Bridget

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A demonstrator at the London vigil for the victims of the Charlie Hebdo massacre. Photo by Chris Bethell

This article originally appeared on VICE UK.

Within hours of the Charlie Hebdo massacre, internet forums were buzzing with alternative explanations for the attack. "The official story doesn't add up," people typed furiously into their keyboards. "We're being lied to."

Over the next few days, the rumors spread. Apparent glitches in reporting—as well as the "suspicious" suicide of the detective in charge of the investigation—were taken as evidence of subterfuge.

Most doubters, however, focused on scrutinizing amateur video footage of the event, asking whether policeman Ahmed Merabet was really shot in the head.. The questioning makes for grim reading. "Where's the blood? Why no splatter?" asked Reddit users. Others offered rebuttals, posting videos of bloodless shootings and suggesting: "Heads don't explode like watermelons."

A long, imaginative list of alternative explanations was offered: It was a false flag attack, executed by Mossad to fuel anti-Muslim sentiment; it was carried out by the CIA for the same reason; it was French Jews; it was a "black-op power bloc operation" to back up the war on terror; Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that the West "playing games with the Islamic world."

Regardless of their source, the Charlie Hebdo rumors have all the hallmarks of a classic conspiracy theory. Apparent discrepancies in the way the story was reported are jumped on, and the official version of events is discredited. From there, a leap is made to another, alternate, explanation, and evidence is gathered in support. The same thing happened after the murder of journalist James Foley, when critics suggested that the video was staged. Debunkers, in this case, asked why the West would bother faking an Islamic State beheading when the group has already carried out so many.

But how unique is the conspiracy theory-creation process? Plenty of bad journalism follows the same formula, and many an article is based on flimsy evidence and pseudoscience, or distorted by exaggerations. In the case of Charlie Hebdo, for instance, we were misled by pictures of world leaders apparently heading up the march in Paris, when really they'd just gathered in a cordoned-off street to have their photo taken.

Of course, "conspiracy theorists" is a blanket term, lumping together those who believe we're ruled by scaly lizard people with those who simply question the role of Big Pharma. Some—perhaps unsurprisingly—would like to see the name ditched altogether.

"It's a loaded term," says Chris, a friend of mine with a penchant for what most would call conspiracy theories. "It's merely a label applied to certain stories, usually to distinguish them from stories which the user of the label wishes to promote or defend by limiting the parameters of debate.

"I doubt most of what I am told, especially by those in authority, who may have an agenda to advance. The circumstances of the Charlie Hebdo attacks seem very suspicious to me, and the evidence for the official theory lacks credibility. Historical precedent also suggests that alternative narratives may be more likely."

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The most recent myth to have been debunked on metabunk.org

In the US, Mick West runs the website metabunk.org, pulling in 10,000 unique visitors a day. He reckons the Charlie Hebdo rumors were predictable.

"It's nonsense," he says. "But sadly it seems like the expected response now. People pick up normal inconsistencies in the initial reporting of a chaotic situation and claim these things are significant. They always make claims about blood and injuries, but seem to be basing their expectations on the depictions of violence in movies and video games.

"It's just cherry-picking, with a strong confirmation bias. The people telling you these things have only one goal: to convince you it was fake. They amplify every little thing that seems to help their case, and they ignore everything that does not."

Conspiracy theories have been around for as long as human beings have been able to articulate the feeling that someone is trying to stitch them up. In living memory, theories have been espoused around the assassination of JFK, Hitler's death, the moon landings, Area 51, Princess Diana's death, the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, climate change, Obama's birth, whether Obama is in fact the Antichrist, AIDS, cancer, 9/11, chemtrails, the MMR vaccine, the Sandy Hook massacre, FEMA camps, the beheading of James Foley, Ebola, the Islamic State, the Scottish independence referendum, the Rosetta mission, and, of course, the Illuminati. And that's just a handful.

Academics, too, have been trying to get their head around it.

"People who believe in conspiracy theories tend to feel they don't have a lot of control over their lives," says University of Winchester psychology lecturer Michael Wood. "It's reassuring to believe the world can be controlled, even if that means it's not a nice place."

Wood says that being a conspiracy theorist is just another world view, no different from being a diehard liberal or a full-on, fox-killing Tory. While right-wingers might see the Charlie Hebdo attack as evidence that uncontrolled immigration leads to problems, and those on the left suggest it's what happens when a group is marginalized, conspiracy theorists are more likely to go for the false flag explanation.

