There's a DIY Gastric Bypass Surgery Kit For Sale on Amazon

For those considering gastric bypass surgery, take a look at Amazon's do-it-yourself kit. It's only $260 (cheap!) and comes with 3 sets (so you don't have to get it right the first time!). Bring your own anesthetics and instructions, though.

 

 

Rainbow Shots Turn Even More Rainbow In Your Stomach...Honest

There's not much you can say about this video of a bartender pouring out a series of rainbow-hued shots than WOW. I wonder if they all tasted different?

My guess, if so, would be yes, yes they do. I think I can spot algae, cucumber, '70s bathtub, earwax, urine, raw sausage, pureed carrot, rust, and bloodied water. 

 

 

This Is What It's Like to Stare a Black Hole In the Eye

If you ever got close enough to a black hole to get this view, you'd be on your way to anextremely horrible death and possibly other universes. So, uh, thank goodness for the magic of the internet?

What you're looking at is a computer-generated image, posted by NASA today, that shows the visual distortions that take place as light bends towards the immensely strong gravitational forces:

Every star in the normal frame has at least two bright images—one on each side of the black hole. Near the black hole, you can see the whole sky - light from every direction is bent around and comes back to you.

So that's what it's like to stare a black hole dead in the eye. It's sure less scarier than falling into one.

 

 

Sony Ericsson's Xperia Arc Has a New Type of Display

What the hell, Sony Ericsson? "Reality Display"!? Are you just jealous of Apple's Retina Display; Samsung's Super AMOLED Plus and LG's NOVA buzzwords? Whatever, this Android Gingerbread phone is slim at 8.7mm—yes, a new "world's slimmest" phone.

You've got to feel for LG really, who had barely a day riding the "world's slimmest" float with their 9.2mm Optimus Black, and before it the iPhone 4, which is a shade thicker.

The Arc has a 4.2-inch Reality Display with 854 x 480 resolution, which they say brings a brighter, clearer picture than other displays thanks to the "Mobile Bravia Engine". There's an 8.1MP camera on the back (no forward-facing cam here), and two color options: midnight blue and misty silver.

 

 

Charm the iPhone Snake to Sit 'Round Your Neck

This patent-pending iPhone neck-mount has dual uses. It can slither around your neck for hands-free viewing while on the go, or coil up on the desk in front of you, for stationary media-watching.

 

 

Did You Know It Costs More Than a Penny to Make a Penny?

I just found out that it costs more than a penny to manufacture a penny. Specifically, it costs 1.62 cents to produce that 1 cent copper coin. And that's been the case for a while now! What the hell?

Why's it cost so much? Apparently, the penny is made from 2.5% copper and 97.5% zinc and those metals have gone up in price as of late. In fact, if you could melt the coin, you'd have materials totaling 1.62 cents—more than the cent that measly penny is worth. That's crazy! What's crazier is that it's been that way since 2006. Aren't useful things supposed to be greater than the sum of its parts? Shouldn't they have changed the metal mixture to something cheaper by now?

Apparently, the director of the Mint tried to make the penny cheaper to manufacture but Congress shut that initiative down. As it currently stands, the Treasury boss can "recommend changes in metal content or in the amount of coins produced" but only Congress can make the final decision.

So maybe it'll eventually become worth the money to make! Though really, I figured this loss in manufacturing would make for a good reason to kill off the penny (I mean, who likes pennies?). But with old school Congress calling the shots, I doubt that'd ever happen—no matter how useless and expensive pennies become.

What Do Kings Use for Ringtones?

Would you believe me if I said that King Juan Carlos of Spain has the sound of giggling children set as his ringtone? And that it went off during a meeting with a Honduran ambassador?

According to Spanish newspaper El Pais, the King was shooting the breeze with a Honduran ambassador when the ringtone piped in:
But before accusing him of break and understand it's probably his GRANDCHILDREN. Juan Carlos never said what the ringtone actually was, but AOL news mentioned that he has a whole bunch of of the little runts, which would make sense. Moral of the story? The sensibilities of "royalty"—whatever that now means—are just as middlebrow as your own.

Can A Shirt Pocket Ever Be Too Big?

Can shirt pockets ever be too big? Can you appear sane with a netbook crammed into your chest pocket? No matter the answers, this weird shirt can be ordered now for $30 here.

South Korean Scientists Transmit Broadband Signals Through Human Arm

Human skin is apparently a very energy-efficient conduit for transmitting data. A recent experiment achieved a rate of 10Mbps, which may put my Internet connection to shame. The experiment used small, flexible electrodes and took place at Korea University.

The finding may lead to a new generation of medical devices that can monitor blood sugar or electrical activity in the heart. Such devices cut energy needs for a monitoring network by about 90 percent compared to wireless devices running on batteries.

South Korean researchers placed electrodes about 12 inches (30 centimeters) apart on a person's arm, and found that the low-frequency electromagnetic waves travel easily through the skin without any outside interference.

The South Korean study improved on past attempts by using tiny metal electrodes coated with a silicon-rich polymer, which allowed the device to bend at a 90-degree angle 700,000 times without incident. Each electrode was just about the width of three human hairs.

This may not seem all that surprising coming from South Korea, known as perhaps one of the most wired places on Earth for Internet. But we can't help but wonder if the researchers hadn't been watching some Battlestar Galactica goodness, given the tendency for a certain Cylon (played by Grace Park) to plug data cables into her arm for a bit of computer-on-computer consultation — not that we're talking about brains communicating directly with devices just yet.

