Camels are thought to have originated around 40 million years ago, in the Americas, migrating to Asia before the last Ice Age. The two types of camel are the Dromedary, which has one hump, and the Bactrian, which has two humps. A hybrid (a crossbreed of the two species) has one long hump and is bigger and stronger than either of its parents. The Dromedary Camel There are approximately 14 million Dromedary camels in the world today. Dromedary is a Greek word meaning fast or swift. The Dromedary has a long neck and legs and, although known for having just
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Bob Woodruff Foundation
Stand-up comedy is more than just telling jokes on stage. It’s an art, and one that requires skills honed over years of practice. The way comedians perform their material is far different from how you tell that funny tale at your work holiday party. So what makes a great joke work? The YouTube video series The Nerdwriter took a look at how a joke from Louis C.K. is constructed. Here are some of the most important parts of a joke and its delivery, and why the comedian is so effective, according to the video:
1. PREMISE
That’s what the joke is about. So Louis C.K. might be talking about playing Monopoly with his kids, and how his 6-year-old doesn’t really get it. That’s the premise. And if that premise has its own joke embedded within it—like when he references his daughter’s inability to grapple with her “inevitable loss in every game”—even better.
2. TIMING
A great comedian knows when people are going to react to a bit, and what to emphasize, when to pause, etc. Louis C.K. knows when to continue the joke, hammering home the punch line with another few sentences along the same lines. In his joke about Monopoly, he repeats the idea of him taking his kid’s play money three different times: “That’s mine now. Gotta give it all to me. Give it to me, that’s right.” And the laughs continue with him.
3. DRAMATIZATION
Louis C.K. is great at painting a mental picture of what he’s describing. He uses gestures to emphasize certain parts of the joke, like touching his hand to his heart when he tells the punch line.
4. BROADER COMMENTARY
At the heart of it, Louis C.K.’s joke about destroying his kid in Monopoly and taking all of her hard-earned play money away could be seen as a commentary on what happens every day to adults in the real world, who often lose out to corporate interests. If you think about how a 6-year-old feels about losing her Monopoly money, it’s also an analogue of what happens to, for instance, a family losing its house to a bank.
5. TIGHT CONSTRUCTION
Every word of a great comedian’s joke matters, either to the story or to the rhythm of the bit. It has to be distilled to its most potent, condensed version, or the audience will get bored. When a joke is written well, there shouldn’t be any extraneous content. And when it’s really on-point, that’s when the audience keeps on laughing at every sentence.
An average film runs around ninety minutes, including horror films. Studies from the Huffington Post to the Telegraph, claim that watching a horror movie burns up to two-hundred calories. This is only based on studies with those who can dare and sit through an entire horror flick though. The Boogeyman comes in all shapes and sizes. We have seen it with ghosts, ghouls, goblins, vampires, mummies, werewolves, and even dolls. If you are a horror film fan or want a good scare, check out this list of 10 horror movies which feature dolls. Joey (1985) After losing his father, Joey
Employees often take pains to avoid saying “no” to their bosses and end up sacrificing work-life balance to tackle a crushing workload. Adopting time-management tools can help, but if the quality of your work is suffering or you’re practically living at the office, it might be time for you to start turning down new assignments. Learn when—and how—to do so in the infographic below, created by business financing provider The Business Backer (and spotted by Entrepreneur).
For all the patents that end up going nowhere, a much smaller amount are destined to become cultural icons. The Game Boy, the iPhone, and the Kindle are all such success stories, and the team behind Retro Patents has found a way to make art from their humble beginnings.
According to TechCrunch, the newly launched online store offers prints of classic patents. Gaming enthusiasts can purchase posters of the patents for the Nintendo 64 or the Sony PlayStation to hang above their consoles at home. For designs that are even more old-school, there are patents for a photographic camera from 1962 and one of IBM’s first computing machines from 1942. The selection also includes concepts for contemporary apps like Uber and Airbnb.
In addition to making for interesting artwork, the pieces are meant to provide inspiration. Craig Watson and Aidan Sliney founded the social music app Soundwave together before collaborating again on Retro Patents. Watson told TechCrunch:
“When we set up Soundwave, we were always looking for motivational art to decorate our homes and offices[…]We used to find early screenshots of successful startups (Instagram, Evernote etc) and print these out and laminate them by hand! It was a good way of reminding us that every great company started out with a basic idea and not to get bogged down in all the other distractions that often get in the way of scaling out a startup.”
Retro Patents is the duo’s way of sharing this inspiration tool with a wider audience. Prints come in two sizes—12-by-18-inches for $25 and 24-by-36-inches for $40—and can be purchased from the company’s website. If you’re hesitant to commit to a poster, Retro Patents also provides links to all the original patents for your browsing pleasure.
Modern prisons don’t usually serve as tourist attractions, but Denmark’s Horsens State Prison, which closed in 2006, should probably be on your list. It’s now home to the Horsens Prison Museum, one of the largest prison museums in the world. (The facility also houses a concert venue, in case you need a side of Metallica with your crime-related history.)
If you can’t make it to Denmark, Expedia created an interactive tour to let you roam the museum virtually. Based on Google Street View, the virtual experience includes descriptions of important features embedded into the photos. It’s a good way to experience the difference between Scandinavian and American criminal justice.
Though the museum labels do describe historical punishments like solitary confinement (considered a form of torture by many experts, but still in use in the United States), the walls of the prison are a bright lime green, the lounges have flatscreen televisions, and the modern cells include desks and large windows. Some portions of the prison look more like a hostel, while others look like the typical multi-story penitentiaries you’d see in movies like 1994’s The Shawshank Redemption.
It’s pretty easy to get lost while trying to wander the virtual halls, but if you click around long enough, you’re sure to end up somewhere interesting. Or you’ll get stuck in the gift shop.
Northern Ireland has six counties: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone. These counties were the principal local government divisions of Northern Ireland from its creation in 1921 going on to 1972 when the governmental features were abolished and replaced with the twenty-six unitary authorities which exist today. These councils have boundaries which may cross existing county borders. The six counties of Northern Ireland form two-thirds of the historical province of Ulster with the other three counties being Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan. The six counties still have limited political status with car license plates being assigned identifiers according to the
Meeting the person who will replace you at work can be awkward under any conditions—probably even more so when it’s followed by a celebratory parade and a series of black-tie balls. Which may explain the odd, uncomfortable, and sometimes sullen looks that have been captured on camera at inaugurations past as one president passes on the keys to the White House.
Portrait of Benjamin Franklin by Joseph Duplessis via Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain
Founding Father Benjamin Franklin dedicated himself to the printing trade for his entire life, from working as an apprentice for his brother to becoming the official printer of both Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Before he founded his first printing shop in his early 20s, Franklin came to Philadelphia and found work with Samuel Keimer, the founder of the Pennsylvania Gazette.
Franklin’s first foray into professional printing has just been acquired by the University of Pennsylvania—which Franklin founded in 1740—and will be on display until February, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. The broadside Franklin printed, a poem written by Keimer, signified his arrival in the Philadelphia printing world.
The poem was an elegy for the 28-year-old Quaker poet Aquila Rose, who died in 1723. Keimer couldn’t actually print, though he could set type, and the 17-year-old Franklin set up his press. Printing the poem led to Keimer offering him a full-time job.
The piece acquired by the university is the only known original copy to survive the centuries, and was thought to be lost until just a few years ago, when it was discovered in a scrapbook created in the 19th century. It will go on display at the university library until February 10. A digital copy is also available online.