Robert Brotherton, Research Fellow at Goldsmiths, University of London, says believing in conspiracy theories fits with the way our brains make sense of the world.

"One of our psychological biases is that, whenever anything ambiguous happens, we connect the dots," Brotherton says. "The basis of many conspiracy theories is simply connecting the dots. Another is proportionality bias. When JFK got shot, people wanted to think that something big caused that, not just that some guy you'd never heard of could have killed the president."

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A protester at the Anonymous Million Mask March in London, which is often attended by people espousing all sorts of conspiracy theories. Photo by Jake Lewis

But are there any factors that could signal a propensity to believe? Metrics like gender and income haven't been correlated with a belief in conspiracy theories, and there really isn't enough data available on the topic to say for certain whether—statistically—you're more likely than somebody else of a different socioeconomic group, for instance, to believe.

The advent of the internet is not thought to have swelled the ranks of conspiracy theory believers because, as quickly as the theories can be shared online, so too can their rebuttals. Some theories are plain stupid, others are less easy to dismiss.

Innate paranoia can't be a good starting point, but then not all conspiracies are a figment of the paranoid imagination. The black ops, coverups, and covert missions carried out by governments and secret services around the world are too lengthy to list in full. But to throw out a few, we've had Operation Gladio, the CIA and MI5's role in the overthrow of democratically elected governments around the world, Watergate, the Hillsborough cover-up, the Wikileaks revelations, the NSA scandal, and the discovery that, in 1990, PR firm Hill and Knowlton was behind fake testimony from a 15-year-old Kuwaiti "refugee," Nayirah, who swore she'd seen Iraqi troops killing babies.

Problem is, you can't believe every theory you hear, because many are clearly bullshit. Most of the "OPEN YOUR EYES SHEEPLE" stories you see being shared on Facebook come from sites with just as transparent an agenda as Fox News; conspiracy theories are an industry and a handful of people are doing very well out of it.

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Alex Jones at the 2013 Bilderberg Conference. Photo by Matt Shea.

Alex Jones, who spews forth conspiracy theories from Infowars and other platforms, is estimated to make more than $10 million a year. Right-wing mogul Glenn Beck—who's spawned a number of bizarre theories—reportedly earned $90 million in the year from June 2012 to June 2013. Back in the UK, David Icke isn't exactly on the breadline, with an estimated $9 million net worth, much of which will have been generated through book and merchandise sales, and from tickets to the live shows where he rambles on about reptilians from the fourth Dimension ruling the world.

Plenty of conspiracy theory-espousing websites are making money through pay-per-click advertising, and you're as likely to come across a pop-up window for online gambling as herbal remedies. Make no mistake—for some, "discovering" conspiracies is a job. This isn't to say they aren't true believers, but it is in their interest to "uncover" a constant stream of conspiracies.

And all these conspiracy theories they're "uncovering" can do real harm. Antisemitic hoax document the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which claims to be a plan for global Jewish domination, has been reprinted across the globe, most notably by the Nazis in 1933. The Protocols not only served as a model for conspiracy theories—some now claim that the "Jews" depicted in Protocols are a cover identity for other groups such as the Illuminati, or, according to Icke, extra-dimensional entities—but the document's message still reverberates around conspiracy theory forums, on which Jewish groups are posited as conspiracy masterminds with depressing regularity.

In 1998, The Lancet published a study suggesting a possible link between the MMR vaccine and autism. The article was discredited and the author banned from practicing medicine. Numerous other studies have shown no such link. Nonetheless, 17 years later, many parents still subscribe to the theory that the government is trying to give their children autism in order to appease Big Pharma and, as a result, whooping cough and measles are on the rise.

Individuals have been targeted as a result of these theories. There's a movement of people who don't believe the Sandy Hook massacre really happened, suggesting it was an operation designed to revoke rights to gun ownership. Fanatics have harassed the parents of murdered children and stolen memorial signs.

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A man at Occupy London 2014 who figured the best way to get his theory across was to scribble it on a sheet of cardboard in pretty much completely illegible writing. Photo by Oscar Webb

A questioning of the mainstream press seems sensible—there are direct pressures from shareholders and advertisers, there's sloppy reporting and there are agendas—but knee-jerk disbelief of anything reported by a major news source is misguided. Mainstream outlets frequently question the government and publish things those in power would rather they didn't.

