Grimbil

Brachiolope media added a new podcast about engineering to its lineup.

David turned me on to Comedians Getting Coffee last year, and I've been enjoying every episode since. Here's the format: Jerry Seinfeld drives a different cool vintage car to a fellow comedian's house, then drives to a diner and they drink coffee together. They say funny things to each other. The latest episode is with Chris Rock.

This is a shot of a highlighter right at its moment of explosion in a microwave. It kind of looks like cotton candy. Why would anybody put a highlighter in a microwave? Keep in mind this was a 4th of July weekend and not everyone can afford fireworks. "Sooo...." Yep -- you're looking at a redneck sparkler, bro. Thanks to PYY, who can't believe there isn't some sort of age restriction on being able to buy microwaves.

Meet 18-year old Fanny Schlatter. Fanny's right leg isn't feeling as beach-ready as it was a week ago because her Samsung Galaxy S3 allegedly exploded and caught fire in her pocket, leaving her with 2nd and 3rd degree burns on her thigh. *tosses cell phone across room* I'm not walking around with that little grenade hugging my nuts!

... all of a sudden she heard an explosion and could smell something funny. To her horror her cellphone, a Samsung Galaxy S3 had exploded in her pants and had caught fire. The flames were high enough to reach her shoulder, fortunately the young Swiss woman's life was spared by her boss's timely action who ripped her pants.

I'm gonna be honest, I probably wouldn't have noticed the funny smell as much as I would have the fact that my crotch just exploded. Of course I keep that area pretty well trimmed, so there wouldn't be a lot of hair to burn. TMI? What if I told you I have it shaved into a Triforce? Hit the jump for a closeup of the exploded phone.

Yelp recently rolled out a 'word map' feature for major world cities that creates heat maps based on a particular term to show you where the most restaurants/bars/coffee shops/etc. associated with that term are located. The media is just running with the whole hipster thing because that's a lot more sensational than creating heat maps based on 'noodles'. Although I just discovered if you make maps based on 'sketchy', 'run-down' and 'recent shooting', my apartment seems to be at the epicenter. Thanks to E V I L A R E S, who's so evil he intentionally mislabels restaurants on Yelp.

A 20-year-old referee was quartered and beheaded by spectators after he fatally stabbed a player during an amateur match in northeast Brazil. The horrifying and gruesome series of events began when the 31-year-old player, Josenir dos Santos Abreu, got into a phsyical referee Otavio Jordao da Silva, who then stabbed Dos Santos with a knife he had on him.

According to the AP, a statement from the state of Maranhao's public safety department said that the player's friends and relatives watching the stands charged the pitch, where they stoned the referee to death and then quartered his body. From there, the situation managed to get even more twisted.

From the Guardian:

Reports said that outraged spectators responded by running on to the field and stoning Da Silva, before severing his head and sticking it on a stake in the middle of the field.

Police at the regional headquarters of Santa Ines said a 27-year-old man was arrested on 2 July, with the investigation continuing.

The player who was stabbed died on the way to the hospital, while the mutilated remains of the referee were left on the pitch for the authorities to clean up. Once they did, all that was left was a blood-stained patch of grass and the piece of wood (pictured below) upon which the referee's head was impaled.

While many footballers are accused of playing only for the money, Benoît Assou-Ekotto openly admits that cold, hard cash is the only reason he gets up and kicks a ball. The Tottenham left-back has no interest in the beautiful game, and often has no idea who he is facing when he turns up for a match. He is so detached from his day job, in fact, that he wasn't aware that Luis Suarez bit someone last season, a news story that people living under huge rocks with their fingers in their ears couldn't possibly avoid.

To force home his obliviousness, Benny admitted in an interview on Monday that he had never heard of brand-new Spurs signing Paulinho. You know, the guy who cost a club-record £17m ($24m) and who hasn't been out of the newspapers since scoring twice in Brazil's triumphant 2013 Confederations Cup campaign.

