Monday, December 31, 2007

Song from Allstate commercial made it to No. 40 on the Billboard charts

It would be unremarkable that the song “From Where You Are” by Jason Wade, a singer in the band Lifehouse, had cracked the Billboard top 100 list — except that it was written for an Allstate commercial.
Unavailable on any album, the song has received little airplay on the radio but it had wide exposure in a 60-second Allstate spot promoting the insurance company’s safe driving program for teenagers. The commercial first ran after an episode of “Friday Night Lights” on NBC in late October that had a teenage driving theme.
On Nov. 6, “From Where You Are” was made available on iTunes, where it sold briskly enough to hit No. 40 on the Billboard charts for the week ended Nov. 24.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Friday, December 28, 2007

$159,000 C-3PO leggings

By Nicolas Ghesquière for the Balenciaga collection. More information here.

Monday, December 24, 2007

Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, in Gingerbread

Photos here. Via.

Turn a regular diecast car into a "Cars" car

Julius Marx explains how he transformed a regular old Scion into a Pixar Cars version of his own Scion.  Link.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

USC football coach Pete Carroll has given up fear

LAMag:
Carroll gave up fear long ago. He gave it up the way people give up carbs. Fear now has no part in his daily life. Fear is like an old, distant friend. They know each other well, talk once in a while, but they're not close like they used to be.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Blog dedicated to band logos



Link.

Spy plane to recharge itself by hanging on a power line

NS:
The next time you see something flapping in the breeze on an overhead power line, squint a little harder. It may not be a plastic bag or the remnants of a party balloon, but a tiny spy plane stealing power from the line to recharge its batteries.

The idea comes from the US Air Force Research Lab

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Amazon has posted a photo gallery and review of J.K. Rowling's new ultra-limited edition book

Amazon:
We're incredibly excited to announce that Amazon has purchased J.K. Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard at an auction held by Sotheby’s in London. The book of five wizarding fairy tales, referenced in the last book of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is one of only seven handmade copies in existence. The purchase price was £1,950,000, and Ms. Rowling is donating the proceeds to The Children's Voice campaign, a charity she co-founded to help improve the lives of institutionalized children across Europe.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Amazon customer reviews of the Bic ballpoint pen



Amazon:
But, when that quality carbide ball touched the surface of the paper, it was not ink that came out. From a distance I heard the screams of men and the cackling of innumerable ravens. I stopped, cold and sweating profusely. I looked down at the Bic Crystal black medium ballpoint pen which I held in my hand, only to see darkness. I dashed it against the wall, recoiling in horror. I saw in the corner of my eye my faithful notebook, which now lay on the ground. Once unmarred, I saw now the small mark which I had made with the devil's own pen. It spread across the page like a plague, and looking at it I gazed upon true horrors. For, what I thought had been ink was in fact a portal

Monday, December 10, 2007

Emoticon stamp




Scrunch it up for different expressions. Buy.

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Custom made doll house based on your own home

FAO Schwarz:
Make Your House a Doll House
Starting at $10,000

In an exclusive service only available to FAO Schwarz customers, you can now own an exquisitely detailed scale model of your own home, beach house, or ski chalet. Sounds amazing? It's all that and more. Here's how we do it: the design team makes an appointment to come to your home. Then it's back to the studio, where highly skilled artisans recreate every inch of your home in 1-inch-to-1-foot scale. This includes the wallpaper, paint color, lighting - even the actual fabric of your furniture through real swatches or recreated fabric! Truly an astonishing prize for any homeowner, these masterpieces are sure to be passed down from generation to generation, preserving your home as a valuable piece of history and nostalgia.

Monday, December 3, 2007

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Monday, November 19, 2007

China's Weather Modification Program

Every year, China launches thousands of rockets and artillery shells into the sky. They're not part of a set of war games or preparation for a battle with Taiwan, but rather a battle with the weather. Through its Weather Modification Program, the Chinese government hopes to control the fickle forces behind rain. Run by the Weather Modification Department, a division of the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Science, the program employs and trains 32,000 to 35,000 people across China, some of them farmers, who are paid $100 a month to handle anti-aircraft guns and rocket launchers.
More here.

Also:
Now Yu and the other rainmakers face their toughest challenge: making sure it stays dry for the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The idea is for the peasant gunners to work with meteorologists watching radar in the capital. Together, they will hunt pregnant rain clouds and pound them with rockets containing silver iodide. The hope is that any moisture will fall before the clouds can threaten the parade of athletes and lighting of the Olympic flame at the new National Stadium.
Read more.

