Idle

ThinkGeek's Best Ever Cease-and-Desist Letter 264

ThinkGeek, sister company to Slashdot, received a meticulously researched (except on one point) 12-page cease-and-desist letter from the National Pork Board. What had the meat lobbyists up in arms was an April Fools product from the TG catalog: Radiant Farms Canned Unicorn Meat, whose copy included the line "the new white meat." The NPB figured this was confusingly similar to their trademarked "the other white meat" (an advertising slogan the pork industry is considering retiring anyway). Geeknet, parent company of Thinkgeek and Slashdot, issued a press release apologizing for any confusion; you can read it on ThinkGeek's site (PDF), because the newswires refused to distribute it for some reason. Oh, and ThinkGeek has no intention of taking down the protected parody.
Music

Noisebridge Attempts to Teach Science To Juggalos Screenshot-sm 198

Working on the assumption that the Insane Clown Posse's song Miracles was indeed a tribute to the wonder of nature and not the cleverest troll ever, some folks from the hackerspace Noisebridge decided to try and educate ICP fans. Surprisingly, most of the fans seemed to enjoy the science lesson, but representatives of the band didn't seem to think it was funny.
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"Music" Of the Sun Recorded By Astronomers Screenshot-sm 94

Scientists at the University of Sheffield have recorded the "music" produced by the magnetic field in the outer atmosphere of the sun. They discovered that the huge magnetic loops that coil away from the outer layer of the sun's atmosphere, known as coronal loops, vibrate like strings on a musical instrument or behave like soundwaves traveling through a wind instrument. From the article: "Professor Robertus von Fáy-Siebenbürgen, head of the solar physics research group at Sheffield University, said, 'It was strangely beautiful and exciting to hear these noises for the first time from such a large and powerful source. It is a sort of music as it has harmonics. It is providing us with a new way of learning about the sun and giving us a new insight into the physics that goes on at in the sun's outer layers where temperatures reach millions of degrees.'"
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UK Police To Allow Gun Users To Renew Licenses With iPhone App Screenshot-sm 271

Sussex police are creating a number of iPhone apps for the public, including one to renew your gun license. Unsurprisingly, the plan has some anti-gun groups upset. Lyn Costello, of Mothers Against Murder and Aggression (MAMAA), said, "This isn't suitable, especially in light of what happened in Cumbria. We've got to be extra careful giving gun licenses. We have this attitude that gun murders don't happen very often so it's OK to be lax, but it is not OK and we've got to do everything in our power to stop it happening again. We can't put money before life and if you start to do that we are losing our humanity. It is a really stupid idea.''
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Romania Now Taking Donations Screenshot-sm 23

The Romanian government is taking an unusual approach to fixing its economic problems; it has created a donation box. Everyone except legal entities can donate money to the newly formed "solidarity fund." From the article: "Officials said the new fund is aimed at public officials who earn additional income on top of regular wages by serving on administrative boards of companies entirely or partially owned by the state. Prime Minister Emil Boc has also said he will donate his wages to the fund, but the account is open to anyone who wishes to contribute. Donations can be made by bank transfer to a special account and a list of donations will subsequently be published on the ministry's website."
Earth

Congressman Tells BP Exec That Other Cultures Would Demand His Suicide 10

During a hearing before a subpanel of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Cliff Stearns told BP America President Lamar McKay, "Well, in the Asian culture we do things differently. During the Samurai days, we just give you a knife and ask you to commit harakiri." I'm sure Mr. McKay expected to get his fair share of grief at the hearing, but I bet he never thought it would be suggested that he commit ritual suicide.
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How Sperm Whales Offset Their Carbon Footprint Screenshot-sm 150

Boy Wunda writes "Scientists at Flinders University in South Australia found that in an awesome example of design by Mother Nature, Southern Ocean sperm whales offset their carbon footprint by simply defecating – an action that releases tons of iron a year and stimulates the growth of phytoplankton which absorb and trap carbon dioxide. If only we humans could say the same for our poop, which really doesn't do much more than just sit there." I'm going to do my part by buying some iron supplements and a can of chili, and heading off toward the ocean.
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Airline Employee Finds Box of Human Heads Screenshot-sm 3

A package containing 40-60 human heads caused some concern to the Southwest Airlines employee who found them. The package was unlabeled and was supposed to be delivered to a Fort Worth medical research company. From the article: "The heads were being transported to the Fort Worth office of Medtronic, a leading medical research and technology company based in Minnesota. Medtronic spokesman Brian Henry said it is common to ship body parts for medical education and research, but he said it is rare for a shipment to be seized."
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Study Shows Monkeys Like Watching TV Screenshot-sm 103

