What's the Most Dangerous Place on Earth?

Knitting Rocking Chair!

shown in the ruckstuhl building as part of ECAL's 'low-tech factory' exposition during designers' saturday in langenthal, switzerland is 'rocking knit' - a design that makes the transition to the winter season a little less onerous. students of university of art and design lausanne damien ludi and colin peillex created a chair that will fashion its user a beanie as they leisurely rock back and forth, activating gears that put the machine to work as its sitter relaxes. the project is in response to the exhibition's theme, where students were required to reinterpret the idea of manufacture - deconstructing the fabrication process of a product to a slower, more considered pace. designers' saturday showcased the work in the ruckstuhl carpet factory, appropriately surrounding the work by spools of thread and feverish machinery, connecting concept and real-world techniques in a meaningful way.

Technically, it won't be a hat unless you cut it off and tie the top off. However, I definitely need one of these to sit and rock in while knitting other items.

Former Drunks Make Unstoppable Runners

Many drunks won’t be swayed by the symbolism of a turned calendar page. But each year, plenty of chronic drinkers and struggling alcoholics figure that January is a chance for a fresh start. To them, I say run. You’re already pre-programmed to chew up the pavement—even tackle a marathon. In fact, you’ve spent a good chunk of your bleary-eyed, morally dubious days and nights developing the perfect toolbox: single-minded focus; endurance; tolerance for mental and physical distress; prowess at spending time alone; aptitude at navigating embarrassment....

Check out some race photos. You’ll see plenty of runners with painful grimaces on their faces, wild sweat-flattened hair, bloody nipples, shorts billowing up to show dimpled cheek, stained crotches and wet ass cracks. And often a gait that looks decidedly zombie-apocalyptic. There may be college-era pics of you with a pair of hairy balls sharpied on your forehead or with your skirt up over your head: You are the dark, sloppy star of family lore. Your tolerance for ridicule is high.

So that's my problem. I haven't gotten quite to full blown alcoholic yet, hence why I am such a terrible runner. Well, that or the inability to not trip and land on my face.

New FDA Food Safety Rules

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday proposed two sweeping rules aimed at preventing the contamination of produce and processed foods, which has sickened tens of thousands of Americans annually in recent years.

Changes include requirements for better record keeping, contingency plans for handling outbreaks and measures that would prevent the spread of contaminants in the first place. While food producers would have latitude in determining how to execute the rules, farmers would have to ensure that water used in irrigation met certain standards and food processors would need to find ways to keep fresh food that may contain bacteria from coming into contact with food that has been cooked.

Now it would be amazing if the rules are actually enforced once implemented.

Pointless but Fantastic

2000 ping pong balls in zero gravity.

I absolutely love that they didn't warn anyone.

The Artist who Knitted a Playground

If you thought knitting a sweater required patience, try knitting a playground. That’s right—Japanese artist Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam challenges our understanding of what a playground can look like by creating breathtaking, interactive “sculptures” from colorful nylon ropes.

ArchDaily editor Vanessa Quirk recently sat down with Horiuchi MacAdam to learn more about her work. When asked what motivated her to start creating playspaces for children, Horiuchi MacAdam says:

"One day I was exhibiting a 3-dimensional open-work textile sculpture I had created in collaboration with a friend. Some children came to the gallery and climbed into it. Suddenly the piece came to life. My eyes were opened. I realized I wanted just such a connection between my work and people alive at this moment in time (not a hundred years from now). I realized I was in fact making works for children. It was an exciting moment for me.

"Often it is parents who are the problem. They seem to have forgotten what it was like to be a child."

I want to go there. I want to play.

Oru Kayak

Designer and founder Anton Willis grew up in rural Mendocino County, with easy access to rivers, lakes, and the ocean. In 2008, a move into a small San Francisco apartment forced his fiberglass kayak into storage. Inspired by an article on new advances in the art and science of origami, he sketched a few ideas for a folding kayak. Sketches turned into countless paper models, and over 20 full-scale prototypes. After user-testing on dozens of bays, lakes, rivers and oceans, Oru Kayaks are ready to explore the world.

This makes me wish I had good rivers near me to have a good use for this.

Whiskey Saves!

Alcohol doesn't tend to make you see more clearly, but in Denis Duthie's case a bottle of whisky literally saved his sight.

Mr Duthie, a catering tutor at New Plymouth's Western Institute of Technology, had been celebrating his parents' 50th wedding anniversary in June by having a few vodkas from a bottle his students had given him as a present.

When he walked into a bedroom in his home everything suddenly went black.

"I thought it had got dark and I'd missed out on a bit of time but it was only about half-past-three in the afternoon. I was fumbling around the bedroom for the light switch but ... I'd just gone completely blind."

Who Would Win the Second American Civil War?

New York pushed Northward. They pushed to claim all of New England and the food wealth they will need to supply their people now that resources from the Midwest are no longer available. The take over is mostly peaceful as many of the states have large, but mostly non-military populations. They encountered problems when large groups of refugees tried to flee to Canada and rioting ensued.

Illinois was calm. The Midwest Alliance grew steadily by seeking to secure the Great Lakes. They were able to take Ohio through a few fierce, but brief encounters. They also took on Minnesota and the mouth of the Mississippi River.

The West coast was now controlled by the two main powers -- California with its seat of power in San Francisco and The North West Union, centered in Seattle. California gained support and took control of all the states West of the Continental Divide and South of the Union. The North West Union pushed as far as Wyoming.

Leave it to Texas to mess everything up.

Ain't it the Truth

Managers spend nearly 17 percent of their working hours dealing with poor performers, according to a report from staffing firm Robert Half International. That's basically a full day a week that could have been spent being productive.

On the positive side, all the eye rolling is good for your vision.