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Iam8bit, located on a gentrifying section of Sunset Boulevard, is easy to miss even if you're looking for it. But after a long week running around the E3 show floor, I decided to get away and check out the one LA art gallery I've always wanted to see. It was a good decision—the gallery is a kind of Mecca for anyone who believes in the power of video game imagery in our collective culture.

This image collection gathers some of my personal highlights from the gallery as well as my dive into a life-sized version of Uncle Scrooge's Duck Tales money bin (yes, really). Check out many more pieces (or buy one for yourself) at Iam8bit's website.

The Minus World

I loved the way this painting draws you in to a beautiful recreation of Mario's world. By Harlan / Darthpopstar

17 more images in gallery

 

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The mentalfloss.com Brain Game proudly presents Monday Math Square #175.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This puzzle was incorrect as originally posted, but has been updated since and is now solvable. My apologies!

Enjoy!

Place the digits 1 through 9 in the white blanks so that the mathematical equations work both across and down. Each digit 1 through 9 should appear only once in the main grid (the red square).

The CG anime Captain Harlock movie has a new trailer out, and it's somehow even more phenomenally badass than the first two. I honestly don't know what I can say about this thing that I haven't said already, other than it may be the best scifi flick of 2013.

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It's going to be tough to let go. But hopefully the final batch of Futurama episodes, starting this week, will help numb the pain of saying farewell to the Planet Express Crew. Meanwhile, there's a superhero "girls' night out," and someone finally explains how sex works. Plus Finn and Jake have a time machine!

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"Racetrack Playa" sounds like the screenname of an online teenager you're competing against in Need for Speed, but scientists recognize it as the name of a dried-up lake in Death Valley. For a century, scientific minds have been puzzled by a well-documented, poorly-understood phenomenon occuring at Racetrack Playa: Enormous stones, some up to 700 pounds, appear to have somehow moved themselves across the lakebed floor in random patterns, leaving a furrowed trail behind them.

No one had ever seen these "sailing stones" move, but many photographed the end result. The original thought was that the lakebed forms a thin sheet of ice on it, and that the wind then blows the rocks across it; but that theory was discounted after researchers calculated it would take wind speeds of hundreds of miles per hour to move the rocks, while the wind at the Racetrack maxes out around 90 m.p.h. And if you're wondering why they don't just strap a GoPro camera onto a rock to see what's going on, scientists returning to the site over the years have calculated that the rocks move for short periods of time, just once every three years. That's a bit longer than your battery's likely to last.

However, a fortunate collision between two of these magic rocks provided planetary scientist Ralph Lorenz with an interesting discovery:

(imager)

On the one hand, this could all be a little misunderstanding and there’s nothing to freak out about. On the other? Our entire cereal-eating lives could be based on a lie because of one little yellow stripe. If Internet speculation is to be believed, the so-called “Captain” of Cap’n Crunch cereal might really be a commander. Not a captain. So not Cap’n Crunch.

Over at FoodBeast they take a look at evidence provided by an observant imgur user, wherein it appears (sad drumroll, please) that the Cap’n is a Commander.

Three stripes equal a captain, and four mean you’re a commander, see? And the Cap’n, well he has more stripes than a captain so that makes him… Commander Crunch? Still imposing and a title to be respected, but just not… right. We don’t even want to Google Captain Kangaroo right now, lest all the walls of childhood come crumbling down in a sad, deceptive military title heap.

There is a ray of hope, as FoodBeast points out as an afterthought:

It’s most likely that the Cap’n only has three stripes because he’s a French “Capitaine de frégate” and they technically only have three yellow stripes. Although, that still translates to “Commander” in English . . . and doesn’t explain why he doesn’t speak a lick of le français.

However, that doesn’t sound quite right either — according to the FAQ section on his official page, his full name is Cap’n Horatio Magellan Crunch and he was born on Crunch Island, “which is located in the Sea of Milk.”

