smidgy

Petpalio: a Dating Service For Your Pets

From stuff.co.nz:

A new matchmaking service for dogs – and virtually every other kind of domesticated pet from apes to zebras – promises to facilitate the arduous and heartbreaking process of hounding for the perfect mate.

Petpalio.com is the brainchild of Aaron Rodrigues, a 17-year-old self-styled "student entrepreneur" from Auckland.

Rodrigues said he came up with the concept after an agonising search for a canine companion for his two-year-old bichon frise, Lasie.

Björk Video Competition

If you are big fan of quirky-pop queen Björk, you too can become a part of her weird and wonderful creative universe by submitting your own music video to her latest release called Innocence.

The Heavy Price of Bottled Water

An article on CNNMoney.com about bottled mineral water. The writer did a quick price survey at an Exxon gas station, found that a 20 ounce bottle of Aquafina water cost as much as a same-sized bottle of Pepsi and was three times as dear as gasoline. Another interesting fact: the top two brands in the US, Aquafina, which is made by Pepsi, and Dasani, produced by Coca Cola, are nothing more than purified tap water.

Read the article here

The Sun As You Have Never Seen it Before

Check out these ultra cool 3D video clips of the Sun, part of a NASA project dubbed STEREO  to capture images of the sun from out-of-Earth view points. You will need 3D glasses to get the full experience and the site even has a how-to guide to make your own.

Tiny Products For Tiny Homes

 

If you have ever lived in a one room studio in New York City, you know just how precious every square inch of space is. Tiny Living is a site that offers everything from multi-purpose kitchen tables (as pictured above) to tiny electronics which will help you get the most out of your diminutive dwelling. Unsurprisingly, the site was started by a couple in New York that experienced their fair share of microscopic apartments. From the site:

Rubik's Cube Solved In 20 Seconds (One Handed)

What 300 Calorie Meals Look Like

Link: What Do 300 Calorie Meals Look Like?.

The Beginnings of the Bionic Eye

From BBC news:

US scientists have opened the way for the development of a "bionic eye".

They used electrodes to stimulate an area of the brain that processes visual information, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reported.

The results in monkeys increase the chance that people with conditions such as glaucoma will one day have their vision restored with a prosthetic eye.

But experts warned it would be a big hurdle to implant enough electrodes to recreate an entire image in the mind.

Link: BBC NEWS | Health | Research opens way for bionic eye.

Rent Yourself An Exoskeleton

While most people outside of Japan haven't even seen an exoskeleton, in the Land of the Rising Sun they are going to start renting them out. While the exoskeleton is targeted to people with disabilities, nothing would stop you from renting one, strapping it on and  beating the crap out of that bully that was twice your size in high school.

Link: Nursing-care, rehab robots gaining practical use | The Japan Times Online.

Via Core77

Texting As a Competitive Sport

From CNN.com:

Thirteen-year-old Morgan Pozgar, of Claysburg, Pennsylvania, was crowned LG National Texting champion on Saturday after she typed "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" from "Mary Poppins" in 15 seconds.

Apparently this girl sends out 8000 text messages a month to friends and family. That's over 260 per day. I wonder how fast she can type "Repetitive Stress Injury"?

Link: 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' wins $25,000 - CNN.com.