A Japanese aquarium is using the greenest energy possible to power the lights on its Christmas tree, an electric eel. From the article: "Each time the eel moves, two aluminum panels gather enough electricity to light up the 2-meter (6 ft 6 in) tall tree, decked out in white, in glowing intermittent flashes."

Hugh Pickens writes "Time Magazine reports that just in time for the holidays, the British Navy has put the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible up for sale on an eBay-like website. The proud 690-foot warship sailed Her Majesty's seas from 1980 to 2005, and took part in the Falklands, Balkans and Iraq campaigns. The ship underwent a major refit in 2004 but was decommissioned in 2005 with the proviso that she could be 'reactivated' at 18 months notice if a crisis beckoned but over the years her engines, pumps and gear boxes were cannibalized for use in other ships. If interested go to the auction site and put her to your 'wish list,' or add her to your 'cart.' Interestingly enough, the Australian government had originally planned to purchase the ship in 1982 but the Falklands war intervened and in July 1982 the British Ministry of Defence announced that it had withdrawn its offer to sell Invincible and that it would maintain a three-carrier force."

The names Spindiana Jones, Goy Wonder and Spinona Ryder may not be as universally known as Michael Jordon, but in the world of Major League Dreidel (MLD) they are stars. From the article: "Eric Pavony, 31, is MLD’s founder and 'knishioner.' 'I remember enjoying spinning the dreidel more than actually participating in the traditional rules of the game,' says Pavony, who has seen his league grow from 32 competitors to 120 since 2007. MLD events have since spread to San Francisco, Denver and Miami, while Pavony has refined and mass-produced the crude contraption the game was first played on and branded it the Spinagogue -- the official spinning surface of MLD."

bLanark writes "Well, as children and adults all over the world begin their day with chocolate, with the traditional Advent calendar, I'd like to remind you that there's an alternative for geeks. The Perl Advent calendar will give you a new Perl tip every day right up to Christmas."

kkleiner writes "Japanese artist Chu Enoki's sculpture, RPM 1200, is a beautiful metallic cityscape made completely out of drill bits that looks like a glistening version of Blade Runner, or maybe even a 21st Century version of the Emerald City of Oz. Every spire is a drill bit that has been re-purposed and polished. It's a beautiful piece of art (and a stunning feat of recycling as well). Check photos of RPM 1200, including a close up shot where you can really see the grooves and shapes of the bits that went into its creation."

University of Florida student Zachary Garcia was more than a little surprised to find out he was wanted for murder after Googling his name. It turns out the police were looking for a different man but had mistakenly used Garcia's photo. From the article: "Investigators originally released a driver's license photo of Zachary Garcia — spelled with an 'A' — but it was Zachery Garcia — spelled with an 'E'— who was charged in connection with the crime."

Every dog owner knows there is nothing more pathetic than watching your dog beg for a sip of your delicious beer. Now, thanks to some forward thinking brewers, you can finally drink with your dog. Australian pet deli and boutique Paws Point, and American brewer Dog Star Brewing Company, have designed beers especially for dogs. Both beers are non-alcoholic, non-carbonated, and infused with meat flavor, making them less than ideal for all but the most troubling family Christmas.

Knile writes "While not the youngest patent recipient ever (that would be a four year old in Texas), Bryce Gunderman has received a patent at age 8 for a space-saver that combines an outlet cover plate with a shelf. From the article: '"I thought how I was going to make a lot of money," Bryce said about what raced through his brain when he received the patent.'"

eldavojohn writes "Techdirt brings word that China-based MIC Gadget, the maker of a four inch 'SJ figurine,' is being sued by Apple to stop making the product. The fairly well detailed figurine went for $80 and the manufacturer offered updates as it quickly sold out of the first 300 and was subsequently sued before starting a second batch. The glasses, the black turtle neck, the salt and pepper beard, the blue jeans and the new balance sneakers — that is Steve Jobs' look and you don't even have to consider the smug look or the iPhone 4 in his hand while standing in a classic press event spotlight pose. So far, this notice for copyright infringement only exists for the 'SJ figurine' (no mention of Apple or Jobs in the store listing) but it appears other companies are allowing MIC Gadget some leeway with trademarks or perhaps they just haven't noticed yet. Could it be that Apple is just concerned that their followers are purchasing lead-painted false idols?"

