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Volume 9,
Number 4
Submitted: August 21, 2003
First Revision: October 14, 2003
Second Revision: November 14, 2003
Third Revision: November 23, 2003
Fourth Revision: November 24, 2003
Fifth Revision: November 27, 2003
Sixth Revision: December 1, 2003
Accepted: December 1, 2003
Publication Date: December 1, 2003
Birgit Schyns
Karin Sanders
Tilburg University, The Netherlands
Research on the evaluation of leaders has shown that evaluation ratings are prone to several biases. The present study deals with one possible bias, namely, the relationship between mood and the perception or evaluation of a leader. The affect-as-information framework, which indicates that mood influences the response to certain kinds of questions, constitutes the theoretical background of the study. In the study, we ask students to indicate their mood, then to read a description of a leader (either transformational or transactional) and finally to evaluate the leader with respect to different leadership styles. The results indicate that mood is related to the perception of management-by-exception passive, but not others, e.g., transformational leadership. Reasons for these outcomes are discussed and implications for future research and organizational practice presented.
Subordinates evaluate their leaders on different occasions. Frequently their evaluation is used as the basis for the further development of the leader (Atwater & Waldman, 1998; Beehr, Ivanitskaya, Hansen, Erofeev, & Gudanowski, 2001). Several authors showed that the agreement between self and other ratings in this process is rather low (e.g., Atwater & Yammarino, 1992; Brett & Atwater, 2001; Paul, Schyns, Wolfram, & Mohr, 2003; Yammarino & Atwater, 1997). The disagreement might be related to different kinds of influences that play a role in the process of ratings. According to Harris and Schaubroeck (1988), different biases can be observed on the leaders' as well as the followers' side. Leaders, for example, may be subject to an egocentric bias when rating themselves (and, thus, indicate higher self-ratings in comparison to other ratings). Also, leaders and followers (just as actors and observers in general) have different observational opportunities and, therefore, may attribute behavior differently. In general, actors often attribute their behavior to unstable sources, such as situational influences, whereas observers frequently attribute behavior to stable causes, such as personality (Heider, 1958).
So far researchers have focused specifically on influences on the followers' side of evaluation or perception [1], referring to effects of either implicit leadership theories (Eden & Leviathan, 1975; Schyns & Felfe, 2003) or personality (Felfe & Schyns, 2003). Hence, there is some knowledge about stable characteristics of followers. Nonetheless, the effects of yet another factor that might affect evaluation, namely the mood of the evaluator, have received (relatively) little scientific attention. In this paper, we investigate how the mood of the evaluators of a leader affects their perception of the leader's leadership style. In the following section, we will describe how mood may affect the perception and evaluation of leaders.
A model of leadership often used in research is Bass' (1985) full-range of leadership model. It comprises transformational leadership (with five subscales: idealized influence (attributed and behavior), inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration), transactional leadership (contingent reward and management-by-exception active and management-by-exception passive), and laissez-faire leadership. The model ranges from exceptional (transformational leadership) to non-leadership (laissez-faire leadership).
According to Bass (1990: 53), "the transformational leader asks followers to transcend their own self-interests for the good of the group, organization, or society; to consider their long-term needs to develop themselves, rather than their needs of the moment; and to become aware of what is really important." Transactional leadership refers to "the exchange relationship between leaders and followers to meet their own self-interests" (Bass, 1999: 10). In laissez-faire leadership (also known as non-leadership), leaders avoid displaying leadership whatsoever (Bass & Avolio, 1993). Empirical research has demonstrated that transformational leadership is positively related to performance and hence highly effective (see for a meta-analysis Lowe, Kroek, & Sivasubramaniam, 1996). Transactional leadership can be considered effective as well, although the performance related to this leadership style is lower than the one related to transformational leadership (Hater & Bass, 1988). Laissez-faire leadership style is negatively related to performance and therefore not successful (Bass & Avolio, 1990).
Den Hartog, Van Muijen, and Koopman (1997) re-analyzed the instrument to assess the full-range of leadership model (the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire; Bass & Avolio, 1990). They found that a differentiation between active (transformational and transactional leadership: contingent rewards, management-by-exception active) and passive styles (laissez-faire and transactional leadership: management-by-exception passive) fitted their data better than the model assumed by Bass and Avolio (1990) although the active factor could be separated into subdimensions similar to transformational and transactional leadership. The subscales of their three-factor solution are called inspirational leadership, rational-objective leadership, and passive leadership. Whereas the inspirational leadership is almost identical to transformational leadership, the rational-objective leadership subscale comprises mainly the transactional subscales of contingent reward and management-by-exception active. The passive factor was composed of management-by-exception passive and laissez-faire leadership. Van Muijen, Den Hartog and Koopman (1997) found a positive relationship between the active components of the MLQ and commitment and a negative relationship between the passive component and commitment.
For the purposes of our study, we will consider transformational leadership, contingent reward and management-by-exception active as active and effective leadership styles, whereas management-by-exception passive and laissez-faire leadership as passive are less effective leadership styles.
In their pioneering study, Schwarz and Clore (1983) focused on the possible effects of mood on the response to questionnaires on life-satisfaction. They found that participants relied on their present mood when judging their life satisfaction.
Generalizing from their results, we expect that mood would have an impact on the evaluation of others. From research on politicians (e.g., Isbell & Wyer, 1999; Ottati & Isbell, 1996), we can infer that some people tend to judge others less positively when they are in a bad mood. Ottati and Isbell (1996) found that this effect is moderated by expertise: while the effect held true for political novices (e.g., persons with almost no knowledge about politics), it was different for "experts," who judged politicians more positively when they were in a bad mood than when they were in a good mood.
Similarly, in a study simulating an organization, Fried, Levi, Ben-David, Tiegs, and Avital (2000) found that raters with negative mood tend to rate performance low whereas raters with positive mood tend to rate performance high.
We can, therefore, expect from both theory and research (e.g., Ottati & Isbell, 1996; Isbell & Wyer, 1999) that, in the context of leadership questioning, employees' perception of the style of leadership is related to their present mood. In case of management-by-exception passive and laissez faire we expect the following relationship: The worse the mood, the more likely the perception of the leadership style as management-by-exception passive or laissez faire (H1a and b). The basis for these hypotheses is that management-by-exception passive and laissez faire were found to be less effective than transformational leadership or the active dimensions of transactional leadership. This was especially the case when employees' ratings (such as their satisfaction) were examined (Lowe et al., 1996). We therefore assume that transformational and transactional (contingent reward and management-by-exception active) are considered to be more positive than management-by-exception passive or laissez faire bringing our hypotheses in line with the results mentioned above. On the basis of the research cited above, we assume that the effect of mood on the perception of leadership is more pronounced for bad mood.
