Robot boxing champion reveals "master-slave" control technology

Naoki Maru builds boxing robots and his sons Kenta and Ryoma operate them in the combat tournaments. His robot King Kizer is the champion of Robo-One, a robot competition category of bipedal humanoid robots. Maru is trying out a harness that captures human movements and translates them into robotic attacks and other gestures to make his King Kizer a more unbeatable bot.

USB Mooncake Flash Drive

I'm not a fan of mooncakes but I'm sure that those of you who are, will be tempted to eat this USB Mooncake Flash Drive. It looks so darn real!

(Thanks GeekGod)

Engaging New Media: A Guide for the Singapore government

AIMS (Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society) has drafted its consultation paper for the Singapore government. The paper studies the far reaching, social, ethical, legal and regulatory implications of a rapidly growing digital media sector and makes recommendations to the government on how these issues should be managed. Read it here (PDF).

(Thanks ANG)

Papercraft CCTV Camera

Artist Kenn Munk has designed this paper CCTV camera for Nude magazine issue 13. Go Print it out and make your own. I think it may work scaring away potential burglars.

(Thanks Chris Ohn)

When Insects Strike!

Check out these brilliantly taken photos depicting the violent deaths that are common in the insect world. This one shows a Robber Fly injecting its paralyzing saliva into the poor beetle. Once the saliva dissolves the insides of the beetle, the Robber Fly simply sucks its "lunch" using its proboscis. What a way to have a meal aye.

Mad Magazine Covers

Doug Gilford has scanned images of all the regular issue Mad comic and magazine covers staring with #1 from 1952 to the current day. That's over 485 issues! He has also begun scanning his Mad covers for madcovermobile.com, a site developed specially for those who want to view the covers on their cellphone.

Apple's CEO Steve Jobs is alive!

Poor Steve Jobs. Can you imagine yourself happily surfing the net one day, only to read your own obituary online? That's what happened to the Apple CEO. On Wednesday, Bloomberg News accidentally published an obituary of Steve Jobs.



The obit was marked “HOLD FOR RELEASE — DO NOT USE — HOLD FOR RELEASE — DO NOT USE.” You can read the obit in full here. Interesting to note that it also comes with a list of people for Bloomberg reporters to call in event of his death.

A commenter calling himself "Former CNN employee" left a comment on the Apple 2.0 blog post titled "How Steve Job's obit got published", saying that such "dead file" are common in the industry:

"CNN and other orgs have what’s called a “dead file.” Those notes complete with phone numbers and contacts are ALWAYS there. I remember reading CNN’s dead file for both the pope and Reagan. What astounded me was that I could (as an employee) see phone numbers of senators, celebrities and other dignitaries through an unrestricted posting in the iNews system. It doesn’t shock me that other orgs keep dead files either. Planning for the unexpected is what makes news orgs stand apart when the unexpected does actually occur."

Bloomberg has retracted the obit and said that the item was never meant for publication. I think what they really meant was that they are keeping it for future use.

Revenge Crabs

Wife screwing your friends? Girlfriend driving you mad? Get the best revenge by giving them Revenge Crabs. Ha! I can't really believe someone would actually think of doing this as a business. They can even custom breed aggressive species for you! Oh well, just don't give them to me.

Alphabet Trucks

Eric Tabuchi has photographed trailer trucks on empty highways, each bearing one letter of the alphabet. What's amazing is that his set of 26 trucks is perfectly uniform in scale and composition and lighting!

Michael Jackson at 50 minus surgery

As he turns 50, Michael Jacskon is almost always in a wheelchair, wearing a bizarre outfit and looking so frail. Poor guy. Here's an image of Michael Jackson showing how he may have looked like today without all those plastic surgery that he did on his face.

Invisible Trade II: Secret lives and sexual intrigue in Singapore

Gerrie Lim's long-awaited sequel to the Singapore bestseller Invisible Trade is now available from Monsoon Books for only S$13.23. In Invisible Trade II, journalist Gerrie Lim unravels and demystifies two major aspects of the sex industry in modern Singapore: the secretive double lives led by the beautiful, upscale escorts and the reasons why men habitually need to spend money to pay for sex. Go read Chapter 1 here (pdf).

