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Monday, April 6, 2009

Footballer given yellow card 'for breaking wind' during penalty shot



By: Matthew Taylor

Referee books Chorlton Villa player for distracting rival with 'ungentlemanly conduct' at key moment in match


The drive to bring good manners back to football has reached new heights after a referee issued a yellow card to a player for "breaking wind" as a penalty was being taken.

The official deemed the act "ungentlemanly conduct" and booked the player responsible. However Chorlton Villa, who conceded a goal on the second take, went on to win the match 6-4 against local rivals International Manchester FC at Turn Moss in Stretford, Manchester, last Sunday.

Ian Treadwell, manager of Chorlton Villa for the past eight years, said his team had learnt lessons from the game in which three players were dismissed and two were booked.

"The other player had the penalty saved because it was a bad penalty it was nothing to do with any noise. Not one of their team remonstrated with the referee when the first penalty was taken.

"They were as shocked as we were as to why. We are waiting for the Football Association to contact us after they have received the report."

Treadwell added that his players' behaviour was "normally exemplary".

"We are not a dirty team and we like to play football. While I won't condone the actions of the players it is an emotive game and some of the players were sent off for entering into conversation with the referee.

"This has come at a bad time in the season as we don't have sponsor and we are looking for a new sponsor for next season."

Pauline Riley, secretary and treasurer of International Manchester FC, said: "Both teams are very friendly. There's no animosity. It was just hilarious."

Coolest Bookshelf Ever (and 10 More that Rule)

US Bookshelf

This has got to be, by far, the coolest bookshelf I’ve ever seen. The only problem is trying to find a book small enough to fit into Delaware or Rhode Island. Either way, here’s 11 bookshelves that you’d kill to have in your place. You’ve gotta love the cool designs, not to mention all the unique pieces.

10 More Unique Bookshelves that Rule:

Disney's Animation Clones

Somebody had a lot of time on their hands - and compiled the cloned dance moves and character behaviors from across the whole Disney video catalog. Some sequences were used as templates, and I don't see a problem with that... This is however a valuable glimpse into the animation kitchen of Disney's "dream factory":




Studios have 'Monster' 3-D vision: Majors exploring idea of reviving classic pics

By DAVID S. COHEN

'Titanic'
'Titanic' may be among many Hollywood classics due for a 3-D makeover.


The $59.3 million bow of DreamWorks Animation/Paramount's "Monsters vs. Aliens" was hailed by exhibitors and distributors alike as a breakthrough in the burgeoning 3-D biz. But even though the 3-D renaissance is still nascent, Hollywood is already planning the next step: throwing open its vaults.

As they prep dozens of new 3-D films, the majors have been quietly exploring the idea of converting some of their most valuable library titles to the new technology. Tests for "dimensionalization" have been done on a number of hits, including Paramount's "Transformers," Paramount/Fox's "Titanic" and Warner's "The Matrix."

Those explorations are gaining new urgency as the format builds excitement among viewers and exhibitors. Hollywood is always looking for the Next Big Thing to fuel coffers. And there is reason for optimism in the new format, but there are also reasons for caution.

Disney, the studio leader in 3-D, is showing the rest of the industry the way. At exhib confab ShoWest in Vegas, last week, Disney and Pixar elaborated on plans for bringing the two "Toy Story" pics, as well as "Beauty and the Beast," to the format.

The Mouse House has already converted one of its animated titles, "The Nightmare Before Christmas," and re-released it twice. Mark Zoradi, prexy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Group, says, "We knew from that there was a commercial marketplace for it, because we released it in 3-D 13 or 14 years after the original release and it was successful every time."

The 2006 holiday run grossed $8.7 million in 168 theaters. After an additional run on 564 screens in 2007, the 3-D cume is $24.2 million -- impressive compared with the $50.4 million for its original 1993 release in 2-D.

Those numbers are encouraging, because the number of 3-D screens in the U.S. has ballooned since then.

But there are also reasons to temper the enthusiasm. The "Nightmare" box office was no doubt fueled by the novelty factor. But when audiences have 10 or 15 such movies a year -- the respective estimates for '09 and next year -- will they pay to see something that's been on DVD for years? (And the Disney brand contains a power that can't necessarily be copied by other studios.)

The conversion process can cost around $15 million for a long-ish actioner (about what Jeffrey Katzenberg says it cost DreamWorks to make "Monsters vs. Aliens" a 3-D release), and the transformation typically takes 10 to 14 months. The director is involved at the beginning and the end of the process, but need not be present for most of it.

The conversion is extremely complicated for any film, but costs more for a tentpole, where there can be extensive visual effects and images featuring many people and objects. It can run $100,000 per minute for the most difficult shots -- but if a perfectionist director decides to tinker or re-edit, costs go up from there.

One factor holding back these legacy titles: The slow pace of the 3-D rollout in cinemas. Since 3-D would drive these re-releases, there would need to be enough screens for a wide release. There are 39,000 screens in the U.S., of which only 2,000 are equipped for 3-D -- a number distribs say would need to at least triple.

The move into 3-D has long-term implications for home viewing. So far, nobody has come up with an effective home-use system for the format, but execs at all the conglomerates are hoping this could be the tech revolution that could keep their cash registers ringing for years to come. When DVDs debuted, congloms raked in billions as consumers updated their home library with new hardware and software. The hope was that BluRay would accomplish the same thing, but many film fans have bypassed that technology as they get into Internet streaming.

But 3-D could make home audiences sit up and take notice. The idea of seeing old favorites come to life could encourage buyers to get new hardware and new disks. And because 3-D streaming will take more bandwidth than 2-D -- and thus, theoretically, be less convenient for consumers to use -- it's less likely to cannibalize BluRay sales. Studios could get buyers to embrace both new technologies.

But those ideas are down the road, and the immediate goal is to make the 3-D investment profitable from its bigscreen run.

Jon Landau, who produced "Titanic" with James Cameron, emphasizes that "there are no firm plans" for the film to go 3-D. But he says, "The way we look at anything, whatever your first entree is into something, it has to make business sense itself." In the absence of homevideo, that means the theatrical re-release has to be profitable.

Landau is producing Cameron's 3-D "Avatar." He's shown some of the "Titanic" 3-D test footage publicly, and Cameron has had several tests done over the last few years.

George Lucas, too, has commissioned "Star Wars" tests without moving ahead, but he has declared his support for "dimensionalization" (a term coined and trademarked by Thousand Oaks-based In-Three).

