corsinet.com is an excellent, intelligent
way to waste time on the internet: discover unusual facts, learn some
new things, wake up your brain cells and have some fun.
We've been wasting time on the
internet since before there was an internet!
Our collections:
Brain
Candy was first posted on the internet
in 1990, as a way to store the accumulation of word play, riddles and
jokes we had compiled through the years.
Trivial
Trivia is our collection of weird facts and unusual information, much
of it is totally useless unless one is training for Jeopardy or a trivia
contest.
Chicago
Collections is a huge resource about Chicago. A little history, some
quotations and song lyrics, and links to great Chicago area attractions.
DesignWeb
started because people liked our web sites and asked for help in designing
theirs. We are currently taking new clients only on a very selective basis.
TC
is Tony's artwork. He doesn't sell it & doesn't answer his email,
so don't even bother.
Our
Garden is a work in progress. It's what we've learned about installing
and maintaining a koi pond in our back yard. There are lots of pictures
of our pond and plants we've had success with in a shady yard, in the
brutal weather of the Chicago area.
10 First Aid Mistakes
From cut fingers to electrical burns—what you should and shouldn't do in a home health emergency.
August 29, 2008
The Disturbing Origins of 5 Common Nursery Rhymes
We grew up memorizing these seemingly nonsense lines of verse from Mother Goose, which seem to exist for no other reason than to keep toddlers entertained. There couldn't possibly be some kind of weird, twisted history to them, could there?
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Food Myths
Will slightly pink pork make you sick and kill you? Does a potato soak up excess salt in a soup or stew? Can you deep fry in olive oil?
August 24, 2008
Worlds Largest and Smelliest Flowers and Plants
While flowers typically attract humans and insects alike with their enchanting beauty and luscious fragrance, some rather perverse stinking flowers entice flesh and fecal-loving insects to their foul-smelling blooms in the guise of meat by their colors and fetid scents, which include some of the largest and most bizarre flowers in the world.
August 23, 2008
10 Unusual Last Wills And Testaments
While most wills are left in order to make certain that our financial affairs are taken care of after our death, some people have used them to make political points, or just for a bit of a laugh. This is a list of 10 of the strangest last wishes of people famous, and not so famous.
The good news about coffee
Once, we were advised to cut out caffeine. But the latest research shows a daily cup could be a lifesaver.
August 20, 2008
After The Party: What happens when the Olympics leave town
In its modern incarnation, the Olympic circus has rolled into 22 cities, from the great (Los Angeles, London, Sydney) to the modest (Seoul, Helsinki, Antwerp). Then it packs up and rolls out again. In its wake, it has left cities either transformed or crippled.
August 19, 2008
Forestiere Underground Gardens
Baldassare Forestiere was the ingenious creator and builder of a large maze of underground rooms and
passageways that he patterned after the ancient catacombs, and which can still be seen today in Fresno, California. He spent 40 years of his life carving out useless farmland into a habitable underground oasis adorned with luscious fruit trees and grapevines that he planted
underground.
August 18, 2008
The Afghan women jailed for being victims of rape
Two-thirds of the women in Lashkar Gah's medieval-looking jail have been convicted of illegal sexual relations, but most are simply rape victims – mirroring the situation nationwide. The system does not distinguish between those who have been attacked and those who have chosen to run off with a man.
August 17, 2008
Walk this Way
Pumps, clogs, wedges, boots ... shoes serve a practical function, but they can also be highly ornamented and meaninful objects. Explore a range of styles - and some unexpected relationships to other works in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts collection.
August 16, 2008
Mormon "Garments"
When Mormons go through the Endowment ceremony in the Mormon temples, they are given a set of "underwear" known as "garments". Mormons are lead to believe that the garments have "magical properties" and can save them from bullets, fire and accidents.
August 15, 2008
Top 10 Most Expensive Hotel Suites
From beachfront bliss to big city splendor, the ten most expensive hotel rooms in the world have a few things in common -- they're all over-the-top fabulous, and none of the nightly room rates includes tax, so be prepared to add another 10 - 17% to your bill at check-out.
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August 14, 2008
Why Migraines Strike
For the more than 300 million people who suffer migraines, the excruciating, pulsating pain that characterizes these debilitating headaches needs no description. For those who do not, the closest analogous experience might be severe altitude sickness: nausea, acute sensitivity to light, and searing, bed-confining headache.
August 13, 2008
Courthouse Confessions
Blogger Steven Hirsch camps out in front of the Manhattan Criminal Court and photographs the people leaving. He asks them for their stories.
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August 12, 2008
Villa Leopolda Sold For $750 Million To Russian Oligarch
A mysterious Russian billionaire has trumped his big-spending rivals and broken a world record by splashing out $750 million on one of the most sumptuous villas on the French Riviera.
August 11, 2008
Syphilis: History, Symptoms and Treatment
Throughout the ribald 17th century, syphilis was more widespread and devastating than AIDs is now.
Debate still rages about how syphilis made it to Europe.
Pollution curbs turn Beijing into urban laboratory
Beijing's massive experiment with controlling pollution is offering international researchers a one-of-a-kind chance to study the large-scale effort in a uniquely urban laboratory.
August 6, 2008
The girl in the window
Heart-breaking story about a feral child discovered in Florida in 2005.
Plants Attractive to Native Bees
In our cities and towns, where most of the native plant communities have been displaced by pavement, buildings and lawns, our flower gardens can become important cafeterias for local populations of native bees.
August 3, 2008
Nuclear Nightmares - 20 years since Chernobyl
Twenty years later, the after effects of the nuclear disaster are still felt by many people. In their book, Nuclear Nightmares: Twenty Years Since Chernobyl, photographer Robert Knoth and reporter Antoinette de Jong documented - with harrowing photos - the suffering of victims poisoned by radioactivity.
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August 2, 2008
20 Deadliest Plants on the Planet
Although many plants are beneficial to human beings there are also certain varieties that have been proven to be harmful and fatal to humans. Here's a list of the deadliest plants in the world.
Also:
The Poison Garden
At the Alnwick Garden in Northumberland you can come face to face with some of the most deadly plants in the world.
August 1, 2008
Making it - How Chicago Shaped Obama
An outsider in Chicago’s system, he was meticulous about constructing his own political identity and coalition.
