The database of laughter - serious research, lest you scoff [Article]

The ILHAIRE database is accessible to those who agree to certain conditions. The encompassing ILHAIR Project web site includes a list of public deliverables, some demos (including the Body Laughter Index), and more.  [via Improbable Research]

The British love their basketball? [Video]

Britain's premier netball commentator Anthony Richardson with his commentary on Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

Should you use the snooze button? [Video/ Article]

Mitchell Moffit & Gregory Brown created this animation about the effect the snooze button on the alarm has on your sleep. Read more about this in an essay by Casey N Cep

There are times for levity in the Australian High Court [News/Article]

On Wednesday, the Australian High Court had to rule upon a dreadful case of coitus interruptus. A hilarious write-up in the Sydney Morning Herald:

The matter revolved around a claim for compensation by a female public servant from Canberra who, while out of town in the NSW coastal town of Nowra on a brief work trip, met a chap and retired to her Commonwealth-paid motel bed for purposes other than sleeping.

Letters of note: Make your soul grow - Kurt Vonnegut

Back in 2006, a group of students at Xavier High School in New York City (one of whom, "JT," submitted this letter) were given an assignment by their English teacher, Ms. Lockwood, that was to test their persuasive writing skills: they were asked to write to their favourite author and ask him or her to visit the school. Five of those pupils chose Kurt Vonnegut. His reply was the only response the class received

A one-man submarine by Olivier Feuillette [Video]

This unusual underwater journey in South Africa involves kayaking legend, French expat, and mad inventor Olivier Feuillette, and a modified kayak. With a waterproof top, a ballast (so that it will sink), scuba tanks for oxygen, a CO2 filter, an oscillating fishtail, and pedals, Feuillette’s SUBO becomes a one-person submarine that’s ready to go where no kayak has gone before.

Communicating also means Listening: [Article]

I quite often forget that listening is as important as speaking in communication. Dave Winer had a very pertinent post about this a couple of days ago:

I tend to do a lot of talking myself, I'm aware of it, so I try to reign it in. Tell my mind to listen and not talk. That's hard for some reason, but it's important. Otherwise why bother spending time with others? I can hear myself talk any time. This is a different person across the table. Someone I don't see every day. What's their experience? What can I learn from them? I want to know. And if I can't get my mind to quiet down, none of that happens.

A dawg that can hunt: Advice for selecting a leader [Article]

The only thing better than a story-teller Bob Fulghum is a reminiscing Bob Fulghum. He shared this letter he wrote from decades ago, titled Benediction.

Music touches everyone - a ridiculously cute baby reacting to her mum's singing [Video]

No words needed.

There are a million ways to sell yourself out [Cartoon]

I discovered Zen Pencils, a cartoon blog by Gavin Aung Than, over the weekend. The words of Bill Watterson, the wonderful creator of Calvin & Hobbes, come to life in this cartoon strip.

Everything I’ve learnt about productivity and lifehacking in the past seven years [Article]

Neil Scott went through this bookmarks from the last seven years (how did he manage that, I wonder!) and shares his findings. None of the first 10 have anything to do with technology, if that surprises anyone.  I loved the last one:

Ask yourself, “What’s the worst that could happen?”

Erhu: the chinese version of the violin? - [Video]

Erhu is a Chinese instrument, & in the hands of someone who knows it well (like everything else I suppose), makes magical tunes.

Frederick Taylor & the quantified self [Article]

Nicholas Carr writes that the principles of 'scientific management' as counseled by Taylor have gone from being applicable to manufacturing workers to the office workers, & steadfastly resulting in narrowing of the realm of human possibility:

One thing that Taylor’s system aided was the mechanization of factory work. Once you had turned the jobs of human workers into numbers, it turned out, you also had a good template for replacing those workers with machines. It seems that the new Taylorism might accomplish something similar for knowledge work. It provides the specs for software applications that can take over the jobs of even highly educated professionals.

When their fictional ideas become real, how do science fiction authors cope? [Article]

Not without feeling like all their made up work will be obsolete, says science fiction author Charlie Stross:

well, I'm just boggling. I've got a subplot for this trilogy (no spoilers!) which I think is up there with anything reality can throw at us and which is hopefully funny, plausible, and crazy (but in an "it just might be true" kind of way). Only now, I'm getting a sick feeling in my stomach. One month before publication, there's going to be a bombshell revelation and an ancient festering spyware secret will surface, blinking in the light of day like half-mummified groundhogs (Secret Squirrel need not apply!) and my satirical thriller will be obsolete.

Bonus link from that article

The power of narrative non-journalism with added Attenborough [Videos]

These videos demonstrate the power of narrative. The voice is that of David Attenborough. The videos were constructed by the people at Wreck & Salvage (specifically: Erik Nelson, Adam Quirk, and Aaron Valdez).

Daniel Waples - Hang in Balance - [Video]

If you've never heard (of) a hang drum, watch self-taught performer Daniel Waples demonstrate the sounds that come from it. And another video if you liked that one - fiddle & drum make music.

The world's first venomous crab found [Article]

No, it wasn't on one of my fishing expeditions with the boy. The BBC reports that the centipede-like crustacean lives in underwater caves & injects its prey with a toxin similar to that found in a rattlesnake's fangs.

Vahid Iran Shahi demonstrates his nimble fingers [Video]

Vahid Iran Shahi claims to be the fastest guitarist in the world. His video demonstrates both skill & speed.

The limits of investigative journalism - Jay Rosen [Essay]

Prof. Jay Rosen's cover story in the American Review about the limits of investigative journalism tries to explain why some stories take on a life of their own & become purveyors of change, while others languish in the dark before dying prematurely. Worth a read.

Why you should - and most people don't [Article]

An interesting post about why some find success & others don't.