Lucas told an exhibitor confab at ShoWest 2005 that he would re-release the "Star Wars" saga in 3-D -- though Lucasfilm wants more 3-D screens available before the company even begins working on it.

A "Titanic 3-D" or "Star Wars" saga may have even greater B.O. potential than most of the industry realizes. Those pics are exactly the kind of event movie considered ideal for 3-D. Hard numbers show that 3-D screens have overperformed on "Journey to the Center of the Earth," "My Bloody Valentine," "Coraline" and now "Monsters vs. Aliens."

Mavens of 3-D have raved that actors "pop" even more in "stereo." Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet, for example, look better than ever in the test footage -- good enough to make Leo a teen idol all over again.

Most of the industry hasn't addressed the topic of 3-D conversions in public, but that hasn't stopped rumors from flying. One website shows the entire "Lord of the Rings" trilogy in line for conversion, but New Line insists the company has no current plans for it. Paramount, which would be involved in any "Transformers" or "Titanic" re-release, declined to comment on the possibility.

Moreover, as long as there are so few 3-D screens available, one studio 3-D release would bump out another, as happened with "Coraline," when the Jonas Brothers concert film bowed. Some have speculated that a magic number is 9,000 3-D screens, enough to support two wide releases in 3-D simultaneously. That is probably a couple of years away.

Should Disney do big box office on theatrical re-releases of "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2," though, it would be hard to deny the potential of 3-D library titles, even with the current shortage of screens.

Even Disney will be watching those results before it decides what to do with the rest of its library.

"We'll make an informed business decision once we have data," Zoradi says. "Right now we have our instincts, and our instincts are all very positive toward it. We had good data from 'Nightmare Before Christmas' and that led us to do what we're doing now."

The lure of 3-D conversion isn't limited to library titles. ReelFX, the visual effects house with offices in Texas and Santa Monica, says it's fielding many inquiries about converting both upcoming and new releases to 3-D. So studios that passed on 3-D the first time are seeing a chance to get in on the 3-D action after all.

Once it catches on, the stereo treatment need not be reserved for actioners and sci-fi.

At 3-D conversion company In-Three, guests and potential clients get to view a number of tests, including those "Titanic" and "Star Wars" clips. But one of their best is a little test they did inhouse, without a studio request: The final airport scene between Bogart and Bergman in "Casablanca."

At a recent screening, there were no obvious 3-D effects and the picture was still in black-and-white, but somehow Bogart and Bergman looked sexier than ever. They were beautiful before, but in 3-D, you can't take your eyes off them. It was like seeing the familiar scene for the first time -- exactly as 3-D fans have been saying for a long time.

If mass audiences have the same reaction, we'll all be "looking at you, kid," in a whole new way.

World's largest telescope will search heavens for habitable planets like Earth

A giant telescope powerful enough to identify habitable planets like Earth in distant solar systems is to be built by scientists.

By Richard Gray, Science Correspondent

Astronomers claim the huge instrument, which will house a mirror the width of five double decker buses placed end to end, will be able to spot rocky Earth-like planets up to 100 million million miles away.

The telltale signatures in the light coming from such planets could also reveal whether there is water on their surfaces, which gases are in their atmospheres, and even if they may harbour life itself.

It will be the first time planets outside our own solar system have been seen using light from their surface. Current telescopes are not powerful enough to detect even giant planets in this way as the light they reflect is overwhelmed by far brighter stars.

The 1 billion euro (£700 million) E-ELT will have more mirror glass than all the other telescopes in the world put together.

It is expected to be so powerful that if astronomers were to use it to peer at the Moon, they would be able to see the car sized lunar rover that was left on the moon by astronauts during the Apollo missions.

With such high resolution, scientists believe they will be able to see Earth-like planets that orbit stars within a region known as the habitable zone, an area far enough away from the star around which it orbits to not be too hot to support life, but also not to far away and too cold.

As astronomers this year celebrate 400 years since Galileo first used a telescope with a lens just an inch wide to study the heavens, British scientists on Thursday presented the detailed scientific case for building the new giant telescope which will be four times larger than any other telescope yet built.

Isobel Hook, joint chair of the E-ELT science working group and an astronomer at Oxford University, said: "The astronomy community has been moving towards building progressively bigger telescopes to get sharper images.

"The resolution of the ELT is going to allow us to see objects and structures in the universe that we have been blind to until know."

There are currently 344 known planets outside our own solar system which have been detected indirectly by looking for changes in light coming from stars as the planets pass in front of them. Almost all are gas giants similar to Jupiter.

The E-ELT, which will gather more than 15 times more light than telescopes currently in operation, will be able to directly see small rocky planets as they orbit their stars.

By analysing the spectrum of the light reflected from these planets, it should also be possible to determine whether they have water or even vegetation on the surface.

Professor Andrew Cameron, an astronomer at University of St Andrews, said: "If they live up to the design goal, we will be able to detect Earth-like planets tens of light years away.

"There are lots of stars within that range, so there is real potential for finding a terrestrial planet that could sustain life."

Construction of the E-ELT, which is being funded by the European Southern Observatory, an international research organisation made up of 14 European countries including Britain, is expected to start in 2010 and the telescope is due to be operational by 2018.

A decision on where the telescope will be located is to be taken at the end of this year. Candidates include La Palma in the Canary Islands and Chile.

The E-ELT will use 906 hexagonal segments – each four and a half feet across – that will be pieced together to work together as a single mirror housed inside a giant rotatable dome. Each segment will have to be continually adjusted by computers to produce a single image.

In the past, optical telescopes on Earth have also been hindered by turbulence in the atmosphere which can leave images of stars and galaxies slightly fuzzy.

This problem led to astronomers building expensive space telescopes like the Hubble Space Telescope which can operate outside of the Earth's atmosphere.

Astronomers behind the E-ELT, however, plan to use new technology that could make future space telescopes unnecessary.

They propose to use powerful lasers positioned at several points around the giant mirror that will be fired more than 55 miles up through the atmosphere to create a faint "artificial star".

This artificial star can then be used to measure the level of blurring that the atmosphere is causing and a special deformable mirror can be adjusted to compensate.

Scientists claim this will allow them to achieve some of the clearest images of our universe ever achieved from the surface of the planet.

Colin Cunningham, director of the E-ELT programme in the UK, said: "There will be more glass in this telescope than there is in all the other telescopes currently in use around the world put together.

"The detail it will allow us to see is four times greater than we can currently get. It is very exciting."

Bruce Campbell to Return in 'Spider-man 4'?

