If you're the sort of awful cook who refuses to sample your own pudding for fear of chipping a tooth, then MIT has just the gadget for you. Still in development, the cats at the prestigious university are busy creating an intelligent spoon that hooks up to a computer to evaluate your cooking as you're doing it. While it works just like a regular spoon (for stirring and whatnot), it also calculates the salinity, viscosity, acidity and temperature of what you're making. Then it advises you to add a little... READ ON
For all you folks who identify with that old Shakespeare chestnut, "Hell hath no fury like an overprotective mother discovering a tattoo on her kid's arm (or worseth still, lower back)," stop your worrying. There's a new type of semi-permanent tattoo hitting the market that might just be the semi-rebellious rush you've been looking for. Created by the brilliant folks at Mass. General, these "smart tattoos" can be erased with a single, non-scarring laser treatment. The process is actually pretty... READ ON
Ok, ok... so the fact is the highly-touted, newly created "world's most-expensive sandwich ever" can't be found on any Golden Arches value menu. That's partially because a) at $151.81 it's hardly a value (even with fries), and b) because it isn't really a fast food product. The wallet-slimming gourmet item is actually the creation of one Scott McDonald, a chef at the London Department store Selfridges, where the finger food is offered. But what exactly makes these sammiches so darn expensive? Evidently, it... READ ON
As I was scouring New Scientist for good ideas, I noticed that some cats at M.I.T. are working on a device to alert autistic kids when their audience is getting bored, irritated or confused. In fact, the catchy-titled "emotional social intelligence prosthetic" (clearly these guys are better at science than marketing) consists of a very tiny camera, and a handheld device that indicates whether the person you're talking to is "agreeing, disagreeing, concentrating, thinking, unsure or... READ ON
Not sure if you guys read about this, but BoingBoing was reporting today that NASCAR has launched a new line of meat products (their slogan is "Taste the Excitement.") It's true! From hot dogs, to bacon, to sausage to lunch meat, NASCAR's definitely all over the grocery aisle, and it kind of reminds me of the time the WWF got into the cologne business. Of course, BoingBoing made a crack that the goods probably taste like burned rubber and car crashes. We're not one to upset... READ ON
Sometimes I forget what a crafty genius I am in the morning. Last night I made the mistake of trying to outwit my morning self by setting my alarm for the ungodly hour of 6, and placing it on my desk on the other side of the room. That way, I figured if I hit the snooze button multiple times, which I'm ashamed that I'm prone to do, I'd at least get a workout doing laps until I woke up (I'm also ashamed that that's what my workouts consist of). I did NOT, however end up doing... READ ON
This AP story, which is presumably headlined "Pet Boarding Industry Finds Pampering Pays" because the title "People Willing to Pay $78 a Night So Their Dogs Can Have Storytime Are Idiots" would have been too long, got me to thinking about history's most pampered pets, and frankly the Doggy Camp industry has a long way to go before they can match my Top 3: 1. Caligula's horse Incitatus. Roman historians claimed that Incitatus had "a stall of marble, a manger of ivory, ... and a collar of precious... READ ON
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Fatherly Advice
5 Questions: Nervous "Rex"
How Many Vice Presidents Can You Name in 10 Minutes?
The littlest president was James Madison. He was 5'4" and weighed about 100 pounds.
