Life without numbers?

More:

• A language without numbers? Natives in the Amazon.
  

$10,000 for speeding

She ignored the camera tickets, and ended up in jail for speeding:

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/119287

The Phoenix locals appear to have little sympathy, judging by the comments.

Urban Gardening

This should keep the deer away:

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/06/25/urban-garden-below-s.html

Grabbing space in Tokyo:

http://www.kirainet.com/english/making-good-use-of-a-little-corner/

Bill Gates frustrated by bad Microsoft software

This is a great rant from BillG in 2003 -- using Windows XP and trying to download MovieMaker:

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/141821.asp

Affordable Homes Abroad

This didn't quite persuade me to move to Colombia or Mexico, but check it out:

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/oct2007/gb20071011_887899.htm?campaign_id=rss_topStories

"Other spots that made the international most-affordable list included cities in Egypt, Bahrain, Poland, Malta, China, and Colombia."

They're comparing prices on 4br, 2200 sq ft homes.

Tricks & Technology

Some tricks:

Girls spins on escalator (don't try this, people lose fingers or their scalp doing this)

Parent of the year (Feed those varmints)

Fastest swimsuit in the world (What next, a robot suit?)

Read novels at work

This is so well done, you have to check it out:

http://readatwork.com/

Excellent job at formatting the stories into powerpoint format... LOL!

Pictures of Mars

Not wacky, just cool:

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/06/martian_skies.html

Oh what a feeling!

Wow, walking out there would sure get your heart pumping:

http://www.zuzafun.com/transparent-glass-floor

Don't change your oil (so often)

We're flushing a lot of oil (and $) "down the drain", unnecessarily:

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/586/the-3000-mile-oil-change-myth/

Google 3D Mapping Prius vs. Cops

Caught by the cops in SF, this Prius is equipped with laser range finders to collect 3D "point cloud" data:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/damianspain/sets/72157605643949010/

More on the new 3D data capture:
http://www.educatingsilicon.com/2008/04/18/google-street-view-soon-in-3d/

Another company doing something similar:
http://www.earthmine.com/products/

Nerf weapons to the extreme

A fun place to work... maybe :-)

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pVKnF26qFFM

Especially funny at 30 sec and 2:27.

(Note: at 5:00 the video truly is over, so ignore the blank ending.)

Dishwashing Detergent Restrictions

Washington state is clamping down on phosphorus in dishwashing detergents:

http://www.skymoonventures.com/portco.htm

Cascade is ~4% phosphorus, I think.

Bacon-flavored dental floss

A dream come true:

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/06/17/archie-mcphees-bacon.html

M.C. Escher Car

I like it:

http://incredimazing.com/page/MC_Escher_Car

Top 10 Beaches

If you're lucky, you may live near one:

http://www.thetravelerszone.com/travel-destinations/top-10-beaches-in-america-2008/

Living with only 100 Things

Here's a challenge to simplify your life:

Can you live with only 100 things? This guy named Dave is on a mission:

http://guynameddave.typepad.com/david_michael_bruno/

Living in a 140 sq ft shack

But it has a nice view!

http://www.materialicio.us/2008/06/13/the-shack-at-hinkle-farm-jeffery-s-broadhurst-2/

Car Doors that Disappear!

Very futuristic, yet somehow kind of retro:

http://www.disappearing-car-door.com/

Funny Wacky

Funny news:

• Anger Release Machine. LOL... bat not included.
• Jurors playing Sudoku, not taking notes. What's wrong with multitasking?

Wacky Daily Stories

Today's wacky stories:

• What would you do for $1 million?
• Soon every song ever recorded will fit on your MP3 player. Then what?
• Zillow banned in Arizona. Correlating data and extrapolating requires a license.
• Water, Water Everywhere. Pictures of water.
  

Treadmill Kittens

Hilarious!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVjzd320gew

Wacky Car Stuff

Wacky car stuff:

• Airbag mania! On the hood for pedestrians, in the rear hatch, I count at least 10!
  
• Turn your car into a billboard. Pay for gas!
• High score speeding contest. Don't most speed signs nowadays just blink if you're over the limit?
• What the hail? These poor cars!
  
• Great Motorcycle Helmet! LOL

Weekend Summary

Another wacky week!

• Rice Field Art (Wow!)
  
• Gas prices since 1908 (90 years of wacky prices)
• Lego reenactment of famous pictures (enjoy the slideshow)
• Airbag mania! On the hood for pedestrians, in the rear hatch.
• Advertising in Times Square. Anyone know why the building is empty?
• Funny Pizza Ad. Peephole ads!
• Music made with old computer equipment.
  

In Limos, Size Matters!

This poor guy was trying to get his limo in and out of Arco to get gas.

He spent almost 5 minutes inching back and forth, and driving on the sidewalk:

Click to enlarge

Google Data Centers

Not wacky, just impressive due to the scale and smart design:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9955184-7.html?tag=nefd.lede

They probably have 200,000+ servers, and petabytes of data. Each chunk of data is stored in 3 places, to ensure replication success if 2 servers fail at the same time.

Computers in cars -- Future BMW iDrive

This is BMW's iDrive system on steroids:

http://www.bimmerfile.com/2008/05/31/exclusive-more-customizable-idriverther-customizable/

Some items include:

1. Radio station automatically selected by time of day: NPR in the morning, classical in the afternoon
2. Auto download of your favorite CD tracks to your car
3. Program the heater to turn on 5 minutes before you get in the car
4. Program the seat heater to run for 5 minutes every 30 minutes while you're shopping
5. Multiple horn honk "tones" you can program: short-tap, double-tap, long press.
6. All buttons, sounds, and lights are programmable
7. If you crash, LCD displays emergency contact info (if it isn't cracked)

You program most of this stuff from your home computer.

Lite-Brite

A retro toy... now in Javascript:

http://www.sfpg.com/animation/liteBrite.html?147#

Wacky Shopping Site

Check this out:

http://producten.hema.nl/

I'm not sure if you can actually buy anything. :-)

Also funny:

Icon Wars: http://www.xs4all.nl/~jvdkuyp/flash/see.htm

Hand-Crafted Keyboard

The personal touch:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/31/niski-kis-155-handmade-usb-keyboard-comes-with-extra-symbo/

Giant Paper Towel absorbs Oil Spills

Nanotechnology to the rescue:

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/oil-paper-0530.html