According to a Japanese study, monkeys are not immune to the siren call of the idiot box. It seems rhesus monkeys enjoy watching videos of circus animals. From the article: "The study found that when the monkey was witnessing the acrobatic performances of circus animals on a television screen, the frontal lobe area of its brain became vigorously active. The activity in such an area was significant in reflecting the monkey's pleasure, as the human equivalent is a neurological area associated with triggering delight in a baby when it sees the smile of its mother."
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Ozzy Osbourne To Be Genetically Decoded Screenshot-sm 256

Dashiva Dan writes "DNA research lab Knome has announced that it is going to sequence Ozzy's entire genome. Ozzy, the former lead singer of Black Sabbath, reality television star, and spokesman for World of Warcraft among many other things, has been selected so they can discover, among other things, how drugs are absorbed in the body. The amount of abuse Ozzy has put himself through and survived is a large part of why he was chosen."
The Internet

Over a Third of the Internet Is Pornographic 247

Th'Inquisitor writes "Pornography makes up 37% of the total number of web pages online, according to a new study published by Optenet, a SaaS provider. According to the report, which looked at a representative sample of around four million extracted URLs, adult content on the Internet increased by 17% in the first quarter of 2010, as compared to the same period in 2009."
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Dating Site For Mac Lovers Only Screenshot-sm 11

The Installer writes "An article on Komo's website talks about a new website to help Mac lovers find love. From the article: 'Apple Inc.'s ads used to challenge consumers to "think different." Now a website wants to help fans of the iPhone and Mac computer maker date different, too. Called Cupidtino, an homage to Apple's home base in Cupertino, Calif., the site aims to connect Apple aficionados with like-minded "Machearts." The idea is that if you love the iPhone and Mac maker's products you might be best suited to date a fellow Apple fan. Profile pages on the site reveal such intimate details as earliest Apple product purchases and lists of favorite iPhone apps.'"
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X-ray Pin-Up Calendar Screenshot-sm 3

Medical Supply company Eizo has released a pin-up calendar proving that beauty is only bone deep. The X-rays leave very little to the imagination.
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Chatroulette Working On Genital Recognition Algorithm Screenshot-sm 364

Show them while you can, Internet exhibitionists. Chatroulette is working on image-recognition software that will filter out shots of male genitalia. The website's founder, Andrey Ternovskiy, hopes that blocking the offending members will help clean up Chatroulette's reputation. He's even enlisted the help of Napster founder Shawn Fanning. I wonder if someone has told Andrey how well it went for Napster?
Social Networks

Guggenheim To Showcase YouTube Videos Screenshot-sm 66

dward90 writes "The Guggenheim Museum in New York has begun a program to submit YouTube videos to be declared High Art. From PCW: 'Are your YouTube videos so good they deserve to be in a museum? Thanks to a partnership between Google and the Guggenheim Museum in New York you stand, at least, a remote chance. The search giant and one of the most famed museums in the world for modern and contemporary art are collaborating on a new project called YouTube Play: A Biennial of Creative Video. The project will showcase up to 20 video works submitted to YouTube at the Guggenheim in New York on October 21, and online at YouTube.com/Play.'"
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Matador In Litigation For Being Scared Screenshot-sm 15

Christian Hernandez's refusal to take the bull by the horns has landed him in legal trouble. The 22-year-old bullfighter ran from the ring twice during a performance at Plaza Mexico. He was arrested for breach of contract a short time later. Hernandez released a statement saying, "There are some things you must be aware of about yourself, I didn’t have the ability, I didn't have the balls, this is not my thing."
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Man Claims He Was Seduced By Cow Screenshot-sm 20

After getting caught having carnal relations with a cow, 18-year-old Gusti Ngurah Alit claimed it wasn't his fault because the cow seduced him. From the article: "On Friday, Alit underwent a cleansing ritual in which he was bathed and the cow was drowned in the sea to rid the village of bad luck. Alit said he did not see a cow but a beautiful young woman. 'She called my name and seduced me, so I had sex with her,' he said."
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The White House Listed On Real Estate Website Screenshot-sm 123

Forget visiting the White House, if you have $10 million you can own it. At least that is the price for the president's home on the real estate website Redfin. From the article: "Obviously this is an error. It looks like Redfin software pulled an example listing from the website Owners.com by mistake. That example listing was the White House. We have e-mailed Redfin for comment." I know it's historic but it still looks a bit on the high side according to the comparables in the area.

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