Use Ping-Pong Balls to Create Diffused Party Lights

By Jason Fitzpatrick (Edit, to draft, Slurp)

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If you need some cheap and novel ambient lighting for your next party, you're only a box of ping-pong balls and a string of lights away from solving your lighting worries.

Instructables user AdvancedMischief needed some novel lighting and was impressed with the diffusing power of the simple ping-pong ball:

At some point last semester I realized that ping pong balls make great diffusers and look really cool when they are glowing. Next we concluded that a hundred glowing ping pong balls would look even cooler. It was at about this point I decided that my apartment was in dire need of some ping pong ball lights.

You'll need a strand of lights, ping-pong balls—he recommends buying in bulk on eBay, versus paying retail rates for small packages—and a tool to poke holes in the balls. A drill or even a nail will suffice. From there it's just a matter of punching holes in a bunch of ping-pong balls and wiggling the light inside. For more details check out the full tutorial at the link below.

Ping-Pong Ball Lights [Instructables]

Hopworksfiets Bike Bar is a Pedal-Powered Party

by Daniel Flahiff, 10/08/09

Pedal power is clearly on the rise. Bike sharing programs are spreading throughout the world, David Byrne’s new book Bicycle Diaries is flying off the shelves, and brilliant new designs like this, this and this, are appearing all over the globe. A wonderfully quirky addition to the scene is the Hopworksfiets party bike, a brilliant mash-up of human-powered pizza delivery, brew pub, and portable entertainment system. Created by Portland, OR-based bike builders Metrofiets, the Hopworksfiets is designed to deliver everything you need to get your pedal-powered party rolling.

Building upon a unique Metrofiets cargo bike design which puts the load in front of the rider, the main cargo of the Hopworksfiets is contained in a large metal ‘bucket’ which holds two full-sized kegs and 25 lbs of ice. After traveling through 50 feet of cooling coil, perfectly chilled beer flows into your glass from custom designed taps made from Shimano components—and a dash of imagination. The rear rack is designed to hold a stack of pizza boxes, and hand-made woodworking brings it all together; an inlaid counter top for guests to gather around in the front, and a clever sound system hidden inside a funky, wooden pannier on the back.

In true Portland spirit, the Hopworksfiets is the result of a group effort; conceived by Hopworks founder Christian Ettinger and Metrofiets owners Phillip Ross and Jamie Nichols, designed by Metrofiets, sound system by Damon Eckhoff, custom wheels by Metropolis Cycles, beer plumbing by local experts F.H. Steinbarts, custom woodworking by Gregg Heppner, and the cleverly designed tap handles were donated by Chris King Components and Shimano. Congratulations to everyone involved!

Via Bike Portland

BMW’s Simple concept–which kinda looks like a Stealth Bomber with training wheels–is a hybrid trike that gets around 120 mpg.

The Simple (which stands for Sustainable and Innovative Mobility Product for Low Energy consumption) does 60 mph in just under ten seconds and has a top speed of 125 mph. The car weighs just over 900 lbs and has a super low drag coefficient of 0.18.

Sebastian Schelper, BMW’s Project Lead for the Simple concept, says BMW “wanted to minimize the use of resources while using the vehicle but also during the production of the vehicle.”

BMW’s target for the concept is the professional commuter. Specifically, those professionals who travel a lot and often alone. Oh, you know who you are!

Simple is as tall as a 5 Series BMW but when it comes to length the MINI Cooper has it beat. The interior of the vehicle has seating space much like a 3 Series coupe: so not a whole lot.

Schelper says that driving the car is much like “riding an endless wave with your surfboard .”

Its driving performance is aided by automatic tilting technology though the hydraulics are only activated in exceptional coniditions. The driver feels no transverse forces and need not compensate for any lateral movements. The team wanted to combine both the features and the advantages from both cars and motorcycles.

While BMW has been a bit tight-lipped about its foray into the microcar market, this concept probably falls under the Bavarian automaker’s Project I. Other vehicles included in the project are the Megacity and a Z2. It’s rumored the Z2 will be a hybrid offering about 47 mpg.

The car is currently on display at the BMW Museum in Munich.

Source: Wired’s Autopia

Huge Cannon Fires Pumpkins at 600 MPH

Huge Cannon Fires Pumpkins at 600 MPH - Watch more Funny Videos

A couple brothers created a huge cannon that can shoot pumpkins up to a mile away. Suck on that, Chinese artillery!

'New Super Mario Bros. Wii' Is As Hard As 'Contra'

by Russ Frushtick

You see screenshots of "New Super Mario Bros." on the Wii and you scoff. You've played dozens of Mario games in the past. You've rocked the whole "All-Stars" collection, you mastered the Japanese "Super Mario Bros. 2," you think you can handle just about everything. Well "New Super Mario Bros." on the Wii is going to teach you a lesson in humility. It's really hard.

