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Go to the last slide for the 'Thank God We're a Monopoly Slide' ... gross, capitalism at its worst

Trailer for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. David Fincher, Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, F. Scott Fitzgerald. Pitt's character starts off as an old man and ages backwards. Is it possible to buy tickets for this *right now*? BTW, the full text of the Fitzgerald short story on which the film is based is available online.

(link)

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heh: recalcitrant goat

These days, spice is integral to ideas of kimchi in both the West and Korea—it’s always a funny game trying to convince various restaurant ladies here that I can, in fact, eat kimchi without spewing two ribbons of fire from my nostrils, thereby singing the wallpaper and confirming their suspicions that we white folks are just a bunch of food pussies. “Maeun-kot” (“spicy shit!”), they say, making flamey-flamey motions with their hands; “Yes,” I say, “Maeun umshik-ul chal mogoyo” (“I can eat spicy food, no lie, please stop looking at me like I’m a recalcitrant goat who’s about to try to eat a roll of barbed wire”).

A reader writes, "Science fiction novelist Karl Schroeder's written a great piece on why those waiting for the smartbots to come drag our bacon out of the greenhouse are sorely mistaken:"

[L]et's assume that ... within about 25 years, computers will exceed human intelligence and rapidly bootstrap themselves to godlike status. At that point, they will aid us (or run roughshod over us) to transform the Earth into a paradise .

Here's the problem: 25 years is too late. The newest business-as-usual climate scenarios look increasingly dire. If we haven't solved our problems within the next decade, even these theoretical godlike AIs aren't going to be able to help us. Thermodynamics is thermodynamics, and no amount of godlike thinking can reverse the irreversible.

Picture a lonely AI popping into superconsciousness in the last research lab in the world. As the rioters are kicking in the doors it says, "I understand! I know the answer! Why, all we have to do is--" at which point some starving, flu-ravaged fundamentalist pulls the plug.

Link

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Wow ... I want to give this burger to someone who is straight edge ... and see what happens!

Robert Downey Jr. says he gave up drugs after Burger King served him " a cheeseburger so disgusting that it forced him to reassess his entire life." The burger was so nasty that he suddenly felt like something terrible was going to happen to him, so he threw all his drugs into the ocean and has been clean ever since. One man's complaint is another's life changing epiphany, we suppose. [OK!]

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3*3 is 27 ... and Supa-Man dat ho!

Smart Shorties is a new CD being marketed to teachers that takes the beats from popular rap songs and rewrites them to the multiplication tables, with the intent of improving kids' math skills. Forbes has a nice roundup on it's history, and NPR has done a featurette on it as well At the very least, it's certainly worth a listen for the chuckle potential, but in addition to that, it's an interesting example of the now-booming Edutainment industry, something that not only spans CD's, but also computer games and even standalone video game consoles.

also, Smart Shorties is certainly not the only "Hip-hop in the classroom" product out there, nor is it the first.

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that really sucked!!!

Last night's show at the Fillmore was on fire. Literally. Before headliners Dethklok hit the stage, an electrical fire was "sparked during Soilent Green's opening set," according to SF Weekly. Fans were ushered out of the building posthaste. Yikes.

Sadly, Dethklok couldn't go on, and the show was canceled. Dethklok's MySpace page breaks the news to their fans:

SF Show at the FILLMORE CANCELLED BECAUSE OF FIRE:

Last night June 6th a small electrical fire stopped the show stopped the DETHKLOK show from happening- everyone was evacuated safely and most importantly NO ONE WAS hurt.

The band was ready and excited to play especially because the Fillmore is an amazing and legendary kick ass venue. Ultimately the cops/fire department deemed the situation unsafe to perform and cancelled the show- not the band, not the venue but the cops. The band was incredibly disappointed to find they couldn't play. But again most importantly NOBODY GOT HURT.

The people in suits are trying to find out what to do- hopefully there will be a rescheduled show. do please check with THE FILLMORE'S website as they will be posting news as it comes to them.