By: Eddie Jenkins

B-movie actor Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi work together well. Whether it is on the set of an Evil Dead film or Spider-man things just seem to click between the two of them. If Raimi has his way when the fourth installment in the web-slinger’s franchise starts production next year Campbell will return to match wits with Peter Parker.

“I would love to have Bruce in Spider-man 4,” Raimi told MTV News in an interview. ”I haven’t talked to him about it yet, but he’s such a source of humor for me. I love working with the guy. He’s a great and really dedicated actor, as much as we kid each other all the time. I haven’t spoken to him yet, but I hope that he would (be in the film).”

Campbell has made cameos in all three Spidey movies thus far. He has portrayed a wrestling announcer in Spider-man, a doorman that prevented Parker from seeing Mary Jane’s play in Spider-man 2 and a restaurant manager who assists Parker’s ill-fated marriage proposal to MJ in Spider-man 3.

Campbell has played both antagonist and matchmaker, so where can he go in the next installment?

“I don’t know what (his role) would be yet,” Raimi said.

I, like most people, am hoping that Campbell gets a bigger role in either Spider-man 4 or 5. And like most people I am hoping for him to play the dastardly devious special effects wizard Quentin Beck a.k.a. Mysterio.

10 Most Barbarous Torture Methods Known!


Guaranteed to make the Hair on the back of your Neck Stand!

read more | digg story

40 per cent of Australian women wear a bra with a cup size DD or bigger

By Elle Halliwell

The Sunday Telegraph

Bra
Cup runneth over ... Hannah Milward and Sarah Todd get a helping hand from Myer's Victoria Jubb / Sam Ruttyn

THE bra market is expanding, literally. Up to 40 per cent of Australian women now buy bras with a cup size of DD or higher, new figures from lingerie suppliers show.

In the 1950s, the most common bra-cup size was a B - three sizes less than a DD.

Modern breasts are getting so large that some bra companies have introduced cup sizes as high as K, The Sunday Telegraph reports.

Experts blame the cleavage boost on obesity, contraceptive pills and artificial hormones.

Myer lingerie buyer Kerryn Sawyer said sales of DD-plus bras have grown from about 20 per cent of sales to 28 per cent in just five years.

Many lingerie labels such as Berlei and Triumph are now offering G cups while Fayreform, Freya and Le Mystere are producing select styles up to a size J.

Berlei brand manager Jane Edser said the company's range of bra styles, available in DD-plus, had, increased since 2005 from 75 per cent to 83 per cent, to cater for the growing market.

"We're noticing a lot more girls with small backs and bigger bust sizes being fitted," she said.

Eveden's top-selling size is a 10G.

As women's chests have grown, the number of breast reductions have doubled in the past decade, said cosmetic surgeon Mark Goyen.

"There's definitely been an increase," said Dr Goyen, who runs Sydney surgery the Alia Clinic. "I was doing about 10 to 15 female breast reductions a year, now I'm doing 20 to 30.

"There's no question that because the population is bigger their breasts are bigger as well, because it's all fatty tissue.

"As women get older the amount of fatty tissue increases, and also the proportion of fat increases."

Sydney cardiologist Ross Walker said artificial oestrogens found in foods, plastics and cosmetics had also contributed to the growth spurt. Oestrogen in contraceptive pills also spurred the growth of breast tissue, Family Planning NSW research director Edith Weisberg said. "I think the higher-dose pills could, because the oestrogen causes development of the breast tissue," she said.

Larger, more cumbersome breasts often discouraged women from exercising, said body-image expert Jenny O'Dea, Associate Professor at the University of Sydney's Faculty of Education and Social Work.

Dr O'Dea said that makes it even harder to lose the weight and can lead to further increases in breast size.

"One thing I find in my body-image research is that girls and women with large breasts tend to avoid sport and physical activity because it becomes a bit bothersome," she said. "They stopped exercising when they developed large breasts, whereas we want big women to do the complete opposite and be as physically active as they can."

World’s Fastest Broadband at $20 Per Home

By Saul Hansell

If you get excited about the prospect of really, really fast broadband Internet service, here’s a statistic that will make heart race. Or your blood boil. Or both.

Pretty much the fastest consumer broadband in the world is the 160-megabit-per-second service offered by J:Com, the largest cable company in Japan. Here’s how much the company had to invest to upgrade its network to provide that speed: $20 per home passed.

The cable modem needed for that speed costs about $60, compared with about $30 for the current generation.

By contrast, Verizon is spending an average of $817 per home passed to wire neighborhoods for its FiOS fiber optic network and another $716 for equipment and labor in each home that subscribes, according to Sanford C. Bernstein & Company.

Those numbers from Japan came from Michael T. Fries, the chief executive of Liberty Global, the American company that operates J:Com.

His larger point: “To me, this just isn’t an expensive capital investment,” he said.

The experience in Japan suggests that the major cable systems in the United States might be able to increase the speed of their broadband service by five to 10 times right away. They might not need to charge much more for it than they do now and they’d still make as much money.

The cable industry here uses the same technology as J:Com. And several vendors said that while the prices Mr. Fries quoted were on the low side, most systems can be upgraded for no more than about $100 per home, including a new modem. Moreover, the monthly cost of bandwidth to connect a home to the Internet is minimal, executives say.

So what’s wrong with this picture in the United States? The cable companies, like Comcast and Cablevision, that are moving quickly to install the fast broadband technology, called Docsis 3, are charging as much as $140 a month for 50 Mbps service. Meanwhile other companies, like Time Warner Cable, are moving much more slowly to upgrade.

Competition, or the lack of it, goes a long way to explaining why the fees are higher in the United States. There is less competition in the United States than in many other countries. Broadband already has the highest profit margins of any product cable companies offer. Like any profit-maximizing business would do, they set prices in relation to other providers and market demand rather than based on costs.

Pricing at Liberty varies widely by market. In Japan, its 160 Mbps service costs 6,000 yen ($60) per month. That’s only $5 a month more than the price of its basic 30 Mbps service. In the Netherlands, meanwhile, it charges 80 euros ($107) for 120 Mbps service and 60 euros ($81) for 60 Mbps. Mr. Fries said that he expected these prices would fall over time.

“Our margins go up,” he said. “But we are delivering more value.”

Cable executives have given several reasons for why many cable systems in the United States are going very slowly in upgrading to Docsis 3. There’s little competition in areas not served by Verizon’s FiOS system, which soon will offer 50 Mbps service. And some argue there isn’t that much demand for super-high speed.

