smidgy

Nigerian Scammers Meet Their Match

Email scammers get a taste of their own medicine when they get conned into videotaping a re-enactment of Monty Python's "Dead Parrot" skit, courtesy of a group named 419 Eater. Talk about karmic retribution.

Surf Video

Stunning super slow motion video of surfer Dylan Longbottom gliding through a 12 foot barrel wave. The scene was shot with a special HD camera that can film at 20 times the normal speed. This clip is taken from a BBC documentary that looks at the islands of the South Pacific.

From the BBC site:

"I really wanted to slow the wave down, so it was like being there, immersed in that environment," says the BBC's Huw Cordey, series producer of South Pacific.

"I wanted to capture the scale of the event."

Doing so took special skills and equipment. Australian cameraman Bali Strickland, renowned for filming expert surfers at some of the best surfing sites in the world, had to float in the water as the wave passed over him.

He filmed the wave using a £66,000 ($100,000) high-speed camera that captures the action at 20 times slower than normal speed, and in high definition.

The kit required a special housing unit designed and built by German specialist high-speed cameraman and technician Rudi Diesel.

Until this film, no one had ever tried using this type of camera underwater before.

Virtual Tour of New York City

Very high quality photos of New York City taken by someone floating god-like above it. Just click on the link, you'll see what I mean.
 

Alice in Wonderland

A beautiful and hypnotic re-interpretation of Alice in Wonderland, courtesy of Pogo. Should you wish to crank the trippy factor up to 11, take a look at this.

Via Digg

Time Lapse Video

A nifty little time lapse video shot on board a large ship.

Star Trek 2009

The Onion reports on the latest installment of the Star Trek films.

Smoking Is Good For Your Health

Photo: SA_Steve

If doctors everywhere are puffing on tobacco that is "naturally mild", "toasted" and contains "smoke scrubbers", there is no way cigarette smoking can do you harm. Here is a collection of lovely, utterly deceptive cigarette ads.

Unemployment Poetry

Text: Matthew Bottko, Illustration:Todd Eisner

Unemployment meets Haiku.

How to Save Money

Want to spend less when you're out and about? Carrying big bills apparently does the trick.

From Time:

According to a new study to be published in the Journal of Consumer Research, shoppers are less likely to spend their dough if they are carrying cash in large denominations. This so-called denomination effect can be a powerful predictor of consumer spending habits. Through a series of experiments, the study shows that if people have an equivalent amount of money, say $100, the folks with a Ben Franklin in their pockets might not part with it, while those carrying Andrew Jacksons and George Washingtons more easily give up the cash.

Stunning Saturn Photos

Photo: NASA/JPL/SSI

A magnificent selection of photos from the Cassini mission has been published on the site of the Boston Globe:

"NASA's Cassini spacecraft is now a nearly a year into its extended mission, called Cassini Equinox (after its initial 4-year mission ended in June, 2008). The spacecraft continues to operate in good health, returning amazing images of Saturn, its ring system and moons, and providing new information and science on a regular basis. The mission's name, "Equinox" comes from the upcoming Saturnian equinox in August, 2009, when its equator (and rings) will point directly toward the Sun. The Equinox mission runs through September of 2010, with the possibility of further extensions beyond that. Collected here are 24 more intriguing images from our ringed neighbor."

Via Pop!Tech