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Two Bit Circus – makers of the Hexacade – came up with a thrilling version of the dunk tank that Immortan Joe and his War Boys would approve of. Instead of being dropped into water, the person inside the Flambé gets doused in flames while wearing a flame retardant suit.

Two Bit Circus made Flambé for the 2014 STEAM Carnival, but they also had it on display at this year’s Maker Faire Kansas City.

MAKE: says that while the Flambé is as hot as it looks – they say you could feel the heat from the booth even from 50ft. away – Two Bit Circus does have safety precautions in place and the local fire department stood by to monitor its setup and performance.

Let’s hope it never takes anyone to Valhalla. You can check out the Flambé in person at this year’s STEAM Carnival on 11/6 to 11/8.

[via MAKE: via Devour]

Charter Communications is promising faster, cheaper broadband and the creation of thousands of new jobs if the company's planned $66 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Bright House is approved by regulators. According to a new SEC filing, if the deal is approved Charter is promising to deliver all customers the minimum speed of 60 Mbps downstream at an unspecified lower price than they currently offer.

As we noted last week, the company is also promising to avoid usage caps, metered billing, or zero rating of services for a period of three years. Charter's public interest statement (pdf) has a little more detail on those promises.

Charter's also promising thousands of new jobs if regulators approve the deal.

"New Charter will also return TWC call center jobs to the United States and will hire and train thousands of new employees for its customer service call centers and field technician operations," Charter said in the filing.

While all this sounds absolutely lovely, big ISP promises in regards to merger conditions historically haven't been worth all that much (see Comcast, AT&T, and Fairpoint). Regulatory enforcement of failure to adhere to said conditions has been equally hit and miss (mostly miss).
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This 1991 GMC Syclone (VIN 1GDCT14Z3M8802872) is the first example of this model we’ve seen before. These Marlboro trucks started life as normal ’91 Syclones but were then sent to America Sunroof Corporation for modification. Designed by legendary Detroit stylist Larry Shinoda, we’re not sure what the Targa conversion does for structural rigidity in such powerful pick-up, but admit that it looks cool in a period correct kind of way. Find it here on eBay in Phoenix, Arizona for $79,995 OBO.

Syclone prodution was low to begin with, but with just 10 of these conversions made (this example being number six) they’re even scarcer. Marlboro trucks had many unique features, most notably being the bright red paint, white decals and a removable Targa top that can be stowed in the truck bed. Note also the Boyd Coddington wheels.

The truck looks to be in excellent condition throughout, though with under 4,000 miles this isn’t too much of a surprise. The hard bed tonneau is a nice touch and seems to wear well-matched paint.

Marlboro-specific additions continue inside as well, including a Momo steering wheel, Recaro seats, Simpson harnesses, power roll-down rear window, Sony sound system and more.

Internally the engine remains in stock condition, but now exhales through a Borla exhaust system. Suspension is by Belltech, and an aftermarket, programmable engine management system is also briefly mentioned. Unmodified examples are fast enough, and with this one’s likely adjustable boost we imagine it might be even quicker regardless of any structural enhancements necessitated by the Targa conversion.

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