What are you gonna do, play with your prick for another 30 years? ... George Carlin
Amazing antique automaton on eBay - Boing Boing
Topic: Technology
4:01 pm EST, Feb 15, 2008
This incredible antique automaton, circa 1915-1925, just sold on eBay for $1,775. It's 32" high and 16" wide. The auction listing says it may have been "a knight from a King Arthur type of display." I think it'd look right at home in a crucifixion scene. I hope the buyer completely restores and revives the (holy) ghost in this machine. From the eBay listing:
ORIGINAL MECHANISM AND PAPER MACHE HEAD. ARMS ARE WOOD AND POSSIBLY MADE BY SCHOENHUT. GLASS EYES. ELECTRIC MOTOR CAM DRIVEN MULTIPLE ACTION MECHANISM. WORKS FINE, HEAD MOVES FROM LEFT TO RIGHT. EYES MOVE LEFT TO RIGHT, AND EYELIDS OPEN AND CLOSE. BREATHING ACTION AS A CHEST PANEL RISES AND FALLS. OUT OF AN ESTATE IN STATEN ISLAND , NEW YORK. POSSIBLY FROM HAPPYLAND AMUSEMENT PARK . BELIEVED TO BE A KNIGHT FROM A KING ARHTUR TYPE OF DISPLAY. THE MAKER IS SAID TO BE WILLIAM H AND CHARLES W COOK OF COOK STUDIOS AT 550 EAST DUPONT STREET,ROXBOROUGH PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA. MAKERS OF DISPLAYS, AND ADVERTISING DISPLAYS.
Organic molecules found on alien world for first time - space - 11 February 2008 - New Scientist Space
Topic: Science
12:30 pm EST, Feb 13, 2008
Organic molecules – in the form of methane – have been detected on a planet outside our solar system for the first time. The giant planet lies too close to its parent star for the methane to signal life, but the detection offers hope that astronomers will one day be able to analyse the atmospheres of Earth-like worlds.
Dystopia: Students at U of Washington Will Be Tagged and Monitored in RFID Experiment
Topic: Society
11:16 am EST, Feb 13, 2008
Welcome to the world of A Scanner Darkly -- made real. In March, a group of students at the University of Washington will put RFID tags (small radio-frequency emitting computer chips) all over their clothes and belongings. RFID readers that scan and track the tags will be installed throughout the campus' 6-story Paul Allen Building for computer science (pictured here). Every move the students make, and many objects they interact with, will be monitored and logged. Plus, students will test a "friend finding" application called RFIDer that will allow them to monitor their friends' whereabouts at all times. Participants are eager to volunteer, and call the experience a glimpse into the future. What could possibly be motivating them?
Climate change soon could kill thousands in UK, says report | Politics | guardian.co.uk
Topic: Health and Wellness
10:29 am EST, Feb 13, 2008
Without preventative action, the report said that a nine-day heatwave, with temperatures averaging at least 27 degrees over 24 hours, would cause 3,000 immediate deaths, with another 3,350 people dying from heat-related conditions during the summer.
How Sticky Is Membership on Facebook? Just Try Breaking Free - New York Times
Topic: Health and Wellness
10:26 am EST, Feb 13, 2008
“I thought it was kind of strange that they save your information without telling you in a really clear way,” said Magnus Wallin, a 26-year-old patent examiner in Stockholm who founded a Facebook group, “How to permanently delete your facebook account.” The group has almost 4,300 members and is steadily growing.
This larger sized picture frame (which you can add your own picture to) may be hung on a wall in a room of your choice. You can then dial the number of the GSM bug built into the rear of the frame - the call will connect silently after two rings and you will be able to hear whats going on in the room...from anywhere in the world!
The sound quality is truly excellent.
Battery life on standby is two weeks, this will be shortened depending on how long and how often you dial in.
Supplied complete with SIM card. Please note that frame sizes may vary slightly from that shown.
Israel Mulls Viagra-Style Drugs to Keep Pilots Up (Updated) | Danger Room from Wired.com
Topic: Technology
1:57 pm EST, Feb 11, 2008
For decades, the armed forces around the globe have tried all sorts of ways to keep its soldiers and pilots awake. During World War II, American, German, Japanese, and British troops were all issued rations of amphetamines. In the early days of the Afghanistan war, these "go pills" were blamed for a particularly ugly "friendly fire" incident. A newer drug, modafinil, is now being pushed in the U.S. military as a safer alternative.
DARPA, the Pentagon's way-out research arm, is funding scientific studies into more exotic answers to combat the effects of sleeplessness. Columbia University psychologists, working under a DARPA grant, are keeping people awake for 48 hours straight -- and then zapping their brains with focused magnetic waves, to keep their cognitive capacities intact. The researchers recently published a study showing that the transcranial magnetic stimulation was able to "improve the working memory performance" of the sleep-deprived. Lexicon Genetics has found genetic targets in mice that seem to make sleep itself more restorative, enhancing learning and memory. And Wisconsin professor Giulio Tononi is breeding a strain of fruit flies that gets by on just a third the normal amount of sleep.
Somehow, i dont imagine the long term effects of this would be very good
Leprosy outbreak causes concerns in Northwest Arkansas
Topic: Health and Wellness
1:46 pm EST, Feb 8, 2008
SPRINGDALE - The medical community is warning the public: a leprosy outbreak in Springdale could blossom into an epidemic, if something isn't done soon.
They will all turn to salt if clinton gets elected