Japanese Boob Balloons

Trust the Japanese for making wacky products that make us laugh. These made in Japan Boob Balloons are two balloons that you can stick on your chest. Simply squeeze them tight until you hear a breaking sound and the balloons will automatically inflate to give you your very own pair of boobs (complete with nipples!) that you can proudly show off to your friends.

Wall calendars that go pop!

This is definitely the world's best calendar! Bubble Calendar is a poster-sized calendar with a bubble to pop every day. I need to have one of these! I love popping bubbles. The only problem is that I may be popping more than just one in one day.

Springfield Punx

Dean draws his favorite characters and stars as they would appear in The Simpsons. You can find a lot of gems on his blog Springfield Punx but first, say hello to yellow skin Batman and Robin.

(Thanks Mr Big)

The making of Star Wars Dark Times comic

Dark Horse provides a glimpse into the process that goes into the making of Star Wars Dark Times #11. Featuring pages 12 to 17 of the comic, learn about the steps (scripting, penciling, coloring and lettering) that the writer and artists have to take as they bring the pages to life.

Montygog's Art-O-Rama

I've just fallen in love with Dave Perillo's drawings! Dave draws inspiration for his work from 1950’s Sci-Fi Movies, Charles Schultz, Jim Flora, Ray Harryhausen, Roy Lichtenstein, Jim Henson, Hanna Barbera, The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock and character advertising icons.

(via /Film)

Ginny twitters her baby's birth

I think Ginny Case has become the first woman in the world to use Twitter to update her family and friends about her labour experience. At around 35 minutes ago, her baby Lolani was born. Congrats Ginny! From ginnycase:

-olani born via c-section. Weight: 8lbs, 1.4oz! 35 minutes ago
-At 7 cm since 5. I have until 10 pm to make to 10cm. Twittering for family but appreciate the positive notes. about 6 hours ago
-@markie: Don't expect any more new news for a couple of hours. Let dad know things are moving just fine. We will call. about 9 hours ago
-@markie: yes, labor is fine. Not expected to push for a couple of hours. Been through my magazines and tv is boring. about 9 hours ago
-Funny that I can use my iPhone during really strong contractions. Dodger game started and we don't get fox sports west. about 10 hours ago
-doc says we are at 5 cm. Hopeful for regular delivery. Iolani is very active and they had to keep readjusting the monitor. about 10 hours ago

Today's Singapore News

The following are stories that are making the headlines over at Topix Singapore News today, edited by yours truly.

-Singapore opens up to law firms: Changes to the Legal Profession Act will now open up the hitherto protected legal sector to allow foreign firms more leeway to operate here.
-More DIY check-in kiosks at Changi: More self-service kiosks may soon be available at Changi Airport for travellers to do their own check-ins.
-Upset karaoke operators told to pay up: Large karaoke operators will have to pay up to $30,000 to Innoform Entertainment for the songs’ video rights.
-16 gantries on KPE for safety: When it opens on Sept 20, the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) will have 16 new Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantries along its 12 kilometres, of which 9km are underground.
-Some S'poreans say parenthood package not enough: One resident wanted paternity leave and another wanted more infant care services.
-Dr Lily Neo explodes in Parliament: Halfway through the marathon parliamentary session, Dr Lily Neo (Jalan Besar GRC) walked to the rostrum and stopped the Speaker from moving on to the next question.
-Singapore salon infuses tea with new level of luxury: At Singapore's only luxury tea boutique and salon you'll be spoiled for choice, with 600 fragrant blends ranging from classic breakfast pick-me-ups to rare yellow varieties.
-Singapore is world's top brand: Singapore is the best, based on how the Republic is perceived in leading international media.
-Trials on new system of buying electricity start soon: The EVS aims to bring down household energy bills by giving customers the freedom to choose different electricity packages from suppliers.
-Car numbers up despite driving costs: Singapore's car population continues to rise, although higher fuel prices, parking charges and road tolls were expected to have put the brakes on growth.
-No rise in the number of suicides among the young in Singapore: Among Singaporeans aged 10 to 24, the suicide incidence rate was 7.2 per 100,000 in 2003 and 6.7 last year.

