You will always run into people who remember that McDonald's hamburger were once 15 cents. They were also ready when you got there, because that's all they served, unless you wanted a cheeseburger, which were ready as well. The slowness of fast food is due to the variety of options available, but what happened to the price? You can go to a sit-down restaurant and get a plate of hamburgers and fries and a drink brought to your table for $10, and it may cost you the same to get one at a window to eat in your car, and you won't know what a mess it is until you unwrap it, a half-mile away. McDonald's isn't the only outlet where prices have risen dramatically. Weird History explains what happened, beginning with the history of fast food.
The good news is that a McChicken and a senior coffee is still less than a Happy Meal.
Death of a Pig. E. B. White tells the story that inspired Charlotte's Web. (via Kottke)
The Immigrants Ruining U.S. Democracy: Elon Musk, Rupert Murdoch, and Peter Thiel. (via Fark)
50 Times People Nailed Halloween Snacks And Just Had To Brag Online.
This Chart Highlights The Biggest Difference Between The European And American Mindset. Europeans take vacation days because they get paid for those days.
We Are Living in a Golden Age of Apples. Apple experts divide time into “before Honeycrisp” and “after Honeycrisp,” and apples have never tasted so good (via Metafilter)
10 Baby Name Trends for 2025, According to Nameberry. Learn why we might have a class of students named Novalie, Xochitl, Suede, Abner, Bliss, Guinevere, Valkyrie, and Prairie in a few years.
This simple test can show how you’re aging. Flamingo pose, anyone? (via Real Clear Science)
My Weekends With the Dead. In 2017, I decided to solve a longtime mystery about my family. It led me to a controversial pastime that consumes thousands—and has changed untold lives. (via Damn Interesting)
This Might Be the Worst Thing Happening in Texas Right Now. They've made cruel and unusual punishment into an art form. (via Nag on the Lake)
We own the property that this dam is built on and were totally heartbroken when this dam gave way. The beauty of this natural setting is why we bought the property in the first place. We had no part in the destruction of this dam. It merely could not take the pressure of two week of heavy rain draining into beaver pond flood plain. Also, the beavers built it too high, 9 Ft. It was an engineering marvel. Double decker beaver dams are not that common.But the beavers didn't give up. Within six weeks of the collapse, they had rebuilt the dam to about four feet. Smith has another drone video showing their progress from May of this year. (via reddit)
(Thanks, WTM!)I feel you little buddy pic.twitter.com/PzZtu23KKG
— Clown World ™ 🤡 (@ClownWorld_) October 25, 2024
Wouldn't it be great to make your own hole? It seems a bit dangerous at first, but imagine just sticking a hole wherever you wanted to make one. Then remove it to make everything right again! As in all things, you must be careful what you wish for. This short -really short- film is part of the article 6 Exceptional One-Minute Short Films at Music Bed. (via Metafilter)
When a cat decides we wants to be with a couple of truck drivers, he's destined for a life on the road. See more of Odie at Instagram.
Drones can be a lot of fun and give us great visuals from an aerial point of view, but their most impactive use is for doing jobs that are difficult and dangerous. Sure, there's war, but while that's safer for the aggressor, it's still killing people. Check out what drones are doing for the power grid, above. They are also used for inspection and troubleshooting, and can recharge themselves on the electrical towers without returning to home base. The drones used for this kind of work are be above your budget or your needs, but for infrastructure maintenance, they are not only cost-effective (compared to a pilot plus workers in a helicopter), but much safer than sending people to do certain jobs. (via Nag on the Lake)
Normally I look at holiday decorations made with projections as the lazy way out, since most of them consist of projecting colored lights on the side of a house. But this one is different. It's custom-designed for this house with projection mapping, and results in a movie for anyone outside. The movie in this case is Ghostbusters, the short version set to the film's theme song. ...and some other tunes. This kind of thing sets the bar really high for the neighbors. You guessed it, this is from a professional called Seasoned Projections. See what the house looks like during the day. (via Born in Space)
(via Nag on the Lake)Border Collies sort black and white Ducks pic.twitter.com/gZ4BQ4KJG0
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) October 24, 2024