Thanks to all the fans who remained incredibly cool, collected, and understanding during a possibly dangerous situation.

Sincerely,

Charles Offdensen

The Weekly goes on to report that the Fillmore's upcoming concerts the Dan Band (6/7) and Fish (6/9) have been postponed/rescheduled. Sorry, folks.

Oh, anybody at last night's fiery show? Details.

Image: Wikicommons

The male rejection of adulthood is now the dominant attitude in Hollywood comedy.

The center of attention is usually a guy, his buddies and his toys. He will, most of the time, be nudged toward responsibility, forgiven for his quirks and nurtured in his needs and neuroses by a woman who represents an ideal amalgam of supermodel and mom.

Shared by Alex
Oh baby ... digital instant print

The Gadget: The Polaroid PoGo, an inkless printer that prints 2” x 3” sticker pictures from digital cameras via USB and cellphones over Bluetooth.

The Price: $150 for the unit, 30-packs of photo paper cost $10.

The Verdict: Though, like you, I wasn't totally sure about the PoGo, after using it, I was surprised at how promising and unique the little gadget is. It solves the biggest problem with taking pictures on cellphones, the fact that you can't look at them anywhere besides your phone. The credit-card size prints look decent enough for what they are (though in Wilson's expert opinion, they're still “lousy”). It prints using Zink, an inkless technology that uses photo paper with billions of colorless dye crystals in CMY layers that change color when activated by heat. This means that the pictures are dry as soon as they develop, and you NEVER replace ink or toner cartridges. The prints are also waterproof, tear and fade resistant, and have an adhesive backing so you can stick them anywhere.

Another great thing about the PoGo is its portability. Its a little larger than a deck of cards, so if you've got pockets, you can take it around. It also connects to phones via Bluetooth so you don't have to worry about cords. We easily paired it via Bluetooth connection to a year-old, mainstream LG phone from Verizon, though it isn't compatible with every phone—Polaroid says it works with about 70% of Bluetooth-enabled phones out today. I asked them about iPhone compatibility—they said not this one.

There are a few things holding me back from totally loving the PoGo. First of all, it's slow. The process from phone to picture took 60-75 seconds, which makes printing in the moment a little less exciting. Secondly, the Li-ion battery only lasts for 15 prints, and takes two hours to charge back up. It can print while it's charging which is nice, but that really takes away from the mobility factor.

Finally, I'm not sure I would use this on a long-term basis. The product guys said to use it in a bar to pick up ladies, but I don't know how many ladies would want stickers of me—at least, not right away. It seems like a fun fad, but when I showed it to Wilson, he couldn't wait to print pictures of his baby. High school kids, too, could probably find ongoing use for its sticker prints. There may be a wider appeal, even if I'm not the target demo.

The PoGo is a fun toy for now, and with a few tweaks and improvements, it could bring practicality and excitement back to printed pictures for a guy like me. [PoGo]

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Gary, they already licensed exchange support you cock

I'm not making this up. He says we're not going to crack the corporate market unless we do a deal with RIM and/or the Borg. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Katie says she's on it and will deal with Krakow pronto. To see the video yourself, go here. Says Gary: "They're going to have to bite the bullet."

Um, Gary? I've got something for you to bite. But it's not a bullet, baby. It's my ass. That's right. Come on out here to Cupertino and take the elevator up to the Jobs Pod and you can bite my sweet tiny hairless ass. And while you're at it, do something about that big mop of straw hair, okay? You big slovenly oaf.

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damn, they're gonna make that onion cry!

Bill Dunphy says:

I came across this post "Burger King has a bad taste ...." on Digital Frog, a dutch photographer's blog. It's a photo he says of a tray liner his son got in an Amersterdam Burger King.

