Mariah’s album covers censored in Saudi Arabia?

(via Neatorama)
Apparently, Maria Carey is a little too revealing in her album covers for the Saudi Arabian government. So, to sell her CDs there, the record companies have had to update her covers to something a bit more conservative. Maybe. This from the Museum of Hoaxes.

carey_arabia_07.jpgImages purporting to show Saudi Arabian versions of Mariah Carey’s album covers have recently appeared on the web. Mediabum.com says that “Because of the laws over there her album covers had to be touched up to be made less sexy.” Maybe. It sounds like something that would be done in Saudi Arabia. However, the lack of a clear source for these images makes me suspicious. They could equally well have been created by somebody playing around with photoshop. (And why is there no arabic script on these Saudi Arabian covers?) (And incidentally, I just read that Mariah Carey has 17 Number One singles, tying the number that Elvis had. This is odd because I’m unable to name a single song by her. With 17 #1 songs, I figured I’d know at least one of them.).

[tags]Mariah Carey, Museum of Hoaxes, Saudi Arabia[/tags]

FDA approves implantable contraceptive for women

LiveScience.com has news of the recent approval by the FDA of implantable contraceptives for women. Beginning in August, the new contraceptive should be available, with a 3-year potency period.

Implantable contraceptives soon will be available again to U.S. women seeking a long-term solution to birth control, with the approval of a matchstick-size rod that can prevent pregnancies for up to three years.

. . .

Implanon provides 99 percent contraceptive protection. It will be the first contraceptive implant to be sold in the United States since 2000, when Wyeth Pharmaceuticals stopped U.S. sales of Norplant.

. . .

The rod is inserted by a doctor under the skin of the upper arm in a quick surgical procedure that requires only a local anesthetic. It must be removed after three years, although it can be taken out at any time before then, according to the company, a unit of Netherlands-based Akzo Nobel NV.

More details in the full LiveScience.com article.

[tags]LiveScience, Long-term contraceptives, FDA[/tags]

Sex good for men, women should sleep alone

The results of a study have come out that is sure to be a disappoint for men and good news for women.

A new study out of the University of Vienna concludes that men recall their dreams best after sex, while women have the best recollection if they’ve slept alone. The results come in the context of a larger study on sleep, where a subject pool of eight unmarried couples slept 10 nights together and 10 nights apart while scientists observed their rest patterns and tested their cognitive skills

[tags]Science, Sex, Another reason for women to fake a headache[/tags]

Beard plans to swim in 2008 Olympics

p1.amanda.beard.si.jpgSince we just featured the amazingly sexy Ms. Amanda Beard as an eye candy highlight, it seems we would have an obligation to report that she is planning on swimming in the 2008 Olympics, according to this Sports Illustrated report. Plus, it gives us an excuse to run another picture of her.

Amanda Beard is aiming for her fourth Olympics. Beard made her debut at 14 at the 1996 Atlanta Games, collecting a total of two gold medals, four silver and one bronze. Now 24, Beard is training for Beijing in 2008.

. . .

Beard is swimming four times a week and cross-training on her mountain bike. She plans to “buckle down” in the fall, resuming her six-hour workouts.

You hear that, all you pansies? She’s going to be working out six hours a day. There’s a chance that’s why she’s so awesome.

[tags]Amanda Beard, Olympics, Swimming, dizzam[/tags]

Sahara desert once lush vegatative environment

(via LiveScience.com)

At the end of the last Ice Age, the Sahara Desert was just as dry and uninviting as it is today. But sandwiched between two periods of extreme dryness were a few millennia of plentiful rainfall and lush vegetation.

During these few thousand years, prehistoric humans left the congested Nile Valley and established settlements around rain pools, green valleys, and rivers.

The ancient climate shift and its effects are detailed in the July 21 issue of the journal Science.

. . .

“The climate change at [10,500 years ago] which turned most of the [3.8 million square mile] large Sahara into a savannah-type environment happened within a few hundred years only, certainly within less than 500 years,” said study team member Stefan Kroepelin of the University of Cologne in Germany.

. . .

A timeline of Sahara occupation [See Map]:

  • 22,000 to 10,500 years ago: The Sahara was devoid of any human occupation outside the Nile Valley and extended 250 miles further south than it does today.
  • 10,500 to 9,000 years ago: Monsoon rains begin sweeping into the Sahara, transforming the region into a habitable area swiftly settled by Nile Valley dwellers.
  • 9,000 to 7,300 years ago: Continued rains, vegetation growth, and animal migrations lead to well established human settlements, including the introduction of domesticated livestock such as sheep and goats.
  • 7,300 to 5,500 years ago: Retreating monsoonal rains initiate desiccation in the Egyptian Sahara, prompting humans to move to remaining habitable niches in Sudanese Sahara. The end of the rains and return of desert conditions throughout the Sahara after 5,500 coincides with population return to the Nile Valley and the beginning of pharaonic society.

[tags]Sahara desert[/tags]

How sleep deprived are you?

(via LifeHacker)
British Airways has a page telling you that you need to get enough sleep (which we all know but don’t abide by) and tells you how to figure out if you are getting enough sleep. Since we all know that not sleeping enough makes you fat, this is the kind of thing you need to read to stay slim.

Time zone changes, internal body clock disruptions and irregular food and exercise patterns can all result in a sleep debt. Making difficult decisions is not easy if you are sleepy, jet lagged and not at your peak.

. . .

Work out how much sleep you owe your body and find out how to recover if your sleep account is in the red.

So go see how British Airways helps you stay healthier and start figuring out how to catch up on your sleep.

[tags]Sleep, British Airways[/tags]

New Atari 2600 cartridge released

(via boingboing)
atari-aclvl1.jpgThis isn’t an officially supported Atari company cartridge, but with the whole retro-gaming scene getting so popular, expect to see more of these in the future. The original release of the game A-VCS-tec Challenge was 55 signed, numbered, boxed cartridges. Those are long gone. But additional runs for those wanting their own non-limited edition cartridge are planned.

The game is a conceptually simple race for distant object, but with an Aztec them and really nice (for Atari 2600) graphics. Controls are simple, as would be expected for such a limited joystick as the 2600 had.  I still have a working Atari 2600 – perhaps I should try to buy myself a copy?
[tags]Atari 2600, Retro-gaming[/tags]

Dragonlance movie has Jack Bauer

I picked up this bit of news while scanning recent game posts over at Slashdot. Word from the Dragonlance movie site is Kiefer Sutherland will be doing the voice work for the Raistlin Majere character. Check out more of the cast at the Dragonlance movie site. To see what little information is available for the movie, hit the movie information page on that site.

An animated version of Dragons of Autumn Twlight is being produced for a worldwide commercial theatrical release.

. . .

Release Date

Autumn 2007 (northern hemisphere)

[tags]Dragonlance, Jack Bauer, Kiefer Sutherland[/tags]

Kittens in a glass globe

It may not be as scary as Snakes on a Plane, but just seeing kittens in a glass globe seems spooky to me. This could be bigger than Bonsai Kittens! Original article from the January 1932 issue of Modern Mechanix.

blows_glass_around_cats_sml.jpg

TO WIN a bet, Dick Manley, California glass blower, performed an unprecedented glass blowing stunt. He placed three kittens in a glass tube and within three minutes fashioned it into a perfect 26-inch globe with the kittens inside and unharmed. A small hole admitted air.

[tags]Modern Mechanix, Glass bubble, Kittens in a glass globe[/tags]