Month: September 2019

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An Archaeological Dig on MT. Zion Revealed the Babylonian Destruction of Jerusalem

One of the most significant events of the Old Testament is the fall of Jerusalem, including the destruction of King Solomon’s temple. The Babylonian siege ended in 586 (or 587) B.C.E. and cost much of the local population their lives or their freedom. Exile in Babylon lasted 50 years, and the entire event is commemorated by the fast of Tisha B’Av, one of the holiest days on the Jewish calendar.

The event has again been verified by a new excavation that found layers of ash, smashed pottery, Babylonian arrows – even an earring left behind in the panic.

Image Credit: Mount Zion Dig

The archaeological site is located on Mount Zion, inside the walls of the old city, and Dr. Shimon Gibson of the University of North Carolina says they’ve likely only scratched the surface of what it holds – and that they’re sure the finds reveal details about the Babylonian conquest.

Image Credit: Dig Mount Zion

“Nobody abandons golden jewelry and nobody has arrowheads in their domestic refuse. It’s the kind of jumble that you would expect to find in a ruined household following a raid or battle. Household objects, lamps, broken bits from pottery which had been overturned and shattered…Frankly, jewelry is a rare find at conflict sites, because this is a rare find at conflict sites, because this is exactly the sort of thing that attackers will loot and later melt down.”

As they dig deeper, expect more exciting information from the site – they’ve also managed to reveal basements from around the time of the last King Herod, and part of the defenses used to keep out Crusaders in 1099.

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This Is Where the “H” in “Jesus H. Christ” Actually Comes from

When screaming “Jesus Christ” just isn’t enough, you need to add an extra letter in there: Jesus H. Christ. It’s like Jesus’s full name that you break out when you’re really serious. But what does the “H” even stand for?

Well, first of all, the “H” is not a middle initial, because Jesus Christ is not a first name + last name pair. Jesus only has one name, and that’s Jesus. Christ isn’t his surname, but rather his epithet, or descriptive title.

Okay, so about that “H.”

The Chi Rho monogram is often used to represent Jesus Christ’s name. It consists of the first two letters of the Greek word Χριστό, meaning Christ.

Chi Rho monogram

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

There is also a second, lesser-known monogram used to represent Jesus: the IHϹ monogram. It consists of the first three letters of Ἰησοῦς, which is the Greek spelling of the name “Jesus.”

IHC monogram

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

In the early 19th century, Americans looked at this second monogram and misinterpreted it. They mistook the Greek letters IHϹ for the Latin letters JHC.

They concluded that the “J” stands for “Jesus” and the “C” stands for “Christ,” therefore the “H” stands for Jesus’s middle name.

The phrase “Jesus H. Christ” evolved into a humorous, mild expletive over time. By the time Mark Twain was a young boy in the 19th century, the phrase was already in common use, as he noted in his autobiography.

So, there you have it. The “H” doesn’t stand for a single thing. It all came from a misunderstanding!

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Post Malone Fans Think He Discovered Ozzy Osbourne After the Two Released a Song Together

Ugh, now I’m depressed.

This story really made me sad for the youth of today. I know that young people don’t always know the entertainers that came before them, but come on – it’s Ozzy Osbourne! The Prince of Darkness!

The singer of arguably the greatest heavy metal band of all time (Black Sabbath) who also had a killer solo career. Not mention The Osbournes?

Let’s run down just a selection of the hits from his solo career: Crazy Train, Mama I’m Coming Home, No More Tears, Mr. Crowley, Over the Mountain, Suicide Solution, I Don’t Know, Miracle Man.

I mean, the hits never stop.

But none of that matters, apparently, because a whole lot of people on the Internet think that singer Post Malone, who is 24 years, “discovered” this fella named Ozzy Osbourne, who is 70 years old, and then the two collaborated on a song together called “Take What You Want.”

A lot of other people, like me, were in complete disbelief that folks didn’t know about the legendary Ozzy and they had to sound off on Twitter.

I guess we should cut these youngsters some slack, but damn, this is pretty disappointing. Study up on your elders, kids! It’s important to know who blazed the trail for those artists you enjoy today.

And Ozzy is a legend. He’s done it all, seen it all, and, to be honest, it’s kind of shocking that he’s still roaming around Planet Earth based on all the insane things he did FOR YEARS.

Oh, here’s the song, by the way.

Shaking my damn head for days over this one…

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Sony Has a New Walkman to Commemorate Its 40th Anniversary

It must’ve been about 1984 when my older brother Rich got a Walkman for Christmas. I was mesmerized by it. Of course, I wasn’t allowed to touch it, but I did admire it from afar until I got my own a few years later and started amassing a killer tape collection featuring hand-me-downs from Rich like AC/DC, The Ramones, and other bands that warped my young mind.

But I digress. We should all be excited that Sony announced it is releasing a Walkman to celebrate the original Walkman’s 40th anniversary. The original Sony TPS-L2 debuted in 1979 and quickly changed the electronics game. It was the first truly portable personal tape player, and it quickly became a staple of music lovers everywhere.

