The thread of useless knowledge!

[Abhorsen3rd]

Originally Posted by Postal

when you have a ring in your ear, thats the sound of a ear cell dieing. You'll never hear that frequency again.
(guess where i got that from)

The hippo is the animal with the most human kills.... I thought they only ate little white marbles.

That first bit of info creeped me more than the second...I value my hearing, and it saddened me to hear that the ringing sound can mean that a frequency will be lost forever

[CrowdAds]

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by Abhorsen3rd

That first bit of info creeped me more than the second...I value my hearing, and it saddened me to hear that the ringing sound can mean that a frequency will be lost forever

So where's it from?

[Postal]

I got it from the movie children of men. It sounds pretty true.

[Abhorsen3rd]

Originally Posted by Ray

So where's it from?

From the ringing voice in your head? jk lol

Honestly I took it for truth since this is ABi...perhaps I should question the source? My best guess would be from a head-fi resource, or maybe it's from msnbc.

[sumx4182]

it's def. not true...

http://healing.about.com/cs/conditions/a/tinnitus.htm

[Abhorsen3rd]

"excessive ear wax" as a symptom? That does not sound pleasant, especially form the perspective of an iem user.

[Postal]

well, it certainly would of sounded awesome if it were true.

An office desk has 400 times more bacteria than a toilet.
93% of all greeting cards are purchased by women.
A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.
About 85% or product warning labels on household products are inadequate.

[Tobey]

I wish it was the sound of loosing the ability to hear this frequency... I have had tinnitus all my life, and it's driving me nuts. You think you'd get used to it, but you don't, or at least I can't. I have no idea what dead silence sounds like. I suppose it's... silent.

[ZenChick]

Originally Posted by jconsortium

A pig's orgasm lasts 30 minutes.

Damn pigs! *jealous*

[sumx4182]

Originally Posted by Tobey

I wish it was the sound of loosing the ability to hear this frequency... I have had tinnitus all my life, and it's driving me nuts. You think you'd get used to it, but you don't, or at least I can't. I have no idea what dead silence sounds like. I suppose it's... silent.

i'm the same way...i can here a high pitched sound almost constantly. I've been told that some people have the ability to hear high freq sound coming from electronics...i think that's what it is...

[ZenChick]

The ringing in your ear is actually a sign of nerve damage. It's not that you'll never hear that frequency again, but it does diminish your ability to hear that frequency - not only because of the ringing you hear that overrides very quiet sounds at that frequency, but because you now have at least one fewer receptor in your inner ear tuned to that frequency.

[sumx4182]

i've had it forever tho...and i don't go to many concerts and i've only started using headphones recently...

[effyman]

Originally Posted by Abhorsen3rd

The giraffe is the tallest land mammal.

They also have the same number of neck vertibrae as humans.

Originally Posted by sumx4182

i'm the same way...i can here a high pitched sound almost constantly. I've been told that some people have the ability to hear high freq sound coming from electronics...i think that's what it is...

Another useless fact: when i walk past a house, I can tell if the tv is on, because I can hear or maybe feel some sort of high pitch frequency.

[Tobey]

Pfft, I can hear that too. I think most young people can.

But can you hear a dying capacitor?

[gorcorps]

98.957% of statistics are made up on the spot

[Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander]

Originally Posted by gorcorps

98.957% of statistics are made up on the spot

Rofl, that one's hilarious! I wonder how many people will say to themselves, "Oh, is that so."

[electrick_eye]

I wonder if that one was.

Wow I got a lot of responses. I'll add some.

Ask a Ninja
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Ask A Ninja opening title screenshot
Ask A Ninja opening title screenshot

Ask A Ninja is an award-winning[1] series of comedy videos about the image of ninjas in popular culture available in podcast and vodcast form, as well as in mov and wmv file formats. The first episode was released in November 2005, but production and editing of that initial episode is not as proficient as the episodes from number 2 (January 2006) onwards.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Overview
* 2 Episodes
o 2.1 Special deliveries
* 3 Trivia
* 4 Fan videos
* 5 Parodies
* 6 In the media
* 7 External links

[edit] Overview

The series, created by Los Angeles improvisational comedians Kent Nichols and Douglas Sarine, features a ninja who answers e-mails from "viewers" (a similar format to Strong Bad Email, which was an influence on Ask A Ninja's creators[citation needed]). The ninja (simply known as Ninja) often answers the questions from his character's point of view (that is, with references to killing or murdering). For example, in one question in Episode 2, Ninja alleges that Santa Claus is actually a ninja who kills little children who awake too early on Christmas Day and catch sight of him before he has time to leave. Once Santa is seen, he has to kill as it is part of the ninja code and that is why his coat is red (it is supposedly covered in the blood of unfortunate children who were impatient for their presents and snuck out of bed too early).

