All the Best Lego Sets for 2011

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From: http://gizmodo.com/

 Jesus Diaz — Star Wars! Ninjas! Pirates! Aliens! Race cars! Mummies! Castles! Dragons! All made off delicious bricks. Hot off the magical Lego Factory in Billund, Denmark, here are all the Lego sets for the year 2011 in one epic roundup.

There are a couple more secret models, but we will show those to you at a later date.

First, following the success of the previous series, there are more new minifigs sold in separate packaging. I'm not a fan of the minifigs with facial expressions—I still prefer the iconic old school ones, with smiley faces—but some of these are neat.

There are some new collections that look a bit retro too—like the Aliens Conquest, which has shades of the old grey-and-blue Lego Space from the 70s.

Their Indiana Jones sets have been replaced by a generic Egyptian adventure theme—which sucks, because there are no Nazis to destroy—but there's a lot of models from Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean and, of course, Star Wars. Their reduced Millennium Falcon would be a good option for those who couldn't buy the huge 8,000-piece Millennium Falcon. Talking huge sets, there are no announcements about these yet, but something tells me that we will see them soon.

Here you have all the models announced at Toy Fair 2011.

View the gallery

Star Wars

The Lego Star Wars 2011 catalog is too heavy on the bloody prequels. Except the Falcon—which includes all the heroes andDarth Vader for $140—there's only an effing Ewoks set called The Endor Battle Pack($30), with a tree, an Imperial Scout and two damn furry dwarfs.

The rest is all Sith Infilwhatevers, a Republic Frigate with some clowns, and even a set full of Jars Jars, obviously designed to give to really stinking kids as a punishment.

The assfog is strong in this one but at least there's material to create anything you want.

View the gallery

Kingdoms

Lego Kingdoms—formerly Lego Castle—is a little bit scarce this year. The best set is probably the Mill Village Raid—at $70, the most expensive of the series—and the King's Carriage Ambush ($50). But no spectacular castle of any kind, which is sad.

View the gallery

Pharoah's Quest

These sets seem to replace the old Indy models, without Dr. Jones kicking Nazi's ass—which sucks. Their are more Egypt meet Stargate meet Zombieland than Indy, but the $100 Scorpion Pyramid—including a giant badass scorpion—seems like a lot of fun.

View the gallery

Technic

The Technic sets keep shrinking—I miss the giant models, even while they were so expensive. The Rescue Helicopter ($40) looks great, as does the Backhoe Loader($60) and the Bucket Truck ($50), but my favorite is the $20 Off-Roader.

View the gallery

Atlantis

I would have loved Lego if they scrapped their Atlantis line and instead announced the Lego Cousteau line. With the Calypso, and underwater scenery and bases and helicopters and bathyspheres. That or Lego Zissou.

View the gallery

Ninjago

Ninjas!

Do I really need to say more?

NINJAS!

NINJAS! NINJAS! NINJAS! STEVE JOBS! NINJAS! NINJAS WITH DRAGONS! NINJA DEMONS RIDING HARLEY DAVIDSONS! NINJA BULLDOZERS! DEMONIACAL FORTRESSES!

OK, I shall calm down now. Lego seems to be obsessed with ninjas this year, and they will be selling a barrage of sets under the Ninjago flag, which includes a series of three games called Spinners, in which you battle different characters using cards over the (optional) $50 Spinjitzu Dojo.

The sets are pretty nice themselves, like the $120 Fire Temple—which includes a dragon—and the $60 Skeleton Monster Truck. Because, as you know, infernal demons used to drive monster trucks in 15th Century Japan.

View the gallery

Bricks and More

These are my favorite Lego sets this year. Bricks and more. They feel like classic Lego, with pure bricks and basic colors. It's a nice break from the complexity or elaborated pieces of the rest of their lines at lower prices.

View the gallery

Creator

If you are not familiar with the Creator line, it's great to explore your own imagination. This year there are a few mini models—like the cute $6 Mini Digger and Mini Plans—and other bigger sets, like my favorites: The $40 Cool Cruiser and, the best of them all, the $40 Lighthouse Island—which can be easily integrated in Lego City.

