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Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Don't Be Afraid: Passengers Break into "Hey Jude" During Newark Scare

In the key of Terminal C

By HASANI GITTENS
From: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/


YouTube
 
A traveling guitarist is becoming viral sensation after leading a group of passengers in a rousing round of the Beatles' classic "Hey Jude" while stuck at Newark airport over the weekend.
Guitarist Josh Wilson posted the video on his YouTube channel following the security debacle at Newark Liberty when a security breach caused Terminal C to be shut down for over six hours.
Wilson leads the group of dozens of tourists, families and even some disinterested onlookers through the song, giving prompts through he verses and getting more clapping and encouragement during the chorus.
The video is titled: "Stuck in Newark Airport (With Total Strangers):


A second video from a different angle was posted by a friend of Wilson's who wrote: "Josh just couldn't take it anymore and broke into song. A few shaky moments but the "Na Na's" saved him. Powerful Catharsis but the line was unmoved. We're still just sitting here an hour later. Going to South Asia today? Doubt it."



The delay was caused on Sunday when someone picking up a passenger told an officer guarding the exit that he thought he saw a man enter through the doors Sunday, TSA officials said. TSA reviewed surveillance video before sweeping the airport, she said.
The video confirmed the man had entered through the exit, and officials made passengers leave the terminal and be rescreened, which caused massive delays.
Authorities found nothing suspicious when they searched the terminal after evacuating passengers. They are still trying to determine the man's identity.
Terminal C, where the security breach occurred, is used mostly by Continental Airlines.
Wilson did not return a request for comment -- hopefully he finally made it to South Asia.

How to create the perfect woman


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Synthetic Alcohol Gives Drinkers a Buzz Minus the Hangover, Addiction


Prost! senator86
 
Still feeling the sting of New Year's Eve all these days later? A synthetic alcohol substitute developed from chemicals similar in composition to Valium could give users the pleasant feelings of tipsiness without affecting the parts of the brain that lead to barroom brawls, crippling addiction, and sleeping in your car.
Unlike all those bunk point-of-sale hangover remedies, this headache-eluding synthetic is being developed by some serious brainpower at Imperial College London. Professor David Nutt, one of Britain's top drug experts, was recently relieved of his position as a government advisor for comments about cannabis and MDMA. Now, he's trying to change the way Britons think, and feel, about getting drunk.
By harnessing benzodiazepines like diazepam, the chief ingredient in anti-anxiety med Valium, Nutt sees a future of drinking without becoming addicted, belligerent or -- and here's the kicker -- intoxicated. Using one of thousands of possible benzos, researchers are working to tailor a colorless, tasteless synthetic that could eventually replace the alcohol content in beer, wine and liquor. Drinkers could toss back as many glasses of the swill as they want but would remain only mildly drunk from first drink to last, keeping good-timers within legal limits whether they like it or not. If one did find the buzz too intense for a particular task -- say, driving home after a long night at the pub -- those warm feelings of inebriation could be instantly turned off with a simple antidote pill that mutes the synthetic's effects on brain receptors.
The skeptics (and delinquents) among us wonder exactly why Nutt and company think that people who enjoy getting roaring drunk would voluntarily switch to a tipple that lacks the knock-down power of authentic alcohol, but as a matter of public health it's not such a far-fetched idea. After all, alcohol has been both a bringer of good cheer and destroyer of lives for thousands of years now, and a 21st-century update to an ancient favorite could be in order. In the meantime, we're sticking with scotch.
[Telegraph]

Crazy Woman On Airplane

From: http://www.holytaco.com/
 

This woman is either bat shit crazy or really f*cked up on drugs. If she's as crazy as she looks, she probably thinks she's flying to Gumdrop Mountain or Unicorn Valley. If she's f*cked up on drugs, she's got the best cure for flying anxiety on Earth, and we're going to need anyone with contact info on this wonderful lady to email: feedback@holytaco.com.