Although episodes 1 to 16 are answered by Ninja in front of a featureless blue background, the action sometimes goes to other places, such as inside a car or another house. Episodes after "Ninja Omnibus" use the Ninja edited onto a red circle gradient background, and episodes after "BBQ" changed to blue. In some episodes, the chair Ninja is sitting on can also be seen.
Screenshot from Episode 6, "Master of Disguise".
Screenshot from Episode 6, "Master of Disguise".

Ninja is known for his emphatic declarations, as well as his expansive, spontaneous, and often extremely exaggerated hand gestures (helpful in communicating his comedic intent, as one can only see his eyes). Ninja is also fond of using linguistic blends in his speech, particularly those involving the word "ninja" ("ninjelephant," "ninternships," "minjas," etc.). Video editing is often used for emphasis, such as showing him doing the same throwing motion three times. It is also used to emphasize his mysterious ninja powers, which include the ability to adopt impenetrable disguises, and to make himself microscopically small (Ninjascopic). Recently the Ninja has begun answer questions in a way that the asker did not intend. For example in "Ninja Dates" the question was asked, "What kind of dates do Ninjas go on?" The Ninja responded "You ask this as if ninjas stop on some dates. There is not a date on the calender on which we do not go." The episodes feature constant and erratic camera-angle changes. In Special Delivery 10: "Pop!Tech" the Ninja makes reference to this erratic editing, explaining that during the course of filming each episode he has 14 or 15 ninjas trying to kill him while he's filming, so he has to edit all the ninjas out of it so that the episode does not consist solely of thrilling fight sequences.

Each episode usually ranges from two to three minutes, usually ending with Ninja's signature remark to each questioner: "I look forward to killing you soon!" (or some variation thereof, usually relating to the episode e.g. 'I look forward to playing through you soon!'). New episodes are usually released bi-weekly. Starting with Episode 23, "Ninternships", the behind-the-scenes-team decided to have sponsors for their episodes.

Ask A Ninja is popular enough that Douglas Sarine was once asked to report as a guest film critic on National Public Radio's show, All Things Considered. His review of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is classified as a special delivery episode.

At the end of older episodes, the Ninja advertised the Ninja-Mart Store, where viewers may buy "Ask A Ninja"-related merchandise. Recent episodes have ended with Ninja advertising Ask A Ninja's first DVD release, in a style parodying the HeadOn ads.

Recently, Nichols and Sarine appeared as commentators on VH1's Best Week Ever. Sarine, who plays the Ninja, appeared unmasked.

The Ninja has also appeared as a judge on Yahoo's talent-show contest.

[edit] Episodes
Episode Title Released
1 "Ninja-Mart Store" November 24, 2005
2 "Ninja Santa" January 5, 2006
3 "Ninja Training" January 6, 2006
4 "Hiring A Ninja" January 8, 2006
5 "Ninja Skills" January 9, 2006
6 "Master of Disguise" January 16, 2006
7 "Ninja Grub" January 18, 2006
8 "Roger"* January 25, 2006
9 "Ninja Love" February 1, 2006
10 "Ninja Metal" February 9, 2006
11 "Ninja Dogs" February 14, 2006
12 "Ninja Colds" February 22, 2006
13 "Ninjas Hate Clooney" March 7, 2006
14 "Ninja Gifts" March 8, 2006
15 "Deciding Like a Ninja March 16, 2006
16 "How To Kill a Ninja" March 24, 2006
17 "Ninja Omnibus" March 31, 2006
18 "Minjas" April 9, 2006
19 "Physics" April 19, 2006
20 "KillaCon" May 1, 2006
21 "Revolution Cubed" May 30, 2006
22 "Ninja Excuses" June 15, 2006
23 "Ninternships" July 5, 2006
24 "Thr33" July 14, 2006
25 "Summer Jobs" September 1, 2006
26 "Least Favorite" September 6, 2006
27 "Standing In Lines" September 9, 2006
28 "Niniature Golf" October 15, 2006
29 "BBQ" December 22, 2006
30 "Ninja Omnideuce" January 3, 2007
31 "TechNINlogy" January 12, 2007
32 "Ninja Dates" January 24, 2007
33 "Hidey's Disease" February 3, 2007
34 "The Bloody's" February 8, 2007
35 "Ninja Poetry" February 16, 2007
36 "Clubs" March 2, 2007

*After episode 35 a redelivery of episode 8 was issued with brief additional content.