At a demo in New York City this week, Nintendo was showing off some of the new levels from the game. The first they dropped me in was level 8-7 and very near the end of the game. And it showed. You remember those ghost house levels from "Super Mario World" where you had to stay on the moving platform and it slowly chugged past ghosts and other obstacles? Ok, imagine that, but turn the platform into a slavering bone dragon and speed it up by about 3 times. Oh, and throw on three other homicidal friends who would rather jump on your head than let you make a perfectly timed jump. I went in expecting instant success, I left with zero lives and a lower sense of self worth.

Apart from the multiplayer, the difficulty seems to be the most striking thing about "New Super Mario Bros." on the Wii. Completing some of the later levels on your first try is nearly impossible, and you'll probably end up blowing a large cache of lives on a single tricky jump.

And that's where the "Super Guide" comes in. Again, go ahead and scoff. I did. But with such a ramped up difficulty, it makes a lot of sense to let the computer handle the tricky bits for folks. After all, nothing makes you put down a game faster than dying 10 times on the same section. It seems like Nintendo has found a way around that issue.

It's because of the Super Guide that the developers were able to crank up the difficulty, knowing that they no longer needed to make the game for the lowest-skilled player. So you're left with what's arguably the most hardcore Mario game you've ever played. Starting to scoff a little less now, aren't you?

The game's set to drop in the middle of November (a mere week away from another super hardcore title: "Modern Warfare 2), but as far as same-system multiplayer experiences go this holiday season, "New Super Mario Bros." on the Wii is the most promising I've seen.

Someone On Reality TV Finally Busts An Implant

By Tracie (Edit, to draft, Slurp)

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Considering all the fake breasts and physical competitions on reality TV, I suppose this was bound to happen. On last night's Real World/Road Rules Challenge, Shauvon belly-flopped into the water and was rushed to the ER for a busted implant.

New Oklahoma law will publicy post details of women’s abortions online.

I want to start off by saying this is so F***ing Wrong!!!

By Amanda Terkel

http://thinkprogress.org/

On Nov. 1, a law in Oklahoma will go into effect that will collect personal details about every single abortion performed in the state and post them on a public website. Implementing the measure will “cost $281,285 the first year and $256,285 each subsequent year.” Here are the first eight questions that women will have to reveal:

1. Date of abortion
2. County in which abortion performed
3. Age of mother
4. Marital status of mother
(married, divorced, separated, widowed, or never married)
5. Race of mother
6. Years of education of mother
(specify highest year completed)
7. State or foreign country of residence of mother
8. Total number of previous pregnancies of the mother
Live Births
Miscarriages
Induced Abortions

Although the questionnaire does not ask for name, address, or “any information specifically identifying the patient,” as Feminists for Choice points out, these eight questions could easily be used to identify a woman in a small community. “They’re really just trying to frighten women out of having abortions,” Keri Parks, director of external affairs at Planned Parenthood of Central Oklahoma, said. The Center for Reproductive Rights is challenging the law, arguing that “it violates the Oklahoma Constitution because it ‘covers more than one subject’ — a challenge that previously worked to strike down an abortion ultrasound law.”

Aussie show slammed for blackface Jackson 5 sketch

An Australian variety show has drawn international controversy for airing a sketch that featured performers imitating the Jackson 5 in blackface.

The show was a reunion episode of the long-running series "Hey Hey It's Saturday" that showcased an amateur act called the "Jackson Jive."

Guest judge Harry Connick Jr. gave the performance a "0" score and said, “If they turned up looking like that in the United States it's 'Hey Hey There's No More Show' ... If I knew that was going to be part of the show I definitely wouldn't have done it ... On behalf of my country, I know it was done humorously, but we’ve spent so much time trying to not make black people look like buffoons that when we see something like that we take it really to heart."

Host Darryl Somers apologized to Connick on air, then later said, “To most Australians I think it's a storm in a tea cup."

The five men who performed the skit apparently had done a similar act 20 years ago without controversy.

In the Times Online, one of the performers noted, "I am an Indian, and five of the six of us are from multicultural backgrounds and to be called a racist ... I don't think I have ever been called that ever in my life before. Anyone who knows us as a group, we are intelligent people, we are all from different racial backgrounds so I am really, truly surprised.”

Tokyo 2009 Preview: Nissan unveils leaning Land Glider concept [w/VIDEO]

by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Nissan Land Glider Concept - Click above for high-res image gallery

Nissan is pulling out all the zero emission stops at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show. In addition to the expected Leaf electric vehicle, the Japanese automaker will also be showing off a new concept called the Land Glider. Intended to be an urban runabout, the two-seat Land Glider is fully electric and is extremely narrow to ease congestion in dense city centers and make it easier to find suitable parking spots.

