Video: Selfish Altruism

Kottke.org has a post with a video explaining why it is better for you if everyone's living standard improves.  It makes an interesting comparison between the situations in pre-industrial times and today.

The Dutch Reach

Mental Floss has a post about the Dutch Reach which is a method of opening car doors with the far hand that reduces the possibility of "dooring" a passing cyclist.  It would probably be difficult to get existing drivers to change habits but I suppose new drivers could be trained to open doors this way from the beginning.

via Twitter

The Cafe Where Everything is Free but Time

Business Insider has an article about a new cafe in London where you pay 5 cents (3 pence) per minute to be there but you can eat or drink whatever you want while you hang out.

Next time you're in London, you could walk into the Ziferblat cafe in the fashionable Shoreditch neighborhood and grab a coffee. Perhaps you might sit down on one of the comfortable armchairs, pull out your laptop and check your emails on the Wi-Fi network. Feeling a little hungry? There's some food in the cabinet; help yourself.
How much does all this cost? Well, if you spend, say, 45 minutes there, it will cost you £1.35 (approximately $2.20).

A visualisation of how long you have left

Boing Boing has a post with an extract from an article about a fellow who keeps a jar of coloured beads on his desk.  Each bead represents a day remaining in his life and each day he removes one from the jar.  The beads are colour-coded by decade.

The Great Sahara Sea

According to this article on IO9, in the 19th century there were plans to dig a canal from the Mediterranean to flood the low lying areas of the Sahara desert and create a giant inland sea.

The London Times said that the plan "dazzles the imagination, yet it has a sufficiently substantial basis to satisfy several shrewd traders in African commerce and some distinguished engineers." The Daily News called the project "the most remarkable that has ever been devised."

DIY Grad School

The Art of Non-Conformity has a post about a do-it-yourself version of grad school.  I have been vaguely considering going to grad school but maybe I should try this instead.  Especially since I already have a subscription to the Economist.

Guinness-only QR Code

The dieline has a post about a new pint glass from Guinness with a QR code that can only be read when the glass is full of stout.  If the glass is empty or the contents are amber colour then the code is not readable.

via boing-boing

That File is Hard to Move

Flowing Data has a post about a computer mouse that gives its user tactile feedback.  For example it makes a larger file feel harder to move (ie heavier) than a smaller one.  I think that would probably get annoying after a while but it is still an interesting idea.

Organise Cables with Bread Bag Closures

Make has an interesting way to label the cables under your desk.  Use those plastic tags that secure the plastic bags that bread comes in.  I might give this a try next time I make a sandwich.

Nickel For Scale

Make has a post with a short video that demonstrates using a nickel (a 5 cent coin) to determine the size of objects in a picture.  In the video they place a nickel on the back of someone's hand to determine the correct size of a ring.