Everything you ever wanted to know but were afraid to ask

[Purple Tentacle]

A series is already a plural isn't it?

[Almost Yearly]

No, you idiot.

[Purple Tentacle]

Fuck off cunt.

[butnut]

Is this more like the site you dream of PT?

[Purple Tentacle]

Having started a stealth "You know who I fancy" thread, talked about piss and shit, AND got to call a cornish man a cunt, yes thank you.  I'm living the dream.

[Brad]

To anyone with a pop-up-blocker on.

Does the thing tell you if a site has a pop-up while you surf the pop-up ridden site?

[Deadman97]

Does the thing tell you if a site has a pop-up while you surf the pop-up ridden site?

Yeah, makes a little "tchok!" sort of noise when it stops one.

[Neil]

|s that myspace site an interesting community for people who want to talk about and share music tastes.  Or is it just full of un-shy people looking to get shagged?

[Suttonpubcrawl]

It's one of those social networking sites that Americans love. I don't understand them really, it seems like all you're really able to do is add people as your friends and put pictures of yourself up there, there seem to be very few ways of actually getting in touch with new people and communicating with them.

[mayer]

A mixture of the two, that and (I believe) a way for them to make extra funds sellling your age/gender/likes/dislikes to ad agencies by the hundred.

If you like a small/unsigned band, MySpace is a good way for them to chuck out a few streaming tracks which is easier/gets them more publicity than their own site might.

[Neil]

I remember someone once telling me that it was a 'place to find people to absent-mindedly fuck while you listened to music that you both dug.'  Everyone on there seems to have a flattering picture of themselves as an avatar, so I never questioned it.

[mayer]

Heh, I didn't have a photo of myself up on that thing till someone badgered me to, and I used my usual Paint self-portrait. It looks more like me than most photos do!

[Brad]

Whatever happened to TOPS magazine?

I used to get that... if its the one i'm thinking of. Did it have the cartoon strip of Russ abbot ?

I'm not sure. Very vague memories of the stories. I bought it mostly for the pinups of Toyah and other popstars. I found the cover of one on google though.



heh!

[Brad]

Does the thing tell you if a site has a pop-up while you surf the pop-up ridden site?

Yeah, makes a little "tchok!" sort of noise when it stops one.

Thanks. I'm in two minds whether or not to install one. I like to avoid porn and advert pop-ups but don't want to miss out on genuine site content pop-ups. I think I'll ponder it for a while. It's just the hassle of disabling/re-enabling the software that puts me off.

[Pseudopath]

Does the thing tell you if a site has a pop-up while you surf the pop-up ridden site?

Yeah, makes a little "tchok!" sort of noise when it stops one.

It's just the hassle of disabling/re-enabling the software that puts me off.

Well, you also (usually) get a message appear at the top of your browser notifying you if a pop-up has been blocked and you can click on this message to temporarily allow pop-ups or to always allow pop-ups from that site. That's the way it works in Firefox and the latest Internet Explorer anyhoo.

[Chers penis]

Is it true if certain bones on your body always click when moved that you are going to develop arthritis? my ankles sound like a pair of maracas when i walk.

[Peking O]

You're like clockwork Chers, I could set my watch by you. Always on here at the same time each day, bilge spewing back and forth about ankle maracas and so on.

[Chers penis]

You're like clockwork Chers, I could set my watch by you. Always on here at the same time each day, bilge spewing back and forth about ankle maracas and so on.

glad to see you pay such accute attention to me, and i'm pleased i inspire you so (and admit it i do). but it is a genuine question and if you could please answer it that would be wonderful.

[Deadman97]

For how long does consciousness exist in humans after decapitation?

[gazzyk1ns]

That's a goodun, I've often wondered that. Surely for some period of time (even if it's only literally only half a second), if you're decapitated cleanly and virtually instantly (i.e. by guillotine, or a similar contraption), you will see yourself plummet groundwards, and you will be only a head.