Meanwhile, slavishly agreeing with everything you get from WorldTruth.tv is as sophisticated as pinning a "FUCK THE SYSTEM" badge to a branded sweatshirt made in a Bangladeshi sweatshop.

Perhaps Chris is right; the term "conspiracy theory" covers too much ground to be useful. David Cameron recently described those concerned about the alleged coverup of a VIP pedophile ring as "conspiracy theorists." His intention: to instantly discredit them.

But danger lies in using the small amount of energy you have for politics on chasing illusions. There are plenty of real problems to confront. Question mainstream news, sure, but don't fall into the trap of believing everything you read on Infowars and its ilk. Everyone has an agenda.

Follow Frankie on Twitter.

In case you forgot, Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima and horror movie maestro Guillermo del Toro are making a new Silent Hill together . If you're not excited/weeping in terror at the prospect, you might actually be one Silent Hill's soulless denizens. Sadly, it's still a long way off. Thank goodness for fan games.

Read more...

Are you serious right now? Yes. Yes I am. This alarming, jarring, and altogether transfixing mashup of T-Swift/Aphex Twin appeared online toward the end of 2014 and quickly became one of the most inscrutable mashup compostions on the internet. It was even weirder to find out that cartoonist David Rees was responsible for the very barebones mashup. He surmised Taylor Swift and Aphex Twin are essentially driven by the same creative impulses and are similarly romantic figures. Though I am not sure I necessarily agree with that argument, you can’t deny how strikingly weird the idea to combine these two artists’ work is.

Listening to “T4ouble”–a mashup of Taylor’s “Trouble” and Aphex Twin’s “4”–makes me feel like I am absorbing a piece of postmodern art, akin to that time that Tilda Swinton slept in a glass box in MoMA, or like how PJ Harvey is currently recording her new album as a viewable exhibit at Somerset House in London. Nothing about it is necessarily subtle, and yet it is so far from an obvious song. Art, mannnnn.

Somehow, this mashup manages to be great, catchy, terrible, trashy, and utterly replayable all at the same time. Check it out below and let us know if “T4ouble” is awesome or just way too weird.

Who can say they nearly got their boss sacked for writing a feature on menstruation porn? Who can win pub chats with tales of interviewing a dude from Hull who fantasises about being cannibalised by women in angora sweaters? Who suffers at least one sleepless night a week due to flashbacks from researching videos of men shoving live worms down their bellends? Me, that's who.

Writing for alternative culture magazine Bizarre has given me and my comrades enough effed up brain material to last a lifetime. But after 18 years of newsagents across the land muttering things like, "Where the fuck do I put a magazine with a Charles Manson blow-up doll giveaway on the front cover?", the freak show has been run out of town.

The first issue of Bizarre went out in February 1997. It was hailed as Britain's first alternative publication and its job was to muscle into a mag scene dominated by the likes of Loaded and Maxim cracking the lad culture whip over Donna Air's back. "It was a more extreme Fortean Times, a brasher Sky, a weirder FHM," says former Deputy Editor, Kate Hodges. "It covered the counterculture and the counter-counter-culture. It was the only place you could read an interview with Edward Bunker next to an A-Z of voodoo, followed by a poster of a pin-up dressed in an inflatable, latex frog head."

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Photo from a Bizarre Ball, 2011, by John Hoang

The internet spoils us now. You can search "Lactation Porn" and get 1,530,000 Google results in under 0.33 seconds. But remember, kids, there was a time when you couldn't hunt down a snap of a milky tit fuck for love nor money. For a while, Bizarre was the only British publication brave enough to dedicate whole features to topics like this and delve unflinchingly into the underworld of pretty much everything your mother warned you about.

Jonathan Ross and Kevin Smith were fans, Louis Theroux and Courtney Love wrote for us, Vic Reeves drew for us and, allegedly, Charles Bronson perused our pages in the clink. We built an incredible family of regular contributors, like trans porn pioneer, Buck Angel, Lauren Harries and Harold Ivey, a kindly pensioner who lived in the Biloxi woods and wore ridiculous leather outfits.

