BaldwinP

72 posts
In a world full of people, only some want to fly. Isn't that crazy? Baldwin Periphetes wants to fly, and also to juggle, tell jokes, and rule the world. He is at least halfway to his goal.

Vaccine Triumphs Over Polio in India

Polio was one of the most feared diseases of the 20th century.  In 99% of cases, it causes no symptoms or very mild symptoms and may go effectively unnoticed, making it easy for people to be unwitting carriers and spreaders of the virus and leading to an explosion of polio epidemics in the early 20th century as transport improved, population density in cities increased and it became easier for a virus like polio to reach a critical mass of people.  Meanwhile, in that last 1% of sufferers polio infects the spinal cord, leading to paralysis or death.  Even worse, young children tends to be particularly susceptible, leading to polio becoming known in some areas as infantile paralysis disease.  There is still no known cure for polio.

In 1952 in the United States alone, polio caused 3,145 recorded deaths and 21,269 recorded cases of mild to disabling paralysis.

Continue reading →

QOTD: What is Your Favourite Food or Food Thing?

Food.  Cook books.  Recipes.  Appliances.  Restaurants.  Hairy celebrity chefs.  Dirty celebrity chefs who end up in the blind gossip pages a little too often.  All of these things end up in the pages of Crasstalk all the time.  But what single item, book, machine, cool cafe, classy bar, well-turned calf or succulent breast is your absolute favourite?

Saying “chocolate” is too easy, so say something else. Continue reading →

Yahoo Fires CEO by Telephone, CEO Fires Back

Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz was fired yesterday afternoon by Yahoo’s board. Apparently not wanting to deal with her in person, they did it by telephone. They did not think to have her company email privileges disabled first. It is a credit to Ms Bartz that her retaliation was relatively- relatively– low key. She immediately sent an email to the mailing list for all Yahoo staff worldwide, as follows after the jump: Continue reading →

QOTD: What should get more funding?

Here’s a hypothetical from fantasyland:  the government of {your country} suddenly has a billion US dollars or local equivalent to spend, and it can only spend it on ONE giant program.  Pretend it’s a bequest from a rich billionaire who just died.  You can pretend the dead billionaire is Rupert Murdoch if you want to feel especially happy about it. Continue reading →

Diamond Planet Discovered

A planet made entirely of diamond, prosaically known as PSR J1719-1438, has been discovered by an international team of astronomers led by Professor Matthew Bailes at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, and including researchers from Australia, Germany, Italy, the UK and the USA. The discovery was initially made using the Parkes radio telescope in New South Wales, Australia; a radio telescope which will be well known to those who’ve seen the movie The Dish as a vital part of the network  that received signals from the Apollo 11 mission, covering most of the moonwalk. The discovery was subsequently confirmed using telescopes in Hawaii and the UK. Continue reading →

Office Etiquette or Office Fascism?


Here at Crasstalk, we regularly hear about annoying co-workers, boring co-workers, inconsiderate co-workers, incompetent co-workers, backstabbing co-workers and even the odd Scott Adams-style co-worker. And about managers who are petty, sadistic and anti-social. Of course, we also boast of our own errors, drunkenness, forgetfulness and irritating behaviours, often while we are meant to be doing productive work. We want our co-workers and managers to obey an unwritten code of etiquette. At the same time, we don’t want unnecessarily restrictive fascist management cramping our style and making us unhappy for no good reason. Where’s the line? Continue reading →

QOTD: Save The Life Of One Person In History

You may save the life of one person, and one person only, from any point in history.  This person must have died by a means other than natural causes/old age.  As part of the deal, the person is guaranteed to live until they die of old age.

For the sake of argument, no matter what changes to history your actions make, you and your loved ones will still be born. Continue reading →