Tracking Down Art Stolen by the Nazis

"Reclaimed: Paintings from the Collection of Jacques Goudstikker" at the McNay
From: http://glasstire.com/
by Dan R. Goddard


Image
Martin Monnickendam (1874–1943)
Portrait of Jacques Goudstikker, 1916, oil on canvas
Marei von Saher, the heir of Jacques Goudstikker
In 1940, the influential Dutch Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, his wife Desi and their one-year-old son Edo fled the invading Nazis on a cargo ship bound for England. But within 48 hours of their escape, Jaques Goudstikker died in a freak accident, falling through an open hatch on the ship's deck and breaking his neck.

Fortunately, though, it would take more than 60 years for his heirs to benefit. Goudstikker carried a little black book in his breast pocket detailing his inventory of more than 1,400 works, mostly paintings, by artists such as Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens, Jan Steen, Vincent van Gogh and Titian.

Hermann Göring, the Nazi's second-in-command and a rapacious art collector, showed up on the doorstep of the Goudstikker art gallery in Amsterdam just two weeks after the 42-year-old art dealer's death. Göring orchestrated a forced sale of the Goudstikker inventory in what is now recognized as one of the largest art thefts from an individual perpetrated by the Nazis during World War II.

Image
Jacques Goudstikker in his gallery
Marei von Saher, the heir of Jacques Goudstikker
In 2006, Marei von Saher, Edo's widow, successfully concluded a 10-year legal battle with the Dutch government to reclaim 200 of Goudstikker's paintings from the Dutch government - one of the first and largest claims to Nazi-looted art ever resolved. Forty-six of the works can be seen in Reclaimed: Paintings from the Collection of Jacques Goudstikker at the McNay Art Museum.

But the word "collection" is a misnomer, since the paintings actually represent the scattered fragments of one of Europe's best and most influential galleries between the world wars. Goudstikker, whose grandfather Jacob established the family art dealing business as early as 1845, expanded the Dutch art market by featuring non-Dutch artists and presenting works ranging from the Italian Renaissance to 19th-century European art. Goudstikker took shows abroad and sold works to major museums around the world, including in the United States.

Image
Hieronymus Galle (1625–c. 1679)
Still Life with Flowers in a Vase, 1650–75
oil on panel
Marei von Saher, the heir of Jacques Goudstikker
As an exhibition, "Reclaimed" is something of an Old World mash-up with works from the Renaissance, early German and Netherlandish paintings, Dutch art of the Golden Age, French and Italian rococo and 19th-century French and other European paintings. One of the highlights is Salomon von Ruysdael's River Landscape with Ferry (1649). It was recently acquired from the Goudstikker family by the National Gallery of Art. However, the tranquil scene of a flatboat loaded with passengers crossing a placid Dutch river hung for many years in Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum along with another masterpiece in the show, Jan Steen's Sacrifice of Iphigenia (1671), a tumultuous image of a boisterous mob taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses, depicting the Greek king Agamemnon about to sacrifice his daughter. 

Many of the Goudstikker paintings were displayed in several Dutch museums as part of the country's National Collection, and their removal remains controversial. A Dutch deputy culture minister called the settlement a "bloodletting" for the country's museums. More than 1,000 paintings are still missing, and Goudstikker paintings continue to show up at art fairs and in gallery and museum shows around the world. 

Image
Jan van der Heyden (1637–1712)
View of Nyenrode Castle on the Vecht
late 17th – early 18th century, oil on panel
Marei von Saher, the heir of Jacques Goudstikker
During the war, Göring took about 800 of the most valuable artworks to Germany, and many were displayed in Karinhall, his country estate near Berlin. Göring kept about 300 artworks for his own collection, though many, including a small floral still-life by Hieronymus Galle (shown in "Reclaimed"), were destined for Adolf Hitler's personal collection. Other Goudstickker assets were taken by a Göring associate, Alois Miedl, who continued to operate the gallery under the Goudstikker name, selling many works to Nazi politicians and German industrialists.

After the war in 1945, Allied forces recovered more than 200 artworks looted by Göring and returned them to the Dutch government with the understanding that the works would be returned to their rightful owners.

However, when Desi returned to the Netherlands in 1946, she confronted a "restitution" regime in the postwar Dutch government that made it practically impossible for Jews to actually recover their property. Both Desi and Edo died in 1996. Von Saher, Edo's widow, learned about the Goudstikker paintings from a Dutch journalist, Pieter de Hollander, who went on to write a book about the collection.

