ORSM dot net - An awesome gallery of science fair exhibits.

NSFW: this site has boobie and dingdong ad revenue all over the place.

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Summer and the sweltering heat are here. Below are some updated fancy new ice cream wallpapers I’ve made, to get all of you in the Summer mood.

Click on the images for downloadable wallpapers of each.

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Santa Cruz, CA.
Vanilla soft-serve with blue cotton candy swirl.

Dreyer*s “Take the Cake” ice cream (yellow cake flavored ice cream with blue frosting swirl and colored sprinkles). Safeway “Rainbow Cone” green ice cream cone.

Foster’s Freeze, Menlo Park, CA.
Grape (wax?) dipped soft-serve vanilla.

Baskin & Robbins, Menlo Park, CA.
“Rock’n Pop Swirl” (grape and green apple sherbet with Pop Rocks mixed in) on top of Cotton Candy ice cream.

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Gas Station Gourmet:
“I eat weird gas station food and then write about it.”

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There’s something about Smart Cars that makes people want to test them, taunt them, rebuild them, or destroy them.

Smart Car vs. Ferrari • Monster Smart Car • Smart Car Doing a 360º E-Brake Turn • Smart Car with Lowrider Hydraulics • Smart Car E-Brake U-Turn • Smart Car Head-On Collision Test • Smart Car Wet Road Crash • Smart Car with 200+HP Hayabusa Engine • Smart Car Stunt Driving • Smart Car High Speed Impact Test • Smart Car 5-Point Turn in a Driveway

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If all you see are three circles filled with dots of the same color, you are normal. If you see something different (such as different colored letters inside each circle) - immediately contact me in the comment section below.

You may be a tetrachromat: very rare and super human.

A tetrachromat is sort of like being a super taster of color vision. To date, only two or three people have been identified as potential tetrachromats.

You might be one.
(more…)

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As many of us had wished-upon those (bastard) classmates who were “successful” in high school: a recent study showed that 29% of high school seniors who were “doing well” failed to become financially independent by age 26, and 20% failed to meet their expected life goals at age 26.

Dr. John Schulenberg, professor of developmental psychology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor:

“We used to think that if things were going well in high school, they’d continue to go well.”

Ha. Ha.

(via Susan, via Psychology Today)

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There is a great misconception that complex society breeds violence and that simpler societies live harmoniously.

Like Ewoks.

Next time you have to listen to some crunchy hippie going on about making with world a better place by living in a tee-pee, beat them over the head with this one:

Steven Pinker’s talk on “The Myth of Violence” (TED Talks, 2007):

 (via Sachs Report, via Lifehack)

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©2008 Blogadilla.com

Blogadilla co-author Allison and I decided that we can make better “tiki bar” drinks than most Tiki Bar franchises. Here’s the first installment of what we’ve dubbed “The Boozadilla Project” - behold “Noah’s Ark”:

Noah’s Ark ingredients:
• 1 watermelon
• plastic animals
• 2 shots vodka
• 2 shots white rum
• 2 shots coconut rum
• 2 shots gin
Get it? “Noah’s Ark” - 2 of everything
• 2 shots fruity-flavored schnapps
• 2 shots lime juice
• 2 shots grenadine
• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 1 cup grape soda or strawberry soda
• 1 tray of ice cubes
• 1 sharp knife
• 1 large spoon
• 2-4 straws

Step 1: Cut the top of the watermelon into the ‘ark’ shape above, remove the inside of the watermelon with the large spoon. Cut windows into the side (near the top) of the watermelon, place animals in the windows.

Step 2: Pour all of the ingredients into the hollowed-out watermelon. Garnish with tiny umbrellas.

Serves 2 to 4 people.

And when you’re done drinking, the watermelon also makes a great helmet!