Eighty-four Dutch students took part in the study (66 women and 13 men, five not reported) of whom 73 were psychology students and seven were Human Resources Management students; one person studied a related subject. The mean age of the participants was 20 years (SD = 3.0). The respondents had an average work experience of 2.7 years (SD = 1.1) and only three of them indicated they had no work experience at all (five not reported); 40.4% of all the participants had worked full time (either during the holidays or otherwise).
The data reported here constitute a part of a larger experimental study on the perception of leadership. In the course of the study, we asked students receiving course credits to fill in a questionnaire at time 1 (t1) and then again two weeks later (t2). The current study is based only on the data gathered at t2. The design of the study was as follows: Students first had to indicate their mood. We then divided the students into two random groups and requested them to read a description of a leader (either transformational or transactional, depending on the group; for more details on the description see section instruments) and to rate the respective leaders with respect to leadership behavior. We decided against an induction of mood, as we wanted to have the mood aspect as close to a natural setting as possible. Consequently, "natural" variance of mood was assessed here.
Vignette. Half of the participants read a description of a transformational leader, the other half of a transactional leader. The descriptions were based on descriptions by Kirkpatrick and Locke (1996). The participants were placed in the context of an introduction to a traineeship. We told the students to image that the given leader would welcome them to a traineeship with the following speech: (1) "Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Today we are starting start our project 'Paper for People' that proposes an important challenge for BKC. With this product, we will establish a new standard with respect to the quality and protection of ecological resources. If we are successful and I'm convinced we will be this will be a milestone in our branch. Together we can be proud of this...." (transformational leader group); or (2) "Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Today we will start our project 'Paper for People'. The pilot of the project on which you are going to work will last about two months. I expect you to be ready for action, flexible, and dedicated. Of course, overtime is paid extra..." (transactional leader group). Hence, whereas the transformational leader emphasized distant goals and common effort, the transactional leader stressed the exchange aspect for what is done. Both groups received the same description of the project and related tasks.
Perception of Leadership [2]. We asked participants to rate the leaders described in the vignette using the transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire subscales of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ; Bass and Avolio, 1990; Dutch translation by Vinkenburg & van Engen, 2002[3]). As the factor structure is not really clear (for different factor solutions see also Avolio, Bass, & Jung, 1999; Den Hartog, et al., 1997; Schyns, 2001), a Maximum Likelihood factor analysis was conducted in order to define the factor structure in the data set. The hypothesized five-factor structure for transformational leadership (Bass & Avolio, 1990) did not prove to be replicable. The items that were supposed to load on the same factor did not, and eight items would have had to be deleted due to low factor loadings or double loadings. We decided therefore to use a one-factor solution. Still, four items had to be deleted due to low factor loadings. The internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) for the remaining fifteen items of the combined scale was Alpha = .89. The answer categories ranged from 1 (almost always) to 5 (never). We recoded the items in a way that higher values mean higher transformational leadership. For contingent reward no interpretable factor structure emerged. Of the four items of this scale, only two loaded high on the first factor. Hence, the scale was not taken into account in the further analyses. For management-by-exception active, one of the four items had to be eliminated due to a low factor loading. The internal consistency was .58 for the remaining three items. For management-by-exception passive, the internal consistency was .72 for three items (one item deleted due to low factor loading). An internal consistency of .66 emerged for laissez-faire leadership. Again, items were recoded so high scores reflect a high value on the respective leadership style. All scores we used in our analyses were sumscores divided by number of items. The reported instruments had an internal consistency higher than necessary (see endnote 2).
Mood. The present mood of the participants was assessed using the Amsterdam Mood Scale (De Sonneville, Schaap, & Elshoud, 1984). The scale contains ten subscales: depressive, frolicsome, shy, bad-tempered, angry, tired, conscientious, indifferent, arrogant, and terrified. In the introduction to the questionnaire, it was stressed that the items refer to the mood at the given moment and not to what one is like in general. For our analysis, we only took into account the subscales depressive and angry, as these seemed to best represent bad mood for which we expected a more pronounced effect (see above). Cronbach's alpha was .87 for depressive and .86 for angry. All mood subscales run from 0 (absolutely not) to 4 (very good). For the analyses, we added the scores (sumscores divided by the number of items) of the depressive and the angry subscales and used an additive score: The higher the score, the worse the mood of the participant.
In Table 1 the means, standard deviation, internal consistencies of the scales and the intercorrelations of the scales are given.
Table 1: Means, Standard Deviations, Internal Consistencies, and Intercorrelations of the Scales
4. Laissez-faire
5. Mood
- .05
Note: TL = Transformational leadership; MBA = Management-by-exception active; MBP = Management-by-exception passive; *p < .05 (2-tailed); **p < .01 level (2-tailed).
Preliminary Analyses
We conducted t-tests to examine whether men and women differed with respect to any of the scales used in this study. As we conducted nine tests at the same time, an adjustment of the alpha-level was necessary (0.05/5 = 0.001). Since none of the differences reached this alpha level, we assumed that men and women do not differ on these scales.
The same procedure was repeated for age. Since no correlation reached a significance level of 0.001, we concluded that age and the instruments used are not related. The same conclusion was reached for work experience.
Before testing our hypotheses, we tested in how far participants receiving the description of a transformational leader rated their leader more transformational than participants receiving the description of a transactional leader rated their leader. The means were higher for the rating of the transformational leader than for the rating of the transactional leader (M = 3.98 versus M = 3.77, t(7) = -1.96).The difference between the groups of participants, however, was not significant (p = .053).
We conducted the same analysis for differences in management-by-exception active, management-by-exception passive and laissez-faire. Here the group rating a transactional leader should have higher values than the one rating a transformational leader. Again, the differences did not become significant (M transactional leader group = 3.51, M transformational leader group = 3.48, t(78) = 0.27, p = .79). No significant differences emerged between the groups on management-by-exception passive and laissez-faire.
Having a look at the absolute value of bad mood (see Table 1), we can see that our participants were rather low in bad mood.
Test of Hypotheses and Exploratory Analysis
We conducted regression analyses to test H1a and b (see Table 2). In order to control for the effects of leader behavior on the perception of leadership, we controlled for the vignettes given. The results indicate support for H1a but not for H1b (the worse the mood, the more likely the perception of the leadership style as (a) management-by-exception passive or (b) laissez faire). For management-by-exception passive the beta-coefficient for mood became significant and is in the expected direction. For laissez-faire no significant effect emerged, but the effect is in de right direction.
