California has once again been blessed with another steampunk convention, this time to be held in Emeryville, CA on March 12-14 as the "Nova Albion Steampunk Exhibition." This year's event promises to mix in much more of the DIY/maker flavor for a greater hands-on feel. Steampunk has been gaining much broader appeal in recent months with the continued growth of maker communities, and the many delightful varieties of music and literature. The con will feature, among other things, a 2 day track of 2-hour how-to, hands-on, and interactive workshops gear towards makers, DIY-ers, mad scientists, and evil geniuses. Of course, if you are an evil genius you probably don't need a workshop except as a gathering for potential test subjects.

Fortunately for us, the FAA has imposed the honor system as our next best defense against terrorism. Hopefully this will allow them to increase the volume of non-bladder liquid I'm allowed to take on planes.

SLbigE writes "A Facebook Ad for auto insurance includes a drivers license containing a photo of 9/11 Terrorist Mohammad Atta! From the article: 'WJR engineer Paul Roy saw this ad on his Facebook page today. The ad mentions that he was eligible for savings on auto insurance and includes a photo of a Michigan Drivers License. No big deal right? WRONG! If you look closer at the ad, you’ll see the Driver’s License includes a headshot of 9/11 terrorist Mohammad Atta!'"

davidwr writes "When 73-year-old man Alexander Skopintsev says 'Get off my lawn,' he means it. The farmer in far eastern Russia, was convicted of planting mines to 'ward off trespassers' and protect his potatoes. Kids, the next time the old man down the street says 'get off my lawn' I suggest you listen!"

Weemz writes "This is the best use of a sausage and technology I have seen today. From the article: 'Too cold to take your gloves off? No problem, try a frozen, individually wrapped Hot Dog. Seoul, Korea; CJ Corporation's "Max Rod" sales are soaring as Koreans have discovered that they are quite effective for operating iPhones in cold weather. Max Rods are individually wrapped, frozen sausages that have replaced the need for an iPhone stylus or iPhone gloves. Once back indoors, this handy stylus becomes a not so light snack! Funnier than watching a subway car of people tapping their iPhones with frozen meat-sticks is reading the Google translation of the original news article.'"

ideonexus writes "At the New York Toy fair, Mattel has announced Computer Engineer Barbie, the doll's 126th career chosen by popular vote. The official announcement (PDF) shows her accessorizing with nerdy glasses, a Bluetooth earpiece, pink laptop, and tee covered in binary digits. The girls-only vote choose 'News Anchor Barbie,' which became Barbie's 125th career, but Mattel decided to add the Computer Engineer version after a viral outpouring of support from female IT professionals."

theodp writes "Kevin Smith is not a happy Southwest customer. The director was thrown off a flight from Oakland to Burbank, after being deemed too fat to fly. He later wound up on another Southwest flight, but has declared It's On and taken his rants to Twitter. 'Dear @SouthwestAir — I know I'm fat, but was Captain Leysath really justified in throwing me off a flight for which I was already seated?' he began. He also let the airline know he'd made it to his destination. 'Hey @SouthwestAir! I've landed in Burbank. Don't worry: wall of the plane was opened & I was airlifted out while Richard Simmons supervised.'"

wisebabo writes "Nathan Myhrvol demonstrated at TED a laser, built from parts scrounged from eBay, capable of shooting down not one but 50 to 100 mosquitos a second. The system is 'so precise that it can specify the species, and even the gender, of the mosquito being targeted.' Currently, for the sake of efficiency, it leaves the males alone because only females are bloodsuckers. Best of all the system could cost as little as $50. Maybe that's too expensive for use in preventing malaria in Africa but I'd buy one in a second!" We ran a story about this last year. It looks like the company has added a bit more polish, and burning mosquito footage to their marketing.

harrymcc writes "For more than 20 years, Sunnyvale's cavernous, aptly-named Weird Stuff Warehouse has sold an amazing array of salvage and surplus computer products. It's like a tech museum where everything's for sale at bargain-basement prices — from shrinkwrapped Atari 1040ST software to used BetaMAX tapes to 1GB hard drives to mysterious printed circuit boards to Selectric typewriters. I paid a visit to this legendary geek temple and snapped photos of some of the fascinating stuff I came across."

