Like it grows on trees
Posted: Friday, August 17, 2007 12:28 PM by Will Femia
Filed Under:
Games
Weird, scary and bizarre iPhone tales - I was going to pull out the individual ones I liked and just link to those but there are more cool ones than boring ones on the list.
One that isn't on the list is the guy charging money just to let people touch it. I guess supplies in some places are more limited than others.
Related: In discussing the ridiculous billing policy AT&T is applying to the iPhone, this blogger provides some tree to paper math. UPDATE: Hey look, he got an answer, sort of.
Speaking of the value of paper, "Flexible paper batteries could meet the energy demands of the next generation of gadgets, says a team of researchers."
One of these days I'm going to redo those categories in the right column. I've been pretty good about checking the "games" box whenever an entry has a mention of a game or a recommendation from Ralph but those others I don't bother with. Instead I could probably make one for Doritos, one for lightning porn, definitely one for photoshopping imperfections from models and lately it seems like there could be one for busted news photos. This week's feature is a woman holding up bullets she says were fired at her house in Iraq. The blog swarm is like meat in a piranha tank.
Speaking of fish in tanks, Really cool aquariums - Aquariums (aquaria?) are cool by definition. I currently maintain a terrarium for frogs but a reef tank has always been one of my "if I win the lottery" items. I once went to a store in New Hampshire that specialized in aquatic displays and they had fresh water tanks set up to look like the bottom of a northeastern pond. They used native fish too, those kind of dull gray fish with just a little color and texture in the scales like sunfish or trout. The light was dark and filtered. Almost more like a living museum diorama, it was a great twist on the typical garish display.
In case you thought Google Street View was something new, check out Rand McNally's photo-auto maps (circa 1907).
"Americans these days use the media the way a drunk uses a lamp post: for support, not illumination." In this case the quote is being used by Seattle Times editor David Boardman in a memo to staff about leaving their politics outside the newsroom.
Headline most seeming to be an Onion article and most depressingly not: Obama's Appeal to Well-Educated Not Conducive to Winning Nomination
Kind of related: The age of endarkenment
Speaking of the Onion, "Although many of its highways and bridges are in severe disrepair, the traditionally undemanding state of Minnesota isn't comfortable asking for more interstate funding, sources reported Monday." Yet another example of that site's amazing prescience - check out the date.
Speaking of supernatural vegetables, Seeing God in a slice of eggplant.
Amazing sandwich sculptures
Speaking of unusual art media, how about toothpicks and nails? (This feels like the kind of collection that was taken from somewhere else but it's the best grouping of this artist's work I could find.)
'Embrace the cheese' - Is a movie about dinosaurs strapped with weapons and sent off to battle a cool idea or a stupid idea?
Stephen King writes the last word on Harry Potter (a generally positive review).
"'Specially trained security personnel' will be watching passengers for 'micro-expressions' that will reveal treacherous agendas and insidious intentions at airports around the country."
Wouldn't it be cool if you really could specially train someone to recognize micro-expressions that would reveal treacherous agendas and insidious intentions? The special agents would experience life in slow motion, hearing the squish of every eye blink; the deepening dimples of a smile would groan like a twisted balloon.
The story of the Russian region declaring September 12th Conception Day drew a lot of titters but jokes aside, I wonder what would happen to a society if everyone had nearly the same birthday.
Top ten prison survival tips - I agree with the commenter who said these feel like they were written by someone who hasn't actually been to prison. Of course, I haven't been to prison either so who am I to second guess?
I built a 535 ft. Slip 'n Slide - All I think when I look at this is "rash."
Speaking of unusual water recreation, insane wave pool in Tokyo. In the comments of the blog named on the clip a lot of people don't believe it's real. It looks real to me. I wonder how much water is displaced by that many people. When they all get out is there an inch of water (or... ahem... whatever) in the bottom of the pool?
Speaking of undulating surfaces, "HypoSurface is the World's first display system where the screen surface physically moves! ... The surface behaves like a precisely controlled liquid: waves, patterns, logos, even text emerge and fade continually within its dynamic surface." If you click the "product" tab there are a bunch of videos to see it in action. It's hard to tell how much noise it makes. Sounds a bit clacky.
I keep seeing links to photos from the recent Miss Teen USA competition, usually associated with an exclamation like, "That's a teenager?" I don't know, some of them look like teenagers.
Following on the heels of the science tattoos from the other day, anatomy tattoos.
Lightning porn shot of the day! (Folks who've asked about tips on doing this, see his note about taking a lot of pictures. He didn't just snap this because he saw lightning headed for the tree.)
We have not broken the speed of light. I don't know if you saw the article about the two scientists claiming they'd broken the speed of light. It was such thin gruel I didn't bother mentioning it here - the kind of science article that doesn't mention much of the science and instead gets all worked up about the possibilities "if it's true" or "if it works." Anyway, this blog focuses on the science to find out what they're really talking about (quantum tunneling).
Sometimes, worse than online games are these photo sites. I lost some time to My Confined Space today. This one gave me a laugh. Not the thought of bad things happening to people in wheelchairs but the idea of putting the crocodiles at the bottom of the hill and thinking posting a sign will ensure that nothing bad happens.
"You've reached this page because the site you were trying to visit now blocks the FireFox browser." I'm not sure where this page is being used but the point is that Firefox can have features that so thoroughly block ads that some content providers feel like they're being robbed.
Cassette tape culture
"People with the surnames Morgan, Rackham, Bonny, Read, Kidd or Teach, are being invited to discover possible connections with the likes of Blackbeard and Calico Jack, in a series of events by English Heritage." I have a feeling that even if some of these guys did manage to procreate, they weren't likely in the kind of name taking relationship that would be useful to genealogists.
"Even if it is fake, it's a damn good CGI job." And when it comes to UFO videos, that's all we really ask.
Ralph's Recommendation:
School Invaders: Blast the Aliens
Bug-eyed aliens have invaded your school. You and your friends must blast them into puddles of green goo before it's too late!
This one's a bit challenging at first, but it gets pretty fun once you get the hang of it. Be sure to use your mouse to look around each room before you proceed, and don't try to go too far too fast.
-Ralph
