Momofuku Ando, Instant Ramen Inventor, Dead at 96

…After seeing people standing in line at a black-market food stall, he formed a strong conviction that “a life without enough food to eat is no life at all.” He believed an instant noodle product would help feed people after World War II. Chicken Ramen was the first flavor produced by his company Nissin Food Products Co., but other flavors and products quickly followed, including the ever-ubiquitous Cup Noodle.

more…

i will think of mr. ando every time i enjoy some ramen, and doubly so during the holy month of ramenadan.

via chicagoist

there was a celebrity mii contest at kottke.org and eric and bocci’s admiral ackbar was a finalist!

go to eric’s photos on flickr for more miis.

if you don’t know who admiral ackbar is, i’m sorry but we probably can’t be friends anymore. 🙂

i have always been fascinated by archaeology, and when i was at university i jumped at the chance to take ‘the maya’. i, like many other archaeologists/historians/nerds am both excited by and wary of apocalypto. i want to see it because i think maya culture is incredibly interesting, but i don’t want to support another mel gibson violence-porn. i want to see it because i think it will be entertaining, but i dread watching all kinds of inaccuracies unfold in front of me.

however, the movie has rekindled a lot of public interest in the maya, which i think is a good thing. the maya were incredibly advanced in a lot of scientific areas and, like the ancient egyptians (another great nu class), serve as a sobering reminder of how quickly a thriving culture can disintegrate, even after centuries of prosperity and “we’re #1”-ness. 3 quarks daily has posted a really cool article about the field of acoustical archaeology and the (theoretical) applications of advanced acoustical engineering in maya architecture.

either the best or worst css zen garden ever.