Safia1117 says proudly of his YouTube North Korea playlist, "Here are all the videos I could find about the incredible, genius, benevolent, loving & caring Dear Leader General Kim Jong Il of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea aka North Korea. Enjoy these completely unbiased glimpses of the Dear Leader!!!"
This is perhaps the closest you'll probably ever get to playing in the Carling Cup Final which will be held this Sunday between mighty Manchester United and my beloved Tottenham Hotspur who is the defending Carling Cup champion. I've just played the game by Doof and lost 14-0. Not a good sign for Spurs.
Hooters waitress wins a beer sales contest, thinks she has won a Toyota from her restaurant but she gets a toy Yoda instead. Upset and shocked, she's suing her restaurant. Good luck, lady. A scan of the newspaper report here.
Scans of a 1965 Boy Scout Handbook. Boy, these sure bring back a lot of memories of the good old days when I was a scout. Great times then, all the camping, the brotherhood, the badges that I have to collect, the campfires and of course, the Girl Guides.
(via MeFi)
This Unicorn vs. Godzilla wallet is made by both Mike and Mona from tinymeat. You can check out their entire range of cute designer wallets, passport and iPod cases, and other accessories at their store here.
Tim Doyle has created this ultra cool Change Into a Truck poster featuring the Autobot leader Optimus Prime from Transformers! The poster is a parody of Shepard Fairey's iconic poster of Barack Obama. I'm really tempted to use Tim's poster and print it on a t-shirt so that I can wear it during the Transformers 2 movie premiere in Singapore.
A series of posters created by the Japanese Red Cross together with the Japanese government to teach the public how to take protective measures against gas attacks and prepare for disinfection, evacuation and relief during an enemy air raid. This one is a poster of the various types of gas masks and their purposes.
I have a friend who's been contemplating for ages whether he should buy a Playstation 3. Maybe I should just tell him to use some duct tape and tie up his old Playstation 1 and Playstation 2 together like in this pic here.
(Thanks GeekGod)
In the new issue of the garbage tabloid, The Globe, there's an exclusive story about President Barack Obama in a new gay sex and drug scandal. The Globe says his loving wife is heartbroken. Poor Michelle. I knew it! Obama is too perfect, too great, too amazing to be a straight man. Oh well, Homobama it is then. Anyone knows if The Globe is sold here in Singapore? Must buy and read.
Two dudes make a 200 square foot mural of Calvin and Hobbes using Post-it notes! David says,"We started with a Microsoft Paint file that was 32 pixels tall and 100 pixels wide. Each pixel in the Paint image represented a note. When we had an image we were pleased with, we counted up the numbers for the different colors and ordered the correct amount of each. Finally we copied the image over into MS Excel so we'd have a grid reference to help us avoid mistakes."
Guys, who wants to buy a G-String with Willy Warmer? Hand knitted from 2 strands of long hair English mohair and 1 strand of 100% pure new wool, the Willy Warmer is super soft and hairy both on the inside and outside. It's perfect for keeping your little buddy warm during the cold, rainy days.
(Thanks xXx)
John Deltgen and David Peterman custom painted a 2007 Chevy Cobalt LS with characters and vehicles from Star Wars and images of galaxies and nebulae taken from the Hubble Space Telescope. The bidding for their Star Wars car unfortunately has ended on eBay but you can still view the pics of the car here.
With struggling AIG, not renewing their shirt sponsorship of Manchester United after 2010, Tony Fernandes, the CEO of Air Asia writes in his blog sharing with us his excitement that Manchester United has approached them to consider becoming their new shirt sponsor. Hey, he even has a pic of him wearing the Manchester United jersey with his company's logo already printed on it! From Tony Fernandes:
Doing this would be a first for a Malaysian company and would truly solidify us as a global brand. This pure acknowledgement of us, AirAsia as a global brand to be reckoned with is simply a moment where you just step back and say, “Wow! We’re actually there right now!”.His latest update here:
From the business front, its simply astonishing as it clearly shows how we have progressed as a brand and that this little Malaysian company has gone so far in a mere 7 years to raised our brand to such high levels.
Heres the million dollar question, or rather the multi-million dollar question: Do I commit to the shirt sponsorship of Manchester United?
There is no doubt that this would be great for AirAsia and as many of you have said, it is worth the money. To be honest, I don’t know what the entire package would amount to, as prices would have come down. But it must be stated that all our branding commitments have always been about the impact to our bottom line. We would not be the global brand we are today if we hadn’t invested early on.
Factory workers not only have to compete with cheap labour from China, etc but soon they will have to compete with an army of factory robots too. These orange robots (video above) at Kiva Systems' warehouse, make inventory move instead of workers. Over time the system becomes increasingly efficient, with the robots learning from the wisdom of the crowd. Amazing stuff!
Rapex is a device used by women to prevent rape and to identify the rapist. You insert it with an applicator like a tampon. The inventor of Rapex got the idea for her anti-rape condom from a victim who said “if only I had teeth down there”. Ouch!
Now you can be a graffiti artist without spending time in jail. The Walls Notebook is a handy 160-page notebook in which 80 untouched New York City walls are your blank slate. They provide inspiration as well as an interesting backdrop for notes, musings, drawings and doodles.
Dear Michael aka King of Pop,
I'm sure you have received plenty of open letters from fans, etc and you may think that this is no different. But please hear me out. I'm a big fan of yours. I used to do all your dance moves, the moonwalking and even the occasional crotch grabbing when I was young. I've listened to all your albums. Even when some people start calling you wacko or freak or when you start turning white, I still love you and your work.
Recently, it's painful for me to read that you are auctioning away your personal property. These treasures from your Neverland Ranch must have meant a lot to you and now that you are going to sell them away shows that like most of us mortals on this planet, you too are in dire need of some moolah. I know, damn the recession!
I sincerely hope that you are successful in raising the money you need for you to lead a new life away from all the public limelight but I do however have a little request. Instead of auctioning your amazing collection of arcade games, why not give some to me? I'm not greedy and I'm not asking for a lot. Maybe just your Simpsons, Star Trek and Indian Jones pinball machines, Jamo Safari, Hogwild, Crazy Taxi, Tokyo Cop, Ms Pacman, Galaxy Force, WWF Royal Rumble, Alpine Racer 2 and Virtua Racing arcade machines to name a few. I may not live in a big house but don't worry, I'm sure I can find a place to keep them all.
I know you may not even read this or even if you do, you may go ahead and sell all your arcade game collection anyway but I'm just hoping. Hey, my previous open letter to Mr Axl Rose (I'm sure you know him) did make my wish come true so who knows this time.
Thanks and regards,
I.Z.
P.S. Send my regards to Prince, Blanket and Paris and tell them that I think they have an awesome father. Too bad they can't grow up playing all your amazing games.
Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe awards winner David Byrne who was in Singapore recently for his concert, enjoys a durian popsicle while sitting next to a giant crab with a woman's head at Haw Par Villa. From David Byrne:
Why does Singapore have all these things for its citizens when it could have easily covered these hills with more condos, as Hong Kong has done? Both were island “nations” colonized by the British, established (in the British point of view) as commercial hubs where goods from neighboring lands could be traded and exported. Both have large percentages of Chinese, especially in the business worlds — though Singapore is certainly less dominated by the Chinese. What is it that gave one island nation the nerve to say, “No, we will save some parkland for our citizens; we will save some chaotic marketplaces and hawker centres?” (— though I’ve heard that the hawkers here are under attack on health grounds, much like the Red Hook Ball Field stalls have been in NYC). What causes one place to say no to immediate profit if it destroys something in the public’s interest, and another to always see profit as the right way to go?(Thanks Marilyn via Twitter)
Enfu has created a truly one of a kind poster of Japanese pop culture and consumer icons all mashed together into crazy new characters on the streets of Nihon Town. Be prepared to spend a bit of your time going through all the 95 treasures hidden in the poster.
(via Nerdcore)
Jublin writes about his cute series of busted up Pokemon portraits, "The idea was to capture each character after a long battle recuperating inside their pokeball. Or maybe I just wanted to imagine pokemon in a lot of pain."
Make your own happy meal minus the calories with this origami hamburger set. Set includes sheets of printed sixteen 6"x 6" pieces of origami paper to make two burgers, a soda, a carton of fries and a tray.
(Thanks sanre72)
Family found a cave while searching for commercial property in their area, fell in love with it and decided to build their house in it. Unfortunately, now they have to sell it. The cave home known as Caveland has 17,000 square feet of space and at least three groundwater springs! Bidding starts at US $300,000. Good luck.
Some talented World of Warcraft (WoW) fans have recreated the amazing characters and props found in the game using paper. These 13 fantastic WoW papercraft figures are probably some of the best WoW papercraft that you'll ever see.
(Thanks Greg)
Back in 2004, Maggie Wang, a full-time video game UI artist, wasn't so satisfied with her body so she engaged herself in a fitness program called Body-for-Life. Since then she has been trying out various fitness programs to shape up her body. You can view before and after photos of her body here and here.
Watch the 3 min preview video montage shown at the end of the 81st Annual Academy Awards of the upcoming movies this year and future Oscar hopefuls. Movies previewed include Terminator Salvation, Angels & Demons, Monsters vs. Aliens, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and a lot more.
Grab these Available Online For Free stickers and paste them on CDs, DVDs, computer software or games that you can find in the shops. Just make sure no one is looking when you're doing it. Part of Evan's Available Online For Free: Solo Exhibition and Book Launch.
Next time when you're having a drinking party with friends, you should have this Russian Roulette Beer Bong to add to the fun. Each person spins the roulette and pulls out a bottle until the unlucky person (or in my case, lucky) will have to drink all 2 litres of beer.
Bet you haven't seen or eaten waffles this cute before aye? Sunbeam Woddles creates fun penguin shaped waffles in minutes. Each penguin waffle even has an indent in its tummy so that you can scoop some ice-cream onto it. Nice!
Earlier today, you've watched Slumdog Millionaire win big at the Oscars. Now watch all the Academy Award winners say their thanks to their mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, wives, husbands and basically every human being on the planet again, this time backstage via the Thank You Cam.
Here's a screenshot of the Scrabble website showing its Word of the Day yesterday. For those of you who don't know what a dildo is, it is an object used as a penis substitute. Thanks Scrabble. Now everyone knows.
I got this SingTel Dream T-shirt from the Singapore launch of the HTC Dream held last Friday. You can see the Google Android logo on the front and back of the t-shirt. Kinda cute but I would have preferred if they had given me the HTC Dream instead. Ahem.
You've seen pictures of the Chevy folks building the Autobot Bumblebee at the recent Chicago Auto Show. Here's the time-lapse video of the assembly!
Previously:
Bumblebee and Autobots at the Chicago Auto Show
Chevy builds a Bumblebee
Presenting Giuseppe Peppe, probably the sexiest man in the history of the internet! A reader sent me a link to his photoset on Flickr. It has more than 1000 photos of himself. No, he is not gay (really) but check out his photos! His sexiness is awesome! But ladies, stay away. He is happily married and has a daughter.
(Thanks alion23)
Inspired by Olly and Spacesick's Penguin projects, M.S. Corley decided to do something similar by redesigning Harry Potter book covers to to look like classic Penguin books. Gorgeous! I love them all especially his remake of Harry Potter And the Philosopher's Stone.
I don't think the Paccon Boo Animal Piggy Bank is meant for kids. Come on, I doubt parents would want their kids to see two pigs (there's elephants too) go hump hump while they learn how to save money aye?
Since I love cupcakes so much maybe I should get one of these Waxed Cupcake Dental Floss. It will leave my teeth and mouth tasting like a good old frosting flavoured cupcake after each night of flossing. But if you prefer the taste of bacon instead, there's one for you too.
The Korg Kaossilator is a multi-instrumental pocket sized musical synthesiser that lets you to create unbelievable music on the move by simply tapping or sliding a finger across its touch pad. It has 100 powerful sound programs including leads, accoustic, bass, chords, effects and drums.
When I was in school, I hate the periodic table but this period table, I like! The Periodic Table of Cupcakes!!! Just click on each cell and get the recipe. There are 46 different cupcake recipes to try out. Yummy!
(Thanks Joanne Li)
I was cleaning up one of my email accounts just now when I came across this mail that was sent to me in January. Somehow I missed it. Anyway, it's always nice to know when one of your heroes is following you on Twitter. Thanks Scoble! So if you enjoy reading stuff like "Warning to guys with grinders! Man's penis injured in grinder accident. Type of grinder cannot be identified. http://tinyurl.com/c89jq2" or "Chantelle was sleeping with as many as 8 teen boys. 13 yr old Alfie may not be the father after all. What a slut! http://tinyurl.com/bpy43x" or "My dearest Risa Niigaki, you can take me to the beach anytime! Don't forget to bring along your bikini. Ahem. http://tinyurl.com/affcxx" then you should follow me on Twitter too. Do it!
Thanks Guardian for linking to my post. Now everyone in the UK knows what to do with five kilos of Gummi Bears. Yay!
Earlier this afternoon, I attended the media briefing and live demonstration of the HTC Dream held by SingTel, Google and HTC. The highly anticipated HTC Dream is the first Android powered mobile phone to be launched in Singapore and Asia.
As usual, I took a couple of videos and pics at the event. You can watch all three videos here: HTC Dream launches in Singapore!, Video Demo of HTC Dream and local Android apps (clip above) and lastly, A quick hands-on with the HTC Dream.
The HTC Dream has a 528 MHz processor by Qualcomm and runs on the Android operating system by Google. It has 256 MB of ROM and 192 MB of RAM. It has a 3.2 inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen with 320 x 480 (HVGA) resolution display. There's a slide out 5 row QWERTY keyboard and trackball for an alternative, one-handed navigation. The HTC Dream also has bluetooth, wi-fi, GPS navigation capability, 3.2 megapixel auto focus colour camera, microSD expansion slot and a built-in mic and speaker.