American Society of Magazine Editors picks their magazine favorite covers of 2007



Many more here. Via.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Edvard Munch was known as the “handsomest man in Norway,”

Known as the “handsomest man in Norway,” and well-mannered to boot, he attracted women as catnip does cats, but preferred to keep them at arm’s length. A couple of early affairs had gone wrong, and the antics of his friends had given him a warped sense of women. And he never wanted children, as he feared they would become insane. The classic Madonna/whore view of women is apparent in his paintings of what he called “vampire women” with “nutcracker muscles in their thighs.”

In a quarrel with his Norwegian mistress, Tulla Larsen, who stalked him all over Europe, he ended up shooting himself in a finger, which for the rest of his life remained sheathed in black leather. This slight injury he blew up to mythical proportions, painting himself stark naked on an operating table lying in a huge pool of blood.
Read more.

Friday, November 16, 2007

A Star Wars comic book featuring killer rabbits

Russia gives top honor to spy who stole secret to the atom bomb

On Nov. 2, the Kremlin startled Western scholars by announcing that President Vladimir V. Putin had posthumously given the highest Russian award to a Soviet agent who penetrated the Manhattan Project to build the atom bomb.

The announcement hailed Dr. Koval as “the only Soviet intelligence officer” to infiltrate the project’s secret plants, saying his work “helped speed up considerably the time it took for the Soviet Union to develop an atomic bomb of its own.”
Link.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

LA Kings bond by competing in a scavenger hunt

The teams were sent out in vans to different locations and had to complete the first of five tasks. The first team to complete all five tasks won the competition. The tasks were:

A) To hit a fly ball beyond the infield grass at Dodger Stadium. Tommy Lasorda was there to provide assistance and, I'm told, a profane pep talk, as only Tommy can provide.

B) To have an artist in Venice Beach sketch a portrait of one of the players.

C) To teach a 10-minute lesson in a classroom at Torrance Elementary School.

D) To stand on a surfboard for at least five seconds in the Manhattan Beach water.

E) To find Jim Fox in Hollywood. A clue was posted near Bob Miller's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which the players also had to locate.

Link. Via.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Protesters march as zombies to protest Boston University's Level-4 Biosafety Laboratory

With Boston Police Department officers close behind, the horde of protesters began their menacing march at the corner of Albany and East Dedham Streets and snaked toward City Hall, moaning, "We have been infected by the BU biolab" and "The BU biolab has infected me with a terrible pathogen." During the march -- the newest form of protest in a seemingly futile battle to stop construction of the biolab -- the zombies stuffed anti-lab flyers under the doors of nearby businesses and into the palms of curious onlookers.
Link.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

German Christmas advent calendar includes image of local serial killer

Sales shot up after the word got out.

If Jerry Sloan had a computer, he'd only use it to look at tractors

Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan was asked about the Internet:
"I don't have (a computer), and I wouldn't know how to turn it on if I had one," said Sloan, who maintains a farm in his native Illinois. "The only thing I'd be interested in looking at is tractors anyway."

Link.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Want to see your turkey on a webcam before it's slaughtered?

Heritage turkeys typically cost at least $4 per pound--at 26 pounds, Heritage Foods' biggest bird sells for $209, shipping included; grocers can sell a factory-farm Butterball at a quarter of that price. So Martins and Wickstrom decided to target foodies.

...

He helped Frank Reese, one of his suppliers, install a Webcam on his Kansas farm so customers could see their birds pre-slaughter.
Here's Heritage Foods' website. This link appears to be the webcam, but it wasn't working when I checked.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

The 5 O'Clock Clock

Designed by Tibor and Maria Kalman, and supposedly occasionally available in the MOMA store. Via.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Monday, October 29, 2007

Shannen Rossmiller befriends and betrays online jihadists -- while she gets her kids ready for school

Shannen Rossmiller grew up on a Montana wheat farm. She is blond and slim: When she was a cheerleader in high school, she typically wound up at the top of the human pyramid. Her husband runs a wireless Internet company, and they have three children. After college, she was appointed a local judge in a small Montana town, where she and her family still live and which she'd rather not identify. "

...

Rossmiller developed her remarkable talent for chatting up terrorists after September 11, when she started going into online forums and cajoling valuable information from other visitors. She has passed along numerous case files to federal authorities. Her information has led US forces abroad to locate Taliban cells in Afghanistan, discover a renegade stinger-missile merchant in Pakistan, and help another foreign government identify a ring of potential suicide bombers. 
Read more.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Friday, October 12, 2007

Vatican to admit it wrongfully burned the Knights Templar at the stake 700 years ago

They're selling the very fancy apology as a limited edition. $8,333, apiece. Link.