My Jade Seah clip is the 67th most viewed video on YouTube this week!

Thanks to readers Mr Big, Shy and others who informed me that my Jade Seah Fark clip is the 67th most viewed video on YouTube this week under the People & Blogs category. The video which is only slightly more than one week old, has been viewed more than 48,000 times on YouTube, with 38 ratings and more than 100 comments! It has been embedded and linked on Mr Brown and other blogs, forums such as Sammyboy and even on Facebook!

I thought it would be interesting to share with you some stats and data of the Jade Seah Fark clip courtesy of my YouTube Insight which is YouTube's external facing analytics and reporting tool that enables anyone with a YouTube account to view detailed statistics about the videos that they upload to the site. Here are some of the graphs and data that I've captured for you.











Thanks to all for viewing, commenting and linking to the video.

Previously:
The Jade Seah Fark Clip - Extended Version
Jade Seah admits to saying the F word

Paper Arcade Machines

Go make these papercraft mini replicas of famous arcade machines such as Pacman, Donkey Kong and Mortal Kombat. Download, print, then glue them together and soon you'll be the proud owner of your very own micro arcade!

Trashy Vintage Paperbacks

Big Bang Pow says of his vintage paperback collection: "I love the Juvenile Delinquent books, trashy good girl art, hot rod and hard-boiled crime the best. I have way too many." You can view the covers over at his Flickr photoset here. Man, they sure don't write books like these anymore.

myLighter: Lighter 2.0!

Got an iPhone or an iPod Touch? Then you should download this free cool app called myLighter before you head out to your next concert or party. Just touch the myLighter icon on the home screen of your iPhone/iPod and a big, realistic, flickering flame comes up for about 45 seconds. You can throw your old lighter away!

Fine Art Models

The talented craftsmen at Fine Art Models build museum quality limited edition scale models of trains, ships, aircrafts, automobiles, military vehicles and cycles. Their incredibly detailed models are made entirely of stainless steel, brass, nickel silver, real wood and glass.

The Saga of Guns N’ Roses

I am so going to buy "Watch You Bleed: The Saga of Guns N' Roses", a book by Stephen Davis that traces the illustrious history of my favourite band Guns N' Roses. Borders, here I come! Here's an excerpt. From New York Magazine:

"DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE?"

The boys, taken aback, just looked at him.

"I SAID, DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE?"

Bill Bailey said, "Uh, we're just trying to get to…"

"YOU'RE IN THE JUNGLE, BABY!"

Bill Bailey — the future W. Axl Rose — just stared at him in wonderment. And then the little old man wound himself up to his full fury and told these white boys what they could expect from New York City at the tail end of the seventies: years of bankruptcy, endemic crime, corruption, decadence — the gateway to the eighties and the scourge of AIDS. He told it to them straight from the gut:

"YOU'RE GONNA DIE!"

Sometimes, legends come from true stories, and this is one of them. Welcome to the jungle.

Today's Singapore News

The following are stories that are making the headlines over at Topix Singapore News today, edited by yours truly.

