Author Archives: Robin

A politico that GETS it

Posted on by

Bolivia leader halves his own pay

Bolivian President Evo Morales
Mr Morales says he wants to share the burden of the poor
The Bolivian new left-wing President, Evo Morales, has cut his salary by more than a half to a little over $1,800 (£1,012) per month.

The decision means that the salaries of all Bolivian public sector employees will be reviewed, as no official can earn more than the president.

The savings thus created will go to training doctors and teachers.

Well done that man – but surely the rest of the world will hate him for giving a rats ass for his country instead of just going for himself alone?

Demotivators

Posted on by

MOTIVATION. Psychology tells us that motivation- true, lasting motivation- can only come from within. Common sense tells us it can’t be manufactured or productized. So how is it that a multi-billion dollar industry thrives through the sale of motivational commodities and services? Because, in our world of instant gratification, people desperately want to believe that there are simple solutions to complex problems. And when desperation has disposable income, market opportunities abound.

AT DESPAIR, INC., we believe motivational products create unrealistic expectations, raising hopes only to dash them. That’s why we created our soul-crushingly depressing Demotivators® designs, so you can skip the delusions that motivational products induce and head straight for the disappointments that follow!

Great demotivational videos and posters to hang up as well

Suspended animation

Posted on by

Works on pigs! For at least 2 1/2 hours… well done, maybe we can do this to soldiers on the battlefields?

HASAN ALAM gazes over the cold, motionless body of a pig lying on a stainless steel table before him. The animal has no pulse, no blood, no electrical activity in its brain, and its tissues consume no oxygen. It has been in this state for two-and-a-half hours. It looks dead. “You would think so,” he says, “but you can bring it back.”

National Penis Sizes

Posted on by

Apparently, the French are the biggest Dicks, and the Koreans the smallest – based on a sample size of around 2000…

The study results showed that the average world size penis when erect is 14 centimetres (5.5 inches). The biggest averages were registered in France 16 cm (6.2 in), Italy 15 cm (5.9 in), Mexico 14.9 cm (5.8 in) and Spain 14 cm (5.5 in). In the United States, the average is 12.9 cm (5 in) while in Venezuela is 12,7 cm (4.9 in), and in Brazil is 12.4 cm (4.8 in). The smallest averages were found in India 10.2 cm (3.9 in) and South Korea 9,6 cm (3.7 in).

Posted in Sex

Viral Marketing

Posted on by

This is when you place an advert somewhere and let people spread the advert themselves: examples are placing a film on internet and other people linking to it, or sending emails with the link in it, or having people attractive to your target audience meeting the audience in bars and after a conversation innocuously talking up the brand you’re promoting, in the hope that that person will not only buy into the brand, but also tell others about the new brand. Red Bull was particularly succesful this way. William Gibson explains the concept well in his latest novel Pattern Recognition.

Anyway, there are two sites out there that chart these marketing campaigns on internet:
Viralchart.com and
ttr2.com

I found this due to the attempt to ban the Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks campaign due to excessive glorification of violence.

Another one that caught my eye especially was the Training films 1 – 3 But there are plenty more there for your enjoyment!

Posted in Art

SpaceX orbital rocket launch

Posted on by

Today the SpaceX orbital rocket (the first privately financed and cheapest orbital rocket ever) will be launched from the Kwajalein Atoll of the Marshall Islands:

the Falcon 1 rocket will begin its journey to orbit, accelerating to 17,000 mph (25 times the speed of sound) in less than ten minutes. Designed from the ground up by SpaceX, Falcon 1 is a two stage rocket powered by liquid oxygen and purified, rocket grade kerosene. On launch day, Falcon 1 will launch into the history books for several notable reasons:

* It will be the first privately developed, liquid fueled rocket to reach orbit and the world’s first all new orbital rocket in over a decade.
* The main engine of Falcon 1 (Merlin) will be the first all new American hydrocarbon engine for an orbital booster to be flown in forty years and only the second new American booster engine of any kind in twenty-five years.
* The Falcon 1 is the only rocket flying 21st century avionics, which require a small fraction of the power and mass of other systems.
* It will be the world’s only semi-reusable orbital rocket apart from the Shuttle.
* Most importantly, Falcon 1, priced at $6.7 million, will provide the lowest cost per flight to orbit of any launch vehicle in the world, despite receiving a design reliability rating equivalent to that of the best launch vehicles currently flying in the United States.

The maiden flight will take place from the Kwajalein Atoll of the Marshall Islands. The customer for this mission is DARPA and the Air Force. The payload will be FalconSat-2, part of the Air Force Academy’s satellite program that will measure space plasma phenomena, which can adversely affect space-based communications, including GPS and other civil and military communications. The target orbit is 400 km X 500 km (just above the International Space Station) at an inclination of 39 degrees.