Hidden camera footage of police officers hindering citizens who try to file complaints

Hidden camera footage of police officers hindering citizens who try to file complaints:

This video is a montage of hidden camera footage of police officers across America -- in unspecified jurisdictions -- intimidating or otherwise hindering someone who has asked for a complaint form. They ask for ID, they demand details, they make veiled threats, they make explicit threats. This is exactly what happened to me the two times I tried to file a complaint for police misconduct (once in Toronto, once in San Francisco).

Wanna File a Police Complaint (Arrested for Trying)

(via Reddit)

BarBot 2012

BarBot 2012:

This Friday and Saturday we'll be at BarBot 2012 with Drink Making Unit 2.0.
The event is March 2-3, 8 pm to 12 am at PariSoma and is for ages 21+. Get your advance tickets soon as they are nearly sold out!

The Dark and Depressing Story of Sushi in Miniature [Video]

The Dark and Depressing Story of Sushi in Miniature [Video]:

Watch this cool, albeit depressing, little short on the process of creating sushi, from catching the fish to putting it on your table. The whole thing is done using handcrafted sets and minitatures and took over seven months to create. Sushi with the girls just got a whole lot more complicated. More »

Icebound, long-abandoned Communist flying saucer in the cliffs of Bulgaria

Icebound, long-abandoned Communist flying saucer in the cliffs of Bulgaria:

Timothy sez, "This is a link to some photos I have took of Buzludzha (pronounced Buz'ol'ja) a very remote building in the Balkan Mountains. It is Bulgaria's largest monument to Communism which was left to ruin after the revolution in 1989. An incredible 70 metre tall, 1970's 'flying saucer' perched precariously in the snow on a ridge at 1500m. Full of beautiful communist mosaic frescos and an amazing central atrium complete with giant golden hammer and sickle. It took 6000 workers 7 years to build. I managed to fly over it in a microlight in mid winter to get some interesting pictures too. Such an amazing place."

Forget Your Past

(Thanks, Timothy!)

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A moronic bike thief attempts to ply his trade

A moronic bike thief attempts to ply his trade:

[Video Link] From Animal New York:

While out on a shoot Friday, the ANIMAL team captured footage of a thief with questionable intelligence trying to steal parts from a locked up bike on the Lower East Side. The video was shot at around 3PM on Attorney Street (between Houston and Stanton). That’s when a young man wearing a hoodie loosened the handlebars from a track bike and attempted to rip them off, literally. Sadly for him, this fixed gear has brakes and the cable prevents him from doing so, resulting in hilarity.

A moronic bike thief attempts to ply his trade

Japan Creates Earthquake-Proof Levitating House System

Japan Creates Earthquake-Proof Levitating House System:

An anonymous reader writes "Japanese company Air Danshin Systems Inc. has developed an innovative system that levitates houses in the in the event of an earthquake to protect them from structural damage. When an earthquake hits, a sensor responds within one second by activating a compressor, which forces an incredible amount of air under the home, pushing the structure up and apart from its foundation. The air pressure can keep the home levitating up to 3cm from the shaking foundation below. In the wake of last year's Fukushima disaster the company is set to install the levitation system in 88 houses across Japan."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Wacom announces Intuos5 graphics tablets, we go hands-on! (video)

Wacom announces Intuos5 graphics tablets, we go hands-on! (video):

It's a couple of months since we spotted paperwork for a mysterious "PTK-450" device at the FCC and now Wacom has finally revealed the gadget that goes with the label. The Intuos5 tablet is available to purchase immediately in Small (4 x 6 inches), Medium (6 x 8) and Large (13 x 8) sizes, priced at £200, £330 and £430 respectively. We're still waiting on confirmation of US pricing, but it'll no doubt be less than what a straight currency conversion suggests (i.e. somewhere below $320, $525 and $680). There's actually a fourth variant to add to the trio, but it's not an XL -- Wacom is hoping to up-sell you to a Cintiq 21UX or Cintiq 24HD if you want something bigger. Instead, the fourth tablet is a version of the Medium that comes without touch sensitivity, bringing the price down to £270 if you're able to live with pen-only input. Opting for this particular model will remove one of the biggest upgrades in this three-year product cycle: the ability of the Intuos5 to sense up to 16 finger-touches simultaneously, rather than just the nib of the pen. But there have been other revisions since the Intuos4 aside from touch, and you only have to read on to discover what those are.

