Friday, March 11, 2016

Friday links


Watch Out For Exploding Killer Lakes.

All You Need to Dupe a Fingerprint Sensor Is Paper, Conductive Ink, and an Inkjet Printer.

Physiognomy of eyebrows: lots of eyebrow interpretation advice from the 16th century.

The (Court-Ordered) Unmasking of the Lone Ranger


ICYMI, Thursday's links are here and include a gallery of construction photos from the 1881-1895 building of London's Tower Bridge, the global Scotch shortage, the science of why dogs smell each other's butts, the history of perfume, and, for Chuck Norris' birthday, a supercut of his best kicks, clips of his most badass movies, and a set of Norrisms. 

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Mythbusters just ended - here's a "best of" supercut

After 12 years and almost 300 episodes, the Mythbusters has ended. Here's an excellent supercut that reminds us why the show was awesome. The clips are without context, so they're mostly just explosions. Watch full screen:



MythBusters Series Finale Video from Thomas Crenshaw on Vimeo.

Related: The Physics of (crash test  dummy) Buster’s Epic End in the MythBusters Finale.

via Gizmodo.

Map of the United Repositioned States

Randall Munroe rearranged the states without compromising the general shape of the U.S.:


I highly recommend Munroe's books - I've given out several and they're consistently a big hit.

New "Captain America: Civil War" trailer (including Spiderman)

Captain America: Civil War is schedule for release on May 06, 2016. Apparently the civil war aspect describes a split in the Avengers between those (led by Captain America) who want to remain autonomous and those (led by Iron Man) who want government oversight.

Watch full screen. This is the second trailer - the first is below.



Marvel's synopsis of the plot
Marvel’s “Captain America: Civil War” finds Steve Rogers leading the newly formed team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. But after another incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability, headed by a governing body to oversee and direct the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers, resulting in two camps—one led by Steve Rogers and his desire for the Avengers to remain free to defend humanity without government interference, and the other following Tony Stark’s surprising decision to support government oversight and accountability.
Here's the first trailer:

Thursday links

It's Chuck Norris' birthday: his 5 most badass movies and a bunch of Norris "facts" plus a supercut of Chuck Norris's best kicks. Related: UK scientists recreated Neanderthal man, who looks just like Chuck Norris.

Gallery of construction photos from 1881-1895: Building London's Tower Bridge.

Inside the Global Scotch Shortage.

Science: Why Do Dogs Smell Each Other's Butts?

Our Pungent History: Sweat, Perfume, and the Scent of Death.

Toilet Seat Scale Tells You How Much Weight Is Lost After You Take A Dump.

ICYMI: Tuesday's links are here, and include a 1953 film explaining how mechanical (pre microchip) computers worked, old English words we should still use, the story behind Strawberry Fields Forever, and the last generation of typewriter repairmen.

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Sharknado 4 Cast Includes Gary Busey

Sharknado fans, Syfy and The Asylum announced today that Ian Ziering will be back in Sharknado 4 (working title), reprising his role as shark-fighting hero Fin Shepard. Tara Reid is set to return as his wife April Wexler, at least for long enough to  to reveal the outcome of the fan-voted #AprilLives or #AprilDies social campaign. I can imagine that she didn't get voted off. Gary Busey will play April's father.

The trailer below was released at the time of Sharknado 3 - I haven't seen a new one yet.


via EW

Related:


Beyond Sharknado - here's a trailer for Sharkansas Women’s Prison Massacre (because fracking!)

Because it's almost time for Father's Day (or just because you want one), here's a Sharknado Action Figure.

Sharknado 3 will be set in DC and have Ann Coulter as VP, Marc Cuban as Prez.

Sharknado 2: The Second One on SyFy: here's everything you need to get ready.


This will be bigger than Sharknado: Monster vs Machine - Mega Shark Vs Mecha Shark (Trailer)

Old and busted: Sharknado. New and hot: SharkNATO.