The Toyoka Chuo Seika fruit company plays Mozart to their ripening bananas in the belief that it makes the fruit sweeter. From the article: "Favored works include Mozart's String Quartet 17 and Piano Concerto 5 in D major, reports the Japan Times. Company spokesman Isamu Okuda said he believes it makes the bananas, which are imported from the Philippines, sweeter. The paper adds that bananas are just one of a wide variety of food and beverages, including soy sauce, udon noodles, miso and even sake, which have been enjoying exposure to classical music in Japan."

The University of Maryland has the proud distinction of having the nation's first collegiate competitive eating club. Founded by Keith Solomon during his freshman year as a joke, the 30 member club now has a constitution and is officially recognized by the university. From the article: "'The goal is that we get these teams started at other universities so we could compete intercollegiately,' said Solomon, who has not yet cut his teeth in a sanctioned event but says he's particularly skilled at consuming large portions of hamburgers and Jell-o."

smitty777 writes "Scientists hard at work at Cambridge used a computer algorithm and nearly 300 million historical facts to identify the most boring day in history. The winner? On April 11, 1954, absolutely nothing happened. That is, unless you count the most boring day in the world happening."

jamie sent in a link to the story of iRacing World Champion Greger Huttu, who caught the attention of the Top Gear guys and got a chance to drive a real Star Mazda racer. iRacing is a realistic driving simulator that recreates the exact physics of race cars and tracks from around the world, and nobody is better than Greger. Top Gear wanted to see how the virtual champion would do with the real thing. Even though he was eventually unable to put up with the physical demands, Greger drove really well.

An anonymous reader writes "This might very well be the nerdiest site we'll ever encounter... Linux Radio is an online radio station broadcasting the Linux kernel! Each time someone visit the site, a random source file is selected and read loudly by a virtual speaker materialized through the open source speech synthesizer eSpeak. Will it prove useful to anyone is probably a difficult question to answer, but the excitement provided is worth experiencing at least once. However, this concept proves once more the advantages of open source over proprietary software making such achievements impossible : whoever in his right mind would want to listen to binary files loudly?"

JayRott writes "From Raw Story: 'After billions of years the Sun finally has an owner — a woman from Spain's soggy region of Galicia said Friday she had registered the star at a local notary public as being her property.' Awesome! Now I finally have someone to sue when I get skin cancer."

Brad Block, a supervisor for the Chicago Commission on Animal Care and Control says a coyote recently spotted downtown is part of a program designed to monitor the rodent population. "The animal has the run of the Loop to help deal with rats and mice," He said no one has called today to complain. “He’s not a threat. He’s not going to pick up your children,” Block said. “His job is to deal with all of the nuisance problems, like mice, rats and rabbits.”

itwbennett writes "Thirty-three-year old Scottsman Matthew Anderson was sentenced this week to 18 months in prison for orchestrating a malicious Trojan campaign in 2006. The reason for his relatively light sentence? He apparently wasn't seeking to maximize profit like any normal, red-blooded hacker. Also, his timing was good. His arrest in June 2006 predated by a matter of months the Police and Justice Act, which would likely have resulted in a harsher sentence. By comparison, David Kernell, who snooped in Sarah Palin's email, got a year in prison."

An anonymous reader writes "Here's a fact you can distract your family with over the Thanksgiving table: many of the major ingredients in Thanksgiving foods have had their genomes sequenced. Biomedical researchers are interested in the turkey genome due to the animal's susceptibility to cancer; botanists are studying the genome of the Chinese chestnut to search for the root of its resistance to chestnut blight; and corn — well, corn's genome is just cool."

Brian "Goat Man" Hopper, spent five days stranded on Roe Island, north of Concord in Suisun Bay, because he was too embarrassed to phone for help. Hopper lived off vitamins and native plants while trying to repair his inflatable raft. "I was embarrassed to be stranded on an island," Hopper said. "I thought I could fix my boat and make it to land ... I didn't want to spend the taxpayers' money to have the Coast Guard come rescue some stupid guy." After almost a week he finally gave up and called a cousin for help. No word on what makes Hopper the "Goat Man."

mernilio writes "According to UPI: 'A Massachusetts school district superintendent said a memo banning sixth graders from carrying pencils was written without district approval. North Brookfield School District interim Superintendent Gordon Noseworthy said Wendy Scott, one of two sixth-grade teachers at North Brookfield Elementary School, did not get approval from administrators before sending the memo to all sixth-grade parents, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported Thursday. The memo said students would no longer be allowed to bring writing implements to school. It said pencils would be provided for students in class and any students caught with pencils or pens after Nov. 15 would face disciplinary action for having materials 'to build weapons.'"