Friday, April 24, 2009

Meat Cards

Meat Cards are business cards that combine two of man's favorite things: meat and lasers.

From the website:

"We start with 100% beef jerky, and SEAR your contact information into it with a 150 WATT CO2 LASER.

Screw die-cutting. Forget about foil, popups, or UV spot lamination. THESE business cards have two ingredients:
MEAT AND LASERS.

Unlike other business cards, MEAT CARDS will retain value after the econopocalypse. Hoard and barter your calorie-rich, life-sustaining cards."

Pretty much says it all.

Texts From Last Night

Thanks James for another amusing new website, which does just what it says, collecting text messages people submit that range from embarrassing to humorous to scintillating and just about everything else. Have a look and submit your own.

The Bermuda Triangle gets photographed

The Mystery: On December 5, 1945, five torpedo bombers took off from a US Naval base in Florida for a routine training flight and were never seen again. That's just one of about 70 such incidents that have fueled the legend of the Bermuda Triangle, a roughly 450,000-square-mile area of sea between Miami, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico. Mariners and aviators alike fear an "electronic fog" in the region's atmosphere that some say spins compass needles, jams radar signals, and consumes planes and ships.

Hubble Images Capture Universe's Beauty, Awe

Entering its 20th year of service, the Hubble Space Telescope has made more than 880,000 observations, taken 570,000 images of 29,000 different celestial objects, and piled up a load of impressive scientific accomplishments. Click here to view some of these magnificent images.

36 Hours in Barcelona

The New York Times explores a place I'd like to myself.

Kanye West – "Amazing"

Obama to Get Back BlackBerry at Last, Toughened by NSA

You can start texting with Obama again soon.

The presidential CrackBerry is undergoing final testing before being handed back. The NSA is hammering on the SecurVoice software which has been loaded onto the Obama-phone and is in the last stages of testing just how secure it might be.

If the NSA tests come up clean, he could have his customised BlackBerry in his hands soon, which in governmental terms means a couple of months. And of course, secure communications aren’t much good if the person you are talking to is an open and easy target. To this end, Mrs. O should be getting one, too.

Vampire Weekend Recording Second LP

Vampire Weekend are currently in a Brooklyn studio toiling away at their sophomore LP, according to an Entertainment Weekly report. The guys are tentatively hoping for a September release.

Singer Ezra Koenig told EW that the foursome are more or less done with the songwriting for the LP, and are now sculpting its sound. Cue vague "what will it sound like?" quote: "It's definitely going to be a recognizably Vampire Weekend sound, but there are going to be new sounds. We're trying to challenge ourselves not to use the same bag of tricks that we used on the first album-- different instruments, stuff like that." Keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij is once again producing the album.

Vice Squad

When people say “you can lose a lot of money chasing women, but you’ll never lose any women chasing money,” they forget how fucking amazing it can be to do both.

Stuff White People Like - #125 Bob Marley

During the course of a white person’s education they will go through many phases including but not limited to: “awkward,” “classic rock,” and “being really into a foreign country.” Of these phases, there is only one that all white people are required to go through before they can obtain their bachelor’s degree. It is known as “Bob Marley.”

Depending on the coolness of the white person, they can experience this stage anywhere between the sixth grade and their last year of college. Regardless of when they went through this phase, every white person can tell you about the time when they had Legend on repeat. If you wish to test this theory, go to any floor in a College Dorm and there is a 100% chance you will find at least one Bob Marley poster.

It is also worth noting that white people tend get into smoking marijuana during this phase. This is why all white people view the combination of the two as one of the most pleasurable experiences on earth. But when white people really want to take it to the next level they will combine Bob Marley, Marijuana, a long weekend and some sort of notable outdoor location (beach, cottage, or patio). There are few activities on earth that are more appealing to white people.

The only acceptable reasons for declining participation are a prior engagement at a music festival or a commitment to go camping.

It’s also worth noting that when talking to white people about Bob Marley there is no need to use his surname. This is because all white people refer to him simply as “Bob.”

Since so many people are into Bob Marley, it is only natural for advanced white people to profess to only marginally liking Bob Marley (note: it is impossible for a white person to outright dislike him). Instead, these white people will claim to preferring more obscure artists like Burning Spear or Peter Tosh.

But be warned that a white person saying they like “reggae” what they really mean is “reggae from 1965-1983.”

Under no circumstances should you ever bring a white person to a dancehall reggae concert, it will frighten them.

Note: if you are talking to a white person who is really into Bob Marley, has dreadlocks, and professes to be a Rastafarian, you should end the conversation immediately. These people are of no value unless you need directions to a WTO protest or have questions about how bad a human can smell.