Monday, October 8, 2007

Backup football player plants marijuana in starter's dorm room

His plan was to get the starter arrested, so he could become the starter. Link.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Sunday, September 30, 2007

The Google/Youtube merger was nearly interrupted by a police officer on patrol

David Drummond, Google's head of corporate development, and Gideon Yu, then YouTube's CFO, now Facebook's, spent the night hashing out the deal in the restaurant. They then began signing the term papers in Denny's parking lot around 3 a.m.

A local police officer was patrolling the area at that same moment. The cop saw the Asian-American Yu and African-American Drummond, dressed casually in jumpsuits and baseball hats -- standard uniforms for late and long negotiations -- huddled over the hood of a car signing the paperwork.
Read what happened next.

Natural Field Turf Soda

Jones Soda is at it again. The new NFL-themed flavors are Dirt, Sports Cream, Perspiration, Natural Field Turf, and Sweet Victory. Natural Field Turf Soda is described as "like playing tackle football, and you get tackled really hard, you're down on the ground and you get a little bit of the grass in your teeth."
 Follow the link for a description of the other flavors.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Scientists sent Salmonella into space, and it came back much deadlier

After the shuttle returned, mice were given varying oral doses of the salmonella and then were watched.

After 25 days, 40% of the mice given the Earth-bound salmonella were still alive, compared with just 10% of those dosed with the germs from space. And the researchers found it took about one-third as much of the space germs to kill half the mice, compared with the germs that had been on Earth.
Link.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Coming Very Soon: One Laptop Per Child


Our mission is to provide a means for learning, self-expression and exploration to the nearly two billion children of the developing world with little or no access to education. While children are by nature eager for knowledge, many countries have little resources to devote to education—sometimes less than $20 a year per child. Imagine the potential that could be unlocked by giving every child in the world the tools they need to learn, no matter who they are, no matter where they live, no matter how little they may have.

If you'd like to donate an XO laptop today, simply click the donation button on the right, above the photo. A donation of $200 will pay for and deliver one XO laptop to a child in a developing nation, $400 will pay for and deliver two XO laptops, and so on.

Starting November 12, One Laptop Per Child will be offering a Give 1 Get 1 Program for a brief window of time. For $399, you will be purchasing two XO laptops—one that will be sent to empower a child to learn in a developing nation, and one that will be sent to your child at home. If you're interested in Give 1 Get 1, we'll be happy to send you a reminder email. Just sign up in the box to the left and you'll receive your reminder prior to the November 12 launch date.
Link.

Bathroom scale tells you your weight in terms of celebrities

Available for purchase here.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Hyundai boss too important to be jailed

In South Korea, the rule of law was no match for the strength of Hyundai Motor Co.

Convicted of embezzling $110 million, Hyundai Chairman Chung Mong-koo was deemed too important to South Korea's economy to be sent to prison, an appeals court ruled late Thursday.
Link.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Greg Packer, the man that gets quoted by newspapers

From an AP memo:
The world is full of all kinds of interesting people. One of them is Greg Packer of Huntington, N.Y., who apparently lives to get his name on the AP wire and in other media. It works: A Nexis search turned up 100 mentions in various publications.

We ourselves have quoted Mr. Packer while he was:

– visiting the site of the former Studio 54 in New York City in 1996
– the first person in line for a White House tour on George Bush’s inauguration day in 2001
– attending an XFL football game in New Jersey in 2001 (and at many more East Coast sporting events)
– opining in Times Square on subjects ranging from the millennium to the war in Iraq
– sporting a bright green wig and a painted green mustache at New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day parade this year
– the first person in line to buy Hillary Clinton’s book at a New York City book signing earlier this week
Read more.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight cover

By Chip Kidd.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

Interview with The Price Is Right's Wardrobe Stylist


While the enduring formula of The Price Is Right still too easily equates the models – that is, women – with the shiny, or dully domestic, objects they present, there is another, more progressive constant: Barker is an animal-rights activist, which means no fur, leather, or feathers are allowed on the costumes, not even fakes. "He didn't even want us to put the suggestion out there," Gurney says, and describes making a cat costume out of (vegan) Polar Fleece. "You really have to stretch your imagination, especially when it applies to something like Eskimos [when] fur is really what they wore.

...

The Price is Right is known for having beautiful girls and sexy girls on the show, but it's on at 10 a.m. and it's very popular with families, all ages. The show is very popular in the Bible Belt, and grandmas watch with their granddaughters, so you have to find a way to convey sexiness without being too loud about it.
Read the whole thing.

Friday, September 7, 2007

Florida doctors wear "moon suits" to hide their identities during executions

At all Florida lethal injections, a man in a purple moon suit leans over the dying inmate to listen for a heartbeat and feel for a pulse

...

