Ah, Dora the Explorer. So innocent. So carefree. So NSFW. The number one puzzling toy on our list has to be the Dora Aquapet. Did anyone run this design past a kid over the age of ten?� And do any of the Aquapet's owners wonder why it keeps ending up in Mommy's nightstand? The rest of the puzzling toys after the jump.� 2) Mmmmm...Dora's eyeballs sure are tasty after you bake them in the oven.� 3) For the parent who wants to ensure her kid is beaten up every day at recess, there is the Dora fanny pack.� 4) Sometimes, the jokes write themselves: The Fantasy Swirl Castle with Balls.� 5) The Dora Knows Your Name Cell Phone. It gets its information from the CIA.� 6) A 3-foot tall doll with an enormous head? Sure. That's not creepy at all. 7) The Dora Bounce Buddy Talking Trampoline. When you care enough to induce a head injury.� 8) Oral or rectal? The Dora digital thermometer goes both ways. � 9) Dora's Talking Cash Register says "Gracias for all of the dough! Have some more crap with my picture on it!"
Android game turns Linux phones into paintball guns
Topic: Games
3:26 pm EST, Feb 17, 2008
A new game for Google's Linux-based Android platform uses WiFi, GPS, and phone-camera technology, along with Google maps, to create a first-person shooter game you can play "anytime, anywhere -- against real people," according to publisher W2Pi Entertainment.
Spread the word: digg this story Once a user downloads and activates the Java-based WiFi Army, says W2Pi, the game scans for other users within 300 feet and sets up a direct WiFi connection, swapping photos of each player for identification purposes. The user tracks the other player via continually updated GPS coordinates on a Google map interface, and when a positive identification is made, the user can shoot to kill using the phone's camera. The photo is then uploaded to the W2Pi site to see if there's a match, and if so, the user is awarded points.
Christ lightning strike is electric intervention | Metro.co.uk
Topic: Photography
4:23 pm EST, Feb 15, 2008
This amazing picture taken of the Christ Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro puts a new meaning to the phrase 'touched by the hand of God.'
The 130 foot tall statue which is located on the peak of the Corcovado Mountain, was stuck by lightening during a storm in the Brazilian city displaying this divinely electric image.
Named one of the modern Wonders of the World in 2007, the statue which is the largest one of Christ and can be seen for miles appeared unscathed from the miraculous bolt.
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?
