August 2007
New Algorithm Rates Trustworthiness of Wikipedia... →
Researchers developed a tool that measures the trustworthiness of each Wikipedia page. Roughly speaking, the algorithm analyzes the entire 7-year user-editing-history and uses longevity of the content to learn which contributors are most reliable: If your contribution lasts, you gain ‘reputation,’ whereas if it’s edited out, your reputation falls.
MrBabyMan: The Star Wars “Princess Leia”-style Holograph is here today. http://tinyurl.com/2cmkca (via Twitter / MrBabyMan)
Photos: Cracking open the 1974 Altair 8800 →
If not the first home computer, the Altair was definitely the first successful one. Go inside the 8800 as Erik Klein, vintage computer collector, restores one of these classic machines.
Keyboard & Mouse Art →
What’s the best thing to do with old keyboards & mice? Throw them out? Why not make art with them?
New image of the "bottomless pit" on Mars shows a... →
An extremely dark feature on Mars is probably just a pit – not the entrance to a deep cavern that future astronauts could call home, a new image reveals.
NBC wants more DRM, higher prices from iTunes →
NBC has warned Apple that, if the network does not get more flexibility and control over its own content, it will not renew its contract with iTunes when it expires later this year. Apple hasn’t budged in the past, but the trend is just alarming enough that it could spur the company to come up with new terms before NBC’s jig is up.
Who gets the most public holidays? →
Pity the Brits. As well as putting up with notoriously bad weather, its workers get a raw deal on public holidays. Other big countries such as America, Japan and Germany are more generous. Spain gives people most time off, with an annual 16 days of fiesta.
Science Fiction Writers abuse the DMCA, Remove... →
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America has used the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to fraudulently remove numerous non-infringing works from Scribd, a site that allows the general public to share text files with one another in much the same way that Flickr allows its users to share pictures.
7 Great Men in History (And Why You Should Hate... →
Some historical claims are irrefutable: Hitler was a dick; Einstein was a brilliant sex maniac. A few other claims, however, are not quite as black and white. In honor of Labor Day, we’ve uncovered some 100-percent true reasons you should probably hate some of history’s greatest heroes.
Make Rheopectic slime in less than 15 minutes! (It... →
It’s a Non Newtonian fluid and is rheopectic which means it shows an increase on its apparent viscosity with time under a constantly applied stress. The more you play with it, it will become more viscous (even you can make a ball with it and it bounces) and when you stop (the shearing force is gone) it starts flowing.
Why We Can Count on Geeks to Rescue the Earth →
What we need are more Bill Gateses — people with Aspergian focus, with a direct sensual ability to understand what a million means. They’ve got to be able to envision every angel on the head of a pin. Because when it comes to stopping the mass tragedies of today’s world, we’re going to need every one of them.
RIAA denies copyright misuse in the wake of... →
The RIAA is fighting allegations that its identical tactics in over 25,000 file-sharing lawsuits demonstrate that it is an anticompetitive cartel, and therefore guilty of copyright misuse.
New Trailer for Stephen King's The Mist →
Frank Darabont, director of “The Shawshank Redemption” and “The Green Mile” knocks another one out of the park with this adaptation of one of Stephen King’s creepiest short stories.
Exclusive: Interview with the accused Burning Man... →
In an exclusive interview, Addis, who’s been charged with the felony of arson, spoke to Valleywag as a friend drove him from Fernley, Nevada, back to his home in San Francisco. The full interview follows.
Exclusive: Wii-mote Prototype Designer Speaks Out,... →
Yesterday you saw the first prototype pre-Wii motion-sensitive controller that Gyration pitched to Nintendo in 2001. Today, we received a note from Matt Presta at Bridge Design, who drafted the original concept. Here he explains his mission, shares a peek at the actual drawing board, and gives a shoutout to left-handed people everywhere.
Colors of Religion: Hinduism →
Meditation and tranquility are prevailing themes, and aligning the chakras, of which each is represented by a colour.
Pastor had sex with daughters to teach them to be... →
A fundamentalist church pastor had sex with two of his teenage daughters to educate them on how to be good wives, a South Australian court has heard. The man told the court the sex was not about fulfilling his desires but about teaching his daughters how to behave for their husbands when they eventually married, as dictated in scripture.