"If you'd ever flicked through Bizarre in passing, you might have thought it was weird, gross, shocking, or all of the above," says former Production Editor, El Goodman. "But if you paid attention to the ink on its pages, you'd realise that, like all good magazines, it was about people and their stories. We covered weightier subjects, such as the practical, emotional and financial aspects of what it's like for men to be gay for pay, transgender issues and government legislation on porn."

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Photo from a Bizarre Ball, 2011, by John Hoang

Former Front Section Editor, Alix Fox, never shied away from trying out the more extreme stuff to give a first-person perspective. "One of the most intense things I've ever done in my life was a report on underwater bondage for Bizarre," she recalls. "I was dressed as a mermaid in a suit that had lead weights in the tail, fitted with a SCUBA tank, tied up by a shibari [Japanese rope bondage] expert at the bottom of a swimming pool and then had my air supply taken away. I was utterly dependent upon my captors to swim over and give me oxygen when I shook my head to indicate that my lungs were going to burst. It was the ultimate in submission. I lived and breathed my job on that magazine. Even when I couldn't breathe."

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Bizarre freelancer, George Binning, reading the mag in a cockroach outfit (Photo by Etienne Gilfillan)

Readers' letters fantasised about us hammering away on our keyboards, ball-gags in mouths, casually dildoing ourselves silly at lunch in between bites of a Pret sandwich. The reality? A dysfunctional version of Press Gang, with the strains of Christopher Lee singing opera on the stereo and shouting out things like, "Dave... can you add in that picture of the girl licking the bloody pig's head on page 42?"

A typical day would see us lurking in the darkest recesses of the internet, casually striking up an email exchange with a guy into eating his own shit, or venturing outside to attend a sex party in Kent, or sit in on a gory facial scarification session.

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Answering the work phone and opening the post became a game of Russian roulette. While I imagine the offices of Cosmo were bombarded with complimentary pots of fancy face cream and fashion week invites, we got biro sketches of men being tossed off, tortured and killed by aggressive female Nazi soldiers and an envelope of dried skin scabs from an amateur death metal band.

Every week for a year, I was plagued by phone calls from an annoying old guy called "Little Ken" who begged me to do a feature on "tall, strong, powerful women". He liked the idea of paying an Amazonian dame to pick him up and throw him across the room. I'd have fucking done it for free. Alix found herself talking to a Jackass fan who had a cunning plan to catapult his way into the aeons of fame.

"I ended up having to explain to him why it would be unwise to circumcise himself with a pair of nail scissors, wrap his severed foreskin in a condom, swallow it, shit it out, and attempt to stitch it back on using a sewing needle," she remembers.

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Bizarre Cover, from the Bizarre Facebook

Up until the death knell, only four staff members had been bravely battling to keep the mag afloat, painfully aware that the end was nigh. One of them was Bizarremag.com editor, Stephen Daultrey. "The closure is very sad, but certainly not unexpected," he says. "What pains me most is that the Bizarre brand never got a chance to adapt with the changing times and consequently, evolve, grow and flourish into something really big, new and spectacular – a digital portal of weirdness, individuality and subversive culture."

The stories, characters and experiences are endless, but I can't wrap this up without mentioning our community of readers. If it made us laugh, we knew it would make them laugh. Serious features like the self-harm one we put together were constructed entirely from their own letters and experiences. They sent us homemade cookies, wedding snaps, 20 pages of geeking out on how to improve the mag. Hell, they even had portrait tattoos of staff members etched in their flesh.

Our readers got firmly behind our Proud To Be Different campaign, in support of the S.O.P.H.I.E. charity, set up after Sophie Lancaster was murdered because she dared to dress differently. We even got to meet over 2000 readers in the sweaty flesh at our now-legendary live events; the Bizarre Balls. The mag also entertained the British and American troops on tour in Afghanistan. They took the time to write to us, pose for silly pictures and try to charm us into sending them free copies, begging, "It's the only thing that keeps us going in this shit hole!"

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I felt like Brooks Hatlen leaving Shawshank when I said goodbye to the mag in 2012. Spat out into "civilian" life and awkwardly trying to fit into a normal working routine that didn't involve test driving a pneumatically powered dildo before breakfast. So long, Bizarre. In the grand scheme of things, you were just a magazine. But to a tribe of outsiders, misfits, deviants, freaks, perverts and open-minded souls, you were a lifeline, a celebration of the flipside, a nod of recognition and a smack in the mainstream's kisser.

