Video: Backstroke Of The West

Revenge Of The Sith translated into Chinese and then back into English. If you want to know more about this video, here is some background on it.

Video: Pulp Muppets Trailer

Pulp Fiction mash up trailer with the Muppets.

Article: New 'super-Earth' found in space

BBC NEWS reports: "Astronomers have found the most Earth-like planet outside our Solar System to date, a world which could have water running on its surface. ... The planet orbits the faint star Gliese 581, which is 20.5 light-years away in the constellation Libra."

I wonder how long it would take us to get there from here?

Video: Volkswagen Touareg vs Boeing 747

Tom Ford tests the true power of the VW Touareg by trying to tow a Boeing 747 jumbo jet. If he completes this task it will be a new world record for the heaviest object towed by a production vehicle. In previous Touareg towing challenges they have drag a people carrier driving in the opposite direction, a telegraph pole and a combine harvester. You can watch the video here.

Video: The Monty Hall Problem

The Monty Hall Problem is a famous (or rather infamous) probability puzzle. Ron Clarke takes you through the puzzle and explains the counter-intuitive answer.

Video: Career Builder Ad - Monkeys wtih Pointers

Sorry I can't embed this one. I hope you enjoy it.

Video: (Sperm) Bank Robbery Commercial

Criminals with bad eyesight try to rob a bank. Unfortunately they did not see that it was a SPERM bank. When they finally crack the safe they don't see any money and mistake sperm for yogurt. If you've got a problem with your eyesight see a specialist at Top Charoen Optical.

Article: Big money in little screens

CNET News.com reports: "Searching the Web on a mobile phone has been a lot like getting online via dial-up modem circa 1995: slow, tedious and not terribly useful. Typing on tiny buttons, squinting at a list of links and clicking through to a page that won't display properly is enough to test anyone's patience."

The hype is back, let's see if they can produce decent web experience this time. Last time they were hyping this technology was about 5-7 years back. It was pretty a pretty miserable user experience then, and it seems to have only marginally got better.

Article: Ethanol worst then Gas, and Cell Phone Killing the Planet?

Below are two interesting articles that I came across recently. I will let you draw your own conclusions.

Ethanol Vehicles Pose A Significant Risk To Human Health, Study Finds
"Ethanol is widely touted as an eco-friendly, clean-burning fuel. But if every vehicle in the United States ran on fuel made primarily from ethanol instead of pure gasoline, the number of respiratory-related deaths and hospitalizations would likely increase, according to a new study by Stanford University atmospheric scientist Mark Z. Jacobson. His findings are published in the April 18 online edition of the journal Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T)."

Will Mobile Phones Bee The Death Of Us All?
"It seems like the plot of a particularly far-fetched horror film. But some scientists suggest that our love of the mobile phone could cause massive food shortages, as the world's harvests fail. ... They are putting forward the theory that radiation given off by mobile phones and other hi-tech gadgets is a possible answer to one of the more bizarre mysteries ever to happen in the natural world - the abrupt disappearance of the bees that pollinate crops."

Video: How Superconducting Levitation Works

An education video describing how the cool technology of superconductors in magnetic levitation works.

Video: How to rip a phonebook in half

Impress your friends. I have to give this trick a try when I find a phonebook laying around.

Researcher: JavaScript Attacks Get Slicker

eWeek reports: "Malicious JavaScript is getting smarter. It's now able to fingerprint victims' Web browsers, vulnerable components and accessible CLSIDs, and deliver custom-tailored exploits, according to Dr. Jose Nazario, senior security engineer for Arbor Networks."

More and more new functionality is constantly being added to JavaScript programming language to make web pages more interactive. This new functionality is being exploited by malicious web sites owner to try to take control over your browser and/or computer.

Article: U.S. favors stealthy anti-satellite strategy

MSNBC.com reports: "For some, the Jan. 11 test revealed China’s increasing military capabilities and an emerging threat to U.S. dominance in military space. For others, the test proved the need for a U.S. anti-satellite capability. The conventional wisdom was that the United States needed to create such a system to deter the Chinese from doing anything rash in an international crisis - in effect, bringing mutually assured destruction to military space operations."

New and creative ways of dealing with satellites. Well to be honest is not new the Russians developed it about 30 years ago.

Article: New Adobe Player Takes Web Video Offline

PC Magazine reports: "Adobe Systems Inc. unveiled on Sunday video-player software that lets consumers play back video online or offline, a move that could help reshape an acrimonious debate over video-sharing."

Wendy's: Soviet Fashion Show

One of the greatest commercials from the 80's...

Related Article:

• Top 10 Best Commercials of All Time
• Best Funny Commercials: The Sequel
• New Mac vs. PC Commercials
• Best Mac Ads, Spoofs and Parodies
• Vintage Computer Commercial Flashbacks

SlideShow: Test Driving the $100 Laptop's Interface

eWeek Reports: "As the One Laptop Per Child project works toward a release this year of what is commonly called the $100 laptop, work has continued on the operating system and the new interface for the radical new laptop design. This interface is called Sugar and is based on a lightweight version of Fedora Linux. "

Video: Turboencabulator

A highly technical video presentation of modern technology from Rockwell Automation Systems. (Background: behind the announcer is a ordinary bank of large circuit breaker panels that can be found in any large building. This video was a joke produced by Rockwell for a sales meeting.)

Video: Best New Science Toy

Carver (Half Car/Half Motorcycle, and All Fun)...

