TWS210: Finding Faults In Folks In Focus

CQ: Dual CQ this week:

1) Is brain boosting ethical?
2) Should we declare open season on Bigfoot?

Promo: Kakophonos

Promo:

On the show this week:

• Front Page
• Out Of Focus
• Focal Points
• Extras

Full list of 57 articles after the jump!

• Front Page:
  • But we can a) never have too many holidays, and b) need holidays that mean something to the current world!: io9 – 10 Science Holidays to Get Your Geek On
  • The end of a tradition, but who is to say it couldn’t start again?: Yahoo!/AP – Poe fans call an end to ‘Toaster’ tradition
  • I downt know what yer tawking abutt..: The UK Telegraph – Fuhgeddaboutit: New York accent may be dying out
  • That book, therefore, is worth a lot of crap! 🙂: Metro – Moby Dick toilet paper goes up for auction on eBay for a whopping £650
  • Is it creative, or is just an algorithm? And, is there a difference?: io9 – A computer program “painted” this artwork from its own imagination
  • Well, that’s reassuring.. (Not really.): This Is Grimsby – RAF: Big bang in Grimsby wasn’t us
  • An explanation? Ah, blame it on the electrics!: CTV – Strange noises reported around North Battleford
  • Another explanation? Ah, it’s all in our heads, and we’re being duped!: Who Forted? – It Came From Above (Or Did It?): Solving the “Sky Noise” Mystery
• Out Of Focus:
  • They might also deter legitimate users.. Wait: is this the DRM of the museum world?: BBC – Bees ‘could deter vandals’ at Greenfield heritage park
  • Once again, the government makes its money on the backs of its hard-working citizens..: The Huffington Post – German ‘Sex Meters’ Taxing Street Prostitutes Hailed As Successful By Bonn Officials (VIDEO)
  • Surprisingly efficient house, and not as expensive as you might think..: The Huffington Post/Reuters – ‘Billion-Euro Home’: House Made From Shredded Money By Frank Buckley In Ireland
  • Funny.. I could have *sworn* that I read this before..: io9 – A couple of projects show how easy it is to create fake memories
  • It’s funny what we put value into, isn’t it? D’OH!: Metro – Simpsons fanatics bid thousands for globule of glue that looks like Homer
  • I wonder if he’s more upset about the Star Trek apartment than the relationship?: Orange – Star Trek fan to lose life’s work
  • What kind of a friend doesn’t even call? Or have sentience?: The New York Times – In Flash of Fire, Florida Loses Old Friend
  • Redefine your definition of “public service”, please.. And the next time you buy raffle tickets/chocolate bars for a cause by cops, chastise them for not separating their business.: BBC – Probe into Nepal police station ‘goat slaughterhouse’
  • In other words: “We’re all just as addicted to Facebook and Twitter as the rest of you, but we get to claim it for business!”.: New Scientist – FBI releases plans to monitor social networks
  • It’s kinda like the kids’ moms go off to be superheros for a while..: Orange – Mexican housewife wrestlers
  • The future is here (just a dozen years late).: The Smithsonian – In The Future, All Women Will Be Amazons
  • Who’s the more offensive: those that suggested the mascot, or those who mistook it for something offensive?: CBS Las Vegas – Utah School Board Says Cougar Mascot Too Offensive To Women
  • Beauty is not, apparently, in the eye of the bartender.: Orange – Banned mum poses as superhero
  • It arguably beats those wordy debates, but may not demonstrate fiscal policy all that well..: Orange – Poles apart in mayoral race
  • The same people are also horrified at that terrible naked woman in that museum in the background. How dare that Venus de Milo be seen by the public!: The UK Daily Mail – This is the nudes: Viewers horrified as Shameless sex scene plays in background during news show
  • Should we concern ourselves that they are over-prepared for this probably-not apocalypse — or that the rest of us are under-prepared for anysized apocolypse?: Reuters – Subculture of Americans prepares for civilization’s collapse
  • (EXTRA) White child van-snatchers, on the other hand..: The Local Sweden/TT/pvs – Swedish police: white van child-snatchers ‘an urban myth’
  • (EXTRA) Well, a 5-foot haggis would certainly put *me* on alert! It’s a good thing they saved us from the obvious menace of.. wait, what?: Metro – Unidentified haggis causes security meltdown in Scottish railway station
  • (EXTRA) Foiled by optics! And the sighting is explained, too! 🙂: CBS News – NASA debunks new UFO conspiracy charge
