flickering pictures

Ever wondered why Mario can jump many, many times his own height? Or why he can then fall safely back to the earth at a speed that would crush the eyeballs out of a regular mortal’s head? So did this guy over at the Physics Factbook:

Gravity is [the] force which is responsible for […]

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A company called BioArts International has started selling clones of long-lost pets under the slogan “What if you could be best friends again?”, and wants your beloved Mr. Tinkles to be next. From the press release:

BioArts International announced today that they have delivered the world’s first commercially cloned dog, a 10-week old Labrador named […]

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Last September, a 22-year-old Women’s Studies major going by the pseudonym “Natalie Dylan” decided to sell her virginity to the highest bidder, sparking all sorts of debate about morality, sexuality and capitalism. As of yesterday, the bidding was up to $3.8 million. You read that right.
From The Daily Beast:

They say you should value […]

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Nicholas Branson, a Digger and FP reader, sent me a link to this very cool video of a 3D painting that seems to change pretty dramatically depending on your perspective. The painting is apparently on display in the Business Design Centre in London.
Thanks, Nicholas!

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For the last weekend of the holidays, we went back to what just might be the single finest bed and breakfast there is — the À La Gloire Du Matin Inn in Quebec’s Eastern Townships — for a much needed weekend of rural R&R before returning to the grind. I knew to expect four-star […]

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This is apparently an authentic ad for Microsoft’s Songsmith song-writing program, which I guess is supposed to compete with Apple’s less seizure-inducing GarageBand. If there’s a commercial out there that makes you want to incoherently spew obscenities more than this one, I haven’t seen it.
Microsoft says:

Songsmith generates musical accompaniment to match a singer’s voice. […]

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Population of Washington, D.C.: 572,059
Number of people attending Obama’s inauguration: 2,000,000+
Wow.
Update: The Toronto Star created a word cloud from Obama’s acceptance speech, and it turns out he didn’t use the word “evildoer” a single time.
Image via New York Times.

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If you’re one of those people who desperately craves individuality, or if you just happen to love the unusual, TokyoFlash makes your watch. The one above — the “Star Performer,” from the company’s “Pimp” line — comes with blue or white LEDs and costs $94.96. Unfortunately, I’m neither cool enough nor geeky enough […]

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This portable laser-generated bike lane is the neatest simple idea I’ve seen in a while. But is it for real, and is it for sale?
From Yanko Design:

Only a small fraction of streets have dedicated bike lanes, and with an installation cost of $5,000 - $50,000 per mile, we shouldn’t expect to find them everywhere […]

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From the inspirational self-authored obituary of Lasantha Wickramatunge, editor-in-chief of Sri Lanka’s Sunday Leader newspaper, written shortly before he was shot and killed on his way to work:

It is well known that I was on two occasions brutally assaulted, while on another my house was sprayed with machine-gun fire. Despite the government’s sanctimonious assurances, there […]

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