Michael Wilson has a fascinating article in which he examines the transcripts of psychics testifying before the parole boards where they come clean and admit that they are running scams. What was interesting in the article is that it seems like there is no shortage of people willing to give them huge sums of money. He cites the case of Celia Mitchell.
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Via Jonathan Turley, I came across this domino line made of 10,000 iPhone5s. It is pretty impressive. The split-second timing required to have elevators involved is amazing.
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Via Mark Frauenfelder I saw this pretty amazing magic trick by Cyril Takayama. I have absolutely no idea how it might have been done. [UPDATE: To clarify, the card trick I am referring to begins at the 7:54 mark.]
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I like watching magicians. I can never figure out how they do it and just enjoy being fooled by them. Magician Dan White appeared on Jimmy Fallon’s talk show and did the following trick.

See if you can figure it out before reading the partial spoiler after the jump.
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In order to have cars and trucks share the same space with more vulnerable pedestrians and cyclists, we have created a whole system of rules and regulations designed to smooth the flow and prevent accidents. But is that the only way to go? Some argue that when there are rules, people do not really pay attention to their surroundings, thinking that just following the rules is enough.
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No doubt all of us have as children played ‘ballooning’, where we try to keep a balloon in the air for as long as possible without actually holding on to it. Those who are more agile use only their feet or limit themselves in other ways. But could you do it with just your nose?
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As most of you know by now, Ed Brayton, author of the blog Dispatches from the Culture Wars and founder of FreethoughtBlogs, announced yesterday that he has decided to move his blog to Patheos and has given his reasons why here.
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Zimbabwe has expressed an interest in having the dentist Walter Palmer be extradited to that country to face charges for illegally killing Cecil the lion. They have already arrested the owner of the land on which the lion was killed and the leader of the hunt.
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I got the complaint below from a regular reader of my blog about his inability to view the Comedy Central videos that I embed. He has submitted the problem to the tech gurus here by clicking on the ‘Tech Issues’ link at the top left but I thought that tech savvy readers may also be able to help him out. Has anyone had had a similar problem or any advice for what he should do? I should note that he lives in the US, so this is not one of those cases where streaming is being deliberately blocked.
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I have not written anything about the Minnesota dentist who killed the lion. What is there to say? Pretty much everyone has felt and expressed their revulsion at such a senseless and cruel act and have wondered what psychological need it satisfies in some people that they go to all that trouble and expense to kill just for the fun of it a magnificent, and in this case beloved, animal of which there are precious few left. And then decapitate it and mount the head on their wall. It would creep me out to see it forever looking down at me in silent reproof for subjecting it to a painful and extended period of dying but clearly trophy hunters don’t see things the same way.
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