The man is a doctor and the gear shields his identity — not just from the prisoner's family and friends, but from the American Medical Association, whose code of ethics bars members from participating in executions.
Link.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

"I Want to Look Like a High School Cheerleader Again."

CMT enlists Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders trainer Jay Johnson to whip 10 women back into their high school cheerleading shape in the new series, I WANT TO LOOK LIKE A HIGH SCHOOL CHEERLEADER AGAIN, premiering in October on CMT. Production on the eight episode series is currently underway in Los Angeles. Over a ten week period, Johnson will work to restore the athletic physique of these former high school cheerleaders and transform their lives with the help of his wife Lin and his tough Army-style fitness regimen.
Link.

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Saturday, September 1, 2007

Stuart Little Ad

"To inform people that the Lowry Theatre was staging performances of the Stuart Little play, ambient Mouseholes were stuck on walls around the City of Manchester."

Friday, August 31, 2007

Thai government to issue list of approved nicknames

But now, to the consternation of some nickname purists, children are being given such offbeat English-language nicknames as Mafia or Seven — as in 7-Eleven, the convenience store.

...

With help from language experts at the Royal Institute, the official arbiter of the Thai language, Mr. Vira plans to produce by the end of the year a collection of thousands of old-fashioned nicknames, listed by such wholesome categories as colors, animals and fruit and including simple favorites like Yaay (big), Ouan (fat) and Dam (black).

Published in a small booklet, the names will be distributed to the news media and libraries, and posted on the Internet.
Read more.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

In a fight between Neal Stephenson and William Gibson, who would win?

From a Neal Stephenson interview on Slashdot. One question was:
In a fight between you and William Gibson, who would win?

Neal:

You don't have to settle for mere idle speculation. Let me tell you how it came out on the three occasions when we did fight.

The first time was a year or two after SNOW CRASH came out. I was doing a reading/signing at White Dwarf Books in Vancouver. Gibson stopped by to say hello and extended his hand as if to shake. But I remembered something Bruce Sterling had told me. For, at the time, Sterling and I had formed a pact to fight Gibson. Gibson had been regrown in a vat from scraps of DNA after Sterling had crashed an LNG tanker into Gibson's Stealth pleasure barge in the Straits of Juan de Fuca. During the regeneration process, telescoping Carbonite stilettos had been incorporated into Gibson's arms. Remembering this in the nick of time, I grabbed the signing table and flipped it up between us. Of course the Carbonite stilettos pierced it as if it were cork board, but this spoiled his aim long enough for me to whip my wakizashi out from between my shoulder blades and swing at his head. He deflected the blow with a force blast that sprained my wrist. The falling table knocked over a space heater and set fire to the store. Everyone else fled. Gibson and I dueled among blazing stacks of books for a while. Slowly I gained the upper hand, for, on defense, his Praying Mantis style was no match for my Flying Cloud technique. But I lost him behind a cloud of smoke. Then I had to get out of the place. The streets were crowded with his black-suited minions and I had to turn into a swarm of locusts and fly back to Seattle.

The second time was a few years later when Gibson came through Seattle on his IDORU tour. Between doing some drive-by signings at local bookstores, he came and devastated my quarter of the city. I had been in a trance for seven days and seven nights and was unaware of these goings-on, but he came to me in a vision and taunted me, and left a message on my cellphone. That evening he was doing a reading at Kane Hall on the University of Washington campus. Swathed in black, I climbed to the top of the hall, mesmerized his snipers, sliced a hole in the roof using a plasma cutter, let myself into the catwalks above the stage, and then leapt down upon him from forty feet above. But I had forgotten that he had once studied in the same monastery as I, and knew all of my techniques. He rolled away at the last moment. I struck only the lectern, smashing it to kindling. Snatching up one jagged shard of oak I adopted the Mountain Tiger position just as you would expect. He pulled off his wireless mike and began to whirl it around his head. From there, the fight proceeded along predictable lines. As a stalemate developed we began to resort more and more to the use of pure energy, modulated by Red Lotus incantations of the third Sung group, which eventually to the collapse of the building's roof and the loss of eight hundred lives. But as they were only peasants, we did not care.

