In perhaps one of the finest displays of technological excess in automotive communications gear, one "enthusiast" has managed to cram over $25,000 worth of gear into a $500 car. The car is rigged for just about every conceivable communications band including FM, UHF, VHF, HF, and WTF. What other amazing displays of technological excess have others seen? "The equipment seems to cover an amazing array of technologies, many of which seem to be redundant. For instance, just how many handheld 144 MHz radios do you need? It seems like the owner of the Ham Car is capable of listening to every police/fire/ems/military channel in the world. Simultaneously. There's a laptop and we assume there's some form of cellular or satellite communication setup for that, too."

theodp writes "A newly disclosed Microsoft patent application — Avatar Individualized by Physical Characteristic — takes aim at fat people, proposing to generate fat avatars in gaming environments for individuals whose health records indicate they're overweight, limiting their game play, and even banning them. From the patent application: 'An undesirable body weight could be reflected in an overweight or underweight appearance for the avatar. Only requisite health levels are allowed to compete in a certain competition level. A dedicated gamer could exercise for a period of time until his health indicator gadget shows a sufficiently high health/health credit in order to allow reentering the avatar environment.' Linking one's gaming avatar to one's physique, explains Microsoft, will produce healthy and virtuous behaviors in individuals. Microsoft also proposes shaping gaming experiences by using 'psychological and demographic information such as education level, geographic location, age, sex, intelligence quotient, socioeconomic class, occupation, marital/relationship status, religious belief, political affiliation, etc.'"

An Ohio restaurant, Melt Bar & Grilled, is offering anyone who gets a grilled cheese sandwich tattoo a 25% discount. The establishment specializes in putting a new spin on the old lunchtime favorite. The discount, like the shame of getting a grilled cheese tattoo, lasts a lifetime.

When an UK man was asked to be the best man at a friend's wedding he agreed that he would not pull any pranks before or during the ceremony. Now the groom wishes he had extended the agreement to after the blessed occasion as well. The best man snuck into the newlyweds' house while they were away on their honeymoon and placed a pressure-sensitive device under their mattress. The device now automatically tweets when the couple have sex. The updates include the length of activity and how vigorous the act was on a scale of 1-10.

darthvader100 writes "Gizmodo has run an article with some predictions on what future space battles will be like. The author brings up several theories on propulsion (and orbits), weapons (explosives, kinetic and laser), and design. Sounds like the ideal shape for spaceships will be spherical, like the one in the Hitchhiker's Guide movie."

Canadian federal prison guards will no longer have to draw straws to see who gets to do the most hated job in prison, search feces for contraband. Their savior is a specially designed toilet called the Drugloo. According to the company website, "feces are washed into an attached recovery container by automatic sprays. There water and anti-microbial fluids are used to separate and wash any drug packages. The package then goes into a sealed chute and from there is dropped directly into an evidence container, without anyone having touched the item."

More than 1,000 followers of a multi-religious sect in northern India have decided to buck traditional wisdom and turn whores into housewives in an attempt to help them escape exploitation. The group (DSS) claims their pledge will also help stop the spread of AIDS. It is estimated that 40%-50% of women working in red light districts in large cities are HIV carriers. Dr Aditya Insan, a senior DSS functionary, said, "This will have to be a slow and delicately handled process. Many women are HIV-positive. Some have young children and are understandably concerned about their future. We need to ensure these women are protected legally once they are married."

lazylocomotives writes "Lo Wung, 42, trains monkeys to entertain people near a mall in China. Said monkeys bested their surprised master in front of an amused crowd in Nshi, China. 'I saw one punch him in the eye — he grabbed another by the ear and it responded by grabbing his nose. They were leaping and jumping all over the place. It was better than a Bruce Lee film,' said Hu Luang, a photographer."

Benaiah writes "In something seemingly out of a Keanu Reeves movie, an Australian driver was unable to make his freeway exit when his car failed to slow down as he applied the brake. For those of you too lazy to RTFA he tried everything to stop the car including turning off the ignition but to no avail, the computer was in control. Police at one point escorted him down the wrong side of the road at 80km/h(50mp/h) until he eventually was able to stop it by repeatedly stepping on the brake pedal. Ford Australia spokeswoman Sinead McAlary said there has been a recall on that make of car but for a different reason."