View the gallery

City

The number one seller in the history of Lego comes loaded with models. That includes a renewed version of one of the perennial classics: The Police Station, which comes with 783 pieces for $100. In fact, this year is heavy on police sets, including the $40Police Boat, the $50 Mobile Police Unit and even a $13 Police Dog Unit. My other favorites are their new sea pieces, like the $90 Harbor, the $40 PowerBoat Transporter, or the humble $5 Speed Boat.

For some reason, they included some space stuff this year, although it's not as spectacular as their previous NASA-related efforts. Still, their $70 Space Center looks like a good one to get.

View the gallery

Alien Conquest

While the Lego Alien Conquest 2011 have a 50s UFO flavor and some bits of the old Lego Space line, I can't help but to look down at them. The reason may be that the 70s Lego Space is embedded in my DNA, but the biggest cause is the design. Things like their $20 Tripod Invader, $60 Alien Mothership and $90 Earth Defense are charming, but they can't compete with the incredible fresh design of the classic Space line, which is current still today.

View the gallery

Pirates of the Caribbean

The same happens with Pirates of the Caribbean. They are not as good as the classic Pirates. They are not bad at all, mind you. The Queen Anne's Revenge—1,097 pieces for $120—is quite good, as is the $80Whitecap Bay and the $100 Black Pearl , but they are a a franchise. It's like a Taco Bell burrito: The "beefy" substance is just not really beef.

View the gallery

Racers

I wish the Racers could actually be radiocontrolled around the house because I like the idea of RC cars destroying each other just to build them again. The new models are all good, at $6 each. There would be bigger, licensed ones when Cars 2 comes out.

View the gallery

Hero Factory

Let me tell you one thing: This ain't no ninjas! What the hell is this plastic crap? It's not even Lego. I mean, it is Lego and you can combine the pieces with "normal" Lego pieces (to great results, in hands of expert builders) but these are just horrible. I guess the kids today like it and they are only $8 a piece, but these should be banned from this dimension.

View the gallery

Duplo

This year I bought my two nieces Lego for the first time—they better get used to it. They were three huge Duplo sets—the biggest available—and a couple other little ones. Just getting them made me happy, because they brought the memories of me and my siblings being little crawlers building absurd stuff with these huge colorful blocks. If you have little kids or have drooling relatives of any age, these new models will be good for them. I like My First Supermarket ($20), My First Zoo ($25) and My First Fire Station ($30), but you can also initiate them in the zen of Pooh with Winnie's House ($30), which looks quite nice.

Apollo 18 trailer shows why we can never go back to the Moon

From: http://io9.com/

Meredith Woerner —

Space mockumentary Apollo 18 has been shrouded in mystery for months. But no longer! The first ever trailer for Gonzalo López-Gallego's lunar horror epic is out, and it looks intense. Let the space madness begin!

The only information we've had about this film was this little tidbit, "A film about the real mission to space in the 1970's that was canceled by NASA." And a tagline "there's a reason we've never gone back to the Moon." The trailer, however shows a whole lot more. In this actual footage from the secret Apollo 18 mission, you see creatures inside the spacemen's suits (so they believe), alien viruses creeping across their torsos and what looks like... a time-slip? (At one point in the trailer, doesn't it look like they're uncovering their own bodies decaying amidst the Moon rubble? Or perhaps it's another lost astronaut team?) Either way, we like the gritty old-camera feel (whether that's the actual camera, or just a filtering technique). Let's hope this film can resurrect the "found footage" style out of the overused gutter.
Here's the new (much longer) synopsis:

Officially, Apollo 17, launched December 17th, 1972 was the last manned mission to the moon. But a year later, in December of 1973, two American astronauts were sent on a secret mission to the moon funded by the US Department of Defense. What you are about to see is the actual footage which the astronauts captured on that mission. While NASA denies its authenticity, others say it's the real reason we've never gone back to the moon.

Apollo 18 will be in theaters on April 22nd.

