Democracy is the art and science of...

"I do remain convinced that life without reading and the personal thinking it provokes would be a greatly diminished thing." So begins an article about neuroscience and Shakespeare that ends up showing that reading the Bard's work takes your brain to a higher level. What's interesting here is that verbs and nouns are processed in different parts of your melon. Shakespeare's habit of nouning verbs and verbing nouns (for example - Her eye discourses; I will answer it. / I am too bold, 'tis not to me she speaks - from Romeo and Juliet) causes some very interesting neurochemistry to resolve that ambiguity thereby changing neuro pathways and allowing you to think in new and different ways. You can read the full post if you're interested in P600 parietal modulations.

LinkedIn. A mystery (to me) in the social media world. As popular as Google+, as beautiful as Myspace. Yet with 100 million members they are the top-rated social media platform for B2B. So maybe I should read and act upon these tips for Getting The Most out of LinkedIn.

For my beer drinking buddies:

• Clean up the kitchen because you're going to be making some genuine Tudor Buttered Beere using a recipe from 1588. 
• IKEA (yes, the furniture store) introduced Ol Mork Lager. (I'm too tired to do the umlauts.)
• The family tree of beer styles.

The world's oldest bra (15th century) was recently unearthed in a castle's trash heap in Austria. Hell, I've got tighty whities almost as old.

From the things you've already seen department:

• The sexy hurdler. Watch it again. Pure joy, sheer fun. (OK, and dat azz.)
• The mashed potato vending machine from 7-11 

I've read precisely two books on the list of the 100 greatest works of fiction since 1990. There's a lot of Philip Roth and J.K. Rowling on here. I guess this is what retirement is for.

The infamous Chad Ochocinco has managed to steer clear of the jurisprudence columns of your local sports pages. What are the secrets of his success? AFC and NFC.

• Alcohol: Party at home.
• Firearms: Get a bodyguard if you're that paranoid.
• Crews: Not needed, roll solo.
• No man: Keep around a friend who'll tell you what you don't want to hear.
• Fallback: Turn the other cheek.
• Consent: Be careful of chicks and groupies.

For my Star Wars friends. source

Would you pay a buck a minute to snuggle? Are you an advocate of the benefits of non-sexual touch? Then The Snuggery is for you.

It's hard to imagine teeth without cavities but scientists have devised a molecule called Keep 32 that kills within 60 seconds all the streptococcus mutans, the bacteria in your mouth that causes cavities.The effect lasts for several hours.

For those of you with testicles (and the women who love them):

• Seems obvious, but why does getting hit in the nuts hurt so much? It has something to do with the spermatic plexus.
• Skinny jeans are not good for the family jewels. Of male wearers of tight denim 50% experience groin discomfort, 25% have bladder troubles, and 20% get a twisted testicle (OUCH).

It's been 20 years since the last episode of Twin Peaks aired. (I had to stop watching before the end. It was too creepy.) Here are some photographs from that last day of filming.

Things for which teh interwebs is perfect: a collection of transistor radios.

From the psychedelic art department:

• the virtual acid trip 
• a poster of all 120 stars in Super Mario 64 
• different colored circles that light up and beep
• why I hate cats

What does the detonation of an atomic bomb sound like? Listen in as the Operation Upshot-Knothole 16 kt Annie detonation is set off on 17 March 1953.

Take a tour of the moon courtesy of NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

This is science-like: a website full of animated engines. 

It's what's for dinner. source

...running a circus from inside the monkey cage. ~H.L. Mencken