The 29-year-old Cameroon international also admitted that he didn't know who Rafael van der Vaart was when he arrived at Tottenham's Enfield training ground, despite the fact that the Dutchman had worn the captain's armband in the World Cup Final a few weeks before signing up.

Clearly, Assou-Ekotto isn't feigning indifference just to try and sound cool. He genuinely doesn't give a monkey's armpit about being a professional footballer.

Luis Suarez's unsavory behavior on the pitch is often defended with praise for his fierce competitive spirit and in a new ad for Uruguayan company Abitab, we get to see how that would translate to working in an office.

Suarez torments his new coworkers throughout the ad — kicking copiers and diving to the ground when touched. He also blows out a young coworker's birthday candles. The ad, however, does not show any racial abuse or repeated biting of other human beings. Perhaps they're saving that for the director's cut.

As enjoyable as it is, getting paid to make fun of his lesser offenses doesn't make up for the things his critics take issue with, of course. But it is a reminder that, like most people, Suarez actually exists somewhere between the popular yet simplistic views of him as being an angelic martyr and the embodiment of pure evil.

This is a video of motorcyclist Bossaucey cruising around in Utah (and wearing a helmet-cam) when he spots a SUV with a coffee mug on it's bumper. So what does he do? What any aspiring daredevil would: speeds up, picks it up, then returns it to its owner. I like how when he hands it to the lady she tries to blame her daughter for leaving the mug on the bumper. Get real lady, we all know it was you. Hit the jump for the next addition to my annual neighborhood stunt spectacular.

Entering part of the Konami code (up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A) on any page of Vogue's UK website will make a sexy velociraptor in a different hat appear and shoot across the page. I've been doing it for fifteen minutes straight. This is probably the most time I've spent on a women's fashion and lifestyle website since I was reading sex secrets at Cosmo last night. PROTIP: If a sex move you want to try is defined on Urban Dictionary, your lover probably isn't gonna like it. Thanks to Alex, Lauren S, Matty W, Kt, carpe_ and Ford, who are convinced dinosaurs are the future of fashion and they are CORRECT.

Oh my god, you geeks. There is a kickstarter about zombie ants, possessed by fungus.



One of the rewards is fungus.

On the list of comic book hero abilities I dream about magically waking up with one day, Wolverine's claws were probably squeezed right between Superman's flying and Bruce Wayne's women. One of those have practically become reality. These steel Wolverine claws are so fantastically perfect that you could fight Wolverine himself with it. And maybe even win.

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We've seen this bot before. Just this past March, we witnessed it stick a near impossible landing. And now it's stuck a quadruple backflip, which by all accounts appears to be it sixteenth feat of heroism. What can't this little guy do? Nothing.

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Despite dropping prices in the 3D printer market, not everybody's able to get a MakerBot and print the objects of their desire. Today, however, eBay's launching a way -- aside from trekking to MakerBot's brick and mortar -- for folks to get their 3D printing fix. It's called eBay Exact, an iOS app that lets you buy customizable 3D printed objects from MakerBot, Sculpteo or Hot Pop Factory. For now, you can choose from 18 basic objects that are mostly jewelry, but figurines and phone cases are also available. To place an order, you simply choose your object, then pick from the available customization choices (mostly color and materials options) and check out. It's a fairly simple idea, but you know what's better than us describing it to you? Seeing it for yourself... your download awaits.

Filed under: Software, Mobile

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Via: The Next Web

Source: eBay Exact

We recently had a fire drill at work. Which may not seem extraordinary, but this was a Fire Drill Spectacular!

In my company’s US offices, we often have fire drills. Generally, you leave the building, regroup outside, then you’re allowed to back in. Sometimes there is a little reprimand that we (collectively) have not evacuated quickly enough. But there is normally no dog-and-pony show in the US.  In the NYC office, the floor fire marshal is former FDNY from Brooklyn, so he gives a longer briefing (filled with digs about the NYPD’s [in]aptitude for handling fire emergencies) — but still, that takes less than 5 min of chit chat.  And I think that’s more about the fire marshal having a captive audience in front of whom he can tweak the NYPD, than it is about fire safety.  But I digress… US fire drills are nothing to write home about.