Image
Floris van Schooten (1585/88–1656)
Still Life with Cheeses, Candlestick,
and Smoker's Accessories
early to mid-17th century, oil on panel
Marei von Saher, the heir of Jacques Goudstikker.
During the 1990s, there was a critical reexamination of claims of artworks looted during World War II, spurred by books such as Lynn H. Nicholas's The Rape of Europa and Hector Feliciano's The Lost Museum. But it was the U.S.-sponsored Washington Conference on Nazi Looted Assets in 1998 that opened the legal doors for Von Saher and her team of lawyers and art historians by forcing the Dutch government to change its restitution policy.

"It was 12 long years from the time I learned about the paintings until the case was settled, and it was all pretty terrible," Von Saher said during the opening at the McNay. "The Nazis are gone, but this beautiful art remains."

Goudstikker's little black book containing his handwritten notations about his inventory proved to be the key piece of evidence. There's a reproduction of the book in the show, along with a touch-screen display that allows you to call up images of some of the paintings he describes.

While the show is something of a mixed bag, most of the paintings are of outstanding quality. Renowned for his connoisseurship and scholarly catalogs, Goudstikker was a highly educated art historian and his collection reflected the international taste championed by the influential director of the Berlin museums, Wilhelm von Bode. Goudstikker was also an excellent showman and gave lavish parties at his country estate, Castle Nyenrode, depicted in a painting by Jan van der Heyden.

Image
Pietro Antonio Rotari (1707–1762)
Young Woman with Bonnet and White Shawl,
Holding a Book Known as The Virtuous Girl
oil on canvas
Marei von Saher, the heir of Jacques Goudstikker
Though this exhibit is haunted by the specter of the Holocaust, it contains some spectacular biblical paintings, such as a stunning, multipaneled altarpiece depicting the Last Supper that's attributed to the early 16th century Master of Pauw and Zas. Other religious paintings include Joachim Beuckelaer's The Adoration of the Shepherds (1564) and Two Saints (St. Odilia and St. Cecilia) (1503) by the Master of Frankfurt.

Lightning flashes across Jacob Isaacksz van Ruisdael's Sailing Vessels in a Thunderstorm, while Jan Josephsz van Goyen offers a somber view of the port of Dordrecht dominated by soaring gray clouds. The oddest painting in the show is Jan Jansz Mostaert's Discovery of America, depicting naked natives attacking armed European invaders in early 16th-century military armor. It is considered one of the earliest painted representations of the New World.

But the most intimate pleasures of the show are provided by still-lifes, such as Gabriel Germain Joncherie's eerie Stuffed Birds and portraits, including an "Oriental" attributed to Tiepolo and a pair of young women by Pietro Antonio Rotari, one of Empress Catherine II of Russia's favorite painters.

San Antonio's museums don't have many Renaissance and early European paintings in their collections, so this show is a rare treat even without the added drama of the Goudstikker case. But it's a real coup for the McNay to land a show that's generated headlines around the world, and the Goudstikker collection is a chilling reminder of how swiftly the world can change and how long it can take to set things right again.

Reclaimed: Paintings from the Collection of Jacques Goudstikker
October 7, 2009 through January 10, 2010
McNay Art Museum, San Antonio
(Admission is $5 in addition to regular museum admission.) Image
Dan R. Goddard is a writer living in San Antonio.
Also by Dan R. Goddard:

Articulate This! Chainlink 4x4 is frighteningly awesome

Chainlink extreme 4x4 – Click above to watch video

We aren't sure who built this or why – we're not even sure what it's called (we think it's "Chainlink") – but we're quite sure it's brilliant. Perhaps the new champion of wheel travel, the off-roading beast has around seven feet of articulation at each wheel, up and down.

Controlling all that climbing and dipping is a Rube Goldberg gear network: 5.38 gears and centrally-mounted ARB air locker, chain gears at the swingarm pivots, and chains inside the swingarms to work Hummer hubs at each wheel. But just follow the jump to watch it in action and you'll see what we mean. It's spectacular. Hat tip to Mike S!