Inside the cockpit, the Land Glider's pilot sits front and center behind a suitably futuristic instrument cluster and a steering wheel that looks like twin joysticks. According to Nissan, the steering operations are computer controlled through a drive-by-wire arrangement, so there doesn't seem to be a direct connection between the steering wheel and the car's four contact patches.

Perhaps the most interesting bit Nissan pioneered with the Land Glider is the ability to lean into turns like a motorcycle. While this isn't an entirely new concept, it's a first for Nissan and the technology seems to be very well implemented in the Land Glider, as you can see in the video after the jump.

Gallery: Nissan Land Glider Concept

PRESS RELEASE

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NISSAN EXHIBIT AT THE 2009 TOKYO MOTOR SHOW

YOKOHAMA (October 8, 2009) - Nissan Motor Co., Ltd, will present various show cars at the upcoming 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, including 'Leaf', an electric vehicle (EV) which is slated for global launch and volume production in late 2010, 'Land Glider', an EV concept car, and 'Qazana', which is an entirely new type of compact sport crossover, which made its world debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2009. Nissan will also showcase the new mini MPV "Roox", to be launched later this year.

Nissan's ultimate goal in the environmental field is zero-emission. With its aim to be a leader in this field, the Nissan exhibits will focus on concept cars including 'Leaf' and on the development of related technologies and battery-charging infrastructure, in an effort to communicate the company's commitment to consumers.

Nissan is also continuing to work on the internal combustion engine (ICE) technology, for the development of environment-friendly technology to improve fuel economy and reduce gas emission. In addition to EV, the Nissan exhibit will feature a wide range of models and technologies such as hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), clean diesel technology and next-generation X-TRONIC CVT.
Leaf

Overview of major concept cars and technologies to be exhibited are as follows.

Leaf
The world's first EV designed for large-scale volume production

* High-performance, zero-emission power train and platform take the 'joy of driving' to another dimension.
* A design that evokes a clean and intelligent image and a body that achieves optimal aerodynamics and wind noise characteristics are packaged into this innovative and original five-passenger, five-door hatchback.
* Has a range of more than 160km (100 miles) on one full charge, which is sufficient for most daily needs.
* Features an advanced IT system that is specially designed for zero-emission mobility. Navigation screen supports the driver by displaying range autonomy areas and battery-charging spots with a touch of a button.

Land Glider
A new proposal for urban mobility that can be enabled by zero-emission car

* The Land Glider has a potential to become a new means of transportation in urban areas; its linear acceleration and the narrow body, which only an ultra-compact, ultra-lightweight EV can achieve, will help reduce traffic congestion and promote effective use of parking space.
* Shift of the centre of gravity by leaning provides a new, exciting sense of driving and a powerful, crisp ride.

Qazana
A whole new five-door compact sport crossover with innovative design

* Exterior and interior design inspired by images of beach buggies and motorcycles.
* Distinctive exterior features a large wheel arch that emphasises power and stability, high belt lines and a sporty upper body.
* The interior features a centre console that looks just like a fuel tank and seat of a motorcycle and a design that exposes the body framework.
* Combines sporty driving and environmental performance.

Roox
A super-spacious mini-sized vehicle that features a large interior space and dynamic design

* A comfortable interior space (interior height: 1365mm, interior length: 2085mm), one the largest for mini-sized vehicles, allows flexible seat arrangement.
* The sporty and sophisticated 'Highway Star' design exudes a strong presence that changes the image of mini-sized vehicles.
* To maximise the ease of getting in and out, a slide door (opening width: 580mm, opening height: 1230mm), which can be remotely controlled, and a rear step with low ground height are featured on both sides of the car.

NV200 Vanette Universal Design Taxi
A next generation Universal Design Taxi that pursues comfortable mobility for all customers

* Exterior design is readily identifiable as a taxi and also stylish.
* Will be officially introduced as the Universal Design Taxi by the end of 2010.

Next-generation continuously variable transmission (CVT)
The next-generation XTRONIC CVT is compact, lightweight and low-friction, and features an original structure

* Has achieved a world-best change gear ratio range of 7.3, which is more than 20% better compared to conventional CVT of the same class.
* Nissan's original, breakthrough design, which combines subtransmission, has succeeded in reducing total transmission length by 10% and weight by 13%.
* Unit efficiency has been improved by reducing friction by 30% through reduction of oil agitation resistance and others.

The 90’s in one pic…

Posted by i heart JTT

I like your style.

Nice Try - Just not allowed here..