Every great romance starts with a great plan.

The South Australian Environment Department has told farmers that they should use poison gas or even explosives to deal with the out-of-control rabbit population. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization Invasive Animals chief Professor Tony Peacock, owner of the largest business card ever, says that blowing up rabbits isn't as inhuman as people might think, and has been ranked by the RSPCA as one of the best ways to destroy warrens.

Aryabhata writes "According to scientists, climate change and human activity have allowed bark beetle populations to soar. They decided to fight the beetles by using the 'nastiest, most offensive sounds' that they could think of. These sounds included recordings of Guns & Roses, Queen, Rush Limbaugh and manipulated versions of the insects' own sounds. The research project titled 'Beetle Mania' has concluded that acoustic stress can disrupt their feeding and even cause the beetles to kill each other."

jockeys writes "In a hilarious prank, two Norwegians chased the Google car while wearing spearfishing attire." Remarkable people, the Norwegians aren't they? Beautiful dry suits!

angry tapir writes "Japan's Index Corp. plans to launch an iPhone adaptation of the 'Bowlingual' dog emotion translator. The original device, first offered in 2002 by Takara Tomy, coupled a microphone that goes around a dog's neck with a handheld receiver with LCD screen for the owner. The app can also be used to tweet the 'translation' and a picture."

Hugh Pickens writes "The Raw Story reports that terrorists who want to overthrow the United States government must now register with South Carolina's Secretary of State and declare their intentions — or face a $25,000 fine and up to 10 years in prison. The 'Subversive Activities Registration Act' passed last year in South Carolina and now officially on the books states that 'every member of a subversive organization, or an organization subject to foreign control, every foreign agent and every person who advocates, teaches, advises or practices the duty, necessity or propriety of controlling, conducting, seizing or overthrowing the government of the United States ... shall register with the Secretary of State.'"

Charles Gill and Ryan Knight are facing felony charges for allegedly throwing snow at a plow and an undercover police car. The pair were charged with throwing missiles at occupied vehicles. If convicted, the men face 1-5 years in prison, and a maximum $2,500 fine. In addition to the snowball throwers, a group making snow angels was detained, but no charges were filed.

An anonymous reader writes "Save the planet by blogging. EnergyAustralia and Sydney Water have opened a tender for a family to live rent-free for a year in an energy-efficient house to be built in a 'smart village' in Sydney's west. Smart Village houses are equipped with in-house displays driven by home-area networks connected to the utility's smart grid that has sensors at sub-stations and elsewhere on the network to manage power use. 'The home will provide a real-life laboratory, integrated with the intelligent electricity grid, for testing products that will help minimize energy and water use and greenhouse gas emissions,' EnergyAustralia said."

eldavojohn writes "Prepare to wax (or groan) theological at The Church of Google. The site offers not one but nine proofs (in the loosest sense of the word) that Google is, in fact, the closest thing to god that humans have ever interacted with. The site has Google prayers and a sufficient amount of information to sustain one in becoming a follower of The Church of Google including something no religion can exist without: hatemail!"

Millionaire Karl Rabeder has decided to give away his £3 million fortune because it's made him miserable. "My idea is to have nothing left. Absolutely nothing," he said, "Money is counterproductive – it prevents happiness to come." Rabeder plans on selling all of his properties as well, and giving the money to his microcredit charity, which offers small loans to Latin America and builds development aid strategies to self-employed people in El Salvador, Honduras, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Chile.

garg0yle writes "A group of Jedis in England are seeking a new leader after their previous one was forced to step down due to health concerns. Prospective candidates should have a martial arts background and be steeped in the teachings of the Force. I'm assuming you just send your resume to Coruscant to apply?"