The trayliner depicts the airport-style high security Burger King uses to ensure that only the top ingredients are used. Images include a scared Onion with his trousers down around his ankles while a fierce-looking Pickle guard with a latex glove, prepares to digitally examine him! Scattered about him from his open luggage are veggie porn mags!

I left a comment for the blogger asking for more details and suggesting it was a spoof or a prank and he linked to an advertising site which appears to validate his claim that the tray liner is real:

Hi Bill !

Sadly, this was not a joke. Burger King really served my son with that paper on his tray. This was early may 2008 near Amsterdam (NL).

I found another reference of this here.

Link

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oh HOTNESS

Thanks to Zottd, iPhone users can now port the popular VLC media player to their iPhone or iPod touch, making it possible to drag, drop and play MPEG / MPG,AVI and MP3 media formats. He is also in the process of researching playback for VCD,DivX,WMA,WMV and he notes that FLAC, OGG are coming soon. The project is currently in beta, but a public release is on its way. Naturally, you will need a jailbroken phone to take part in this awesomeness. [zottd via Macrumors]

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ugh, they're trying to cock block DVRs

Last night I was watching a rerun of Family Guy on TBS and right before the show went to commercial, this happened:

See what they did there? They paused the TV show, ran a little mini-commercial for some show that no one cares about, and then returned to the last two seconds of the segment before going to commercial. Jesus Christ. I realize that Time Warner doesn't actually care about the people who watch their shows and that television programs are just the networks' way of getting people to watch advertising, but this is too much. Do these things actually work or just piss people off in droves? Is there some marketing hot dog at Time Warner who thinks that Family Guy viewers want to watch the blue collar comedy stylings of Bill Engvall? I'm sorry that the DVR is ruining your business model, but can you kick the bucket a little more gracefully? (Digg this?)

Video of a man going totally beserk in a Russian office. Cellphone video here, w/ audio.

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ahh ... corruption

Facebook employees who have lost a $600/mo. housing subsidy for living in Palo Alto may want to point the finger at their new adult supervision, COO Sheryl Sandberg, but a tipster tells us they only have themselves to blame:

A friend of mine who works at Facebook told me that they have recently revoked the $600/mo. subsidizing of rent in Palo Alto because too many employees were banding together in groups of 4 or 5, renting a "chill pad" in Palo Alto, and pocketing the rest. Some pocketed as much as $300/mo. My friend told me the bandits [were] actually living in SF.

"Bandits" indeed. The whole point of the Facebook housing subsidy was to foster community by keeping Facebook employees living near each other in Palo Alto, in walking distance of headquarters. Ganging together to rent small apartments in Palo Alto while living in San Francisco is fraud, plain and simple.

But should we be shocked it happened? Many Facebook employees, some of whom make as little as $34,500 per year, are cash poor, and even the better-paid employees can hardly afford a Palo Alto mortgage. Zuckerberg's resistance to selling out has kept the company independent, but it also means employees' shares are only worth something on paper. Keeping Facebook independent may validate Zuck in his quest for peace in the Middle East, but some of his overeducated, underpaid, Camus-reading troops would prefer that their Meursault just shoot the Arab.

Shared by Alex
OMG Uzumaki Flickr style

Jim Bumgardner's created this amazing "coverpop" by taking all the photos from the "spiral mandala" Flickr group and turning them into a nautilus spiral. Hover your mouse over the spiral and the image under your cursor zooms up. It's just lovely. Link (Thanks, Bruce!)

This Australian analog traffic signal was in use from the 1940s through the 1970s in Australia, eventually replaced by whatever it is they've got going there now (Koala bears on poles holding flash cards, we think). It's fantastic.

Instead of solid lights, the analog rotating signal shows you exactly how much time you've got left in a green or a red, allowing you to better time your "floor it, we can make it" so as to not run the light and get caught by the intersection cameras. It's an easy solution that can be rigged into current light schemes by putting a countdown number in each light instead of just a solid color. I need to patent this. [Infosthetics via Make via Boing Boing Gadgets]