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On Hoth, Every Day Is Valentine’s Day [Valentine's Day]
Nothing says “I love you” quite like intergalactic frenemies walking hand in hand. Illustrator James Stowe appears to agree, having made a different Valentine’s Day card for each Star Wars episode. And not a Jar Jar in sight!
My favorite might be Greedo and Han, but they’re all pretty terrific. And what a relief to not to see Luke and Leia sharing a card. Or Leia and Jabba, for that matter.
It doesn’t look as though you can purchase these, but you can always print them out for that special someone. And if he or she’s a real fan, you’re almost guaranteed a little Wookiee.
[Art by Stowe via Neatorama]
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Undercover Bird Feeder Slows Crime In Its Tracks [Undercover]
about 2 weeks ago - No comments
Retired police officer Bill Angus hates speeding almost as much as he loves birds. So he did what any reasonable person would do: design a feeder that looks exactly like a speed camera, and mount it in his front yard.
And it seems to be working! At least, the slowing traffic part; there’s no word on how birds have taken to it yet:
Mr Angus insists – without so much as a hint of a smile – that the effect on speeders is no more than a happy coincidence.
‘Why does everyone think it’s a fake speed camera?’ he asked.
‘It’s a bird box and has been designed this way to stop people stealing it. It’s a bright colour, too, to attract the blue tits and finches. Since I have put it up, the traffic is keeping to 30mph. If people want to think it is a camera, that is a matter for themselves.’
It may not have the same vigilante cachet as, say, Batman, but bonus points for creativity. And although it’s sneaky, I’d much prefer a birdhouse that looks like a speed trap than a speed trap disguised as a birdhouse. [Daily Mail UK via Neatorama]
Movie : Valentines Day (2010) TELESYNC XviD
about 2 weeks ago - No comments
*Valentines Day (2010) TELESYNC XviD*
*Image: http://images2.fanpop.com/image/photos/9400000/Valentines-Day-Movie-Poster-2-valentines-day-2010-9477295-450-681.jpg
Valentine’s Day (2010)
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The Opposite of Photoshop [Photography]
about 2 weeks ago - No comments
This is a lovely painting—except that it’s a photo. Of a person. In front of a set. It’s an amazing blend of photography, body paint, and modeling. And it makes me so thankful that Photoshop exists.
The picture was snapped by University of Hawaii art professor Peter Kun Frary, who noticed the display outside of a MAC cosmetics store. The amount of time and effort that went into this must have been staggering, and I’m duly impressed. But it’s also a reminder that I can make equally amazing effects with a few key strokes and mouse clicks any time I want, thanks to a program that turns 20 today. Thanks, Photoshop. No mostly naked body-painted model in a shopping mall display could ever take your place. [Peter Kun Frary via Neatorama]
Paper War Depicts My Youth In Terms of Paper Airplanes [Image Cache]
about 2 weeks ago - No comments
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You don’t need to speak German to appreciate Papierkrieg (Paper War) by Makaio Tisu—you just need a sibling and/or one long-repressed paper airplane obsession. Two children face off, creating paper creations of increasing imagination. And it’s charming. [Neatorama]
Calculate the Speed of Light by Melting Chocolate [Chocolate]
about 3 weeks ago - No comments
You might already know that the speed of light is 299,792,458 meters per second, but now you can confirm that number by playing kitchen scientist and melting chocolate. And then you eating the results.
The folks at Wired think that this physics experiment is ideal for all the leftover Valentine’s Day candy, but I think it’s great all year round.
This is what you’ll be doing:
- Make sure the candy is in a microwave-proof box. Better yet, take the chocolate out and put in a microwave safe dish.
- Remove the turntable in your oven. (You want the candy to stay still while you heat it.) Put an upside-down plate over the turning-thingy, and place your dish of candy on top.
- Heat on high about 20 seconds.
