September 2008
Ordering from the 'secret' menu at fast food... →
Ever had a neopolitan milkshake from McDonald’s? How ‘bout a pizza sub at Subway’s? Ordering off the menu at fast food restaurants is a great deal. There are all these little surprises just waiting…
Anti-Kremlin website founder killed while in... →
A vocal critic of the Kremlin’s policies in the Caucasus died Sunday from a bullet wound to the head while in police custody. Prosecutors have opened a preliminary manslaughter investigation after…
APOD: CG4: A Ruptured Cometary Globule →
Can a gas cloud grab a galaxy? It’s not even close. The “claw” of this odd looking “creature” in the above photo is a gas cloud known as a cometary globule. This globule, however, has ruptured.
'Disaster Movie' Voted Worst Movie of All Time →
Well, at least it lived up to its name.
Lenovo won't refund the Windows tax without an NDA →
When a Linux user attempted to obtain a reimbursement for an unused Windows license, Lenovo agreed to refund him $130, but only if he would sign a nondisclosure agreement first.
Obama, Biden Talk Politics in First Interview... →
In their first interview together as running mates, Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Joseph Biden discuss their roles and strategies for the upcoming presidential election. Steve Kroft reports.
Effortless! →
Impressive ad that looks like it was shot in one unedited take. True or not, still quite a feat.
Relax, NOLA, Blackwater's Coming Back to the... →
Perhaps the most startling call for rescue forces comes from Blackwater, the controversial prviate security contractor. The firm — which famously patrolled New Orleans after Katrina — is “compiling…
Russia's Putin saves TV crew from Siberian tiger →
Just as Putin was arriving with a group of wildlife specialists to see a trapped Amur tiger, it escaped and ran towards a nearby camera crew, the country’s main television station said. Putin…
Mad Biology: Artificial Bone That Morphs Into... →
Professor Andrés García and his collaborators recently managed to create a synthetic bone substitute that mimics the strength and complexity of natural bone — and their material has already carried…
Doctors manage to halt 7ft 12-year-old from... →
Brenden’s runaway growth - caused by a unique genetic condition -has baffled doctors for years and they have frantically tried to find a way of slowing it down. For the last six months Brenden has…
The World’s First MP3 Player (c. 1998) →
Today we all take MP3 players for granted. iPods are ubiquitous, mobile phones can play the format, even most new car stereos support MP3 right off the showroom floor. But it wasn’t always like…
Rapid climate change needs a global solution, says... →
Global warming is happening faster than expected and planet-wide engineering projects may be needed to buy humans more time, a leading scientist has warned.
August 2008
Ten Toys That Made You Gay →
This proves that marketing people have been stupid for a long time.
How to Fund Your Travels Playing Online Poker →
Although illegal in the United States, it’s quite possible to earn an income playing poker online almost everywhere else in the world as long as you have an Internet connection, knowledge of the…
The best Olympic photographs of 2008 (PICS) →
Beijing featured the fastest man in history, the greatest Olympian of all time and the most thrilling British performance in living memory: London has a lot to live up to. Here is a snapshot of what…
6 More Hoaxes That Fooled the World →
The Five Hoaxes That Fooled the World post from a couple of weeks ago was pretty popular and lots of people had interesting suggestions for a follow up, so I thought I would do just that. Here are…
Upgrade (COMIC) →
It’s just that easy!
Absolutely the stupidest salvo in the war on... →
Do you drive, take pictures, travel, use a cellphone or use a computer? Guess what that makes you…
The Cosplay of PAX 2008 (PICS) →
The cosplayers of Penny Arcade Expo are a diverse group, some coming as Penny Arcade characters, others as game characters, but they all share a resolve to mug for anyone’s camera given the…
Diet Coke & Mentos in Zero G at 300 fps →
The infamous reaction, captured in high speed during a flight on G-Force One. Full blog post documenting the experiment here: http://rjwoodhead.blogspot.com/2008/08/menticulation-of-diet-coke-in.html
Papercraft Half Life D0g is Amazle (PICS) →
Reader Metal Dom found this on 4chan — a 12-inch high, incredibly detailed papercraft model of D0g, from Half Life. 4chan user chamoo232 assembled it, said it took him two weeks and nearly 50 hours…
Stellarium: Amazing, Full Featured, Open-source... →
Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for Windows, Mac and Linux. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope.It is being used in…
John Draper (aka Captain Crunch), the original... →
John Draper is the hacker’s hero for a reason. Not only did the electronics genius use a plastic toy from a cereal box to crack open the entire phone system, he also used his skills to befriend Steve…
A Beginner’s Guide To Building Your Own Wordpress... →
After using numerous items, I (and I’m sure that most people too) have reached the point where I wanted to make my own blog. While developing your own Wordpress plugins requires a certain level of…
Hurricane Evacuations: A Better Way →
Hurricane evacuations have long vexed emergency officials. Figuring out where a storm will hit is a sketchy bet 24 hours or more in advance, and many locations require at least that long to complete…
MySpace's Tom Anderson Was A Real Life “WarGames”... →
In 1985, when he was fourteen and in high school in Escondido, California, Anderson was subject to one of the largest FBI raids in California history after hacking into a Chase Manhattan Bank…
Proof that Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned... →
While Glenn Close’s woman scorned went somewhat overboard with the bunny boiling and homicidal rage, she never broke out into seething rage like these not-so-subtle messages.
