The Spy With No Gun – MacGyver to MacGruber in 25 Years

By Tom Murray
From: http://gnews.com

Fictional super-spy MacGyver celebrates his 25th birthday today, with his first show being featured all the way back in 1985, giving us a quarter century of quick-thinking, scientific secret agent shenanigans.

Now, I actually had no idea who MacGyver even was until yesterday when a friend clocked the 25th anniversary coming up. Having been ruthlessly mocked by my mates for my lack of MacGyver familiarity, I felt compelled to go and check out the show. It’s an old-school revelation, people. MacGyver is seriously badass, but with a twist.


For those of you who are not familiar with MacGyver, he was a secret agent with a difference. He refused to use a gun to solve problems and complete his missions. Instead, he would rely on a combination of his quick wits, knowledge of science and a selection of everyday items to get himself out of a jam.
What follows is a selection of the finest fanciful solutions that MacGyver managed to manufacture during his time on screen. By all means, imitate the spirit of MacGyver‘s creativity next time you’re in a pickle, but just don’t expect concrete results!

Paperclips: Never Diffuse Bombs Without Them

The foremost weapon in MacGyver‘s arsenal (along with his trusty pen knife) is the mighty paperclip. In the MacGyver pilot you get the first taste of our hero’s style: cool, calm and collected under pressure. See how he nonchalantly hangs his hat off the wing tip of the rocket? That’s a man whom time has no power over.

Duct Tape Fixes Everything

After a 20 second bomb diffusion, all that’s left to do is make a serviceable glider in under 2 minutes as angry assailants motor the crap out of the area. Not a problem for MacGyver and a trusty roll of duct tape.

It’s a Trap!

In an inspired piece of classic MacGyver magic, our mild-mannered hero constructs quite the cunning trap! Admiral Ackbar would be proud.

Three Words: Jet Ski Coffin

“Possibly the only man to have attended his own funeral and lived”, now that’s going out with style. One of MacGyver‘s more complicated inventions by a long shot but still unassailably cool. You can’t help but love the unnecessary water doughnut he pulls before escaping.

Blown Out of Proportion

That’s how a real man takes care of his enemies, with a blow dart to the neck. Or failing that, a big stick to the face. With his knowledge of toxins and herbalism MacGyver would make an excellent rogue in World of Warcraft.

Room Extensions MacGyver Style

Smooth talking with the ladies as well as in his own head, MacGyver can add an edge of romance to a demolitions escapade. No doubt he helps the little lady make another controlled explosion later on.

MacGyver Don’t Blow Hot Air

A mini hot air balloon from newspaper, bits of wire and olive oil, that’s MacGyver for you. Still, he was pretty damn lucky that the guards were so relaxed/lazy.

MacGruber: Less Charm More Harm

MacGyver‘s popularity was such that it earned the character his very own spoof alter-ego on Saturday Night Live, high praise indeed. The SNL comedy parody “MacGruber” took the inventiveness and quick thinking style of MacGyver…. and totally ignored it.

In their portrayal, MacGruber is constantly locked in rooms that are about to explode and he fails to act quickly enough as his team-mates refuse to hand him the items he’s asking for. This is usually because of their horrible nature or because MacGruber is actually trying to rob them.
The format worked like a charm and viewers loved the bare-faced sillyness of the MacGyver parody. So much so that MGM thought it was a safe enough bet to take on MacGruber‘s SNL actor Will Forte and make a MacGruber movie back in June this year.




While the short, sharp and snappy skits on SNL might have gone down well enough, the MacGruber movie did not. Burning out quicker than MacGruber blowing himself up, the movie was a lame duck, earning itself an over-generous 56% rating on The Internet Movie Database (imdb) and a general slating by its audience. It didn’t even make back its $10 million budget, leaving MGM out of pocket.
Luckless parody movie aside, MacGyver continues to enjoy a strong following 25 years on, both in viewing audiences and in pop culture. The wily secret agent has also scored quite a few references in cartoon mainstay The Simpsons and sci-fi sensation Star Gate SG-1.

