I have written before about the Nigerian 419 scams (see here, here, and here). These are the ones that, in the most common variant, ask you to help in the recovery of a large sum of money that has been hidden or no one is claiming and for your help you get a pretty significant cut. [Read more…]
It used to be the case that when people observed someone behaving bizarrely, or even dangerously, in a public place, they would be in somewhat of a quandary. Should they intervene and try to calm the person down? Should they call the authorities? Should they ignore and go on their way? [Read more…]
A friend of mine visiting Spain sent me this photo of a couple of street performers seemingly defying the laws of science. She was curious as to how it might have been done.
When our first child was born, we were naturally nervous about what to do. Most new parents will recognize the feeling that we had, of facing an enormous responsibility for which we were totally unprepared. Since this was in Sri Lanka and we had plenty of extended family and relatives and friends close by, you would think that we had a wealth of advice that we could draw upon. Actually this did not help because, as is the custom there, every one of them gave us plenty of unsolicited advice, with all manner of rules about what we should do in every situation that was often conflicting, confusing, and overwhelming. [Read more…]
What is it with gun owners accidentally shooting themselves in the buttocks? We had the earlier story of someone accidentally shooting himself this way with his concealed gun while reaching for his wallet. [Read more…]
I have written before (here and here) about my mystification with people who blindly depend upon and follow their GPS instructions even in situations where common sense would tell them to double check or have a plan B. This can lead them badly astray and even end in tragedies. [Read more…]
If you were driving by and saw on the sidewalk a man struggling with a woman over a bag, what would you think? [Read more…]
Here are two examples of people turning small everyday items into projectiles without any mechanical aids. In the first case, a man throws ordinary playing cards in a way that can slice vegetables. [Read more…]
There are a lot of crazy people out there. An Ipsos Global Public Affairs survey conducted for the Reuters news agency finds that one in 7 (14%) of the global population believes that the world will end in their lifetime. About 10% associate this with the so-called Mayan calendar prophecy that supposedly signals the end of the world on December 21, 2012, totally ruining the Christmas holidays. [Read more…]
I enjoy playing the board game Scrabble, starting with my family when I was a child and playing with my own daughters when they were young. And now that they are grown and have moved away, I am still able to play with them thanks to the app Words With Friends. [Read more…]
