Sunday, December 30, 2012

On The Way...



A mobile post.

Heading To Sun Valley Idaho


A mobile post.

6 Places You'll Recognize from the Background of Every Movie

Just like with actors, there is an elite group of places that tend to show up in hit and/or classic movies.

Next!

True Facts About The Angler Fish

Census Dotmap

This is a map of every person counted by the 2010 US Census. The map has 308,450,225 dots - one for each person.

Archaeologists Think Hidden Imperial Tomb May Be Too Deadly to Explore

After discovering a secret palace hidden in China's first emperor massive burial complex, Chinese technicians are nervous. Not because Qin Shi Huang's tomb is the most important archaeological discovery since Tutankhamun, but because they believe his burial place is full of deadly traps that will kill any trespassers. Not to talk about deadly quantities of mercury.

Boat Fire? I'll Get it!

The Most Useless Machine

Five Best DVD Ripping Tools

If you want to take your movies with you on the road, or just want to clean up those physical discs but keep your films and TV shows on your HTPC, you'll need to rip them first.

Monday, December 24, 2012

Merry Christmas!


Staying Warm This Christmas Eve!


Maybe SNOW?

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 8 PM TUESDAY TO 11 AM MST WEDNESDAY

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BOISE HAS ISSUED A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW IN THE TREASURE VALLEY OF IDAHO AND OREGON

WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 8 PM TUESDAY TO 11 AM MST WEDNESDAY.

SNOW AMOUNTS - 2 TO 4 INCHES.

SNOW LEVELS - VALLEY FLOOR.

WINDS - SOUTHEAST 5 TO 15 MPH IN THE LOWER TREASURE VALLEY. SOUTHEAST 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 30 MPH IN THE UPPER TREASURE VALLEY CAUSING BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF SNOW.

TIMING - TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING.
IMPACTS

TRAVEL PROBLEMS ON INTERSTATE 84 AND OTHER MAIN ROADWAYS AS THE SNOW WILL STICK TO THE ROADS. WINDS WILL CAUSE BLOWING SNOW AND REDUCED VISIBILITY

A mobile post.

The Most Blinding Christmas Decorations On The Internet

In every neighborhood, there's always that one house that goes way overboard with the Christmas decorations.

We combed the internet for the wildest and wackiest Christmas lawn displays we could find.

Personal Tech Upends The Toy Market


Investor: “Everyone I know who has a kid under 10 has a tablet in the house. And that tablet is the babysitter.”

Loud-Ass TV Ads Have Been Outlawed



Listen up, TV advertisers: Big Brother is muting you! Well, not entirely.

Bizarre Bodily Side Effects Of Excersise

Do these happen to you?

US Debt - Visualized in physical $100 bills

Google Strikes Back Against Big Thumbs

Consumers have long been asked to confirm their online purchases, but now Google is asking them to also confirm the ads they click on.

Mount Everest, in 3.8 billion pixels

According to NPR, the image is the result of a project by David Breashears, who has already climbed the highest mountain in the world five times. He used old images of Everest and its glaciers and combined them with new ones.

The photo is part of a broader project called GlacierWorks by the mountaineer Breashears, who made the much-acclaimed IMAX documentary “Everest.”

Prank Pack

Sure to be the hit of the next party you're dragged into, Prank Pack fake gift boxes appear to contain ridiculous products from clueless companies. Just pack your real gift inside, sit back and revel in their half-hearted enthusiasm.

Prank Pack Pet Petter

Knuckle Cracking Is A-Ok

One doctor took his research on the subject quite personally.

Weird Side Effects Of Food

From Prickly Rashes To Pink Urine.

Golden Eagle Snatches Kid

Fake... but entertaining none the less!

Extreme traveler flies 1 million miles in a year

Tom Stuker is looking forward to scaling back his flying a bit in 2013 and getting back to his normal routine: half a million miles sounds about right.

The Super Supercapacitor

Sunday, December 23, 2012

My New Electrocoin Azteca Pachislo Skill Stop Slot Machine



Santa came early via Craigslist!  Grabbed this fine Japanese Pachislo machine for only $75 bucks!  After about 2 hours of cleaning she is ready to go!












Thursday, December 20, 2012

The Trash We've Left on the Moon

Earlier this week, two probes that had spent the past year orbiting the moon for NASA's GRAIL mission slammed into the lunar surface, destroying themselves and their communications connection to Earth.

