One of the first things that struck me when I came to the US is the massive wastage of food. The most obvious signs of this can be found in the dumpsters behind grocery stores and restaurants where plenty of perfectly good food is thrown away because it is easier to do so than it is to make arrangements to divert it to people who might be able to use it, or because of dates stamped on the product that suggest that it is unsafe to eat when it is not, or because they are afraid of being held liable if someone falls ill. There are poor and homeless people who depend upon finding edible food in dumpsters in order to survive but surely there must be a better way of getting that food to them?
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Periodically I read media reports such as this one of someone getting busted for clandestinely taking ‘upskirt’ photos, which I understand to mean that they position their cameras in such a way that they can see up the skirts worn by women.
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Roc Morin interviews Ishii Yuichi, the 36-year old founder of an 800-person company in Japan that provides people with fake family and friends when needed, ranging from infants to the elderly. In the interview he gives examples of the roles that he and his staff have played.
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Philosopher Karl Popper is supposed to have said that it is impossible to speak in such a manner that one cannot be misunderstood. This is a sentiment that any teacher would agree with because however much you think you have explained something very clearly, there will always be someone that finds an interpretation that was unanticipated by you.
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As you know, you can preview a comment and edit out any errors but once you post a comment, you cannot make any further changes. If by any chance some typos or other error sneaks through and it is driving you crazy, you can send me an email (see the bio box on the left for the address) and I am willing to make the change on your behalf.

Via David Pescovitz, I came across this remarkable video of a collision at an intersection when a ‘ghost’ car appears out of nowhere right into the path of another car.

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I decided that this blog has been woefully lacking when it comes to providing helpful household hints, so here is something that I found pretty useful.

Fitted sheets are nice in that they stay in place on the bed. But anyone who has tried folding them prior to storage knows that you end up with just a bulky mess that takes up a lot of space in the closet. So I was pleased to come across (via Mark Frauenfelder) these two videos that show how to fold fitted sheets (with and without elastic along the edges) so that they end up flat, something that really appeals to someone like me who likes to keep things neat.
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A 10-year old boy in Cleveland took his father’s car and set off a high speed chase that saw him driving on highways at speeds reaching 100 mph, pursued for 45 miles by a large number of police cars and his mother in another car.
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In a penalty shootout, a goalkeeper on one side celebrated prematurely and will likely never forget that lesson

So the Cleveland Indians, the baseball team of my hometown, was eliminated from the championship playoffs by the New York Yankees, losing 3-2 after winning the first two games. Last year they made it all the way to the World Series before losing to the Chicago Cubs.
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