In addition, we conducted an exploratory analysis to assess whether negative mood was negatively related to perceptions of more effective leadership styles, transformational leadership and management-by-exception active. We also conducted a regression analysis to examine this point (see table 3). We could not conduct the analysis for contingent reward, as we could not confirm the scale in this study. Results show that there is no significant effect of mood on the evaluation of active leadership.
To conclude, we can infer that mood has an impact on the evaluation of one of the passive leadership styles (management-by-exception passive) but not on the evaluation of active leadership.
Table 2: Regression of Perception of Passive Leadership Styles on Negative Mood and Leader Behavior (H 1a and b)
Management-by-exception passive
Note: * p < .05; leader behavior: 1 = transformational, 0 = transactional
Table 3: Regression of Perception of Active Leadership Styles on Negative Mood and Leader Behavior
Transformational leadership
Management-by-exception active
In the study, the impact of mood on the evaluation of leadership was tested. Informed by the affect-as-information framework by Schwarz and Clore (1983) as well as the results of studies on politicians (Ottati & Isbell, 1996), we expected that mood would be related to the perception of leadership. As expected, we found that - in the case of management-by-exception passive - mood is related to the perception of leadership. We found this effect even after controlling for leader behavior as given in a vignette and while working with "every day" kinds of mood, that is, without inducing any extreme kinds of mood (e.g., through frustrating our participants). Therefore, the moods we assessed here can be seen as equivalent to the moods organizations usually have to cope with. As to the effects of leader behavior, they were exactly as expected although not significant: the participants confronted with a transformational leader rated transformational leadership higher than those confronted with a transactional leader. The opposite was true for the rating of management-by-exception active: here participants rating a transactional leader had higher ratings than those rating a transformational leader. No differences emerged between the groups for the rating of passive leadership styles (management-by-exception passive and laissez-faire).
From our results, we can infer that - when it comes to more passive leadership styles - mood has an impact on the evaluation of leaders. Still, such an interpretation can be attempted only with some caution: normally a leader and his/her subordinates spend a lot of time together and interact on regular basis, which was impossible in our design. Therefore, it is possible that in an organizational context the influences of mood would be less pronounced. Nevertheless, there are situations in which leaders are evaluated that are comparable to our experimental setting: e.g., selection on the basis of documents (such as CVs), interviews or evaluation in assessment centers. Here, it could be important for companies to be aware of possible effects of mood.
Limitations and Future Research
Certainly, when interpreting the results we should take into account that our subjects were students and that the setting was not very natural. A possible effect of mood on evaluation of leaders should be tested in organizations as well. Still, this might be difficult to achieve, as employees may be suspicious of the reasons for which they have to state their mood. This in turn could lead to a high missing rate or to a response bias. It is also possible that people become more aware of their mood when they have to indicate it in an unusual situation. This could lead to an effect similar to the one found by Schwarz and Clore (1983), who found that making participants conscious of their mood (in their case by referring to the weather) could diminish the impact of mood on the evaluation of life satisfaction (at least in the case of bad mood). In the case of the evaluation of leaders, it is possible that followers become conscious of their mood and perhaps also of the reasons for that mood, and, therefore, avoid letting it influence their rating of a given leader. If this interpretation is correct, it should undoubtedly influence the design of subsequent studies. What we would recommend is: (a) Mood should be assessed as the last variable of a questionnaire on leadership, as an earlier assessment may change the influence mood would otherwise have had. This is in line with findings by other researchers who discovered that the order of questions has effects on the response to following questions (Osberg, 1985). (b) Mood should be assessed in non-reactive ways such as through observation.
Another limitation of our study is that the assessment of leadership was not based on performance evaluation but on the evaluation of leader behavior. In addition, we manipulated leadership behavior using a description of leaders but manipulation check was not very convincing. Future research should try to make a stronger manipulation. Furthermore, using an assessment that is more related to performance of and / or the relationship with a leader (such as Leader-Member Exchange; Dansereau, Graen, & Haga, 1975; Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995) could lead to different results. Effects of mood could even be more pronounced in this case. Clearly, mood could be assessed in a more explicit way. In addition, the mean values of bad mood are not very high in our sample. We still found effects of mood but future research should assess in how far extreme kinds of mood relate to the rating of leaders.
In addition, the number of participants was rather low. Still, some effects we observed were reasonably large. It can be assumed that with larger sample sizes the impact of mood on the evaluation of leader should be replicable.
1. In this paper, the terms perception and evaluation of leaders are used interchangeably. Whereas leadership questionnaires, strictly speaking, refer to a description of a leader (and, therefore, to the perception of the followers), they are often used in feedback (i.e., evaluation) processes. In addition, one leadership style is frequently considered to be superior (in this case, transformational leadership is considered to be superior to transactional leadership). Thus, leadership questionnaires contain an evaluative component.
2. We compared the empirically found internal consistencies to the necessary internal consistency using a formula by Marcel Croon (personal communication, 4th of December 2002). In order to assure a middle correlation between the items of r = .25 the number of items is taken into account. The formula reads: alpha = m / m + 3.
3. Credit line = Research Edition Translation performed by Claartje Vinkenburg and Marloes van Engen date June 27, 2002. Translated and reproduced by special permission of the publisher, MIND GARDEN, Inc., Redwood City, CA, 94061, USA www.mindgarden.com from Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, Copyright 1995, 2000 by Bernard Bass and Bruce Avolio. All rights reserved. Further reproduction is prohibited without the Publisher's written consent.
4. These papers can be obtained from the first author.
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Fried, Y., Levi, A. S., Ben-David, H. A., Tiegs, R. B. & Avital, N. 2000. Rater positive and negative mood predispositions as predictors of performance rating of ratee in simulated and real organization settings: Evidence from US and Israel samples. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 73: 373-378.
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Harris, M. M. & Schaubroeck, J. 1988. A meta-analysis of self-supervisor, self-peer, and peer-supervisor ratings. Personnel Psychology, 41: 43-62.
Hater, J. J. & Bass, B. M. 1988. Superiors' evaluation and subordinates' perception of transformational and transactional leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 73: 695-702.
Heider, F. 1958. The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations. New York, US: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Isbell, L. & Wyer, R. S. 1999. Correcting for mood-induced bias in the evaluation of political candidates: The roles of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25: 237-249.
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Lowe, K. B., Kroek, K. G. & Sivasubramaniam, N. 1996. Effectiveness correlates of transformational and transactional leadership: A meta-analytic review of the MLQ literature. Leadership Quarterly, 7: 385-425.
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Paul, T., Schyns, B., Wolfram, H.-J., & Mohr, G. 2003. Am I a transformational leader and what do my subordinates think? Agreement of self-other perception of transformational leadership in context of gender. Paper presented at the European Congress of Work and Organizational Psychology (EAWOP), Lisbon, May 14-17[5].