 

 

A Map of the First Internet

This is Arpanet. The internet before Google. Before Flickr, before YouTube, before BitTorrent. Before pictures of your ex-girlfriend on Facebook. An internet that you could draw a map of with only a few lines and some dots. 1972.

At this point, the internet wasn't even the internet—still dubbed ARPANET, the Pentagon (and a handful of universities') private plaything. As you can see, it wasn't exactly extensive. The network served only to link key research centers. It's pretty amazing to think that this smattering of cables turned into the bizarre, twisted, incredibly complex nebula of porn, parody, knowledge hatred, joy, and cat videos we now adore.

 

 

Will It Blend? - Chrome Notebook

BlackBerry's Storm Line Looks Far From Dead With Pumped-Up Storm 3 Leak

It has a 3.7-inch display with 800 x 480 resolution (which will be the highest for a BlackBerry phone ever), along with a 1.2GHz processor to match therumored Torch 2 speed, and a 5MP camera that shoots video at 720p. Supposedly it'll have 8GB of storage, plus 512MB of RAM, and will be able to hotspot like the other two rumored handsets.

The Storm line has stumbled a few times, with talk that RIM might even kill the whole series off, but it looks set to be back on track with this far more powerful third model.

 

 

How to Attract Boys

Sony Telling People The PSP2 Is As Powerful As A PS3

It's part of a clear strategy Sony has for the upcoming (and still not yet officially unveiled) handheld, which is that it's "specifically requesting richer, more in-depth content to differentiate its device from app-centric Apple and Android devices."

Like its own PlayStation Phone, for example.

This all collaborates what Kotaku previously reported — that the PSP2 may rival consoles in horsepower. EA honcho John Riccitiello also told Kotaku, "Having something as powerful as a PlayStation 3 in your pocket is a pretty compelling idea."

The same report claims that while downloads will play a big part in the system's game library, the PSP2 will also use physical media so that its games can be sold in retail stores. It also states the handheld will be out in Q4 2011, possibly as early as October.

There's even word it may include some kind of phone (remember, the current PSP can be used as a Skype device), though "not as a primary function".

Before you spit internet coffee all over yourself, remember the PSP2 probably won't actuallybe as powerful as a PS3. But on a smaller screen, it should manage — just like the PSP did with the PS2 — to appear as though it's pretty close.

Kotaku is following up with Sony and will update should the company comment.

 

 

Mordor Is Real, and It's In Sicily

It's been nearly 350 years since Mt. Etna blew its top in a major way. Until yesterday, when Europe's largest active volcano spewed hot lava for two hours—within shouting distance of these people's houses. Location, location, location.

Fortunately the eruption didn't cause any injuries or damage, which means that the residents of this volcanic village were treated to an amazing fire show.

A Menu with Healthy Options May Make You Choose Unhealthier Meals

A recent study suggests that simply seeing healthy choices on a menu satisfies our desire to be healthy, causing us to be more likely to choose more indulgent foods when we actually place our order.

Daniel A. Marano at Psychology Today, explains:

Context is just as telling when it comes to that all-important piece of real estate known as the restaurant menu. A study published in the Journal of Consumer Research suggests that the mere presence of healthy offerings on a menu or on display in a restaurant or even in a vending machine can often be enough to vicariously satisfy our long-term health and nutrition goals-and trick our brains into allowing us to make more indulgent food selections, ones we would not otherwise make.

It's unlikely that restaurants will ever remove their unhealthy (but probably delicious) menu selections. Next time you're checking out your options and find yourself leaning towards the fried hamburger, keep in mind that the menu might be inadvertently messing with your head.

Real Magic Mouse for Windows

Microsoft's Touch Mouse for Windows 7 is a lot like Apple's Magic Mouse: The top is a capacitive, multitouch sensor. The difference? The Touch Mouse was actually designed to be used by humans.

It's the best touch experience on Windows yet. No surprise, 'cause Microsoft's designed the Touch Mouse's drivers and software, which is what really ties everything together. The ergonomics are quite solid too—unlike the Magic Mouse, which is passable, but not great. As you can guess, the hatches dotted all over the mouse mark the touch area.

The list of gestures is quite familiar:

• One finger scrolls in any direction inside of a window
• Swiping your thumb up and down acts like the back and forward buttons common on Windows mice
• Two fingers to the left or right activates Aero Snap, pinning the selected window to the side; two fingers up or down minimizes or opens minimized windows
• Three fingers—wait for it—activates a Mac OS X Expose-like view, showing all of your windows in a neat grid.

It's a little pricey at $80 when it comes out in June, but for a taste of what touch should be like in Windows, it could be worth it.

 

 

The Return of the Boxxy

iPhone Game Boy Case

Due to copyright concerns, Incipio will never sell this Game Boy case for the iPhone—but that didn't stop them from showing it off.

 

 

What Was This Person Thinking?

This is a mask that keeps a fresh patch of soil pressed to your face in order to force you to smell grass while listening to your own breath through the attached headphones. What are artists thinking lately?

The piece is called "The Open" and was created by Mattia Casalegno who describes the work as something which "plays with the Deleuzian notion of "ritornell" (refrain), and about the quality of sound to define a territory."