Family Guy: It’s a Trap announced

From: http://furiousfanboys.com/

The final chapter of the Family Guy Star Wars Trilogy is finally coming out. “It’s a Trap” will be released on BluRay and DVD December 21st. The discs will include multiple special features including behind the scenes stuff and a feature on the Comic Con 2010 panel. It’s not known if it’ll be an edited version of the panel or the whole thing. Hopefully they include the entire panel as it’s a great way for people to see it who weren’t able to make it to Comic Con. You’ll be able to buy the disc separately or in a boxed set with “Blue Harvest” and “Something, Something Dark Side”.

Trent Reznor Developing Sci-Fi Epic With HBO and BBC

By Lilledeshan Bose 

From  http://blogs.ocweekly.com/

 

 

Andrew Youssef/OC Weekly

According to the LA Times, Trent Reznor is working with HBO and BBC Worldwide Productions to develop "Year Zero," a sci-fi epic that NIN fans know well through Reznor's music and an Alternate Reality Game (ARG). He told the Times:

"We are in [the development phase of] pre-production with HBO and BBC [Worldwide Productions] to do a miniseries," Reznor said Monday. "It's exciting. I probably shouldn't say too much about it except that I understand that there's a thousand hurdles before anything shows up in your TV listing. It's been an interesting and very educational process and it cleared the HBO hurdle a few months ago and now we're writing drafts back and forth. So it's very much alive and incubating at the moment."

Reznor further added: 
"Year Zero" began (as so many things do in the music of Nine Inch Nails) from a place of wrenching emotion and sonic adventure. Reznor found himself increasingly outraged by the geopolitical situation during the Bush years and he wanted to express the fury in music, but he found himself bored by traditional approaches to protest music.

'Star Wars' saga set for 3D release starting 2012

Films will roll out in order, starting with 'Phantom Menace

By Jay A. Fernandez and Kim Masters

From: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/

"Star Wars"

Big news on the 3D front.

Sources indicate that George Lucas is set on rereleasing the "Star Wars" franchise in new 3D conversions beginning in 2012. Although 3D versions have been rumored for some time, Lucas purportedly was waiting until there were enough screens available to make the release a sizable event.

Fox, which released all six original "Star Wars" films, also would release the 3D versions.

Episode I, "The Phantom Menace," would be first out of star-dock during early 2012. After that, each film would be released in order at the same time in consecutive years, depending on how well the first rerelease does.

Each conversion takes at least a year to complete, with Lucas overseeing the process to make sure each is as perfect as possible. He has said that the "Avatar" experience convinced him that "Star Wars" is ready for the state-of-the-art 3D treatment.

Starting with "Phantom Menace," Lucasfilm would use several higher-end conversion houses to work on the project. By late winter or early spring in 2012, the exhibition industry should have all the 3D screens anyone could want for such a release.

At present, pics are limited to 2,000-2,500 3D locations owing to an insufficient installed base of projectors and screens. Movie theaters are adding 3D screens at a clip of 500 a month in the U.S. Foreign exhibitors also are pushing into 3D as quickly as possible now that financing for the installations is flowing.

Also pushing the timetable is a potential breakthrough in 3D TV technology. With Samsung penetrating the market with 50,000-plus 3D-equipped sets and Sony recently sending its version to market, the home-viewing experience could be primed for 3D DVD versions of the films by the time the new 3D theatrical releases have run their course.

Lucas purportedly is lining up the theatrical rereleases as a lead-in to the ultimate home-viewing experience. Beyond that, the property would launch to other 3D media.

In the meantime, Lucas plans a comprehensive Blu-ray Disc set of the six films next year, which would include upgraded picture and sound quality, new deleted scenes and special features.