The biggest feature of the HTC Dream is undoubtedly its Android powered operating system which allows access to the Android Market where you can download many popular and unique applications from developers from around the world. For HTC Dream in Singapore, SingTel is collaborating with local application developers to introduce innovative Android applications that meet lifestyle needs of mobile users here. For example, one of the local Android apps that users can use on their HTC Dream is SG SavvyShopper. Simply scan the barcode of a product using the phone's camera and the app will search and display the prices of the product sold in other outlets in Singapore. You can check out the demo of this app in my video above. Google says that all its Android apps in Singapore will be free of charge!
The HTC Dream will go on sale tomorrow at SingTel retail stores island-wide. It costs $438 on SingTel's 3G Flexi Lite ($39 monthly), $338 on 3G Flexi ($56 monthly) and $238 on 3G Flexi Plus ($95 monthly). Those who buy the HTC Dream tomorrow and on Sunday will receive unlimited data download for 6 months!
You can view all the pics taken at the event (including high resolution shots of the HTC Dream) here.
Todd Stanton has been a big fan of Star Wars since 1977. From his youthful days of trading cards to his adult years of DVDs, the 6 Star Wars films have always been a part of his life. To celebrate his love for Star Wars, he made a documentary called 30 Years of Star Wars which documents his journey of the last three decades through an amazing collection of Star Wars multimedia history. Watch Part 1 above. Parts 2 and 3 here and here.
For US $37,000, you can be the proud owner of this pinball machine collection. The person who is selling it on eBay, has been collecting pinball machines since 1981. His collection for sale has 55 pinball and arcade machines. Worth a bid if you are thinking of starting your own version of the Pinball Hall of Fame.
Here's another use for all those unwanted floppy disks. Dude sticks together 82 floppy disks to make a small desk for his laptop. I think he should have used more floppy disks to make longer legs for the desk and he should try making a chair while he's at it.
(Thanks Johnny Q)
In 1950, Karl Hans Janke was sent to a psychiatric department for paranoid schizophrenia. Despite being a psychiatric patient, Karl saw himself as an artist and a technical designer. In the next forty years, he made nearly 4000 drawings and models of strange spaceships, machines and devices. You can view some of them here.
The Radiology Art project scans toys, food and electronics using a GE CT scanner. The project's aim is to achieve a deeper visualization of objects that hold unique cultural importance in modern society. The scanned images and quicktime videos show you what's really inside these objects.
Remember my previous post about some Chevy folks assembling Bumblebee at the Chicaco Auto Show? Well, here are three short videos taken at the Auto Show of the General Motor vehicles that we will see in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: Part 1, Part 2 (above) and Part 3. Enjoy!
(via Transformers Live)
In 2008, MAD organized and invited 11 young international architects to carry out an urban experiment: to design the Huaxi city centre of Guiyang, in South Western China. The result is a series of crazy and futuristic looking organic individual buildings, growing from the natural environment and working together to produce a compound of diverse urban activities.
Looks like Michael Jackson is in need of some moolah! An array of treasures from his Neverland Ranch ranging from his iconic white-jeweled glove to the grandiose entry gates to the Ranch are up for sale in an auction to be held in April. You can view some of the items here including this montage of iconic figures sporting the classic MJ shades and glove worth at least $1000. Full catalog here.
Mike, an avid Transformers fan, proudly shows off his collection of Transformers toys. Watch the video above. I may be wrong but I think he has almost every god damn Transformers toy ever made. Yes, I'm so farking jealous!
100 designers from around the world were invited by Japanese company Epos to participate in creating a series of unique Visa credit cards. You can view all 100 of the cutest, coolest, and most beautiful credit cards here. I want one! I think from now on, all credit cards should look like these.
(Thanks Hoshi)
They don't call him Crazy Eric for nothing. Eric aka the Human Swiss Army Knife, carries an incredible 1300 items in his clothes. That's a total of 15 kg of clothes and items! And for those of you who want to know, yes he does carry condoms too. Good on ya, mate!
The folks from Topless Robot list their 10 worst Transformers toy rip-offs. One of them is this toy from the Road Bots brand which looks like a copycat of the Transformer's Constructicons to me. You have to take the robots totally apart to transform them into construction vehicles.
(Thanks GeekGod)
Dude builds a wind generator in his backyard that can generate 50-250 watts of power. He says, "Lately I've been spending a great deal of time working on ways to generate my own electricity. It isn't a necessity for me yet, but someday being electrically self-sufficient could really come in handy."
This video (above) shows why people in Osaka are one of the most amazing and sporting people in the world! They instantaneously react when someone shouts "Bang" at them by pretending that they are being shot. That's not all. Slice them with an imaginary sword and see them react too. Go try it out when you visit Osaka.
I'm starting to follow Butterflies of Singapore, a blog set up to feature news and latest discoveries on butterflies found in Singapore, and to a lesser extent, the extended geographical region of Peninsula Malaysia. There are lots of beautiful butterfly pics too! In its latest post, the blog features its Butterfly of the Month, The Commander. From Butterflies of Singapore:
For the month of February 2009, which also happens to be the month of the year on which my birthday falls, we feature a species which I had used as my avatar and nickname/alter ego in ButterflyCircle - The Commander. I'd chosen this butterfly as my nickname as I had fond memories of chasing this strange-looking and new butterfly that I'd never seen before when I was a school-going kid in Malaysia...
In Singapore, the species is often observed singly, flying rapidly and stopping to sunbathe with its wings open flat on the upper surfaces of leaves. It has a strong and determined flight, is skittish, and takes off to the treetops if it senses any danger. Females are occasionally seen in the vicinity of its preferred host plant, Timonius wallichiana, as she tries to oviposit.
The following are stories that are making the headlines over at Topix Singapore News today, edited by yours truly.
-Beauty and recession only skin deep in Singapore: Despite the threat of job losses and the country's deepest economic recession, seven in 10 Singaporeans will continue to spend on beauty products and services, a small industry survey showed.
-New road safety initiatives: The Land Transport Authority says it will expand the roll-out of two road safety initiatives - Dashed Pedestrian Crossing Lines and Pedestrian Crossing Ahead Markings - to more locations.
-21 cord blood transplants: Three years after its first unrelated cord blood transplant, the Singapore Cord Blood Bank (SCBB) carried out its 21st cord blood transplant this month.
-Contrasting views of madrassas in multi-ethnic Singapore: Many parents in the Singapore are reluctant to enrol their children at madrassas, concerned that the combination of religious and academic studies crowds out broader curricula activities.
-“Sexting” trend caught on in Singapore: Some local students in Singapore are using the ubiquitous phone camera to take nude pictures of themselves to send to friends or post them on blogs. Some teens do it as a joke and for other, it is a new bold pickup line to get a date.