[Source: YouTube]

The Most Fuel-Efficient 2010 Cars and SUVs

The Most Fuel-Efficient 2010 Cars and SUVs

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A New NBA Jam Game To Be Released By EA Sports

Posted by Nattyb
nbajam-560x392
Since there aren’t too many big storylines from the NBA lately (other than Gilbert Arenas and the Eastern/Western coaches of the month awards, yawn) I wanted to touch on something that has the potential to be monumental…
Instead, sources confirmed to ESPN that the new title is actually one of the all-time classics coming back to consoles as EA Sports has acquired the rights from the NBA to deliver an updated version of “NBA Jam” that will ship to retail exclusively for the Wii.
Yup, the 1993 (yes 1993) classic that once rocked arcades and sports fans alike is making a comeback.  I’m 30 years old, don’t play video games but can honestly say when this thing hits arcades and Wii systems I’m going to get my ass to the nearest one.
Oh man the memories.  “He’s Heating up!”  “Boomshalaka!”   Remember how good Scottie Pippen was in that game?  Remember Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton as a team?  Good God it was sickening how awesome that game was.
And what about when you could put in codes and have like weird celebrity heads go on the players and stuff?  And remember being that little tiny guy?  What was his name again?  I’m getting antsy just thinking about the return of this game.
They better have the same announcer.
[Via ESPN]

NIN fans collaborate on massive free DVD/Blu-ray

From: http://www.nin.com
posted by  rob

Our 2008 Lights In The Sky tour was an ambitious multimedia production on a scale well beyond anything we'd ever attempted before. Everyone involved was extremely proud of how it came together, and we were devastated when, for a variety of reasons, we were unable to capture it professionally for a theatrical or commercial release. As a "plan B" of sorts, early last year we released a massive 405gb free download of raw HD footage captured at three different shows during the tour. The idea was to get the footage out in the wild and see what our notoriously enterprising fans could do with it. There were no rules. No strings attached. This was a gift, and an experiment, and for the past year we've watched it come to life in more ways than we could have ever imagined.

Fans have edited thousands of videos from the footage, assembled their own DVDs and live albums, even held theatrical screenings of their creations. And now, the ambitious and well-organized group known as This One Is On Us have released their massive, highly-anticipated creation, Another Version of the Truth: The Gift.

For 12 months, a core team of dozens of fans and a network of thousands spanning the entire globe pooled their efforts to create this professional-quality 1080p 5.1 concert film, and have released it in every format from Blu-ray and DVD to iPod and YouTube. It combines footage from all three shows and includes DVD menus, bonus footage, a PDF booklet, and more. That something of this scale was produced entirely by fans, on their own time, purely for the sake of giving something back to the community, is absolutely unprecedented. You can read all about the project and find all the download links here, or watch it immediately on YouTube here. Theatrical screenings are already being organized, you can find more info about those here.

This is yet another example of a devoted fanbase and a policy of openness combining to fill in blanks left by old media barriers. The entire NIN camp is absolutely thrilled that treating our fans with respect and nurturing their creativity has led to such an overwhelming outpour of incredible content, and that we now have such a high quality souvenir from our most ambitious tour ever. Or, as Trent simply put it, "Nine Inch Nails fans kick ass."





5 Types of People You’ll Meet at IKEA


Not long ago I found myself making my first ever solo journey to IKEA.  Soon after making it through the entrance I was surprised to see the many similarities our modern culture shares with the ancient Romans.
Gladiator
IKEA is incredibly intimidating.  If you’ve ever gotten lost in a supermarket as a toddler, you’ll know what this feels like.  The first thing you will try to do is find your mom’s hand.  However, once you realize that you’re alone, panic will begin to set in.  Today we’re going to give you a run down of the 5 types of people you’ll more than likely cross paths with while you’re lost and wandering around this hell hole for several hours.
The Mother of 3
mom-and-kids-shingwedz copy

Armed with a stroller, a hand bag, and three screaming kids this woman is probably the most dangerous person in IKEA. Lack of English skills and funds won’t stop this young lady from her goal of finding a new bedroom set/playpen combo.  Unfortunately she’ll learn that bartering doesn’t work so well in this country, and will /ragequit out of the store at an even faster pace than she entered.

