The king ordered the experiment to be conducted using two identical twins. Both of the twins had been tried for the crimes they had committed and condemned to death. Their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment on the condition that one of the twins drank three pots[1] of coffee, and the other drank the same amount of tea, every day for the rest of their lives.[4] Two physicians were appointed to supervise the experiment and report its finding to the king.[5] Unfortunately, both doctors died, presumably of natural causes, before the experiment was completed.[4] Gustav III, who was assassinated in 1792, also died before seeing the final results. Of the twins, the tea drinker was the first to die, at age 83; the date of death of the surviving coffee drinker is unknown.[6]

Awful Library Books

Courtney shared this story from Super Opinionated.

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“I would like Martin Scorsese to be interested in a female character once in a while, but I don’t know if I’ll live that long.”

- Meryl Streep pulling weeds 

Port Huron Times Herald

Bail set at $1 million for suspect in Amtrak stabbings Port Huron Times Herald The man accused of stabbing four people, including the conductor, on a Port Huron-bound Amtrak train has been charged with four counts of assault with intent to murder. The man, who has been identified as Michael Darnell Williams, 44, of Saginaw, is being ... Accused Amtrak Stabber Charged With 4 Counts Of Attempted Murder; Bail Set ...CBS Local all 504 news articles »

White House to restrict use of profiling to border, airports Dallas Morning News WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will soon issue new rules curtailing the use of profiling, but over the objection of civil rights groups, federal agents will still be allowed to consider race and ethnicity when stopping people at airports, border ... and more »

A shut book is just a block, Amandine Alessandra

Dylan Moran - Like, Totally.

Right on Track

Established in 1999, the ARTC (Australian Rail Track Corporation) is, as its spelled-out acronym clearly indicates, the federal government-owned corporation that manages the rail network across Australia. ARTC doesn't own or operate any trains, what it does is control the infrastructure for train operators to run on and manages over 8,500 route kilometres (5,200 miles) of interstate track in South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, Queensland, and New South Wales. This week, ARTC introduced a new identity designed by Sydney- and New York-based Moon.

"There was no previous depth or understanding behind the previous identity and no brand architecture to speak of, so we spent a lot of time understanding the core values of the business and developing the overall brand blueprint before we got into the fun stuff.

"Despite the cliché, ARTC was one of those businesses that you had to scratch the surface to find some real gems underneath, and as a result we discovered a company that really was quite visionary, enduring, genuine and had a 'can-do' attitude.

"As a result, we have really pushed the characteristics of boldness, simplicity and a degree of stark honesty to the new design that best represented ARTC's values and its goals," Ms Lavender-Baker said.

ARTC press release

There is no doubt that this is a vast improvement. The previous logo, in use for the past 15 years since the first days of the organization, could only have been worse had it featured three or five more visual clichés for movement and roads. The typography didn't help much either. The new logo goes for a much subtler approach on how to communicate "tracks" with two simple bars at the top and bottom of the industrial-looking wordmark. There really isn't much more to unpack in terms of meaning or design implications. It's a pretty straightforward read that establishes ARTC as a hard-working, no non-sense organization.

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I usually don't post that many images of guideline pages but these are stunning. Lovely layouts, typography, and interesting ways of displaying the same old boring stuff.

In application, the logo is supported by a vibrant color palette that gives it a bit of youthful energy while a pattern that looks like train cars lined up (as in one of the images above) adds a cool, abstract graphic to provide some bursts of color to the otherwise stark layouts. This is no bullet train of an identity but it's definitely appropriate and perfectly executed.

Nope

Joaquin Bolaños, The Astounding Life of Death, 1792

When we meet again, it won’t be me.