Schwarz, N. & Clore, G. L. 1983. Mood, misattribution, and judgments of well-being, Informative and directive functions of affective states. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45: 513-523.
Schyns, B. 2001. Self-Monitoring and Occupational Self-Efficacy of Employees and Their Relation to Perceived Transformational Leadership. Current Research in Social Psychology, 7: 30-42 [http,//www.uiowa.edu/~grpproc].
Schyns, B. & Felfe, J. 2003. Implicit Leadership Theories and the Perception of Transformational Leadership. Submitted[5].
Van Muijen, J. J., Den Hartog, D. N. & Koopman, P. L. 1997. Organisatiecultuur en leiderschap (Organisational culture and leadership). Gedrag en Organisatie: 10, 121-133.
Vinkenburg, C. & van Engen, M. L. 2002. Translation of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. In: Engen, M. L. van, Johannesen-Schmidt, M. J., & Vinkenburg, C. J. (2003). Transformational versus Transactional leadership as a Route to Career Advancement, Doing the Right Thing differs for Male and Female leaders. Paper presented at the European Congress of Work and Organizational Psychology (EAWOP), Lisbon, May 14-17.
Yammarino, F. J., & Atwater, L. E. 1997. Do managers see themselves as others see them? Implications of self-other rating agreement for human resources management. Organizational Dynamics, 25: 35-44.
The authors wish to thank Hartmut Blank for fruitful discussions on the topic of mood and evaluation, Dorora Lepianka for copy editing and Eveline Glansbeek for her help in gathering the data. We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers of CRISP and especially the editor of CRISP, Lisa Troyer, for their helpful comments on this article.
Birgit Schyns is assistant professor at Department of Human Resource Studies, Tilburg University. Main research interests are leadership with special focus on followers' perception, self-fulfilling prophecies in leadership interaction, as well as self-efficacy, and organizational change processes. Her e-mail is firstname.lastname@example.com.
Karin Sanders is professor at the Department of Human Resource Studies, Tilburg University. Main research interests are social. relations, especially solidary behavior and its effect on organizational outcomes. Her e-mail is firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Thursday, April 30, 2009
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But the robot suddenly came to life and grabbed a tight hold of the victim's head. The man succeeded in defending himself but not before suffering serious injuries.
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Swine Flu: Bacon's Revenge
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Hit the link below to test your internet speed...
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Awesome Bike Skills
Rubik's Cube inventor is back with Rubik's 360
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Paper Airplanes
PS3 Bundled With a Bible?
To be honest, I have no idea whether that is a bible or not, but it sure looks like one and a quick Google translation of "Pismo Swiete" says it is a Polish bible.
Track The Swine Flu Online
Thanks to modern technology and the internet, you can finally track deadly outbreaks online via HealthMap. Gone are the days of waiting for your friends to return from a trip overseas to tell your there is an avian flu epidemic, now you can see it all online firsthand!
Laser Engraved Fingernails
Monday, April 27, 2009
The Rise of the Machines
There are now 1 million industrial robots toiling around the world, and Japan is where they're the thickest on the ground. It has 295 of these electromechanical marvels for every 10 000 manufacturing workers—a robot density almost 10 times the world average and nearly twice that of Singapore (169), South Korea (164), and Germany (163).
Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia
Urban legend? No, there really is a Pez Museum!! Not the Barca/SF graff artist of the same name — but rather the plastic Pez that dispenses flavored candies from its neck. And there are 1000's of them on display at The Museum of Pez Memorabilia in Burlingame. Located at 241 California Drive, the space itself is small storefront with just two rooms: a sales floor in the front, and in the back — a museum.
iPod Touch mounted on M110 Sniper Rifle
We have seen some cool iPhone applications come out for shooting sports. But nothing comes close to the sheer awesomeness of the Knights Armaments M110 iPod Touch mount and accompanying ballistics software.
Knights Armaments have developed a mounting system for the iPod Touch that attaches to a side mounted picatinny rail. The mount attaches to an Otterbox protective case.
The evolution of the spacesuit
In February 2009, NASA signed a contract with an engineering firm to develop spacesuits that could be used on the shuttle's replacement, the Orion capsule. New Scientist takes a look at the evolution of spacesuits over the last five decades, and at some potential designs for the future.
Hit the link below for more...
Sneezing In Slow Motion
5 Things to Say If You Get Caught Sleeping at Work
NUMBER 5: 'They told me at the Blood Bank this might happen.'
NUMBER 4: 'This is just a 15-minute power nap they raved about in the time-management course you sent me to.'
NUMBER 3: 'Whew! Guess I left the top off the White-out. You probably got here just in time!'
NUMBER 2: 'Did you ever notice sound coming out of these keyboards when you put your ear down real close?'
Number 1: And MY all time Favorite: (Raising your head slowly) '... in Jesus' name, Amen.'
Top 27 Google Trends Today
1. you might be rich
2. dateline.msnbc.com
3. dateline msnbc
4. dateline nbc
5. datelinenbc.com
6. www.dateline.msnbc.com
7. jacoby ellsbury
8. duane sirna
9. easy bib
10. snake of eden
11. david lee
12. jesse james magazine
13. donna mills
14. ellsbury steals home
15. bibliography maker
16. derek kinder
17. daisy of love
18. debbie dunning
19. unclaimed money
20. edgar casey
21. ryan succop
22. garage magazine
23. daisy de la hoya
24. unclaimed property
25. 2009 nfl draft grades
26. shop fantasy
27. easybib.com
Friday, April 24, 2009
How To Photograph an Atomic Bomb
Ultimate gadget of 1930s: Jaeger LeCoultre Compass
This compact 35mm camera was one of the most technically advanced gadgets of 1930s. It was produced by Swiss watch and clock manufacturer, also famous for its long-time partnership with luxury car makers. Jaeger LeCoultre sign can be found on the instrument panels of Bentley, Aston Martin, Lancia Astura, Delahaye, etc.
Hit the link below for more...
Snowflakes as You've Never Seen Them Before
These snowflake photos were taken by Kenneth Libbrecht of CalTech, using a specially-designed snowflake photomicroscope. They show real snow crystals that fell to earth in northern Ontario, Alaska, Vermont, the Michigan Upper Peninsula, and the Sierra Nevada mountains of California.
Hit the link below for more...
Catch of the Day
To bring some attention to ocean pollution and just how disgusting it really is, Surfrider Foundation teamed up with Satchi & Satchi LA to create "Catch of the Day." Simply and brilliantly, they collected actual trash from beaches around the U.S., packaged it like food, and left it on display at farmer's markets.