More stuff about magazines:

This Ex-Bank Robber Edits the UK's National Prison Paper

'Accent' Magazine Captures Lives Outside the Ordinary

The Magazine Exposing Glasgow's Criminal Underworld

It looks like Google is going to throw a ten-figure sum into Elon Musk's space internet dream. Both The Information and The Wall Street Journal report that the search giant is finalizing a $1 billion investment in SpaceX's recently revealed effort to offer global internet service through small satellites. It's a crazy idea that just might work.

Read more...

we-are-star-stuff:

futurescope:

Robofrog jumps on revolving chair

we need to stop making robots nothing good can come of it

The good news for lovers of analog-synths and the music that issues forth from them: Moog is going to start manufacturing three of its much-loved, idiosyncratic modular synthesizers—the System 55, the System 35, and Model 15. (These instruments initially went into production in 1973.) The bad news: These reissues will be limited edition and consequently quite expensive. To quote the press release: "There will be 55 units of the System 55, priced at $35,000 per instrument; 35 of units of the System 35, priced at $22,000 per instrument; and 150 units of the Model 15, priced at $10,000 per instrument." Unless you're Vangelis or Trent Reznor, you may have trouble affording these synths. But, as Malcolm Cecil says in the clip below, Moog synthesizers will help you achieve "new sounds that have never been heard before." And such an achievement as that is priceless.

Check out the video, which includes commentary by Moog users Cecil (Tonto's Expanding Head Band, co-producer of Stevie Wonder's best '70s albums), Suzanne Ciani, Dick Hyman, David Borden (Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Co.), M. Geddes Gengras, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Patricia, Gavin Russom, and others.

Press release after the jump.

50 years ago, at its first introduction, the Moog modular synthesizer represented as radical a transition as Kandinski’s abstracts or Kodak’s cameras – offering both a break from yesterday and a startling glimpse of tomorrow. And, as with all cultural explosions, the impact of Dr. Bob Moog’s invention was impossible to evaluate from the epicenter. It’s only now, 50 years down the line that we can get some measure of the importance, and the sheer untapped potentiality of the Moog Modular Synthesizer.
Today, it is with great excitement that Moog Music Inc. announces their plans to re-commence the limited run manufacturing of three of their most sought after 5U large format modular synthesizers: The System 55, the System 35 and the Model 15. These three modular synthesizer systems were originally created and manufactured by Moog in 1973.
To commemorate the announcement, Moog shot a short film at their factory about the inspiring and multifaceted relationship artists have with modular synthesizers. The video features electronic music pioneers such as Suzanne Ciani, Malcolm Cecil, David Borden, Dick Hyman and Herb Deutsch alongside performances by contemporary modular artists like Holy Ghost! (DFA), Gavin Russom (ECSTATIC/Entropy Trax), Max Ravitz AKA Patricia (L.I.E.S./Spectral Sound/Opal Tapes), Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith (Western Vinyl), Jacques Greene (Vase/LuckyMe) and M. Geddes Gengras (Stones Throw). Each artist played a patch live, in one take, with no overdubs on one or more of the new Moog Modular systems.
The foundation for this announcement was laid last year at Moogfest 2014, when Moog released the Emerson Moog Modular system – a faithful recreation of Keith Emerson’s legendary modular instrument, which was the culmination of three years worth of research and engineering. Now Moog will use the techniques learned recreating the EMMS manufacturing process to once again build these modular systems. Crucially, in deference to the unique character and appeal of the original instruments, these systems will be made entirely to their original product specifications and manufacturing techniques and processes.
Working from the 1970s schematics, the System 55, the System 35 and the Model 15 will be meticulously handcrafted, as a true recreation of the original. The modules are built from the original circuit board films - just as they were in 1973- by hand-stuffing and hand-soldering components to circuit boards, and using traditional wiring methods. The front panels are photo-etched aluminum, a classic process rarely still used in today’s synthesizer manufacturing, to maintain the classic and durable look of vintage Moog modules.
Upon their first release in 1973, the System 55, the System 35 and the Model 15 represented a high watermark for modular synthesis, and their inimitable tones can be heard shaping many much-loved albums. They were fundamental in the development of contemporary soul, RnB, and disco from giving Stevie Wonder’s classic run of 70s LPs their questing, innovative edge, to providing Giorgio Moroder with the pulsating machine melodies that ushered in electronic dance. At the same time, these were the instruments that inspired Brian Eno to push further out into seas of layered tranquillity on his pioneering ambient albums, or provoked bands like Yes and Tangerine Dream to blast their sonic freak outs into the cosmos.
However, the reintroduction of these instruments is not about reliving the past – while much incredible work has been done with the Moog Modular, there is so much further yet to be explored in this relatively young instrument. Artists had only begun to grasp the vast possibilities of these large format modular synthesizers when they went out of production over thirty years ago. Decades of electronic experimentation have enabled musicians to move on from viewing the Moog Modular as a replacement for traditional instrumentation. Now a new generation of artists, with a greater understanding and more complex tools, will have the opportunity to explore the power of these singular sonic machines. Today, the modular synthesizer is viewed in the manner Bob Moog originally intended: to “discover endless offbeat, unconventional, and even irrational ways of working.”
The dedicated nature of the Moog modular rebuilding process is such that the units will come in extremely limited quantities. There will be 55 units of the System 55, priced at $35,000 per instrument; 35 of units of the System 35, priced at $22,000 per instrument; and 150 units of the Model 15, priced at $10,000 per instrument.
Alongside these Moog Modular Systems will be the Sequencer Complement B Expansion Cabinet, a dual 960 Sequential Controller, an accompaniment to the System 35 and System 55, that has been out of production for over 30 years– as well as an optional 5-Octave duo phonic keyboard.