-President Nathan on why he said okay in 11 days: Making public his reasons for the first time in giving in-principle approval to the Government’s request to draw $4.9 billion from the reserves to save jobs and loosen credit flow, Mr Nathan emphasised the need for him to give the nod quickly — for should the situation worsen, “negative consequences would have kicked in, making any measures too late to be of any effect”.
-Malaysians last to be retrenched in Singapore: Malaysians would be the last workers to be retrenched in Singapore during the global economic slump because Malaysian workers had more skills and abilities as required by Singaporean industry compared to other foreign workers in the island republic.
-Smokers of illegal cigarettes beware: Singapore Customs plans to step up checks on smokers lighting up duty-unpaid cigarettes. Over 570 people were booked doing so in January, since the new rule kicked in on New Year's Day.
-Singapore’s GIC Loses $50 Billion: Government of Singapore Investment Corp., one of two sovereign wealth funds owned by the island, lost as much as S$50 billion ($33 billion) in 2008, the Wall Street Journal said, citing two people familiar with the matter.
-Contactless payment for Singapore coming soon: By next year, the Government will appoint an agency to oversee the rollout of a nation-wide contactless payment system, including making sure that the system works across all telcos, financial institutions and retailers.
The JBOARD (video above) is a new type of street based skateboard that has only two wheels, one on the front deck and one on the back deck. Another distinct feature of the JBOARD is that it has two decks, the front and back decks, which are connected by a rotating joint-bar mechanism. With the JBOARD, skateboard enthusiasts can enjoy a wide variety of techniques such as turning and advancing by tilting the decks in opposite directions.
Cupcake Wrapture lets you dress up your cupcakes! Realising that all those pretty cupcake liners refused to stay pretty once an actual cupcake was baked inside them, Lisa Mudrakoff decided to make her own stylish cupcake wraps. I love cupcakes and these wraps are really cute!
You've seen Robert Saccenti's amazing Han Solo in Guacamole, now here's how you can make you own Han Solo in carbonite chocolate bar! You'll need a Han Solo in carbonite toy, foamcore, glue gun with a few sticks, food grade silicone and of course, baking chocolate.
The new season of The Simpsons is going HD and they are getting a new opening title sequence too! It will be the first full, permanent revamp of the show's opening titles since its premiere in 1989. Screenshots and clip of the new intro here.
I don't think it's an official Teenage Mutant Ninja Tutles comic, but this Russian comic has replaced Master Splinter, the Turtles wise old sensei with a giant Russian bear as their new leader. Splinter won't be too happy when he sees this.
(via Nerdcore)
It has probably happened to some of us before. Running late and missing a flight. I know it sucks but this Hong Kong lady's reaction is a bit extreme. She completely freaks out - screaming, yelling, wailing - after missing her flight at Hong Kong's international airport. Someone took a video of her airport hysterics (watch it above) and all of the sudden, she's famous on YouTube!
In Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Han Solo was frozen in carbonite and given to Boba Fett as a reward by Darth Vader. Robert Saccenti attempts to recreate the iconic Han Solo in carbonite statue with his own version, Han Solo in guacamole made with 50 avocados, garlic, cilantro, salt, pepper, a little onion and lots of lime.
The Shower Mic not only acts as a sponge for washing up (it has antimicrobial properties!), but it also has the uncanny ability to unleash your inner Sinatra while you're in the shower. And if you're like me and you love to sing in the shower, this one is a must have!
I know the situation is very bad in Japan now, with the country plunging into depression and its finance minister looking like he was drunk at the G7, but surely it cannot be this bad? 14-year-old Japanese has built his very own Jomon period (10,000 BC to 400 BC) Japanese pit house out of bamboo and rice straw and intends to live in it for a few weeks at a time!
Before you watch the Watchmen movie on March 6, play this online arcade game of Minutemen. The Minutemen were a group of superheroes formed in the 1940s, long before the Watchmen. In this game, you can choose to play as Nite Owl or Silk Spectre and fight your way through the crime infested streets of New York.
Morita Shouji, a company that specialises in wood carvings, exhibited wood carved figures of Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah (video above) at the Spring 2009 Tokyo International Gift Show. Only twenty of each of these three figures will be available worldwide.
Kevin G got this tattoo which perfectly sums up his feelings towards George Lucas. He says, "I love Star Wars, but I wish George would retire and leave the series in better hands." Perfect tattoo for all you Star Wars fanboys cum George Lucas haters out there!
(Thanks Mr Big)
For all of 2009, David Horvitz will send out small texts of simple instructional ideas to his mailing list. Mailings are sent through the postal system and will include the texts, as well as other supplementary items (including photographs and anything else he may happen to find). He also posts screenshots of the instructions on his Tumblr page here.
Dude wants to make a full Scout Trooper costume out of paper! He writes, "I'm a big fan of Star Wars since I was a kid... I never think it just a movie, it's a way of life, a religion if I may say it is. This time I'll fulfill my dream, my destiny to having my own design costume suit and off course wearing it, especially scout trooper/biker scout costume, that's why I design that first."
Monsterbrick likes to make scary stuff from Lego such as this skull model that he glued Lego all over. View all his scary Lego stuff on his Death By Lego Flickr photoset.
(Thanks punkass12)
Raffi Asdourian is a filmmaker living and working in NYC who makes abstract short films and music videos. His latest work, Ai - Life in the Shadow of Death (video above) is highly impressive. It is about a young woman, haunted by the memories of her parents being murdered, who discovers the truth about herself and her sensei. Inspired by the great tradition of Japanese cinema, Ai is an exploration of themes that stem from the era of the fearless warriors, the samurai. You can view photos of the film shoot here.
Someone has managed to combine two of my favourite consumption, Skittles and vodka into one "boozetastic" concoction. Here's how you can make your own Skittles vodka! The technique involves separating all the Skittles into their separate flavors and making five different bottles of Skittles vodka. I'm so going to try this!
We're All Gonna Die - 100 meters of existence is a photo project by Simon Hogsberg. He spent 20 days on the same spot on a railroad bridge to take photos of 178 people walking on it. His final image is an impressive 100 meters long.
Celebrate Valentine's Day with the LoveCats. There are five paper models to download, print, cut and assemble. Here's the description of one of the LoveCats, CupiKitten: "Hearts, run for cover! CupiKitten is trigger happy and searching for singles to pierce. Look out for those heart shaped arrows, they might be aimed at you!"
What could be worse than Hello Kitty and Domo Kun? David Keller has the answer. He has created a one-of-a-kind original doll called Domo Kitty that could probably be the illegitimate love-child of Hello Kitty and Domo Kun, two of Japan's most popular TV icons. What a monster! More pics here.
Twitoshirt is a cool service that allows you to print your favourite Twitter status on a t-shirt, sweatshirt, mousepad or even a jumbo tote bag! Just paste the URL of the Twitter status of your choice and click "Get a T-shirt". It's that easy!
Just in case you haven't had enough of Christian Bale swearing, here is something better. No, no more Bale this time but every single curse word from every single episode of The Sopranos, ever. Video above. Enjoy it, farkers!