Ah, but this was different. Firstly, we’re in a large office park with multiple buildings — some of which my company fully occupies, some of which the company “only” occupies a few floors. This fire drill involved ALL my company’s employees — from all buildings, all floors, all at once. It was a crazy number of people.  We were all sent to one side of campus to regroup. It was a rather warm afternoon and those in suits were complaining about the heat on the tarmac, in the sun. After standing around for quite a while, the PA system (!) kicked on and then the show started.  Someone who appeared to former military/amateur comedian was on stage — yes, there was a stage! — seeking volunteers. With the MC’s direction, the volunteers acted out how to carry people down stairs  during evacuation (2-carriers/1 victim; 1 -carrier/1-victim; conscious victims; unconscious victims; pregnant victims — which was a crowd pleaser, since all the volunteers were men); how to stop/drop/roll; when not to use the elevator (including a line about how getting into an elevator during a fire would instantly turn you into Chicken Tikka); fires basics (fires need oxygen, smoke goes up); how to wet rags to seal doorways/make face masks; highlighting the fact that, in our office complex, no helicopters were going to land on the the (4th story) roofs or pull people out from windows; etc. etc. This went on for at least 45 min. Then the fun started: fire extinguishers.

The MC asked the crowd how fire extinguishers work and he was greeted with silence. Then he said — in all seriousness — that “most” people presume the red cylinder fire extinguishers will automatically explode and put out the fire. I thought he was kidding. But no. A look around showed many of my fellow employees nodding their heads/shrugging in agreement. The MC went into a detailed explanation of the mechanics of fire extinguishers.  I was afraid it was rather basic and, frankly, insulting. However those around me explained that they never had drills in elementary school and were never taught fire safety. Practically no one in this crowd of highly educated engineers, scientists, and professionals knew how to use a fire extinguisher.  This is was literally the first time they were hearing this.  I have to say the MC had people’s attention which was especially notable given a crowd this big, in this heat and standing for what was now approaching an hour.  But wait, there’s more…

The MC announced that they were going to light a fire and security would put it out.  Then they would seek volunteers from the audience to try. Oh yikes. The risk-adverse professional inside me was slightly mortified at first. But then I remembered my first Chemistry teacher, who made us all use the fire extinguisher. It really was a valuable lesson (especially given all the fires we had in that class), so I warmed up to the idea. Once I resolved my internal conflict, I turned to one of my co-workers who was visibly tense. My co-worker explained that another company across town — NOT my company — had hired some people to do a fire safety demo the year before. Their demo included lowering some one from an upper floor using a rope. They asked for volunteers and got a young lady to agree… then they dropped her. She died. Apparently it was all over the local news. (I later Google’d it — true story.)  My colleague was fearing for people’s safety and having visions of the headlines if this fire extinguisher stunt did not turn out as planned.  But Mother Nature knew the deal… storm clouds were gathering.  Rain was inevitable. How bad could it really be?

The MC narrated the “professional” fire extinguishing, then he asked for volunteers. This time he selected a lady. They torched up the fire again and she put it out.  Whew. And of course, the inevitable closer, ” So simple even a lady could do it!” (Ouch. Sigh.)  And with that the skies opened up and big fat rain drops started splashing down on us as we scrambled back into the buildings. I would wager a bet that we entered the buildings to avoid the rain faster than we left the buildings to avoid the “fire”.

To sum up: the LONGEST fire drill ever. With the most people.  And the greatest detailed. And no one died during the drill. But many people got a fire safety education for the first times in their lives.  So, an overwhelming success!

This is Warp Dogs, a small series of Photoshopped pictures by Benjamin Grelle featuring dogs hanging their heads out car windows while traveling at warp speed. Dogs love doing that. Dogs also love sleeping. I also love sleeping. Does that make me a dog? No, but my doctor says it may be a sign of depression. What does he know though, he walks with a limp. If he was so good at doctoring you'd think he could fix that. Hit the jump for some more.

