Brian Brushwood’s Scam School Book One Available Now

Posted by on April 10th, 2012
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At last… Never pay for a drink again! Get the girl’s number and become the center of the party.

Scam School Book 1 is jam-packed with over 80 tricks from the popular web series Scam School. With material spanning over 200 episodes, you’ll learn the very best bar scams and tricks, guaranteed to impress. Packed with exclusive bonus content, including audio commentaries and embedded video demonstrations, Scam School Book 1 is perfect for both new and returning fans of the series.

Buy Now on iBooks, Kindle, and Nook for the low price of $9.99

For more information head to ScamSchoolBook.com

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Actually No, Your Pee is NOT Sterile

Posted by on April 9th, 2012

just found out urine isn_t sterile better drink my own... wait... - Bear Grylls | Meme Generator.jpg

A new study debunks the long held myth that urine is sterile. The results, which appear in the April issue of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology was conducted at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. If found evidence of bacteria in the bladders of healthy women.

“Doctors have been trained to believe that urine is germ-free,” said Linda Brubaker, MD, MS, dean, SSOM. “However, these findings challenge this notion, so this research may have positive implications for how we treat patients with urinary tract conditions in the future.”

The myth has long been a contributing factor to the survival strategy of drinking one’s own liquid waste. The idea being that 95% of urine is water and sterile so to combat loss of water in the body it would help to recycle the excrement.

Somebody please inform Bear Grylls.

[Science Daily]


Help Save a Podcast

Posted by on April 9th, 2012

It’s very rare that I like to use this space for anything other than what you came here for: news of the weird and the occasional genre pop culture breakdown. However, I need to ask a favor of you.

You see, I also do a few podcasts outside of Weird Things. One of them was Game On, a video game show I wrote and was hosted by the supernova that is Veronica Belmont and Weird Things podcast host Brian Brushwood. It was very silly and despite some early episode woes, we really found our feet.

Unfortunately, due to low download numbers over the first 10 episodes, our network announced they were canceling the show. Sunday was our last episode.

Which is when something amazing happened. Our viewers went berserk.

In fact, they protested so loudly that the head of our network, Leo Laporte, said that if the last episode got 50,000 views and downloads than he’d bring it back.

Which brings me back to that favor.

Every YouTube view or download counts to the total. If you dig video games, you’ll like it. If you are more of a casual player on you iPad or iPhone, you’ll like it too. If you wouldn’t mind giving this episode a chance, we would all greatly appreciate it.

SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES HERE

SUBSCRIBE ON YOUTUBE HERE

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[Video] Man Makes Popcorn, Boils Coffee with Laser

Posted by on April 7th, 2012

We got a gander of World Scott over at io9 today where he blew up a firecracker inside of a balloon with a laser. Digging through the rest of his YouTube channel, here are two other videos will worth seeing that demonstrate the supreme awesomeness of lasers.

Above, watch in awe as the majestic blue laser creates the savory champion of movie treats: popcorn. Each kernel exploding with the knowledge that it was born thanks to an awesome beam of awesomeness.

Below, start your morning off right with a cup of joe… headed by GD laser! The best part of waking up is knowing a powerful ray of light brought this brew to an appropriate temperature in your cup.

Check out the rest of his channel here.

[YouTube]


City Orders Man to Dig Up His Dead Wife From Front Yard

Posted by on April 6th, 2012
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A man has lost his valiant fight to keep the government out of his front yard… where he buried his wife. James E. Davis buried his wife Patsy there after she died in 2009. What followed was a three year battle with the city after his permit to legally declare his front yard a private cemetery was rejected.

…the Stevenson City Council voted to deny Davis’ application, citing concerns of the perpetual care of the cemetery, location and size of the small lot, impact of the cemetery on property values and citizens’ complaints with the location of the cemetery. There were also concerns about future liability of the city to maintain the cemetery.

Davis has 30 days to appeal and was ordered to pay court costs.