New submitter jonhorvath writes: Several of the top contributors to Node.js, a popular open source run-time environment, have decided to fork the project, creating io.js as an alternative. The developers were unhappy with how cloud computing company Joyent was directing work on Node.js. Mikeal Rogers said, "We don't want to have just one person who's appointed by a company making decisions. We want contributors to have more control, to seek consensus." Here's the new repository, and a README file to go with it. A developer at Uber tweeted that they've already migrated to io.js on their production systems. It'll be interesting to see how many other sites follow.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Molly McHugh writes: Holland's chief transportation service is testing a unique new way to clear the rails of fallen leaves and other small debris: by mounting lasers on the fronts of locomotives. The lasers will cause the leaves, which produce a condition commonly referred to as "slippery rail" in the fall and winter months, to vanish in a puff of smoke.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

UnknowingFool writes The lawsuit involving Apple and iTunes DRM may be thrown out because the plaintiffs did not own the iPods for which they are suing. The lawsuit covers iPods for the time period between September of 2006 and March of 2009. When Apple checked the serial numbers of the iPods of the plaintiffs, it appears they were not manufactured during this time. One plaintiff did purchase an iPod in 2005 and in 2010 and has withdrawn from the suit. The second plaintiff's iPod was manufactured in July 2009 but claims purchasing another iPod in 2008. Since the two plaintiffs were the only ones in the suit, the case may be dismissed for lack of standing.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

FreedomFirstThenPeac (1235064) writes "A story in The Guardian tells us that in an Orwellian move to legislate language, the Chinese government is attempting to stop the use of puns because they are disruptive and may lead to chaos (not the mathematical kind) and as such are unsuitable for use. However, Chinese is rife with puns, with this example quoted in the story: "When couples marry, people will give them dates and peanuts – a reference to the wish Zaosheng guizi or 'May you soon give birth to a son.' The word for dates is also zao and peanuts are huasheng." The powerful date and peanut lobbies are up in arms, claiming that such a ban will cost them more than peanuts. Their claim? "If you outlaw puns. Only criminals will have puns."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

submitted by sleepandstatic [link] [258 comments]

Boots are essential footwear come fall and winter. These three from John Lobb are an elegant way to make it through unscathed. Spray with Nano protector and you’ll be ready no matter the weather.

The Romsey II is a lightweight chukka boot with an unlined shaft. Made on November soles in Parisian Brown suede, they’re easy to pair with many outfits.

Jodhpur boots were originally made to wear with Jodhpur pants as a replacement for tall riding boots. They’ve long since become acceptable to wear in the city with your favorite jeans or suit. This pair  is made in tobacco suede on Lobb’s exclusive November rubber soles.

Chelsea boots are popular for their stylish looks and easy wear. John Lobb’s Tudor is made on their sleek 7000 last in Dark Brown Oxford calfskin. As part of the Prestige collection, they feature rounded leather soles and impeccable finishing.

Romsey II, 8000 Last, Parisian Brown Suede, November Soles
Jodhpur II, 7000 Last, Tobacco Suede, November Soles
Tudor, 7000 Last, Dark Brown Oxford, Single Leather Soles

mishasminions:

"YEAH, I’VE SEEN A LOT OF DINOSAUR MOVIES IN MY DAY"

The German Chancellor -- whose party is closely aligned with the telcoms sector -- says she wants a two-tier Internet; on the "fast" Internet, carriers will be allowed to slow down access to services that haven't paid bribes for "premium" carriage; on the "regular" Internet, ISPs will just give you the data you ask for. Read the rest

The secretary of State is reportedly asking the Senate to wait to release its report on the Bush-era use of “enhanced interrogation” techniques. By Dustin Volz and Lauren Fox

Do the holidays make you happy? Do you enjoy eating items spiced with nutmeg, such as gingerbread and eggnog? Well, according to this author, there might be a connection between your Christmas cheer and nutmeg consumption. More specifically, he theorizes that amphetamine-like compounds formed during the baking and cooking of nutmeg-containing compounds "may be responsible, in part, for uplifting our mood in winter." The author goes on to speculate that these spices are specifically eaten in

It's the highest amount of guaranteed cash for any kicker or punter in the NFL, per ESPN, prompting the Rams to headline their official release on the deal by noting: "PUNTERS GET PAID LIKE PEOPLE, TOO." We hope you're as excited about this news as we are.

A great horned owl escaped from peregrine falcons by diving into Lake Michigan at a Chicago park, swimming away skillfully using a strigine version of the butterfly stroke.

via Daily Picks and Flicks