Watch it in HD over at Apple Trailers.

How to Change a Wheel Faster and (Almost) Painlessly

If you ever got caught with a flat—how about that—you know how much it sucks to jack up your car, especially in the middle of a storm, which is when these things usually happen.

 Here's a simple way of jacking up your car with the standard jack using a battery drill. Save time and effort when changing wheels.

Girls are born this way, boys are born this way

youtube.com — Difference Between Girls and Boys .. To cute and funny. Is this really how it is?

Italy to Build its First Holocaust Museum

Italy will announce plans to build its first Holocaust museum. It will be in Rome.

News Desk

From: http://www.globalpost.com/

Italy will announce plans Tuesday to build its first Holocaust museum, reports the Jerusalem Post.
The museum, which will be in Rome, will be part of Mayor Gianni Alemanno's 10-year plan for major city projects.

"Italy, like Austria, was a partner of Nazi Germany – not a victim, as the populace generally holds. Unlike Germany, we have never even begun the process of soul-searching. Italians don’t feel involved – they do not consider themselves as having collaborated,” the museum's director, Marcello Pezzetti, told the Jerusalem Post. “This museum, which will cover global Holocaust history but will have a special section on Italy, will speak directly to Italians, and not just Italian Jews."

Italy has launched a national campaign to encourage its residents to submit wartime family records or memorabilia to be included in the museum. The television campaign, called "Family Stories," features celebrities asking individuals and institutions to contribute to the museum.

The museum will be based on preliminary plans drawn by architects Luca Zevi and Giorgio Maria Tamburini. In addition to a building housing the museum, the project will include the restoration of two millennium-old Jewish catacombs.

About 8,600 Jews were rounded up in Italy between 1938 and 1945 and sent to concentration camps, from which they never returned.

Follow GlobalPost on Twitter: @GlobalPost

Drunken Dunkin' Donuts! Five Great Donut and Alcohol Combos

By Robin Wheeler
From blogs.riverfronttimes.com

It's a positively Homer Simpsonian concept with a Mr. Burns execution. Chef Zac Young of Flex Mussels in New York City and Top Chef: Just Desserts has been injecting doughnut holes with upscale booze. Of course, it's a hit. How could it not be? It's doughnuts and alcohol! But not everyone can afford handmade doughnuts infused with Maker's Mark and caramel. Or the trip to New York to buy them.

So why not visit your nearest Dunkin' Donuts, then pop by your local supermarket's liquor aisle and make your own?


Apple Crumb Donutini

You know the problem with apple-crumb doughnuts? Very little apple flavor, too many crumbs. Boost the apple to eXXXtreme and dam down the crumbs with Sour Apple Pucker and voilà -- Apple Crumb Donutini!

Bavarian JägerKreme

That "kreme" tends to congeal on the tongue, clammy and flavorless. What better way to honor this pastry's German roots than with an injection of Jägermeister? It's the perfect brunch for college bros everywhere!

Jell-Y Shot

Until Dunkin' Donuts devises a way to put actual Jell-O in a doughnut, injecting Everclear into this pastry is as close as we'll get to a doughnut Jell-O shot.

Hpno-Cruller

For something that bears a French name, these babies suffer from some serious ennui in the style department. Where's the joie de vivre? The je ne sais quoi? A soak in blue-tinted will make it runway-ready in no time!

Old-Fashioned Cake Donut

Old-Fashioned Donut, old-fashioned cocktail! Soak the dry pastry in McCormick whiskey, add a dash of bitters and a twist of lemon. It's a Don Draper Donut!

Mario Kart In Real Life Is Less Cute, More Brutal

Posted by James Hawkins
From: http://www.joystickdivision.com/

 
Mario Kart is an oft-lampooned franchise nowadays. Expertly, I might add. But never has anyone broken down the game to its core and looked at how fun it would be if it only included the bare essentials: racing and power-ups. Well, not until Freddie W and his team did in the video you are about to see here.