Our third fight occurred at the Peace Arch on the U.S./Canadian border between Seattle and Vancouver. Gibson wished to retire from that sort of lifestyle that required ceaseless training in the martial arts and sleeping outdoors under the rain. He only wished to sit in his garden brushing out novels on rice paper. But honor dictated that he must fight me for a third time first. Of course the Peace Arch did not remain standing for long. Before long my sword arm hung useless at my side. One of my psi blasts kicked up a large divot of earth and rubble, uncovering a silver metallic object, hitherto buried, that seemed to have been crafted by an industrial designer. It was a nitro-veridian device that had been buried there by Sterling. We were able to fly clear before it detonated. The blast caused a seismic rupture that split off a sizable part of Canada and created what we now know as Vancouver Island. This was the last fight between me and Gibson. For both of us, by studying certain ancient prophecies, had independently arrived at the same conclusion, namely that Sterling's professed interest in industrial design was a mere cover for work in superweapons. Gibson and I formed a pact to fight Sterling. So far we have made little headway in seeking out his lair of brushed steel and white LEDs, because I had a dentist appointment and Gibson had to attend a writers' conference, but keep an eye on Slashdot for any further developments.
Read the rest of the interview here.

Monday, August 27, 2007

"Sony tethers PSP Slims to cute girls, awkwardness ensues"

"In a surprise move, Sony decided to display the new PSP Slim at the Penny Arcade Expo this weekend after all, letting excited fans get their grubby little hands on the new hardware right now. They were clearly extremely worried about the security issues though, because each PSP Slim was tethered to the pants of a Sony booth babe -- and the cables weren't very long."

Joystiq has photos.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Species designations for Wile E. Coyote

"Hardheadipus oedipus" is my favorite. See the whole list here.

"[I]f seeing just one hummingbird is a thrill, imagine watching a few hundred at one time"

For several weeks in September, as thousands upon thousands of ruby-throated hummingbirds pass through towns near the Gulf of Mexico in their fall migration, thousands of people gather to watch them.

...
Lamar Story, the chairman of the Rockport event, said that he went through 40 pounds of sugar last year during the two-month-long hummingbird migration
Read more.

Friday, August 24, 2007

The secret history of the Nazi mascot

Alex Kurzem came to Australia in 1949 carrying just a small brown briefcase, but weighed down by some harrowing psychological and emotional baggage.

...

In 1997, after raising a family in Melbourne with his Australian bride, he finally revealed himself. He told how, at the age of five, he had been adopted by the SS and became a Nazi mascot.

...

But his SS masters never discovered the most essential detail about his life: their little Nazi mascot was Jewish.
Read on.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

"China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission"

In one of history's more absurd acts of totalitarianism, China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission. According to a statement issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the law, which goes into effect next month and strictly stipulates the procedures by which one is to reincarnate, is "an important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation."
Newsweek.

"Gilligan’s Island" reimagined as "Lost On Gilligan’s Island"

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Dr. Fate custom action figure

Lots of figures in this gallery.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Scans from "The Mighty Marvel Strength and Fitness Book"

Scans here.

"under the right conditions, particles of inorganic dust can become organized into helical structures"

These structures can interact with one another in ways that are usually associated with organic compounds and with life. Not only do these helical strands interact in a counterintuitive way in which like can attract like, but they also undergo changes that are normally associated with biological molecules, such as DNA and proteins, say the researchers. For example, they can divide to form two copies of the original structure. These new structures can also interact to induce changes in their neighbors. And they can even evolve into yet more structures as less stable ones break down, leaving behind only the fittest structures in the plasma. 'These complex, self-organized plasma structures exhibit all the necessary properties to qualify them as candidates for inorganic living matter,' said the lead researcher. 'They are autonomous, they reproduce and they evolve.'
Link.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Blood Under The Door Advertising Campaign

The fake blood was slid under doors to promote a horror film festival.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Nesting doll of measurements

Buy.

Southwestern Baptist offers a degree in homemaking

Southwestern Baptist, one of the nation's largest Southern Baptist seminaries, is introducing a new academic program in homemaking as part of an effort to establish what its president calls biblical family and gender roles.

It will offer a bachelor of arts in humanities degree with a 23-hour concentration in homemaking. The program is only open to women.
Read about the coursework here.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Vrindavan: Where widows in India go to die

Ms. Devi did what poor Indian widows have been doing for centuries: She packed a bag and made her way to Vrindavan, a holy town in northern India that is also known as the City of Widows. After a night sleeping on the pavement, she found a bed in an crowded ashram – a house of prayer – for widows, where she says she will spend the rest of her life.
Read more.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

The woman that inspired Clapton's "Layla" has written a tell-all

George Harrison wrote the love song Something for his wife Pattie Boyd. Eric Clapton wrote Layla for her. Theirs was the most extraordinary love triangle in rock history.

...

He played it to me two or three times, all the while watching my face intently for my reaction. My first thought was: 'Oh God, everyone's going to know this is about me.'

...


And there were other women, which really hurt me. George was fascinated by the god Krishna who was always surrounded by young maidens. He came back from India wanting to be some kind of Krishna figure, a spiritual being with lots of concubines. He actually said so.
Read more.