None of this was an accident: Crash-landings like this are a typical method of bringing unmanned lunar missions -- and unmanned planetary missions in general -- to a close. This means, however, that NASA's typical method of mission conclusion involves, inevitably, leaving debris strewn on planets across our solar system. And it means that the moon, in particular, currently hosts nearly 400,000 pounds of man-made material. In epic terms, the lunar surface bears human footprints that are as figurative as they are literal, objects of earthly origin that have found their final resting place in the most otherworldly mausoleum imaginable. In less epic terms: We regularly leave trash on the moon.

Diagnosing the Home Alone burglars' injuries: A professional weighs in

Ever wondered what a blow torch to the head would actually do? Read on

Monday, December 10, 2012

Show Me The Water

World’s Largest Super Collider: Abandoned

A super collider is a large ring designed to accelerate particles of protons and anti-protons until they collide, the purpose being to create high amounts of energy. In the mid 1980′s, the United States wanted to construct the largest particle collider in the world. What was to be called the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) began as an idea in 1983. By 1987 Congress had approved the $4.4 billion dollar budget for the project, and by 1991 a site had been chosen in Texas and construction began.

Inside Amazon

Here.

DOE wants 5X battery power boost in 5 years

The U.S. Dept. of Energy has set a goal to develop battery and energy storage technologies that are five times more powerful and five times cheaper than today's within five years.

To accomplish this, U.S. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu is taking some lesson from U.S. history.

The DOE is creating a new Joint Center for Energy Storage Research, at a cost of $120 million over five years, that's intended to reproduce development environments that were successfully used by Bell Laboratories in the World War II Manhattan Project that produced an atomic bomb.

Best friends

Street Compliments

1928 Rolmonica Demonstration

What is Touch?

Every Ship’s Stateroom Should Have a Quarterdeck Striker

This fascinating timepiece, dubbed the Quarderdeck Striker, is an electromechanical marvel designed and hand-built by John Hilgenberg, inventor of the air-driven Pneumachron. It is a mechanical clock at heart—just look at all the wooden gears—but its functionality is supplemented with electric servos that drive the rolling odometer time display, the power-maintaining winding mechanism (which Hilgenberg believes is the first of its kind), and the nutcracker bell striker who tolls the naval time every fifteen.

Wall Sockets From All Over the World

11 Cheap Gifts Guaranteed to Impress Science Geeks

Science comes up with a lot of awesome stuff, and you don't need a Ph. D, a secret lab, or government funding to get your hands on some of the coolest discoveries. We've got a list of 11 mostly affordable gifts that are guaranteed to blow your mind, whether or not you're a science geek.

Palace of first Chinese emperor unearthed

The Chinese state media reports that archaeologists have excavated the palace complex of Qin Shihuang in Xi'an, China, site of the life-size terracotta soldiers. The palace consists of 10 courtyard buildings and one main building, the paper reported. The complex runs about 2,264 feet long and 820 feet wide. The total area is about a quarter of the size of Beijing's Forbidden City, built in the 1400s.

Penguin Falls Down... And Makes Quite A Noise

Gold Bullion Vault

A Visit To North Korea

Here.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

A CHUNKY HISTORY OF PEANUT BUTTER

Peanut butter, the every-man staple, which contains neither butter nor nuts (peanuts are legumes), originated as a health food of the upper classes. First created for sanitariums like John Harvey Kellogg’s Western Health Reform Institute, it satisfied the need for a protein-rich food that did not have to be chewed.

Light Emitting Dudes

Dog Imitates Baby

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Everplans

Dealing with death is hard. Thinking about end-of-life wishes and making plans is uncomfortable, so most of us put it off until it's too late. And after a death, our families are usually left with the burden of stressful, often expensive decisions in a very short period of time, making the death even harder.

Given how important this topic is, we think end-of-life deserves the attention that people give to other important life events like marriage, birth, and career change. Even though there are resources available for many of the bits and pieces of this process, there’s nothing out there that knits it all together into a single, clear end-to-end view of what needs to get done.

Our mission is to make dealing with end-of-life and death less overwhelming.

We believe that by helping people to understand the totality of the decisions they need to make, and by breaking it all down into a step-by-step process, we can make end-of-life planning, dealing with a death, and supporting someone through their loss less confusing, more manageable, and easier to work through.

The Everplans website, articles, and tools can help you learn about your options, make the best decisions for you and your family, and take care of key tasks, all in one place, no matter your situation. And because death affects everyone—from the person approaching death, to those left behind, to those offering support—we offer advice for a variety of different types of people.

Death will always be hard. But Everplans’ new approach can help make it less overwhelming.