This is a video of a leather-kilted punk performing AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck' on a set of flamethrowing bagpipes in front of a roaring crowd outside of the Jus Burgers in Fremantle, Western Australia. It would have been weird to have just met this guy and asked him what he was going to do for the rest of the day. "The usual -- put on my shit-kicking boots and kilt, then go perform some AC/DC on my fireball-shooting bagpipes outside the Jus Burger with a bunch of BONUS pelvic thrusting. What about you?" Probably sit here and try to comprehend what the hell you just said to me. Hit the jump for the video, but WARNING: those pelvis thrusts were *this close* to making me fall in love.

This is a video of parkour pro James Kingston leaping from rooftop to rooftop and performing a bunch of other death-defying feats of running and jumping around Cambridge, UK. I got a little sweaty watching it, and not just because it's hot as hell here and my A/C stopped working. Although I'm pretty sure the little weather wizard that had been trapped in there escaped when I was cleaning the filter last time. *lifting couch cushions*Come out, come out, wherever you are! Whoa, an unbroken Dorito! Dare me to eat it? "Please don't--" *crunch* I did it, now you owe me a dollar. Hit the jump for the video, then get out there and break both your legs.

Just because a piece of glass might claim to be "bulletproof" doesn't necessarily mean that it's actually, well, bulletproof. But if your bullet-resistant glass is sturdy enough, that speeding bullet will usually just end up lodged in layers of polycarbonate. That's what intrigues photographer Deborah Bay.

She recently found herself struck by the unexpected beauty of a bullet lodged in a slab of plexiglass. Speaking to The Smithsonian, Bay explains:

I thought it was intriguing. You could see all the fragments of metal. You could see the spray of the shattered plastic and then you could see the trajectory lines that were running through the panel of plexiglass.

Eventually, Bay recruited the help of some friendly cops, who gladly obliged her by shooting off a veritable cornucopia of bullets into bulletproof, plexiglass panels. Then, moving the glass to a black backdrop, she used a medium format camera with a macro lens and creatively colored lighting to produce the series entitled "The Big Bang." As The Smithsonian notes:

The patterns that the projectiles leave on the plexiglass on impact look like galaxies, stars and meteors flying through space. The more the photographer combs collections of images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, the more she sees the resemblance. It’s this intuitive leap from the macro to the cosmic that inspired the series’ clever name.

While undeniably beautiful, the photographs are also highly topical—gun control currently being a major point of partisan contention. And Bay is very aware of this, particularly as a resident of Texas, a state with 51 million registered firearms. The irony of the title paired with such a destructive subject matter highlight's Bay's ultimate goal: “I just want people to think about what these bullets can do.”

You can see the entire photo series over on her website or, if you happen to be in Santa Barbara California between July 16 and August 25, in person at Wall Space Gallery. [Smithsonian Magazine]

Images courtesy of ©Deborah Bay.

Have you ever been jealous of that Nintendo Wii controller or Playstation Move? It is really cool use a hand controller as a baseball stick or a lightsaber and jump into action. Feels much more realistic than common controls, too. Well now, with an Apple TV and an iPhone, you could have that too. This is not a hack, but an awesome concept in the form of an app.

Thanks to an India-based company Rolocule Games, and its rolomotion technology, your iOS device turns into a wii style controller while the AirPlay mirroring makes your Apple TV the screen. Proud as the first app of its kind, Motion Tennis rushed into the App Store yesterday, promising to rock your drawing rooms.

Connect the game wirelessly to your Apple TV. Load the Motion Tennis game, enable AirPlay. And just serve, literally! Use your iPhone or iPod as a racket and serve aces, do backhands and pretty much everything you would in real life.

There is more. If your friend shows up, you can pair up and dive into a doubles match. With Wimbledon going on, you can have a little action of your own.

Motion Tennis is now available in the App Store for $7.99. Device requirements are also important as iPhone 4S, iPhone 5 and iPod touch 5 are only supported and you’ll need an Apple TV, too. There is no need for extra sensory and gaming hardware.

