finding suggests that when people plan to travel across long distances, a ‘north is up’ heuristic might compromise their accuracy in estimating trip durations,” Brunyé says.
Only individuals who adopted a first-person, ground-level perspective treated southern routes as the paths of least resistance, he notes. From this vantage, one moves forward and back, right and left.
No southern leaning characterized those who assessed routes from a bird’s-eye view. This type of navigation uses the directional terms north, south, east and west.

Real-world experiences underlie avoidance of northern routes, Brunyé proposes. Young children learn that as objects and locations get higher, they become harder to attain. Examples include reaching for a toy on the counter, climbing the stairs and jumping.
An ingrained notion that “up is difficult” then gets applied to other situations. When someone imagines traversing a northern and a southern path, the northern way feels higher and more physically demanding, Brunyé suggests.
Another phenomenon might account for the new findings, remarks psychologist Stella Lourenco of Emory University in Atlanta, who was not involved in the study. From infancy on, people categorize different quantities — say, the numbers 2 and 4 or a big and a small object — as instances of “less than” and “more than.” Also, adults tend to associate larger numbers with “up” and smaller numbers with “down.”
If volunteers equated a northern route’s greater height on a computer screen with “more than” and a southern route’s lower position as “less than,” that could explain a southern bias, Lourenco says.
Brunyé’s group first presented 160 college students with a series of maps on a computer screen showing parts of Pittsburgh or Chicago. Each map contained icons for various fictional landmarks, including an information booth and subway stops. Different-colored lines portrayed routes from one landmark to another, going north to south, east to west, or at angles.
An experimenter asked participants to choose the shorter, faster route to a destination. Some participants took whatever perspective they wanted; others were instructed to take a first-person or a bird’s-eye outlook.
Participants who assumed a first-person stance chose southern routes two-thirds of the time. Most reported no awareness of having favored southern routes.
Students had no preference for eastern or western routes, or for routes that angled in any particular direction.
Further experiments ruled out the possibilities that participants favored left or right turns, perceived northern routes as longer than southern routes or chose southern routes because they liked information located toward the bottom of the computer screen.
Instead, participants rated northern routes as potentially more scenic and requiring more calories to walk or fuel to drive than southern routes — all signs of perceiving northern routes as elevated, Brunyé suggests.
His team is now examining whether volunteers wearing head-mounted devices that place them in virtual settings prefer southern over northern routes

6 Organizations You Didn't Know Were Secretly Badass

By Jacopo della Quercia Jun 16, 2010 481,860 views

Some organizations spend their entire history trying to convince the world they're badass. Nobody would dare mess with a bunch of Navy SEALs, for instance, and if your girlfriend says her dad is a member of the Hells Angels, you're going to watch your ass. But some of the most badass groups on the planet don't put nearly as much effort into maintaining that kind of reputation.
Therefore, we shall do it for them.

#6.

The Salvation Army

When we think about the Salvation Army, we get a heartwarming image of little old ladies in red aprons doing their bit to serve the community one bake sale at a time, which is why you'll probably be alarmed to discover that the "Army" part of their name isn't just a metaphor.
The roots of the Salvation Army play like something out of Gangs of New York. Although founded as a Christian mission by Reverend William Booth in 1865 in East End London, their "salvation" caused so much trouble for local pimps, brewers and other ill-merchants that they armed themselves and formed an anti-Salvation Army gang they called The Skeleton Army.

The Salvation Army's eternal foe.

At a time when the Salvation Army was in its infancy and essentially fighting to stay alive, they were forced into a confrontation with the Skeleton Army gang on August 17, 1884, who rioted and tried to burn down their headquarters. The soldiers of the Salvation Army managed to outlast their adversaries, first with hope, and then with gunshots.

Then, presumably, with bells and buckets.

