God Bless teh Internets

Why is it so hard to balance in the dark? Someone asked MetaFilter and got an awesome answer:

I spent 10 years post doc working on this very problem. The balancing process is quite complicated, as noted by others above. There is a hierarchy of sensory inputs that are used to maintain one's balance. The most compelling is peripheral vision. In fact, the primary role of the vestibular system (organs of balance) is to stabilize the eyes during head movement so that a steady reference to the horizon is visible (personal discovery).

Ask MeFi is probably my favoroite part of the MetaFilter community simply because of stuff like this.

My Millionaire Wife

Hezzy and I often joke that she owes it to me to become rich and famous. It would only be fair payback of the time I supported her while she went to grad school, etc., right? Well, if you believe WIRED, she may be poised to become the next breadwinner in our household after all: Revenge of the Right Brain

To flourish in this age, we'll need to supplement our well-developed high tech abilities with aptitudes that are "high concept" and "high touch." High concept involves the ability to create artistic and emotional beauty, to detect patterns and opportunities, to craft a satisfying narrative, and to come up with inventions the world didn't know it was missing. High touch involves the capacity to empathize, to understand the subtleties of human interaction, to find joy in one's self and to elicit it in others, and to stretch beyond the quotidian in pursuit of purpose and meaning.

The article is adapted from A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age by Daniel Pink.

Sounds interesting to me. Now if only I could get back in touch with my artistic/poetic self, I might actually be in good shape... ;)

Left on a jet plane. Now he's back again.

Congrats to "millionaire adventurer" Steve Fossett who has successfully become the first person to fly solo 'round the world. (No word on whether or not he found his lover.) Also, much-deserved congrats to my aerospace hero, Burt Rutan.

The first nonstop global flight without refueling was made in 1986 by Jeana Yeager and Dick Rutan, in the propeller-driven Voyager airplane. Dick Rutan's brother, Burt Rutan, is the designer of the GlobalFlyer and the Voyager as well as SpaceShipOne, which last year became the first privately developed craft to soar into outer space.

He is the future of aircraft.

Pyrophagia

Oakland: Taste of fire sparks feeding frenzy

The experience produced a notable rush. Having eaten fire, I was surprised to find I was greedy for it. All of us were as we raced to dip our fire sticks in the instructor's martini shaker of Coleman camping fuel, and then crowded around the little votive candle that was our source of flame.

Man, I can't tell you how long I've been interested in fire eating and – more specifically – juggling fire. Hmm... I gotta get out my juggling clubs again sometime...

Here's the best part:

The office worker, John Sutton, 39, said he wanted to be the first in his group to eat fire. "I don't know anybody who does it," he said. "Guys who knit aren't edgy anymore."

Good to know. Suttons around the world just want to be cool, I guess.

Anyway, remember always: "Don't do more than one stupid thing at a time."

As in "the fruits of the Devil"

For the Worst of Us, the Diagnosis May Be 'Evil'

In an effort to standardize what makes a crime particularly heinous, a group at New York University has been developing what it calls a depravity scale, which rates the horror of an act by the sum of its grim details.

And a prominent personality expert at Columbia University has published a 22-level hierarchy of evil behavior, derived from detailed biographies of more than 500 violent criminals.

He is now working on a book urging the profession not to shrink from thinking in terms of evil when appraising certain offenders, even if the E-word cannot be used as part of an official examination or diagnosis.

I think I'd prefer people keep their moral chocolate out of my clinical peanut butter, but it's an interesting discussion.

The latest fitness trend to sweep the nation

One very odd word: Kettlebells

The kettlebell is a cast iron weight, which resembles a basketball with a handle. An ancient Russian exercise device, the kettlebell has long been a favorite in that country for those seeking a special edge in strength and endurance.

Leave it to the Russians... And I don't know if it's really sweeping the nation, but there have been fluff pieces in the news about them that seem to claim as much.

Strange thing is, it kind of sounds appealing to me. If they weren't so pricey I might get a starter kit.

Of course, the fact that one of my favorite boxers, Kostya Tszyu, trains with them is probably influencing my judgement. I'm such a fanboy sometimes.