At the IFA electronics trade show in Berlin last week, Sony announced it is releasing a new version of the groundbreaking Walkman. The new Sony NW-A100TPS Walkman looks pretty amazing and is powered by Android.

Sony releases a Walkman for its 40th anniversary.The Sony Walkman is back.The electronics maker will release a new…

Posted by HOT 102 on Tuesday, September 10, 2019

It features a cassette tape interface, and the case has a 40th-anniversary logo on the back. It also has an S-Master HX digital amplifier to give listeners high-res audio, a processor to give compressed audio tracks a higher quality, and a vinyl processor that gives digital tracks a vinyl-like quality.

It also has 26 hours of battery life.

Here’s a video of the new Sony Walkman in action.

I don’t know about you, but my nostalgia just kicked into high gear, and I’m gonna need to get my hands on one of these!

Exciting!

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Netflix to Start Releasing Weekly Episodes Instead of Dropping Whole Seasons at Once

Are you a Netflix binge-watcher? Well, this might not exactly be welcome news. For almost a decade, Netflix has released their shows all at once, meaning an entire season of a program would be dropped on the same day and viewers were able to watch an entire block of shows on an “opening day” of sorts.

I must admit, I did this with the new season of Mindhunter when it came out in August.

But not anymore, friends. Beginning in October, Netflix will not release all episodes of certain series at once. It will release numerous episodes on a weekly basis instead. With so much competition from other streaming services like Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Disney, Netflix might be changing their release schedules in an attempt to remain more relevant in the market and to create more value.

Photo Credit: Netflix

In other words, if Netflix doesn’t release the entire next season of Stranger Things all at once, the value of the series would probably go up in the public’s eyes.

Think about if HBO dropped an entire season of Game of Thrones or The Sopranos all in one day. Just wouldn’t be the same, would it? You’d lose those endless watercooler conversations about what next week will look like or who’s going to kill who down the road during a season.

Photo Credit: Netflix

So it does make sense that Netflix is going to at least attempt this model to see what happens. In October, Netflix will try the new experiment out by releasing The Great British Baking Show and Rhythm & Flow in this fashion.

Disney+ and Apple TV+ both start streaming in November, so we’ll see how this all plays out. Interesting times to be in the media world!

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Russian Artist Draws Adorable Cartoon Versions of Celebrities

These drawings are spot-on.

Lera Kiryakova is a Russian artist with a unique style and specialty. She draws celebrities in a cartoon fashion, and they are truly one-of-a-kind.

Kiryakova started drawing with pen and ink, but she has moved on to oil, watercolors, markers, and anything else you can imagine – she’s a multi-media gal!

Take a look at these at her work. I think you’ll be impressed.

1. Isn’t that Aquaman?

2. Game of Thrones-style.

3. A little singer you might’ve heard of called Rihanna.

4. Charlie Chaplin has a timeless look.

5. Which house do you belong to?

6. Princess Diana: Like a candle in the wind.

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Lady Di ?

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7. Kurt Cobain, the king of grunge.

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J❤ is done ? Kurt Cobain

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8. You gotta have a Miss Piggy.

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Готовы рисовать необычные портреты? ? Вот мое финальное задание для нашего марафона «ХУДОЖНИК ПОДЛОЖИЛ СВИНЬЮ». Пора показать все, на что ты способен, сделать последний рывок и выйти на финишную прямую ? новогодней эстафеты. Рисуйте вместе с нами необычные портреты хрюшек, выкладывай работы в Инстаграм с хештегом #художник_подложил_живую_свинью Работы принимаются до 18 декабря. По завершению марафона я лично выберу самую оригинальную хрюшку, а интернет-магазин @do_sketch наградит Вас классным подарком! ?

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9. A perfect likeness of Freddie Mercury.

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Don’t stop me now ?

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10. That’s Eddie Redmayne!

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Done ?

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11. I’ve heard this guy is pretty smart.

12. This is excellent.

13. Hail to the King, baby!

14. Amy Winehouse. A unique voice gone far too soon.

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Character for Q♣

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15. The greatest Wailer of them all: Bob Marley.

You can see why Kiryakova has racked up 350,000 followers on Instagram. What a talent!

What’s your favorite? Share your thoughts in the comments?

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This Is Why Some People Can Function Well on Less Sleep Than Others

Which category do you fall into?

Some people need a full eight hours of sleep to function no matter what, while others seem to be able to go go go with less than six hours of solid sack time. The latter like to brag about their ability as if it’s something they’ve trained for, or a reason to think themselves a superior human, but what is it about their makeup, really, that leaves them able to function with so few zzz’s?

Cause it’s just unfair.

Well, science has the answer, so hold on.

Neurologists from the University of California San Francisco think they’ve isolated a gene that could directly impact how much a person has to sleep to feel good.

The findings, published in Neuron, show that people with a single-letter gene mutation seem to be able to function well on six hours of sleep or less without suffering any of the adverse heath effects associated with too little time under the covers.

Whereas people without the mutation wake up moody, tired, and subject to the other nasty side effects of sleeping less than six hours a night.