All L.A. County medical pot dispensaries face prosecution, district attorney says

Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley said today that all the medical marijuana dispensaries in the county are operating illegally, and that "they are going to be prosecuted."

There are hundreds of dispensaries throughout the county, including as many as 800 in the city of Los Angeles, according to the city attorney's office. They operate under a 1996 voter initiative that allowed marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes, and a subsequent state law that provided for collective cultivation.

Based on a state Supreme Court decision last year, Cooley and City Attorney Carmen Trutanich have concluded that over-the-counter sales are illegal. Most if not all of the dispensaries in the state operate on that basis.

Cooley said his office had already begun preparing to prosecute a Culver City dispensary called Organica.

Widespread criminal prosecutions could deal a sharp blow to the medical marijuana movement in California, where advocates have argued that access to the drug has helped many cancer patients and others manage pain, nausea and other health issues.

Cooley and Trutanich announced their plans after a training session for narcotics officers at the Montebello Country Club. Outside about 100 medical marijuana advocates protested, saying that not allowing over-the-counter sales threatens the distribution of a product that many sick people have come to rely on.

Barry Kramer, operator of the California Patient Alliance, a dispensary on Melrose Avenue, said, "If this is the way it goes, we'll go underground again. There will be a lot more crime."

-- John Hoeffel

Photo: Vanessa Richards helps a customer from La Cresenta at the Roscoe Compassionate Collective in Canoga Park on July 21.

Credit: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times

Related: Where's the weed? Use The Times' interactive map to see the locations in the city of Los Angeles ocations where applications for medical marijuana dispensaries have been filed.

Hilarious commercial: Powermat "Its f***in' Charging"

powermat wireless charging
"I am not taking any credit for this do not delete this, just for fun"

10 Stunning Pumpkin Carvings

Take a peek at these extraordinary jack-o-lanterns

By Olivia Putnal

from WomansDay.com

It’s time to break out the carving knives and head to the pumpkin patch to select this year’s victim. If you’re anything like us, just whittling the basic eyes, nose and mouth is a big task. Luckily, there are a few experts out there that can carve a jack-o-lantern like nobody’s business. Take a look below to see how these pros transformed ordinary pumpkins into masterpieces—including a dead-ringer for the Statue of Liberty and a collection of Star Wars characters.

Twins

In 2008, the infamous Michigan carver dubbed as the “Pumpkin Bumpkin” created this version of pumpkin Siamese twins. Photo courtesy of ExtremePumpkins.com.

Hallowiener

Filled with an oversized frankfurter and standard toppings, like chili, cheese and relish, this extra-long pumpkin from Halloween 2007 isn’t edible, but makes for a good laugh. Photo courtesy of ExtremePumpkins.com

Big Tooth

Famous Canadian sand and snow sculptor David Bradley Billings decided to take a stab at pumpkin carving and in 2005 created this spooky fellow, called the “Sandemon.” Photo courtesy of ExtremePumpkins.com.

The Burger Pumpkin

Tom Nardone, author of Extreme Pumpkins, created this whopper of a burger using three pounds of beef, eight slices of cheese, tomato slices, lots of lettuce and pumpkin seeds for the “bun.” Photo courtesy of ExtremePumpkins.com.

Statue of Liberty

Texas-born Scott Cummins aims to create carvings that look as realistic as possible. This 2007 pumpkin carving of Lady Liberty shows just how sharp his knife skills are. Photo courtesy of Scott Cummins via PumpkinGutter.com.

Chewbacca

Also created in 2007 by Scott Cummins (a.k.a. the “Pumpkin Gutter”), this Chewbacca pumpkin takes carving to an entirely different galaxy—one far, far away. Photo courtesy of Scott Cummins via PumpkinGutter.com.

Cats in the Window

This foam pumpkin, carved by Beckett Gladney with craft store materials, makes an easy canvas to carve—allowing for more detail (and less mess). Photo courtesy of Beckett Gladney via Flickr.com.

Winking Man

In 2007, Kathy Green attended the Malcolm Blue Farm Festival in Aberdeen, North Carolina and watched as this sly pumpkin was created by a carver who’s been in the business for over 20 years. Photo courtesy of Kathy Green via Flickr.com.

Love Birds

At last year’s Louisville Zoo’s annual Halloween festival, carver Donna dubbed her creation above “Love Birds,” but we think Hitchcock’s The Birds might be more appropriate. Photo courtesy of Mark Wells via Flickr.com.

Star Wars

Several years ago, Dayna Flores captured this carved Star Wars pumpkin collection while visiting Beloit, Wisconsin. The carver uses craft pumpkins and adds a new one to the series every year. Photo courtesy of Dayna Flores via Flickr.com.