Mr. Fries added another: Fear. Other cable operators, he said, are concerned that not only will prices fall, but that the super-fast service will encourage customers to watch video on the Web and drop their cable service.

The industry is worried that by offering 100 Mbps, they are opening Pandora’s box, he said. Everyone will be able to get video on the Internet, and then competition will bring the price for the broadband down from $80 to $60 to $40.

Aren’t you worried that the prices will fall too? I asked.

“Maybe,” he said very slowly. “We’ll see how it happens. We want to keep it up there for now. It is a premium service.”

Iraq plans to open Saddam museum

Iraqis loot Saddam Hussein's palace in Baghdad after the US invasion


A statue of Saddam Hussein is toppled in Baghdad

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraq plans to open a museum filled with toppled dictator Saddam Hussein's weapons, statues, paintings, furniture and artefacts, officials told AFP on Saturday.

The items collected and catalogued in the six years since the US-led invasion are being handed back to the Iraqi government, which will consider a site for what would undoubtedly become a major attraction.

"These possessions are for the Iraqi people," said Abdul Zahraa al-Talqani, a tourism and antiquities ministry spokesman, adding that a committee would be formed to find a site for the museum.

"We will look for a big building. I think one of the presidential palaces in Baghdad probably will be the place of the museum," said Talqani, noting that clothes, documents and various gifts given to Saddam by foreign leaders were among the possessions.

"This is what was found after the invasion," he added.

Some undisplayed Saddam memorabilia are currently stored in the National Museum in Baghdad, which only reopened in February after having been looted in the days that followed the dictator's ouster.

The US military said on Saturday the return of "commemorative weapons, paintings, furniture and statues" once belonging to Saddam "signifies the improvement of the security of Iraq."

The possessions, including the weapons, had been stored at a depot in Taji, 35 kilometres (22 miles) north of Baghdad, but have been transferred to an Iraqi warehouse at Abu Ghraib, nearer the capital, the statement said.

"The final goal is for these weapons to be displayed at a special museum with Saddam Hussein's artefacts," said Major Franco Nieves.

"They will be displayed for all the people of Iraq, future generations and visitors from of all over the world to admire."

Iron-based Catalyst To Replace Platinum For Cheaper Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Iron-based Catalyst

Hydrogen fuel cells need catalysts to accelerate the chemical reactions inside them, but the problem is that they are very expensive because the catalysts are made of precious materials like platinum. The new catalyst is based on iron, nitrogen, and carbon which are far less expensive than platinum which ranges between $1,000 to $2,000 an ounce. Although these three non-precious materials were used for hydrogen fuel cells before, they didn’t react too well making the cells unpractical.

Researchers at the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Quebec have managed to increase the power of the catalyst to 99 amps per cubic centimeter at .8 volts which is 35 times better than previous iron-based catalysts. With just a few improvements the INRS scientists should soon reach the 130 amps per cubic centimeter, which is the minimum amount for hydrogen fuel cell catalysts. According to Jean Pol Dodelet, leader of the INRS team, this iron-based catalyst is just as good as platinum catalysts which means that hydrogen fuel cells will become cheaper, and in time, better.

“We thought nobody would ever meet [the benchmark for hydrogen fuel cells]. For the very first time, a non-precious metal catalyst makes sense,” said Hubert Gasteiger, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT. Gasteiger is only one of the researchers who praised INRS’ breakthrough which is “quite surprising” if it were to quote Radoslav Adzic, researcher and fuel cell catalysts-developer at the Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Although other researchers have tried, the INRS team used a different approach, and they increased the number of the catalytic sites in the iron-based material. They figured that if they would have more active sites, then the number of reactions within the material will increase. These catalytic sites are “obtained” by heating a graphite-like form of carbon called carbon black which reacts and creates “gaps” when in contact with ammonia and iron acetate. Then the researchers used nitrogen atoms to link gaps’ opposite sides which eventually result in active catalytic sites.

According to Dodelet, their iron-based catalyst performs best in PEM fuel cells which work at low temperatures, and feature a high power density. He also said that there are other non-precious metal-based catalysts which work in alkaline cells, however, these catalysts will not operate in an acidic environment like the one found in PEM fuel cells.

“We solved the problem,” said Dodelet, but he admits that the catalyst needs further improvements because it has two major flaws - the former is its durability which has to be increased as after 100 hours, the reactions in the cells were halved; and the latter is the fact that catalysts can operate as fast as the reactants allow them, but the oxygen and protons transportation will have to be improved by fuel cell engineers as Dodelet’s team only develops the catalysts.

I don’t think that it will take too long before these obstacles will be overcome, and it is quite possible that in the near future automakers will get their hands on cheaper hydrogen fuel cells which means that we will be able to buy hydrogen cars at lower prices.


Defiant N Korea launches rocket

A South Korean soldier watches news of the launch in Seoul on 5 April 2009
North Korea's neighbours have strongly condemned the rocket launch

North Korea has defied international warnings and gone ahead with a controversial rocket launch.

State media said a satellite had been put into orbit and was transmitting data and revolutionary songs.

But there has been no independent confirmation so far. The US, Japan and South Korea suspect the launch was a cover for a long-range missile test.

They strongly condemned the launch. The US president told Pyongyang to "refrain from further provocative actions".

"North Korea broke the rules once more by testing a rocket that could be used for a long-range missile," Mr Obama told a crowd in the Czech capital, Prague.

"This provocation underscores the need for action - not just this afternoon at the UN Security Council, but in our determination to prevent the spread of these weapons."

Obama condemns North Korea launch

Japan called the move "extremely regrettable", while South Korea said it constituted a clear breach of a United Nations resolution.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said North Korea's actions were not conducive to regional stability, as did the European Union.

China and Russia both called on all sides to act with restraint, while the UK urged North Korea to immediately halt all missile-related activity.

The UN Security Council has approved a Japanese request for an emergency session.

Washington, Tokyo and Seoul regard the launch as a clear violation of Security Council resolution 1718 adopted in October 2006, which bans North Korea from carrying out ballistic missile activity.

No intercept

North Korea announced several weeks ago that it planned to send what it called an "experimental communications satellite" into space from the Musudan-ri launch site in the north-east.

The three-stage rocket blasted off just before midday local time, within a pre-announced launch window.

An undated photo of North Korean missile test

It flew over Japan towards the Pacific, with two booster stages dropping into the ocean to the east and west of Japan, Tokyo said.

Japan said it had not tried to intercept the rocket. It had indicated it would do so if the rocket threatened its territory.

