Popcobs.

Cool popcorn featured at Cool Hunting:

"While not as theatrical as popcorn exploding all over the kitchen, Farmer’s Popcorn Cobs cook in the microwave, and pop right off the cob. The Sunflower Food Company sells the Kansas-grown tiny little cobs, which produce about six cups of popcorn each. There is nothing added so you can dress it up yourself with salt, butter or whatever you wish. We found the popcorn to be flavorful, fresh, and far superior to anything else out there. Packs of three are $6.50."

[via Cool Hunting]

Ummmm...

People at Yahoo! can't park. This Flickr set showcases some of the worst crimes in parking in the Yahoo! lot.

[via BoingBoing]

Put your left nut in, put your left nut out...

Just read the Amazon explanation:

"This book contains no nudity. No profanity. No sexual material of any kind. And yet it just might be the most obscene thing we've ever published!

Penis Pokey is an illustrated board book with a large die-cut hole in its center. Every spread features a dazzling full-color illustration with one thing missing—a banana, perhaps, or a fire hose, or a sea serpent. Male readers can complete the illustrations using the talents God has given them.

Are we serious? Yes! Is this funny? Absolutely! Will this be a terrific hit with college students, bachelorette parties, and exhibitionists of all ages? Of course! Penis Pokey is far and away the strangest and funniest novelty book we've seen in a long, long time."

No option for seeing some of the pages inside the book. Dirty.

[via BoingBoing]

Bring in da noise.

I read an article in Wired on the plane about how working with background noise can actually make you smarter. Bart Kosko, author of Noise, says:

"The more you can concentrate with background noise, the more it strengthens the brain. Isaac Asimov used to set his typewriter up in stores and other loud places to work. His claim was that you get really good at writing when you’re in a crowd. You want to be energized by that background noise, rather than distracted."

Read more about it here.

[via Wired]

We're back...again

Just got back from Soe Lin and Alicia's wedding in Philly. Sorry no posts...I left the MacBook's powercord at home. Smart.

Computer Context.

The picture on the left is of a kite that's a cursor—pretty cool! I like the way it adds context to everyday objects. Read more about it here.

The picture on the right is of a similar sort of idea. It's part of a project done by grad student Jesse Rauch for a graphic design class at RISD. See more interesting images of the scroll bars and the ok button on flickr.

[via boingboing and Jesse Rauch]

R.I.P.I.S. (Rest In Peace In Space)

The ashes of actor James Doohan a.k.a. Scotty the engineer from the original Star Trek series will be shot into space in October.

In a letter to fans last year, Doohan's widow, Wende, said the actor would have "given almost anything to be able to actually go into space".

"He finally gets his wish, I can't think of a more fitting send-off than having some of his fans attend this, his final journey," she said.

The flights have been arranged by Texas company Space Services, which previously sent the ashes of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and 1960s drug guru Timothy Leary into space.

[via BBC]

Can I hook up my XBOX to it?

Talk about one-ups, this giant display is actually a huge HDTV. Mitsubishi has installed a 218 feet wide and 37 feet tall HDTV (taking up 8000 square feet) at a Tokyo horseracing track.

The previous largest HDTV was installed at Dolphins Stadium in Miami—measuring only 137 feet across.

Neither will fit in my living room.

[via Gizmodo]

Stewie Griffin at Harvard

My friend Jeremy pointed me to this. Funny stuff.

[via Jeremy]

Ads...stop following me around damn it.

I really really don't like that we can't even be in a bathrooom without being bombarded by ads. A company called Addirect based out of the U.K. has introduced these one-way mirrors that allow ads to be displayed whilst making sure you don't have food in your teeth.

Charlie White of Gizmodo writes:

"the company claims a 63% recall rate of the advertisements shown in the AddMirrors. That's a remarkable number, considering that even Super Bowl ads get just a fraction of that recall rate."

What's next? An alarm clock that yells out ads to wake you up?

[via Gizmodo]

Monopoly gets a little too real.

Say buh-bye to Monopoly money as Hasbro is introducing a new ATM feature.

Jason Chen of Gizmodo writes:

"Instead of divvying up paper 500, 100s and 50s, you'll stick your card into the ATM machine in order to add or subtract from your total. The only problem: knowing how much money everyone else has without some kind of visual indicator."

[via Gizmodo]

Shit sphere.

My friend Claudia (of babycakes) told me about this crazy automated litter box system from Litter-Robot.

When the cat gets out of it's chamber, the chamber spins sifting the cat shit, dumping it into a shit drawer below (see the flash animation). It looks interesting.

