If pain is the body's way of telling you something is wrong, then why does it have to hurt so much? It seems counterproductive for the body to impair its own performance or even incapacitate itself with pain. I propose shifting the entire pain range down a few dB.

Ice sphere maker.

Colossal Castle or Humble Home? Equally priced homes in different parts of the world

I should just put up a permanent link to the New Yorker. In the current issue, there's an interesting article about a chef with tongue cancer and how the experience has shaped his understanding of taste.

Another good New Yorker read on invention. The author explains that there's a certain inevitability to the discovery of big ideas. In a way, these ideas are floating out there, waiting to be found, which is why inventors and researchers have independently arrived at the telephone and evolution and the light bulb and calculus. I remember another writer arguing that if you could go back in time and save either Einstein or Shakespeare from a premature death, you should go with Shakespeare. That's because without Einstein, somebody still would have eventually discovered relativity, but without Shakespeare, we'd never have Macbeth.

And another New Yorker article on photo retoucher Pascal Dangin. I wonder if he reads PhotoshopDisasters.

A thunderstorm hits an erupting volcano in Chilé. This somehow led me to Pixdaus, which, along with FFFFOUND!, provides enough pictures for about a year's worth of wasted afternoons.

Two from Neatorama: The origin of the Nokia ringtone and a new blog of optical illusions.

I remember reading about The New York City Waterfalls a while ago. Is it just happening now, or is it annual? Having narrowly missed The Gates in Central Park, I'd really love to see this installation.

Wushu with lightsabers.

Cyberdyne is real, and they're making robots!

In case you were wondering, here's what's underneath it all.