Continue reading Wacom announces Intuos5 graphics tablets, we go hands-on! (video)

Wacom announces Intuos5 graphics tablets, we go hands-on! (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Feb 2012 21:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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12-port USB strip

12-port USB strip:

This 12-port USB power-strip looks like just the thing for people like me, who have three or four USB switches daisy-chained behind our desks (in fact, I could use a 24-port model). I have no idea if this is a crapgadget or not, but I like the underlying notion.

Satechi 12 Port USB Hub with Power Adapter & 2 Control Switches

(via Red Ferret)

Seti Live Website To Crowdsource the Search For Alien Life

Seti Live Website To Crowdsource the Search For Alien Life:

bs0d3 writes "Scientists need your help in the search for life beyond Earth. The SETI Institute is asking the public to join in its hunt for signals from intelligent civilizations out there in the universe. Anyone can register on the new website, SETI Live, to help analyze data from SETI's radio telescope devoted to scanning the heavens for signals from E.T.."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Lytro pre-orders start shipping, infinite focusing now within reach

Lytro pre-orders start shipping, infinite focusing now within reach:

Those of you that scurried to get an early spot in the pre-order cue for Lytro's upcoming camera, ought to carefully skim your inboxes for an email confirming shipment of your infinite focusing shooter. Per a ton of tips from you, in addition to a post from the company's official blog, early orders of the unconventionally shaped camera that allows you to refocus after the fact are now en route to abodes stateside. When we played with it at its launch event, we came away impressed, yet ultimately longed for the underlying technology to be licensed to others -- something the company maintains it's actively exploring. No matter, with a unit in hand, look for our full review in the coming days.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Lytro pre-orders start shipping, infinite focusing now within reach

Lytro pre-orders start shipping, infinite focusing now within reach originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Feb 2012 18:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mini quadrotors play Bond, James Bond (video)

Mini quadrotors play Bond, James Bond (video):

This week's TED2012 conference isn't all talk -- sometimes the videos features speak for themselves. Check out this phenomenal one from the University of Pennsylvania starring a number of nano quadrotors playing the James Bond theme by banging percussion, hitting the piano and strumming a guitar. The room in the video has infrared lights and cameras and the 'copters are outfitted with reflectors, making it possible to plot their position. The result is technical wizardry worthy of Q himself. Check it out after the break.

Continue reading Mini quadrotors play Bond, James Bond (video)

Mini quadrotors play Bond, James Bond (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Feb 2012 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Challenge: A Simple, Yet Seemingly Impossible Puzzle [Search Research]

Challenge: A Simple, Yet Seemingly Impossible Puzzle [Search Research]:

Googler Daniel Russell knows how to find the answers to questions you can't get to with a simple Google query. In his weekly Search Research column, Russell issues a search challenge, then follows up later in the week with his solution—using whatever search technology and methodology fits the bill. This week's challenge: A simple, yet seemingly impossible puzzle. More »

SwiftKey launches SDK, phones and tablets get more predictable

SwiftKey launches SDK, phones and tablets get more predictable:

SwiftKey is responsible for as many saved typing hours, as it is crushing affirmations of just how predictable we really are. A fact that can now be drilled home by infinitely more devices, thanks to a new SDK for OEMs. Developers for a variety of platforms and programming languages (including C++, iOS and JVM) can access SwiftKey's core language-engine technology for their own UI or on screen keyboard, and with support for over 40 languages, we can expect many more tablets, phones and even white goods to worryingly know what we were going to say.

Continue reading SwiftKey launches SDK, phones and tablets get more predictable

SwiftKey launches SDK, phones and tablets get more predictable originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Feb 2012 16:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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