And they were victorious.
But even that doesn't trump the action they saw in the trenches of World War I. It was during this time that the Salvation Army deployed 1,065 women onto the battlefield, "in the face of danger, with death striking all about them."
Although this meant having to offer their services while "under fire, day after day and night after night" from a host of technological terrors ranging from machine guns to planes to poison gases, these young soldiers in the Salvation Army "coolly went about their work, giving first aid to the injured or, as the occasion offered, serving hot drinks and sandwiches."

"Did she say BLTs?"

Sound pretty ballsy? Try doing all that while unarmed and wearing a dress.

#5.

The Canadian Mounties

The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show and Due South combined did enough of a job on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to make them fodder for our mockery well into the 21st century.

Though the Dudley Do-Rights of the Canadian border may dress like nutcrackers in Crocodile Dundee hats, many Americans tend to forget that silly costumes and funny nicknames aren't necessarily an accurate gauge of strength or ability.
When you consider just how vulnerable the vast Canadian border is to everything from syrup-smugglers to bears, you have to figure that it must take one hell of a security system to keep Canadians sleeping soundly at night. Especially when you consider that the USA has tried to conquer Canada several times, and each time the Canadians kicked our flag-waving asses.

And took our belt!

The RCMP are actually something like the FBI of Canada. If they ride into any crime scene, anywhere in the country, they have automatic authority to boss everyone around. You'll want to listen to them not just because they're the highest authority, but also they're armed with MP5 submachine guns because "it is hard as hell to hit someone with a handgun."
If you commit a crime in Canada and try to evade the Mounties by slipping over into the States, then you've fundamentally misunderstood the power of the Mounties. They can just gallop over the border and shoot you in Maine, because they have international jurisdiction. Not to mention their paramilitary hoard of weaponry and vehicles including trucks, snowmobiles, aircraft, sea vessels and a goddamn train.

Apparently, they also have camels.

In short, the Mounties alone compose a force fear-worthy enough to, at the very least, conquer Alaska if Sarah Palin ever tries to make a comeback.

#4.

The Boy Scouts

Of the words that come to mind when we hear "Boy Scouts," "badass" isn't one of them. Words like "nerdlinger" and "snot-nosed little knot-tying wieners" are probably closer to the mark. Don't say it to their pimply little faces though or they might cut you up with a Swiss army knife. Or without one.
We could regale you with all kinds of stories about Scouts who went beyond the call of duty to achieve feats that grown men couldn't dream about--like 13-year old Jimmy Kennedy, who saved his entire family when Hurricane Katrina struck his home; Chris Malasics, 14, who survived a run-in with a bear; or when two unknown Boy Scouts in 1921 fought against the worst flood in Colorado history to save a half dozen people from a burning, "exploding" lime plant... using canoes.

In the original draft of Die Hard, John McClane was a boy scout trying to get his pottery badge.

But that all somehow pales in comparison to the time the Boy Scouts answered the call to fight in the biggest worldwide free-for-all in history. Back before the Scouting organization was even in its teens, the world came down with a fever known as War World I. After boning up on their emergency preparedness skills, the Scouts competed for their Hun-killing merit badges under a sky black with artillery shells.

Tales abound of junior MacGyvers putting their scouting skills to the task of ruining Germany's day, such as the case of 12-year-old Russian scout Andrew Mironenko, who crossed over enemy lines in the dead of night, unscrewed the bolts of a bunch of artillery guns and wheeled them right the hell back to the Russian front line. Or consider the Belgian Scout, Leyson, who "killed one of the enemy with his own hand and captured no fewer than 11 spies."

And finally, there's Boy Scout Mohammed Jaisham Ibrahim. While in full Boy Scout uniform, he spotted and seized an assassin's knife just as he was about to plunge it into the stomach of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the President of the Maldives. The Boy Scout, who instantly became a Man Scout, received serious injuries and had to be airlifted, but he gets to spend the rest of his life with all of the Maldives knowing that he saved the president's life. At age 15.

more herehttp://www.cracked.com/article_18572_6-organizations-you-didnt-know-were-secretly-badass.html