Imagine your friends and family enjoying a BBQ while sitting on your new custom tiled patio. The kids are playing, the adults are enjoying a beautiful afternoon and the party is in full swing. As all your land activities are concluding, it's time to go swimming. You go to your control panel, insert the key, and enter your personal security code.
Your friends and family watch in amazement as your patio begins to lower into the ground. Suddenly, pristine water begins to rush over the patio surface, and what was once your beautiful patio has now become the floor to your new Hidden Water Pool.
During the filming of some scenes for The Princess Bride, the weather became markedly cold for Robin Wright Penn. Andre the Giant helped her by placing one of his hands over her head; his hands were so large that one would entirely cover the top of her head, keeping her warm.
1. "However, the volatile situation in Syria means that activists' methods to get documentation off the streets and onto social media are rapidly changing. Unconfirmed reports claim pen phones and small camera phones are being smuggled into Syria by anti-government expatriates and both the Saudi Arabian and American governments."
2. Fascinating article about pirates. When I read about the Barbary pirates in Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver, I thought he was greatly exaggerating their exploits. But no:
Initially, the corsairs used galleys, which were fast and easily maneuverable, but the problem of supplying their rowing crews and soldiers, which could total some 184 men, limited their range. But European renegade sailors, such as John Ward, “without any doubt the greatest scoundrel that ever sailed from England,” as a courtier put it, and Danseker the Dutchman, known as the “Divil Captain,” were on hand to supply the expertise needed for a shift to sailing ships.
They could now raid along the British and the Irish Channels — they would even reach as far north as Iceland. Throughout the century, their raids caused havoc in coastal communities, with sailors and fishermen refusing to go to sea. In the Mediterranean, whole stretches of coast in Spain and Italy were deserted.
3. Useless, but a magical idea - - it looks like a camera, but when you press the shutter it doesn't take a picture. Instead, it pulls off from the net a random photo taken by someone else at that exact moment. Via thesesites.
Asics' GEL-Kayano 16 came out last year and were designed to accommodate menstruating runners:
When oestrogen is high, and a woman is at her most fertile, the arch drops. Later in the month, when she is menstruating, levels of the hormone are low but her arch is raised.
Check out this flying ball from Japan - - it's a short step away from those torture droids in Star Wars, and the evil trash bag balls in The Prisoner. (Did I mention that the soundtrack for the video is Highway to the Danger Zone?) Via.
I saw this commercial last night - - watch as a man pretends he's Jewish to hide his bald spot, and then uses "Hair Cubed" to spraypaint in the thinning hair.
Here's Ellen making fun of it:
The commercial's apparently the work of mad geniuses 4sitevideo.
3. "If visitors at the Yantai Park in Shangdong province, eastern China, linger too long without feeding the meter [on park benches], dozens of sharp spikes shoot through the seat." Via.
3. Suddenly, I'm very interested in author John Twelve Hawks. Reputable sources have suggested that he's actually Stephen King, or Michael Chabon, or James Frey.
We only use the purest water possible. We believe that the water one consumes should be of the highest quality and so should their ice. Our cubes are frozen a minimum of 48 hours to ensure the slowest dilution rate achievable. Our elegant cube designs fit perfectly into tall and short glasses. Their size and solidity lead to perfectly chilled, undiluted drinks or cocktails. Not only do our cubes melt slowly, they taste great and look beautiful. Again, attention to detail and quality are not new concepts - they've just been forgotten as of late. We prefer to remember and celebrate them.
Here are a few of the options:
Collins/Hi-Ball Ice This long "spear" is perfect for tall glasses, slowly lowering the temperature of your drink without affecting any carbonation in it.
Rocks/Old-Fashioned Ice Crafted for shorter and wider glasses, this huge "rock" of ice accommodates drinks that call for "straight" spirit, or the addition of citrus, while maintaining the proper "washline" (the "line" which the liquid creates before the lip of your glass).
Shaking Ice Ideal for the professional bartender, this product has been measured accurately so as to cool your cocktails in a shaker, without too much dilution. Its design ensures that it will not explode or crack during the shaking of a cocktail.
Presumably they have an option specifically designed for enjoying out of a super model's belly button. Via.
Spokane, Washington Parks and Recreation officials are under fire for their plan to use the Rodenator Pro to blow up squirrels. Above is the ad for the device. You really don't need a flashy campaign when your product is that awesome. There's a forum at the official site, which could really use more participants.
And I'm experimenting with something new. Here's a roundup of four more items I saw on Google Trends that seemed interesting:
1. 47-year old Susan Boyle appeared on Britain's Got Talent and blew everyone away with her incredible voice.
2. This is the dazzle rifle: It emits super bright light to blind adversaries. Here's a list and photo gallery of more nonlethal weapons that could be used against pirates.
3. 18-year-old high school student Samuel Valdivia was caught having an affair with his 48-year-old math teacher, Tamara Hoffman, by Hoffman's 20-year-old boyfriend, Sixto Balbuena, who was also one of her former students. Balbuena stabbed Validivia to death (accidentally). Story and photo of Balbuena here. The only site I saw with (what was alleged to be) a photo of Hoffman was so sleazy, I won't link to it.
4. Supposedly some study indicates there's a cure for kleptomania. True or not, this sentence is priceless: "Reuters India reporting out of New York states that there is a drug, naltrexone that can help people who have kleptomania."
Spokane, Washington Parks and Recreation officials are under fire for their plan to use the Rodenator Pro to blow up squirrels. Above is the ad for the device. You really don't need a flashy campaign when your product is that awesome. There's a forum at the official site, which could really use more participants.
And I'm experimenting with something new. Here's a roundup of four more items I saw on Google Trends that seemed interesting:
1. 47-year old Susan Boyle appeared on Britain's Got Talent and blew everyone away with her incredible voice.
2. This is the dazzle rifle: It emits super bright light to blind adversaries. Here's a list and photo gallery of more nonlethal weapons that could be used against pirates.
3. 18-year-old high school student Samuel Valdivia was caught having an affair with his 48-year-old math teacher, Tamara Hoffman, by Hoffman's 20-year-old boyfriend, Sixto Balbuena, who was also one of her former students. Balbuena stabbed Validivia to death (accidentally). Story and photo of Balbuena here. The only site I saw with (what was alleged to be) a photo of Hoffman was so sleazy, I won't link to it.
4. Supposedly some study indicates there's a cure for kleptomania. True or not, this sentence is priceless: "Reuters India reporting out of New York states that there is a drug, naltrexone that can help people who have kleptomania."
