Tuesday links

Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, was born on May 22, 1859

Exercise for Women in the early 19th Century

What to do if you find yourself choking -- and no one's around.

1927 documentary on how to dial a telephone.

Gallery of photos from the Halifax explosion - the naval accident that erased an entire city in Canada.

Remembering the ‘Knocker-Ups’ Hired to Wake Workers With Pea Shooters.

ICYMI, Monday's links are here, and include the invention of the baby carrot, phrases commonly used today that come from obsolete technologies, a device used to resuscitate canaries in coal mines, Ziploc bag engineering, and the guy who makes the world’s best paper airplanes.

Friday links

The Great Sperm Race: The Most Extreme Race on Earth, Scaled To Human Size (plus bonus Monty Python). 

"Meet Glenn. Like most average men Glenn has no idea about the miracle of engineering tucked away in his pants." 

Medieval fitness programs.

A bank glitch gave a 24-year old, down-on-his-luck Australian man access to unlimited funds. Then he did exactly what you think he did with it.

An Interactive Map Shows Just How Many Roads Actually Lead to Rome.

25 Lost Survival Tips from 100 Years Ago – with Illustrations.

The Man Who Continuously Hiccuped for 68 Years.

ICYMI, Monday's links are here, and include the practice of execution by cannon, ancient Rome's urine tax, more human feet washing up in British Columbia, and pigeons with cameras.

Now there's a video game controller you can control with your vaginal muscles (if you have them)

You should definitely watch the brief video below - it's OK for work.

Tom Chen, a physicist and game designer out of Beijing, China, has created a new device intended to strengthen vaginal muscles via video game play. So it’s essentially like Wii Fit… but for your lady parts.

The SKEA, or “Smart Kegel Exercise Aid,” fits into a woman’s vagina and by tightening her kegel muscles, or the muscles that control the uterus, bladder, rectum, and small intestines, she will be able to play video games without lifting a finger. 

The prototype game for the SKEA, called “Alice In Continent,” allows players to help Alice avoid obstacles in the game by contracting their kegel muscles around the device, which sends signals to the game and controls Alice’s actions.

The product came out of a Kickstarter campaign that raised $52,021. It was inspired by Chen’s wife’s urinary problems–or incontinence (hence the above game title).

More at  RedOrbit and Alternet, H/T Dave Barry.