It's site-specific, appropriate, impacting, meaningful, shocking, and an actual consumer insight into the very act they're in the middle of. Someone about to buy fish from the same ocean as the trash in their hands can't help but be at least a little more enlightened as to how pollution isn't someone else's problem.
Hit the link below for more...
SWAT Hand Signals
Growing stocks of unsold cars around the world
Record Attempt Reaps 217K Texts, $26K Bill
Two guys, with nothing better to do than text each other, think they may have set a world record for the most texts in a month. Unfortunately that bill for $26,000 might have set a record as well. Thanks to rflcptr for this one!
"Most were either short phrases or one word, 'LOL' or 'Hello,' things like that, with tons and tons of repeats," said Andes, reached by phone. Andes sent more than 140,000 messages, and Klinger sent more than 70,000 to end the month with a total of just over 217,000, he said.
Superuseless Superpowers
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Apple Pulls Baby Shaker App
It looks as though Apple has done an about face after a wave of criticism crushed the company yesterday for approving that "Baby Shaker" game for the iPhone. The company has pulled the offending game from the App Store but, oddly enough, has yet to make a comment on the situation.
The Moonwalk Superstar
Thomas & John Knoll
Top25 Google Trends Today
1. caz pal
2. scheana marie jancan
3. matt harrington
4. tony gonzalez
5. franck s pharmacy
6. christy yamanaka
7. madden 2010 cover
8. myrtle beach fires
9. dave ramsey
10. carrie pareja
11. thedirty.com
12. ross the intern
13. bucks sixers 2001 playoffs officials
14. sun news myrtle beach
15. canon powershot sd 880
16. quadriplegic
17. town hall for hope
18. dave ramsey town hall
19. biodyl
20. south carolina fires
21. dove awards
22. apiphobia
23. cole hamels
24. dontdatehimgirl.com
25. epidermolysis bullosa
26. dirty.com
Public Computer Errors | BSOD
The Stanley Cup
Join mopo.ca in our sports talk forum and voice who you think will win the CUP!
iPod...I'm your father
Can You Swallow An iPod Shuffle?
Have you ever just woke up one day and wondered…can the iPod Shuffle be swallowed? No? Well, thankfully the gang at Gizmodo were wondering just that and, with the help of a strangely attractive sword swallower, they found the answer (on video).
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Top 25 Google Trends Today
1. david kellermann
2. freddie mac
3. david kellerman freddie mac
4. guillain barre syndrome
5. earth day facts
6. administrative assistant day
7. administrative professionals day 2009
8. earth day coloring pages
9. blue iris
10. admin day
11. peapod car
12. earth day lesson plans
13. secretary s day
14. earth day word search
15. refrigerator perry
16. earth day 2009 date
17. william "the refrigerator" perry
18. steve harvey morning show
19. thermor bios wireless weather station for pc
20. vince foster
21. freddie mac ceo suicide
22. earth day activities for kids
23. steveharvey.com
24. madlyn primoff
25. irina voronina
Prius Owner Uses Car to Power House
When an ice storm knocked out power to much of New England, one Toyota Prius owner reached for his inverter and powered some of his home with the happy little hybrid. Smug FTW? Yes.
John Sweeney, of Harvard, Massachusetts, was among the many residents of Eastern Mass without power after a big ice storm hit on December 12th. Sweeney, an electrical engineer, saw his Prius as the answer. Using an inverter, he converted the DC power coming out of the car into AC power for his house. Though he couldn't run his entire house one his one car, they were able to get approximately 17 Kilowatt hours of energy.
This was enough to power his refrigerator/freezer, television, lights, wood stove fan and accessories for a few days. Although anyone can use a regular DC power supply, like the battery found in a non-Hybrid car, but a hybrid is ideal.
Google Maps
Oh yes, it is for real .
World's Greatest Computer Thief
Here is a public service message, if you are going to steal laptops and iPods from your place of employment, don't use the employee bulletin board at your work to try to sell them.
An employee at the Wal-Mart in Great Falls faces felony theft charges for allegedly taking electronics from the store and posting the items for sale on an employee bulletin board.
Autograph Signing
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Facebook Manners
The Modern Thinker
This guy says that he is trying to 'convey the concept of the modern electrical age with the barrage of electrical interference in our lives." Umm, whatever you say sparky.
Dystopic Horizons Realty
Each inspired live/work unit is hand-crafted, and capable of magnificent views. The loft-like Cubist floorplan allows convenient interior access and customized storage solutions. Green construction and copious natural lighting and ventilation support ecologically responsible living.
It's not a cardboard house... it's a cardboard home!
Traditional boxing in Nigeria
Traditional boxing from northern Nigeria is fast, brutal, and has few rules. The men who dedicate their lives to it are wanderers, itinerant labourers in search of fame, or the sons of boxers - born into the ring.
"Dembe", as it is called in Hausa, is exceedingly dangerous. Serious injury, and even death, are a real risk.
Hit the link below for more...
Kings Firecrackers: Now THIS is Jumping Rope
The Kings Firecrackers are a group of elementary and Jr High school girls from Kings Local School District in Ohio who, besides doing their school work and keeping their grades up, practice for 5 days a week, 2 hrs a day jumping rope. And it pays off; they've been on Late Night With David Letterman, in the Macy's Day parade, at one of Bush's inaugurations as well as in American Girl magazine.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to take a nap. Just watching them has me exhausted. If you're not too wiped out, you can take a peek at their blog: Link
Texas Police Using Twitter
The police in Denton, Texas have their own Twitter page where every arrest the department makes is listed and mug shots are posted on TwitPic. The page already has 875 followers.
The unofficial Denton Mugshot twitter for Denton, Texas. Programmed by a UNT art photography student, drawing attention to how much public info we put online.
Ultimate Beer Device
Big Bill Hell's | NSFW
Monday, April 20, 2009
Red Plastic Cups, Observed
How to Walk on Your Hands Handstand
The main thing with balancing on your hands is to find your sweet spot, which means to center your body's weight as directly over your hands as possible. You'll get better at finding this spot with practice.
Basically, you always have to feel as though you're barely not falling over (to the back). Don't be afraid to take that swing with your legs, because you'll probably never find your equilibrium otherwise.
Alexis Bledel | MoPo Forum Arcade
Flash Shooting Games
Flash Retro Games
Flash Driving Games
Flash Puzzles Mind Games & Benders
Alexis Bledel
Blood & Gore Extreme Flash Games
Flash Casino Games
Flash Flying Games
Flash Sport Games
Flash Adult Games
Registered users play 100's of free flash games in the MoPo Arcade.
