Better living through chemistry

Interested in coming up with your own personal psychedelic cocktail? There are books that will teach you how to whip up your own concoction in the comfort of your home. Written by the godfather of Ecstasy.

Results will vary and any prison/death/lifelong embarrassment -related outcome may ensue.

While on the topic of ingestible material, there are some food that should also be categorised as dangerous/controlled substance. If you are what you eat, why would you eat these?

*shudder*

It's okay, I don't need to prove mine is bigger than yours.

However, if consuming questionable materials/chemical/food in the chase of that adrenaline rush doesn't do it for you, why not try blowing things up to exercise your creativity? Marvelously, there are books that will teach you how to create your own IED without stepping out of your house. For the aspiring Unabombers out there, check out this page in Amazon.com.

The vagaries of science

Whoa ... the guy who won the IgNobel prize for levitating a frog using electromagnet has won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Congratulations, Dr Geim!

Being gay for a pal

I kept re-watching this and it cracks me up every single time. The earnestness of Matt Damon is just so twee. It's not new but the pure lulz factor is awesome.

Nature vs nurture?

kleptobiosis (Also cleptobiosis.)  

Among ants and certain other social insects, an association in which a small species feeds on the refuse of a neighbouring nest inhabited by a larger species, or robs returning workers of the host species of the food they are carrying. Hence kleptobiotic.


When confronted about his shaking down of the juniors for their lunch money, Harry earnestly replied that he was merely obeying the natural imperative of kleptobiosis.

Science is so cool ...

Next time you get into a bar brawl, don't drink up all the beer first before smashing the bottle over your opponent's head. An empty bottle takes more energy to break. The damage: Not so different.

Also, if you work in the healthcare industry and feel the need to let fly some swear words, feel free to do so. It helps reduce your desire to maim the offending party.

Tequila is a girl's best friend. Not only can you get deliciously smashed from drinking it, you can also make diamonds from it. No kidding.

Reasons to smash your brain up

If you are a hardcore gambler, reading this research article may make you want to go out and find the best way to damage your prefrontal cortex. Apparently, you make a better gambler if you feel no fear.

Yeah, try telling that to those with the ah longs breathing down their neck.

*snicker*

Why must we live in boxes?

Categorising organisms is a scientific discipline brought to organised form by Carolus Linnaeus (is my nerd-dom obvious?). Is labelling things a biological imperative? Why do we feel compelled to identify things (even people) into neatly labelled boxes?

Sexual identity is one of them. How many of us enjoy a titillating whisper speculating on whether X is gay and does his wife know it? We hear of cases where children kill themselves after being jeered as gay by their schoolmates. Being labelled accurately (or inaccurately) can  be hurtful, especially if the label is perceived in a negative manner. The best case scenario is that we no longer attach negative connotations to any labels, but that is pure fantasy.

Nevertheless, is it necessary to let people know whether we are straight/gay/bi/asexual/pansexual?

What business is it of theirs anyway? Unless they are a potential bedmate, I don't see why it would be of relevance to them. Even if you did end up in bed with said person, it is still not of relevance to them.

It may only be relevant if you decide to make a commitment to that person; in which case, I do believe in total disclosure. I see no reason why a gay person (male or female) should not get into a heterosexual marriage, so long as both parties are willing to stick by their vows (To love and cherish faithfully, till death etc etc etc). Sexuality is NOT an excuse to be unfaithful (yeah, Jim McGreevey, this means you); you chose to marry that person, commit to a family life with that person, so you damn well better stick to your end of the agreement, bud.

However, with the famewhore mentality that seems to be pervasive, it appears that people feel a need to let the world know of who/what they are. Look, at the end of it, who cares whom you like to bang (unless you're Roman Polanski)? I agree wholeheartedly with Ms Moreno on her post Gay? Straight? Get Over It. When it comes to treatment of non-heteronormative characters on television/silver screen, I prefer the way the Europeans do it; with a shrug and "let's move on" nod without the drama and obsequiousness that we see in Hollywood.


So unless you're like this guy (see bottom), there is no need to tell all and sundry about whom you'd like to kick the sheets with, yeah?

I'm not trolling, but ...

... to be killed by your company's product surely is ironic, no?

Don't be too hard on the youth today ...

... they can't help being what they are. If you are a GenX'er (or even a baby boomer) who is exasperated when dealing with a junior / student / whatever who belongs to the Generation Y, you are not alone.

Some have harshly dubbed the GenYs as the Dumbest Generation who believe everything they read on the Internet and are desperate for fame that they'd do the most hideous things to get the most hits on YouTube. Narcissistic and short-sighted, they are disdained as fame whores who have little understanding of privacy of self. They come across as figjams with a massive sense of self-entitlement. But is that really what they are or are we guilty of generalisation?

As a GenXer, one should be a little more understanding, coming from a tough sell generation that has been dubbed as cynical slackers with no real ambition or impact on the world. Yeah, no doubt you had moments of wanting to yank your hair out by the roots because the dumb intern refused to write a letter / e-mail without using gibberish texting acronyms (W U?!) but once upon a time someone else had bashed their head on the desk at the sight of you as well.

Frankly, I believe that the GenYers face a great deal more challenge than we did. They are bombarded with so many messages that rivals an ADHD with no Ritalin on a sugar high. Yes, they have the advantage of technology (home PC, laptops, highspeed Internet connection, mobile phones etc), but it also means more pressure for them to stay connected, to out-perform and to be the one to be noticed in a crowd. For those who lament that this generation do not know how to take care of themselves or do the simplest chores, remember that they are the generation raised by maids and had no other job except to study and go for tuition / dance / music / art classes.

GenYers are also under pressure to excel in a terrifying way. The pressure to take more than 10 subjects for their high school exam., to score all A's, to be the best athlete, the best performer, the best writer etc etc etc is something we never had to contend with. Granted that the SPM during our time was tough enough that getting 8 A's makes you the wunderkind of the district, sometimes even at state level. Since so many people are obtaining a gazillion of A's, university entrance become extremely competitive and they have to work ever so much harder to distinguish themselves from their peers.

We can afford a childhood rife with play time, exploring our neighbourhood with friends and generally just being a child. We had little fear of strangers and except for the odd, racist fear mongering of our elders ("If you are naughty, I will sell you to the cloth merchant Bengali!") we are relatively footloose and fancy free. We didn't worry about being bullied online (our bullies prefer being up close and personal), we didn't worry (overmuch) about passing the exams, we didn't worry about the environment that we were despoiling, we didn't worry on whether the economic cake was enough for us as well and ad nauseam the worries that plague kids born after 1990.

And many of us forget that the target of our rants are just a small percentage of the population of GenY. These are the privileged, middle to upper class kids who come from two income families. We forget those who slip between the cracks, the children of the urban poor (many who turn into Mat/Minah Rempit to spend their time or relieve the pressure they face) or the rural poor who struggles because they are not equipped to face the changing economy.

So let's not be an old fart and give the kids today a break.

Word of the Day

polemomania (n.)

Excessive desire for conflict; militant anger.

After the umpteenth time of having her stapler disappear, Polly was seized by a rush of polemomania.