Dude makes a kick-ass Portal Gun out of some PVC, plastic and foam for his girlfriend. How sweet! The Portal Gun is made famous by the video game Portal. The Portal Gun also known as the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, allows the player to teleport his character and other simple objects.
With the Sculpta Sutra, you can now first try out those hard to do sex positions with a pair of clay characters before doing it with your partner. The pack comes with coloured modelling clay, modelling wire, 2 pairs of plastic eyes, modelling tool, a guide to Kama Sutra with more than 36 adventurous positions to try plus 8 extra flexible positions!
Get a life-size replica of the interior of a McDonald's restaurant minus any staff or customers, and then flood it with water so that everything inside - the furniture, trays, food and drinks - starts floating about, the electric gets short circuit and the space becomes complete submerged. What a cool idea for a film!
(Thanks Linghan)
Remember the Sesame Street cupcakes made by a mum for her son's birthday? Well, here are more cute Sesame Street cupcakes for you! These are available at Ruthy's located in New York City's Chelsea Market. Check out their special cakes section.
Not all of us are lucky enough like these students who enrolled in UC Berkeley's Starcraft Decal '09, (a course in competitive StarCraft playing as part of the university’s Decal program), so for the rest of us, we have to settle for watching this video of the first lecture with envious eyes and ears instead.
For those of you who still believe in the Tooth Fairy, the Office of the Tooth Fairy brings you the Official Tooth Fairy Kit. Finally! It comes with a Certificate of Record for filing with your local Tooth Fairy and one reusable silkscreened cloth deposit bag for your first and all subsequent transactions.
(Thanks hendrab)
At the Chicago Auto Show, car maker Chevrolet shows off the new Bumblebee version 2.0 Camaro that is used in the upcoming Transformers movie, Revenge of the Fallen. Bumblebee in his robot mode is also there! You can view pics of the Chevy folks assembling him here. No, he can't transform by himself.
Thanks to Devolve Me, an awesome devolving tool that allows you to upload your photo and see yourself travel back through the evolutionary timeline, now I know how I looked like some 3.7 million years ago as Australopithecus afarensis. So ugly!
(via MeFi)
I just downloaded this fantastic Bohemian Rhapsody mash-up by the Kleptones. It's an edit mix of different Bohemian Rhapsody versions performed by more than 30 artists that includes Queen (of course), Weird Al Yankovic, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Faye Wong! Fans of Queen and Bohemian Rhapsody should go download it.
This is insane! A device that will charge your USB gadgets by simply breathing into it? Yes, you read that right. Breathe! The Breath powered USB charger is made from parts scavenged from an old CD-ROM drive, a simple electronic circuit, and a few rubber bands. Interesting concept but don't throw away all your other chargers yet!
Dude makes Space Invader cookies using the Play-Doh Fun Factory, a must have tool for any budding cookie artist! The steps involve stacking rows and rows of dough sticks of different colours and then slicing them from the top. Very cool. He is planning to do Mario cookies next. I can't wait.
Yesterday, you had seen the exclusive pictures of the Sleepless Town rehearsal that I posted. Now, here are the videos that I promised. First video (above) is of Mark Richmond and the cast rehearsing the opening scene of Sleepless Town.
Here's 13 year old singing prodigy Julia Roman Abueva showing off her amazing vocals (video above). Yes, she is only 13!!! In the musical, she plays the young girl who is summoned to save Sleepless Town. I've watched videos of her performances on YouTube but seeing her perform live at the rehearsal was really something. She really blew me away!
And lastly, here's a clip (above) for fans of Chua Enlai! Yes, he is really cute, funny and er, forgetful - he couldn't remember some of his lines during the rehearsal. Shhh. Don't tell anyone ok.
Sleepless Town, the must watch musical this year will debut on 27 February at the Drama Centre Theatre and will run till 14 March. Tickets are priced from $30 to $68 and you can get them at Sistic.
Previously: Sleepless Town the Musical: Exclusive Pics of the rehearsal!
Cera Cera designs fascinating, easy to build moving paper models and automata kits that you can make with card stock. Once a model is completed, turn the handle and see your creation come to life. This one is a papercraft of a parachutist that can flag hands, bend legs and float in the sky like a flying man!
Dude writes about his gummy bear army: "Sometimes you do things just because you happen to have 5 kilos of haribo bears. Total army: 432. Time spent 2.5 hours. Casualties: 23 brave soldiers were eaten after they were not able to demonstrate required posture."
How's this for a remote controlled helicopter? The RC Flying Cockroach may look like the real thing and when it's on its flight mode may even scare a person or two especially those of you who are afraid of roaches.
(via Gizmodo)
I've just finished watching the first two episodes of Growing Up in the Universe, a series of lectures on life, the universe, and our place in it, given by Oxford professor Richard Dawkins in 1991. His five one-hour lectures, originally televised by the BBC, are now available free online!
The following are stories that are making the headlines over at Topix Singapore News today, edited by yours truly.
-So many surcharges, so few passengers: He works 13-hour shifts - and earns just $6 an hour. That's less than the going rate of some telemarketeers, who can earn up to $10 an hour. This is today's harsh reality for taxi drivers like Mr CH Ng, 42, what with the falling demand for cabs since last September.
-Female teacher had sex with boy: In the first case of its kind in Singapore, a teacher who is a mother of two young children pleaded guilty to having sex with an underage boy.
-Five-day work week = poor work-life balance?: Is it time to take Singaporeans out of the comfort zone? In a controversial speech in Parliament last Wednesday, Nominated MP Loo Choon Yong said the move by the public and private sectors in 2004 to have a five-day work week could have eroded the Singaporean work ethic.
-Temasek, the Now Slightly Less Singaporean Singapore SWF: One potential benefit for Singaporean sovereign-wealth fund Temasek Holdings by hiring former BHP Billiton chief Charles “Chip” Goodyear as its new CEO: the move could be a way for the roughly $134 billion fund to tamp down criticism that sovereign-wealth funds are too closely tied to their governments.
-No to human cloning: Singapore is standing firm on its ban on human cloning. Declaring that it is illegal, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan, however, said on Tuesday that science is evolving and the law must try to keep place.
-Litterbugs in Singapore face harsher penalties: Facing a record number of litterers in a city which is regarded as one of the cleanest worldwide, the Singapore government is to implement heavier fines for smokers dropping cigarette butts or car drivers leaving parking coupons on the street.
-Singapore fights recession with upbeat acronyms: Not content with a $13.7 billion financial stimulus package, Singapore has unveiled a raft of economic recovery schemes with titles so perky they are almost "comical".
-Look out for contact lenses sold online: Eye doctors and opticians are reporting a spike in eye infections among youngsters who have bought coloured contact lenses from online sellers.
-Higher Medisave withdrawal limits for surgery: Singaporeans can soon draw on bigger amounts from their Medisave accounts to pay for hospital surgeries.
-Singapore detained 366 without trial in last five years: Singapore authorities detained 366 people without trial under its criminal law in the past five years. However, 272 detainees were released in the same period from 2004 to 2008.