You can major in fermentation science at Oregon State University

You major in brewing beer.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Google News Pillow

Listing the top 10 google searches of 2006. Buy.

Monday, August 6, 2007

3D Doodle Kit helps you draw instant 3D images

"The 10.5cm compass style instrument allows images to be drawn in duplicate red and blue lines which must be a small but constant distance apart." Buy here.

Sunday, August 5, 2007

How would you transport a $1.9 million rare coin?

SOS:
Feigenbaum had purchased a coach ticket, to avoid suspicion, but found himself upgraded to first class. That was a worry, because people in flip-flops, T-shirts and grubby jeans do not regularly ride in first class. But it would have been more suspicious to decline a free upgrade

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Airplane vs. Zero Hour

"The rights to the movie Zero Hour were purchased by the makers of Airplane!, and they were able to use the screenplay almost verbatim."

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

"he really was an artist, and his medium was the actual flesh of real animals"

A comment about Robert Bakewell, "the first to implement systematic selective breeding of livestock."

"Robert Bakewell followed on the work of arable pioneers Jethro Tull and Lord "Turnip" Townshend but it is in the field of livestock and especially sheep that Bakewell particularly excelled. "

Sunday, July 29, 2007

"The Items We Carry"

A gallery of stuff people carry around in their pockets.

Friday, July 27, 2007

What does the phrase "Public Water Source" mean?

That's what Pepsi's going to put on Aquafina labels for now to indicate it's tap water. Link.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Quiltsryche: Evil Rock Quilts

"Quiltsrÿche turns traditional quilting on its ear with modern heirloom quilts that look like they were made by your metal-loving, half-blind Grandma. Bold designs, eye-popping color combinations and a touch of evil are the hallmarks of Quiltsrÿche quilts. A one-of-a-kind rock quilt won't match your curtains, but it will have enough character and craftsmanship to captivate you year after headbanging year."


Link.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Dr. Wright of Sim City to be in Smash Bros. Brawl

"Deep in the Congolese jungle is a band of apes that, according to local legend, kill lions, catch fish and even howl at the moon"

Guardian:
Their location at the centre of one of the bloodiest conflicts on the planet, the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has meant that the mystery apes have been little studied by western scientists. Reaching the region means negotiating the shifting fortunes of warring rebel factions, and the heart of the animals' range is deep in impenetrable forest.

...

"What we have found is this completely new chimpanzee culture,"

Friday, July 13, 2007

Shop at Ikea, and then sleep over?

From July 23 to July 27, the public will be able to spend the night in special rooms set up in the store, with a choice of bridal suite, complete with hanging chandelier and a round bed, or a luxury suite that includes breakfast in bed.

Others can share a bunk in the dormitory, while parents and children can join in the fun in one of Ikea's family rooms.
Link.

The Christian message in the Harry Potter books

Dave Kopel:
J. K. Rowling is an Inkling. That's the well-argued thesis of John Granger's fine book The Hidden Key to Harry Potter: Understanding the Meaning, Genius, and Popularity of Joanne Rowling's Harry Potter Novels. Granger demonstrates the absurdity of the claim that Harry Potter is anti-Christian. And even if you've never worried about charges brought by misguided fundamentalists, The Hidden Key will substantially augment your understanding of what's really at stake in Harry's adventures.

The Inklings were originally a group of Oxford dons who wrote Christian fiction. The most famous of them are J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Lord of the Rings and the Narnia series never mention Christianity overtly, and in Tolkien's books, religion itself is absent from the plot. Yet these mythopoeic books aim to "baptize the imagination" of the reader — to teach her the importance of fighting for the right, no matter how powerful the forces of evil may appear.
Read on.

It was nicknamed "Traction Park," "Accident Park," "Danger Park," and "Death Park" by doctors at nearby hospitals

Action Park theme park.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Choose-your-own-adventure stencil art

"The mission stencil story is an interactive, choose-your-own-adventure story that takes place on the sidewalks of the Mission district in San Francisco. It is told in a new medium of storytelling that uses spraypainted stencils connected to each other by arrows. The streetscape is used as sort of an illustration to accompany each piece of text."


Link.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Until the 1950s (or so), pink was for boys, and blue was for girls

Pink was a stronger color and thus best suited for boys; blue was more delicate and dainty and thus best for girls. Link. There's a variety of theories as to the change, including that it was the Nazi's fault.

Sunday, July 8, 2007

China censors undead skeletons from World of Warcraft

Hu Jintao, Chinese president, has called for action to 'purify' the internet of anything that might affect 'national cultural information security' or undermine his attempt to promote a 'harmonious society'.

...

As well as changing undead skeletons into fully fleshed zombies, the upgrade has replaced the bare-boned corpses of dead characters with neat graves.
Read more.