Anyone who’s anyone knows that after the Battle of Crunch Island in 1847, that territory was ceded to the United States in the treaty of Kalamazoo; at which time the U.S. granted the islanders their full and complete independence. Just sayin’.

UPDATE: We’ve heard from a few actual seafarers who note, and rightly, that a Commander is still addressed as Captain, including Consumerist reader Jeff:

Any naval officer who commands a ship (titled commanding officer, or C.O.) is addressed by naval custom as “captain” while aboard in command, regardless of their actual rank. Officers with the rank of captain travelling aboard a vessel they do not command should be addressed by their rank and name (e.g., “Captain Smith”), but they should not be referred to as “the captain” to avoid confusion with the vessel’s captain.

While I’m just having fun with this whole thing, of course, if indeed he is a commander that should be noted in his origin story. Credit where credit’s due, right? But as it says, his full name includes Cap’n, and not Commander. I just don’t know what to believe anymore.
Today I Learned – Cap’n Crunch is a Liar and a Fraud [FoodBeast]

Horses go onto the field of battle with armor, so why shouldn’t your guinea pig be afforded the same courtesy? Lucky looks like he could take on an army of Orcs, but sadly he passed away recently. His owner has decided to auction off Lucky’s armor with the proceeds going to Metropolitan Guinea Pig Rescue in Virginia. You can get some incredible handmade armor for your guinea pig and be helping his furry friends at the same time.

See more pictures after the break…

(via Obvious Winner)

In high school:

Now:

On August 31, 2010, it was announced that the International Center for 9/11 Studies had secured the release of hundreds of hours of video that shows the events of September 11, 2001. The videos were held by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and obtained by way of the Freedom of Information Act. [...]

The post 10 Disturbing Raw Videos From 9/11 appeared first on Listverse.

The bulk of any Electronic Entertainment Expo is spent paying attention to the new—the upcoming games, all-new or redesigned consoles, and new services (or policies) that will soon change the way you play.

Tucked away in a corner of the south convention hall, though, is the antithesis of E3. It's an assemblage of old arcade cabinets, classic consoles hooked to standard-definition TVs, and gaming curios that you may never have heard of let alone seen. It's an exhibition of hardware, software, and collectibles put together by the Videogame History Museum. Even if the next big high-definition shooter games hold no appeal for you, you'll get a kick out of all the great stuff they've gathered together here. Take a look at just a small subsection of what they had at the show.

Sit for a spell

Large portions of the Videogame History Museum's sprawling booth were dedicated to playable old-school console games. The authenticity of that horrible 70s couch is impressive.

Andrew Cunningham

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Iggy Azalea’s flame continues to burn as much for her live performances as for her actual music. And by live performances, what we really mean is watching her make her booty butt cheeks jiggle like jello. At a recent Bowery Ballroom gig, the ASStounding Aussie knew what the crowd came for and she gave them all that (and then some).

If Iggy’s not your flavor of ice cream, then by God her dancers should be. In fact, at certain points in the clip, we want to find fault with whoever taped the performance for not shifting focus from Iggy to her twerking stagemates.

Nicki Minaj, your move.

Previously — Watch Iggy Azalea Do “Work” At Radio 1′s Big Weekend

From A Hamburger Today

[Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt]

It's time for another round of The Food Lab. Got a suggestion for an upcoming topic? Email Kenji here, and he'll do his best to answer your queries in a future post. Become a fan of The Food Lab on Facebook or follow it on Twitter for play-by-plays on future kitchen tests and recipe experiments.

Welcome to Burger Toppings Week 2013. Each day this week we'll be presenting a brand new set of burger toppings, all crafted in accordance to The Principles of Topping Burgers, a plan designed to maximize flavor and textural contrasts to provide you with the ultimate burgering experience. Let's jump right in, shall we?

