CBC News – Consumer Life – Faulty designs responsible for 75% of toy recalls: study

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2007/09/07/toy-study.html


Toxic Toys: Is this just China bashing?

‘Chinese’ Barbie’

“A new Canadian study examining toy recall records suggests that while problems have been found in China’s factories, toy companies should shoulder their fair share of the blame for faulty designs and varying standards.”

‘What I see happening is [the toy companies] seem to be putting the blame on the Chinese manufacturers and escaping their own responsibility.’
–Hari Bapuji, researcher

See also:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_drohan/20070818.html”

Sept 21st from the Financial Times:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/99b42156-683a-11dc-b475-0000779fd2ac.html

jenjen1352s reviews – StumbleUpon

http://jenjen1352.stumbleupon.com/review/9777489/

What do you think of the SU BETA ?

Vote here!

FYI – I think the new SU BETA is awful.

Why do I say that?

Well…

Most of the new features now appearing on the web page seem to be duplicated by options available from the the SU toolbar or are currently available anyway. They also give the give the new page an ‘amateur’ look and feel by ignoring the need for clean lines and making good use of white space. Other blogging web-spaces give their customers options, SU seem to want to impose their solutions and are making the classic error of designing for the ‘average’ user rather than addressing the needs of the whole customer base.

Klassys reviews – StumbleUpon

http://klassy.stumbleupon.com/review/11321459/

From the page:

“.
I think.
I think that.
I think that (it).
I think that it is.
I think that it is safe.
I think that It is safe to(o).
I think that it is safe to assume.
I think that it is safe to assume that.
I think that it is safe to assume that you.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not assume.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not assume you.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not assume you are.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not assume you are safe.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not assume you are safe to(o).
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not assume you are safe to assume.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not assume you are safe to assume that.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not assume you are safe to assume that, you.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not assume you are safe; to assume that you are.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not assume you are safe to assume that you are safe.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not assume you are safe to assume that you are safe (from).
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not assume you are safe to assume that you are safe from them.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not assume you are safe to assume that you are safe from them.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not assume you are safe to assume that you are safe from.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not assume you are safe to assume that you are safe.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not assume you are safe to assume that you are.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not assume you are safe to assume that you.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not assume, you are safe to assume that.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not assume you are safe to assume.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not assume you are safe to(o).
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not assume you are safe.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not assume you are.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not assume you.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not assume.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should not.
I think that it is safe to assume that you should.
I think that it is safe to assume that you.
I think that it is safe to assume that.
I think that it is safe to assume.
I think that it is safe to.
I think that it is safe.
I think that it is.
I think that it.
I think that.
I think.
I.

The original looks better!

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


As another reviewer said…

“I was like – Oh no, another in the line of SL machinima about building something.
La la la.
Just really well editing.
La la la.
But wouldn’t it be cool if something totally unexpected happened, that gave meaning to all of this building, something magical…

and then it did. And I was totally blown away.”

You can find links to higher quality versions here:

http://digitaldouble.blogspot.com/2007/07/watch-worlds.html

Many thanks to Invent http://invent.stumbleupon.com/
for finding this little gem.

http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Ecky-Thump

As published in a factual article by:


Ecky-Thump Master Dan Cruickshank demonstrates his skill,
pictured at Rawtenstall Effluence Treatment Centre,
Lancashire.

Ecky-Thump (pronounced ehk-ee thoooomp) is an ancient and traditional martial art originating from Lancaster, Lancashire in Northern England.

“Similar but superior to Kung Fu in many respects, it utilizes long, fierce-looking Black Puddings in place of more inferior Eastern weaponry.

Practitioners of the martial art are easily distinguished through their ritualistic flat caps and accompanying whippets.

Learned Historians and fans of sausage generally agree that Ecky-Thump began to take form in 1611, in response to the need for townsfolk to defend themselves against the Lancashire witches said to live in Pendle Forest.

Recent speculation has linked its development in part to the related martial art form of Ken Do’dd.

Master-Li http://master-li.stumbleupon.com/ is considered by many to be a deft exponent of this northern martial art. His pudding collection is rumoured to be one of the finest this side of the Pennines.

“Mighty is the word of the Master.”
http://master-li.stumbleupon.com/review/11069558/
http://master-li.stumbleupon.com/review/11070414/

http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence


“Adopted on 4 July 1776, the Declaration of Independence reflects the issue at the centre of American Revolution: spelling reforms visited on the colonies by the British crown.

The Congress were determined that their language would not be standardised by a distant king using language different to theirs.

A young representative from the Connecticut delegation, Noah Webster, was responsible for inserting deliberate misspellings – such as ‘facred Hono[u]r’ – to signal the new country’s defiance of Samuel Johnson.

Other grievances against the evil King George W listed in the original text include:

* He hath Infulted uf repeatedly.
* He hath Degraded our humble Dignity.
* He hath Terrorized uf for no apparent reafon.
* He hath otherwife Fcared the Living Fhit out of uf guyf.
* He hath ordered Pizza and other Delicacief anonymoufly and without our Permiffion, forcing uf to pick up the Tab. “

Don Croners World Wide Wanders Part 2: China | Inner Mongolia | Shangdu | Xanadu

http://www.doncroner.com/2005/05/china-inner-mongolia-shangdu.html


Xanadu by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

“In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round:
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery. “

Xanadu, also called Zanadu, Shangdu or Shang-tu (Chinese: 上都; Hanyu Pinyin: Sh

Sculpted prim – Second Life Wiki

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Sculpted_Prims



From the page:
“A Sculpted Prim is a prim whose shape is determined by a texture. These textures are called Sculpt Textures or Sculpt Maps.

You can use sculpted prims to create more complex, organic shapes that are not currently possible with Second Life’s prim system.”

To create them you’ll need a 3D program like Blender:
http://www.blender.org/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Washingtons-War-Independence-Great-Commanders/dp/0297846981/ref=pd_bowtega_1/026-4324825-9243627?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1178205526&sr=1-1



“In 1775, George Washington took command of a ragbag army of American insurgents and took on the might of the British Army. Through a brilliant campaign of ambush and indirect attacks, he finally succeeded in defeating the greatest military power in the world, and won America its independence.

Today it is the USA that is the world’s dominant superpower. When they entered Iraq in 2003 they made the same mistakes that the British made over 200 years ago: they underestimated the popular hostility against them, and believed they could fight a widespread insurgence using troops trained for conventional warfare. They are beginning to learn, as the British did, that sheer military power is not enough.

As a former Director of UK Special Forces and Commander of the United Nations Protection Force in Bosnia, Michael Rose is uniquely experienced in counter-insurgency warfare.

In this hard-hitting book he explains the principles of guerrilla warfare as used in the American War of Independence, and shows how those same principles have been adopted by the insurgents in Iraq.”

An interesting premise, but like all analogies if applied to far it ceases to be useful. There were set piece battles in the American War of Independence for example.