[altJunk.com]

You can’t make this stuff up. via youtube

Here’s a video demonstration of a new device that can create usable electrical energy as a person walks.

Researchers have built a device resembling a knee brace that can generate usable amounts of electrical energy as a person walks. The brace, described in an article in the journal Science, harvests the energy lost when a human brakes the knee after swinging the leg forward to take a step.

Read and hear more about it on Science Friday.

This clever kid saved up his Christmas money, did a good bit of research, and built his own snow machine. And he’s only 10 years old! Read the article on oregonlive.com.

Or should I say: the world’s first automated drug dealer?

Most of your essentials are already distributed by vending machines: condoms, electronics, luscious 1-calorie Tab… But now, you can finally get what you really need: medical marijuana, from Anytime Vending Machines.

Read more about this amazing gadget at the thrillist.

Read the article and see a couple more pics over at the Los Angeles Times.

The subject says it all.

A man cuts off and microwaves his own hand… via sfgate

A man who believed he bore the “mark of the beast” used a circular saw to cut off one hand, then he cooked it in the microwave and called 911, authorities said.

The man, in his mid-20s, was calm when Kootenai County sheriff’s deputies arrived Saturday in this northern Idaho town. He was in protective custody in the mental health unit of Kootenai Medical Center.

“It had been somewhat cooked by the time the deputy arrived,” sheriff’s Capt. Ben Wolfinger said. “He put a tourniquet on his arm before, so he didn’t bleed to death. That kind of mental illness is just sad.”

It was not immediately clear whether the man has a history of mental illness. Hospital spokeswoman Lisa Johnson would not say whether an attempt was made to reattach the hand, citing patient confidentiality.

The Book of Revelation in the New Testament contains a passage in which an angel is quoted as saying: “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury.”

The book of Matthew also contains the passage: “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.”

Wolfinger said he didn’t know which hand was amputated.

Warner Bros. Entertainment to Release Its High-Definition DVD Titles Exclusively in the Blu-ray Disc Format Beginning Later This Year

“Warner Bros.’ move to exclusively release in the Blu-ray disc format is a strategic decision focused on the long term and the most direct way to give consumers what they want,” said Meyer. “The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers.”

Read the whole article at business wire.

Read the entire article at telegraph.co.uk

The intensely private comic actor readily admits he is more comfortable talking in the guise of the characters he has created, but unfortunately for him, both Ali G and Borat have had their day. Too many people know them and he reluctantly acknowledges that he can no longer retreat behind their personas.

Bioshock gets the “Best” and Lair gets the “Worst” along with a hilarious quote: “Steering the giant dragon is like trying to herd a dozen kittens using a salad plate.”

via the la times

With a new in-house motion capture studio, the Fahrenheit developer believes that it can successfully portray actor’s emotions – not just physical movement – with actors now interested in the script and story behind the game rather than worrying about the technology.

…

“But today, I can officially announce that there is no uncanny valley any more, not in real-time.

“With our next project we’re going to demonstrate with hundreds of characters that we can have extremely realistic characters that not only move like real actors but express themselves through facial animations and speech like real actors, and are extremely accurate to the actors they are portraying,” he added.

Read the article at gamesindustry.biz and there’s a full interview the developer here.

“Video games are an 8 Billion dollar per year business — out pacing the movie business.”

Reporter “tell me about this game… why do you like it?”
Kid “because you get to kill people”

Watch the report at cnn.com

Read the whole article at yahoo! news

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - After months of bitter legal wrangling, Peter Jackson, New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc have agreed to make two movies based on the book “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien.

In a statement Tuesday, the companies said Jackson, the director of the smash hit “Lord of the Rings” movies, and producer Fran Walsh will executive produce both a “Hobbit” movie and a sequel, but Jackson was not named as the director.

Wow, this one is right out of Shawshank Redemption!

ELIZABETH, New Jersey (AP) — Two inmates escaped from a county jail, hiding the holes they made in the walls by putting up photos of bikini-clad women, officials said.

…

The men helped cover up the break by placing dummies under their bed blankets, and hiding the wall holes with magazine photos of women in bikinis, authorities said.

via cnn.com