' It's the Least Painful Way to Die' -- Reiser's... →
With his children asleep in bed, Hans Reiser stole away from his home two nights in a row to dig his wife’s grave, while her body sat in a duffel bag in his car.That’s one of the details to emerge in…
Live green and die broke →
Forget about carbon offsetting and slashing your food miles – the eco-friendly lifestyle is a luxury most of us can no longer afford.
Brit firm to demo serious flying robo-saucer in... →
The new Fenstar 50 is expected to manage up to an hour, carrying a payload of 5kg - a quarter of its all-up weight. It can fly about happily in between buildings, and perhaps in and out of doors and…
Insane Train Car Explosions! →
BLEVE, pronounced /ˈblɛvi/ (“blevvy”), is an acronym for “boiling liquid expanding vapour explosion”. This is a type of explosion that can occur when a vessel containing a pressurized liquid is…
Random Acts of Kindness: A Social Site I’d Love to... →
I don’t think anything like this exists yet, so if you’re looking for an idea for a website/service, I’ve got one for you:
The Final Days of the Presidency of George W. Bush →
While Bush publicly commits to “sprinting to the finish” and eschews talk of legacy, even friends say how he will be judged and remembered seems to be on his mind these days. Bush’s place in history…
How Students Created the FIRST Robot →
You don’t need an expensive lab to engineer a sophisticated robot—just the vision of a maverick inventor, the spur of competition and a bunch of high school students armed with power tools.
Q: How can you tell if your country's a banana... →
When the following are no longer shocking…
The origins of religion (COMIC) →
This is exactly how it happened.
How a Dog Drinks, in Super Slooow Motion →
A dog’s drink is recorded at thousands of frames per second. MUST WATCH IF YOU OWN A DOG.
Reminder to all: No Live The Drill Down tonight, perhaps tomorrow, if possible. Circumstances beyond my control… Stay tuned for updates.
Reminder to all: No Live The Drill Down tonight, perhaps tomorrow, if possible. Circumstances beyond my control… Stay tuned for updates.
10 Cool Ice Cubes →
Welcome to the world of next generation ice cubes! 10 of the best drink accompaniments that any Eskimo would be proud of.
Will Wright calls E3 a walking corpse →
We’ve had our own prognosticator proclaiming that the video game expo is past its prime, and now Will Wright is joining in by delivering a couple of swift kicks to the ribs. Then he backed over it a…
Exercise Products Guaranteed To Make You Fat →
If anything, at least these make great clothes racks!
Did Agatha Christie Set Up Her Own Murder? →
he biggest mystery by Agatha Christie may turn out to be her own unexplained disappearance. Here’s the story of how the best-selling “Queen of Crime” author may have set up her own murder to frame…
Extending the Human Life Span -What's Realistic? →
Many have wished they could take a pill or drink a potion that could “magically” keep them young and healthy. David Sinclair, an anti-aging researcher and Harvard University professor of pathology,…
The 6 Kinds of Protesters Foud at the DNC →
Protesters at the DNC come in all shapes and sizes, but there are a few types that can be seen at every DNC, as well as other protest demonstrations. Here is a handy list of 6 kinds of protesters you…
Behind the Dude: Steve Buscemi on The Big Lebowski →
Ethan probably called me and said, “We have a script and we’re sending it. Tell us what you think.” As simple as that. I do remember my impressions reading it, that it was funny and unpredictable. I…
In judicial service to my fellow citizen, aka jury duty.
FCC to see if porn-free network penetrates... →
T-Mobile has won its request for testing to see whether the FCC’s proposed smut-free broadband plan will mess with its nearby services.
Roll Your Own Custom YouTube Video Player →
For a long time, all you could do with YouTube as a web publisher was embed its hosted videos on your site. But thanks to a recent overhaul to the YouTube API, you can now do much more.