North Korea says the launch is part of what it calls peaceful space development.

"Our scientists and engineers have succeeded in sending satellite 'Kwangmyongsong-2' into orbit by way of carrier rocket 'Unha-2'," state news agency KCNA reported.

It added that it was transmitting data and the "Song of General Kim Il-sung" and "Song of General Kim Jong-il" - references to the late founder of North Korea and his son, the current leader.

In a previous satellite launch attempt in 1998, North Korea said it was sending up a device that would orbit the world transmitting revolutionary melodies.

It claimed this was also successful but the launch is believed to have been a failure as no trace of the satellite was ever found.

Earlier on Sunday, an unidentified South Korean official told Yonhap news agency that the rocket did appear to be carrying a satellite.

If confirmed, North Korea will see this as a major propaganda victory, says the BBC's John Sudworth in Seoul.

A White House spokesman said there would be an assessment by defence and intelligence officials later in the day.

US within range?

But of more concern to Pyongyang's neighbours is the potential military use of the launch vehicle, our correspondent says.

They believe the real aim of the launch was to test long-range missile technology; specifically the Taepodong-2.

They believe it could put parts of the US within the communist nation's military reach.

North Korea first tested a Taepodong-2 in July 2006. It failed less than a minute after lift-off.

Three months later, Pyongyang carried out a nuclear test.

International talks involving the US, South Korea, Japan, Russia and China on an aid-for-nuclear disarmament deal are currently stalled.

Graphic

Double Rainbow Arches Over Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

flickr.com — Photographer: Flickr user kylearc

D Box will throw you out of your movie theatre seat with Fast and Furious!

by Daniel Herrera

It seems lately with the advent of the new ever evolving 3-D technology, companies are looking for more ways to completely immerse you in your movie watching experience, and D Box it seems is the latest technology that seems to break out of the pack.

This weekend marks the first film to be released using the new Technology as Fast and Furious makes its test run in 2 theaters across the country. Those of you with access to the famous Manns Chinese Theatre in Hollywood and Ultrastar Surprise Point 14 in Arizona, will be the first to test the new technology. D Box is a new technology usually built into your theater seat that is carefully programmed to vibrate and gently shake according to what exactly is going on during the film or game that you are viewing. All cues are programmed differently per what ever game / movie you are watching at that time having every viewing be different than a different film. The box is programmed using 3 different cues roll, heave and pitch which will either make you move backwards or forwards, side to side or up and down as well from the vibrations during certain action scenes. The box is also available for home use and to date there are currently over 850 titles that use this service.

Some of the films currently available for use with this service currently include:

Bolt Death Sentence Pineapple Express

The French Connection The Rundown Eagle Eye

Max Payne Donnie Darko Bourne Supremacy

Wanted Children Of Men Wall-E

Kung Fu Panda Sunshine Bruce Almighty

Hancock Twister I Am Legend

Casino Royale The Mist Pans Labyrinth

Cast Away Troy The Incredibles

Pulp Fiction Layer Cake Finding Nemo

If you are currently in the cities where Fast and Furious is playing and would like to purchase tickets for a showing with D Box head on over to MannTheatres and UltraStarMovies for ticket information and times.

The dailygame gave Max Payne a D Box review stating: On its own, Max Payne is a bore of a film with good special effects, but when it comes down to brass tacks; Max Payne’s true multimedia experience has D-BOX to thank for its boost.

The HDRoom’s review of Death Race with D Box: a unique D-BOX experience with movement from the chair all while the guns provide the “thumping” vibration. Because so much of the film is dedicated to the Death Race, there’s more than ample opportunity for D-BOX to put these lay

Schindler's List Turns Up at Aussie Library

by: Steve Meacham
Stranger than fiction . . . Tom Keneally with the copy of Schindler's list that he sold to a dealer. It was later found among papers bought by the State Library. Inset: Novel hero . . . Oskar Schindler.

Stranger than fiction . . . Tom Keneally with the copy of Schindler's list that he sold to a dealer. It was later found among papers bought by the State Library. Inset: Novel hero . . . Oskar Schindler.

They don't look much. Thirteen closely typed pieces of yellowing paper, identifying 801 names, ages, nationalities, places of birth and mechanical skills.

Just a list, really, and a carbon copy at that. Indeed, most of the information on the list is "bullshit", according to the leading Australian expert. Yet historian Olwen Pryke was astonished when she discovered it, searching through six boxes of manuscripts buried deep in the subterranean vaults of the State Library of NSW. Sandwiched between newspaper clippings, old photographs and multiple drafts of a novel was one of the most powerful documents of the 20th century: Schindler's list.

"We were leafing through the material. Then we came across this list," Dr Pryke said. "Clearly it was from the 1940s and it's written in German. We started putting it all together . . ."

Dr Pryke and colleague Steve Martin had another clue. The six boxes contained Tom Keneally's research papers, amassed when he wrote the 1982 Booker Prize-winning novel Schindler's Ark, later turned into the Oscar-winning movie Schindler's List.

The library bought the Keneally papers in 1996 from a manuscript dealer without realising the boxes contained a carbon copy of the list. None of the originals survive and only a handful of carbon copies, the most famous a prized treasure in the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem. It goes on display at the State Library on Tuesday, along with Keneally's final draft of the best-selling novel which introduced a disbelieving world to Oskar Schindler, the hard-drinking, sexually voracious Nazi who saved more than 1000 Jews from Hitler's gas chambers.

Keneally first saw the list in 1980 when he walked into a Beverly Hills shop to buy a new briefcase. The owner, Leopold Pfefferberg, had been one of the Polish Jews saved by Schindler, along with his wife Ludmila.

"It's the only case in my lifetime that someone has said, 'I've got a great story for you,' where I've ended up doing anything about it," Keneally said. He carried the list in his briefcase as he travelled the world researching Schindler's Ark, then sold it to a manuscript dealer.

"That's why I'm not a saint," he said, adding: "Writing so many books is not only a great weariness to the soul, it's also a storage problem. But I'm very glad the list has ended up at the State Library."

Source: The Sun-Herald

Insane Zip Line


Insane Zip Line - Watch more Funny Videos


The unfortunate thing about this South African zipline is that it drops you off in Namibia.