Alex Ben Block, Carl DiOrio and Borys Kit contributed to this report.

PlayBook – BlackBerry Tablet Introduced

Posted by Akash Malik From : http://www.newgadget.org/

 

Recently there were rumors about the BlackBerry’s iPad Killer, the rumors have now been confirmed. Research In Motion (RIM) has recently introduced ‘PlayBook’  (tablet) at RIM’s developer event.
With 7-inch of display, the PlayBook is yet another portable tablet. Some of the features and specs have been confirmed. This tablet will sport a Cortex A9 (1GHz) dual-core processor and 1 GB of RAM. It will be having HDMI Port and USB Ports too.
Here is the complete list of features mentioned in the Press Release -

Key features and specifications of the BlackBerry PlayBook include:
• 7” LCD, 1024 x 600, WSVGA, capacitive touch screen with full multi-touch and gesture support
• BlackBerry Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing
• 1 GHz dual-core processor
• 1 GB RAM
• Dual HD cameras (3 MP front facing, 5 MP rear facing), supports 1080p HD video recording
• Video playback: 1080p HD Video, H.264, MPEG, DivX, WMV
• Audio playback: MP3, AAC, WMA
• HDMI video output
• Wi-Fi – 802.11 a/b/g/n
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• Connectors: microHDMI, microUSB, charging contacts
• Open, flexible application platform with support for WebKit/HTML-5, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, Adobe Reader, POSIX, OpenGL, Java
• Ultra thin and portable:
o Measures 5.1”x7.6”x0.4” (130mm x 193mm x 10mm)
o Weighs less than a pound (approximately 0.9 lb or 400g)
• Additional features and specifications of the BlackBerry PlayBook will be shared on or before the date this product is launched in retail outlets.
• RIM intends to also offer 3G and 4G models in the future.

You can check the preview of PlayBook below -
The PlayBook is expected to roll out in US in the early 2011 and it will be available in the international market in 2011 Q2. We will soon be adding up more information about this, so do not forget to ‘like’ our Facebook Fan Page.
[via rim press]

Lil' P-Nut the 7-Year-Old Rapper Performs on Ellen

• by Nick Douglas
• from http://www.urlesque.com/

Ha ha, tell me more Justin Bieber jokes! Yes, those are funny! "That song Baby, Baby reminds me that Bieber is a baby!" An L. O. L. to you, sir.

Oh hey, here's a seven-year-old rapper named Lil' P-Nut performing on Ellen, singing to a 3rd-grader, asking her if she'd like bubble gum or a freeze cup and praising how she obeys her parents.

No, go on, tell me more about how young that Bieber kid is. If you don't mind, I'm just gonna play this clip while you're talking.

Mmmm, mmmm, "You can be my study buddy, you can teach me social studies..."

Verizon Wireless Now Offers Lost Phone Tracking, Remote Kill

by Ray Willington

from http://hothardware.com/

Worried that you'll lose your phone? Worried that you have no way to trace it or wipe it if it were to vanish before your very eyes? Apple has a solution for that called "Find my iPhone." It comes with each new iPhone so long as you activate a $99/year MobileMe service, and it lets users track their phone via GPS and remotely disable it if a thief were to swipe it. But no other phone nor carrier offers an exact alternative to that.

Until this service became live. Verizon Wireless has just announced a new facet of their Total Equipment Coverage Program called Mobile Recovery, and it's a new application designed to run on WebOS, Android and BlackBerry smartphones. Nearly all of VZW's major smartphones are capable of running the app, and when programmed, this will allow users to emotely lock the device, sound an alarm and wipe contacts from the phone. If the phone is not recovered, Total Equipment Coverage provides next-day replacement.