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(photo from René Rondeau)

Earlier this month, researcher/historian David Giovannoni (at First Sounds) discovered the earliest recording of a human voice, from the archives of the French Academy of Sciences. According to records, this sound recording was made by inventor Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville on April 9, 1860 - 17 years before Thomas Edison. The recording was made on Scott de Martinville’s “phonautograph” which records sound onto a carbon (smoke)-blackened paper. Though his machine successfully recorded a human voice, Scott de Martinville had no means to play back the recording. This recording was scanned, processed, and converted into an audible clip at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

HERE IS THE AUDIO CLIP of Scott de Martinville’s recording - it is a 10 second passage from the French song “Au Clair de la Lune” (I also added a modern recording of the song for comparison).

(via ABC Science)

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(via New Scientist Video)

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Today I was watching “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.” At the monsoon-destroyed ruins of Hotel Citroën on the island of Little Ping, Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) notes:

“What a shame. They had a bartender here, Kino, made the best Rum Cannonball I’ve ever tasted.”

The question comes to mind: Is this a real drink, or something invented by Wes Anderson? From internet discussions and references, it’s hard to tell if this drink actually existed before the movie. Based on an average of posted recipes, I made a Rum Cannonball (actual photo).

The Rum Cannonball
•1 part white rum
•1 part gin
•1 part orange juice
•1 part pineapple juice
•1 part lemon-lime soda
•1 part strawberry soda
Serve over ice with a key lime, pineapple, or tropical orchid garnish.

What does it taste like?: Not bad . . . fruity fizzy booze.

An alternate recipe also exists:
•2 oz rum
•Top-off with orange juice
•4-5 dashes of Angostura bitters

What does it taste like?: Not bad . . . rummy spicey o.j.

Bonus Round: Drink one while wearing a Hotel Citroën t-shirt.

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Sean Dockray’s ‘Ameising Project’ - tracking the pheromone trails left by ants. Check the video.

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Some might consider this bad taste, but if you’re able to find any semblance of humor in the absolutely ridiculous video of University of Florida student Andrew Meyer being tazered after asking some pointed questions at a John Kerry speech back in September of this year, or if you own one of the millions of “Don’t Taze Me, Bro” t-shirts for sale on the Web, the “Don’t Taze Me Bro - Rap Remix” will come as enjoyable entertainment for you. Don’t get me wrong, this all was terrible and in my opinion completely unjustifiable, but at least this well-done rap song gets my head knocking…

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Dear Friends,
Please stop sending me this amazing video. It is a hoax - it does not work. How they did it below . . .

Mountain Dew Glows!!!! Mountain Dew Light Hack!!! - The most amazing videos are a click away

I’m pretty sure they switch Mountain Dew with luciferin (the stuff in the small glass vial in glowsticks). The peroxide oxidizes the luciferin (making it glow) and the baking soda catalyzes the reaction (making it happen at a slower rate). If you doubt this de-bunking, consider this:

•Why do they suggest only a small amount of Mountain Dew (instead of the whole bottle)?
*Because it’s the right color and volume for the small amount of luciferin that comes in a glowstick

•Notice when they zoom in to the teaspoon with baking soda, notice the bottle of Mountain Dew before and after the zoom:
*The label has been turned around, perhaps this is when they made the switch.

I tried this at home - what the hell am I going to do with the rest of the F@#$ing 6-pack of Mountain Dew?

Stop posting this on your websites as a great Halloween tip.

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This is an oldie, but a goodie:

What really happens to spiders when they’re exposed to drugs?  For some cool pictures, click here.

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“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” just may be one of the funniest damn television shows ever written. A detail in one of the episodes (season 2 - “The Gang Goes Jihad”) has caught the attention of several serious fans: a mysterious sandwich called a “Grilled Charlie.” Below are the results of my own reverse engineering analysis of a Grilled Charlie.

Its appearance and description in the show offer several good clues to its construction:
•Firstly, the instructions shouted by its creator, Charlie:

“A Grilled Charlie has peanutbutter last! Peanutbutter outside, chocolate inside! Butter inside, cheese outside!”

