"A hotel isn't like a home, but it's better than being a house guest." - William Feather

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'Female Viagra' boosts sexual desire in women with flagging libido

HSBC embroiled in 'slit-eye row' over advert - "The model called Brian, who stars in the bank's commercial with the tag line "Fixed savings rates that won't budge", had his skin darkened and is wearing make-up that makes his eyes look narrower, it has been claimed. He is pictured in a Japanese-style wig and a traditional mawashi belt... Godfrey King, director of the Anglo-Japanese Society of Wessex, said: "The fact that the picture depicts a sumo wrestler who is not actually a sumo wrestler, but has been made up to look like one, would be considered a high insult to the Japanese community. It is culturally insensitive. "It has insulted the honour of our nation"... "The only make-up and post-production applied is to even up our model's natural suntan from his arms and neck-line all over his body. Sumo wrestlers come from all over the world and the sport is particularly popular in central Europe right now. "It's standard photography make-up - not to alter the ethnicity of the model in any way."
From another article: "the ring [is]- now dominated by foreign rikishi... The two reigning grand champions, Asashoryu and Hakuho, are Mongolian. There are about 60 foreign wrestlers today; the Nagoya tournament, which begins on Sunday, will be the first in which more overseas than Japanese appear in the top four ranks."

Wiktionary, the free dictionary - Wikipedia Mobile - "The web pages accessible via http://wikipedia.7val.com are a live mirror of http://www.wikipedia.org optimized for mobile devices... The original Wikipedia website has been optimized thanks to "FIT Mobile" software, developed by Sevenval AG for optimal browsing on mobile devices"

Killer whales: Death by karate chop, the deadly tactic used by orcas to take out sharks - "The orca will use its tail to drive the shark to the surface. They don't even touch it. Using an up-thrust of its tail it creates a vortex which pushes the shark up on the current they create with their movements. Once the shark is at the surface, the killer whale pivots and lifts its tail out of the water and comes down on top of it like a karate chop."

How Twilight Works - The Oatmeal - - "The author creates a main character which is an empty shell. Her appearance isn't described in detail; that way, any female can slip into it and easily fantasize about being this person. I read 400 pages of that book and barely had any idea of what the main character looked like; as far as I was concerned she was a giant Lego brick. Appearance aside, her personality is portrayed as insecure, fumbling, and awkward - a combination anyone who ever went through puberty can relate to. By creating this "empty shell," the character becomes less of a person and more of something a female reader can put on and wear... Imagine everything women want in a man, then exaggerate it by ten thousand - and you've got Edward Cullen. The level of detail that the author goes into while describing Edward's appearance is remarkable. At one point while reading I started counting the number of times the author used the expression "Edward's perfect face," and it was far into the double digits. The author excruciatingly details his muscular pecs, clothing, hair, eye color - even his goddamn breath (I'm not joking)."

Indonesia minister says immorality causes disasters - "Communication and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring said that there were many television programmes that destroyed morals. Therefore, the minister said, natural disasters would continue to occur... He also hit out at rising decadence - proven, he said, by the availability of Indonesia-made pornographic DVDs in local markets - and called for tougher laws... Why focus on public immorality when there was so much within the government, one respondent reportedly asked."
Indonesia needs Thio Su Mien to pray for it to save it from disasters

Ejected from Singapore - "The insidious practice of self-censorship is all-pervasive. One senior editor at a major international newspaper in Asia admitted that he line-edits every single story about Singapore for fear of upsetting the powers-that-be. A veteran foreign correspondent in Singapore insisted that it was possible to criticise the government "if one takes a subtle rather than confrontational approach and focuses on policy issues rather than personalities". But, fearful of jeopardising his employment visa, he was not prepared to speak on the record."

STOMP - Singapore Seen - Are we abusing bees for honey? - "Is it cruelty to use bees as "biomachines" for human consumption? Bees gather only a tiny amount of pollen in each trip; they would have to travel 75 000 miles to produce just one pound of honey! Does our abusive treatment of bees amount to slavery? Now that would surely kill some buzz."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Malaysiakini turns 10, so where's Singaporekini? - "Why is it, for example, that the average Malaysian 'roti canai' beats even our most highly-rated prata in taste and texture? How in the world did Malaysia end up with the region's most charismatic budget airline when we're supposed to be the transport hub of Asia? And why, as Malaysiakini celebrates its 10th anniversary this weekend in Kuala Lumpur, are we still waiting for a Singaporekini?... At critical moments in Malaysia, government control did not just strain press credibility, it tore it up, crushed it underfoot and set it on fire for all to see, causing a mass exodus to alternative media. In Singapore, the likes of The Online Citizen might reach the heights of Malaysiakini if The Straits Times were forced to stoop as low as The New Straits Times... the odds are slightly higher of our 'roti prata' becoming as good as their 'roti canai'"

WordWeb - "A typical SUV causes about twice as much warming per mile as a typical normal European car... You may use the program free of charge indefinitely only if
* You take at most 4 flights (2 return flights) in any 12 month period
* AND you do not own or regularly drive an SUV (sports utility vehicle).
If you do not qualify you must uninstall the program after the 30-day trial period or purchase WordWeb Pro. The licence is designed to provide a small incentive for people with massively unsustainable emissions to cut down. Whenever a user no longer meets the above requirements, and they have installed the product for more than 30
days, they must uninstall the product or purchase WordWeb Pro; otherwise it is software theft."
These are the weirdest license terms I've ever seen

On the difference between science and philosophy - "Yes, science can empirically test specific religious claims (intercessory prayer, age of the earth, etc.), but the best objections against the concept of, say, an omnibenevolent and onmnipowerful god, are philosophical in nature (e.g., the argument from evil). Why, then, not admit that by far the most effective way to reject religious nonsense is by combining science and philosophy, rather than trying to arrogate to either more epistemological power than each separate discipline actually possesses. Another common misconception is that philosophy, unlike science, doesn't make progress. This is simply not true, unless one measures progress by the (scientific) standard of empirical discovery. But that would be like accusing the New York Yankees of never having won an NBA title: they can't, they ain't playing the same game"