Browser history: Captchas, magnets and optical illusions. Also, sarcasm.

The busier my life becomes, the less time I have to write about it. So, here’s another not-a-real-post that rounds up my favorite links from the past few weeks.

Captch Comics
You might not know what a captcha is, but you’ve probably seen one. Captchas are images of distorted text. You have to type a copy of that text into a form before posting a comment on a site to prove you’re human and not a spam bot. This site creates comics where the captchas are the punchlines. It’s often hilarious, sometimes offensive, but always a great creative writing exercise.

Optical illusion I’d never seen before
I thought I’d seen all the optical illusions out there, but these were new to me. They’re rather trippy because it’s not immediately obvious why they’re happening. The illusion involves tricking your eye’s motion detection cells. I didn’t even know my eyes had motion detection cells.

Sarcasm does not translate well in Japan
I was reading about Why It’s Smart to be Bilingual, but the most interesting part of the article was this simple sentence: “In Japanese, there’s no sarcasm.” Woah! I would not last long in Japan. I searched and found this post which explains that the Japanese language is so ambiguous that sarcasm doesn’t fit in well. I should say something sarcastic about this, but I don’t want to confuse you.

Magnetic nail polish
When reading that headline, I thought this nail polish would make your fingernails magnetic. Wouldn’t that be great for my computer? (Attention Japanese readers: that last sentence was sarcastic.) Instead it uses magnets to create a an airbrushed design.

Also of note, that article came from XO Jane which is a site recently launched by Jane Pratt, former editor of Sassy and Jane. I never read Sassy, but I hear people rave about it often. I’m sure you can spend far too much money buying back issues off ebay.