With some excellent editing, special effects, and design, we get to see the real, gritty side of the typically friendly racer. It is a place where red shells will literally blow you away, and a creepy Asian dude lifts you from the abyss. Oh, and there aren't any hot princesses, which is a bummer. But there aren't any annoying toadstools there, either. So it isn't all bad.

I would love if my local Family Fun Center had a power-up kart course that I could enjoy. But alas, it doesn't. So I'll continue to do what I always do at Family Fun Centers: drink beer, beat up kids, and give dorks wedgies.

I do wish we got to see: A. bananas, B. blue spiked shell, and C. the lighting power-up. But for a video that clocks in at a minute-thirty, I suppose we can't bee too choosy.

HIV as you've never seen it before

Sandrine Ceurstemont, video producer
from: http://www.newscientist.com/


It's hard to visualise what something as small and complex as HIV actually looks like. But now Ivan Konstantinov and his team from Visual Science have created the most-detailed 3D model of the virus to date (see video above). An image of this visualisation just won first place in the 2010 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge, sponsored jointly by the journal Science and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The model contains 17 different viral and cellular proteins and the membrane incorporates 160 thousand lipid molecules, of 8 different types, in the same proportions as in an actual HIV particle. It denotes the parts encoded by the virus's own genome in orange, while grey shades indicate structures taken into the virus when it interacts with a human cell.

To create the visualisation, the team consulted over 100 articles on HIV from leading science journals and talked to experts in the field. Then they reconstructed viral proteins from X-rays before assembling the structure of an entire HIV particle. The final appearance was achieved by experienced designers and 3D graphics specialists. Thanks to software and algorithms developed by the company, the model was completed in about three months.

The illustration was featured on the cover of Nature Medicine in September 2010, as part of a special issue prepared by the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise. But because of the high resolution of the model, Konstantinov says it is suitable for a range of formats, from posters to animations and interactive applications for web and mobile platforms. For the moment, they plan to use it in schools and to popularise science research. But this model, and others created by the company such as a visualisation of the swine flu virus, are sure to be useful in medical research.

If you would like to see other winning entries from the 2010 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge, check out our online gallery here.

Here’s a Better Looking, Less Awkward Segway

From: http://gizmodo.com/

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Casey Chan —

Segways are nerdy and awkward, there's no way around it. This solowheel, a "self balancing electric unicycle" is just as nerdy as a Segway but slightly less awkward. The Solowheel only weighs 20 pounds and comes in a relatively small package and is definitely no where near as unwieldy as a Segway. Plus, it doesn't come with the reputation of mall cops and weirdos. It's supposed to come out in March for $1,500.

The world's biggest family: The man with 39 wives, 94 children and 33 grandchildren

By Daily Mail Reporter

From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

• Ziona Chana lives with all of them in a 100-room mansion
• His wives take it in turns to share his bed
• It takes 30 whole chickens just to make dinner

He is head of the world's biggest family - and says he is 'blessed'  to have his 39 wives.

Ziona Chana also has 94 children, 14-daughters-in-law and 33 grandchildren. 

They live in a 100-room, four storey house set amidst the hills of Baktwang village in the Indian state of Mizoram, where the wives sleep in giant communal dormitories.

The full monty: The Ziona family in its entirety with all 181 members

You treat this place like a hotel: With 100 rooms the Ziona mansion is the biggest concrete structure in the hilly village of Baktawng

Mr Chana told the Sun: 'Today I feel like God's special child. He's given me so many people to look after. 

'I consider myself a lucky man to be the husband of 39 women and head of the world's largest family.'

The family is organised with almost military discipline, with the oldest wife Zathiangi organising her fellow partners to perform household chores such as cleaning, washing and preparing meals. 

One evening meal can see them pluck 30 chickens, peel 132lb of potatoes and boil up to 220lb of rice. 

Coincidentally, Mr Chana is also head of a sect that allows members to take as many wives as he wants. 

Feeling peckish? The senior ladies of the Chana family show what it takes just to make a meal 

The wives and I: Mr Ziona Chana poses with his 39 wives at their home in Baktawang, Mizoram, India 

He even married ten women in one year, when he was at his most prolific, and enjoys his own double bed while his wives have to make do with communal dormitories. 

