FARK.com: Geek links -- Archives for 2009-12-13

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Sun December 13, 2009

Source	Fark Headline		Comments
		AOL in talks to sell ICQ, bots everywhere upset (dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com)	(84)
		"Dressed in a harness that features a PlayStation 3 on his back and the new Epsom HD EH-TW450 projector on his front, the extreme gamer looks more like a Ghostbuster" (w/ full dork pic) (thesun.co.uk)	(54)
		Scientists unveil VISTA telescope. Scientists bogged down with questions such as "Are you sure you want to view this galaxy?" (foxnews.com)	(46)
		Come Monday the long, dark evenings of winter will start to give way to the short, bright evenings of summer (cleveland.com)	(36)
		December is the darkest month of the year, but it isn't the coldest. Here's why, and not because Warmers faked the historical data on that too (slate.com)	(90)
		Marijauna causes new brain cell growth, but they're the kind of brain cells that think Doritos mixed with pudding is a good idea (newscientist.com)	(132)
(Some Guy)		An awesome photo history of the worlds first computers (royal.pingdom.com)	(44)
		Attention stargazers: Your next opportunity to stand in the cold for an hour or two and see nothing is Sunday night (science.nasa.gov)	(32)
		If this bed's a tweetin' don't come a meetin'. Or something like that. Best man prank rigs bed to twitter every time newlyweds are 'on the job' (gizmodo.com)	(27)

Sat December 12, 2009

	Climate science not faked, says AP fact-checkers. This should end the debate, right? Right? (torontosun.com)	(1033)
	The sea level is rising along the US Atlantic coast. I hope you like living in Otisburg (sciencedaily.com)	(238)
	Google maps, now with class 3 zombie outbreak simulator (slashfilm.com)	(36)
	When CAPTCHA codes go wrong, just screenshot it; you might end up with a working-class kitty (techeblog.com)	(70)
(Some Guy)	Scientists invent new gun sighting system that they promise will make it easier for twitchy-fingered American gun nuts to kill Commies, each other (news.softpedia.com)	(63)
	The coolest images of astronauts spacewalking taken through a backyard telescope that you'll see this month (wired.com)	(43)
	AT&T exec: "The rumors about us charging high-data wireless users more are blatantly false. What's happening is that we're lowering the price for users who don't use as much." (news.cnet.com)	(83)
	Sure, infrared cameras help you see through people's clothes. But there are other heavenly bodies out there, y'know (blogs.discovermagazine.com)	(10)
	Researchers discover how to repair adult nerve cells. Parents of two year olds the world over rejoice (science.slashdot.org)	(38)

Fri December 11, 2009

	The coolest picture of snowfall blanketing the US you will see today or until the global warming induced ice age (rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov)	(88)
(some MIT scientists)	MIT project aims to reinvent AI. Prepare to welcome robot overloards, hide Sarah Connor (web.mit.edu)	(50)
(Some Guy)	Lin Rong had the fingerprints from her left hand grafted on to her right to help her fool biometric scanners and sneak into Japan. She got caught anyway, proving you still need at least one right to make a Rong (insidetech.monster.com)	(35)
	Analyst has a wake up call for Microsoft, telling them to get out of the consumer sector. He would have called and told them directly but he couldn't get reception on his iPhone (bits.blogs.nytimes.com)	(56)
	Earth could plunge into sudden ice age. This is not a repeat from 1975 (msnbc.msn.com)	(177)
	Tiger linked to AIDS virus (myfoxla.com)	(188)
	Scientists analyze monkey calls to understand origins of language, Tweets (with clips of what 'Boom Krak-oo Hok-oo' might sound like) (news.bbc.co.uk)	(22)
	After decades of following the Republican mantra of "let the market handle itself", the GAO and FCC decide it's time for some good old-fashioned oppressive government regulation of wireless carriers' business practices (consumerist.com)	(85)
	'Frack' process to unlock fuel raises environmental concerns, possibility of Cylon attack (chron.com)	(45)
	The bend in the Big Dipper turns out to be double dipping (blogs.abcnews.com)	(40)
	Why Canada is being slammed by the world for climate change emissions even though it's the United States that farted in the elevator and then let someone else get shunned for it (earthtimes.org)	(104)