-Hand foot and mouth disease rife in Singapore: There have been 553 people now affected by the virus in the current outbreak, a rise of over a hundred from last week, which only just falls short of the Health Ministry's official "epidemic level".
-Gao Ning blames manager and coach for Olympics fiasco: Singaporean men's table-tennis player Gao Ning let fly at the two men he felt were responsible for his sour Beijing Olympics experience. He is also frustrated with what he perceived as preferential treatment accorded to the women's team.
-S'poreans speak better English: Singaporeans are generally speaking better English but they find the standard of spoken English among service staff poor.
-Burmese Protesters Not Allowed in Singapore: Myo Tun, one of three Burmese activists who took part in political activities in Singapore, says “Now I have no future.” He is among three activists who were ordered to leave Singapore for demonstrating against the junta.
-New e-payment system for public transport: All EZ-Link cards, the stored-value cards used to pay for train and bus rides, will be phased out starting next year.
-Singapore's young and frisky: A check with three school counsellors and five teachers revealed that teenagers are not only having sex earlier but, more alarmingly, they are not practising safe sex.
-F1 has 'safety concerns' over Singapore GP: Formula 1 drivers are ‘concerned' about the sport's inaugural night race to be held in Singapore at the end of next month. The event may be ‘not exactly what you really want from a safety point-of-view'.
-Bonus to retain cops: To make sure more police officers stay in the force for at least eight years, junior police officers will be paid a retention bonus of up to $30,000.
-HDB Lease Buyback Scheme could be implemented soon: The Lease Buyback Scheme (LBS) to help low-income households monetise their flats for their retirement needs could be implemented as early as January next year.
-Singapore searches for new Sling in cocktail boom: There's a new drink in town and it's called the Tiffin Punch, The Champ or the Dark Angel -- and its out to get the Singapore Sling.
-Single intake for JCs: From next year, all junior colleges will have a single intake of students in Year 1, with students starting school on Feb 2.

Osim uVibe is every girl's best friend

I've made fun of Osim's iGallop and iVibe in the past. Well, who can blame me? Here's another one of Osim's sexually suggestive products, the uVibe, which looks like a cousin of the iVibe. Check this out: "Curved handle... multiple speed... high speed vibration gives that extra oomph... flexible rubber head..." Include the drawings of what looks like a very excited girl in her undergarments and no wonder people might think that the uVibe is more than just your average massager. Ahem. "The uVibe is well-suited for use on other areas of your body as well." See! Ben from Ladri Di Biciclette interestingly points out that Osim is offering the uVibe to SMU members at a discount. Wah! Those lucky SMU girls.

The Year of the Sex Olympics

The Year of the Sex Olympics is a 1968 production by the BBC that depicts a future where the world is dominated and run by television, language has become almost redundant and all "tensions", namely love, war, hate and loyalty have been removed. Overpopulation is a problem, so there are gluttony programmes to put people off food and pornography programmes to put them off sex. Watch part one above and all the rest here.

Furby Gurdy is the world's weirdest musical instrument

This has got to be one of the strangest things that you can find on eBay. The Furby Gurdy is what you'd get when you combine a hurdy gurdy which is a stringed musical instrument and four scary Furby toys made by Tiger Electronics. It's really bizarre. Check out the video.

Free Science Manga

As part of its public outreach program, the Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory (STEL) at Nagoya University in Japan has published comic books written by popular cartoonist Hayanon, featuring humorous characters and scientific themes such as global warming, ozone hole, solar wind, etc. The comics are free to download (pdf) and are in English.

Who wins the Olympics?

So the Olympic Games are finally over but who really wins? The country with the most gold medals or the country with the most gold, silver and bronze medals combined? I was just looking at several websites and found out that on the Official Beijing Olympics site, Channel NewsAsia and many others, China is listed at the top of the medal tally thanks to its 51 gold medals but on US websites such as NBC and CNN, they listed US at the top based on the overall medals won. I guess for Americans, who wins depends on them apparently.

I have to say that the Chinese did a great job hosting the Games despite their attempts at faking the Opening Ceremony. My highlights of the Games have to be Michael Phelps winning 8 gold medals at swimming, Usain Bolt winning 3 gold medals at his sprinting events and of course, the Singapore team made up of our Chinese imports, winning the Silver medal.

It was indeed an amazing Olympics and I can't wait for London 2012 and the participation of a united Great Britain football team in the Olympics! Britain's PM Gordon Brown wants it and I'm all for it. Besides it's always nice to see the England team, oops I meant the UK team, fail in a major football tournament, again and again.