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opossummypossum:

I present to you: another underappreciated lifeform.

This is a pink fairy armadillo. Yes, that’s its actual name. Yes, it really exists.

Yes, it kind of looks like a tiny leucistic mole stole its armor from a prawn.

bunnyfood:

Boing, boing, boing

babygoatsandfriends:

tellmeimaprettyprincess:

Update on the goat front! Everyone got sweaters! ☺️

! Aaaaaaaaaaahhh

undared:

Field With Poppies (1889), Vincent Van Gogh / “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea” - Neutral Milk Hotel

hoaxvault:

Prague, Czech Republic. Credit

chirikalovesjill:

I’m related to Henry Townshend in so many level

For all those people out there who feel a fleshlight just isn't enough, there's now a Vajankle, which, yes, is exactly what it sounds like: a replica of a dismembered foot with a vagina stuffed right up into the ankle. It's an art piece, it's a fuck toy, it's very very conspicuous.

Read more...

Your spirit animal is a honey badger? That's nice. My spirit animal is Sigourney Weaver in a jumpsuit unleashing a plume of hot death over what looks like a dry, potentially disastrous, patch of grass.

Read more...

Love letters. Tattoos. Sext messages. All valid and romantic ways to let them know you care. But none are as unique as a ring engraved with the sound waves produced when you tell them. Click here and enter to win your choice of Soundwave Ring custom engraved with a personal voice message from Soundwave Art! Up to a $400 value!

This giveaway is open to residents of the US & Canada only.

About Soundwave Rings

Record a message you want a loved one (or yourself) to remember--professions of passion, wedding vows, words of encouragement, even a baby's heartbeat--and Soundwave Art will extract the unique sound waves your voice generates and engrave them on one of the pieces in their extensive ring collection. Recordings are made directly from the company's purchase pages, and ring types include performance and precious metal bands, such as Titanium, Cobalt Chrome, Black Zirconium, and Carbon Fiber.

The Soundwave Ring giveaway winner will be able to select any ring priced at $400 or less, and have it engraved with a personal message. Check out the Soundwave online store to review your options. Read on to learn more above the art of the visualized human voice.

Sounds consist of a series of compression and rarefaction waves traveling through a medium. In other words, when someone speaks or, say, uses a chainsaw, they are creating areas of high (compression) and low (rarefaction) pressure, pushing air molecules around and creating waves. When the waves hit our eardrums they vibrate, resonate, and translate through our bones and brains so we understand what we are hearing. Even cooler, every voice and sound is singular to its producer, so no two sets of waves are ever identical. And transferring these spikes and dips and subtle nuances to a visual medium results in completely one of a kind pieces of art. Voice Art.

For more information on the voice recording and printing processes, check out Soundwave Art's FAQ page.