- Take the chocolate out and look for hot spots. Depending on the candy you use, you may have to feel the candy to see where it has softened. With the cherry cordials we used, we saw several shiny spots and one place where the chocolate shell melted through, releasing the sweet syrup inside.
- Measure the distance between two adjacent spots. This should be the distance between the peak and the valley (crest and trough) of the wave. Since the wavelength is the distance between two crests, multiply by 2. Finally, multiply that result by the frequency expressed in hertz or 2,450,000,000 (2.45 X 109)
Ta da. In this example, the final number was a bit lower than the actual speed of light, but it’s still pretty darn close considering the difficulty of finding the exact “hot spots” to measure from. And the difficulty of sacrificing chocolate to science. [Wired]
IM Plus v3.5 iPhone iPod Touch-MSMPDA
about 3 weeks ago - No comments
IM Plus v3.5 iPhone iPod Touch-MSMPDA
Image: http://images.appshopper.com/screenshots/296/246130.jpg
Win iPod Touch for your sweetheart at St.Valentine’s day! Follow @implus on Twitter for contest details. IM+ will keep you connected all-in-one to Twitter, Skype Chat, Facebook, Google…
Dr. Debby’s Love Advice: When To Friend Your Potential Flame on Facebook or Twitter [Badvalentine]
about 4 weeks ago - No comments
Nearing Valentine’s Day, we asked our favorite love doctor, Debby Herbenick, for advice on romance in the age of broadband wireless 24/7 interconnectedness. Our first question: With a potential love interest, when do you friend or follow? Her reply:
Most young-ish Facebookers (especially those who remember the .edu days) have so many Facebook friends that one more—especially someone they’ve maybe made out with—is no big deal. If we can be Facebook friends with our exes (and research suggests that about 80% are), then we can certainly reach out to a potential future ex date.
Chances are, if you’re dating, you’re already Facebook friends. If you’re not, then sending a friend request within one to three dates is perfectly acceptable. We all know you’re Googling each other anyway, so why pretend that you’re anything but curious? Plus, if they don’t want you to access certain parts of their page they can always put you on limited profile (which is totally my MO).
If sending a friend request cold feels desperate or stalker-ish, use your next date or IM as an opportunity to bring it up. For example, tell her or him a story about something awesome you did, and that you posted the pics on Facebook. “Wait, we’re not Facebook friends?” you say (feigning shock and confusion). “Oh”, you continue, “let me add you so you can see the pictures.” How wonderful of you! And sneaky, too.
Twitter is a little easier, since most people have public Twitter pages. You can “stalk” your new date publicly until you feel ready to formally follow. If theirs is a private Twitter feed, wait until they’ve introduced you to a few friends or co-workers before you ask to follow, lest you force an early (and awkward) Accept/Reject fork in the road to romance.
That said, just because it’s socially acceptable to become Facebook friends early on doesn’t mean that you should. If you’re prone to jealousy, please step away from the “Add As a Friend” button until you feel more secure in the relationship. Why? Because research shows that Facebook can be bad for your heart.
It’s perfectly situated for all sorts of ambiguities: Who’s that shirtless-profile-pictured guy who keeps writing on her wall? Who sent her the “private” lingerie Facebook gift? How come he’s still Farmville neighbors with his ex? And it goes on and on. Facebook has the potential to expand our scope of romantic and sexual possibilities, but it can also mess with our heads and our hearts. Then again, you often have to go out on a limb—even just a little—in the pursuit of love.
Debby Herbenick, PhD is a Research Scientist and Associate Director of The Center for Sexual Health Promotion at Indiana University, a sexual health educator at The Kinsey Institute and author of Because It Feels Good: A Woman’s Guide to Sexual Pleasure and Satisfaction. She blogs at MySexProfessor.com.
Facebook friends image by Dan Taylor/Flickr under CC license
Bad Valentine is our own special take on the beauty—and awkwardness—of geek love.