The science of running faster

Time Magazine has an interesting article on how the great Usain Bolt can run so fast. Bolt holds the Olympic and world records for the 100 metres at 9.69 seconds, the 200 metres at 19.30 seconds and the 4x100 metres relay at 37.10 seconds, all set at the Beijing Olympics. From Time:

It appears that Bolt takes advantage of a little of both. At 6 ft. 5 in., he's nearly half a foot taller than many other gold-medal sprinters; compared to his Olympic competition, Bolt's step was 1 ft. longer, allowing him to cover 100m in 41 steps. The other athletes needed, on average, 47. That helps, considering Bolt isn't the best starter — he's relatively slower off the block, but he separates himself at the end of the race, when "he's still able to turn his legs over fast enough with high power," says Ed Coyle at the University of Texas's Human Performance Laboratory. "He overcomes his average start and just doesn't slow down, as others do, in the last 30 to 40 meters. He's able to relax and coordinate his longer legs."

Star Wars Olympic Games

The Olympic Games may be over but you can still relive some of the great moments of the Games involving the team of Lego Stormtroopers in this Flickr photoset!

Previously: The Beijing Olympics in Lego!

Daily Fly Drawings

Drawing Flies 365 is a blog by artist and fly fishing enthusiast Jeff Kennedy where you can view his daily artificial fly drawings. Artificial flies, constructed of furs, feathers, and threads bound on a hook were created by anglers to imitate fish prey.

(via Drawn)

Olympic Panoramas by Kari Kuukka

Yesterday, I blogged about the panoramic diver's view of the Beijing Water Cube. Today, I have more Olympic panoramas to share with you. Finnish sports photographer Kari Kuukka has taken several 360 degrees high resolution panorama shots of the Beijing Olympics. My favourite is the one taken inside the Bird's Nest Stadium 30 minutes before the start of the men's 100m final that shows a bunch of photographers with their cameras waiting to shoot the race.

Mars Webcam

The Mars Webcam formerly known as the Visual Monitoring Camera takes fantastic views of Mars including crescent views of the planet not obtainable from Earth! The cam is mounted on Mars Express which is now orbiting the red planet. Unfortunately the images are not live and new ones will only be made available online when the Mars Express Flight Control Team have something worth showing.

Furniture made from recycled bike parts

Bike Furniture Design takes recycled steel and aluminum bicycle rims, handlebars, and frames and uses them to make contemporary, modern furniture such as this cool looking Vector Lounge Chair.

(Thanks bubba29)

iBasket: Washing Machine for the Future

The see-through and Wi-Fi-connected iBasket stores dirty clothes and automatically washes them when it fills up. The iBasket can be monitored via a personal computer and is one of nine finalists out of more than 600 entries from 49 countries in the Electrolux Design Lab 2008 competition.

(Thanks GeekGod)

New images show Phelps's narrow victory

Omega, the Olympic timekeeper has released digital images (in PDF) that showed Michael Phelps’s narrow victory in the 100-meter butterfly after The New York Times questioned the refusal of Omega to make them public. Omega is one of Phelps’s corporate sponsors.

Tom Giesler's Wacky Anatomical Charts

These human anatomical charts by Tom Giesler are not only wonderful but they are definitely the wackiest anatomical charts that I've seen. Check out his My IP drawings too.

(via Boing Boing)

A diver's view of the Beijing Water Cube

Take a look at this amazing New York Times 360 degrees interactive panorama which comprises a series of photographs taken from the 10 meter platform at Beijing's Water Cube. It gives you a diver's view of the Water Cube.

(Thanks Sir Thomas)

Disassembled Household Appliances

For her senior thesis project, Brittny took apart used cooking/cleaning appliances and arranged their interior parts very systematically on a white sheet of bristol board. View her Flickr photoset here.