Below are the exact details on what the app can do:

• Sound Alarm – Customers trying to find a lost phone can use the “Sound Alarm” feature which triggers an alarm, even if the phone is on silent or vibrate mode.
• Locate Phone – If the phone is outside audible range, customers no longer have to retrace their steps looking for it. As long as the phone is powered on and within Verizon Wireless’ coverage area, the “Locate Phone” feature uses GPS to provide the location of the missing phone, complete with a map and address, and the option to get turn-by-turn directions.
• Secure Phone – Once customers have determined their phone is lost, they can use the “Device Remote Lock” feature to prevent unauthorized use, or the “Device Remote Wipe” feature to remotely erase contacts from the device.

Basically, this coverage is included for "free" if you're already paying $10/month for Total Equipment Coverage. If you aren't, this may be the convincing you needed to start paying the fee. Looked at by the year, this actually costs more than $30 more than Apple's service, but it includes more than just lost phone tracking. If you tend to lose your belongings a lot, this may be worth the investment.

The Most Bike-Friendly Cities in the World

Via: Motorcycle Insurance

Sculpture of Giant Middle Finger Hits Milan

By Max Fisher
From http://www.theatlanticwire.com/

 

When Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan designed L.O.V.E., an 11-foot-high stone sculpture of a hand extending a middle finger, which Cattelan says is a gesture to the world's "isms" or ideologies, even he probably did not imagine it would later grace a public square in a global financial capital. After all, his plan to "donate" it to the city of Milan was immediately and roundly rejected by city officials. Who on Earth would display such a large and outlandish piece of art?

But Cattelan's unique design seems to have struck something in the souls of Milanese stock traders and bankers, who announced they will place the sculpture in front of Milan's historic stock exchange--atop an enormous pillar, of course--for ten days. But not just any ten days: L.O.V.E. will greet the visitors who flock to Milan every year for fashion week, one of the city's biggest international events. L.O.V.E. is up now, and art blog Design Boom has all the photos you could possibly want, including a few showing the very complicated looking installation.

Surfing: Dark Side of the Lens - Short Story (Video)

More Surfing Videos

video.mpora.com — The first Short Stories film, by renowned photographer and body boarder Mickey Smith, explores his world as a true waterman - both as an athlete and artist, and is called The Dark Side of The Lens.

The 50 Hottest Women From Spain

popcrunch.com — I don't think anyone would argue that some of the most beautiful women in the world hail from Spain.

Click here: http://www.popcrunch.com/the-50-hottest-women-from-spain/

SolarEagle Unmanned Plane to Fly for 5 Years Without Landing

by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada

from http://www.treehugger.com/

Photo: Boeing

First Flight Scheduled for 2014
It was a great accomplishment when the Zephyr solar plane spent over 2 weeks in the air. Some even dubbed it the "eternal plane". But it looks like the Zephyr is about to get some serious competition: Boeing just signed an $89 million contract with the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the development of a solar plane that will be in a league of its own. Read on for more details.

The SolarEagle, pictured in the rendering above, is an unmanned aircraft powered by solar energy.
"SolarEagle is a uniquely configured, large unmanned aircraft designed to eventually remain on station at stratospheric altitudes for at least five years," said Pat O'Neil, Boeing Phantom Works program manager for Vulture II. "That's a daunting task, but Boeing has a highly reliable solar-electric design that will meet the challenge in order to perform persistent communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions from altitudes above 60,000 feet." The aircraft will have highly efficient electric motors and propellers and a high-aspect-ratio, 400-foot wing for increased solar power and aerodynamic performance. (source)
The deal is for Boeing to build a full-scale demonstrator and fly it for the first time in 2014. The initial flight should be 30 days, beating the Zephyr's record (though by then maybe the Zephyr will have a new, longer record).

This isn't the only unmanned aircraft that Boeing is working on. We've previously written about the hydrogen-powered Phantom-Eye.

Military and Civilian Uses
Such a plane could one day replace satellites in some applications and allow scientific missions to be done at a much lower cost than sending a satellite in orbit. Of course, it will probably first be used by the military, but many technologies with civilian uses have first been developed by the deep pockets of the DoD.