•Close inspection of the scene reveals a jar of JIF peanutbutter, a packet of American cheese slices (or cheddar), and a bottle of Hershey’s syrup next to the hotplate used to fry the “Grilled Charlie” (though other posted recipes erroneously indicate a chocolate bar).

Here’s a possible/probable way to create this:
Step 1 - Butter the bejeezus out of one side of a piece of white bread. Place the piece of bread, butter-side down, onto a hot skillet (if you’re hardcore, your skillet is on a hotplate and you’re in a filthy apartment).

Step 2 - As the butter side is frying, place a slice of cheese (American or possibly cheddar) on the top of the bread and let it melt. Then flip the bread over and fry the cheese side (you’ll need a sh*tload of butter to pull this off properly). You’ll have to keep moving it so the cheese doesn’t burn off the bread.

Step 3 - Remove the butter-cheese slice and put a new white bread slice onto the skillet (make sure there is still sufficient butter in the skillet to fry it). Fry the piece of bread, and while it is frying put Hershey’s chocolate syrup on the top side. Flip the bread over and quickly fry the chocolate side (it will actually fry if you do it right). Remove from skillet.

Step 4 - Join the two pieces of fried bread, cheese on outside, butter and chocolate on the inside. Add JIF peanutbutter to the outside of the sandwich (not clear if it goes on top of the cheese or on the opposide side of the sandwich).

Step 5 - Eat warm, with cold beer. Then prepare for the heart attack.

It is surprisingly good - a nice combination of burnt cheese, chocolate and peanutbutter.

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I just came across a rather interesting website. Conceived by a partnership between the Library of Congress, the Center for History and New Media, and the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business; this site is dedicated to archiving business plans and other such organizational documents from companies of the dot-com era. A great resource for anyone wanting to venture out on their own, and learn from the mistakes and successes of those from the previous era. Check it ›

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[NSFL - Not Safe For Lunch]
Everybody has that one friend who frequently falls victim to their own clumsiness - the person voted “Most Likely To Accidentally Die By Their Own Hands.” My friend Heather is this person - a master of accidental self-inflicted injury. She began photo-documenting her injuries this year and will soon release an online photogallery/journal (its upcoming release is a Blogadilla exclusive - stay tuned).

Here are samples of some of her more recent injuries (clockwise from top left):

•Fell out of a windowsill (luckily fell inside) and did a face-plant : carpet burn and one and a half black eyes.

•Her most recent injury: shaving her legs

•Infected hangnail

•Stubbed and broke her pinky toe (notice the purple)

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Last month I posted an Urban Non-Legends article about “FrankenBerry Stool” - the medical term given to false “blood in stool” readings caused by red food coloring (the term arose from the early years of FrankenBerry cereal, which had horrified parents rushing red-stooled children to doctors). Last month I tested this and it appears that they changed the recipe: FrankenBerry came out indistinguishable from Count Chocula.

A friend reported “a recent colorful outcome” with BooBerry cereal (FrankenBerry’s poltergeist counterpart). I got some and gave it a try.

The results of “Operation BooBerry”
Though BooBerry turns milk blue, the final outcome was wholly unexpected: it was quite colorful, but not blue at all.

In sum: “FrankenBerry Stool” cannot be achieved anymore (with FrankenBerry). And “BooBerry Stool” is spectacularly vibrant, but not blue - to be technical about it (because this is scientific research after all and I’m not enough of a sicko to post photos), it is Pantone 368 or hex# 77bd33 (thanks Chris).

On a related note - it’s uncanny how Al Franken looks like FrankenBerry and Scott Bakula looks like Count Chocula.
(Yes: I had a lot of free time on my hands to make these. I <3 Photoshop)

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Behold! The Super-Awesome Action Hero Name Generator!!! Push the button for non-stop crime-fighting Action Hero names!!! You can’t fight zombies with a name like “Scooter.” Push the button and get ready for ACTION!!! [Does not work well with Internet Explorer - the browser of the feeble].

©2007 Blogadilla
Concept (and names): Timbotron
Actual Labor and Creation: Steve B
Machete Photograph: Y. Trottier.

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