It’s Not U, It’s Me: Survey Reports 50 Percent Use Texts To Break It Off
about 4 weeks ago - No comments
This Valentine’s Day, make sure your loved one isn’t texting another love interest while you are out on a date. Mobile social network MocoSpace has released a study today revealing that one out of three MocoSpace users admitted they have flirted with someone else using their phone while on a date. MocoSpace surveyed close to 20,000 of their 10.3 million members for the report.
When asked if they had ever used their mobile phone to break up with someone, 57% said yes, with 48% of those using a text message to end the relationship. 90 percent of users said their “About Me” information is most important after pictures in making the decision to take the first step toward connecting with someone on MocoSpace. 79 percent said the recession had had no effect on their dating habits. And 60 percent did not have a date yet for Valentine’s Day, with 80 of those respondents do not consider it a priority to find one.
Proximity-Sensing T-Shirt Review: Glowing Reminder of My Facebook Relationship Status [Badvalentine]
about 4 weeks ago - No comments
I received some proximity-sensing t-shirts from ThinkGeek to review, and got excited. Would I discover the love of my life while playing high-tech hide-and-seek? Or would I wind up lonelier than before? (Hint: Their high-pitch sound scares away dogs.)
Since Valentine’s Day is all about getting touchy-feely with other people while calling attention to the things going boom-ba-boom-boom in our chests, I called in ThinkGeek’s most appropriate products: The 8-Bit Dynamic Life shirt and the Locked On Proximity Sensing shirt.
The concept’s the same for both shirts: Your chest half-glows until you find someone else with a matching shirt. Then your whole chest glows. It’s fun, but there’s a chance you’ll find yourself doomed to wearing a shirt with only 2.5 hearts lit up, or one flashing an eternal “scanning” pattern.
Why in Cupid’s Name Do I Want These Things?
I’ll admit it. I laughed when I opened the box of shirts. It’s not as if I’m going to find my Valentine with them by say strolling through the mall, continuously monitoring my heart levels. If I did find someone that way, would I really want to date a person who willingly wears a shirt like that?
So, since using them as a way to aid my lovelife was out, the next logical idea was to play hide-and-seek. The Locked On shirts seem made for it. Sadly it was raining—the Florida equivalent of the Northeast’s Snowpocalypse—and things just aren’t fun when trying to play a game in a small indoor space. There’s only so many places to hide, and the shirts light up when they’re within about 12 feet of its counterpart. And in case you’re wondering, the two pairs are incompatible, so a four-way match was out of the question. Great, I can’t even lure a few people over to play then. What do I do with these shirts now?
Wait, What’s That Sound?
While wearing the 8-Bit shirt, I’d noticed it was emitting a high-pitched noise. At first I thought it was just my imagination, but the sound was all the more obvious with the Locked On shirt. It’s high-pitched, it’s annoying, and as soon as I stepped close to my neighbor’s dog, it made him run away. I think the poor pooch is now hiding somewhere, paws over his violated ears. And I’m left sitting here, even lonelier than I started out.
The Fun Wore Off Too Fast
It’s almost sad to say, but the interactive shirts are kinda fun for a few minutes. There’s something amusing about watching your front light up when near a similar shirt, but when you’re all alone, that excitement is short-lived. If you and your significant other each wore them to bed (lumpy three-AAA battery packs and all), you might even be able to read a Kindle by their strong glow. But by yourself, with just half the luminosity, you’d be hard pressed to see much more than the hand in front of your face.
Great for animal-haters since dogs will run away.
Decent battery life. I didn’t manage to kill any of the AAAs (three per shirt) used during testing.
No more expensive than an average gimmicky shirt.
The electronic parts of the shirt are removable for washing.
They’re kinda dorky looking, aren’t they?
Having a battery pack poking your side or back gets annoying really quickly
One is a very lonely number. You need either a pair of shirts or a special device to take advantage of the interactive aspect of the shirts.