Elizabeth Poblete, a Chilean Olympic weightlifter, got a big surprise when she gave birth to a boy while she was training in a Brazilian gym. Poblete didn't know she was 6 months pregnant and had even consulted a doctor a week previous. Head weight trainer in the gym, Horacio Reis, said: "It was a surprise for me. A week ago I acted as a judge in a competition in Chile and this girl was competing. All went well and she won the competition. I could see she was a big girl, round and strong. That's all I noticed." Both mother and child were brought to the hospital after the surprise delivery. The boy remains in intensive care and it is reported that he can already clean and jerk a full 10oz bottle.

Italy's five top pasta makers are in hot water over allegations of price-fixing. Barilla, De Cecco and Divella were among the companies raided by officials. Authorities began investigations in 2007 after consumer complaints and allege that the companies have formed a pasta-makers cartel. He who controls the pasta, controls the future.

zerothink writes "American student Lily Sussman, 21, upon entry into Israel from Taba (Egypt, Sinai) caught Israeli border police in grumpy mood — after two hours of questions and searching through her belongings they decided to put three bullets through her laptop. Explanation? 'I'm sorry but we had to blow up your laptop.' Haaretz also covered the story." All three bullets missed the hard disk.

garg0yle writes "Scientists are repurposing Wiimotes as scientific sensors to help measure wind speed or evaporation from lakes, among other things. At about $40 per unit, the controller is much cheaper than specialized sensors. The scientists are still considering how to add storage and extend the battery life."

sonamchauhan writes "A Londoner helped his wife deliver their baby by Googling 'how to deliver a baby' on his mobile phone. From the article: 'Today proud Mr Smith said: "The midwife had checked Emma earlier in the day but contractions started up again at about 8pm so we called the midwife to come back. But then everything happened so quickly I realized Emma was going to give birth. I wasn't sure what I was going to do so I just looked up the instructions on the internet using my BlackBerry."'"

An anonymous reader writes "We are able to be the first to report that the practice of “bed jumping” has been banned by most major US hotel chains. From the article: 'The new internet sensation of bed jumping has cost the hospitality industry almost $52,000,000.00 in the last quarter alone. Most customers are not aware of the high cost of commercial mattresses. While manufactures are prepared for children to “bed jump,” the mattresses are not designed for jumpers over ~100lbs. Preliminary tests show that a mattress needs to be replaced after only 10-15 adult jumpers. In the current economic market, it is not feasible for our members to absorb this high cost. The ban is meant to prevent hotels from adding a “jumping charge” to every room they book, which would increase the rate an average of $4 for every night.'"

anticlone writes "Note to self: When traveling abroad with your spouse remember keep it quiet in the UK: 'A woman who was given an anti-social behavior order banning her from making loud noises during sex has admitted breaching the order.'"

klwood911 writes "What do you get when you combine a former Disney imagineer, Guitar Hero, a house and 21,268 Christmas Lights? Probably one of the coolest light displays you will see. Ric Turner turned his house into an interactive Guitar Hero Display. As he explains: 'Christmas Light Hero is using 7 light controllers from Light-O-Rama built from kits to control 21,268 lights and LEDs. Each controller has 16 outputs and 2-3 TTL level control inputs that are used by the game system to fire different programmed light sequences depending on what happens in the game. It relies on the fact that the game sequence is very consistent. If the game and the lighting sequences start together, they will stay in very good sync through the length of the song. The light program allows branching and overlays for fail, star power and "ready." I have some ideas to automate the initial show/game sync, but for now you have to push doorbell buttons at the right moments.'"

iamapizza writes "New Scientist reports on the quest of two math boffins for the perfect way to slice a pizza. It's an interesting and in-depth article; 'The problem that bothered them was this. Suppose the harried waiter cuts the pizza off-center, but with all the edge-to-edge cuts crossing at a single point, and with the same angle between adjacent cuts. The off-center cuts mean the slices will not all be the same size, so if two people take turns to take neighboring slices, will they get equal shares by the time they have gone right round the pizza — and if not, who will get more?' This is useful, of course, if you're familiar with the concept of 'sharing' a pizza."

a3buster writes "This clock does not actually have a man inside, but a flatscreen that plays a 24-hour loop of this video by the artist watching his own clock somewhere and painstakingly erasing and re-writing each minute. This video was taken at Design Miami during Art Basel Miami Beach 2009."

In an attempt to curb water pollution, farmers in southern Taiwan have started to potty-train their pigs. Farmers have set up special pig toilets in the area to keep from having to pay a planned pollution fee. Pig farmer Chang Chung-tou says, "The pig toilets on my farm help me collect about 95 percent of all pig waste, making cleaning much, much easier." Now we just need them to learn how to cure and smoke each other.