[The Daily Sentinel] via Tony Ley


What Price Would You Pay to Control Your Dreams?

Posted by on April 6th, 2012
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We were alerted by a reader to this Kickstarter for The Remee, a sleep mask that claims to trigger lucid dreaming. It’s already far past full funding, netting over $91k at this time of this writing. The initial ask was for $35k.

An $80 pledge (plus $15 shipping and handling) earns you a Remee when they are completed.

But, is the concept of triggering lucid dreaming real? Or does the difficult to verify nature of the concept obscure the fact that it might be impossible?

On the Kickstarter page, the men behind the mask at Brooklyn’s Bitbanger Labs link to a Radiolab episode about lucid dreaming and a link to a book by Stanford researcher Dr. Stephen LaBerge detailing his work on the subject.

If real, it’s an intriguing concept. We spend so much time asleep or dreaming, why not get the most out of it?

[Kickstarter] via Zach Scott


Boeing Tests Spacecraft that Could One Day Take You to an Orbiting Hotel

Posted by on April 5th, 2012
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Boeing tested it’s CST-100 capsule by dropping it from 11,000 feet in the air from a helicopter into the desert.

According to reports, the test seemed to go fine, but what’s interesting is who footed part of the bill for the testing:

Bigelow Aerospace paid for some of the testing, according to Boeing, punctuating the space destination company’s interest in using the CST-100 to get to orbit. Bigelow, the brainchild of hotelier/motelier Robert Bigelow, envisions using inflatable space stations as orbiting labs or other destinations, but the company doesn’t have a rocket, so it will need a partner like Boeing.

Robert Bigelow is the owner of Budget Suites of America. Just think, children born now could be gossiping with each other in 18 years about who got a room in an inflatable space structure for after prom.

[PopSci]


Well Perserved Wooly Mammoth Found, Can We Clone Him?

Posted by on April 5th, 2012

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A shockingly well preserved Wooly Mammoth has been found in the far flung regions of Siberia and it could lead to the future resurrection of the species. The six-month old animal died over 10,000 years ago. It’s eyes and trunk are were found preserved in the permafrost.

But back to the main question, how does this lead to us bringing back the fuzzy beasts of yore?

Some scientists hold out hope that well preserved sperm or other cells containing viable DNA could be used to resurrect the mammoth lineage.

Despite the inherent difficulties, Dr Agenbroad remains optimistic about the potential for cloning.

“When we got the Jarkov mammoth [found frozen in Taimyr, Siberia, in 1997], the geneticists told me: ‘if you can get us good DNA, we’ll have a baby mammoth for you in 22 months’,” he told BBC News.

The beast did not initially yield a sufficient DNA sample but is being sent to Japan for further study. Meanwhile, scientists fret that further finds could be tainted by a burgeoning new black market trade. Siberian scavengers, who used to simply sell the recovered from the ice have since begun selling mammoth parts found in the permafrost online. For example, mammoth hair sells for $50 an inch.

In other news, does anyone have $50.

[BBC]


Google’s Project Glass Augmented Reality is Missing Something: Augmented Reality

Posted by on April 4th, 2012

GOOGLE PROJECT GLASS LOOKS AS PROMISING AS MICROSOFT’S VISION OF THE TABLET PC IN 2001…

Google has only released one video and little else on their project for bringing augmented reality to the masses, so it’s hard to cast aspersions on what’s the most vapory of vaporware. That said, I’ll pick apart the video; in that even with the use of After Effects and the potential to show us anything, their vision of the future seems rather timid.

Like the silly Nintendo Power Glove in Minority Report (far less impressive than Microsoft’s Kinect and ideas in the labs when the movie was made), we get a vision of the future that feels dated before it happens.

The future is not run on Nintendo Power Gloves...