We all know how seductive a plate of poutine can be, right? You know, that Canadian late-night dish of fresh fries smothered with squeaky cheese curds and hot, meaty gravy? After a few beers it beckons to you, seduces you. A cheese-clad goddess enrobed in gravy, ready to nip your hangover in the bud. Heck, even without the beer goggles poutine is a pretty tough mistress to turn away.

So what happens when your poutine employs her crafty wiles on an unsuspecting burger?

The Poutine Burger emerges.

This is what happens when your poutine and your hamburger slink off into some dimly lit corner and re-emerge a bit more disheveled and a whole lot messier. It's a delicious burger, to be sure, but one you probably shouldn't consume in mixed company.

There are only three elements that make up a perfect plate of poutine. First is really good fries. When designing this burger, I started by taking a very literal approach: topping a burger with poutine made with standard, thick-cut french fries. It was delicious, but it was not more than the sum of its parts, as a well-designed sandwich should be.

The problem? The fries, despite their crisp exterior, were simply too similar in texture to the burger itself. Moist-on-moist doesn't make for the most exciting bite of food. I gradually reduced the thickness of my fries in order to increase their crisp-crust-to-interior ratio until I finally reached the stage where they were literally matchstick-thickness, crisp all the way through.

They weren't the classic poutine-style fries, but I felt that the added textural contrast they gave to the dish was enough to warrant a slight deviation from utter authenticity.

In order to get the fries crisp without becoming too dark and acrid tasting, I washed them in water until all of their residual starch was washed away.

This allowed me to cook them until completely crisp while still maintaining a nice golden-brown color with a clean, potato-y flavor.

The other two elements of poutine—the cheese curds and the gravy—didn't require much tinkering at all; they worked as-is with the burger concept. If you have a local cheese maker, most likely they'll sell you fresh cheese curd if you ask them. You can order them online (there are a number of options available on Amazon, or you can do what I did: make them yourself with fresh milk and rennet tablets (the process is remarkably easy, requiring nothing more than a thermometer and a pot).

As for the gravy, any sort of meat broth-based homemade gravy will do. This is a good place to start. Poutine gravy tends to be glossier and shinier than your standard roux-thickened American-style gravy, so if you want to get that look just right, you should thicken your gravy with a pure starch like cornstarch or arrowroot as opposed to flour.

Once you've got your elements all set, it's a simple matter of putting it all together. You can cook your burgers in a skillet if you'd like, but this is a topping set designed for a thick, hearty burger from the backyard grill. Take a look at our Guide to Grilling Great Burgers for some good general principles on how to get the most out of the meat between your buns.

Finally, for the sake of some fresh, non-fried crunch, I like to line my bottom bun with plenty of fresh-sliced onions. White onions or Vidalia are the way to go. Their sweetness works perfectly with the meat and the gravy.

Some may question whether all of this extravagance is necessary. I would question whether those folks know how to seek pleasure out of life.

Get The Recipe

Poutine Burger »

More Burger Toppings!

• Muffuletta Burgers
• Barbecue Bacon Burgers
• Korean Barbecue Kim-Cheese Burgers
• Quadruple Chili Cheeseburgers
• Hot Hawaiian Burgers

About the author: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is the Chief Creative Officer of Serious Eats where he likes to explore the science of home cooking in his weekly column The Food Lab. You can follow him at @thefoodlab on Twitter, or at The Food Lab on Facebook.

The problem with sticky notes is that you have to stick them somewhere. And if you’re not in that somewhere, you’re not going to see it. So take your Post-It notes with you by wearing a Sticky Note Wrist Watch. Stop scribbling on your hands like you’re the Chris Martin of the marketing department and get on the paper train.

Time to Remember: Sticky Note Wrist Watch

mercurialme:

I believe I can flyyyy

Staples runs occasional sales where everything that you can cram in a paper bag gets discounted. “Hmmm,” writes reader Jack, “how many chairs or other furniture items do you think will fit in this Staples bag?” That depends on whether Staples has begun to outfit dollhouses and architectural models with office furniture.

It is a pretty sweet tote bag, though.