Yes, another extreme version of a sport or hobby (extreme ironing being my favorite). The good people over at the Connecticut eXtreme Croquet Society have bonded together against the more milquetoast croquet aficionados; their mission statement declares them as ”dedicated to enjoying eXtreme croquet, nature, and the near-death experience!™” Any extreme course will likely be channelling Herbert Swope, whose “course was so large that players had to shout to one another. It had sand traps, bunkers, rough, and Long Island Sound waiting in the distance.”

In the United States, eXtreme croquet took a step forward in the late 1970’s with the development of “Guerilla Croquet”, invented by collegiate champion Hans Peterson and his partners at Croquet Magazine, Bob Alman and Michael Orgill. Another entry into the eXtreme category came from Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, where trucks with oversize tires smash six-foot balls through giant hoops.

One extreme croquet group lists courses lovingly authored by their members. It’s fun to see how we all have a different idea of the most frustrating way to wield a mallet…

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If tractor trailers were really designed like this, I would drive more.

My friend Sonali sent these my way. We’re not sure where they came from or who deserves credit. (If they’re yours, raise your hand.) Could be part of a Photoshop contest. Very cool stuff.
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Gadling picked this up via user Sel on Flickr, but no one on either of those sites has the foggiest idea what this sign means. I think our readers are smarter, however, so give it your best shot! (We’re pretty sure it’s not “no walking on hot coals,” “it’s forbidden to sleepwalk on a holey blanket” or “refrain from surfing shark-infested waters on perforated plywood,” so you’ll have to get more creative than that.)

The other weekend (on Mother’s Day, actually) I had the privilege of seeing Bill Cosby live in concert. It was a great show, and the audience was literally roaring for most of it. But one thing stood out for me — Cosby’s interaction with the lady translating the act into American Sign Language on the fly. At various points in the act, Cosby would apologize to the translator, then head into what seemed like an untranslatable bit (for example, the “dentist” bit below — when he gets into the “numb mouth” part). But the translator was absolutely up to the task — from what I would tell (knowing zero sign language myself) she switched into using the American Manual Alphabet at various points, spelling out words with furious speed, and mixing the spelled-out bits with full-word signs. At the end of the dentist bit, the audience cheered — for the translator!

Here’s the bit in question (though from a performance 24 years ago):

Further reading: Wikipedia on American Sign Language.

Check out this amazing, interactive drumming robot from Georgia Tech. The creation, designed by Director of Music Technology Gil Weinberg and his grad student Scott Driscoll, uses “computational power and numerical algorithms to listen, analyze and improvise.” Sadly, he’s already better than most of the kids from my high school jazz band. Link via ETTF.

We’ve endured a lot of fad waters over the years, especially recently. (I’m talking to you, “Vitamin” Water.) “Penta Water” is another one; it’s supposedly absorbed more effectively by your body because it’s been shot through with high-energy sound waves (a claim not verified by scientists). In fact, some of these bottled waters can be dirtier than what comes out of the tap — about 22 percent of brands that are tested contain, in at least one sample, chemical contaminants at levels above strict state health limits. But now a California firm called Oculus Innovative Sciences say they’ve developed a water that really does something — namely, heal life-threatening burns and wounds — and so far, scientists haven’t spoiled the party.

The process they use to electrically charge the water filters it through a semi-permeable sodium chloride membrane, which produces oxychlorine ions, which supposedly kill viruses, bacteria and fungi, and as a result can do nifty things like speed up wound healing. (This is hopefully good new for diabetes sufferers; healing diabetic foot ulcers should markedly reduce the need for foot amputations.) But don’t celebrate just yet: they’re still in the trial phase. We’ll keep you posted!

The Economist Intelligence Unit, a sister company of my favorite mag The Economist, published a study last week rating 82 countries in terms of innovation. The study took place between 2002 and 2006, defining innovation as “the application of knowledge in a novel way, primarily for economic benefit.” Okay, perhaps not exactly how we here at the _floss would define innovation, but hey, it’s called The Economist for a reason.
The number of patents each country generated during those four years, per million people, was the primary method for determining the measure of innovation. As for the results? Not what you might expect. India, for instance, didn’t even make the top 15, nor did China. In addition to patents, top determinants were the technical skills of a country’s workforce and the quality of its telecoms and information technology infrastructure. Again, it’s hard to imagine India not making the top 15, but apparently the return on innovations is greater in middle-income countries like Mexico. According to the data, Japan, Switzerland and the U.S. rank 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The complete top 15 list after the jump.

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Although what we think of as the Legend of King Arthur is taken from Thomas Malory (and later T.H. White) and is set in the Middle Ages, the first mentions of Arthur came centuries earlier, when he was referred to as a battlefield hero of the sixth century. The stories grew over the centuries, and many places in the British Isles have become associated with King Arthur and his contemporaries.

Tintagel is reportedly the place where Arthur was conceived (through trickery) and may also be his birthplace. The castle at Tintagel in Cornwall you can see today was built in the 1230s, but excavations reveal several earlier layers of construction. The fortress is in a popular spot for watching for invasion from abroad, and may well have been used in this manner for a thousand years or more. Tintagel Island is also the site of Merlin’s Cave.

The site of the old Roman Amphitheater in Caerleon is often referred to as “King Arthur’s Round Table”. Legend has it that Arthur set up court in Caerleon after the Romans left Britain. Geoffrey of Monmouth noted that Arthur held court in the City of the Legions. in Welsh, Caerleon means “The Fortress of the Legion.”

More possible sites for Camelot, and Arthur’s resting place, after the jump.
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The Great Lakes have always loomed Mt. Rushmore-like in my life. I grew up in Michigan and my dad is a sailor, so from a young age I knew to be ashamed if I couldn’t rattle off the stats: “They-contain-1/5-of-the-world’s-fresh-surface-water!” and “Lake-Superior-is-larger-than-South-Carolina!” or “Michigan-has-more-coastline-than-any-other-state-but-Alaska!”
And even though I might–on a good day and safely outside state lines–have passed for a marine savant, the world is lucky I never blossomed into a maritime professional. I don’t so do well on boats. Instead, I shadowbox with agents, trying to convince them why the show I’m casting isn’t another Surreal Life. And sometimes, while waiting for a good yes or two, my mind wanders and I start to extrapolate my daydreams into a parallel universe in which they turn into reality shows. (more…)

Back when I was in 7th grade I stood up in front of my English class and delivered a tongue-in-cheek, poorly researched presentation on why I thought Mister Rogers should be the next President. I ate up the first few minutes zipping up my cardigan, and putting on some sneakers, and then I proceeded to mock him roundly. It was a riotous success. Fourteen years later, I’m using this post to repent. The following are 15 things everyone should know about Fred Rogers:

1. Even Koko the Gorilla loved him
Most people have heard of Koko, the Stanford-educated gorilla who could speak about 1000 words in American Sign Language, and understand about 2000 in English. What most people don’t know, however, is that Koko was an avid Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood fan. As Esquire reported, when Fred Rogers took a trip out to meet Koko for his show, not only did she immediately wrap her arms around him and embrace him, she did what she’d always seen him do onscreen: she proceeded to take his shoes off!

2. He Made Thieves Think Twice
According to a TV Guide piece on him, Fred Rogers drove a plain old Impala for years. One day, however, the car was stolen from the street near the TV station. When Rogers filed a police report, the story was picked up by every newspaper, radio and media outlet around town. Amazingly, within 48 hours the car was left in the exact spot where it was taken from, with an apology on the dashboard. It read, “If we’d known it was yours, we never would have taken it.”

3. He Watched His Figure to the Pound!
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