Google’s glasses appear to just be a screen in front of your face with eye tracking. And I don’t mean that in the ‘iPhone is just a screen you touch’, way. It feels like Microsoft’s attempt at tablets in the early 2000’s. They figured your finger would just be a pointing device for Windows. Substitute ‘eye’ for ‘finger’ here and you get a shortsighted vision of the potential for this technology.

Google’s Glass doesn’t do anything different than what we do now. The screen is just in a different place. Think of how the iPad changed the way we interact with software or how Microsoft’s Kinect changed gaming. Augmented Reality could be bigger than all of this.

Touch interfaces took off when you realized that the medium had changed. Google’s Glass doesn’t feel that way. I don’t think they get their medium. My first case in point is the map feature:

How does Google envision using augmented reality to show us a map? They just float a regular map in front of you. Why not lay the map over on your field of view and actually show you a path to follow?

Second, let’s look at the trip to the book store. Obviously, Google doesn’t want to scare off brick and mortar partners with flashing deals to buy the book elsewhere. But why not use their already solid image recognition technology to hover reviews of the book or show us augmented publisher information. The same for the concert poster. Make the thing move. Show us what a connected world looks like.

Third, the apps were disappointing. When the girlfriend calls, why not make it look like she’s on the top of the building with him? Don’t just overlay reality, blend it. Why not create artificial elements in real space?

Fourth, show us virtual objects. What’s a virtual ebook look like to read or a magazine? I’d love to see what Google thinks the future of virtual items will be like with augmented reality. I have to image it’s more than a transparent screen.

That said, I’m excited that Google is taking the initiative on this. I’ll leave them with the words of Tom Hardy’s Eames in Inception, “You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.”

For good time’s sake:


Podcast: Lifestyle’s of the Reich and Famous

Posted by on April 4th, 2012

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James Cameron heads down to the bottom of the ocean and the boys squee with delight. Justin hits rock bottom while living with Brian only to purchase and lose a winning MegaMillions lotto ticket. Andrew describes a mysterious abandoned LA mansion built with plenty of room for goose stepping. Spiro and The Fudge return to solve the case of a crop circles in Australia.

Support the show by purchasing Andrew’s BRAND NEW BOOK Angel Killer just click on the image below.

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Try out the brand new PODCASTR player, featuring wireless syncing between desktop browsers and iOS devices.

Subscribe to the Weird Things podcast on iTunes
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Download url: http://www.itricks.com/upload/WeirdThings040412.mp3

[podcast]http://www.itricks.com/upload/WeirdThings040412.mp3[/podcast]

Sponsored by:

UNINTERRUPTED thanks to Brian Brushwood’s Scam School Book 1 and Andrew Mayne’s Angel Killer.

Picks:

Andrew-

Hunger Games

Scam School Book 1

Brian:

The Provider

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Angel Killer


“Half Human” Mystery Animal Befuddles Minnesotans

Posted by on April 2nd, 2012
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What is there not to love about this report from KSAX-TV News? A reporter is dispatched to take a look at a mysterious bit of road kill found by a local woman. Pictures of the hairless creature sparked an intense Facebook debate as to what the creature could be.

The local who found the questionable carrion pointed out what looked like human features on the beast and wondered aloud about secret government testing on animals.

Our favorite moment of the clip? A little girl who is shown a photo of the beast during a “man on the street” segment. He answers, “I think it’s a dog.” When pressed for reasons why? “Because it is.”

From the mouth of babes…

[KSAX] via Scott Johnson


Are They Miracles Or Murder? Find Out In Andrew Mayne’s Latest Thriller

Posted by on March 30th, 2012
SPONSORED POST

angel killer andrew mayne.jpgIn front of security cameras, a tourist vanishes from the top of the Empire State Building and mysteriously falls to her death moments later in Times Square…

A young girl dies crawling out of her own grave after having been declared dead a year earlier…

On a Fort Lauderdale beach, a missing World War II airman and his aircraft show up as if he died only hours before…

They call the mysterious man behind these unnatural events the Warlock. To some he’s the messenger of a modern age of miracles.

