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What do you get when you combine the latest advancements in robot technology with a mohawk and musical instruments? The band Compressorhead.
This is pretty epic. Note the glowing red eyes of the bassist and the headbanging of the drummer -- who, by the way, has four arms. I can't wait for these robots to go on tour. My only question is: would you cheer for them? It's not like they can hear you. via YouTube
Google's search results are way too vanilla for an OG like yourself. You need a search engine with a little gansta funk in it. Fo' shizzle my nizzle, here's one that's "realer than Real Deal Holyfield": Gizoogle.
What's Gizoogle you ask? Though not affiliated with Google in any way, it's just like its more straight-laced cousin, with one noticable difference: it translates all search results into gangstalicious slang popularized by Snoop Dogg.
Not hip to Snoop's linguistic flair on his "Doggy Fizzle Televizzle" show on MTV? No worries, just log on and get schooled. But before you do, Gizoogle has a few words of warning.
"This website is only intended for mature audiences farmiliar with the
slanguage used by Snoop Dogg, and anybody under the age of 13 should not
visit this website without adult supervision," the website states.
For example, let's type in the most non-gangsta thing we can think of. How about the "Lawrence Welk Show." Here's what Gizoogle's "Wikipizzle" page spits out:
"Da Lawrence Welk Show be a American televised musical variety sheezy hosted by bangin' band leader Lawrence Welk. Da series aired locally up in Los Angelez fo' four muthaf****n' years (1951-55), then nationally fo' another 27 1/2 muthaf****n' years (1955-1971) via the ABC network..."
According to the website, "Gizoogle was originally created by John Beatty, who started the site in
2005 as a joke after inspiration from a friend's constant use of the
slang on America Online's Instant Messenger service" and also by Snoop's" show on MTV.
Over the years Gizoogle has encountered some glitches, ungergone address changes and been on and off line. However, now it's been restored to its former glory.
"The slanguage used in our algorithm has been quoted from Snoop Dogg
himself and is commonly used in movies, conversations and music he has
written," states the website. "These words are based on slang and can not be interpreted in any other
way other than how they are quoted. There are no racist words used in
the algorithm."
Sure, Gizoogle isn't sheets-and-burning-crosses racist, but it does wander into the ironic "hipster racism" territory, a topic that's been hotly discussed in recent years. Regardless, this is probably a questions for Yo, Is This Racist?
Now that Christmas is in the rear-view mirror, you're speeding towards one last holiday destination: New Year's Eve, typically one of the most besotted nights on the calendar.
Once you make that last exit towards Boozetown, here's a little party favor that'll remind you not to get behind the wheel after you've sung those last notes of "Auld Lang Syne."
Although the Buzzed Buzzer, created by Tyler DeAngelo and Sacha De'Angeli, sounds like any old party horn blown on New Year's Eve, it only makes a sound if you're drunk. Maybe not lamp-shade-on-the-head drunk, but alcohol must be present on the breath of the reveler who's blowing it.
Unfortunately, you have to buy the materials and put it together yourself. Think of it as your last craft project of 2012.
All you have to do is take a traditional party horn, add a micro-controller, an alcohol sensor, a resistor, a buzzer, a battery and a battery charger. Yeah, I know, it sounds a little more complicated than just Scotch-taping everything together. Fortunately, there are detailed instructions on how to make your own. Just a heads up, you're going to need your soldering iron, wire cutters, wire strippers, needle nosed pliers and a computer installed with Arduino IDE and Teensyduino. You might want to do this before you start in on the cocktails.
Another word to the wise: Buzzed Buzzer is not a breathalyzer device, so don't think it's going to give you your blood alcohol level and let you know if you should drive or not. Better just to throw your keys in a bowl, uncork the champagne, get out the lamp shades and blow your horn.
A weird new lab-made substance acts like a liquid in air, but is solid in water. Credit: Luo Lab
A strange new substance acts like a liquid when exposed to air, but takes a solid shape when it's dunked in water.
The new stuff is a metamaterial,
scientists' word for a lab-made material that has properties
uncommon in nature. Even among metamaterials, however, this material is unusual --
it's composed of artificial DNA, while most metamaterials are composed of
nonbiological chemicals such as silicon or copper. Its creators are
calling it a "meta-hydrogel."
In the future, metamaterials made of biological stuff could go into soft, flexible circuits, according to a statement from
Cornell University, where the meta-hydrogel was made. Because they have
pores in which drug molecules could fit, meta-hydrogels could help
release medicines slowly inside the body, the statement said.