Fail of the Day

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Stem Cell Compromise

An editorial from The New York Times explains why Obama's new stance on stem cell research does not go far enough.

Losing Its Cool at the Mall

At the entrance to almost every shopping mall in the country, you will find a directory that, if you are spatially coordinated, will give you an approximate lay of the land. You can gauge the distance from Abercrombie & Fitch to its younger-skewing cousin, Hollister, or its older cousin, Ruehl, and find the way to their closest competitors in the teenager and young adult category, Aéropostale and American Eagle Outfitters.

But you will be no closer to discerning what drives the modern youth from one store to the next; what differentiates one’s frayed cargo shorts from another’s; or why one of them, Abercrombie, is facing a consumer revolt, while others are paradoxically upbeat. A clue: It has to do with price.

This spring, spending by teenagers, a closely studied but rarely understood segment of the population, is off by 14 percent, a direct reflection of the economy, according to a report this month by the investment bank Piper Jaffray. And that is having a profound effect on an already unraveling mall culture, where deep discounters and stores known for heavy promotions are suddenly the popular destinations and aspirational brands are struggling to fit in.

'Clueless' Sequel In The Works

Thirteen years after her blockbuster movie Clueless debuted, Alicia Silverstone is finally reprising her role as ditzy Cher Horowitz in a sequel to the 1995 hit.

Alicia, 32, was recently spotted shopping along Ventura Boulevard in Tarzana, Calif., with her good friend, Clueless writer and director Amy Heckerling, 54.

“They were talking about the script they’re working on and how exciting this is for them,” an eyewitness tells Star.

Explains a source, “It’s been a dream of Alicia’s to bring Cher back to the big screen. Amy is writing it, but Alicia is giving her tons of ideas.”

Vice Squad

Not sure if this is a guy or a girl or if that’s a skirt or a belt or if this is goth or punk, and that’s exactly what he’s going for. Making people think (about his poor father).

Hey everyone, it's Bob & David!

Fail of the Day

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Past the Top Shop Bouncers

The New York Times reviews the newly opened Top Shop.

iPhone Sales Push Up Apple’s Profits

Apple’s second-quarter profit, driven by strong sales of iPhones and iPods, beat Wall Street’s expectations despite the gloomy economy.

The company, based in Cupertino, Calif., said on Wednesday that continued demand for its portable devices kept sales from dipping substantially during the typically slow months after the holiday shopping season.

Despite a 3 percent slump in sales of the company’s Mac computers, Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s chief financial officer, called the quarter “the best nonholiday earnings in the company’s history.”Apple reportedthat its net profit jumped 15 percent, to $1.21 billion, or $1.33 a share, from $1.05 billion, or $1.16 a share, in the same quarter a year ago.

Founder Said to Be Leaving MySpace

Chris DeWolfe, a founder and the chief executive of MySpace, the social networking site owned by the News Corporation, is leaving the company in a management shake-up, the company said Wednesday afternoon. Mr. DeWolfe’s exit comes on the heels of the appointment earlier this month of Jon Miller, the former chief executive of America Online, as the chief digital officer of the News Corporation.

Mr. DeWolfe’s exit is involuntary, but Tom Anderson, the president of MySpace and a co-founder of the site with Mr. DeWolfe, is in discussions about a continued role at the company. Mr. DeWolfe will remain on the board of MySpace China.

'Official' Nirvana Reading Festival DVD to follow bootleg

An official DVD release of Nirvana's seminal performance at the 1992 Reading Festival is set to follow the release of a bootleg version.

Record label Universal Music will release 'Live At Reading' in November, which has been officially sanctioned by the remaining members of the band.

The official release will feature restored video footage, and will be remastered in 5:1 surround sound. It will also feature us-yet unrevealed bonus features.

As previously reported, an unofficial DVD of the show, entitled 'Life Takes No Prisoners', will be released on May 4.

Wolfmother reveal new album details

After parting ways with his original bandmates last year (citing "longstanding frictions" as the cause), Andrew Stockdale has recruited three new members who have been laying down tracks at Sound City Studios in Los Angeles.

"We're almost there," Stockdale told NME.COM. "I've done 18 songs. Hopefully it should be out in September."

Stockdale said that he always intended to continue using the name of the band he co-founded, even after the split.

"Before the other guys left I'd written all these songs for Wolfmother," Stockdale explained. "To put it out under another name seemed kind of ridiculous. I thought why not continue? I got some new people in the band. I had the songs and whoever was around was in the band. Sounds a bit dangerous!"