Man Paid $2500 To Impregnate Neighbors Wife - Fails 72 Times

Tony Danridge Wins NCAA Dunk Contest with Double Reverse Windmill

Tony Danridge New Mexico

April 4, 2009 - Dr. Anklesnap

Dunk contests are a favorite event of just about every basketball fan. But as the years pass it seems to be getting harder and harder for the dunkers to come up with innovative dunks. We often now just see variances on older dunks, or sometimes even the same dunk, but thrown down with a bit more athleticism or authority. Hey, i’m never one to complain though. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it…

This week there was quite a heavyweight battle for the NCAA College Basketball dunk championship. The event had to be taken to a ‘dunk off’ (equivalent of a playoff) between Charlie Coley and Tony Danridge. The crowd seemed to think Coley had the contest locked up after he successfully completed a dunk by jumping over retired NBA Star Jalen Rose who was seated in the key. But Danridge, who plays for New Mexico, wasn’t giving up that easily. Danridge pulled off the dunk of the night with a double reverse windmill. To those in the know, the degree of difficulty is off the charts given the fact you have to be able to cup the ball without losing your grip while simultaneously doing two windmill rotations against the normal direction you would do a windmill.

If you weren’t able to catch the contest, check out the winning dunk by Danridge…..big ups….


Narrow-Minded Architecture Sure Can Be Brilliant (w/PICS)



7. unknown location, photo by Hinabori
8. Kannai apartments, photo via



9. Tokyo, photo by whooba
10. Hamamatsucho, Tokyo; photo by Becca Dorstek



11. Very thin wall-house in Nagasaki, photo via
12. unknown, photo by nao

If you looked closely at high-res photographs of Tokyo in our recent article, you may have noticed a few buildings that are apparently functional, housing either a business or a residence, but are extremely slim - sometimes not more than a meter in width. We got intrigued with this way of squeezing the most use out of every square foot...

click here for all the pics!! | digg story

There is hope for Marijuana Legalization

Our nation's narcotics policy, that is. But there's good news as Hillary Clinton and Sen. Jim Webb take baby steps toward sanity.

By David Sirota

News

Reuters/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement handout

Agents of the L.A. Border Enforcement Security Task Force seized 1,800 pounds of smuggled marijuana valued at $1.5 million in early February.

April 4, 2009 | Finally, a little honesty.

Finally, after America has frittered away billions of taxpayer dollars arming Latin American death squads, air-dropping toxic herbicides on equatorial farmland, and incarcerating more of its own citizens on nonviolent drug charges than any other industrialized nation, two political leaders last week tried to begin taming the most wildly out-of-control beast in the government zoo: federal narcotics policy.

It started with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stating an embarrassingly obvious truth that politicians almost never discuss. In a speech about rising violence in Mexico, she said, "Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade," and then added that "we have co-responsibility" for the cartel-driven carnage plaguing our southern border.

She's right, of course. For all the Rambo-ish talk about waging a war on drugs that interdicts the supply of narcotics, we have not diminished demand -- specifically, demand for marijuana that cartels base their business on.

According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Americans spend about $9 billion a year on Mexican pot.

Add that to the roughly $36 billion worth of domestically produced weed, and cannabis has become one of the continent's biggest cash crops. As any mob movie illustrates, mixing such "insatiable" demand for a product with statutes outlawing said product guarantees the emergence of a violent black market -- in this case, one in which Mexican drug cartels reap 62 percent of their profits from U.S. marijuana sales.

That last stat, provided by the White House drug czar, is the silver lining. Every American concerned about Mexico's security problems should be thankful that the cartels are so dependent on marijuana and not a genuinely hazardous substance like heroin. Why? Because that means through pot legalization, we can bring the marijuana trade out of the shadows and into the safety of the regulated economy, consequently eliminating the black market that the cartels rely on. And here's the best part: We can do so without fearing any more negative consequences than we already tolerate in our keg-party culture.

Though President Barack Obama childishly laughed at a question about legalization during his recent town hall meeting, his government implicitly admits that marijuana is safer than light beer. Indeed, as federal agencies acknowledge alcohol's key role in deadly illnesses and domestic violence, their latest anti-pot fear mongering is an ad campaign insisting -- I kid you not -- that marijuana is dangerous because it makes people zone out on their couches and diminishes video-gaming skills.

(This is your government on drugs: Cirrhosis and angry tank-topped lushes beating their wives are more acceptable risks than stoners sitting in their basements ineptly playing "Halo." ... Any questions?)

Despite this idiocy, despite polls showing that most Americans support some form of legalization, and despite such legalization promising to generate billions of dollars in tax revenue, Clinton only acknowledged the uncomfortable reality about demand. That's certainly no small step, but she did not address drug policy reform. Confronting that taboo subject was left to Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va.

Last week, this first-term lawmaker proposed creating a federal commission to examine potential changes to the prison system, including a relaxation of marijuana statutes.

Webb hails from a conservative-leaning swing state whose criminal justice laws are among the nation's most draconian, so there's about as much personal political upside for him in this fight as there is for Clinton -- that is to say, almost none. That isn't stopping him, though.

"The elephant in the bedroom in many discussions on the criminal justice system is the sharp increase in drug incarceration," he said in a speech, later telling the Huffington Post that pot legalization "should be on the table."

Finally, a little honesty -- and now, maybe, some action.

© 2009 Creators Syndicate Inc.

Google Street View Time-Lapse Video Of Driving On Golden Gate Bridge

By Peter Orosz

It was bound to happen and we got to say, it's pretty to look at: load Street View at a scenic location, take a screen-shot at every click, then run 'em through an image editor.

An especially awesome development would be to automate this, requiring only a starting and a finishing point. Suddenly, the nightly rituals of Google Mapsing great drives or pleasant strolls would be even more fun.

Video Credit: joelaz/Flickr via Gizmodo

Wonder Why They Call It 'Monkey Beach' — Oh Hai!

Thailand's Phi Phi Islands

Thailand's Phi Phi Islands — Ko Phi Phi Don and Ko Phi Phi Leh — sit off the Andaman Coast, offshore from the town of Krabi. This area was hit hard by the devastating 2004 tsunami, but tourists have returned to this breath-taking mix of jungle and translucent water. L.A. Times staff photographer Wally Skalij captured the spirit of island life while vacationing there last year. For more photo galleries, visit our photography page.