Thu December 10, 2009

	The average American consumes 34GB worth of "data" -- including 18.5GB of "gaming data" -- each day, according to a new study apparently authored by Sen. Ted Stevens (news.cnet.com)	(110)
	You've been waiting patiently for this: The Mysterious Saturn Hexagon is back (with vid) (physorg.com)	(58)
	FTC report includes five recommendations for keeping kids safe in virtual worlds; surprisingly, "parental supervision" did not make the list (gamepolitics.com)	(22)
	Top 10 space finds of 2009 (news.nationalgeographic.com)	(24)
(Some McK)	That survey you filled out on Facebook/Myspace games that gave you free in-game currency was used to send an e-mail to congress asking them to oppose health care reform (businessinsider.com)	(73)
(SF Signal)	The ever-irascible Harlan Ellison on God: "The universe doesn't know we're here. It just doesn't know" (video) (sfsignal.com)	(385)
	Dopey celebrities shouldn't give medical advice anymore than your gynecologist should break out in a spirited rendition of "Don't Stop Believing" (slate.com)	(61)
	Study shows that bodybuilders who use steroids are ruining their kidneys in addition to making themselves look like misshapen freaks (nytimes.com)	(77)
	Mass Effect 2 has more geek stars then you can shake a motion sensitive controller at (kotaku.com)	(106)
(Some Robots)	Algorithmic composers create entire free album of tracks written with 140 characters of code just like twitter. "Bloops and bleeps are coming out..." (supercollider.sourceforge.net)	(22)
	Scientists begin killing owls to save owls. YA RLY (ctv.ca)	(18)
	Mad scientists at DARPA , flush from their successful Red Balloon experiment, now attempt zombifying pigs (abcnews.go.com)	(46)
(VOR)	First proton smash in Hadron Collider sounded like 'Zzzzt', says scientist (thevoiceofreason.com)	(68)
	German scientists develop the "superpotato", the worst superhero since Aquaman (wired.co.uk)	(58)
	The spiral lights over Norway that lasted 15 minutes and baffled astronomers were just lights reflecting from leaking jet fuel. So don't bother asking any more questions. Just leaking jet fuel.....really (dailymail.co.uk)	(160)
(Some Guy)	Researchers to use microwave in order to thaw 1,090 lbs and 33 ft long colossal squid. Cheaper than using a tanker truck load of olive oil and giant sauté pan (scienceblogs.com)	(32)
	Al Gore claims the most recent of the ClimateGate e-mails is 10 years old. In related news, it's 2019 and no one but Al Gore noticed (blogs.news.com.au)	(299)
	Scientists discovery of gene responsible for curly hair may lead to hair straightening pill. Still no cure for cancer, but finally one for Carrot Top (upi.com)	(38)

Wed December 09, 2009

	Giant sperm, time-traveling baguettes, bulletproof turbans -- just another year in the history of science & technology (blogs.discovermagazine.com)	(8)
	French researchers immediately surrender to newly discovered giant virus that lives inside amoebae which contains genetic material from several other species (physorg.com)	(51)
(Some Dude)	Prepare to laugh yourself stupid: Kent Hovind's doctoral dissertation is up on Wikileaks (wikileaks.org)	(248)
	Evolution: it's all about the survival of the ... kindest? (sciencedaily.com)	(102)
(Woot)	"In the future, planes will have genitals." Woot is wondering "What Was Popular Mechanics Thinking?" (woot.com)	(64)
(Super)	Time Magazine's best comic of the decade? The Ultimates from Marvel. Whiny, indie hipsters to the right please (bleedingcool.com)	(115)
	"I remembered thinking, 'Whoa, this is scary,' as it whirled around, almost knocking me down," At least Microsoft is on our side for the robot wars of the future (physorg.com)	(16)
(Some Guy)	Blood, sweat and... nerve endings scientists never realized you had before (rdmag.com)	(9)
	The health and safety rules that Taco Bell follows to create that gooey mystery meat in their tacos is stricter than the USDA standards for school lunches (usatoday.com)	(54)
	If you're a frequent flyer, scientists say you may be getting exposed to mysterious bursts of extreme radiation. Subby is relieved to finally have an explanation for his mutant powers (livescience.com)	(25)
	New AOL has a tough fight says new president, Kenneth the intern (money.cnn.com)	(38)
	Music labels, hip to this new interwebs fad, bet Vevo.com is the next MTV (reuters.com)	(20)
	Coolest clock ever? (techeblog.com)	(57)
(Some Comic Geek)	Holiday specials and Marvel shotglasses- everything you need to ignore the in-laws at family gatherings. New comics shipping December 9th (downtowncomics.ning.com)	(33)
	Google releases Chrome browser for Macs, causing world's strongest recorded nerdgasm (physorg.com)	(161)
	It's the time of year when psychologists analyze fictional characters. in this installment, we discover that the Grinch suffered from depression and that some PhDs have too much time on their hands (physorg.com)	(43)

