Category: Useful/Useless Info

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Featured Useful/Useless Info Video Clips

How the English Language was Developed

If you’ve seen Stephen Fry on the TV, you’ll know that the English language is indeed quite interesting. From the odd pronunciation of Featherstonehaugh (it’s Fanshaw) to ambiguous metaphors to the fan-bloody-tastic use of tmesis, the English language has a rich history.

This humourous educational short film created by The Open University looks at how the English was developed, including the Anglo-Saxon invasion that started it all, the words left by the pillaging Vikings, ye olde contributions of William Shakespeare, the invention of the dictionary, and the influence the that Internet has had.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSYwPTUKvdw

[via +Demitri Baroutsos]

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Useful/Useless Info

How Bloodstain Pattern Analysis Works

A famous blood spatter analyst/serial killer once said, “Blood never lies.” In this infographic, we learn about the characteristics about blood, more specifically when it is spilled during the commission of a crime. See it after the cut.

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Awesomeness Cautionary Tales Useful/Useless Info

How Much Power is in an AA Battery? And Can it Kill?

One person on Reddit wanted to know if you manage to drain all the energy from a single AA battery in a single go, and translate that energy to a punch, what kind of damage would the punch leave. The answer may surprise you. Check it out after the jump.

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Hints & Tips Useful/Useless Info

What Are the Hardest Languages to Learn?

I love languages, and I’ve personally found that the more languages you know, the funnier the world becomes. Having said that, I’m only totally proficient in a single language (i.e. English), although I’ve got enough bits and bobs of other languages to tell me when the subtitles in foreign TV shows are bullshitting me. How hard is it to learn a new language though? What are the hardest languages to learn, assuming a first language of English? Funny you should ask, because Voxy blog have an infographic that answers just that question. See the infographic after the break.

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Awesomeness Eating and Drinking Hints & Tips Link Loving Useful/Useless Info Video Clips

The Layman’s Guide to Braaing

I must tell you, writing this article has just made me incredibly hungry. I mean, just look at the header image and you’ll understand why.

The topic of discussion today is the South African pastime known as The Braai. If you’re an international reader, you’re probably wondering “What the heck is a Braai?” Well never fear, I’m here to not only tell you what a Braai is, but also shed some more light on the whole phenomenon.

Find out more after the jump.

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Cautionary Tales Useful/Useless Info Video Clips

Tips for Hiding a Boner in Public

Here’s some education material for the gents on this lovely Sunday evening. I can’t recall a time in my life when an awkward boner overcame me in public but given that there is a website dedicated to them, it’s clearly an issue for some. And Anthony Padilla from Smosh.com is here to provide handy hints for concealing the party in your pants.

Hit the jump to see a trio of Korean comics where boners can be of use in holding the lift and even saving a life.

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Cartoons & Comics Inspirational Designs Useful/Useless Info

Vintage Travel Posters for Comic Book Cities

Vintage Travel Posters for Comic Book Cities

Are you looking to travel somewhere different this holiday season? Tired of the mundane island paradise, bored of African safaris and weary of European coffee shops? Why not walk the streets of Gotham City, safe in the knowledge that batman is keeping watch! Why not visit Metropolis or keep an eye open for Spiderman in New York. Travel to any one of these amazing cities and we guarantee you will see your favourite super hero in action, even if we have to stage a bank break in. See all our exciting destinations after the jump.

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Awesomeness Mindlessness Useful/Useless Info

5 Unordinary Superpowers I Wish I Had

Bag of Holding

Invincibility, invisibility, super strength, laser shooting eyes, adamantium skeletons… all so passé, so ordinary, why would I want one of these? I tend to think outside of the box, outside of Stan Lee’s imaginings, which is why when I think of having a super power I leave the usual suspects out of it. One day with the help of science, radiation, the sun’s rays, a meteor shower or the bite of a genetically manipulated bug I hope to have one of these unordinary superpowers. Find out what they are after the jump.

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Featured Useful/Useless Info

Top 5 Places in SA to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse

Crocodile vs Leopard

When the Zombie Apocalypse comes, I will be prepared. You should be too, my friend Stephen is an expert in these things having watched every zombie flick ever made and he reckons it’s definitely coming. I believe him, although he also told me there’s no such thing as a left and a right sock… That aside we should all be prepared. Personally I keep all my gardening implements sharp and close to hand, I also have a supply of canned beans. But for most of you, huddling in a basement clutching a sharpened spade and eating baked beans isn’t the definition of surviving. It’s a confined space after all with very little air… my digestion is sensitive to beans ok, lay-off already.

So I put together a handy list of places you might try to get to in order to survive the mindless brain-feasting hordes. Grab a Urban Bone Machete Mark II from Zombie Tools and hit the jump to head to The Winchester one of my recommended safe spots.

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Arty Awesomeness Featured Useful/Useless Info

His and Hers Colours

As witnessed from the results of a hue test, I’m pretty awful with colours. It’s in serious fail territory if I have to go about naming them. And I’m not the only one who feels this way.

Scientist Stephen Von Worley took the 5+ million results from a colour survey conducted by XKCD and created an interactive infographic that shows the differences between men and women when it comes to colours. Von Worley plots the 2,000 most commonly-used colour names as a series of dots on a graph. The size of the colour dot indicates how common the colour is and the horizontal axis divides the gender – women tend to use colour names towards the top part, men uses one the bottom part, and dividing line represents the 50-50 split between the sexes.

It’s interesting to see the different colour preferences. While men seem to use some lolworthy descriptions like goblin green, vomit yellow, shit, and really dark blue, women tend to prefer colours like chartruese, antique rose, dark cornflower, and islamic green.

See the interactive version of the infographic on Data Pointed. Mouse over the dots for more information and read Von Worley’s writeup.

[via iamFinch on Twitter]