Saturday, July 7, 2007

Big Wendy the muscular whippet

Wendy was recently part of a genetics study done in the U.S. on mutation in the myostatin gene in whippets, which resemble greyhounds in appearance. The National Institute of Health study reported that whippets with one single defective copy of the gene have increased muscle mass that can enhance racing performance in the breed, known for speeds up to 60 kilometres an hour.

But whippets with two mutated copies of the gene become "double-muscled," like Wendy. It has been seen before in one human
Read more.

Friday, July 6, 2007

"Chinese villagers eat dinosaur bones"

"Villagers in central China dug up a ton of dinosaur bones and boiled them in soup or ground them into powder for traditional medicine, believing they were from flying dragons and had healing powers."  Link.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Mike Rowe worked as a late-night QVC presenter in the early nineties.

Video of him in action.

Lemony Snicket explains how his parents interested him in reading

One way my parents continued to get me really excited was reading aloud to me. A lot of books are just inherently fascinating on the printed page, but if you start to read them out loud, they became even more interesting. So, for many years when I was a child, at night my parents would read books to me. But then -- and here's the twist -- they'd stop at a really suspenseful part and say, "Well, now it's time for bed." I'd whine, I'd plead, but they wouldn't give in. They would put the book on the nightstand, place a flashlight on top of it, and say, "Remember, there is no reading after the lights go out."

What could I do? They would close the door and go downstairs, and I would click on the light and keep on reading. The next day, the bookmark would be in an entirely different place, and my parents would pick up from there as if nothing had happened, and stop at the next suspenseful moment.
Read more.

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Pepsi Optimus Prime

Link

Using mirrors to promote The Fantastic Four

"Four mirrors were placed in the main movie theaters [in Brazil]. Each mirror reflected the 'super power' of the movie’s characters."

Friday, June 29, 2007

Memory test

TL:
Consider an experiment that was done by Daniel Simons, a psychologist at the University of Illinois. He or a member of his lab would walk up to a pedestrian on the street and ask him or her for directions. While the pedestrian was responding, workmen carrying something large (like a doorframe) would walk between them. As the workmen passed, the experimenter switched places with someone else. Only half of the pedestrians noticed, even though the two people could be quite different.

"The 'listening' elephant catches the vibrations with its toes, behind which lie pads of acoustically sensitive fat."

Boston:
elephants actually have two distinct ways of communicating: by ordinary soundwaves rippling through the air, and by vibrations transmitted through the ground to exquisitely sensitive elephant toes.

The seismic waves are set in motion by the same "low-frequency vocalizations" that famously rumble across African savannas, said Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell. The ground sounds travel a greater distance than airborne calls, and may help keep herd members in touch with one another across a dozen or more miles.

...

"They are talking through the ground," O'Connell-Rodwell said. "It's not just elephant-to-elephant noise. It's a richer system of communication than we'd thought. They can discriminate very subtle vibrations through their feet."

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Froot Loops Cereal Straws

Reviewed:
The straws themselves are rather sturdy and hold up well to milk. They last a long time without getting soggy and do actually work as straws. They basically taste like Froot Loops

Matchstick Garden Set

MOMA:
These cute matchbooks hold a clever secret inside. On the tip of each match are seeds already mixed to grow. Choose an assortment of either wildflowers--which includes cornflower, Shasta daisy, corn marigold, and field poppy--or herbs--which includes basil, chives, parsley, and thyme. Simply tear out a matchstick and plant it tip first in the soil. Includes two matchbooks of 10 matchsticks each.

Ann Patchett writes about trying to join the Los Angeles Police Department

WP:
I was 30 years old, a semi-ancient age for pursuing police work. I had no idea if I could pass the long string of entrance exams.

"The wall is what keeps women out," my father told me. "The women protest; they say it's unfair, especially the short ones. The first thing you have to worry about is getting over the wall."

...

When it was my turn, the crowd went wild. I was the mascot now, the favorite girl. No sense in cheering for the two who'd never pass or the one who might beat your score. Cheer for the one who barely makes her time but somehow, miraculously, manages. I yanked the weight backward as the giant men began to chant my name, dragging one syllable into two until it became "Ay-un, Ay-un, Ay-un." It would never happen again; 26 broad-shouldered young men would never call my name at once

Face Your Pockets Project

Scan your face along with the contents of your pocket.

Friday, June 22, 2007

"The Cloud is a dream, suspended between artificiality and reality."

"The Cloud is a speculative design for a resort city elevated 300 metres in the air above Dubai and supported on slanting legs resembling rain."