[edit] Special deliveries

The Ninja has also released special episodes that are known as "special deliveries." Special deliveries are usually unrelated to the rest of the episodes, as they do not answer questions asked by real people (an exception of that is the first special delivery, "What is Podcasting?"). The topic of these episodes may vary. Sometimes they are special "interviews" (e.g. "Doogtoons Asks a Ninja"), and other times it advertises a cause (e.g. "Net Neutrality").
Number Title Released
SD 01 "What is Podcasting?" March 7, 2006
SD 02 "Doogtoons.com Asks A Ninja 1" April 12, 2006
SD 03 "Doogtoons.com Asks A Ninja 2" May 6, 2006
SD 04 "Net Neutrality" May 11, 2006
SD 05 "Doogtoons.com Asks A Ninja 3" May 17, 2006
SD 06 "Doogtoons.com Asks A Ninja - Ninjas and the Matrix" June 2, 2006
SD 07 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Review July 7, 2006
SD 08 "Doogtoons.com Asks A Ninja - Star Wars" July 30, 2006
SD 09 "AKON Weapons Policy" August 28, 2006
SD 10 "Pop!Tech" October 26, 2006
SD 11 "Ninja Day" November 30, 2006
SD 12 "The Ninja's First Live Appearance" December 12, 2006

[edit] Trivia
Screenshot from Episode 20, "KillaCon".
Screenshot from Episode 20, "KillaCon".

* The first episode is the only one where a green background is visible in a few shots.

* The initial ("pilot") episode is less tightly scripted, the Ninja's mask is bulkier, and his hand movements had not yet been developed as a feature.

* The theme music played during the opening titles is from the song "I M Ninja", by German band The Neu Tickles, which is currently available on iTunes.

* From Episode 11 onwards, a small clip is added at the end of each episode right after the page that shows the web site address. The Ninja also changes from his generic black garb to a traditional Shinobi Shozoku uniform used by practitioners of ninjitsu.

* A DVD of Ask A Ninja was released on December 5, 2006 (the Day of the Ninja). In addition to 30 episodes of Ask A Ninja, it includes commentaries, Easter eggs and bonus shorts.[2]

* When a question is sent to The Ninja, the following autoreply is sent to the sender:

“ The Ninja will read your question carefully and then decide whether or not it's interesting and funny. If it is, he'll answer it and look forward to killing you soon. If it isn't, he'll still kill you, but he won't enjoy it. In the mean time, please go to http://askaninja.com and connect with your fellow ninjas and pirates. Thanks again! -Team Ask A Ninja -PS Help the Ninja out , go buy a T-Shirt at http://ninjamartstore.com! ”

* Kent Nichols was at Vloggercon in June 2006. He jumped into Leo Laporte's podcast TWiT giving information about Ask A Ninja, and a related new show, Hope is Emo.

* Askapirate.com redirects to the Ask A Ninja homepage. This is also true for Askaviking.com and Askarobot.com.

* www.theinternationalorderofninjas.com redirects to the Ninja Mart Store page.

* The askaninja.com website was built by Raincity Studios in June 2006. Raincity continues to support the ninja and their fans by improving and maintaining the website.

[edit] Fan videos

A number of fan videos have been created, and have been included in the official Ask A Ninja website's download pages.

* "Ask A Ninja (About a cell)" follows Ringo Lebowski as he tries to describe to his science teacher (who apparently doesn't have good handwriting) how a cell "works".

* "Ninja Bl**ped" by WhiterabbitX, a montage of clips from various Ask A Ninja episodes, made in such a way as to imply the Ninja is using foul language, by bleeping out certain words. It has recently been made private.

* "Ask A Ninja with a Need for Speed" made by tomatoo, simply "Ninja Omnibus" sped up faster than normal.

* "Ninja Hamster Dance" by The White Ninja, a montage of clips from Ask A Ninja episodes with the original audio track replaced by The Hampster Dance (a techno theme with a high-pitched voice singing). The clips selected include many of the Ninja's expansive hand gestures, and arranged so that he appears to be dancing to the music. This has recently been made private.

* "Throwing Stars, Breaking Hearts" by Scott Blaszak, a mashup of askaninja and the lonelygirl15 videos.

* "Ask a Sennin" by Dark Side Productions, which is "Ninja Dogs" set to clips from the anime series Naruto.

[edit] Parodies

* The Pod Parody TV episode "Ask a Sellout" roasts Ask A Ninja for having too much advertising.

[edit] In the media

* [http://www.rocketboom.com/vlog/archives/2006/01/rb_

The "Youtube Celebrity", Boh3m3, Made a parody of "Ask a Ninja", which he called "Ask a Spaz". "The Spaz" is simply Boh3m3's alter-ego, whom constantly are high on caffine while anwsering questions.

[WalkGood]

The liquid inside young coconuts can be used as a substitute for blood plasma.

[JDGAFFLIN]

Detorit has more Coney Islands per square mile then any other city in the world.

[WalkGood]

Once a bull has impregnated a cow, it will never impregnate that same cow again. So once a bull has had his way with your herd, he is useless.