These illustrations are taken from one of two journals kept by a German recruit to the Dutch East India Company. Jörg Franz Müller was a gunsmith who enlisted as a midshipman aboard vessels of the Dutch East India Company that sailed between Europe and Batavia (in Indonesia) from 1669 to 1682.
Wai Fong Fung's Stormtroopers and other Star Wars action figures seem to have a life of their own. Painting a picture, decorating the Christmas tree, unwrapping presents, playing the skateboard and performing in a rock band are just some of the things that her toys can do.
Artist Alex Gross paints surreal images of fairytale, allegory, history, and pop culture, fusing eastern and western aesthetics in an ethereal world populated by kimono-clad Japanese women and lost Victorian dandies. His paintings and mixed media are both enigmatic and irresistible.
Yesterday, I went to Popstars City to take a look at the rehearsal of Sleepless Town, a pop musical by Toy Factory. Sleepless Town is about a young girl Nora Mowend who was summoned to save Sleepless Town, a world infested with crime where children are depleting rapidly. She needs to battle the Queen of all evil – the Black Azira. As the Black Azira brews a heinous plan to reign supreme in Sleepless Town, Nora attempts to engage the help of her Superheroes but discovers that they are in dire need of help themselves.
The musical features an established cast of Singapore theatre veterans Karen Tan and Chua Enlai as well as 13 year old singing prodigy Julia Roman Abueva who plays Nora. It is written by Mark Richmond and directed by Beatrice Chia-Richmond with original music composed by Don Richmond and Jason Tan. Below are some exclusive pics of the rehearsal. There are lots more here.
Sleepless Town will debut on 27 February at the Drama Centre Theatre and will run till 14 March 2009. Tickets are priced from $30 to $68 and you can get them at Sistic.
I will post some videos taken at the rehearsal tomorrow. So watch out for them! In the meantime, enjoy the pics!
Matt Lee has a beautiful collection of matchboxes from India. He writes, "Collected during my time working from Bangalore, these matchboxes are the tangible memories of my various travels and experiences through India. The random and disparate juxtapositions of the imagery encapsulate the mix of historic, mythological and contemporary visual culture in India."
Cupcakes of Catan is a totally edible, fully functioning, utterly playable, all vegan, mostly organic, completely cupcake version of the original boardgame, Settlers of Catan. I have no idea how you play the boardgame but I do know one thing about the cupcake version. Those cupcakes look so yummy!
The Hamburger Bed will give you a good night's sleep and many dreams of your favourite burger! Kayla Kromer made it out of a round mattress from the 70's, 30 pillows and 2 tones of light brown fabric. She says it is the most comfortable bed that she has ever owned. We believe her.
Sheyla Hershey believes that big is beautiful and to prove that, she has the biggest breast implants in the world! 38KKK is the size and yes, that's a world record for those of you ladies who would like to break it. I just hope she doesn't have a bad back when she grows older with all that weight on her chest.
(Thanks xXx)
Barbie is turning 50 this year so to celebrate the iconic toy doll, here's a look at how they are made. The photos in the gallery show the various stages of making the Barbie doll from how Barbie's face is created out of a mold to how her hair is being sewed to her head.
(Thanks Jo)
Face Off, Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, Batman Returns and Edward Scissorshands are just some of the movies re-imagined as classic book covers by Spacesick for his I Can Read Movies series. Very Saul Bass like!
(Thanks Sir Thomas)
Inspired by Dancing Matt, Cneil created this video to introduce new employees to Singapore and the International Community School (ICS). In it, Dr B and friends dance at various places of interest in Singapore such as Arab Street, Orchard Road and Chinatown. He says, "It's really not going to be a great video, and it isn't even really an original idea; but I'm sure that people will laugh at the dance, learn a little bit about Singapore, and feel welcome at my place of work."
Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose gives Billboard a world exclusive interview about his band's first new album of original material in 17 years, Chinese Democracy. From Billboard:
This is the first interview you've done in a long time. Why have you been so reluctant to do press now that the album is out?
Lots of reasons I've gone into elsewhere, but I can say why I'm doing this one. First, because in all this time it's one of the first actually formally presented: I was asked to consider it, I liked the questions and I felt it was a good time to address some of these issues publicly. Also, because it's my understanding that these answers may be "considered" for use with Billboard.com and Reuters [with which Billboard has a syndication deal] and this seemed like a wonderful opportunity to express myself accordingly.
With Reuters, I get their reach. That said, they've been particularly ugly toward me and this band for years, with nearly everything they've written being condescending or negatively judgmental with the cute little press trick of using negative adjectives across the board whenever they've written anything. In our regard they're one of the media outlets that appear to continually attempt to set a tone for a negative mainstream public perception regarding either us or myself, at least in the United States, if not the world.
The National Labor Committee has put together a report about the Meitai Plastics & Electronics factory in Guangdong, China that highlights the ill-treatment of the mainly young women workers there. The factory makes keyboards and printer cases for Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Lenovo, Microsoft and IBM. From NLC:
If a worker steps on the grass on the way to the dorm, she is fined. The workers are locked in the factory compound four days a week and are prohibited from even taking a walk.
Management tries to brainwash the young workers, telling them they “…must love the company like their home...” and that “to serve society, each worker must be devoted to their duty…continuously striving for perfection…” and “developing good personal work habits.” These good workers also have to spy on each other for “…employees should actively monitor each other.” Communism in China has come a long way as the young workers at the Meitai factory are taught that, “economizing on capital…is the most basic requirement of factory enterprise.”
Workers who hand out flyers or discuss factory conditions with outsiders will be fired. Many young workers have never heard the word union and have no idea what it is.
All the workers know is that they all—“feel like we are serving prison sentences.”
LG and Prada announced the Asia Pacific launch of their latest Prada phone yesterday at an event held at St Regis, Singapore. I was there together with bloggers from Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong and folks from the regional media. Watch the video of the launch event below.
At first glance, the new Prada phone looks like its predecessor but this latest collaboration between LG and Prada has a lot of improvements such as LG's latest active flash UI technology and haptic feedback on touch input enhancing the experience of the phone's exclusive contents offerings. The new Prada phone now has 3G capability with HSDPA up to 7.2 Mbps, an advanced 5 megapixel camera with flash that allows slow motion video recording and DivX playback and more importantly a slide-out Qwerty Keypad. Other features include Wi-Fi, full HTML browser, video calling capabilities, exclusive Prada ring tones, wallpapers and video clips.
In addition to the Prada phone, both LG and Prada also announced yesterday the Prada Link, a new wearable wrist accessory for the Prada phone. The watch wirelessly synchronizes with the Prada phone via Bluetooth. It can alert users either by sound or vibration to incoming calls, SMS messages, Caller ID and alarm notifications without having to take the handset out of the pocket or a bag.