To Jessica Blackwood, FBI agent and daughter of a legendary magic family, the Warlock is a trickster and a murderer and she’s the only one who can see through his deceptions.

Andrew Mayne, the author of Public Enemy Zero and The Chronological Man series brings you an edge-of-your-seat triller that only he could write.

BUY IT NOW FOR ONLY 99¢

SPONSORED POST


Science=Complete: Google’s Self-Driving Car Takes Blind Man to Taco Bell

Posted by on March 29th, 2012

Necessity is the mother of invention.

For blind California resident Steve Mahan, he absolutely needed to get a taco. But how to get there? He could walk, call a cab or get picked up from a friend.

He relied on a trusty friend from Mountain View named Google.

And so Steve headed to the Bell, driven by one of Google’s new self-driving cars. Science and technology had finally advanced it’s most challenging rubric, getting a blind man to a chalupa as fast and easy as possible.

According to the Google’s own Google+ page, since Mahan doesn’t have a driver’s license he had to get special permission from local law enforcement to sit in the front seat. A police official even sat in on the ride. But we’re pretty sure it was just so he could get one of the new Dorito shell hard tacos.

[Google’s Google+]


My Mother is a Green Alien! British Councilor Confesses

Posted by on March 28th, 2012
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I am fond of saying that all politicians are lizard people. Vaguely humanoid creatures drawn to the warmth of public office and the uniquely bizarre responsibilities and customs that go with it.

But that’s just a metaphor. A way to illustrate a healthy distrust for anyone campaigning.

It certainly isn’t true about Councillor Simon Parkes of the UK, who was elected only last month. He isn’t a lizard person. No, according to a confessional vlog on YouTube he’s one half green alien.

He said: “Two green stick things came in. I was aware of some movement over my head. I thought, ‘they’re not mummy’s hands, mummy’s hands are pink’.”

He added: “I was looking straight into its face. It enters my mind through my eyes and it sends a message down my optic nerve into my brain.

“It says ‘I am your real mother, I am your more important mother’.”

He later confesses that his alien background did not come up during his recent campaigning. Furthermore, his extraterrestrial lineage is far more aware of the world around him than the local government he was elected to serve on.

“I get more common sense out of the aliens than out of Scarborough Town Hall. The aliens are far more aware of stuff. People in the Town Hall seem not to be aware of the needs of Whitby.”

You’ve cracked us Councillor Parkes… you’ve earned my endorsement for the next public office you seek. Because, if he’s willing to confess he was raised by a green alien, what could he possibly be hiding?

[The Northern Record] via mxyzplx on Twitter


Wisconsin Residents Who Heard Mysterious Booms Question Official Explanation

Posted by on March 26th, 2012
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One week ago today, several residents of Clintonville, WI heard a series of big booms throughout the town. Beginning at 2 a.m. and continuing until 8 p.m. Monday many residents initially called in reports ranging from a car crashing into a house to ice falling off a roof, only to find no physical evidence.

Yet the booms kept coming.

They’ve since received an official explanation. An extremely rare 1.5 magnitude earthquake shook the town shortly after 5 a.m. Tuesday, concluded the United States Geological Service.

But that doesn’t quite explain what the noises were Monday.

I have a theory…

[Fox 11]


Japanese Ship Lost After ’11 Tsunami Spotted Off Coast of Canada

Posted by on March 26th, 2012

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Lost in the massive confusion and destruction of the 2011 Japanese tsunami, a fishing vessel has shockingly been found afloat off the western coast of Canada.

The ship is the largest piece of debris found yet from the natural disaster and is being monitored as debris as of now. It will hit landfall in roughly two months if not stopped at sea.

Meanwhile, the boat could just be an eerie harbinger for even more random Japanese stuff. Is is estimated roughly two tons of debris washed off shore and the main mass of that should start hitting North America in two years time.

[BBC] via WT reader Jeff