Now, Stockdale and his new bandmates have nearly completed the follow-up to Wolfmother's 2006 self-titled debut, which he says will be called 'Cosmic Egg'.

"I did a yoga class and one of the poses we were doing was called 'cosmic egg', and I thought yeah, that's it. It's like the fetal pose," he said.

Lab Breakthrough Brings Instant-On Computers Closer

Frustrated with how long it takes for your computer to boot up? That could change, say researchers who have made a breakthrough that could take the PC industry closer to truly instant-on capability for computer systems.

Scientists have found a way to add ferroelectric capability to silicon, which pushes the idea of building a completely ferroelectric transistor closer to reality.

Ferroelectric materials provide low-power, high-efficiency electronic memory and are already used in smart cards for subways and ATMs, among other things. Integrating ferroelectrics with silicon-based circuits like those in modern electronics would enable instant-on capability, and it could also provide higher speed and lower power consumption overall, making the ferroelectric circuits an attractive alternative to flash and other memory technologies.

‘Morning After’ Pill Cleared for 17-Year-Olds

This is a great day for Mr. William Hanson (pictured and registered).

Seventeen-year-olds will soon be allowed to buy “morning-after” contraceptive pills without a doctor’s prescription after federal drug regulators complied with a judge’s order and lowered the age limit by a year.

Like their older counterparts, women 17 and older will now be able to go to almost any pharmacy, clinic and hospital and, after showing proof of age, buy Plan B without a prescription. Men 17 and older may also buy Plan B for a partner.

Because nothing says 'I love you' like emergency contraception.

Geek Out for Earth Day: 7 Gadgets to Green Your Lifestyle

Tech manufacturers big and small have gone into overdrive with their environmental campaigns, rolling out products as part of a massive "greenwashing" movement. These gadgets cover a wide array of environmental issues — from energy usage to gas efficiency to waste management. And dig this: Some of these gadgets actually do help you be kinder to Mother Earth.

In celebration of Earth Day, here's a list of far-out products you might get to green your lifestyle.

Standardized EV plug could be adopted within months

Here's a more reassuring timeline for that proposed standardized plug for electric vehicles. The SAE J1772 Task Force-developed charging system, based on an initial design by supplier Yazaki, is now at Underwriters Labs for certification.

That's scheduled to be done by the end of May and, if all things go according to plan, it can be adopted for use in the next few months. Speaking to Autoblog Green, General Motors' Gery Kissel listed his company, Chrysler, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Tesla among those participating or supporting the standard.

He also said the we-swear-it's-coming-this-year Chevy Volt should be equipped with the new plug, and Tesla's reportedly pledged to adopt it for current plans and retrofit its older models. Things are starting to look up for the EV industry.

Vice Squad

There’s a certain type of guy who loves living in Brooklyn so much he brags about not having been to Manhattan once in five years and the word “Manhattan” is often interchangeable with “a woman’s vagina.”

Hey everyone, it's Bob & David!

Fail of the Day

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

The Wail of the 1%

As the privileged class loses its privileges, a collective moan rises from the canyons of Wall Street. New York Magazine explores.

Theremin-esque digital synth demo video



This newest iteration, the Squaremin, resembles the much-loved instrument in that you don't touch it to play it -- rather you move your hands about to control the octave and output of notes.

The Squaremin was made using an ATmega168 chip, and boasts two infrared sensors to measure proximity -- one to control the note played, the other to control the octave which is played out of the front speaker of the instrument.

Vivace portable music studio features multitouch interface, loads of style

This guy has the same form factor as a laptop, but instead of a keyboard features a second multi-touch display.

On the downside, it's hard to imagine that playing a "keyboard" on a smooth surface would give one anywhere near the control of honest-to-goodness keys.

But on the upside? This thing looks really, really sweet.

Click here for more.

J.J. Abrams on the Magic of Mystery

WIRED magazine interviews J.J. Abrams of Lost, Star Trek, and Fringe fame.

Pitchfork reviews 'My Maudlin Career' from Camera Obscura

In what I can only imagine is retribution for giving the near-perfect Let's Get Out Of This Country a measly 7.8, Pitchfork gives the good–but not quite as good as L.G.O.O.T.C.an even better 8.3. Go figure.

Lollapalooza 2009 line-up announced

Is it just me, or is there basically a set group of "it" bands each year that travel around and play all the major music festivals?

Click here for the full list.