Via Boeing, Smartplanet

Living Bridges in India Have Grown for 500 Years (Pics)

by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York 

from: http://www.treehugger.com

Images via Atlas Obscura
Some of the smartest, most sustainable engineering feats were discovered hundreds of years ago, and many have gone unacknowledged. For evidence, take the bridge growers of northeastern India. Planning 10-15 years in advance, they build what may be the most sustainable foot bridges in the world -- by literally growing them out of living tree roots. These bridges are extremely sturdy, reach up to 100 feet long, and many are at least 500 years old.

Requiring the harvesting of only a few betel nut trees to create, each root bridge is sturdy, efficient, and, well, alive. A tribe in the hilly Khasi and Jaintia region of India -- one of the wettest places on Earth -- evidently came up with the concept some hundreds of years ago. Atlas Obscura explains:

The War-Khasis, a tribe in Meghalaya, long ago noticed this tree and saw in its powerful roots an opportunity to easily cross the area's many rivers. Now, whenever and wherever the need arises, they simply grow their bridges.

In order to make a rubber tree's roots grow in the right direction--say, over a river--the Khasis use betel nut trunks, sliced down the middle and hollowed out, to create root-guidance systems. The thin, tender roots of the rubber tree, prevented from fanning out by the betel nut trunks, grow straight out. When they reach the other side of the river, they're allowed to take root in the soil. Given enough time, a sturdy, living bridge is produced.

Sure, "enough time" isn't exactly expedient by today's standards -- each root bridge takes between 10-15 years to grow strong enough to be put into use. But strong they are -- evidently up to 50 people can cross the heftier bridges at once, and many bridges are over 100 feet long. And they only become stronger with time, as the roots continue to grow. Some of the bridges still in use in the region are estimated to be 500 years old.

An interesting side note nestled in this story is that the villagers who use them wanted at one point to tear them down to trade them for steel ones, for the sake of modernization -- but once a nearby resort owner stumbled upon them and recognized their potential value, the locals were easily persuaded from trading in (and untold materials and emissions were prevent from being wasted). The old bridges were still fully functional, after all -- in fact, the Khasis are still growing more bridges today. Chalk up another win for innovative sustainable design, however ancient it may be.

The Best of Michael Jordan: The Highlights

askmen.com — Think Michael Jordan isn't the greatest basketball player of all time? These top 10 Michael Jordan highlights will prove you wrong. 


Click here for the article and videos: http://www.askmen.com/top_10/sports/top-10-michael-jordan-highlights_1p.html

30 Awesome Landscape Wallpapers (Pics)

photoity.com — Landscape photography is an art that captures beautiful moments from nature. For a nature lover, landscape photography is an extremely rewarding exercise that allows the photographer to spend time with nature and freeze the beautiful moments on film.



Please Click here for the Full Gallery:
http://photoity.com/30-awesome-landscape-wallpapers/

6'3, 203-pound University of Florida Safety vs. Guy in a Wheelchair on the Sideline: ...

by joePA
from http://www.brobible.com/

After being mysteriously suspended and benched for the first two games of the season, Florida safety Will Hill finally got some playing time against Kentucky on Saturday night. The Gators destroyed the Wildcats 48-14. Unfortunately for him, Hill's highlight reel from the victory is limited to only one clip: the moment he accidentally collided with an innocent bystander in a wheelchair on the sidelines. He's clearly trying to break-up a pass intended for Kentucky wide receiver Chris Matthews.  Nonetheless, the video will leave you aghast.
Watch it after the jump.




Here's a better quality video. Hit is at the 59 second mark.
 