Researchers Find Signs of Zombie Macs
Zombie Macs? iTune enabled botnets launching denial-of-service attacks? Say it isn't so!
Malware hunters at Symantec have discovered a direct link between a malicious file embedded in pirated copies of Apple's iWork 09 software and what appears to be the first Mac OS X botnet launching denial-of-service attacks.
When does human life begin?
World's Oldest Champagne Bottle Opened
The world's oldest champagne, bottled before Victoria became Queen, is still drinkable, with notes of "truffles and caramel", according to the experts.
An "addictive" bottle of 1825 Perrier-Jouet was opened at a ceremony attended by 12 of the world's top wine tasters. Their verdict: the 184-year-old champagne tasted better than some of its younger counterparts.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Ten Technologies About to Go Extinct
Check out this list of ten technologies about to go extinct. Each of those marvels was a wonder of its time. Now each is obsolete, a once-outstanding advancement made laughable when compared to the contact-lens camera or Japan's soon-to-be feasible moon-walking robot.
The Pirate Bay Trial | Official Verdict - Guilty
Just minutes ago the verdict in the case of The Pirate Bay Four was announced. All four defendants were accused of 'assisting in making copyright content available'. Peter Sunde: Guilty. Fredrik Neij: Guilty. Gottfrid Svartholm: Guilty. Carl Lundström: Guilty. The four receive 1 year in jail each and fines totaling $3,620,000
The court said that the four defendants worked as a team, were aware that copyrighted material was being shared using The Pirate Bay and that they made it easy and assisted the infringements. It categorized the infringements as 'severe'. The judge said that the users of The Pirate Bay committed the first offense by sharing files and the four assisted this.
Click the link below to read more...
Good Looking People
Antique Bottle Collector's Haven
Psystar Ships A System
We all get to see what the Psystar Open(3) actually looks like. Get a good look, these guys are still in court with Apple, this might be the only one you ever get to see.
30 Worth Seeing Stencil Graffiti Artworks
Message In a Carry-On
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Artificial Intelligence Test | Loebner Prize
Dr. Loebner pledged a Grand Prize of $100,000 and a Gold Medal (pictured above) for the first computer whose responses were indistinguishable from a human's. Such a computer can be said "to think." Each year an annual prize of $2000 and a bronze medal is awarded to the most human-like computer. The winner of the annual contest is the best entry relative to other entries that year, irrespective of how good it is in an absolute sense.
What's your favorite beer?
Caption This | MoPo Forum
Hit the link to read the captions...
What Type of Web Commenter Are You?
The Troll — Everyone knows this guy (and it's usually a guy), who intentionally visits sites in order to stir things up, provoke a furious reaction from other posters and then disappear. Classic examples are the Free Republic types who visit Daily Kos and vice versa.
The Skimmer — The commenter, usually sour, who reads only a headline or sentence of a piece, draws exactly the wrong conclusion, and then embarks on an embarrassing rant.
The Kumbaya — These folks always show up two-thirds of the way through any heated on-line debate and ask, "Why can't we all just get along?" They are inevitably ignored or trashed.
The Parser — What would we do without the Internet Grammar Police? These folks assiduously correct the online writings of others — never quite catching on that the Web is designed to be fast, fresh and sloppy.
23 Tubes 1 Bowl
All Day I Dream About Sneakers
The Smell of Books
30 Ways to Shock Yourself
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Help a MoPo Friend Win a Nissan Cube
David Do, a 2nd Electrical Engineering student in the Schulich School of Engineering has been chosen as 1 of 500 contestants to win a brand new 2009 Nissan Cube car from Nissan themselves!
He sent in a profile about himself and luckily, he was deemed unique enough to compete out of thousands of entries. Now he needs YOUR help! Voting is a factor in deciding a winner, so why not take the time now and visit his 'Canvas page' where you'll know more about him and his work. Just log onto www.hypercube.ca and search for the username: Disoblige
Click for bigger...
You'll see his face and can also click to view his canvas. Be sure to check out his links on there too! There, you can fill out the quick form to register for an account and vote for a local Calgary boy, and fellow U of C student. Let's put some Nissan Cubes onto Calgary roads!"
Few things about me (David):
- I may be an engineer, but that's just one side of me
- I own a set of Technics Turntables and love to create new scratch tracks
- I sketch manga, a Japanese comic type of art
- A workout buff, but also go around town doing food reviews
- A car enthusiast, from basic know-how, to car tuning, to simply loving to drive.
Come check out David's canvas and see all his work! Thank you all!
Link to David's Canvas:
Zombie tools - Accessories for the apocalypse
Domino's Pizza Secret Ingredients
Every restaurant claims it has secret ingredients that make its food so special. This, apparently, is Domino's Pizza's …
These two Domino's Pizza workers documented their shenanigans and uploaded it to YouTube. The original clip was taken down, but re-uploaded by someone else (ah, the power of the Intertubes) and has now spread all over the blogosphere …
Oh, these two are SO fired! Consumerist readers even tracked down the place.
The youtube video has been removed by Kristy Hammonds but the cosumerist has managed to save the video before it was pulled. Watch the video here.
Top 25 google Trends Today
1. tea bagger
2. jennifer lea burton
3. allegiant air
4. naltrexone
5. xavier nady
6. maggie moos
7. taco del mar
8. mccormick and schmick s
9. tea party
10. virga
11. carlie christine
12. dawna friesen
13. never been kissed site youtube.com
14. allegiant airlines
15. tax day tea party
16. tamara hofmann
17. tea bagging
18. chick fil a
19. lou amundson
20. homeland security report
21. soon yi previn
22. beige book
23. scottish singer site youtube.com
24. susan boyle site youtube.com
25. act scores
Honda Unveils Mobility-Assisting Exoskeletons
No, they don't give you super-strength or stealth powers so you'll have to keep playing Crysis for those capabilities. However, these new exoskeletons by Honda can assist with walking and lifting heavy items, which will go a long way in improving the quality of life for many people. That Bodyweight Support Assist exoskeleton looks… uncomfortable.
Collection Of DC Comics Wallpapers
Drug Vend
How to Play a Good Corpse
Identities Cost Less Than A Can of Soda
It's nice to know that everything you've worked so hard for your entire life is worth less than a can of soda on the black market. Heh, I wonder what happens if you bought an identity with bad credit, would you get a partial soda refund?
Criminals are able to buy full personal identities for "less than a can of cola", an internet security firm has said.
In New York, we are very occupied with getting from one place to another. I wondered: could a human-like object traverse sidewalks and streets along with us, and in so doing, create a narrative about our relationship to space and our willingness to interact with what we find in it? More importantly, how could our actions be seen within a larger context of human connection that emerges from the complexity of the city itself? To answer these questions, I built robots.