(via MeFi)

Sex in the Olympics

Wham! Bang! Jam! It looks like there's more to the Olympics than that is being reported in the news. Matthew Syed, a former English table tennis international in his column for The Times, says that sex is rampant in the world's greatest sports event. Boy, are they expecting "fireworks" tomorrow night! From Times Online:

It was not just the guys. The women, too, seemed in thrall to their hormones, throwing around daring glances and dynamite smiles like confetti. No meal or coffee break was complete without a breathless conversation with a lithe long jumper from Cuba or an Amazonian badminton player from Sweden, the mutual longing so evident it was almost comical. It was an effort of will to keep everything in check until competition had finished. But, once we were eliminated from our respective competitions, we lunged at each other like suicidal fencers. There may have been a fair amount of gay sex going on, too - but given the notorious homophobia in sport it was rather more covert.

This sex fest was not limited to Barcelona: the same thing happened in Sydney in 2000, my second Olympics as an athlete, and is happening right here in Beijing, where this time I'm a commentator. I spoke to an Aussie table tennis player this week to check out the village vibe and he launched into the breathless patter common to any Olympic debutant: “It is unbelievable in there; everyone is totally crazy once they are out of their competitions. God knows what it is going to be like this weekend. It is like a world within a world.”

Play Imaginative is having a "Moving Out" Sale

Play Imaginative, the folks behind the successful Singapore Toy and Comics Convention held few months ago, are having a “MOVING OUT” sale at Blk 203, Wing B, Henderson Industrial Park, #03-07, Henderson Road today and tomorrow from 2pm to 6pm. They are offering very very good discounts (up to 70%!) on lots of collectible toys and t-shirts such as this 18" Skuttle at $120 per piece!

Two US journalists at Beijing Olympics eat animal penis - yummy!

Watch this video of Kevin Phang from Chicago Tribune and Bill Plaschke from Los Angeles Times as they take a break from their Olympics reporting duties in Beijing to try out the exotic Chinese delicacy, animal penises and testicles! It's an eye opening clip and hilarious too.

Today's Singapore News

The following are stories that are making the headlines over at Topix Singapore News today, edited by yours truly.

-Non-emergency calls to 995 down: The number of non-emergency calls to the 995 emergency hotline plunged by 47 per cent in the first half, from the same period last year
-Singapore GP 95 per cent sold out: The Singapore Grand Prix has already sold more than 95 per cent of the tickets for Formula One's first ever night race next month
-Chute fires on the rise: In the first six months of this year, there were almost 1,100 blazes in rubbish chutes, garbage bins and common areas such as lift lobbies and void decks.
-Singapore Poly's Love Class is more than just about birds and bees: Singapore Polytechnic student Toh Jun Biao admits to being clueless about the female pysche. He realised only after taking the 'love' elective in his school that when it comes to romance, stereotypes do not always work.
-More places in International schools: The Government is making available public buildings and vacant land for up to four more foreign schools.
-StarHub ups the on-demand ante: A month after SingTel gave television viewers here the good news that it was bringing in hit series such as Prison Break and Desperate Housewives within 24 hours of airing in the United States, StarHub has revealed it will do the same with hits such as the CSI franchise and Numb3rs.
-S'poreans happy with enhanced baby bonus: Many Singaporeans said they are happy with the extras being given to encourage higher birth rates, such as financial support for In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) treatment.
-Michael Phelps could have been 8 million dollars richer if he was a Singaporean: Had Phelps been born 9,000 miles away in Singapore, he might have pocketed S$8 million ($5.6 million) from the most bonus-friendly national sports body.
-Many eagerly await outcome of relaxed new media rules: Many are anxious to see how rules on new media such as podcasting will be relaxed.
-Singapore PM says ban on outdoor protests should ease: Singapore should ease its ban on political videos and outdoor demonstrations as part of a gradual liberalisation of society.
-Singapore to ease bans on political films: Singapore, which currently bans political films and demonstrations, may ease curbs on both to keep up with the spread of video and other free expression on the Internet.