Study author Louis Ptacek explained more in a statement:

“It’s remarkable that we know so little about sleep, given that the average person spends a third of their lives doing it. This research is an exciting new frontier that allows us to dissect the complexity of circuits in the brain and the different types of neurons that contribute to sleep and wakefulness.”

Interestingly, this isn’t the only gene that’s been linked to requiring less sleep – one called DEC2 also typically means a person averages 6.25 hours of sleep per night, as opposed to the 8.06 hours averaged by the people who do not posses the mutation.

This new gene exists in people without the previously known mutation, and it appears to affect neurons and their level of activity in the brain region that controls stages of sleep.

When the mutated gene was engineered into mice, the ones with the new gene mutation not only slept less, but were more active both when they were awake, and when they were in REM sleep. So it seems the mutation affected their circadian rhythms, says Ptacek.

“Sleep is complicated. We don’t think there’s one gene or one region of the brain that’s telling our bodies to sleep or wake. This is only one of many parts.”

One of many parts that I clearly don’t have. Le sigh…

I’m gonna go take a nap.

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10+ People Share the “Most Generation X” Things They Ever Did

Ahhhh, the good old days of Generation X. We had good music, good movies, good TV shows, etc. But good taste? Well…

Hey, Gen X includes me, so I’m allowed to laugh and mock it all I want.

A Twitter user threw out this question and the Twitter-verse went all aflutter with great responses.

Take a look at some of the best responses.

1. The Singles soundtrack was definitely a landmark.

2. Ouch…I have a feeling you’re not alone.

3. The classic yin-yang tattoo strikes again.

4. Hit the road and be like the Beats.

5. $3? Pssshhh. I’ll catch ’em next time they come through.

6. Hahahahaha. Still completely over EVERYTHING.

7. You had to improvise, that’s for sure.

8. Kind of ironic, isn’t it?

9. Why did CDs used to come in those HUGE boxes?

10. Listen, it’s too mainstream, bro.

11. Saturday morning TV was the best!

12. The great milk crate craze of ’94.

Growing up as a Gen X’er was a glorious time! So much great music and pop culture. And also those weird little quirks that define every generation.

Some more than others…

Share your favorite Generation X memories in the comments!

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These Are the Android Apps Infected with New ‘Joker’ Malware That You Should Probably Delete

If you’ve used or are currently using any of the following Android apps, you’ll probably want to get busy erasing them AND you’ll want to check your credit card statement.

Here’s why.

A new malware called “Joker” has made its way into Android apps that ended up in the Google Play store. The malware silently signs users up for subscriptions that might go undetected by people unless they closely look at their monthly credit card statements.

Aleksejs Kuprins, writing at the cybersecurity company CSIS, described how the scam works:

“For example, in Denmark, Joker can silently sign the victim up for a 50 DKK/week service (roughly ~6,71 EUR). This strategy works by automating the necessary interaction with the premium offer’s webpage, entering the operator’s offer code, then waiting for a SMS message with a confirmation code and extracting it using regular expressions. Finally, the Joker submits the extracted code to the offer’s webpage, in order to authorize the premium subscription.”

Google has already removed the bad apps from the Google Play Store, but you should still do a double-check to see if you’ve downloaded or used any of them because they racked up more than 472,000 downloads before they were taken down.

Here’s a list of the infected Android apps (with links).

After you’ve done the deletions (if you needed to), be sure to check your credit card statements back to June of this year to make sure that you don’t have any suspicious charges for subscriptions you didn’t buy.

If you are one of the unlucky ones, the next step is to alert the people in your contact list: the “Joker” malware steals your entire contact list and uploads it to a command and control server, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.

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15 Jokes That Writers Might Find Funny

Writing for a living is a tough gig. Always wracking your brain to come up with something interesting or witty to say. Hitting that inevitable bout of writer’s block at one point or another.

But it’s also a lot of fun, and anyone who gets to write for a living would probably say the same thing.

If you’re a writer, these jokes will most likely make you shake your head and say, “Yup, that’s accurate.”

Enjoy!

1. You’ll all be very disappointed.

2. You can never, ever, have enough.

3. One of the worst feelings of all time.

4. I’m back, baby! Back with a bang!

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Yep, that’s me ?

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5. That’s exactly what he was talking about.

6. Woo! Time for a nap and a snack.

7. Never listen to this advice.

Photo Credit: Tumblr

8. Make them suffer immeasurably.

Photo Credit: Tumblr

9. Among other things…

Photo Credit: Tumblr

10. Check your email every two-and-a-half minutes.

Photo Credit: Tumblr

11. Maybe it’s time to focus on one thing.

Photo Credit: Tumblr

12. Pretty much sums it up.

Photo Credit: Tumblr

13. “The man devoured the baked bread like it would be his last meal.” How’s that?

Photo Credit: Tumblr

14. Moments of inspiration.

Photo Credit: Tumblr

15. Let’s jump ahead a few years.

Photo Credit: Tumblr

Time to keep working, writers! You know we never get a day off…

Do you have any funny jokes about writing? If so, share them in the comments. Thanks!

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