Tweenbots are human-dependent robots that navigate the city with the help of pedestrians they encounter. Rolling at a constant speed, in a straight line, Tweenbots have a destination displayed on a flag, and rely on people they meet to read this flag and to aim them in the right direction to reach their goal.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Taxidermied Mouse Mouse
7 (Crazy) Civilian Uses for Nuclear Bombs
You might think of nuclear weapons as just the most fearsome weapon ever invented by humans, but that would be seriously underplaying their versatility.
Nuclear weapons aren't only good for leveling cities, they've also been used throughout the last 50 years for a variety of civilian purposes like stimulating natural gas production — and all kinds of innovative proposals have been slapped on the table to harness the awesome power of the nuclear blast for economic benefit.
Hit the link below for more...
Hotel safe cracked in 60 seconds…
Pacific Pinball Expo
More Best Buy Layoffs Coming
Gizmodo received several tips about layoffs hitting Best Buy retail associates starting today. According to the article, it's a nationwide reduction to lower overhead and that stores have been preparing for it so it's not a surprise. I know we have a lot of readers that work at BB so let us know what you see.
We've gotten a lot more confirmation since this story was published. One leadership-level employee clarifies that no specific layoffs are necessarily happening, but to stay, you'll of course need to take a paycut.
GameStop Sells Played Games As New
Taking something out of its retail packaging, using it for the weekend and then selling it on Monday as "new" is a federal crime? Gee, whoddathunkit?
The alleged practice of GameStop lending new copies of games to employees at their stores and then later selling those games as new, unused copies, may be a violation of federal law.
A month without plastic…
I'll be forsaking punnets of strawberries and packs of chicken, supermarket milk and bottled cleaning products, and switching to reusable nappies for my toddler.
No longer will my other half and I be able to slump in front of the telly of an evening with the latest DVD, a takeaway curry and a bottle of wine (the cork could be plastic).
Hit the link below for more...
Monday, April 13, 2009
The Rarest and Most Valuable Video Games
Considering how much of a nostalgic powerhouse the NES is, there should be little surprise that Nintendo's 8-bit library is filled with so many collectors pieces. And opposed to the Super Nintendo's rare and valuable list, the most desirable NES games are not necessarily the most popular games. Because of the unassuming nature of these titles, you may be unaware of the treasures that could be found in a local garage sale, flea market, or your own closet.
•Bust A Groove - $59 - $80
•Tomba: $56 - $81
•Einhander: $53 - $98
•X-COM UFO Defense: $50 - $90
•Tales of Destiny: $49 - $80
•X-men vs Street Fighter: $50 - $70
•Marvel vs. Capcom: $48 - $70
•Final Fantasy VII (Greatest Hits): $53 - $160
•Spyro Collectors Edition (complete): $53 - $73
•Castlevania Symphony of the Night (Black Label): $57 - $66
•Xenogears (Black Label): $50 - $154
•Suikoden: $50 - $115
•Legend of Mana: $47 - $80
•Klonoa Door to Phantomile: $46 - $61
•Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories Premium (w/ cards): $45 - $65 (sealed)
•Return Fire: $48 - $50
•Mega Man Legends 2: $45 - $73
•Herc's Adventure: $45 - $50
•Arc The Lad Collection: $44 - $103
•Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter: $40 - $52
How to "Avoid the Apple Tax"
Microsoft sponsored a new whitepaper (PDF) from Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies Associates which takes a look at the tax from a tech analyst's viewpoint. His paper shows the "Apple Tax" is the combination of what people pay up front when purchasing a Mac and what people pay over the life of their computer – the hidden tax.
Gravity Satellite Uses Ion Drive
The Methane Time Bomb
Video Camera Pen Ball-Point Pen
This is the ball-point pen that has a built-in video camera, capturing conversations with a press of a button. Ideal for use while secured in a pocket, its built-in color camera lens is located just above the pocket clip and its microphone is located on the side of the barrel under the pocket clip, yet are both inconspicuous enough to avoid detection.
It can record video and audio from up to 50' away. Up to 2 1/2 hours of video can be captured at 352 x 288 resolution and stored in the pen's integrated 4 GB memory as an AVI file.
Click here for more information...
Coby Portable High Definition Radio
This is the only portable high-definition radio, providing access to the new CD-quality high-definition broadcasts wherever you go. High-definition signals also provide additional information, including song titles and artist information, displayed on the easy-to-read LCD. Audio is produced by its robust four-watt speaker, resulting in FM-quality sound for AM stations and CD-quality sound for FM stations.
Click here for more information...
Friday, April 10, 2009
The Easter Bunny Hates You
Nick Veasey - X-Ray Photographer
The Big Mac Index
The Economist uses the price of the ubiquitous McDonald's meal to calculate the "Big Mac Index", a guide showing how far from fair value different world currencies are. The Big Mac theory (a.k.a. purchasing-power parity, or PPP) says that exchange rates should even out the prices of Big Macs sold across the world.
Hit the link below for more...
One man helicopter design by Igarashi Design
Gold Brick Mouse
Dang it! Too bad these gold brick mice aren't real, I was going to buy a bunch of them and wait until they went up in value.
Left 5 Dead In Photographs
If you are a Left 4 Dead fan you have to see this Flickr photo set! Supposedly this is fan art from a group working on a live action Left 4 Dead film.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Kate Bosworth | MoPo Forum Arcade
Flash Shooting Games
Flash Retro Games
Flash Driving Games
Flash Puzzles Mind Games & Benders
Kate Bosworth
Blood & Gore Extreme Flash Games
Flash Casino Games
Flash Flying Games
Flash Sport Games
Flash Adult Games
Registered users play 100's of free flash games in the MoPo Arcade.
Dork Yearbook
Top 25 Google Trends Today
1. nick adenhart
2. courtney stewart
3. 910 area code
4. wnba draft
5. chad campbell
6. oklahoma fires
7. fsn insider
8. andrew thomas gallo
9. jon wilhite
10. texas fires
11. masters course record
12. elizabeth wurtzel
13. kanye west south park
14. texas wildfires
15. assure birth control
16. betty brown
17. trek yourself
18. harpers island
19. henry pearson
20. angels pitcher
21. parks and recreation
22. allison williams
23. fsninsider.com
24. the masters live coverage
25. oklahoma wildfires
Most Outrageous Late For Work Excuses
Here is a list of some of the most outrageous "late for work" excuses ever. To be honest, I'm positive you guys have used better ones than excuses like "I got locked in my trunk by my son."