Jade Seah admits to saying the F word

Some of you wondered if it was Jade Seah or someone else who uttered "fark" on Channel 5 during the Olympics broadcast. If you missed it, watch the video (the extended version) here. Well, Mediacorp has just admitted that it was indeed Jade Seah and she will not be replaced. From Asiaone:

In an e-mail reply to my paper, Mr Kenneth Liang, executive vice-president (TV Programming & Production, Channel 5), MediaCorp TV, said: 'MediaCorp Channel 5 has investigated and confirms that there was an unintentional utterance by the presenter off-camera.'

He explained that there was a delay in switching off Seah's microphone after she had delivered her lines, and it caught her reaction 'to a fluff she had made in pronouncing an athlete's name'.

Mr Liang said: 'We deeply regret the unintentional leakage of the off-air expletive. Measures have been put in place to prevent such occurrences from happening in the future.'

Georgia Bigfoot is a hoax! Yawn.

In order to protect their sorry asses, the people at Searching For Bigfoot Inc, the group that was responsible for the recent press conference of the Georgia Bigfoot originally discovered by Matthew Whitton and Ricky Dyer, have now publicly admitted that they have been duped by the two men and that the Bigfoot is indeed a costume. From Searching For BigFoot:

On August 17th, 2008 Searching for Bigfoot Team Director of Field Operations, TJ Biscardi and myself, were up early to discover that some hair was now exposed. I extracted some from the alleged corpse and examined it and had some concerns. Bob Schmalzbach arrived and concurred. We burned said sample and said hair sample melted into a ball uncharacteristic of hair.

At that time we contacted Mr. Biscardi who gave us permission to begin an expedited melting process. We set up a salamander heater to heat the freezer. Within one hour we were able to see the partially exposed head, as I was now able to touch it, I was able to feel that it seemed mostly firm, but unusually hollow in one small section. This was yet another ominous sign. Within the next hour of thaw, a break appeared up near the feet area. As the team and I began examining this area near the feet, I observed the foot which looked unnatural, reached in and confirmed it was a rubber foot.

At that point we immediately contacted, Tom Biscardi and advised him of the situation and he began to take action on his end. Later that day, Tom Biscardi informed us that both Matthew Whitton and Ricky Dyer admitted it was a costume. They reportedly agreed to sign a promissory note and admission of what they had done, and set a meeting in their hotel room in California for 8AM on August 17th, 2008.

The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization thinks that Tom Biscardi and his company Searching For Bigfoot Inc are also involved the hoax and they are just as guilty as both Matthew Whitton and Ricky Dyer. From BRFO:

This hoax was debunked last week by the BFRO, a few days before the press conference. Kulls is now trying to help himself (and the rest of Biscardi's gang -- SearchingForBigoot, Inc.), from being named as a defendant in this case, by casting himself as "the independant investigator who uncovered the hoax." This is an ongoing hoax/scam, and Kulls is part of it.

Biscardi didn't start this hoax, but instead latched onto to it once it was presented to him by his partner Steve Kulls. Lots of people make ludicrous claims like Whitton and Dyer did (and like Biscardi has done in the past more than once). The element that made this hoax attractive for Biscardi was that Whitton is a sheriff deputy. Biscardi knew this would help the story appear more believeable to the media, for a little while at least.

Project Hovercraft

Dude builds a remote controlled hovercraft using easily available items. He says, "The body of the hovercraft is made out of styrofoam... The skirt on the bottom is made out of pieces of a plastic GAP bag, attached with Scotch tape and hot glue. The rc unit was scavenged from an old boat I had, along with the drive motor mounted on the wooden supports, while the lifting motor was from my physics teacher."

Fantasmagorie 2008: An Animated Film

Watch this 2008 computer 3-D remake of Emile Cohl's 1908 animated film Fantasmagorie. The film made on the 100th anniversary of the original Fantasmagorie, connects two centuries and provides a synthesis of traditional and computer animation.

1950's Space Art

PLAN59, a website dedicated to the commercial art of mid-century America, has a nice 1950's space art gallery. There are a couple of gems there such as this cover of Weird Tales of the Future comic.