Adding to its unusual properties, the new meta-hydrogel remembers its
original shape. If it's made in a mold, it will return to its original,
molded shape every time it's doused in water, even after researchers
expose it to air -- and force it into its liquidlike state -- several
times. The researchers made a video that shows the meta-hydrogel firming up into letters when a researcher adds water to it.
To get the meta-hydrogel to take on a new solid shape, the gel’s
creators heat it to 185 degrees Fahrenheit (85 degrees Celsius) and set
it in new molds.
When a team of Cornell engineers first mixed the chemicals to make
their meta-hydrogel, they didn't know it would act so strangely. "This
was not by design," Dan Luo, the lead scientist in the research, said.
Luo and his colleagues have used synthetic DNA to make hydrogels, or
gels composed mostly of water, before. This time, they wanted to make a
DNA hydrogel with a different microscopic structure. It was only after
they created their meta-hydrogel that they discovered its unique
abilities, the researchers wrote in a paper they published Dec. 2 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
Copyright 2012 TechNewsDaily, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
I usually reserve about as much excitement for weather forecasts as I do for banging my head against a brick wall. However, here's a whimsical puff of prediction that's literally left my head in the clouds.
It's the Nebula 12, a weather forecasting machine that uses meteorological data to generate indoor clouds as a representation of what to expect when you step outside.
Created by Zurich-based Micasa Lab, the Nebula 12 blends liquid hydrogen and hot water to conjure a cloud of steam. The clouds are released from a lamp with various brightness settings to highlight the cloud's contour. But most-captivating is that the light changes color to reflect different weather conditions. Red light indicates a low-pressure front is threatening, while yellow light indicates a sunny day.
The device gathers meteorlogical data from the U.K.'s Met Office via a Wi-Fi-connected Lumia smartphone. However, this is merely a default setting. Sourced weather data can be adjusted by the user.
By default, the Nebula 12's clouds reflect the weather for next 48 hours, however, users can also adjust the time frame.
So far, Nebula 12 exists just as a concept, as liquid nitrogen isn't necessarily something you're going keep around the house. But I say, if Micasa Lab can find a way to add some thunder and lightning, anything's marketable.
My girlfriend and I once drove across Michigan's Upper Peninsula. One day, after we downed a couple pasties, we stopped in to the VFW post in Ontonagon for a few beers. There, in the men's room, I saw something I'd never seen before: Hanoi Jane Urinal Targets.
In an era before Smart Technology, slapping a Jane Fonda sticker on some porcelain was the best the world had to offer in urinal target-practice games...at least in certain circles of disgruntled veterans and political malcontents. However, full-bladdered fellas, the future of mens' room gaming is upon us.
Last year, we told you about Captive Media, a London-based start-up that created a urinal entertainment system. Think of it as X-Box meets Hanoi Jane Urinal Target, with the joy stick already in your hand.
Well, the company has had a golden year since it's launch. Co-founder Gordon MacSween told Wired the response has been "beyond his wildest expectations." After being on the market in 18 bars, hotels, corporate offices and private residences across the U.K. and Europe, the company is set to soon aim its success at the U.S. market as early as next year.
In case you forgot what the system entails, here's a refresher:
Mounted on the wall above the urinal is an LCD screen that plays advertisements loops until you step up to the trough and unzip. By the time you let it flow, the game is on. Infrared sensors below the screen shoot into the urinal and detect your pee stream. That data is fed back into the system and used to control the game. For you stray shooters out there, there are decals in the urinal to correct your aim.
There are five games that, unfortunately, you don't get to choose from. They just randomly pop up. As you'd expect, a few titles are very tongue-in-cheeky. There's "On the Piste," a POV ski run game where you navigate the slopes trying to hit penguins; "Clever Dick," a trivia game and Art Splash, a coloring book of sorts that lets you email your masterpiece to loved ones, friends and art critics once you're finished.
As Captive Media's website proclaims, the gaming doesn't have to stop once you've zipped up. The system is well-endowed with high-score features and an online leaded board that let's you take your measuring contest to new lengths.
The company just raised $700,00 from U.K. investors, so at least they'll have a pot to pee in for awhile. British blokes like their pints of ale. That they're rewarded with urinal video games the more they drink must be making bar tenders swoon. In fact, they already are. According to Wired, one bar in Cambridge reported a 22 percent spike in sales of a cocktail advertised on the game screens.