Vice Squad

These three seem unapproachable but what if: You get your friend to pretend to be a stranger and bother them like a drunk idiot until you go, “Hey buddy, I think it’s time to get lost.” Then you do this arm-grab thing where you kind of lead him away and even kick him in the ass as he leaves. Then you can go back to them laughing and start some conversation like, “What’s with idiots like that, huh? Did he really think you were going to be totally into his drunken, slurring bullshit?” And so on. (The next time you do it he gets to be the hero. It’s called Pussy Hustling.)

Hey everyone, it's Bob & David!

Fail of the Day

Monday, April 20, 2009

Snacks and Shit

My friend James introduced me to this site and I have been very entertained since.

snacksandshit.com is a collection of rap lyrics that are, well, fucking stupid. I'm sure they sound really tough and cool with big beats and music (maybe), but sandwiched between quotation marks and quietly read to one's self, somehow they loose a bit of their bravado.

A few gems:

"Now pull in the parkin' lot, nigga find a parkin' spot."
- Ice Cube, Do Ya Thang

"My jewels hang low like my balls in the potty."
- Ghostface Killah, Good

"Let me see your breast-icles or something, bitch."
- Kutt Calhoun, Drill Team by Tech N9ne

"Toothbrush all in my mouth."
-Median, Personified

Adobe in Push to Spread Web Video to TV Sets

Adobe Systems, which owns the technology and sells the tools to create and distribute it, wants to extend Flash’s reach even further. On Monday, Adobe’s chief executive, Shantanu Narayen, will announce at the annual National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas that Adobe is extending Flash to the television screen. He expects TVs and set-top boxes that support the Flash format to start selling later this year.

For consumers, what sounds like a bit of inconsequential Internet plumbing actually means that a long overhyped notion is a step closer to reality: viewing a video clip or Internet application on a TV or mobile phone.

For Hollywood studios and other content creators, a single format for Web video is even more enticing. It means they can create their entertainment once in Flash — as the animated documentary “Waltz With Bashir,” from Sony Pictures Classics, was made — and distribute it cheaply throughout the expanding ecosystem of digital devices.

Now your iPhone will even start your car

Chrysler GEM's iPod dock has a pretty interesting little trick, allowing your iPhone / iPod double as the ignition key.

According to the EV's brochure, "simply dock your iPod for a fun, cutting edge way to start up. Exclusive software designed exclusively for Peapod turns your iPod into a key. Both options are interchangeable and secure."

The company's got an app that makes all the magic work, but if you wish to start your car in an old-school manner, keys are still a viable option.

Hybrid Hummer Promises 100 Miles per Gallon

The Hummer is the poster child of excess consumption and inefficiency, but a Utah company is converting the much-maligned SUVs into a range-extended electric vehicle good for 100 mpg and a range of 40 miles.

Raser Technologies will unveil the Raser H3 on Monday in Detroit. It promises a 90 mph top speed, off-road capability and a lithium ion-battery you can recharge in as little as three hours. What's more, the company says the drivetrain can be installed in other trucks and it hopes to have 2,000 converted vehicles on the road by the end of next year.

Nirvana's Reading Festival gig to be released on DVD

Nirvana's headline gig at 1992's Reading Festival is to be released on DVD.

Titled 'Life Takes No Prisoners', the gig sees the band play 27 songs including covers of 's 'More Than A Feeling', Fang's 'The Money Will Roll Right In' and 'The Star Spangled Banner'.

Notorious due to Kurt Cobain coming onstage in a wheelchair and wearing a white hospital robe for the duration of the performance, the gig is considered one of Nirvana's best.

'Life Takes No Prisoners' is released on May 4. The tracklisting is as follows:

'The Rose'/ 'Intro'
'Breed'
'Drain You'
'Aneurysm'
'School'
'Sliver'
'In Bloom'
'Come As You Are'
'Lithium'
'About A Girl'
'Tourette's'
'Polly'
'Lounge Act'
'More Than A Feeling'/'Smells Like Teen Spirit'
'On A Plain'
'Negative Creep'
'Been A Son'
'All Apologies'
'Blew'
'Dumb'
'Stay Away'
'Spank Thru'
'Love Buzz'
'The Money Will Roll Right In'
'D-7'
'Territorial Pissings'
'The Star Spangled Banner'

Vice Squad

Jocks and rednecks have a very tiny fashion palette to draw from but homos can stand back, throw a dart at the past 100 years and say, “I choose, Boy London but with a dash of Olympic cyclist, In Living Color extra, and Canadian computer tech support guy thrown in for good measure.”

Hey everyone, it's Bob & David!

Fail of the Day

is a Musician and Copywriter living in San Francisco, California.