How to deal with telemarketing calls. (H/T, Dr Westerhaus.) // Reposted by request: BT courtesy call goes horribly, horribly wrong. “Do you comprehend?” // Faces in places. // BBC TV idents. From the Fifties to the modern day. // Further to this, behold the future of re-entry. In emergencies. // Running countdown to fictional future events. Some overdue. (H/T, Grow-a-brain.) // World freedom atlas. Scan the world for freedom of expression, freedom of belief and individual rights. // Robert Spencer casts a critical eye over the “Islam is peace” PR campaign. // What does ‘jihad’ mean? “The 199 references in the most standard collection of Hadith all assume that jihad means warfare.” // The pearl of Allah. // Islamic comic book heroes. “Questions have been raised about the clothing the heroes wear.” // Nuns disagree. Things turn ugly. // A gallery of ejector seats. // How missiles work. // Exchanging Greetings and Introductions. (1960) How Earthlings greet. // Kavel Rafferty’s vintage record sleeves. (H/T, Coudal.) // Lava lamp packaging. The classic Century 102. // The American Package Museum. Gum, cocoa. tinned marshmallows. // The Birotron. Retro-electronica. It didn’t catch on. More. // Via Grow-a-brain, the, um, magnificent Belinda Bedeković. Video. Warning: it seems not to end. // And, via The Thin Man, Kathy Kirby gets groovy and bombastic.

Government clamps down firmly on a growing problem. (H/T, Mick Hartley.) // The Supreme Instruments Corporation. Imposing gadgets of a bygone age. (H/T, The Cartoonist.) // The thrill of electromechanical relays. (H/T, Coudal.) // French vision of the future. (1910) Automated ablutions, flying policemen, the warm glow of radium. // Stephen Petranek ponders the end of the world (and how to avoid it). Boredom, solar flares, scientific mishaps. // Filaments of space-time. Large scale density simulations. Very large scale. (H/T, Pruned.) // The Mystery of Time. (1957) // Great big holes. // Devil’s Kitchen on the wisdom of Harriet Harman. // Camille Paglia on scholarship, dogma and semen. // “If we’re going to have research at all, then we’re going to have people saying unpopular things, and if this is what happens to them, then we’ve got problems.” // Ten years of Encounter magazine. (H/T, Dr Dawg.) // “In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals. In Iran, we do not have this phenomenon.” No homosexuality, no Holocaust, no plans for nuclear weapons. Related. // The two faces of Al Qaeda. // Dalrymple on Islam as modern day Marxism. From Baader-Meinhof to Caliphate fantasies. // Death and probability. Lightning, earthquakes, bee stings. (H/T, Grow-a-brain.) // Biography of a Bee. (1965) // Via Coudal, the sci-fi paper model gallery. Parts and blueprints. Colour printer required. // Make your very own David Hasselhoff. Comes with microphone, choice of heads and removable chest hair carpet. // Tim Rudder’s photos of Tokyo. More. // 1966 Hulk cartoon. Toad men, tremors, theme tune from hell. // Missile base for sale. 57 acres, own silos. $1.5 million. // Tree houses. // Hey kids, it’s the magic wheel. “New cool urban product!” // Or, try Oryx. “It’s from the future.” // Johnny has his own psychobilly mo-chine.