Tue December 08, 2009

(Some Guy)	A roundup of Christmas gifts for your favorite drunk, if he can tear himself away from running Fark over the holidays (gizmodo.com.au)	(23)
	Testosterone doesn't cause aggression, and if you don't stop saying it does, I'll rip your goddamned smarmy head off and shiat down your neck (physorg.com)	(39)
	What do Farkers have in common with fruit flies? Same taste in females, for starters (news.discovery.com)	(51)
	Light weight GPS allows scientists to track migration of birds/coconuts between Europe and Africa (nytimes.com)	(38)
	How scientific illiteracy led some conservatives to proclaim the CRU emails "Climategate" (time.com)	(382)
	14 year old programmer somehow finds time in busy schedule of school, video games and nonstop masturbation to program a N64 emulator for his iPhone (techeblog.com)	(74)
	Security fix author named "cybercrime hero." Back in my day, you needed at least some spandex and a cool name to get that title (voices.washingtonpost.com)	(15)
	"I realize nothing I do or say will stop the annual ritual [of tech predictions]. So since I can't beat 'em, I may as well join them...Facebook...becomes a UN-recognized nation." (betanews.com)	(16)
	Massive robotic dinosaur is on the loose in Mexico. Submitter can't really think of anything more friggin' awesome than that (pic) (news.bbc.co.uk)	(41)
	Stanford scientists have created nanotube ink which turns a sheet of paper into a bendable battery. Take that, Kindle nerds (sciencedaily.com)	(33)
(Some Guy)	"Social networking is actually a way of keeping people at a distance - a way of having 'friends' but not having any of the commitments and duties of friendship" (belfasttelegraph.co.uk)	(57)
	Google to update search results in real-time for things like Twitter and Facebook. With unrelated screenshot (calgaryherald.com)	(7)
	Cool: Device can identify objects via camera. Fark: To be called Google Goggles (pcmag.com)	(37)
	'Poo power' cuts electricity bills in proof that there is one redeeming quality about a Taco Bell lunch (news.bbc.co.uk)	(15)
	Wouldn't you know you it? I'm on a 13.1-billion-year-long flight, so of course the screaming baby galaxy winds up sitting right next to me (blogs.discovermagazine.com)	(44)
	The Spirit is willing, but the right-rear wheel assembly is weak (upi.com)	(22)
	Scientists unveil world's first bionic fingers. FapfapfapFapFapFapFAPFAPFAP (news.bbc.co.uk)	(25)
	You can buy an iPhone dock, or you can use 15 binder clips to make your own (techeblog.com)	(53)
	Unfortunately worded headline of the day: "Facebook forms board to lick molesters" (theregister.co.uk)	(14)
	Australia bans new AvP game, possibly on the grounds that they don't need any more alien species scaring their population (wired.co.uk)	(41)
	British scientists say they've discovered the musty odor produced by old books can be used to assess the book's condition and help preserve it, plan to try the same thing on British food (upi.com)	(22)
	10 videogames to play before you bite the bullet. Just send the link to anyone who still hasn't played Ico (denofgeek.com)	(384)
	New research shows the fundamental logic of the universe is based on circles, not, as was previously suspected, on a simultaneous 4-day time cube (nytimes.com)	(75)

Mon December 07, 2009

	Adrianne Curry wants you to know that she loves playing World of Warcraft naked and stoned. She wants you to know this so badly she even took a picture. (SFW) (huffingtonpost.com)	(138)
(Ric Romero)	Ric Romero has a fan page on Facebook, it's woefully unpopulated. Please help and become a fan, this man is a legend -Drew (facebook.com)	(912)
	URL-shortening service site now scans for scammers, sadly no plans for scanning images that should remain unseen (voices.washingtonpost.com)	(37)
(Some Guy)	Is Wilson Bentley's hypothesis that "no two snowflakes are alike" true? Infinite maths vs. coolest slideshow you will see until spring (treehugger.com)	(40)
	Scientists say they have proven that coin tosses are anything but random, invite you to call it, friend-o (cbc.ca)	(70)
	Older gamers beginning to report more incidences of joint pain, back pain from years of button mashing (wtsp.com)	(49)
	"Stand next to a small Tesla coil and try not to be impressed. Stand next to a large one and try not to be incontinent." (thesun.co.uk)	(31)
	Are Marvel Comics waging a secret war on women? (io9.com)	(173)
	Crematorium announces plan to burn bodies to produce electricity. Wait ... watt? (telegraph.co.uk)	(47)
	Beer porn beer porn football boobies money jessica alba nude beer money porn porn Drew Curtis naked beer (msnbc.msn.com)	(31)
	Environmentalists surprised to find that civil war can be good for wildlife populations. Possibly linked to there being fewer humans or something (cnn.com)	(26)
	DC Comics announces the inevitable Superman/Batman reboot in 2010. Steve Rogers still dead (examiner.com)	(182)
	Spying on you doesn't come cheap. Here's what Yahoo charges law enforcement to provide information about you (boingboing.net)	(25)
(Some Guy)	Online utility translates your tweets into Klingon. SoH DichDaq not legh tlhol be' (tweetinklingon.com)	(20)
	The six scariest processed foods the world has ever seen, or as they are known in America, 'lunch' (alternet.org)	(535)
	Instead of fixing the bug, Microsoft is banning players who exploit a bug in "Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2" that allows players to become "suicide bombers" (examiner.com)	(306)
	New 3D laptop has objects jumping out of the screen at you, many of them in pairs (technology.timesonline.co.uk)	(43)
	Scientists boast that they have built working single-atom transistor, which they insist is some sort of breakthrough even though no one has listened to those kind of radios in 40 years (physorg.com)	(50)