Video: Ostrich Chases Bicyclists in South Africa

Oleksiy Mishchenko, of Zurich, Switzerland used a GoPro camero to capture an ostrich chasing his two companions on a a bike ride in South Africa. Per HuffPo:
"It was a little scary at first, but then I thought I gonna fell of my bike from laughter," he wrote in the video's description. "The ostrich didn't have any problem to keep up at 50km/h (31 mph) and apparently they do 70km/h (43 mph) with no sweat."
Ostriches can indeed hit that top speed. According to the National Wildlife Foundation, they can even run for 10 miles straight at a steady 30 miles per hour.

Supercut of Chuck Norris's best kicks

Here's Chuck Norris (wiki) kicking everything:



Related:

It's Chuck Norris's birthday: 5 most badass movies and a bunch of Norris "facts".

UK scientists recreated Neanderthal man, who looks just like Chuck Norris.

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Tuesday links


The Spite House, an Architectural Phenomenon Built on Rage and Revenge.

This 1953 Film Perfectly Explains How Mechanical Computers Worked Before We Had Microchips.



Meet the Last Generation of Typewriter Repairmen.

ICYMI, Monday's links are here, and include Oregon Trail for Adults, a declassified CIA assassination manual from 1953, what it's like to live in the town where The Walking Dead is filmed, and cities in Russia what no one is allowed to go.

Monday, March 7, 2016

Deadpool's PSA on testicular cancer - Gentlemen, Touch Yourself Tonight

UK organization Ballboys has apparently partnered with Deadpool (wiki) creator 20th Century Fox to "raise awareness and educate the population (not just the guys) on the facts, figures and issues of testicular cancer."

Ballboys is a charity that raise's awareness and educate's the population (not just the guys) on the facts, figures and issues of testicular cancer. We provide easy access to resources and information to anyone who is concerned about, or directly affected by testicular cancer.
Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in young men aged 15-49 years old, but it is one of the most curable cancers if detected early. 
Our aim is to educate men everywhere on how to check themselves for signs of testicular cancer and what to do next if worried.

Apocalypse on March 8, 2016, freak supermoon, eclipse and asteroid on same day 'signal end of world'

Apocalypse alert: There are lots of survival guides out there, although they probably won't be of much use if the earth actually implodes.

On March 8 asteroid TX 68, a 30-metre long lump of space rock, is due to whistle past Earth as close as 19,000 miles away. 

But doom mongers are not convinced it will miss us with fears we won't be able to see it because it will be obscured by the sun.

The looming event has sent online doomsday predictors into a frenzy, particularly as NASA admits it is uncertain of the orbital path and has given estimates as close as 19,000 miles away to as far as 11 million miles.

Lots more at UK Express.

Related posts and links (mostly zombie related, but an apocalypse is an apocalypse, amiright?):



Parody of "The Producers: “Trumped" Starring Matthew Broderick & Nathan Lane

From the Jimmy Kimmel show last week:
From the producers who brought you The Producers (wiki), #Trumped is a new musical starring Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Cloris Leachman and the unlikely candidate himself, Donald Trump.


DaTechGuy makes some excellent points:
Isn’t the “Plan” being listed pretty much what happened with Jeb Bush and to a lesser degree Rick Perry and Chris Christie? A candidate that wasn’t going to win that raised tens of millions dollars from a lot of suckers that made said consultants rich?
...But in the end compared to Mike Murphy Bialystok & Bloom are pikers.
...Given what we’ve seen this skit could have easily been made in 2008 about Obama, but the makers would never have the guts

Monday links

Oregon Trail for Adults adds in the not-so-pleasant parts of life on the trail.


What it's like to live in the town where they shoot The Walking Dead.

Supercut: Cursing Without Cursing (because if you want a PG rating, you have to be creative).


There Are Cities In Russia That No One Is Allowed To Go To.

ICYMI, Friday's links are here, and include a machine that uses 2,000 marbles to make music, anniversary of Churchill's Iron Curtain speech, exploding teeth, and Millennium Falcon history.

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Dame Maggie Smith's (aka the Dowager Countess) snarkiest comments on Downton Abbey

Dame Maggie Smith (wiki) won back-to-back Emmys for her Downton Abbey (wiki) role. Per youtube, "The dowager’s insults represented the id of a fading English upper class." Well, maybe, but there is one comment, at least, more universal than that (and with which I completely agree): 
It’s the job of grandmothers to interfere.