The Carver is half car and half motorcycle, and its all fun. The vehicle can lean up to 45 degree left or right as you turn. Its kind of like a fighter jet for the road. Watch the video to understand. More information, see the Vandenbrink web site.

Universcale (Putting Size in Prospective)

If you want to put the size of different objects into prospective, from the universe (about 13.7 billion light years) to a proton (1 femtometer). This is probably one of the best flash applications that I have seen, its very interactive. Click on the scale at the bottom to change the zoom, or click on the object to get more information about it.

Video: Remove Dents With Dry Ice

Warning: Do not touch dry ice to bare skin it will hurt you, make sure that you use heavy gloves when handling this substance.

I have not personally verified that this trick works, but it looks like it might be worth a try.

Basically what is happening is the dry ice condenses metal and shrinks small dents on your car. To properly perform this trick you need to place the dry ice on the inside of the dent if possible.

Other uses for dry ice include:

• Mosquitoes Repellent (sort of): Mosquitoes are attracted CO2 from humans and animals. Try placing pieces of dry ice in areas away from where people congregate.
  
• Gopher Destroyer: Since dry ice is heavier than air, it will sink to the bottom of a gopher hole. Place 1 to 2 inch pieces of ice as deep as you can into each hole, then fill the top of the hole with dirt. Make sure you do this to all holes, otherwise the process may have to be repeated.

Article: Revolution, flashmobs, and brain chips. A grim vision of the future

Guardian Unlimited reports: "Information chips implanted in the brain. Electromagnetic pulse weapons. The middle classes becoming revolutionary, taking on the role of Marx's proletariat. The population of countries in the Middle East increasing by 132%, while Europe's drops as fertility falls. "Flashmobs" - groups rapidly mobilized by criminal gangs or terrorists groups."

It's a bleak report, but it is interesting from a technological point of view. Everything from middle class upraises to neutron weapons, and everything in between.

Article: Google Tests Directory Assistance for Phones

PC Magazine reports: "Computer Web search leader Google Inc. on Friday stepped up an experiment to use speech recognition on telephones so consumers can ask for local information, in a challenge to directory assistance providers."

This is not the first, last or best free 411 service, but it's now available by calling 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411). This is a U.S. number only for right now. More information, check out the following site.

Video: The Perfect Husband

Video: German Forklift Safty Training

This is an insane video of how to use/not use a forklift. Apparently this is used as a training video in Germany. The whole is in German, and there are no sub-titles, but if you watch until the end its hysterical.

Video: Google's new mashup feature

CNET News.com reporter Elinor Mills finds she can create a My Maps mashup with no coding experience.

Take Google Maps and customize them, then share them with your friends...

Video: Cheotpics360 in Action

Cheotpics360 is a four-sided transparent pyramid that was developed by a Danish team. It can display both video and computer images and scale them from 1.5 to 30-meters. The images in the video were generated by four projectors and mirrors that displays them within the prism-like pyramid.

Video: I/O Brush

Description: "I/O Brush is a new drawing tool to explore colors, textures, and movements found in everyday materials by "picking up" and drawing with ... all » them. I/O Brush looks like a regular physical paintbrush but has a small video camera with lights and touch sensors embedded inside. Outside of the drawing canvas, the brush can pick up color, texture, and movement of a brushed surface. On the canvas, artists can draw with the special "ink" they just picked up from their immediate environment."

Inside the Robot Lab - The iRobot Create at work

eWeek reports: "iRobot developed the Create robot as s development platform for people interested in using the Roomba chassis to create their own robots. This robot consists of the chassis (minus the vacuum cleaner parts) and an interface module. This particular robot was developed in iRobot's lab in India by an engineer who wanted to create sand paintings for use with worship."

iRobot makes more then just the Roomba, see what else they make.

Video: Secret Science Anti-Gravity

Secret Science Anti Gravity Revealed Homemade - The best bloopers are here

Levitation with only a cell phone, 4 AA battery, CD, soda can, 1 playing card, tape and a dime. Watch the video to find out more...

Google: TiSP

Sick of paying for broadband that you have to, well, pay for?

Introducing Google TiSP (BETA), our new FREE in-home wireless broadband service. Sign up today and we'll send you your TiSP self-installation kit, which includes setup guide, fiber-optic cable, spindle, wireless router and installation CD.

TiSP in-home wireless broadband is:
Free, fast and highly reliable
Easy to install -- takes just minutes
Vacuum-sealed to prevent water damage

Interested? You can learn more about TiSP via the links below, or get started now.

(Yes, I know this is an April Fool's Joke. I hope you do as well.)

Google: About Gmail Paper (New Feature)

Introducing Gmail Paper

Everyone loves Gmail. But not everyone loves email, or the digital era. What ever happened to stamps, filing cabinets, and the mailman? Well, you asked for it, and it’s here. We’re bringing it back.

Now in Gmail, you can request a physical copy of any message with the click of a button, and we'll send it to you in the mail.

Simplicity Squared
Google will print all messages instantly and prepare them for delivery. Allow 2-4 business days for a parcel to arrive via post.

Total Control
A stack of Gmail Paper arrives in a box at your doorstep, and it’s yours to keep forever. You can read it, sort it, search it, touch it. Or even move it to the trash—the real trash. (Recycling is encouraged.)

Keep it Secret, Keep it Safe
Google takes privacy very seriously. But once your email is physically in your hands, it's as secure as you want to make it.

(Yes, I know this is an April Fool's Joke. I hope you do as well.)