Facial prosthetics. Clip-on ears, noses, jaws. // Armless man fells love rival. Like, totally. (H/T, Ace.) // 10 strange astronomical sights. // Solar movies. Flares, filaments, mass ejections. // Via Coudal, Jellyfish Lake. // Seizure-inducing bathtub. $26,000. // Capri bling. // Crash test your car online. // Verdi and Plasticine. // How to untangle headphone cable. Requires cat food, one cat, 24 hours. // Air Mouse. It’s a mouse. It’s a remote. It’s an object to fondle. // The Chrysler Building. More. // Via 1+1=3, the Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur. // “With concentration, my size increased.” // Archive of Flash Gordon radio shows. (1935) // Return of the diabolical earthquake machine. // The complete illustrated catalogue of Acme products. From earthquake pills and super-speed vitamins to jet-propelled pogo sticks. Essential for coyotes. // Let’s Make a Sandwich. (1950) In collaboration with the American Gas Association. // Via Artblog, World Juggling Federation Championships 2004/5. // The Museum of Hoaxes. // Air Guitar Champion 2007, Ochi Yosuke. // Statue of Frank Zappa, Vilnius, Lithuania. // Zappa linksfest. (For Dr W.) // Deogolwulf on the wisdom of Richard Rorty, again. // Norman Geras on the unspeakable sorrows of Madeleine Bunting. She feels our pain. // Dispatches: Unholy War. Islam, apostasy and punishment. // And, via The Thin Man, Doris wields the lash. K-tssh.

Bloxorz. One block, one hole, 33 levels. // Via Infosthetics, the science of boomerangs. // The secret of invisibility. “Walk unseen among people or crowds.” $19.95 // 1” cube wooden speakers. 1.5 Watts. // Mirin Dajo, human pincushion. (1947) More. // Di-positronium and the gamma ray annihilation laser. More. // Make your own Moon surface. Some explosives required. (H/T, Coudal.) // Washing hair in zero gravity. // Guess who. (H/T, Artblog.) // Via Denis Dutton, astronomy and empire. A mutual history. (mp3) // Jeff Goldstein on “negotiating” with al-Qaeda. Live and let live meets live as we say. // Ehsan Jami and the Committee of Ex-Muslims. “We no longer tolerate the intolerance of Islam.” Jami says Muslims should be free to leave Islam without being killed. Death threats ensue. More. // Abrogation in Islam. Mecca versus Medina; how the monstrous is made legitimate. // The power of prayer. // The power of Hubble. (H/T, Stephen Hicks.) // TV’s best (and most improbable) science fiction makeover. Much better than this old tosh. // On pregnancy payouts. // 1939 New York World’s Fair. Adverts, postcards, visions of tomorrow. // The Castle House Tower. Eco-building chic. More. // Tokyo skyline time-lapse. 35 years in 20 seconds. (H/T, AntiCitizenOne.) // Case Study: LSD Woman talks to protesting hotdog. Things turn ugly. (1969) // Via The Thin Man, Doris takes a different kind of trip.

Charles and Ray Eames’ Information Machine. (1958) // The top 50 documents of all time. Discuss. // Denis Dutton, Charles Murray and Claire Fox on elitism and the freedom to excel. // Dutton on Alan Sokal, Stanley Fish and academic standards. // Norman Geras on the non-existent rights of non-existent future people. // And on the word ‘arse’. // The Tulse Luper Suitcases. A personal history of uranium. More. And. Game. // The Guardian gets tumescent for Ernesto “Che” Guevara. “His image and name would continue to inspire millions…” // Pious jihadists bomb Pakistan music shops; threaten barbers, doctors, drivers. “Stop playing music… or face bomb attacks.” // The 3 Conjectures. // Make your own rheopectic slime. Thickens impressively. May stain furnishings and irritate eyes. // Polyester resin, sugar and cocaine. // A map of the visible universe. Some details not shown. // World Freehand Circle Drawing Champion, Alexander Overwijk. // Famous curves. // Curvy aquarium. // Nepal airline sacrifices goats to appease gods. // Diabolical earthquake machine. (H/T, Vitruvius.) // Via 1+1=3, the colour palettes of famous paintings. Monet, Matisse, Dali, Warhol. // Palette generator. Swipes colour schemes from images of your choosing. (H/T, Drawn!) // Living in a Reversed World. // Mix tape USB drive. (H/T, Strange/Beautiful.) // The Lost Format Preservation Society. Four track, VCR, floppy disc, U-matic. // Trapped with Wham! “I thought I was going to die.” // And, via The Thin Man, it’s Mr Jim Reeves.