You probably just went through four sequential stages of reaction while watching the video. First, laughter. After all, this is sports black comedy at its finest. Second, concern for the man in the wheelchair. Third, disgust Hill didn't lend a hand to help the man up. It looks like he either asked him if he's o.k. before hustling back to formation or trashed talked him in the same way any defensive player would after making a big tackle.  Finally, guilt. You just laughed at a defenseless and immobile man in a wheelchair getting clobbered by a 6'3, 203-pound safety. Clearly the poor guy was struggling to get up, just like a turtle turned upside down on his shell. If you laughed, you're a horrible, merciless person. You should be ashamed of yourself. In the meantime, how about we watch the pwnage again, over and over again in .gif format?

If You Create It, They Will Skate It

By: doglife
From: http://skateboardingmagazine.com


What you see is what you get. If I were to explain it in the most basic of terms, there was a stack of wood and there was skating. Doubles to be exact. The best part about skateboarding like all other forms of activities that can be elevated to art, is obviously they are open to subjective discussion. No “good” and “bad” or “yes” and “no”, but a lot of interesting things between the extremes. And no matter what ideas I had, the real answers lay in the creativity of the six skaters and the photographer. Because many times there is no story, no explanation, only concept and execution. If the resulting photographs are the execution; and if they are cryptic and puzzling, then perhaps explanation is cryptic and puzzling. In nothing there is always something. Something for the viewers to interpret for themselves.

Sequoias – The Ancient Giants [14 Great Pics]

Sequoias in the fog at King’s Canyon National Park. May 24, 2008 (Photo used under Creative Commons from henryalien).

triggerpit.com — The worlds largest trees (in volume). They can live up to 3000 years. Magnificent, mysterious and gigantic

 

Click here for the Amazing Gallery: http://triggerpit.com/2010/09/20/sequoia-the-ancient-giants/

Teaser Trailer For True Grit Is Pure Coen Brothers

By Eric Eisenberg
from: http://www.cinemablend.com/
 

 

When it was announced that the Coen brothers would be taking on a remake of the classic western True Grit as their next project, many people looked at the story cockeyed. Without a doubt two of the most creative filmmakers working today, it's one thing to adapt a story, but to remake a film

that earned John Wayne an Oscar? That's just damn peculiar. Lesson learned: always trust Joel and Ethan Coen.

Apple has premiered the first teaser for the film, which is due out in December, and it's nearly impossible not to anticipate something incredible. Clocking in at only a little over a minute long, it looks like No Country For Old Men with the music of O Brother Where Art Thou? We hear very little dialogue - with the exception of voice-over from newcomer Hailee Steinfeld - but the visuals are enough to knock you on your ass.

Check out the trailer below or in HD over at Apple.
 


As it has been pointed out many times, the film isn’t actually a remake of the 1969 film, but, rather, a closer-to-the-book adaptation of Charles Portis’ novel of the same name (though, according to our own Josh Tyler, that’s not necessarily the case). The film also represents the first time that Jeff Bridges has worked with the Coens since The Big Lebowski, though it’s fairly obvious that this will have a slightly different tone. True Grit is due out on Christmas this year, and for stills, plot synopsis and everything you could possibly want to know about the movie, head over to our preview page.

Aroldis Chapman Throws Record-Breaking 105 m.p.h. Pitch

by AG 
from:  http://www.brobible.com/

On Sept. 1, we told you about Cincinnati Reds reliever Aroldis Chapman's Major League debut, in which he pitched four 100+ m.p.h. pitches, including one that clocked in at 102.7 m.p.h. In a game this weekend between the Reds and the Padres, Chapman threw what is believed to be the fastest pitch ever recorder: a 105 m.p.h. fast ball inside to Tony Gwynn Jr. Chapman had been throwing in the 100s for his entire appearance, including a 104 m.p.h. fastball just before this record-breaker. Watch multiple videos of the pitch — from multiple angles — after the jump.

The TV broadcast from center field, including a funny "Bingo" reference by the announcer.




The view from the stands from behind the first-base dugout. The guy gets most of the preceding pitches, but only the scoreboard on the 105 m.p.h. pitch.