theniji

I’ve always been fascinated by engineering feats that were...

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:12:13 -0700

I’ve always been fascinated by engineering feats that were completed before power tools and modern computers.

There was nothing resembling an electrical grid, so there was nothing resembling modern lighting in this watertight pine-tarred box, which was slowly descending through the floor of the East River. There were no jack hammers, so when they hit rock, they used small amounts of dynamite to crack these rocks. In a pine-tarred box, at the bottom of a river, mostly in a very wet dark.

Ingrid Newkirk's Unique Will

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 09:47:15 -0700

Ingrid Newkirk's Unique Will:

This is a little extreme. (Via mikeysan.)

The Perfect Crime

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 23:08:44 -0700

The Perfect Crime:

Police are unable to charge twins with almost identical DNA; either of them could have committed the crime, and the police cannot assume both were present. (via kottke)

Browser Ball

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:57:21 -0700

Browser Ball:

A really cool browser experiment. (via manita via chrismessina)

NZ Censor Threatens To Jail Parents Who Buy Violent Video Games For Kids

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:04:49 -0700

NZ Censor Threatens To Jail Parents Who Buy Violent Video Games For Kids:

New Zealand wants to pass a law that sends parents to jail for letting their children play games rated for an older audience:

Based on the law, parents prosecuted could face $10,000 fines or be put in jail for three months. Which do you think would do more harm to a child? Playing GTA or having their parent dragged through a show trial, for “shock value,” and dumped in jail for three months?

Why don’t you pass a law that sends parents to jail for letting their kids watch R-rated movies or explicit music? Oh heck, just send the parents to jail if they exhibit any sign of bad parenting.

Photo

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 09:57:42 -0800

Jesus Made Me Puke

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:10:00 -0800

Jesus Made Me Puke:

Inside look on what goes down during these mega-church retreats:

“I told my nephew to look around the house,” Fortenberry continued. “I said, ‘Do you have a copy of Harry Potter?’ And he said yes. And I said, ‘That’s your problem.’ So I told him to go get that copy of that book, tear it in half and throw it out the window. So he does it, and guess what? Both of those kids stood up completely recovered, just like that.”

He snapped his fingers, indicating the speed with which the kids had jumped up in recovery. The crowd cooed and applauded. I frowned, wondering for a minute what life must be like for a person mortally afraid of toothless commercial fairy tales.

Miracle Liquid

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 10:22:00 -0800

Miracle Liquid:

The stuff is a simple mixture of table salt and tap water whose ions have been scrambled with an electric current. Researchers have dubbed it electrolyzed water — hardly as catchy as Mr. Clean. But at the Sheraton Delfina in Santa Monica, some hotel workers are calling it el liquido milagroso — the miracle liquid.

I’m excited. If you know anything about me, you know I hate chemicals. (Via kottke)

Helvetica Trade Advertising (via daringfireball)

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:55:21 -0800

Helvetica Trade Advertising (via daringfireball)

Time Warner Cable blames DDoS attack for spotty service

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:35:00 -0800

Time Warner Cable blames DDoS attack for spotty service:

From the article:

Kudos to TWC for stepping up and admitting the existence and scope of the problem—better to tell your customers there is an issue rather than let them sit around pulling out their hair.

My connection has been spotty at best over the last week. Glad TW is explaining the situation.

CG Head

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:19:50 -0800

CG Head:

Amazing TED video about the tech behind Benjamin Button. (Via rands)

Xbox Live game Braid headed to Mac

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:20:42 -0800

Xbox Live game Braid headed to Mac:

I was considering buying a 360 just for this game.

PostSecret I can’t believe I’ve never seen this...

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:22:33 -0800

PostSecret

I can’t believe I’ve never seen this site before. The premise is simple: people send in postcards with confessions written on them and they are displayed on the site.

Dubai: Long-Stay Car Park

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:30:03 -0800

Dubai: Long-Stay Car Park:

Dubai is getting hit hard by the recession:

Police have found more than 3,000 cars outside Dubai’s international airport in recent months.

The Definition of Fail: Microsoft Retail Stores

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 09:18:00 -0800

The Definition of Fail: Microsoft Retail Stores:

The Macalope puts it best:

… Microsoft will assuredly throw a bazillion dollars into it, but right now this doesn’t exactly give off the sweet smell of success.

Karl Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 09:13:40 -0800

Karl Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg:

Using Wikipedia to cite Wikipedia:

… But some prankster had added a “Wilhelm” in the middle, which got printed in several places. The change on Wikipedia was noticed and corrected, but then reverted to the incorrect Wilhelm version — with one of the press stories cited as the source.

Picture of a super cow.

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 20:40:33 -0800

Picture of a super cow.

Super cows!

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 20:36:00 -0800

Super cows!:

I can’t believe that it’s natural. (Via kottke and siege.)

End of the World Part II

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:44:00 -0800

End of the World Part II:

Get ready for the second wave of whack jobs claiming the LHC is going to destroy earth.

Cognitive Computing

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 23:44:41 -0800

Cognitive Computing:

IBM is building a multi-million dollar brain, and the first thing they’re going to teach it is how to play Unreal Tournament:

Meanwhile, at the University of California-Merced, Kello and his team are creating a virtual environment that could train the simulated brain to experience and learn. They are using the Unreal Tournament videogame engine to help train the system. When it’s ready, it will be used to teach the neural networks how to make decisions and learn along the way.