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πŸ”— Bokononism: a fictional religion based on harmless untruths

πŸ”— Novels πŸ”— Philosophy πŸ”— Philosophy/Philosophical literature πŸ”— Novels/Science fiction πŸ”— Anthropology πŸ”— Anti-war

Cat's Cradle is a satirical postmodern novel, with science fiction elements, by American writer Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut's fourth novel, it was first published in 1963, exploring and satirizing issues of science, technology, the purpose of religion, and the arms race, often through the use of black humor. After turning down his original thesis in 1947, the University of Chicago awarded Vonnegut his master's degree in anthropology in 1971 for Cat's Cradle.

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πŸ”— Eggcorn

πŸ”— Linguistics

In linguistics, an eggcorn is an idiosyncratic substitution of a word or phrase for a word or words that sound similar or identical in the speaker's dialect (sometimes called oronyms). The new phrase introduces a meaning that is different from the original but plausible in the same context, such as "old-timers' disease" for "Alzheimer's disease". An eggcorn can be described as an intra-lingual phono-semantic matching, a matching in which the intended word and substitute are from the same language.

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πŸ”— De Bono's Six Thinking Hats

πŸ”— Books πŸ”— Systems πŸ”— Business πŸ”— Psychology πŸ”— United Kingdom πŸ”— Engineering πŸ”— Invention πŸ”— Systems/Project management πŸ”— Method engineering

Six Thinking Hats was written by Dr. Edward de Bono. "Six Thinking Hats" and the associated idea parallel thinking provide a means for groups to plan thinking processes in a detailed and cohesive way, and in doing so to think together more effectively.

In 2005, the tool found some use in the United Kingdom innovation sector, where it was offered by some facilitation companies and had been trialled within the United Kingdom's civil service.

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πŸ”— Skeuomorph

πŸ”— Apple Inc./Macintosh πŸ”— Apple Inc. πŸ”— Human–Computer Interaction πŸ”— Industrial design πŸ”— Apple Inc./iOS

A skeuomorph () is a derivative object that retains nonfunctional ornamental design cues (attributes) from structures that were inherent to the original. Examples include pottery embellished with imitation rivets reminiscent of similar pots made of metal and a software calendar that imitates the appearance of binding on a paper desk calendar.

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πŸ”— Xz

πŸ”— Environment

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  • "Xz" | 2010-06-24 | 232 Upvotes 64 Comments

πŸ”— Happy (Summer|Winter) Solstice - 11:28 Zulu time.

πŸ”— Physics πŸ”— Astronomy πŸ”— Time πŸ”— Holidays πŸ”— Festivals

A solstice is an event occurring when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21. In many countries, the seasons of the year are determined by reference to the solstices and the equinoxes.

The term solstice can also be used in a broader sense, as the day when this occurs. The day of a solstice in either hemisphere has either the most sunlight of the year (summer solstice) or the least sunlight of the year (winter solstice) for any place other than the Equator. Alternative terms, with no ambiguity as to which hemisphere is the context, are "June solstice" and "December solstice", referring to the months in which they take place every year.

The word solstice is derived from the Latin sol ("sun") and sistere ("to stand still"), because at the solstices, the Sun's declination appears to "stand still"; that is, the seasonal movement of the Sun's daily path (as seen from Earth) pauses at a northern or southern limit before reversing direction.

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πŸ”— 5BX

πŸ”— Military history πŸ”— Military history/North American military history πŸ”— Military history/Canadian military history

The Royal Canadian Air Force Exercise Plans are two exercise plans developed for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) by Dr. Bill Orban in the late 1950s, first published in 1961. The 5BX plan (Five Basic Exercises) was developed for men; a corresponding program was developed for women under the name XBX (Ten Basic Exercises) and the two plans were subsequently published together as one book. The popularity of the programs in many countries around the world helped to launch modern fitness culture.

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  • "5BX" | 2010-06-20 | 77 Upvotes 32 Comments

πŸ”— The oldest, continuously running, independent business in the world?

πŸ”— Companies πŸ”— History πŸ”— Architecture πŸ”— Buddhism πŸ”— Japan πŸ”— Japan/History πŸ”— Japan/Business and economy

Kongō Gumi Co., Ltd. (ζ ͺεΌδΌšη€Ύι‡‘ε‰›η΅„, Kabushiki Gaisha Kongō Gumi) is a Japanese construction company which was the world's oldest continuously ongoing independent company, operating for over 1,400 years. In January 2006, it became a subsidiary of Takamatsu.

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