The Boyfriend Who Is Being Forced
baby43

The hardest thing about being a loyal boyfriend is the amount of ultimatums you’re eventually hit with. Let’s look at a quick example.
“Get rid of that nasty jersey”
“But honey I like it”
“Cool, no sex for you”
The boyfriend who was forced to shop at IKEA with his GF is in pure misery.  His facial expression matches that of a dog which has just been roughed over pretty hard, but didn’t quite die.  He’s sort of just waddling around with that “please shoot me” look in his eyes, all while contemplating if his old lady is worth the agony.
The Husband Who Was Lied To
depressed guy

The deceived husband was told that they were shopping for a TV stand and some racks for his power tools, but ended up in the bathroom section looking at the daffodil curtains that his wife waved in front of his face.  The defeated husband will teeter on the border of depression and rage until he drinks his pain away watching the late game on ESPN. 


The Old Man
old man

This guy is freshly retired and really doesn’t know what to do with all of his free time.  He’ll make several trips to this store for the breakfast specials alone.  After that he’ll sort of walk around aimlessly and try to find a way to be helpful.  He can usually tell you more about the product you’re looking at than the actual employees.

The Young Couple
bf is sad
The young couple has just made a big step in their relationship.  This pair of lovebirds is made up of one eager girl and one terrified guy.  While she is tugging at his hand, dreaming of a cozy living room and the possibility of babies, he is slowly feeling his hopes and dreams fade away.  The whole scene resembles something you’d see on “Crocodile Hunter.”  At first the croc will splash around being wild and dangerous, but once Steve Erwin is able to clamp those jaws shut, he pretty much just sits around in misery waiting for it to end.
Conclusion: IKEA has a website, I’d recommend using it rather than making a personal appearance.  Seriously, a small piece of you will die.

10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist











Sure, the gear may look like it came straight out of Avatar or Battlestar Galactica. But all of the laser weapons, robots, sonic blasters and puke rays pictured here are real. Some of these weapons have already found their way onto the battlefield. If the rest of this sci-fi arsenal follows, war may soon be unrecognizable.
Read on for a look at some of these futuristic weapons being tested today.
Above:
The XM-25 grenade launcher is equipped with a laser rangefinder and on-board computer. It packs a magazine of four 25mm projectiles, and programs them to detonate as they pass by their targets. That feature will allow soldiers to strike enemies who are taking cover. By 2012, the Army hopes to arm every infantry squad and Special Forces unit with at least one of the big guns.
In August, a lucky soldier got to pull the trigger, and fire off a HEAB, or High Explosive Air Burst, round at the Aberdeen Testing Ground in Maryland. Those projectiles pack quite a punch. They are purportedly 300 percent more effective than normal ammo, and will be able to strike targets as far as 700 meters (2,300 feet) away.
Photo courtesy U.S. Army











Remotely operated weapons are showing up everywhere. Israel is building an automated kill zone. An American firm, More Industries, offers a turret that can aim and fire two automatic shotguns.
Some bots have been defusing bombs for years, but none have seen combat. That’s a shame, according to Lt. Gen. Rick Lynch, who believes that 122 men could have been spared if combat bots had been working in their stead.
There was a set of armed robots sent to Iraq. They never fired a shot, however. They weren’t allowed to. No one could guarantee that the bots wouldn’t go berserk and mow down friendly troops or otherwise malfunction, even though they have lots of safeguards.
Considering how much firepower they pack, safeguards are really important. The Maars system (above) can be equipped with four grenade launchers and a machine gun that packs 400 rounds of 7.62 caliber ammunition.
But its manufacturers like to point out its less-lethal capabilities. Instead of mowing people down, it can stick to the fine print of the first law of robotics and fire tear gas canisters, smoke grenades, smoke bombs and perhaps even Taser’s upcoming 40mm people-zapper projectile. Three were deployed to Iraq last year.
Photo courtesy QinetiQ North America