He keeps the youngest women near to his bedroom with the older members of the family sleeping further away - and there is a rotation system for who visits Mr Chana's bedroom.

Rinkmini, one of Mr Chana's wives who is 35 years old, said: 'We stay around him as he is the most important person in the house. He is the most handsome person in the village. 

She says Mr Chana noticed her on a morning walk in the village 18 years ago and wrote her a letter asking for her hand in marriage. 

Shared bedroom: A look inside the four-storey mansion, Chhuanthar Run - The House of the New Generation

Another of his wives, Huntharnghanki, said the entire family gets along well. The family system is reportedly based on 'mutual love and respect'

And Mr Chana, whose religious sect has 4,00 members, says he has not stopped looking for new wives. 

'To expand my sect, I am willing to go even to the U.S. to marry,' he said.

One of his sons insisted that Mr Chana, whose grandfather also had many wives, marries the poor women from the village so he can look after them. 

RODRIGO Y GABRIELA / HANS ZIMMER : PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES

SOUNDTRACK TO FEATURE FIRST TIME COLLABORATION WITH HANS ZIMMER AND RODRIGO Y GABRIELA

SOUNDTRACK SET FOR RELEASE ON WALT DISNEY RECORDS MAY 17th

Rodrigo Y Gabriela are proud and excited to announce a new musical venture. After months of hints and rumours they can now confirm that one of the summer’s most highly anticipated blockbuster movies, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” will features original music by Academy Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer and Rod and Gab.

Rodrigo y Gabriela by Jeremiah Garcia

This summer's "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" will feature original music by acclaimed composer Hans Zimmer and a first-time collaboration with the internationally acclaimed Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela.
Walt Disney Records will release the soundtrack for "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" on May 17.

"We'd always felt it a creative necessity that the 'Pirates of the Caribbean 4' score have an original sound all its own and to distinguish itself from the first three films. With the inspiring addition of Rodrigo y Gabriela's unique artistry under the direction of maestro Hans 'Long John' Zimmer, this iconic score franchise take its next step forward with an imaginative, fresh and individual new sound," says Mitchell Leib, President of Music and Soundtracks for the Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Group and Disney Music Group, in a press release.

From the press release:
Rodrigo y Gabriela are considered the premier guitar-playing duo in the world. They have sold over one million albums, have sold out arenas and headlined festivals worldwide, and in 2010 they were invited to share the stage with Beyonce for a state dinner at the White House. The collaboration with Hans Zimmer is their first film score-an exciting and defining moment in their career. Their willingness to explore musical expression and to embrace new sounds irrespective of fashion or trends, as well as their point blank refusal to be pigeonholed as any particular genre, is the very foundation of Rodrigo y Gabriela.

New invention can turn your plastic bags into fuel at home

by Katie Gatto
from http://www.physorg.com/

(PhysOrg.com) -- Plastic bags help you carry your groceries home, they make excellent liners for smaller-sized trash cans, and now they can help you to heat your home. A Japanese inventor has found a way to convert plastic grocery bags, bottles and caps into usable petroleum.

 

Plastic bags are, of course, made from petroleum to begin with, but it is not the same kind of petroleum that is used in fuel. In order to turn home waste into home power the machine heats up the waste plastic and traps the vapors created in a system of pipes and water chambers. Finally, the machine condenses the vapors into crude oil, that can be used for heating on the home level.


Enlarge

This is not the first device of this kind. A large power plant which is located just outside of Washington, D.C., is currently testing a similar process for use on the community level. This is simply the first device of this kind that is meant for use on a single-home scale. 

The machines conversion process can turn two pounds of plastic into one quart of oil, using only one kilowatt-hour of energy. The crude oil produced can then either be used in a power generator or be further refined into gasoline, though one would need a second machine to complete the refining process and create gasoline.


Enlarge

Many home users will be deterred by the initial cost, since the machine currently runs about $10,000. The developer hopes that the cost will be reduced as the demand for the device increases. The device is named the carbon-negative system and it is being sold by the Blest Corporation.