Our cat Simon has had the privilage of testing out and destroying three other automated litter systems and now he's on the lo-fi crystals that absorb all the piss and harden the shit. $299 is a high price to pay, but as Claudia says, I've already spent $400 on those other systems, so what's another $299?

Pandora's Jambox.

My friend Josh turned me on to Pandora, and it's like crack. It's a site that streams music catered to you. It first asks you for your favorite artists or songs, then starts playing songs that are musically similar. You give the songs a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down and Pandora narrows down the music universe for you. You'll start hearing artists and songs you've never heard of before.

The sound quality is not all that great, but hey, it's no worse than some of those iTunes stations.

It's cool, it's free, you should check it out.

If you want a sample of the music I listen to, I've added a link off to the right of my own Pandora stream.

[via Josh]

Heil Kitler!

CatsThatLookLikeHilter.com is a pretty funny site that my friend Mimi told me about.

"Does your cat look like Adolf Hitler? Do you wake up in a cold sweat every night wondering if he's going to up and invade Poland? Does he keep putting his right paw in the air while making a noise that sounds suspiciously like 'Sieg Miaow'? If so, this is the website for you."

[via Mimi]

Relive the best headbutt ever.

If you watched the World Cup this year, you know of Zinedine Zadane's headbutt that got his butt kicked out of the championship game, ultimately resulting in the French losing. Relive the moment in the flash game above. Click "play" to start, then mouse to move, click to headbutt.

[via Addicting Games]

Don't want to use a monkey wrench?

I hate hate hate trying to screw or unscrew a bolt/nut with a crescent wrech—the heads always get stripped.

"Gearheads and grease monkeys everywhere are raving about The Bionic Wrench, a tool that grips a nut or bolt on all six sides, giving you leverage and strength you never knew you had. That means you have 10 to 30 times more contact area than garden-variety wrenches."

For $25-30 at ThinkGeek, it's a pretty good deal. It also won the Popular Mechanics Editor's Choice Award as well as the prestigious Red Dot Award Best of the Best 2006 for pioneering design in a category (Tools).

[via Gizmodo]

The Japanese Noonian Sung.

The man on the right has watched far too much Star Trek and wanted to emulate Dr. Noonian Sung, or....is just being Japanese—he has created an robot in his own image. Weird.

"Ishiguro is mainly using the bot to teach his classes for him, and creep out students with lifelike movements such as blinking, 'breathing' and fidgeting. The bot can be remotely controlled via a motion capture system that tracks Ishiguro's mouth movements and allows the bot to speak his voice"

Didn't the movie studios release The Matrix and I, Robot in Japan?

[via Engadget]

Only in Texas.

My friend Shelly sent me this story a couple of days ago and I'm just now getting to it. This catfish has what appears to be human teeth. As my friend Claudia would say "grossy-gross."

"General Manager of Buffalo Springs Lake Greg Thornton told KLBK13-TV in Texas that he has never seen anything like the fish in the 36 years he has lived near the lake. A search for what the fish may be suggested that it may be a pacu, which is found in South America."

Read more about it here.

[via Shelly at babycakes!]

Relax, it's only a game.

I can't seem to figure out who created this or where it's being demoed...but there is a new arcade game called Simmer Down Sprinter which is really a game of competitive relaxing. It pits two people against each other and the more they relax, the faster your onscreen sprinter moves. It involves crazy biofeedback technology. Read more about it.

[via BoingBoing]

Cuts like a Plastic Knife.

Jill and I saw this set of durable plastic cutlery at Moss while we were in NYC. Kitchy, but somehow cool. $120 for a 16-piece setting.

"Make it so Number One Dork."

And when Tom Pearcy asked if he could create a maze celebrating the 40th anniversary of Star Trek, Captain Picard said "Make it so." I admit I've been to two Star Trek conventions, but this is sheer dorkdom.

[via BoingBoing]

Lucky Star.

My friend Jeremy sent me this link to a story about how Madonna gets her guns. The trick is a £7000 vibrating plate. She doesn't even workout; the vibrating plate works out for her! I guess that's a perk of being rich.

[via the Daily Mail]

The Cylons are back in October.

After a gazillion frackin' years, Battlestar Galactica is back in October with Season 3. Check out the trailer!

[via YouTube]

Snakes on a Plane on a Shirt

Perhaps Snakes on a Plane will bust the opening day Aquaman record, that was busted by Pirates. Show up on opening day with one of many many shirts for sale at CafePress—there are some real gems.

[via CafePress]

Google Dennis Hwang

This guy is responsible for the different Google logos-a-go-go that show up, most noticeably during the holidays. Read more about him over at CNN. Thanks Jill for link!

[via CNN]

I'm back.

I'm back from my trip and I have a lot of things to post...