American dudes, I know you're anxious for your favorite watering hole to get one of these, but you'll just have to hold your horses. However, between now and then, if you're looking for a little target practice, you can always head up to the Ontonagon VFW lodge.
Millions of residents in the northeastern U.S. continue to deal with the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy. For those still dealing with power outages and flood waters, it's pretty safe to say that Halloween will be a wash out.
How much of the deluge includes the salty tears of sad trick-or-treaters stuck at home might be hard to calculate, but here's something that just might dry their eyes, if not put a smile on their face: Jack-o-lantern Tetris.
The project is the brainchild of programmer Nathan Pryor who runs the website Hahabird. There he gave a detailed tutorial of how he came to make every techie's must-have Halloween gourd. The fully playable pumpkin includes 128 LEDs connected to a 12C backpack, a battery pack and an Arduino controller. Best part about it? The game's joystick is the pumpkin stem.
After finding the right-sized pumpkin, Pryor set to drilling holes for each LED, then carved squares around the holes to make the grid look pixelated. Next, he fit all the wiring through a large hole in the back of the pumpkin.
"For a controller I used [a] a short handle joystick from SparkFun, with the red ball unscrewed and replaced with the stem of the pumpkin," he explained on his website. "I think I'm going to call this the 'joystem' from now on, as disgusting
as that may sound. I drilled a hole in the detached stem and epoxied in a
6mm bolt, then screwed that into a coupling nut on the joystick shaft."
The end result: a pumpkin that can play a full game of Tetris with difficulty levels and high score tracking. There weren't any programs available that could run Tetris on his DIY LED grid, so Pryor programmed the entire game from scratch.
"Everything worked great, except for some occasional glitches in the top
matrix," he wrote. "Maybe a power supply issue, but it's also possible there might be some intermittent shorts that happen when you bury that many electrical connections inside a pumpkin.
It's also weird playing with the controller on the top and the display underneath, so if I were to do it again I would wire the joystem into a separate pumpkin,either wireless or with the wire made to look like a vine."
When it comes to harvesting cattle, not much of the animal goes to waste. Their milk gets turned into a variety of dairy products, their hides produce leather and their meat is a valuable source of protein across the globe.
In some parts of the world, even their manure is used as a primary building material for floors, walls and roof binders. If anything, the most wasted part of a cow is its blood. Until now.
University of Westminster architecture graduate Jack Munro has created "Blood Bricks" and believes they could offer a potential replacement for mud bricks in regions such as Siwa, Egypt, that susceptible to significant rain damage.
"The invented process involves mixing fresh blood with a preservative
(EDTA, prevents bacterial / fungal growth on the material) and sand," Munro explains on his website. "This mixture was then placed in a form work and baked for 1 hour at 70 C."
Baking the mixture at 158 Fahrenheit causes the blood proteins to coagulate and produce a sturdy, waterproof brick.
Compression tests showed that he may need to tweak his mixtures to strengthen the bricks, but they are waterproof nonetheless.
Munro's thesis is even more inspired. It envisioned infrastructure that would "re-establish the autonomy of desert communities" via an industry quite literally built upon Blood Bricks.
Here's how he imagines the main structure of his imaginary community Sanguis et Pulvis:
"The building itself is formed by casting animal blood based adhesive
over a sand dune and allowing the dune to migrate, revealing and
interior space [that] can be excavated and occupied. This building houses
cattle sheds, abattoirs and brick making facilities for turning blood
into bricks for local construction. The building also generates solar
power on a large scale, creating a new economic base for desert
communities through sale to the imminent single European energy market."
Results of art and engineering coming together are often sights to see, but in this case you've already seen the sight, only smaller.
Artist and science nerd Mark Perez created a larger-than-life Mouse Trap game. The Rube Goldberg board game is familiar to most American families and has been around since the late 1960s, but Perez turned it into a spectacle for the annual DIY Maker Faire.
The piece takes days to set up, took fifteen years to build and requires a whole truck to move. All so in the end, we can see a two-ton bank safe crush a car. When asked why he created it Perez responded, "For you!" via CNN
Bacon can be used to do more than just make breakfast better.
Penn & Teller introduce the concept of using the energy in bacon to make a blowtorch that will cut steel. Seriously! There is more energy to burn in a piece of bacon than in a piece of wood of similar size.
Don't try this at home, especially since there's a shortage of bacon coming. Using only bacon and pure oxygen, this scientist can create something beyond belief... via Discovery Channel
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