In this video, a copy of Microsoft Office is rigged with a touch-sensitive alarm and a secret camera that tapes what happens when people around town try to pick it up. Usually they become extremely shocked and lose control of their muscles, dropping the box, shuddering, and even losing their balance. I can’t blame them, that Clippy scares the crap out of me too. Whether it’s just a straight up prank or some kind of anti-software piracy viral video, one thing is for sure: I am amused. [More]
BLOGS
Top 10 Reasons To Quit Facebook
By 5.4.10
F**** Facebook! More and more, fed up with ever-disintegrating privacy policies, are saying just that, even going so far as to kill their Facebook accounts. Gizmodo has “Top Ten Reasons You Should Quit Facebook,” among them, one-sided terms of service, a “war on privacy,” the sharing of private data with applications, but perhaps best of fall, “Facebook is not technically competent enough to be trusted”: [More]
Nashville Is Flooded! Here's How You Can Help
By 5.4.10
The waters of the Cumberland River burst all over Tennessee this Sunday, submerging Nashville and leaving much of the state underwater. At least 29 are dead and thousands have been evacuated. If you want to pitch in, Nashvillist has rustled up a slew of shelters and donation-takers who would be glad to have your aid or volunteer hours. Pitch in! It feels good. [More]
Woman Allegedly Fired For Carrying Breast Cancer Gene
By 5.4.10
A Connecticut woman is suing her ex-employer for firing her because she was genetically at a higher risk for developing breast cancer, according to her lawsuit. [More]
Demon Dogs Enjoy Coffee Mate, Owners Too
By 4.30.10
Someone San Franciscan decided to interpret this Coffee Mate ad’s suggestion of “add your style/flavor” as an invitation to do just that to the billboard itself. Unfortunately for the powdered liquid non-dairy creamer, this person’s personal style seems to be something involving the forces of Satan. Our headline is a little misleading, though. To be more accurate, the depiction is of a demonic pet “guardian.” [More]
10 Coolest Secret Safes
By 4.28.10
Safes are handy for safekeeping stuff you don’t want other people to get, like money. The only problem is most look so “safey.” Given enough time, any of them can be broken open. The best solution is if the robbers can never find it in the first place. No, that fake-bottomed can of Campbell’s Soup in your closet isn’t going to fool anyone. To this end, Budgets Are $exy has rounded up “The 10 Awesomest Safes I’ve Ever Seen.” They have a surge protector safe, bread safe, and dirty underwear safe, but my favorite is the iceberg lettuce safe. [More]
What State Uses The Most Gas?
By 4.27.10
Is your state the gassiest? This graph over at Infrastructurist compares how much each gas each state uses per person. Green is low use, blue is moderate, and red is high. What’s interesting is when you look at each state’s fuel use per capita, “High-use states like New York actually have low per-capita usage, while states like Alabama, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, and North Dakota — all states with smaller populations and large distances required for drivers — have higher than average consumption.” [More]
Cellphone: Go Prepaid Or Contract?
By 4.26.10
When shopping around for a new cellphone plan, or simply a cheaper one, consumers have more choices besides the standard 2-year contract wireless companies try to cram down your throat. But do you go prepaid or with a contract? Which company delivers the best value? It all depends on your usage and what you’re looking for. To help you decide, Lifehacker has put together a bangin’ guide on picking a new wireless plan. Check it.
How to Decide Between a Prepaid or Contract Wireless Plan [Lifehacker]
New Dry Max Pampers Causing Rash, Burns, Sores, Boils?
By 4.26.10
Pampers new brand of Dry Max diapers causes rashes, burns, sores, and boils on their babies, some parents are alleging in a growing online backlash. But is it really Dry Max, or just typical diaper rash that the parents are incorrectly correlating with the new diaper? [More]
NPR Exposes Documentary Hucksters Preying On Non-Profs
By 4.23.10
NPR just wiped the floor with Vision Media, the company that demands big bucks from non-profits and startups to pay for what they say will be a retired and beloved anchorman Hugh Downs-hosted public TV show about them. Invariably, NPR found, the shows never broadcast and the limited few that do air as paid commercials. Once again, it just goes to show, never do business with anyone from Boca Raton. [More]
Loads More Data In A Tweet Than Just 140 Characters, & More To Come
By 4.23.10
A tweet. A seemingly innocuous 140-character piece of data shared over Twitter. That’s what you see as a user, but inside, there’s much more. Raffi Krikorian has cracked open a tweet to show you all the data that can be inside, like your geolocation, bio, name, etc. And last week, along with their advertising initiatives, Twitter announced that they’re adding “annotations,” which will allow developers to add just about any kind of data inside a tweet. This could spark a lot of fun innovations, but anytime you’re opening up more data, there’s always the potential for abuse. In any event, it’s cool to check out a tweet under the hood: [More]
iPhone Hacked To Run Android
By 4.22.10
This guy has hacked his iPhone so it runs Android. In fact, he can choose to run either the iPhone OS or Android. It only works on the original 2G iPhone and it’s a little buggy, and not recommended that casual users try it, but the future could hold implementations on the 3G and 3Gs. Apple’s secret garden just got further pried open. [More]
Star Of Microsoft Kin's Sexty Ads Has Sext Parody Video History
By 4.21.10
Last week, Microsoft pulled some ads for the new Kin social media device after our prurient pals over at Consumer Reports pointed out that they seemed to promote sexting (In one of the shots, a teenager puts the gadget under his shirt and takes a picture). “Microsoft takes the issue of sexting very seriously,” said a Microsoft spokesman regarding the yank. Well they certainly must, reports ANIMAL, because that’s exactly the kind of content where they seem to have found Rosa Salazar, the campaign’s main actress. For instance, her starring role in the parodic safe-sext-take on Salt n’ Peppa’s 1991 smash hit, “Let’s Talk About Sex.” [More]
Facebook Used To Make Partners Delete Your Data After 24 Hrs. No Longer.
By 4.21.10
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced this morning that Facebook will toss a policy that made developers and partners with access your data to delete it after 24 hours. Now they can just keep it. Turns out the privacy policy hindered growth:
Zuckerberg told Inside Facebook: [More]
The $7,865.84 Verizon Bill
By 4.21.10
Yowza! David’s eyes popped out his head when he saw his $7,865.84 bill from Verizon. [More]
Science: Is The KFC Double Down The Worstest Food Ever?
By 4.20.10
Speaking of the health value of KFC Double Downs (KDD), some smart fellow has created two charts which compare the nutritional content of the KDD to roughly two dozen other fast food items. Assigning the KFC Original Recipe Double Down (KODD) a base score of “1.0,” the charts show how many KODDs are contained within other sandwiches as a portion of the USDA daily allowance, based on how much fat, sodium, and cholesterol are inside them. The chart may not sway your opinion of the zesty saltlick “sandwich” that is taking America by storm, but its colors may remind you of fries, pickles, and ketchup. Mmmmm, is it second lunch time yet? [More]
Sand Art Portends Economic Apocalypse
By 4.20.10
Is the Icelandic volcano ashsplosion actually just another of the seven seals bursting before The Economic Rapture envelops us all? These guys seem to think so. I like how they say, “Thanks.” [More]
Eat Organic For Cheap
By 4.19.10
Organic food is pesticide-free free of unorganic pesticides and saves baby unicorns from exploitation, but darnit if Whole Foods ain’t a pricey pack of provisioners. But there are ways to buy organic and still be frugal. [More]
