Overnight Open Thread - Party Edition

I think the current world situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part. And we're just the guys to do it!

The 'Bat Hook' That Lets You Charge Your Phone Off Of Overhead Power Lines
I was skeptical until seeing the video. It's designed to allow special forces to surreptitiously tap into power lines without giving themselves away. But don't try this with high tension lines.

A more honest Robert Byrd obituary: Farewell to the Old Gasbag
via Gal Thursday's twitter feed.

Is This Recession Different?
I'd say yes. And this chart showing the percentage of workers unemployed over 26 weeks seems to agree. It only goes back 40 years but I bet we haven't had this many people out of work for so long since the 30's. Plus there's this scary chart.

Do Programmers Need a College Degree?
Well Zoho says no and they're putting their money where their mouth is by taking high school graduates and putting them through a two year training program and paying them a stipend while they apprentice with the company.

Based on a few years of observation, we noticed that there was little or no correlation between academic performance, as measured by grades and the type of college a person attended, and their real on-the-job performance. That was a genuine surprise, particularly for me, as I grew up thinking grades really mattered ...

Over time, that led us to be bolder in our search for talent. We started to ask "What if the college degree itself is not really that useful? What if we took kids after high school, train them ourselves?"

Lawlessness in the UK: Anti-Israel Activist Vandals Freed By Jury
Five activists who caused £180,000 damage to an arms factory near Brighton were acquitted after they argued they were seeking to prevent Israeli war crimes by damaging the factory. They admitted to the sabotage but claimed that they were legally justified since the factory made military equipment sold to Israel that might be used in the occupied territories. Apparently a jury of their peers agreed.

Remembering Axis and Allies and Avalon Hill Games
I never played Axis and Allies but I did play a lot of Squad Leader, Afrika Korps, and similar games. And yeah the manuals did get a little thick at times. But as the manual itself pointed out, acquiring knowledge of the detailed rules over time is also a way to realistically model how combat leaders gain experience. One of the benefits of playing wargames as a kid is that I learned a lot of history along the way. Plus I also learned (often the hard way) why historical leaders chose the strategies they did.

Should Married Couples Have A Sex Contract?
Dennis Prager has supported this idea in the past pointing out that having sex is the only obligation between a married couple for which "I don't feel like it" is considered a perfectly valid excuse. Feminists hate the idea but women who've tried it seem to be glad they did.

The Swastika Quilt From 1900
Well this is only shocking to those who think the Nazis invented the swastika. It's actually an ancient good luck symbol that literally goes back to the neolithic age and has been used all over the world. Carl Sagan has speculated that it was inspired by a near-Earth comet in prehistoric times. In Buddhism it symbolizes eternity and you'll find it in temples throughout Asia. But sadly a bunch of evil Germans have ruined it for the world.

Man Kills Self After Being Caught F*cking A Chicken

“His wife stormed into the kitchen during his intimacy with the chicken,” an investigator told reporters. “He failed to give a satisfactory explanation as he was caught in the act.”

How do you play Rock-Paper-Scissors with 7 people?
Why with Monkey-Pirate-Robot-Ninja-Zombie of course!
Zombie kills monkey and pirate but is taken out by robot and ninja.

The Yahoo clique. Are you worthy?

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posted by Maetenloch at 09:07 PM

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