Hey been awhile…

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Here is

35 Fascinating Scientific Facts Guaranteed to Blow Out Your Mindholes

By Dustin Rowles Pajiba

cience doesn’t lie.

1. Lack of confidence can be a sign of competence and ability. Seriously. Paradoxically, incompetent people tend to be more confident in their abilities, overestimate their own abilities, fail to recognize their own inadequacies, and fail to recognize skill in others, while more competent, smarter people are less confident and are more often filled with doubt or fears of inadequacy. (This explains Rick Perry).(Dunning-Kruger Effect)

2. I’m not suggesting there’s any relationship between the above fact and this one, I’m just highlighting the science here: Conservatives are happier than liberals. Why? Because conservatives are better able to rationalize inequality (i.e., poor people get what they deserve) while liberals find inequality inherently unjust. (ScientificAmerican)

3. Spoiling a book or a movie for someone actually allows them to get more enjoyment out of a story. I’m not lying. It’s science. (Pscyhosocial Science)

4. Like humans, monkeys think that realistic animations of themselves are creepy. (Scientific American)

5. Chicks dig bearded men more than men without facial hair. (Pajiba)

6. Men literally get dumber around attractive women. (The Telegraph)

7. Yawning is indeed contagious, but you are 50 percent more likely to yawn if you see a friend or acquantence yawn than you are if you see a stranger yawn. (PLoS One)

In examining what makes a successful profile photo on dating websites:

8. It’s better for women to smile and look at the camera and/or reveal their cleavage. (OKCupid)

9. It’s best for men to look away from the camera, not smile, and show their abs (if they have well-sculpted abs). (OKCupid)

10. In stressful situations, it’s more healthy to get angry than be fearful. (CarnegieMellonToday)

11. You can actually die of a broken heart; the trauma of a bad break-up can kill you. (WashingtonPost)

12. Behavior is contagious; if a close friend gains weight or becomes obese, you are 57 percent more likely to also gain weight or become obese. (NYTimes)

13. Awkward dancing (let’s call it the Phil Dunphy Dance) is a Dad’s subconscious effort to repel child-bearing women. (Telegraph)

14. People with “white-sounding” names are 50 percent more likely to receive employment interviews than those with “black-sounding” names. (ABC)

15. The more money you give away, the happier a person you are. (Sagepub)

16. Women apologize more than men, not because they’re eager apologists, but because they consider more things offensive than men, and therefore feel the need to apologize. In other words, men don’t apologize because they don’t believe they did anything wrong. (Scientific American)

17. After breakups or separations, women are financially worse off than men, but men are lonelier and sadder. (Fox)

18. Men who marry much younger women live longer. (The Telegraph)

19. Polygamists live longer than monogamist. (NewScientist)

20. The ability to multi-task well is a myth. It can’t actually be done. (NPR)

21. When we see half-naked people, we don’t actually objectify them (and this is true of both men and women): We simply change our perceptoin. We believe that people wearing less clothing are more capable of experiencing pleasure, as well as fear and pain, while we find that people with more clothing have better self-control. (PsycNet)

22. Scientifically, men are not objectively any funnier than women, they simply make more attempts at humor than females do. (Psychonomic)

23. Women are more likely to gain weight than men during the first few years of marriage. (Scientific American)

24. The use of profanity actually increases one’s tolerance for pain. (Scienceblogs)

25. Gossiping among women increases well-being and reduces anxiety and stress.(Psychcentral.com)

26. Every argument between a couple boils down to one of two fundamental complaints:: One person feels that he or she is being blamed or controlled, unjustly, for something that has nothing to do with the argument, or one feels neglected, and this manifests in the feeling of “you don’t really care about me” or “you are not as invested as I am.” (Scientific American)

27. Shallow women — those that base their self-worth on their own appearance — are more likely to post more photos on Facebook and have more FB friends. (Good.is)

28. Facebook status updates and images create an illusion of happiness, and when others see that illusion, it often makes them feel depressed that their lives are not as happy as the illusory lives depicted in Facebook profiles. (Slate)

29. The irony to the above fact is that narcissists and people with low self-esteem tend to spend the most amount of time on Facebook. (MSNBC)

30. If you wear black clothing, people are more likely to mentally associate you with immorality. (Scientific American)

31. Twitterers are happiest in the morning, and most miserable around 3-4 p.m. each day. (Gothamist)

32. 50 percent of “consumed” Tweets are made by only 5 percent of Twitters. (Mashable)

33. Fatherhood decreases a man’s levels of testosterone, turning them into ninnies. (Pajiba)

34. Environment and context is a bigger contributor to overeating than the quality of the food. For instance, if given stale, week-old popcorn, people who typically eat popcorn at a movie theater will continue to eat as much as they normally do regardless of the quality of popcorn, while people who do not typically eat popcorn at movie theaters will eat less stale popcorn than they will fresh popcorn. (Scientific American)

35. Children allowed to watch R-Rated movies are more likely to start drinking at an early age. (AV Club)

Hugo Awards

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Best Novel: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins; Bloomsbury UK)

Best Novella: ”The Erdmann Nexus” by Nancy Kress (Asimov’s Oct/Nov 2008)

Best Novelette: ”Shoggoths in Bloom” by Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s Mar 2008)

Best Short Story: ”Exhalation” by Ted Chiang (Eclipse Two)

John W. Campbell not-a-Hugo Award for Best New Writer: David Anthony Durham

Best Related Book: Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded: A Decade of Whatever, 1998-2008 by John Scalzi (Subterranean Press)

Best Graphic Story: Girl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones Written by Kaja & Phil Foglio, art by Phil Foglio, colors by Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: WALL-E Andrew Stanton & Pete Docter, story; Andrew Stanton & Jim Reardon, screenplay; Andrew Stanton, director (Pixar/Walt Disney)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog Joss Whedon, & Zack Whedon, & Jed Whedon, & Maurissa Tancharoen, writers; Joss Whedon, director (Mutant Enemy)

Best Editor, Short Form: Ellen Datlow

Best Editor, Long Form: David G. Hartwell

Best Professional Artist: Donato Giancola

Best Semiprozine: Weird Tales edited by Ann VanderMeer & Stephen H. Segal

Best Fan Writer: Cheryl Morgan

Best Fanzine: Electric Velocipede edited by John Klima

Best Fan Artist: Frank Wu

250+ Killer Digital Libraries and Archives

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Hundreds of libraries and archives exist online, from university-supported sites to individual efforts. Each one has something to offer to researchers, students, and teachers. This list contains over 250 libraries and archives that focus mainly on localized, regional, and U.S. history, but it also includes larger collections, eText and eBook repositories, and a short list of directories to help you continue your research efforts.

10,000 Lakes Festival in Detroit Lakes MN July 22nd -July 25th, 2009

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Heads up it is 10,000 Lakes Festival in Detroit Lakes MN July 22nd -July 25th, 2009, including the Dave Matthews Band http://www.10klf.com/

Here is just a few of the artists :D ave Matthews Band  Widespread Panic (2 nights)

Wilco
Umphrey’s McGee
Atmosphere
Ozomatli
Mason Jennings
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings
Gomez
Railroad Earth
Tea Leaf Green
Steve Kimock Crazy Engine
Junior Brown
WookieFoot
Trampled By Turtles
Kathleen Edwards