Hats! Hats for cats!

01:55 PM | 2

Via Mefi, a tool-making crow. The video is amazing.

Along similar lines, there's Dr. Irene Pepperberg and her studies of avian intelligence, her most famous subject being Alex, an African Grey with the ability to count, identify objects, shapes and colors, and recognize concepts such as same and different. She's also written a book (Dr. Pepperberg, that is, not Alex).

12:04 PM | 3

There is a switch here in the office, and underneath it is taped the note "PLEASE DO NOT TURN OFF THIS SWITCH" with no clues as to what would happen if one did. I've asked a few people what it controls, and none of em know.

God, I want to flip that switch so bad.

03:46 PM | 4

Best news I've heard all week.

04:45 PM | 2

Randall Simon, the Pittsburgh Pirates' first baseman, leaned over the dugout railing and, with both hands, half-swung his bat behind the Italian sausage, an 18-year-old woman named Mandy. The bat hit her and she fell, knocking over the hot dog, a 19-year-old woman named Veronica.

That had to have been fun to write.

03:40 PM | 2

MLP: Bullet-time table tennis. [via Leonard]

04:52 PM | 2

I'd like one of these, please.

Stopped by the Mazda dealer the other night and picked up a brochure... no RX-8s yet, although they should have em by the end of the month. Must test drive.

04:03 PM | 6

Seems the Time Traveller is back in business.

If you've received a variation of the time traveller spams, add a comment to the original entry. I'd love to figure out what this is all about.

The latest message:

We need a vendor who can offer immediate supply.
I'm offering $5,000 US dollars just for referring a vender which is
(Actually RELIABLE in providing the below equipment) Contact details
of vendor required, including name and phone #. If they turn out to be
reliable in supplying the below equipment I'll immediately pay you
$5,000. We prefer to work with vendor in the Boston/New York area.

1. The mind warper generation 4 Dimensional Warp Generator # 52 4350a
series wrist watch with z80 or better memory adapter. If in stock the
AMD Dimensional Warp Generator module containing the GRC79 induction
motor, two I80200 warp stabilizers, 256GB of SRAM, and two Analog
Devices isolinear modules, This unit also has a menu driven GUI
accessible on the front panel XID display. All in 1 units would be
great if reliable models are available

2. The special 23200 or Acme 5X24 series time transducing capacitor
with built in temporal displacement. Needed with complete
jumper/auxiliary system

3. A reliable crystal Ionizor with unlimited memory backup.

4. I will also pay for Schematics, layouts, and designs directly
from the manufature which can be used to build this equipment
from readily available parts.

If your vendor turns out to be reliable, I owe you $5,000.

Email his details to me at: info@federalfundingprogram.com

07:53 PM | 7

Josh Ellis has his Creative Commons licensed album Love Songs for Bastards available for sale and download through Bitpass, a newly unveiled micropayment system that has the potential to actually stick around and become useful.

Quick LSfB review: Brings to mind cigarettes and liquor, cornfields and dusty highrises. I feel like I should really be hearing it on a beat up record player or a Wim Wenders soundtrack.

You can buy Josh's album for $3.50, or individual songs (try Berlin Floor Show) at 50 cents a pop. Scott McCloud is also on board, selling his new comic for for a quarter.

I can see this really taking off for musicians and pornographers.

About a month ago Josh mentioned the idea of moving Kuro5hin to the micropayment system, and while there are several viable ways we could have gone about doing that, the K5 readership would've probably lynched us and burned our houses down. Hell, simply changing the logo a couple years ago was a pretty traumatic event. Personally, I don't feel that it'd be right for K5 anyway, as the site already has its own methods of bringing in revenue, but I'd love to see an outfit such as Salon or Nerve take a shot at micropayments.

02:11 PM | 0