Guests at the launch event yesterday were also treated to the first episode of Fallen Shadows, the second animated short created by Prada. The 30 second short film dedicated to the new Prada phone, is directed by James Lima using state of the art technology. Watch Fallen Shadows below.
The starting price for the Prada Link is at US$430 while the Prada phone costs US$850. Both are available now in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. You can view all the photos taken at the launch here.
Previously: LG updates its popular Prada phone
Joystiq took some time off during this year's CES to visit the Pinball Hall of Fame which houses the world's largest pinball collection including some extremely rare games like The Pinball Circus and Gottleib's two-player, head-to-head Challenger pinball machine. Lots of pics here.
Jason Geyer shows off a bunch of copies of original concept artwork for Star Wars promotional merchandise that did not make it to production. There's the Jabba the Hutt Beanbag, Star Wars Foosball and my personal favourite, Darth Vader Gumball machine! Just press his nose to dispense gumball.
Some really innovative Russian guy has managed to stuff his computer (and the monitor!) into a portable wooden carrying case. Who needs a laptop anyway? Not him apparently. His is really a mobile computer! I wonder how much one of these go for in Russia.
(Thanks GeekGod)
Thanks to the folks at IAC, now everyone wants to play their Xbox on a 269 inch HD TV. Yes, it is the largest, highest definition screen in the world - so large that it's not designed for regular things like TV or video games. But that doesn't mean you can't play your Xbox or PS3 with it if you don't mind using only one chunk of the screen.
Mike spotted this shapely bottle of Hello Kitty mineral water with breasts, hips and skintight clothes. He writes, "There's the mystery of why they decided to fill it with something as boring as mineral water and charge 350 yen. It's like an expensive book with a great cover, but no climax."
(via Degenerasian)
For Dylan's 1st birthday, his parents give away Sesame Street cupcakes to guests in transparent sundae cups. They are so cute! The lovely mom who made them says, "It was fun for the first 20pcs but when I reached 50 onwards, I wanted to squeeze the smile off that cookie monster!"
Anyone wants chemical eggs to go with shredded beef and noodles? The Bad Menus Flickr group has more than 300 photos of bad restaurant menus, signs and food product packages. Sometimes I wonder why they don't have people with good English to do those translations. Chemical eggs is bad enough but uterus salad? Gosh.
(Thanks Malcolm)
Nothing beats seeing a band playing live but Sega Toys hopes that its Live Dream toy will be the next best thing. It is the first sensor-enabled stage that plays music based on the instruments you place on the stage. The instruments are all miniature versions of the real thing. Place one on the stage and it begins playing to the song that you requested.
DJ BC has remixed The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, the 1972 concept album by David Bowie. You can download Ziggy Stardust Remixed here. There's the full album or if you prefer, the individual tracks in MP3 too.
(via Boing Boing)
Master astrologer Lynn Hayes attempts to understand why Christian Bale is so angry. It's in the planets and stars damn it! From National Ledger:
Aquarians carry that complicated dynamic within them, and for Christian Bale that dynamic is particularly strong with three planets in that one sign. On the one hand, he is a hard worker who understands the need to embrace his responsibility (he also has Saturn retrograde in his chart which suggests that he feels he has to work harder than anyone else in order to prove his worth). On the other hand, he has his own ideas for how things should be done and resists the pressure of authority. Mars (god of war and aggression) forms a square, a challenging aspect, to his Sun which reveals his heightened aggressive tendencies. Mars is a bit of a bully when it is in conflict with other planets in the chart, and Mars also is widely square to Bale's Mercury (mind) and Jupiter (confidence). He has a tremendous amount of energy and if it's not channeled properly this energy can erupt into anger and rage.Previously: Listen to Christian Bale as he goes crazy on the Terminator set
Tim has a pretty good list of musicians and bands that are on Twitter. Follow them all! From Assault Blog:
In the past few weeks I’ve taken over responsibility of our Twitter account from Craig with the goal of networking with as many people as possible in our industry whether it’s bands, t-shirt bloggers, designers, and web celebrities. Thankfully there are quite a few lists of designers, and t-shirt bloggers who are on twitter and there are even great utilities like Mr Tweet that help you find friends to follow in your industry. The one list I have yet to see (and maybe it’s cause I just didn’t look hard enough) is a list of bands that actively participate in Twitter. This is my attempt to list all the ones I have found so far.
You have seen the iconic Obama poster designed by Shepard Fairey. Now AP is claming copyright to the image of Obama that was used in the poster and demands credit and compensation. From Yahoo News:
"The Associated Press has determined that the photograph used in the poster is an AP photo and that its use required permission," the AP's director of media relations, Paul Colford, said in a statement.
"AP safeguards its assets and looks at these events on a case-by-case basis. We have reached out to Mr. Fairey's attorney and are in discussions. We hope for an amicable solution."
"We believe fair use protects Shepard's right to do what he did here," says Fairey's attorney, Anthony Falzone, executive director of the Fair Use Project at Stanford University and a lecturer at the Stanford Law School. "It wouldn't be appropriate to comment beyond that at this time because we are in discussions about this with the AP."
You wouldn't want to get Christian Bale mad. The Batman star was filming on the set of his new movie Terminator Salvation when the Director of Photography, Shane Hurlbut kept walking around in the middle of a scene. Bale then went berzerk and launched an abusive tirade towards the poor DP. Listen to it (above) and you can also download the mp3 here.
Telegraph has a full transcript of his rant. Here's part of it (censored):
Christian Bale: Am I going to walk around and rip your ------- lights down, in the middle of a scene? Then why the ---- are you walking right through? Ah-da-da-dah, like this in the background. What the ---- is it with you? What don't you ------- understand? You got any ------- idea about, hey, it's ------- distracting having somebody walking up behind Bryce in the middle of the ------- scene? Give me a ------- answer! What don't you get about it?Wow! Bale can really blow his top alright. Never disturb an actor while he is shooting a scene especially when his name is Christian Bale. Remember that, all you aspiring DPs. Oh well, at least one person sees the lighter side of it. Music composer and producer RevoLucian thinks that Bale's crazy rant is worthy enough to be put into a song. Presenting his Christian Bale Remix, Bale Out!
Shane Hurlbut: I was looking at the light.
Bale: Ohhhhh, goooood for you. And how was it? I hope it was ------- good, because it's useless now, isn't it?
The following are stories that are making the headlines over at Topix Singapore News today, edited by yours truly.
-Singapore hotel guests offered to pay what they want: Feeling ripped off by hotel room rates? An international budget hotel chain is offering guests the chance to pay what they want at their Singapore property as the global financial crisis hits travel.
-School bars students from mall - but is ban working?: Coral Secondary School forbids any student in uniform from entering the nearby White Sands shopping mall in Pasir Ris, among other things.
-He's the most travelled S'porean: Mr Tan Wee Cheng, 39, is also officially Singapore's most widely-travelled person. Last year, he entered the Singapore Book of Records under the category of Most Countries Travelled By A Single Person.
-Internet not an effective self-regulated regime: Contrary to what some may feel, Singapore's Senior Minister of State for Information, Communications and the Arts, Lui Tuck Yew, says the internet is not an effective self-regulated regime.