Hopefully, Motion Tennis is only the first of a lot. The developers promise that “more games using this technology, specifically developed for Apple platform, will soon change the way you look at your Apple TV.” Oh, I can’t wait to use my iPhone as the sword in Infinity Blade!

Visit What's on iPhone for the best iPad and iPhone app reviews!
Do you want to feel like a wizard? Check the Kymera wand in Amazon: You can control your Apple TV waving a wand!

What the World War Z movie has in common with the book

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About this nifty "Onion Pi" HOWTO just published at Adafruit, Phil Torrone says, "Limor and I cooked up this project for folks. We are donating a portion of any sales for the pack we sell that helps do this to the EFF and Tor."

Browse anonymously anywhere you go with the Onion Pi Tor proxy. This is fun weekend project that uses a Raspberry Pi, a USB WiFi adapter and Ethernet cable to create a small, low-power and portable privacy Pi. Using it is easy-as-pie. First, plug the Ethernet cable into any Internet provider in your home, work, hotel or conference/event. Next, power up the Pi with the micro USB cable to your laptop or to the wall adapter. The Pi will boot up and create a new secure wireless access point called Onion Pi. Connecting to that access point will automatically route any web browsing from your computer through the anonymizing Tor network.

Link:

In a highly anticipated ruling today, the Supreme Court ruled the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional.

"DOMA is unconstitutional as a deprivation of the equal liberty of persons that is protected by the Fifth Amendment," SCOTUSblog reports.

The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, was signed into law by President Bill Clinton, barring federal recognition of same-sex marriages for purposes such as Social Security survivors' benefits, insurance benefits, immigration and tax filing.

Section 3 of the law defines marriage as "a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife" and a spouse as "a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife." That provision had been struck down by eight lower courts before the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling in United States v. Windsor.

The majority opinion was written by Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Attorney George West began his defense of George Zimmerman on Monday by telling the jury a "knock-knock" joke.

During his opening statement, West told the jury that the death of Trayvon Martin was a "sad case."

"Sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying," he explained. "So, let me -- at considerable risk -- let me say, I would like to tell you a little joke. I know how that may sound a bit weird in this context under these circumstances. But I think you're the perfect audience for it as long as you -- if you don't like it or find it funny or appropriate, that you don't hold it against Mr. Zimmerman, you can hold it against me. I have your assurance you won't?"

"Knock, knock. Who's there? George Zimmerman. George Zimmerman who?" West said. "Alright, good, you're on the jury."

"Nothing?" he added when the jury apparently failed to laugh. "That's funny. After what you folks have been through the last two or three weeks."

Following the joke, West most on to "the serious business" of the trial.

"George Zimmerman is not guilty of murder," the attorney insisted. "He shot Trayvon Martin in self defense after being viciously attacked."

ARKYD.

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The Daily Show's John Oliver was back for his second week filling in as host for Jon Stewart and doing a fantastic job once again. He opened this Monday's show with a revelation following the return of Sarah Palin to Fox "News" and her hawking her upcoming book on their ridiculous "War on Christmas":

John Oliver: Just f*cking ignore Sarah Palin’s turd supermarket of self-contradictory nonsense:

“I just don’t even know where to begin with her,” he said. “I mean — hold on. I think I’ve just realized something. F*ck it, this is exactly what she wants. Just because I walked into a turd supermarket doesn’t mean I have to buy anything.”

Though Oliver could mock Palin in the typical Daily Show-esque fashion by mashing up clips of the conservative commentator contradicting her own “nonsense,” the more prudent move was to “just f*cking ignore her.”

“I promise America it will feel so good,” he remarked. “It will be like we give our brains an enema together.”

Ignoring Palin rather than mocking her would be a difficult task, Oliver acknowledged, but it was the right thing to do.

It makes me wonder if the writers over at The Daily Show read Karoli's post on the same subject. While I understand and share the fatigue completely and the sentiment behind not wanting to feed her obvious trolling, I also think ignoring her completely is dangerous. I would prefer to see the media ignore her for the most part unless she's subjected to the proper level of mockery and derision she received here.