Off to NYC

And that's the last posting for this week as I'm off to NYC.

Once you pop, you can't stop.

The pizza "pringles" you see in the picture above are actually crack cookies confiscated during a drug bust here in Austin, Texas y'all. This story even made it to boingboing—just keepin' it real, yo.

[via the Austinist]

Jon Stewart and Ted Stevens on Net Neutrality

Funny clip from The Daily Show about Senator Ted Stevens' expertise on things related to the internets. Thanks to Johnnie for sending this.

[Via YouTube]

Big Dig, Big Problems.

After several 3-ton slabs of concrete fell onto a car killing a passenger in the Boston Tunnel, officials find more things possibly wrong with it. The Big Dig was and continues to be a big nightmare.

[Via the Boston Globe]

Hey you sluts, listen up.

Apparently, the word "slut" is becoming as common Randy Jackson sayin' "dawg," dawg.

"'Slut' is tossed around so often and so casually that many teenagers use it affectionately and in jest among their friends, even incorporating it into their instant messenger screen names."

Read more about the "Taming of the Slur" at the NYT.

[Via the New York Times]

Microscared.

I found an interesting article about why Microsoft should be (more) scared of Apple.

"Stories about Apple's Boot Camp software and vitualization software from US startup Parallels, both of which allows Windows and Mac OSX to coexist on new Mac desktops and notebooks are already sending shivers through the collective spines Windows PC vendors. The new Macs are well priced, well made and now present an attractive alternative to the one dimensional PCs in the marketplace."

[Via MacMinute]

Bringing a dime to the horsetrack.

A woman in California places a $0.10 bet at a horsetrack and wins $21,584. Damn. Link.

[Via ESPN]

I don't know if I want these raindrops to fall on my head.

I read interesting post on boingboing about "cloud seeding" which involves firing rockets filled with certain chemicals into the sky causing thunderstorms.

Check out some of the comments to that post:

Todd Hartman says,

There has been interest in cloud seeding in the United States, though it has not been publicized all that much. The NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory - Hurricane Research Division has been looking at cloud seeding as a method for lessening the impact of hurricanes. Link.

Margot Kaminski says,

i worked as a ski instructor in colorado this past winter, and there was/is definite talk of cloudseeding in the us for major ski resorts. helps them out with snow conditions. Link, and another.

When Jill and I were in Thailand, we also heard someone talk about the king of Thailand also experimenting with it. For some reason, why does this sound like a very bad bad idea?

Allah, are you there?

I was pointed to a crazy article this morning by my friend Jeremy.

"A chicken in a Kazakh village has laid an egg with the word "Allah" inscribed on its shell..."

No pictures of this egg yet. Read more about this craziness over at Reuters.

Busyness

Sorry for the lack of posts. I've been busy...well, more lazy than busy. I'm going to blog like the wind today.

KeepAustinDining shout-out.

I have a cool friend named Tom (cool despite spelling his name with no H) that keeps a blog of Austin restaurants called KeepAustinDining. I've been to lunch with him at some of these places and unaware he was reviewing while we were eating. Check it out; nice haiku reviews of common man's food.

Thom is so cool he spells his name with an H.

Thom Yorke of Radiohead released his new solo project called The Eraser today.

What does Pitchfork have to say about it?

"The word 'gray' will be used to describe The Eraser, and with good reason-- unless you're predisposed to loving everything Yorke sets his voice against, you mind fight this an oppressively dreary affair."

Who cares what those over-analytic music snobs think. I'll buy it anyway.

Michael "W" Kors.

As if being a prolific fashion designer and judge on Bravo's Project Runway isn't enough, Michael Kors is designing a line of uniforms for W Hotel.

Going with Kors’ philosophy of personal style, the staff will choose their own pieces from the line, including polos, sweaters, slacks, and baby-doll blouses. The clothes will shift seasonally with over 50 outfits available to the staff.

Click to read more.

[Via Fashion Week Daily]

ESPN=SANTA

This is ridiculous. This is an image of the "grab bag" given to athletes that will be attending this year's ESPYs, the Emmys of the sports world.

Here is a sample of what these athletes (who already have everything) will get:

"Archos Gemini 402 Camcorder, iGroove Speakers, Edgetech Pocket Surfer, one year's Blockbuster Online, Logitech Harmony 550 Universal Remote, Timbuk2 Bag, Dada Footwear Code M MP3 Shoe Player, Bose Quiet Comfot 2 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones, Dirt Devil Vacuum, One year's Gamefly membership, and Sony Cierge Membership."

Ridiculous. [Via Gizmodo.]

Karaoke, The Final Frontier.