(Thanks Sir Thomas)

Amazing but True Cat Stories

You've read about Ten Thousand Cents and The Sheep Market in the past. Now here's another project using anonymous contributors working on Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Amazing but True Cat Stories is a collection of stories about cats, illustrated in vivid 8-bit color by true Mspaint artists.

Official Singtel iPhone 3G Price Plans!!!

Everyone is eagerly waiting for the iPhone price plans by Singtel and here they are! Singtel has announced 3 new iPhone plans, the iFlexi Value, iFlexi Plus and iFlexi Premium.



Those of you who are currently on an existing SingTel I-plan can still keep your plan and get the iPhone!



Please note that if you choose to stick to your I-plan, you're encouraged by Singtel to subscribe to Singtel's Broadband On Demand for the iPhone's data usage.

Those of you who had reserved your iPhone on Singtel's website will receive a password in your email for you to login and book an appointment to purchase the iPhone. The first batch of lucky customers will get to buy the iPhone on August 22 at Comcentre. The iPhone will only be available in Singtel Hello Stores from August 25th onwards.

Previously: Exclusive: Singtel iPhone Updates

Exclusive: Singtel iPhone Updates

It's only 3 more days till the much awaited 3G iPhone launch here in Singapore and I'm excited to inform you guys and gals that I had received more info from the same sources that provided me with the scoop which I posted on Aug 7. Here are the latest updates.

1) Singtel will sell the iPhone at 12.01 am (midnight) on Aug 22 at Comcentre at Somerset.
2) I've been informed that Singtel has roped in hundreds of temporary staff and they have undergone training since yesterday. Training will end tomorrow.
3) Those of you who have made reservations online will receive an email later today or tomorrow informing you to head down to Comcentre from midnight of Aug 22.
4) Singtel has received more than 50,000 online reservations and they have more than 50,000 iPhone sets in their hands, ready for sale this week. This means everyone (those who reserved) will get their iPhones this weekend.
5) The first batch of iPhone sales will continue from midnight of Aug 22 till Aug 24 at around 8pm.
6) Singtel is expecting at least 5,000 to show up at midnight of August 22.
7) There will be food and drinks served to those waiting in the queue.
8) As for the pricing, I have nothing much more to add than my previous exclusive report but I can confirm that the Singtel will be coming up with a new plan/package for the iPhone which will bundle both calls and data together.
9) The most expensive of this new iPhone plan will be around $120 per month. Subscribe 24 months and you'll get either the 8GB or 16GB iPhone for free.
10) The iPhone will be locked to the Singtel network but you are able to unlock the handset by calling Singtel Customer Service. No unlocking fee is applicable. Singtel can only unlock iPhones purchased from a Singtel outlet within Singapore.

I'll update more when I hear anything else.

Update: Official Singtel iPhone 3G Price Plans!!!

The Jade Seah Fark Clip - Extended Version

Congrats to Jade Seah for being the worst sports host in the history of television and for becoming the first person to say the "F word" on national TV. Watch the video above. I got a clip from YouTube and then did some video editing on it so that those of you with hearing problems can hear her say those magic words: "err, fark". Or was it "blur fark"? LOL. Seriously, Channel 5 should remove her right away from hosting the Olympics. I cringe everytime she appears beside her co-host Mark Richmond. 90% of the time, it's like she's talking to her mother or something. Please Jade, do something else.

Update: Jade Seah admits to saying the F word

The Beijing Olympics in LEGO!

The folks from the Hong Kong Lego User Group have created the Bird's Nest National Stadium, the Olympic Village and the Water Cube National Aquatics Centre entirely out of Lego! These materpieces are currently on display at Grand Century Place, Hong Kong until 31 Aug 2008. Truly amazing!

(Thanks Johnny Q)

19th-century Japanese Ghost Scrolls

Every August, the Zenshoan temple in Tokyo exhibits its collection of 19th-century ghost scroll paintings. Most of the paintings are not that spooky so don't worry about not sleeping well tonight after looking at them aye.