  • Have we ignored this planet for life possibility, just because it’s hard to look at?: Digital Journal – Russian scientist claims evidence of life on Planet Venus
  • Ok, now I know we’re in a pretty bad recession, when this is the kind of budget cut we get!: Shuker Nature – FELIS – LOST CONSTELLATION OF THE CAT
  • Some call it science, but to the potential of arsenic-based lifeforms, it was the APOCALYPSE!: io9 – New study is very bad news for arsenic-based life
  • I thought science always says “You can’t prove a negative”?: Scientific American/Nature – Study Fails to Confirm Existence of Arsenic-Based Life
  • (EXTRA) This may be proof of arsenic-based lifeforms..: Orange – Teen warned over chicken nugget diet
• Focal Points:
  • (EXTRA) We should all have such a dignified response.. And then generate shame in elegant ways..: Orange – Violinist’s revenge on ringtone rudeness
  • (EXTRA) The depressing part is that we don’t treat some substances differently between medicinal and abusive use..: The UK Telegraph – Magic mushrooms ‘could treat depression’
  • You see, if we took the brain boosting, we’d probably see our way *past* the dilemmas.. Sign me up!: Medical Xpress – The ethics of brain boosting
  • (EXTRA) You know what cures depression? High school students with cures for cancer! Bravo!: CBS News – Calif. HS student devises possible cancer cure
  • (EXTRA) The question is: can it stop bullets?: New Scientist – The science of the golden spider-silk cape
  • (EXTRA) Unfortunately, only invisible to microwaves. Maybe also your fridge.: PhysOrg – Scientists create first free-standing 3-D cloak
  • (EXTRA) Is it just me, or has summer camp just become impossibly cool?: Topless Robot – The B.P.R.D. Has a Summer Camp
  • (EXTRA) I think this should be a standard course all us socially-awkward nerds would like to take, in every city of the world…: Holiday 4 U – First Academy of nightlife in the world, Belgrade
  • (EXTRA) Everyone needs more silly in their lives..: Orange – Mass pillow fight combats stress
  • (EXTRA) I bet they would be confused by the suggestion that pillow fights are the answer..: CNN – Twitching disorder affects 12 girls at New York high school
  • (EXTRA) Well, it may be nothing to you and I, but to the worm it’s practically swimming in it — maybe pickled more than kept alive..: Phenomenica – Tiny alcohol amounts double worm’s life
  • (EXTRA) Translation: Gas made from alcohol might drive cars, not just drive people out of the room..: STV – Whisky biofuel could be on forecourts in few years
  • (EXTRA) Even if it clearly *is* a flying USB stick.. (USBFO?) .. ?: The UK Telegraph – UFO spotted in Devon
  • (EXTRA) Well, the bird definitely reacted as if it wasn’t an optical illusion..: Gather – UFO News: Bird Killed by Flying Orb!
  • (EXTRA) If Newt become President, I suspect that _many_ will want to move to the moon..: New Scientist – Newt ‘Lightyear’ Gingrich promises moon base by 2020
  • (EXTRA) Poltics just got dark. (Stupid politics!): The Huffington Post – Democratic Operative’s Cat Slaughtered, ‘Liberal’ Painted On Corpse
  • (EXTRA) Well, if anyone is going to investigate them in Canada, why not the Mounties?: CFZ-Canada – The RCMP and Sasquatch
  • I find it surprising that one of the few solutions to finding a cryptid is to allow ourselves to kill it. Let’s hope the aliens don’t think the same way..: Time – Should We Declare Open Season on Bigfoot?
• Extras:
  • (EXTRA) Somehow, we’ve managed to catch up with the iron wheels of the old West..: Orange – New tyre could put an end to punctures
  • (EXTRA) People are obviously too heavy, and one of them isn’t pulling their weight..: Metro – Britain’s only tandem hearse put up for sale as Rev is not fit to ride up hill
  • (EXTRA) And my butt gets numb after a couple of minutes..: The UK Daily Mail – ‘I felt a strong force holding me down’: Chinese woman sits on toilet for two-and-a-half YEARS
  • (EXTRA) People who own guesthouses shouldn’t expect sympathy over hauntings from the average person..: The Times of India/ANI – Meryl Streep convinced of ghost in her guesthouse
  • (EXTRA) Not only that, they just won’t shut up!: Discoveryon/PTI – Dolphins are multilingual!
  • (EXTRA) Well, it might be more prestigious than Saddam’s butt from last week..: BBC – Bronze cast of Stalin’s death mask goes for £3,600 at auction
  • (EXTRA) Man’s Best Friend no longer..: The Scotsman – Pet dog ‘drove’ tractor that killed farmer

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