More from YouTube, a great spot advertising Star Trek 2.0. Thanks to Josh for showing me this.

[Via YouTube]

Chinese 3-Way

Funny, funny stuff—like a rendition of "Who's on First?" but with Chinese food.

[Via YouTube]

Dirty.

Microsoft is developing, what it thinks is, an iPod killer—a media player that boasts a slightly bigger screen than the current video iPod, WiFi for downloading music and movies wirelessly without needing a computer, and a whole host of other perks.

One of these perks in particular allows iPod users who have purchased music through the iTunes store to download the same music (in a Microsoft-friendly format) through Microsoft's music store for FREE.

It's speculated that it'll be released right before the holidays.

Oh...and one more thing...can we expect an iPod Killer-Killer from Apple at WWDC starting August 7...way before the holidays? Stick it to 'em Steve.

[Via everywhere]

Be Unseen?

Definitely for booties that don't stop, these Blackbars are Censor Bar Privacy Glasses. So whenever you're doing....er....something your really shouldn't be doing and are photographed, you automatically get a censor bar over your eyes. These kinda dumb, kinda stupid, and kinda idiotic Blackbars may be purchased through a website called Stupididiotic.

[Via Gizmodo.]

El Sufjan is coming.

A big fan of Sufjan Stevens and never been to Austin? Come on down to the ACL Fest, where El Sufjan is scheduled to play. Via the austinist.

"Although the Austin City Limits Festival lineup page does not reflect it, a search on Gettix.net reveals that Sufjan Stevens is scheduled to perform on September 15 at 9 pm."

Always in the middle of controversy, always.

Wal-mart is being sued for trademark infringement by a London-based company called SmileyWorld. SmileyWorld claims it registered and the "smiley" before Wal-mart ever did. Read more of the article over at CNN.

Can anyone really own a smiley?

Who knew pasty Canadians could design?

Check out the Canadian Design Resource, via coolhunting, Eh?

The Slayer Pilot

For all you Buffy buffs—an unaired pilot for The Slayer of the Vam-pirré. Via TVSquad, via YouTube.

Lost Luggage Finds Home.

Via boingboing, ever wonder where your the contents of your lost luggage may go if you never claim it....or if the airline never FINDS it?

The answer is Scottsboro, Alabama at a place called The Unclaimed Baggage Center. I've been wondering where my Vince Bomberry Collectible Soapstone Bowl went.

...and more Hoff.

Thanks to Marcy for pointing this out to me on the DHCA website....the Hoff's autobiography. It's not availble for pre-order just yet, but will be released on September 4, 2006. Check your local bookstores.

More Hoff.

While I was digging around for info on the Hoff, I came across a David Hasselhoff Fan Club. Super sweet. I've been trying to tell people around here that we should use the Hoff as a spokesperson for one of our clients. Don't call it a comeback.

It's Hofficial.

The Hoff is at it again with a new single released on June 29 called "Jump in my Car." Buy the single over at Amazon, or better yet.....check out the video for the single on Google video. Thanks to Tom, Honey and Jill for the link!

More tubes.

More digging yielded this T-shirt inspired by Senator Ted Stevens. The license for the art is free, feel free to screen print, distribute, etc. Download the art here. Via boingboing.

A Series of Tubes

I admit, I'm a little late to this, but there's a debate going on in the Senate Commerce Committee regarding "basic net neutrality provisions into a moving telecommunications bill. The provisions didn't prohibit an ISP from handling VOIP faster than emails, but would have made it illegal to handle its own VOIP packets faster than a competitor's." Complicated, but regardless, the real gem is how Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) describes the internet.

"...I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why?

Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the internet commercially.

[The Internet is] a series of tubes.

And if you don't understand those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and its going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material."

Wow.

Read more and hear more here at wired.

Super theft deterrant

Via digg, again. Some IT dudes working for some big Austrailian companies have come up with a way to discourage data theft—fill the USB ports with super glue. Dirty.

Toyota: Moving Forward

Via digg, Toyota is "moving forward" and building houses in Japan.

Multi-million dollar opening in disguise.

The Transformers are coming.....next year. See the first of many many trailers to come.

Back (home) in Black.

Found this cool prefab house/barn...somewhere. I would live in a house like this. Simple, clean and familiar, yet modern and...cool. See more renderings of the Pinc House here.

Let the pizza guy know where you live.

If you don't have address numbers on your dwelling, like my friends Josh and Jonathan don't, you should check out these Umbra Numbras; just pop out your numbers. Via design*sponge. (I can't seem to find a link for the actual product on the complicated umbra site, and all I know is the designer's name is Matt Carr.)

Git yer fiber.

An progress report on AT&T's U-Verse found here at Gizmodo.