Struggling Musicians' Tool Kit →
Despite grumbling from big-name artists and record labels around rampant P2P ‘piracy’, there’s never been a better time to make money from creating music tracks of your own. There are dozens of useful websites - some completely free to use - that serve budding musicians and seasoned tourers alike.
4-dimension video manipulation →
A video time-warping machine with a tangible deformable screen. Very cool!
How to Win from a Loss →
What starts out as a loss can become an exciting win which helps me to power towards later successes. Let me explain how.
Bioshock's little sisters: rescue or harvest? We... →
One of our forum-goers, twinky, decided to find out. He graphed the difference between killing and saving the sisters in terms of the ADAM you receive, and he found that while at the beginning the bonus for killing is great, towards the middle and end of the game the bonus packages you receive for saving the little girls levels out…
World's Wackiest Holidays →
Here’s a fantastic photoessay from Time Magazine, titled The World’s Wackiest Holiday, featuring such gems as Scotland’s Up Helly-Aa Viking festival, Summer Redneck Games, Spain’s Tomatina tomato fight, Japan’s Naked Festival, Thailand’s Monkey Buffet, and many more!
Cracked Spoofs ESPN: The World's Leading Leader in... →
All the ham-fisted hyperbole and patronizing articles about race that you expect from ESPN.com, but with dick jokes.
No Evidence of Drunken Astronauts, NASA Says →
An internal investigation has found no evidence of heavy drinking or drunkenness among astronauts before space missions, NASA officials said Wednesday. NASA’s safety chief, the former astronaut Bryan D. O’Connor, said that although stories had circulated about astronauts abusing alcohol before missions, nothing was found to support them.
MrBabyMan: The Infamous Milgram Experiment: Could you inflict pain on another person because you were told it was your duty? http://urltea.com/1csn (via Twitter / MrBabyMan)
Lifehacker's Show Us Your Go Bag, Part III →
This week we received our biggest batch of submissions yet, so hit the jump for a look at the bags—and more importantly, the contents therein—that our readers take along whenever they need to get things done on-the-go.
YouTube accused of spreading anti-Semitic... →
YouTube has been accused of spreading anti-Semitic propaganda by German advocacy groups, but YouTube says it has a tight rope to walk when it comes to balancing free speech with myriad “local laws” across the globe.
Tube Map for Miss South Carolina →
This handy guide to Miss South Carolina’s thought processes should help the confused to follow along with her speech.
Woman Celebrates100th birthday by smoking... →
Just think about it. If each cigarette takes 10 minutes off your lifespan, she could have lived to be 132.
If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join Digg →
Video sharing site MetaCafe launched a new area of their site today - it uses the Digg API to show the most popular MetaCafe videos.Viewers can sort by most dugg, highest rated, most discussed, most viewed, etc. Only Metacafe videos are shown.
Transformers: Darth Vader! →
Every Transformer should be ashamed right now. Darth Vader has rolled onto their turf and made them all look weak in comparison.
Google, Microsoft-backed group ready to Defend... →
The CCIA has already filed an FTC complaint alleging that sports leagues and publishers are misleading the public with their copyright notices. Now, the group launches a site called Defend Fair Use to, well, defend fair use.
Adobe Hires Co-Inventor of Image Resizer... →
The day before yesterday I showed the above video (it has now been viewed nearly 100,000 times), which shows some jaw dropping examples of next generation image manipulation, and said “I want this in PhotoShop immediately.” Well, that may be happening sooner rather than later. Co-inventor Shai Avidan has now joined Adobe…
Chewie Hands off Lightsaber to NASA →
Luke Skywalker’s original Jedi lightsaber makes its way into space (for real) with NASA astronauts on the space shuttle Discovery in October. Arriving by Escalade and Hummer stretch limos, Boba Fett, Jango Fett, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, X-Wing pilots, Jedi and stormtroopers accompanied Chewie for the fun-filled press event.
Mr. BabyMan: Now THAT’S how Tetris should be played!! http://tinyurl.com/23b5eb (via Twitter / Mr. BabyMan)
China to begin web monitoring with Clippy-style... →
It’s no secret that China heavily monitors the Internet traffic of its citizens, but a new plan by the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau will soon have the virtual police patrolling users’ displays.
One year of an Internet graffiti wall, at 40 hours... →
Hit Play.
Mr. BabyMan: Digg to Combine News & Video on one page: http://tinyurl.com/ytdmh4 (via Twitter / Mr. BabyMan)