Water: Ko Phi Phi Don


Earth: Maya Bay on Ko Phi Phi Leh


Water: Low tide on Ko Phi Phi Don


Earth: Deep jungle on Ko Phi Phi Don


Water and earth: Small islands surround the Phi Phi Islands


Water: A water taxi on Laem Ton Beach, Ko Phi Phi Don


Earth: Monkey Beach on Ko Phi Phi Don


Water: Flowers on water on Phi Phi Don


Earth: Sunset on Ko Phi Phi Don


Water: A beach view from Ko Phi Phi Don

READ ABOUT THAILAND:

Dazzling, dizzying Chiang Mai, Thailand
Unique hotels in Chiang Mai
Bangkok hotels: As luxe would have it
Skytrain rises above Bangkok, traffic snarls

Insane 1410-Ft Par 3 Must Be Seen to be Believed

Golf isn’t the type of sport that suffers exaggerators lightly; its near-clinical obsession with rules and precision leaves little to the whimsical machinations of a wandering mind. There is but one “longest par 4 everrr,” and it’s not that uphill 466-yarder at your local open course. So when DEVIL BALL GOLF declares a hole “quite simply the most amazing golf hole on the planet” (in the article’s headline, no less), well, we pay attention.

Africa Green
(Bonus awesomesauce: the greenery making Madagascar)

That’s the green of the “19th hole” at the Legends Golf & Safari Resort in South Africa. Sure, a green in the shape of a continent is pretty cool, but it’s hardly amazing. Oh, but did we mention it’s over 1/4 of a mile (1,410 feet) below the tee? And that you need a helicopter to get to the tee and back? Because that’s a pretty important detail.

DBG found footage at ONE EYED GOLFER of Padraig Harrington and Raphael Jacquelin playing the hole (and it’s dated February 23, so there’s no April Foolery going on here), which is below the jump. We’ll just say this: Padraig, you are the man.

Now, you’re probably wondering what hell that would wreak on the green; what would they use for divots, you might wonder, a backhoe? Turns out that as golf balls go, 1,410 feet isn’t very significant.

(By the way, a math/physics lesson follows. If that makes your head hurt, we understand; here’s that Cowgirl with the half-milly PLAYBOY offer again).

Despite the fact that the golf ball drops over a quarter of a mile, it doesn’t continue to accelerate the entire way. Like with anything of mass on Earth, a golf ball has a terminal velocity, or maximum speed at which it can fall toward the ground. Moreover, since it’s essentially spherical and subject to rigorously precise measurements, its terminal velocity can be (relatively) easily measured. All the heavy lifting is here, but the answer is that the t.v. is met at about 31.25 meters per second, which comes about 23 seconds into the ball’s descent; the ball takes about 29 seconds to fall at the 19th Hole, by way of comparison. So yes, the ball is falling as fast as it possibly can when it hits the green.

But there’s two things worth mentioning here. One, the ball is well past 99% of the way to t.v. by the 10th second of descent (pops to spreadsheet); any further acceleration is minimal (by the way, keep that graph open, because we’re using it later). But getting back to the point, the ball gets moving in a hurry. Second, the ball falls a long way on this hole, but it already falls a long way on all but the shortest approach shots to the green.

So let’s compare it to a regular shot from a 9-iron. If you’re interested in finding out how high a shot from 9-iron usually goes, we do not really recommend WIKIANSWERS.COM, who “answered” the question thusly:

2 feet

penis enlargement pump

Okay then. A slightly more precise answer to that question is that if a 9 iron goes 120 yards, it’s likely to go up almost 150 feet into the air (heavy lifting here, pops to .doc). And while that mark pales in comparison to 1410 feet, obviously, it’s enough to get the ball most of the way to t.v.

In fact, according to the graph above (did you keep it open? DID YOU?!), at 3.27 seconds, which is approximately how long it takes a golf ball to fall 148.5 feet, the velocity is -24.155 meters per second. Considering t.v. is -31.25 m/s, a golf ball from atop the (sigh) Xtreme 19th Hole–or even, for that matter, from a mile or two higher–is only travelling less than 30% faster than if it was just lofted from a 9-iron.

Now, a 30% change in velocity is no small matter; it’s the difference between being plunked in the ribs by a fastball from Jamie Moyer and from Kenny Powers, for example. But we’re not talking about speeds that high. 24.155 m/s is a hair over 54 mph, while 31.25 m/s is just under 70 mph. Taking a golf ball at those speeds would hurt. A lot. But 16 miles per hour here or there… ehh.

So no, the green doesn’t resemble a bombed out airport runway in Baghdad, nor must the area be legally classified as a war zone with incoming ordnance signaled by klaxon. Sure, your divots might be a bit bigger, but only just a bit.

The More You Know

16 of the Internet's Weirdest Meat Creations

From meat hats to bacon bras, giant burgers and outrageous barbeques, find out what the latest obsession really means.


"What’s not to like? Custard? Good. Jam? Good. Meat? Gooooood.” – Joey Tribbiani, Friends

It seems the Internet is awash in meat these days. And it's not just because people are using a bit of code to literally drape a big slab of bacon over their monitors (though that is pretty entertaining). For some time now baconmania has swept social media sites, forums, bulletin boards and blogs, spawning it's own subreddit, a baconcyclopedia, tattoos and humor.

red meat in package

Bacon commonly appears in comments, and many have taken to calling pigs simply "prebacon." Of course, it's also true that the bacon meme (note word coined by Richard Dawkins!) has possibly past its prime (especially for the 4chan set), being that Slate has said so, and it appeared in a Taco Bell commercial and has been discussed in the Old Gray Lady and in the LA Times (the latter is a great piece, btw).

At the same time, consumers are becoming increasingly aware about the rising obesity epidemic and the enormous impacts of factory farming, you know to raise all that prebacon. Remember too, it's not just crispy, aromatic bacon that is much beloved and e-celebrated: steaks, hamburgers and other meats are seeing a lot of cultural love, too (Whopper Virgins anyone?). Some guy lifts giant hunks of gyro flesh with his beard. Heck, a character from one of the coolest shows around is nothing more than a walking, talking, igloo-shape-shifting wad of meat. All this despite the fact that a recent ten-year study of 540,000+ people by the National Cancer Institute found that those who ate the most red meat boosted their overall risk of death by 30% (16% for processed meat consumers).

In one sense the LA Times has a point when they theorize that part of the reason for bacon's recent popularity is that pigs can be raised almost anywhere, thereby contributing to local foods and even slow food. In reality most of our meat comes form enormous factory farms, which have huge impacts in terms of resource inputs and manure and methane pollution. Plus, it's hard to see that most of the Internet denizens who scream Bacon! are really thinking about Alice Waters or Michael Pollan.