Monday, June 18, 2007

Samsonite Black Label Alexander McQueen Hero

"The human form is treated just like an animal skin, with the ribcage and sternum at the front of the case, and backbone at the back. The inside is formed by the negative of the outside shape in a soft molded form providing contrast with the outer protective hard shell."

Link

Saturday, June 16, 2007

A Father's Day Thought by Tom Wolfe

And in that moment Sherman made the terrible discovery that men make about their fathers sooner or later. For the first time he realized that the man before him was not an aging father, but a boy, a boy much like himself, a boy who grew up and had a child of his own and, as best he could, out of a sense of duty and, perhaps, love, adopted a role called Being a Father so that his child would have something mythical and infinitely important: a Protector, who would keep a lid on all the chaotic and catastrophic possibilities of life.

Nike Maxsight contact lenses

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Baby monitor picks up video from space shuttle

PALATINE, Ill. - An elementary school science teacher in this Chicago suburb doesn't have to turn on the news for an update on NASA's space mission. She just turns on her video baby monitor.

Since Sunday, one of the two channels on Natalie Meilinger's baby monitor has been picking up black-and-white video from inside the space shuttle Atlantis. The other still lets her keep an eye on her baby.
Link

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

At least 100,000 people in China share the name "Wang Tao,"

"Police in China, where most of the 1.3 billion people share just 100 surnames, are considering rules which would combine both parents' family names to prevent so much duplication, state media said on Tuesday."

Link.

Saturday, June 9, 2007

The One Sentence Blog

Stories told in one sentence, such as:
Five minutes later, she realized that she hadn't thought about him for five minutes.

Monday, May 28, 2007

Portable labyrinth

"Portable labyrinths are designed for occasional or temporary use and easy storage. Our full design range is available on sturdy poly canvas or vinyl washable materials for all of your events."

Friday, May 25, 2007

"The German authorities are compiling a database of human scents to track down possible violent protesters at the G8 summit in June"

"The method, once used by East Germany's secret police, the Stasi, involves collecting scent samples in advance from selected targets."

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Philippines professional basketball league allows one foreigner on each team, but no taller than 6'6''

Slate:
Dunks are so rare in the PBA that the league has toyed with the idea of making slams worth three points. The league adds a dash of high-wire athleticism by allowing each team to hire one foreign-born star. But permitting American 7-footers to play would wreak havoc among the Lilliputian locals.

Monday, May 21, 2007

His Dark Materials Stage Production

"In December 2003, The National Theatre in London presented a stage version of the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman in two, three hour long parts"

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

"Anatoli Petrovich Bugorski . . . is a Russian scientist who was struck by a particle accelerator beam in 1978"

"Bugorski was checking a malfunctioning piece of equipment when the safety mechanisms failed. Bugorski was leaning over the equipment when he stuck his head in the path of the 76 GeV proton beam"

Monday, April 30, 2007

Ri-Man the Adorable Medical Robot

The designer's site promises "RI-MAN will become an invaluable partner robot."

Sumo wrestlers compete at making babies cry

It's an annual tradition. More here, here, and here

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Wired's Gallery of the Lamest Tech Mascots

Inlcuding the Creative Suite Jester, used to demonstrate the illustration capabilities of Adobe's Creative Suite 3. See the characters here.

The A-Team To Reunite on TV To Contact Hannibal's Ghost

"The former stars of 1980s action series THE A-TEAM will reunite for a reality TV programme, in which they will attempt to contact their deceased co-star GEORGE PEPPARD. Actors Dirk Benedict, Mr T and Dwight Schultz will appear on a special edition of British paranormal show MOST HAUNTED later this year"

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Friday, April 6, 2007

Workers have dug up 411 sets of Native American remains while working on the 1,087-acre Playa Vista development

"The remains have been, as Dorame has testified, 'ripped from the earth,' deposited in numbered boxes, and stored in a trailer on the development site. Some of them have been there for three or four years."

Sunday, April 1, 2007

Life-Size Whale On Your Computer


The clever interface allows you to scroll across a life-size whale.

Lung-Shaped Ashtray

Wired April Fool's Pranks

Take a screenshot of your friend's desktop and make it their desktop wallpaper. Minimize any open applications and hide all of the desktop icons or ferret them away in a folder -- don't delete anything. Then, set the Windows taskbar to auto-hide. Hang out somewhere close by so you can hear the frustrated clicking grow louder and more urgent.
Click here for more.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Why Is There A Hexagon Above Saturn's North Pole?

No one knows. But come up with the best theory and it could be named after you.

Friday, March 23, 2007

Like Getting Hit By A Meteorite Made Entirely Of Winning Lottery Tickets

That's how screenwriter Jonah Nolan describes working with Steven Spielberg on a potential science fiction epic titled "Interstellar" for Paramount Pictures.