Lifestyle

Known as man’s best friend, dogs have increasingly become part of many people’s lives. Often viewed as more than simply pets, they are companions and valued members of the family. Then, there are times when dogs will get sick and may need to go to the vet. However, while dog owners are likely aware of this, they may be unaware that sick dogs may also require blood transfusions. Much like there are human blood donors, dogs can also become blood donors to help save the lives of their fellow canines. To do this the dog must meet specific criteria. For example, in Australia, VIC, the U-Vet Canine Blood Donor Program requires that the dog: Weighs 25kg or more. Be aged between one and seven years old. Be fully vaccinated. Be regularly wormed. Never have received a blood transfusion itself. Has a known history of good health. Be of calm temperament. ...

In a brief, but upright study, Pfizer (the makers of Viagra) aimed to answer an age-old question: How long does sex last with the average male? Ask any male, chances are each and every one of them will tell you they’re above average (in size too), and that’s not just those living at Lake Wobegon. Females may give a more honest assessment. Including both, the study of 500 couples, which lasted four weeks (more than any male in it by a long shot) between the sheets in bed, found some rather telling results about how long males lasted during sex before climaxing: 22 percent lasted only 0 to 3 minutes. 54 percent lasted between 4 and 11 minutes. 24 percent lasted over 12 minutes. In the rare cases of outliers, some males managed to last over 21 minutes during lovemaking. Although they may be masters of Tantric sex. The median ...

“Mmm-mm. This is a tasty burger. Vincent, ever have a Big Kahuna Burger?” Even if Vincent wasn’t interested, YouTube chef Andrew Rea has found a way to make the Big Kahuna Burger from Pulp Fiction (1994) a reality for other gourmet philosophising hitman and people in general. All without having to dodge bullets from hand cannons. Or see it as a sign of divine intervention. In his cooking series Binging with Babish, Rea first runs through making the Big Kahuna Burger from the movie. Which regardless of the metric system or not, looks like a pretty standard burger with cheese. Second, in a move which may offend some purists, Quentin Tarantino or otherwise, he gives the recipe a foot massage into a real Hawaiian burger step-by-step. Including the smashed double patty, Monterey Jack cheese, caramelised pineapple and onions, all on a toasted Hawaiian roll. Making it the cornerstone of any ...

“The wheel on the mouse scrolls up and down, up and down…” Or so it goes something like that, probably minus the limerick. However, it turns out scrolling up and down the computer screen with the wheel on the mouse was not the original intention of its inventor Jack McCauley. McCauley had considered the possibilities of the “hypothetical z-axis” long before most, and wanted a way to navigate it. Cursors already allowed for moving along the x-axis and the y-axis of the screen, but McCauley wanted a way to move forward and into the application. In effect exploring the z-axis with the mouse wheel. Technology wasn’t quite there yet, and the wheel mouse ended up be used in other innovative ways. Not that as an inventor, McCauley is likely to be all that concerned. Especially since he’s the co-founder and chief engineer at Oculus. Which is now more fully exploring ...

SunHour is perhaps best described as a well-intentioned approach to charity and lifestyle improvement, in the form of social media marketing. Ads seen on Australian television for SunHour urge: Screens off. Life on. The idea being to get children away from the usual television, phone, and computer screens. Along with the sedentary lifestyle that may be associated with such things. Then instead enjoy an hour of physical activity outside in the sunshine. Which seems reasonable. Following things a bit further, with the help of a computer no less, reveals that SunHour is a project by Golden Circle, in conjunction with The Smith Family charity. With Golden Circle stating on the SunHour website: “We will donate a bike to a less fortunate child for every 2,500 SunHours pledged before 30th November or until we reach our goal.” The goal is to reach 1 million SunHours pledged. Interestingly, to pledge a SunHour ...

Robots are no longer in disguise and cars have more than meets the eye, thanks to a Turkish company called Letvision. Somewhat like Unicron searching for a replacement eye, Letvision have channelled the AllSpark to create what are essentially real Transformers. However, Letvision call their transforming robots Letrons. Functioning via remote control (since the sentience feature is probably being saved for the future) the BMW cars transform into a functioning robot. Yes, the car is a full-sized, real BMW. Which also makes for a full-sized, real robot once transformed, largely of the Autobot variety. In car-form, the automobile features a functional steering wheel and front and back security sensors, plus an electric engine. While they can “Autobots Letrons roll out” that the vehicles are technically remote controlled, currently does not allow them to legally be driven on the road in traffic. This could change in the future as Letvision develops ...

The Frankenburger, it’s alive. It’s alive! Technically, it’s not called a Frankenburger. It’s not really alive either. (Unless people count meat served blue, or steak tartare, as almost-living.) What this foray into culinary fusion is exactly, is best addressed with a question: What do you get if you cross a frankfurter with a hamburger? No, it’s not the Frankenburger, but so much potential is there… Rather it’s the Hamdog. And it is patented. Just don’t get too caught up in the differences between sausages, frankfurters, and wieners. Or the localisation of names with frankfurters interchangeably being called anything along the lines of frankfurts, franks, hot dogs, or hotdogs. It can be a confusingly mixed grill. Body parts sorted and allusions to Dr Frankenstein now probably aside, Australian inventor and entrepreneur Mark Murray has successfully spliced together a hotdog and a hamburger, calling it the Hamdog. He managed to patent the ...

Twitter has officially announced that media such as photos, videos, GIFs, polls, and Quote Tweets will no longer be counted in the 140 character limit for tweets. This follows the change earlier this year of not counting links in the character limit. Say more about what’s happening! Rolling out now: photos, videos, GIFs, polls, and Quote Tweets no longer count toward your 140 characters. pic.twitter.com/I9pUC0NdZC — Twitter (@twitter) September 19, 2016 This may only add to the challenge of selecting the best name for spam on Twitter. There were plans in May 2016 where Twitter considered effectively going long form with its content and character lengths. But that result has likely made a swansong, and the platform will stick with its amended 140 character limit in tweets for now.

Remoteness and islands often go together, and sometimes by design technology on said islands can be a bit hard to come by. Outside of the technologically advanced secret islands of evil geniuses that is. The Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic Ocean are channelling something more like Doctor Moreau than Dr. No in the unlikely alliance between sheep and Google. Bizarre but true, since the archipelago of the Faroe Islands is so remote, Google had not photographed them for Street View in Google Maps. Google does allow individuals to independently contribute photos to Street View, and some of the locals also aimed to get the company to come and photograph the islands. Meanwhile, a few other Faroese had a different idea: Put cameras on some of the 70,000 plus sheep living on the islands and let them photograph away. Google flocked to the idea, and has since loaned its official ...

Through a security flaw in the iOS software, hackers in the past week have reportedly been able to gain full access to everything on users’ iPhones. Apple has since released an update, and is encouraging all users to upgrade to iOS version 9.3.5 which can be done on iPhones (and iPads) via: Settings > General > Software Update, then selecting ‘Download and Install’ In a statement to The New York Times, Apple spokesman Fred Sainz said: “We advise all of our customers to always download the latest version of iOS to protect themselves against potential security exploits.” It’s reported that the iOS security flaws enabled hackers of compromised iPhones to gain access to users’ contacts, texts, emails, call history, passwords, and they could use spyware to hijack an iPhone to record sounds from it and track the user’s location. Hackers were also said to have been impersonating trusted companies such ...