-Singapore to build prison for terror detainees: Singapore's deputy prime minister says the city-state plans to build a new prison within five years for terror detainees after a suspect escaped custody last year.
-MPs welcome move to use reserves but warn against precedence: Members of Parliament have lauded the government's decision to use past reserves to finance two schemes to fight the current economic crisis.
-NUS results leaked: A system glitch in one of the systems at the National University of Singapore (NUS) has caused examination results to be leaked one week in advance.
-MPs call for‘preferential treatment’ over foreigners: More should be done to save Singaporeans’ jobs first, said some Members of Parliament (MP) yesterday.
-One in two pedestrians killed is above 60: Young people who died on the roads last year were likely to have been on a motorbike while an elderly fatality was likely a jaywalking pedestrian.
-Sports Hub consortium facing funding problems: The consortium which is constructing the Kallang Sports Hub is having difficulty in raising the necessary funds to start the project, due to the ongoing financial crisis.
I've been following Ian Shepherd's Mastering Media Blog ever since he wrote a piece about the brilliantly mastered Chinese Democracy album last November. Ian is a Mastering Engineer. In his latest post, he lists the ten most distorted tunes in music history. From Mastering Media Blog:
The Beatles "Revolution" - The Beatles didn't invent distortion, but they sure as hell brought it to the masses, most famously in this scorching track from the White Album. Instead of mic-ing up an amp as they usually did, in this case George's guitar was plugged straight into the desk - a technique now commonly known as direct injection, or DI-ing. However it overloaded the sensitive input and distorted wildly. This fantastic, powerful sound combined with Ringo's heavily compressed and limited drums, drives the song along at a frantic rate. Listening to it, it's hard to believe that the same band had released "Eleanor Rigby" and "Yesterday" only two years before.
Oasis - "Some Might Say" - From their massively successful album "What's The Story Morning Glory", which is one of the first heavyweight casualties of the modern so-called Loudness Wars - in fact, some might say (hah!) it was the tipping point at which the trend for loudness at the expense of audio quality began to accelerate out of control. Ironically, even though at times it is just as loud as Metallica's "Death Magnetic" - arguably the current benchmark of crap sound on CD - it often sounds less blatantly distorted.
The place looked like what would happen if a garage hobbyist, comp-sci college student, and nerdy teen mashed all their stuff together and exploded it into an otherwise sterile office. It was, in short, geek heaven.
Boxes, filled with USB cords, wacky flash drives, keychain laser pointers and who knows what else, were stacked on top of each other everywhere.
By one wall, they made a precarious citadel that towered over our heads like some gadgety sword of Damocles. According to Brando, a good chunk of these were being shipped out to other stores, including ThinkGeek. Now you know where they get some of their oddball products too.
You may have spotted the short little Chinese New Year Transformers ad on Singapore TV, watched the new teaser trailer and wondered what the hell is Revenge of the Fallen all about. Don't worry. An extra on the set of the new Transformers movie reveals that the Fallen could be Optimus Prime! He even has tons of pictures from the set on his Facebook.
For those of you who own a cat, here's a hilarious picture of how to properly fold a cat for storage in a sweater drawer. Please don't try this at home. I found out that it's drawn by Oliver Christianson aka Revilo for his book Talk To The Tail. You can view more of his cartoons, unpublished work and sketches at his website here.
The world’s first camera lens calendar is designed by photographer Sharad Haksar. The rings on the lens control the day, month and year of the calendar. Not sure how it really works but I think this could be a great gift for your photographer friend.
(Thanks GeekGod)
Designboom is selling retro wallets hand-made from cassette tapes. They're pretty cute! Nice to see that someone has finally found a good use for all those old cassettes. Each cassette wallet sells for US$39. But wait, they're sold out.
(via Nerdcore)
I've just finished watching this recent lecture given by one of my favourite astronomers, Dr. Steve Squyres. In it, he shares the thrills and challenges of the Mars Exploration Rover Mission. Five years after landing on Mars in January 2004, the twin rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, are still studying the Red Planet. They were originally planned as three-month missions.
The following are stories that are making the headlines over at Topix Singapore News today, edited by yours truly.
-Singapore visitor arrivals down for 7th straight month: Singapore's visitor arrivals in December 2008 fell 6.9 percent from a year earlier as the global economic downturn took a toll on the tourism sector.
-Put off by new AXS stations: Irate bank card customers have been shut out of using snazzy new AXS stations around the country because they have the wrong plastic.
-SPRING Singapore pumps $100m: Over the next three years, SPRING Singapore and other tripartite agencies will dish out $100 million for service staff to pick up extra management skills
-Smuggled medicines up 470% last year: Smuggling cases of controlled drugs rose a staggering 470 per cent last year. The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said it detected 1,820 such cases in 2008, up from 320 cases a year ago.
-Budget could have been bolder: The government could have come up with a bolder Budget this year, to help companies and households cut costs in the face of this extraordinarily severe economic downturn.
-The needy still lack awareness of help schemes: Of the S$6.25m budgeted for the CCC-ComCare Fund, only S$1.57m was disbursed to the needy and low-income families in the first nine months of the current fiscal year.
-Singapore GP to be fine-tuned to boost overtaking: Following the huge success of last year’s inaugural Singapore Grand Prix, organisers have announced that the layout of the Marina Bay circuit will be improved further ahead of the 2009 event.
-Singapore GP to hike corporate ticket prices: The Singapore Grand Prix plans to increase prices for trackside corporate suites during this year's Formula One event despite a worsening global economic crisis, a newspaper reported Monday.
-Singapore data protection enforcement needs bite: As it puts together its data protection framework, Singapore can learn from economies such as Hong Kong, such as appointing an official or agency for enforcement, according to a Singapore-based consultant.
-Jobs credit plan has limits: The Jobs Credit scheme, which is aimed at helping companies retain workers, has limitations. While it helps to keep companies afloat, it does not target firms most likely to lay off workers.
-Top triathletes banned after caught alone together: Singapore's top male and top female triathletes have been slapped with a competition ban for being caught alone together in a hotel room at the Asian Beach Games in Bali last October.
Ennio Marchetto is a world renowned and award winning comedian who creates his own theatrical language mixing mime, dance, music and quick change costumes made out of cardboard and paper. Watch a video of his performance at the Nieuwe de La Mar theater in Amsterdam in July 2004. Ain't he amazing? He describes how he makes his paper costumes here. Ennio, please come to Singapore!
(via Craftastrophe)
Mary Yeager has created a set of Female Merit Badges which resemble Girl Scout Merit Badges. The badges represent female rites of passage like breast feeding, childbirth, inserting a tampon, breast exams and birth control pills. Collect them all!
Guardian's interactive chalkboards let you be part of a unique and fascinating world of football analytics and statistics previously only available to managers and coaches of top professional clubs. You will be able to track what every player did in every Premier League match minutes after the final whistle has been blown!
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