Can you read this eye chart?
[tags]Eye chart, animated gif[/tags]
Category: Useless knowledge
Information you have no need for. Ever. Usually about me, but possibly about other trivial crap in the world.
Play guitar just like the cowboys
More from the wayback machine that is Modern Mechanix, the latest to catch my eye there is this August 1944 Popular Science ad. Order now to learn how to play guitar like the cowboys do in 12 lessons – each only minutes long – for the low, low price of $1 (or $1.25 in Canada).
[tags]Modern Mechanix, Cowboy guitar[/tags]
Engadget talks Zune
With all the rumors and “facts” flying around the intarweb recently concerning Microsoft’s new portable media player, it can be hard to know what is real and not for this device. One of my favorite gadget sites, Engadget, has some details on what’s true and what’s not for Microsoft’s recently announced Zune.
Well, it’s not much, but we’ve got a quote and an official confirmation of the Zune project at Microsoft. The Zune brand is being billed as a “music and entertainment” project aimed at “connecting with others to discover new
music and entertainment and will deliver a family of hardware and software products.” Here’s what they sent over, by way of Microsoft’s GM of marketing, Chris Stephenson:
“Today we confirmed a new music and entertainment project called Zune. Under the Zune brand, we will deliver a family of hardware and software products, the first of which will be available this year. We see a great opportunity to bring together technology and community to allow consumers to explore and discover music together.”
So, what do we (thanks to Engadget) know? Well, here are just a few of the details Engadget has let us in on.
Ok, so we got off the horn with Microsoft just a few minutes ago and realized that making heads or tails of all this Zune stuff is probably driving some of you crazy . (We know others are probably just getting driven crazy by all the posts we’ve been writing about it. Sorry, it’s our job!) So here’s what we know for sure, think we know according to inside sources (i.e. yet unconfirmed information), and what we don’t yet know at all about the Zune. Continue reading “Engadget talks Zune”
Worth1000 – Urban legends photochopping
As you can probably guess from my frequent posts about contests there, I think Worth1000 is an awesome site. Their latest contest that I thought was worth pointing out is an Urban Legends recreation contest.
Is Walt Disney really cryogenically frozen in ice? It’s a fact. Do alligators really live in the New York sewers? Yup. Did a couple on lovers lane really find a hook embedded in their car after hearing a radio advisory of an escaped “hook” murderer? Sure. And we’ve got the pictures to prove it.
The rules of this game are thus:
Show that an urban legend exists by creating an image that is “proof,”. You can find some great urban legends at Snopes.com. If you choose to do a macabre urban legend then try to keep the gore level to a minimum. As always, quality is a must. You’ll have 48 hours for this contest, so make your submission count.
Like so many Worth1000 contests, there are a lot of bad entries. But all of them are better than I can do, and the good ones, to me, are always worth the time they take to track down and view.
[tags]Worth1000, Urban Legends, Photochop[/tags]
TechEBlog’s top 5 strangest laser projects
While catching up on my TechEBlog reading, I saw their list of the top 5 strangest laser projects. Given my love to lasers, I thought this was the kind of useless knowledge I needed to pass on. YouTube videos for each project are included on the TechEBlog page.
#2 – For those
with either a red and/or green laser pointer from Wicked Lasers, check out this “Laser Saber†accessory. It features a 38.75-inch long radiant strong polycarbonate blade and a solid 9.5-inch hilt.
No word on any project involving frikkin’ sharks, frikkin’ laser beams, and attaching things to their frikkin’ heads.
[tags]Laser projects, frikkin’ laserbeams[/tags]
Mariah’s album covers censored in Saudi Arabia?
(via Neatorama)
Apparently, Maria Carey is a little too revealing in her album covers for the Saudi Arabian government. So, to sell her CDs there, the record companies have had to update her covers to something a bit more conservative. Maybe. This from the Museum of Hoaxes.
Images purporting to show Saudi Arabian versions of Mariah Carey’s album covers have recently appeared on the web. Mediabum.com says that “Because of the laws over there her album covers had to be touched up to be made less sexy.” Maybe. It sounds like something that would be done in Saudi Arabia. However, the lack of a clear source for these images makes me suspicious. They could equally well have been created by somebody playing around with photoshop. (And why is there no arabic script on these Saudi Arabian covers?) (And incidentally, I just read that Mariah Carey has 17 Number One singles, tying the number that Elvis had. This is odd because I’m unable to name a single song by her. With 17 #1 songs, I figured I’d know at least one of them.).
[tags]Mariah Carey, Museum of Hoaxes, Saudi Arabia[/tags]
Beard plans to swim in 2008 Olympics
Since we just featured the amazingly sexy Ms. Amanda Beard as an eye candy highlight, it seems we would have an obligation to report that she is planning on swimming in the 2008 Olympics, according to this Sports Illustrated report. Plus, it gives us an excuse to run another picture of her.
Amanda Beard is aiming for her fourth Olympics. Beard made her debut at 14 at the 1996 Atlanta Games, collecting a total of two gold medals, four silver and one bronze. Now 24, Beard is training for Beijing in 2008.
. . .
Beard is swimming four times a week and cross-training on her mountain bike. She plans to “buckle down” in the fall, resuming her six-hour workouts.
You hear that, all you pansies? She’s going to be working out six hours a day. There’s a chance that’s why she’s so awesome.
[tags]Amanda Beard, Olympics, Swimming, dizzam[/tags]
Where we get snowcones
[tags]Animated GIF, Snowcones, disturbing[/tags]
New Atari 2600 cartridge released
(via boingboing)
This isn’t an officially supported Atari company cartridge, but with the whole retro-gaming scene getting so popular, expect to see more of these in the future. The original release of the game A-VCS-tec Challenge was 55 signed, numbered, boxed cartridges. Those are long gone. But additional runs for those wanting their own non-limited edition cartridge are planned.
The game is a conceptually simple race for distant object, but with an Aztec them and really nice (for Atari 2600) graphics. Controls are simple, as would be expected for such a limited joystick as the 2600 had. I still have a working Atari 2600 – perhaps I should try to buy myself a copy?
[tags]Atari 2600, Retro-gaming[/tags]
Dragonlance movie has Jack Bauer
I picked up this bit of news while scanning recent game posts over at Slashdot. Word from the Dragonlance movie site is Kiefer Sutherland will be doing the voice work for the Raistlin Majere character. Check out more of the cast at the Dragonlance movie site. To see what little information is available for the movie, hit the movie information page on that site.
An animated version of Dragons of Autumn Twlight is being produced for a worldwide commercial theatrical release.
. . .
Release Date
Autumn 2007 (northern hemisphere)
[tags]Dragonlance, Jack Bauer, Kiefer Sutherland[/tags]
Kittens in a glass globe
It may not be as scary as Snakes on a Plane, but just seeing kittens in a glass globe seems spooky to me. This could be bigger than Bonsai Kittens! Original article from the January 1932 issue of Modern Mechanix.
TO WIN a bet, Dick Manley, California glass blower, performed an unprecedented glass blowing stunt. He placed three kittens in a glass tube and within three minutes fashioned it into a perfect 26-inch globe with the kittens inside and unharmed. A small hole admitted air.
[tags]Modern Mechanix, Glass bubble, Kittens in a glass globe[/tags]