Soundwave Ring Giveaway Entry Instructions

To register, click here and fill out the Soundwave Personal Voice Message Rings Giveaway entry form. Or, if you're already a member of DudeIWantThat.com, when the magic entry form button appears, just click it to enter.

Giveaway prize includes: 1 x Soundwave Ring valued at $400 or less. Winner will be able to select ring size and record desired personal message for engraving.

The Soundwave Ring Giveaway entry period is open through 11:59 p.m. ET on Sunday, January 25, 2015. Our drawn winner will be contacted by email within 48 hours of the entry period's conclusion, and will have 12 hours to respond and claim his/her prize. (Should we not hear back from a drawn winner in the specified time period, a new winner will be drawn and contacted.) Winners should allow 3 weeks for ring fabrication, plus delivery time.

Once a winner is drawn and confirmed, s/he will be announced below.

This giveaway is open residents of the US & Canada only.

Get a Soundwave Ring Now

The perfect Valentine's Day gift is just a click away. Peruse Soundwave Art's full collection of engraved voice rings here. In addition to the styles available to the giveaway winner, the company also sells Ceramic/Tungsten and Meteorite bands starting at $429.99 and $999.99 respectively. Their Titaniumrings start at $199.99.

In addition to the rings, Soundwave Art still produces and sells their original Voice Art concept, Soundwave Prints (starting at $49.99) and Soundwave Canvases (starting at $89.99). These solid color backgrounds come in various sizes and styles, and are printed with your recorded message for wall display. These also make superb gifts for those to whom it might be impractical or awkward to give a ring, such as mamas and papas and sisters and barista dream girls you lust after but can't bring yourself to say more than, "Um, hey" to while shifting uncomfortable while averting your eyes.

Soundwave Voice Message Ring Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to David B. of Pasadena, CA, winner of the Voice Message Ring from Soundwave Art. Thanks to all entrants, and be sure to check the Dude homepage or Dude Giveaways section for your chance to enter our latest prize drawing.

Dude Giveaway Vendor Participation

Are you an online retailer with a Dudeworthy product you'd like to grace upon our readers? Consider a Dude Giveaway partnership! Click here for details on prerequisites, giveaway procedures, and our contact information.

faithnomore:

[Jurassic Park theme plays]

gloryholeguru420:

thelovebelow711:

About me.

Peanuts

monochromespirit:

[x]

I’m in love with the work of Marc Potts heart emoticon
“Dia de los Muertos” -
http://markelli.deviantart.com/
http://www.marcpotts.co.uk/

sixpenceee:

Each September the Alaskan wood frogs freeze. Two-thirds of their body water turns to ice. If you picked them up, they would not move. If you bent one of their legs, it would break. Their hearts stop beating, their blood no longer flows and their glucose levels sky rocket. BUt then during the spring, they thaw out and return to normal. (Source)

"What even is the moon?"

If the QVC shopping network is not the first media resource you would turn to in trying to answer that question, then congratulations: you make good life decisions.

On Monday, QVC hosts Isaac Mizrahi and Shawn Killinger accidentally waded into a discussion of the moon's status as "a planet" or "a star" in the course of trying to sell some cardigans. It did not go well for them.

You probably already know that the moon is in fact a natural satellite orbiting the earth. But for Mizrahi and Killinger, that information was mind-blowingly new.

The segment is basically uninterrupted perfection from 7:17 to 8:52, but the following lines stand out as particularly amazing:

• "The moon is a planet darling. The mooooon is a plaaaaahhnet honeyyyy."
• "I don't know what the sun is."
• "Chuckie. If you're listening to me, I need you to GOOGLE THE MOON OKAY."
• "The moon is such a planet I can't even STAND it."
• "Well what else is it if it's not a planet?"
• "I believe it's a star! Or...something."
• "Didn't you ever do that thing in grade school with the planets where there's Uranus, and Saturn, and then the one with the rings, and then the earth and then THE MOON IS NEVER IN THERE DUDE."

• "What is it then, a baseball? Cheese?"
• They discover the truth at 8:36: "The moon is WHAT? A natural satellite? What does THAT mean?"
• "But THINGS LIVE ON IT! That means it's a planet!"
• "Is that what Google said? No, I don't like that at all. At all. I don't even know what that means!"
• "I use Google all the time. I feel bad. I feel bad for Yahoo because they're good too! I just don't use them."
• "Well, it's an education."

And thank goodness for that.