The Active Denial System fires a beam of millimeter-wave radiation. It make people feel like their skin is burning without causing any permanent damage. Though promising as a nonlethal weapon, the pain ray has some serious limits.
On a rainy day, water droplets will disperse the beam, and it may feel warm and refreshing instead of frightening. On a hot day, the cooling system might give out. The problems don’t stop there. Raytheon’s baby is bulky, and despite repeated requests to send it into battle, shipments of the energy weapon have been delayed. The military is looking for a stronger, lighter weapon.
Photo courtesy U.S. Army











If troops spot someone suspicious approaching them, they can use the Long Range Acoustic Device to send a warning message. It fires narrow beams of sound waves that can be heard clearly from 300 meters (about a thousand feet) away. Crank up the power, and it can emit a warning tone so loud that anyone in its path would have no choice but to cover their ears and run.
The manufacturer doesn’t like to call these devices weapons, even though they’ve been used to repel pirates. Cops used them to harass protesters at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh this year.
Photo courtesy U.S. Marine Corps











Drones are arguably the most controversial weapon in the war on terror. By some accounts, they are deeply feared by the Taliban.
They’ve taken out many Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders, and their sound when flying low is a constant annoyance and a reminder of their menace . But they also kill a lot of civilians.
They are, however, far more cost effective than supersonic fighter jets. Predators can pack two Hellfire missiles. Their big brothers, Reapers, can hold four Hellfires and two 500-pound bombs.
Photo courtesy Bryan William Jones
Photo courtesy of Bryan William Jones











Flash bang grenades were designed to stun people. But they have a pretty bad safety record. The little bombs have dismembered at least one soldier and caused hearing loss in others.
To remedy that problem, Mark Grubelich and his colleagues at Sandia National Laboratory built the Improved Flash Bang Grenade. It hurls flaming aluminum particles into the air, causing a bright flash without an accompanying shockwave.
Photo courtesy Sandia National Laboratory











Even the angriest mobs would probably think twice about trying to pass a Taser Shockwave barrier. It is the less-lethal equivalent of a claymore mine. Push the big red button, and it will fire 24 electrified probes at the same time in a single direction.
Photo: Pat Shannahan/Wired.com











After learning about an experimental weapon that can make people feel seasick, Limor Fried and Phil Torrone decided to build their own. They did it for less than $250, and wrote step-by-step instructions so that anyone can make one at home.
It can create a nauseating lightshow with 36 pulsating LEDs.
Their design has a bonus feature. You can set it to disco mode. Instead of making you sick, the weapon will add life to your next party.
Photo courtesy Bedazzler











If you’re worried that someone’s about to attack you, but not completely sure of their intent, it’s a good idea to give them a warning before pulling the trigger. Green laser pointers are a great way to extend that courtesy. The Marines like to call them “ocular interruption devices.”
Shine one in someone’s face, and your target should immediately get the message that it’s time to back off. The LA-9/P, made by B.E. Meyers, can warn people from up to 4 kilometers (2½ miles) away. It fires a 250-milliwatt beam. That’s roughly 1/4,000 the strength of the smallest anti-aircraft lasers.
Even so, you’ve got to be careful when handling the thing. Over a few months in Iraq, a dozen soldiers were wounded in dazzler “friendly fire.” Several troops may have been injured while monkeying around with laser target designators, which are substantially more powerful than the less-lethal devices.
Photo courtesy B.E. Meyers












Behold the Laser Avenger, a cannon that could be used to take down incoming aircraft. Boeing was able to shoot a drone out of the sky with the hummer-mounted laser, even though it’s not particularly high-powered. It cooked the remote-controlled aircraft using a somewhat feeble 1-kilowatt beam.
More recently, the company shot down another UAV using a low-power laser paired with its Mobile Active Targeting Resource for Integrated eXperiments, or Matrix, system during a test in White Sands, New Mexico.
Northrop Grumman is hard at work on a 100-kilowatt laser weapon, which could do far more damage, but it’s not quite ready for prime time. It’s fully operational, but looks like a refrigerator.
Boeing announced in late December that the Avenger has been used to destroy 50 different improvised explosive devices, during tests at Redstone Aresenal in Huntsville, Alabama.
Photo courtesy Boeing