More information: http://www.blest.c … english.html

© 2010 PhysOrg.com

What a dive: The underwater realm that inspired James Cameron's new 3D film Sanctum

By Chris Hall

From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

This is a real photograph from one of the most mysterious environments in the world

80ft below the surface, the Cascade room in Dan's Cave, on Abaco Island in the Bahamas, is one of the most sensational chambers in the cave system 

No, it's not a still from Sanctum - although James Cameron's new diving film was inspired by a near-catastrophic expedition by the man who took these pictures, Wes C Skiles. 


This is a real photograph from one of the most mysterious environments in the world. You could visit Abaco Island, in the Bahamas, and have no idea that beneath you lies this vast network of caves, accessible by as many as a thousand 'blue holes' - submerged vertical caves peppered with entrances to this forbidding domain.

Of the 1,000 or so blue holes in the Bahamas, fewer than 20 per cent have been investigated, and almost none fully explored

Exploring these passages is the diving equivalent of climbing K2  -  you've got to be exceptionally well trained and well prepared. Even then, safety is no guarantee; Wes C Skiles died during a dive last summer.
Sanctum is dedicated to him.

Of the 1,000 or so blue holes in the Bahamas, fewer than 20 per cent have been investigated, and almost none fully explored. It's a perilous mission to undertake; the caves are pitch black, vast and labyrinthine: the deepest blue holes can be 600ft deep, and the connecting caves run on for thousands of feet in all directions. 

 

Light filters down from the entrance of Ben's Cave (left) in Lucayan National Park on Grand Bahama. There are over six miles of caves under Grand Bahama. The caves can get so narrow that the divers have to remove their equipment to fit through the gaps (right). Here one of the team explores Garbage Hole, with his guideline clearly visible in the foreground

Divers maintain a taut safety line at all times. Without it, it could be nigh on impossible to find your way out before your air supply runs out. Divers carry three tanks of nitrox mix - one to use on the way in, one on the way out, and one for emergencies - and three lights, which are used to communicate as well as navigate. 


Standard practice states that if any one light fails for any diver, the whole dive is called off. 

In Sawmill Sink, another of Abaco's blue holes, bacteria colour the water a violent red, and signal the presence of hydrogen sulphide clouds 

Wes Skiles died during a dive last summer. Sanctum is dedicated to him

As well as the routine hazards of diving, the unique water chemistry of inland blue holes brings its own problems. 


In inland blue holes, a thin layer of fresh water, provided by rainfall, sits on top of denser salt water. The fresh water acts as a lid, preventing oxygen from entering the water. 


Bacteria in the salt water produce hydrogen sulphide as a result, generating toxic clouds of gas, suspended near the surface throughout the caves.
Divers cannot spend too long exposed to these clouds; it can penetrate their wetsuits and skin, leading to nausea, delirium and even death.
These conditions also contribute to the blue holes' interest, however.
Life on Earth began in prehistoric times, when oxygen was vastly less prevalent in the planet's atmosphere. 


By exploring these caves, and studying the bacteria that exist here, scientists can learn not only about life as it was four billion years ago, but as it might exist now on other worlds: it is possible that there are pockets of liquid water beneath the surfaces of Mars, Jupiter's moon Europa, and distant planets. 


The oxygen-deficient conditions also preserve animal remains.
Marine biologists have recovered the remains of crocodiles and tortoises with their soft tissues perfectly intact, even after thousands of years. 

Divers thread a careful path between stalactites and stalagmites in Dan's Cave. The fragile rock formations are tens of thousands of years old 

 

 

 

Divers Brian Kakuk and Kenny Broad (left), from the team of scientists exploring the blue holes, surface in Sawmill Sink. A team of divers explore the north passage of the blue hole known as Stargate, on Andross Island (centre). Dean's Blue Hole (right), in a cove on Long Island, is the deepest known underwater cave in the world, stretching down more than 600ft

Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right

This has to be the greatest Gaming Tattoo ever..