They crave bacon and red meat because they think it tastes delicious -- though it's possible that the recent fetishistic emphasis may lead some to consume more, and even to bash those who are trying to eat less of it for their health and the planet. In a hint of the possible culture war underlying the craze, consider a recent post on the humorous site Show Us Your Beef. Click on the sausage icon for "The Enemy" and get some anti-PETA (and spokesmodel Pamela Anderson) funnies, and this statement: "These people are Vegans. Find them. Mock them. They will not hit you. They do not have the strength. No beef. No strength. Force them to show us their beef."

Interestingly, it's also true that there a number of vegetarians, even vegans, who eschew all animal flesh except for bacon.

More than one e-commenter has speculated that part of the reason why meat is so hot in internet culture is because so many of us are fat, pasty, undersocialized beings that have little to look forward to beyond Battlestar Galactica and drowning our loneliness in pork products and sweets. I don't share this view.

Quick facts on why we should resist bacon's delightful sizzle and beef's hearty beefiness (or at least cut back some):

  • It takes 600 gallons of water to produce one hamburger patty.
  • It takes about 2 pounds of grain to produce a quarter-pound of burger meat.
  • Livestock produces 130 times as much manure as people.
  • If people simply cut their meat intake from the average 90 kg/year to 53 kg/yr, meat-associated carbon emissions would drop by 44%.
  • Some 70% of forests in the Amazon basin have been cut down to raise cows, largely for an export market.

So, what is this meat fetish we speak of? Behold, some of the most horrific, fascinating meats of the Internets. To some, these are edible works of art, the epitome of a carnivorous culture. What do you think?


bacon and twinkie stonehendge

1. Bacon and Twinkie Stonehenge

A fun site that invites users to submit your "deliciously gross food," This Is Why You're Fat is truly the place where "dreams become heart attacks." Don't forget to look for the "Elvis Donut." It's something to behold.



4489 calorie burger, fifth third burger

2. The 4489, 166-lb Burger

An obscure minor league baseball team called the West Michigan Whitecaps earned 15 minutes of e-fame when it recently unveiled their new stadium menu. Among typical ballpark fare is the 4489 Calorie "Fifth Third Burger." This 1.66 pound monstrosity, named after a bank, costs $20 and feeds 1-4 people (that's kind of a big range). If you finish it all by yourself you "win" a t-shirt.



man with enormous burger

3. More Ginormous Burgers

Since Americans historically have liked big cars, big open spaces and big houses, it's probably inevitable that we like big burgers too. Really, really big burgers. Banned in Hollywood has a great shocking gallery of humongous hunks of meat.



baconnaise

4. Baconnaise

Nasty or new craze? A new bacon-flavored sandwich spread, Baconnaise, has taken the blogosphere by storm. "This makes me want to cry sweet bacony tears of joy," reported Because Emily Says So Blog. "You're right, everything should taste like bacon," said Ian B.



bacon bra

5. The Bacon Bra

Practically a meme itself, the bacon bra has received widespread virtual circulation. It's not hard to see why. There is something horrifying about it, yet it's hard to look away. Combining meat and porn/sex is not a new idea (just ask Carol Adams).

As far as I can tell, this image originates with bkusler of Flickr, who wrote: "at some point after too many tequilas and my friend talking about how to get more men interested in her, someone said, 'wait, men love bacon and boobs, why not combine the two? That's a million dollar idea right there!'" Not dissimilar to that Taco Bell commercial…



bacon lamp shade

6. Bacon Lamp Shade

Looking a little like the decorating style of Buffalo Bill, the bacon lamp shade is one of many objects on the net made of pork. A number of commenters have asked if the meat cooks slowly with the heat of the bulb (although one person noted that a cool CFL probably wouldn't do the job).

bacon man effigy

7. The Bacon Man

According to the fun blog Food Proof, a woman named NetDiva really likes bacon. Channeling Burning Man, or perhaps the Cremation of Care, NetDiva apparently made an effigy of bacon.



hot dog rake motivational poster

8. Hot Dog Rake

Clearly, a regular stick just isn't fast enough. Too bad John Candy never lived to see this. Think what he could have done with it!

Funny motivational photos ftw!



meat baby

9. Meat Baby

Meat Baby is one of the most horrible thing I've seen in months. Thanks a lot Daily Weird! Meat Baby is an accursed thing.



meatsicle

10. The Meatsicle

The Meatsicle is a humorous site that aggregates meat-related content. You'll find the web's most outrageous stuff there, as well as actual news articles about the foodstuff. Occasionally, posts about vegetarianism, animal welfare and factory farming even slip through among the gags and gross-outs.



flower arch

11. Cheesy Meat Pie Thing

WTF is that?



deli meat skull halloween decoration

12. Meat Skull

From the guy who enjoys kitty litter cakes comes this exciting meat Halloween decoration. The photo was taken by lechatnoirfan and also featured on the Augusta Chronicle's site.



meat house with bacon

13. Meat House

Craftzine had it right: meat house is "gross, interesting." Nothing more to see here.



bbq addicts bacon explosion

14. The Bacon Explosion

Thanks to BBQ Addicts, the world has discovered the bacon explosion. The world is now obese and hooked up to a bacon iv, thanks a lot BBQ Addicts. They gave us step-by-step instructions to make this behemoth, complete with documenting photos. Judging by all the buzz and the trackbacks, it looks like it turned out to be a genius form of viral marketing.



meat hats

15. Hats of Meat

Hats of Meat is an amazing place, where creativity (and horror) come alive. Behold meat cow-boy hat: "this American classic, made of the best marbleized cuts of beef available, assures that you won’t just herd cattle, you’ll wear them. With this beauty, the cows are always on your mind." Or, the brisket yarmulke: "made of 100% kosher brisket, this one-size-fits-all 'beefy beanie' comes emblazoned with a horseradish Star of David."



 turbaconducken, chicken stuffed in duck stuffed in a turkey, wrapped in bacon

16. Turbaconducken (Turducken Wrapped in Bacon)

The good folks at Bacon Today (yes you read their name right) bring us Turbaconducken, described as "a chicken stuffed in duck stuffed in a turkey, all wrapped in bacon. Otherwise known as a bacon-wrapped turducken." Apparently, it all started with a dream, and five pounds of bacon. There are detailed steps.



Also check out this cool gallery of "edible architecture."

Photo Credits: Istock, This Is Why You're Fat, Banned in Hollywood, Baconnaise, bkusler/Flickr, Bits and Pieces, NetDiva/Flickr, MotivatedPhotos.com, The Daily Weird, Meatsicle.com, This Is Why You're Fat, lechatnoirfan/Augusta Chronicle, Craftzine.com, BBQ Addicts, Hats of Meat, Bacon Today