The Everplans Site

Everplans.com is divided into four main paths based on the different ways people encounter death. Whether you’re putting together a will as a new parent, evaluating end-of-life care arrangements for an aging parent, making funeral arrangements for a loved one, or supporting a friend dealing with a death, Everplans is for you. Each path is broken down into specific, actionable steps and supported by thoughtful, clear, and unbiased articles, useful tools, checklists, and other resources to make the completion of tasks as straightforward as possible.

Long before a death focuses on strategically planning ahead to minimize the emotional and financial burden of a death on loved ones. With life insurance, wills, and trusts in place, and decisions made about how you want to spend the end of your life, your family won’t be left to deal with as many legal and financial logistics in the midst of their grief.

Soon before a death emphasizes taking control of final arrangements and facilitating collaboration between you and your medical caregivers. By letting your family and your caregivers know how to care for you at the end of your life, by organizing your important documents and information, and by making the tough decisions about what kind of funeral you want and how it should be paid for, you can take some of the strain of decision-making off your family, both before and after death.

After a death simplifies decision-making in the immediate and long-term aftermath of a death. At a time when many people are confused and bereft, we offer clear and instructive direction so that those planning a funeral or sorting out an estate can spend less time on logistics and more time with loved ones.

Be there for someone offers advice, tips, and etiquette to those looking to support a friend or family member who has just experienced a loss. By knowing how to respond to another person’s grief, you can be a source of comfort.

Who We Are

We are a small team of entrepreneurs who like building things to help people. We are experienced in building products, tools, content, and businesses. We are people who have dealt with death, and know first-hand the ways in which the existing models do not work.

Adam Seifer is a repeat entrepreneur with a great interest in online social dynamics. He was a co-founder of Fotolog, a pioneering international photo-sharing community that encouraged people to share little updates on their lives via images. He was also part of the team that launched sixdegrees.com, the first major online social network.

Abby Schneiderman is an entrepreneur who loves working at the center of content, technology, audiences, and monetization. Prior to co-founding Everplans, Abby was a Principal at Tipping Point Partners, where she served as the former head of Business Development for the company's two portfolio companies, AppOrchard and Cookstr. Abby has experience in multiple areas of startup business including product development, marketing, social media, business strategy, and advertising. In 2004, Abby co-founded Haystack Media, one of the first music social networks.

Sarah Whitman-Salkin is an editor and writer with experience in online content organization and branding. She has worked at HarperCollins Publishers and was formerly the Executive Editor at Cookstr, a recipe website.

How You Can Help Us If you’ve found Everplans to be useful, or you think it could be beneficial to someone you know, please help us by spreading the word. Send your friends a link to our site, post a link to your social media profiles, or tell your doctor or social worker about Everplans.

If you have ideas for how we can improve Everplans, we’d like to hear from you. From new content to new tools, we’re always adding to our offerings, and we want to know how we can serve you better.

Lastly, if anything on Everplans has helped you through a tough situation we’d love for you to consider writing a testimonial for us, so please let us know! We look forward to hearing from you.

Everything You Should Buy With Your $550 Million Lottery Winnings


As difficult as it may be to come to grips with, the odds of winning the $550 million Powerball jackpot (roughly $368 million after taxes) are just not in your favor. The chances of your numbers being drawn are a 176 million to one long shot. In the long run you'd be far better off investing the money spent on that ticket anywhere else, even a sandwich. Because otherwise you're just throwing it away.

10 Secret Menu Items From Fast Food Restaurants

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to seek out covert items at fast food chains around the country. Be warned, this mission includes very real dangers such as hardening arteries and skyrocketing cholesterol. But we know you won’t let us down. We’ve compiled a list to get you started.

If Every U.S. State Declared War Against the Others, Which Would Win?

These are the accounts of the Second American Civil War, also known as the Wars of Reunification and the American Warring States Period.

After the breakup, many wondered which states would come out in control of the power void created by the dissolution of the United States. There were many with little chance against several of the larger more powerful states. The states in possession of a large population, predisposition for military (i.e.) military bases, and a population open to the idea of warfare fared the best. In the long term, we would look to states with self-sufficiency and long term military capabilities.

Worse Than Bedbugs, It’s the Couch Itself

Last week, millions of Americans ceremoniously started the Holiday Gorge by putting off their diet and exercise resolutions as they helped themselves to another (and another?) slice of pie. Then, with the grace of an elephant in a tutu, they plopped triumphantly onto their favorite couch to bask in the bliss of their food comas. And while you’d have to be living in the most absurd bubble not to know that these types of lifestyle decisions – overeating, eating the wrong things, not exercising enough, and repeating day after day after day – are what’s killing most of us, many of us are not aware of another legitimate threat to our modern-day struggle to survive: it’s that couch you collapsed on.

Time To Buy Some New Tools!