[Deadman97]

Surely for some period of time (even if it's only literally only half a second), if you're decapitated cleanly and virtually instantly (i.e. by guillotine, or a similar contraption), you will see yourself plummet groundwards, and you will be only a head.

See, I reckon it's longer. You're cutting off blood and air to the brain, so isn't it a case of oxygen death? There's no way of telling, of course, but I can't shake the feeling that (given a clean chop, as you say gaz) you're a head, conscious but immobile and in shock, for a tangible amount of time.

[petula dusty]

I think CP should do it and then report the experience on here.

[gazzyk1ns]

Surely for some period of time (even if it's only literally only half a second), if you're decapitated cleanly and virtually instantly (i.e. by guillotine, or a similar contraption), you will see yourself plummet groundwards, and you will be only a head.

See, I reckon it's longer. You're cutting off blood and air to the brain, so isn't it a case of oxygen death? There's no way of telling, of course, but I can't shake the feeling that (given a clean chop, as you say gaz) you're a head, conscious but immobile and in shock, for a tangible amount of time.

Yeah I've always assumed it's something like a few seconds too, for the same reasons, but I suppose that shock (in the true medical sense) might cause your brain to "shut down" - people pass out completely if they're in a lot of pain, I think people often/usually pass out and vomit/shit themselves if they suddenly have an accidental amputation, or are in a bad car accident (which might involve that massive pain and/or amputation). I keep going to say "Hopefully if I'm ever decapitated then I won't know anything about it!" but it must be serene, in a weird way, if we're right; just resting there on the floor, only a head. I can't think that you can be properly conscious if that happens, otherwise there would be records of people screaming/saying stuff post-decapitation.

[Ambient Sheep]

About 30 seconds.  We've done this before, New Scientist once answered it at great length in their Notes&Queries-style column, "The Last Word".  Sadly you can't get to their archives any more without paying.

The "official" medical line is that the trauma to the brain-stem renders consciousness lost immediately, but some French doctor actually carried out experiments by the guillotine and said otherwise .  He managed to get one head in particular (that of a convicted murderer) to open its eyes and focus on his face when its name was called, then it shut them again, he called the name again, adding "Listen to me!" and it opened and focused them again and so forth.  This went on for about 30 seconds, increasingly blearily, before it finally responded no more, presumably due to lack of oxygen.

Funny how I felt compelled to say "it" instead of "his" in that sentence.

Other answers on the same topic basically said the same thing - one in particular concluding "The awful truth is that, from all the evidence we have, the answer is 'Yes'."

Maybe it depends where the blade actually strikes; if a bit lower (i.e. just the cord is cut), then consciousness isn't lost.

I also once read that apparently when suicide bombers blow themselves up their head flies upwards at great speed, the last view they might then see (assuming they weren't concussed by the blast) is that of themselves rushing towards the sky...to which I add "hopefully followed by then falling with a great big painful THUD onto the ground and kicked around like a football for a bit by some passing kids".

[Ambient Sheep]

I can't think that you can be properly conscious if that happens, otherwise there would be records of people screaming/saying stuff post-decapitation.

Well they couldn't scream because they have no way of passing air through their vocal cords, but allegedly - again from the same gory article - Marie Antoinette's lips moved for several seconds after her beheading.  Boring doctors say that this was just a reflex, like a headless chicken running around, but the way that this guy got heads to react to their name being called suggests otherwise.

It's horrible, isn't it?

[Ambient Sheep]

A very quick-while-waiting-for-iSketch Google found this:

Many scholars of medicine and surgery brought up different views on how the body is effected by decapitation. The most prominent activists on the subject were Dr. Jean-Joseph Sue, German anatomist Samuel-Thomas Sommering, French anatomy professor Dr. Séguret, Dr. Dassy de Ligniéres, and Dr. Beaurieux.[17] Sommering and Sue were very vocal in their anti-decapitating opinions. They both were conclusive in their beliefs that the decapitation would be a horrible way to die but "of all forms of capital punishment the guillotine was the most merciful and painless."[18] Dr. Séguret conducted experiments during the Revolution on the effects of the guillotine. Some of his experiments included: exposing the eyes of two heads to sunlight in which the eyes promptly shut, pricking the exposed tongue of a victim and seeing it withdraw into the mouth, and witnessing the eyes of one victim follow the voice of whomever was talking for more than fifteen minutes.[19] Whether or not these were acts of real mental activity or contractions and spasms of muscle tissue is unclear. Dr. Ligniéres, in 1880, pumped blood from a living dog into a decapitated head and found that for a few moments the lips quivered and the eyes twitched.[20] After the experiment, the doctor asked the executions to shake the head immediately after decapitation to rid the blood from the head to reduce any possible suffering. Lastly, Dr. Beaurieux, in 1905, experimented with the head of a recently executed prisoner. In calling the deceased's name, the head slowly opened its eyes and the pupils focused. The eyes closed and again his name was called, "Languille!" Once again the motions were repeated and the eyes fixed themselves on the doctor. A third attempt was made with no more movement. The whole thing is said to have lasted twenty-five to thirty seconds.[21] Many other doctors have tried experiments on "patients" finding no response to pain, sound, or smell; but there was no doubt by the early 20th century, that life could still hold on for an unknown amount of time.

A prisoner essentially died from lack of oxygen to the brain, due to hemorrhage and loss of blood pressure. The brain would be able use up the remaining oxygen in the head to retain awareness for at least a few seconds. If prisoners were lucky, they would die from shock and spare themselves the agony of knowing, even for the briefest of seconds, that they were still alive. The combination of medicine and machine created a humanitarian death, but also a philosophical nightmare. Throughout the experiments and the debates on humanity, there was one constant, the Reign of Terror.[22]

(emphasis mine)

[gazzyk1ns]

EDIT: I was posting while you were, Sheep.

Ah, I didn't think about the vocal chords thing. Surely, though, if even semi-consciousness was ever retained post-decapitation, there would be records of numerous (if not most) heads really reacting... as you'd expect? i.e. wild silent gestures/facial contortions. I mean, it's OK for me to sit here and type that being decapitated might be serene, but if someone actually chopped my head off and I found myself rolling about on the floor for half a minute then I think I might make a face or two. "Moving lips" only? Surely you've got to assume it was a reflex. The opening of eyes upon shouting? Maybe it was some kind of an unconscious response from the significant aural stimulation? heh, I'm aware that I'm no scientist and I wish there was a link to the article you mention too, it's just that surely if people remained even relatively conscious after a beheading then there would be some really substantial evidence by now?

I watched a genuine video of a beheading in Iraq a while ago (I'll not post anything more specific for obvious reasons - not the Daniel Perl one though.) and it sounded like the bloke's body was still breathing (i.e. sucking air in) after the head was off. Certainly a long time after his throat was cut.

[dot]

clockwork Chers

Band name! Someone the other day said they just realised it meant Chers penis. I always thought it was a pun on, french, dear penis, and shares penis. Cher never crossed my mind, I don't think he ever said, which is it?

[Deadman97]

Cheers gaz and AS, that piece you posted Sheepy certainly goes along with what I'd been feeling. I'm finding that the idea of expiring consciousness is fascinating me- it really is a philosophical nightmare like none other I can think of. Gaz, your mention of the body that continued to breathe certainly sounds like nervous reflex but I've been shown a similar video (sorry for those who've come in after watching cartoons) where the head clearly opens its mouth and the tounge lolls out- muscle spasm, or attempt at communcation? It's a fucking dark topic to be sure, and the only one who'll ever really know are those who... well, you get what I'm saying.

[Gazeuse]

I have a question about yoof culture...

I just passed a crowd of teenage girls in the street and many of them had a little mark on their cheek (Looked like eye shadow or sommat).  Rather than ask them what it meant and risking a) having the piss ripped out of me and/or, b) being had up as a dirty old man, I thought I'd ask you streetwise lot if it had any other significance than a bunch of kids having a laugh with their makeup.

I wondered if it had anything to do with those Japanese cartoon thingies. It looked rather sweet .