Actual reasons for coming in late vary from worker to worker, but traffic was the main culprit with one-third (33 percent) of workers claiming it caused their tardiness. Nearly a quarter (24 percent) said lack of sleep, while 10 percent said getting their kids ready for school or day care was the main reason.
How to Grow Herbs Indoors
Top 100 Network Security Tools
Wall-E Case Mod
The amount of time and effort that went into this amazing Wall-E case mod is mind bending. Every thing you see here, including the tracks and wheels, was made in this guy's shop.
'The Simpsons' brain cell
Spam Overwhelms E-mail Messages
A new security report says that 97% of all e-mail are unwanted junk. If it's not spam it is virus or some other form of malware. This map showing infection rates by country is a tad bit depressing don't you think?
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Things You Aren't Allowed to See on Google Maps
Depending on which feature you use, Google Maps offers a satellite view or a street-level view of tons of locations around the world. You can look up landmarks like the Pyramids of Egypt or the Great Wall of China, as well as more personal places, like your ex's house.
But for all of the places that Google Maps allows you to see, there are plenty of places that are off-limits. Whether it's due to government restrictions, personal-privacy lawsuits or mistakes, Google Maps has slapped a "Prohibited" sign on the following 51 places.
Growing Jewelry by Hafsteinn Juliusson
Namibia Sand Houses
Intel Launches New Chip Logos, Rating System
According to CNet, Intel has revamped its processor badges and added a rating system. Logos now include a "die accent" and the rating system is a "star" system with one star being the lowest performing processor and five being the highest.
How to destroy the Earth
Destroying the Earth is harder than you may have been led to believe. You've seen the action movies where the bad guy threatens to destroy the Earth. You've heard people on the news claiming that the next nuclear war or cutting down rainforests or persisting in releasing hideous quantities of pollution into the atmosphere threatens to end the world.
101 ways to make ketchup
Jeff Dean on Google Infrastructure
Andy McKee | Drifting
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Video Game Magazine Outsells Playboy
With game magazines and other print publications dropping like flies lately, I was surprised to learn that Game Informer Magazine is actually outselling TV Guide, Playboy and Maxim (among other magazinea). That is extremely impressive when you really think about it. Maybe that story about men choosing games over sex might have some merit after all?
According to data released by BurrellesLuce, the mag has a monthly readership of 3,517,598. Which makes it the 12th most read magazine in the United States, ahead of more notable publications such as Time, TV Guide, Sports Illustrated, Cosmo, Newsweek, Playboy and Maxim.
25 Computer Products That Refuse to Die
Old computer products, like old soldiers, never die. They stay on the market--even though they haven't been updated in eons. Or their names get slapped on new products that are available only outside the U.S. Or obsessive fans refuse to accept that they're obsolete--long after the rest of the world has moved on.
Hit the link below for more...
Vista "Not worth it" --Texas
A last minute clause inserted into the budget for Texas will require government officials to get written authorisation before buying Windows Vista.
The clause was added by Senator Juan Hinojosa to the two-year Texas state budget, worth some $182.2bn (£123bn), and would require any state body, with the exception of schools, to get written authorisation from the state Legislative Budget Board before buying any copies of Vista or hardware with the operating system installed.
"We have a lot of problems with the Vista program," Senator Hinojosa told the San Antonio News. "It had a lot of bugs. It takes up a lot of memory. It's not compatible with other equipment, and it's supposed to be an upgrade from the XP program that is being used by state agencies, and it's not."
Vancouver Police Looking For Osama Bin Laden
Vancouver police are looking for Osama bin Laden, or at least a man who used that name, who stole gas from a gas stations. The suspect drove up in a luxury car and paid for the gas using a stolen credit card that had Osama bin Laden as the customer's name on the card. "I guess that shows the guy's sense of humor," police spokesman Brian Soles said Friday.
Snowmobile Drive-Thru At McDonald's
People can not eat hamburgers in northern Sweden without getting off their snowmobile. The first ever snowmobile drive-thru for McDonald's opened up in Pitea, Sweden last Saturday. "There are 6,000 snowmobiles registered in Pitea and I thought why don't we build a special track for them," said Eva Olsson, who is the marketing manager for McDonald's in Pitea.
My Little Pony Makeover
The much-loved children's toy, My Little Pony, has undergone an extraordinary transformation. The new collection sees the ponies mimic a variety of characters from cult films like Batman and Alien.
The creator Mari Kasurinen, who admits she preferred Star Wars dolls to My Little Pony as a child, has been inundated with orders for the quirky toys, which are on sale for a whopping £330 each.
Capt. Jack Sparrow
StormtrooperThe Joker
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Wiggling His Way To A World Record
Ashrita Furman, 47, of the United States, wiggled his hula hoop as he walked to a world record of five miles. "I'm very dizzy and a bit shaky," Furman said after two hours and 30 minutes ofhula-hooping. The new record still has to be verified by the Guinness Book of Records, but is likely to enter unchallenged.Furman also has set 70 other records including once walking 33 miles in Thailand with a full milk bottle on his head.
Monday, April 06, 2009
When General Motors Was Dreaming
Conficker Eye Chart
For those of you with friends that are not savvy enough to self diagnose their own PC, and could possibly be infected with the Conficker worm, I have a place you can send them. It doesn't get any easier than this.
2TB PCIe RAID Drive
These PCIe SSD drives can't arrive fast enough for our needs... ok, wants considering the thousands they cost. The latest announcement comes by way of Super Talent Technology with its new 2TB RAIDDrive.
Super Talent claims that its RAIDDrives "are capable of delivering sequential Read speeds of up to 1.2GB/s, sequential Write speeds of up to 1.3GB/s." Unfortunately, no ship date or price was announced, only that we'll get more "performance details" in June. Presumably that means something useful like random IOPS benchmarks.
How to use bacon to make your life incredible
Want to Remember Everything You'll Ever Learn?
Hemeroscopium House
For the Greek, Hemeroscopium is the place where the sun sets. An allusion to a place that exists only in our mind, in our senses, that is ever-changing and mutable, but is nonetheless real. It is delimited by the references of the horizon, by the physical limits, defined by light, and it happens in time.
Friday, April 03, 2009
Acceleration due to gravity: Super Mario Bros
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The mysterious origins of a Windows desktop image
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Operation IVY (1952) - 1 hour Secret version
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Thursday, April 02, 2009
Solar plane makes record flight
The latest flight was conducted at the US Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. The Zephyr flew non-stop for 82 hours, 37 minutes.
That time beats the current official world record for unmanned flight set by the US robot plane Global Hawk - of 30 hours, 24 minutes - and even Zephyr's own previous best of 54 hours achieved last year.
My Roommate is a Dick
Net Traffic Down on Swedish Antipiracy Law
It looks as though some people, at least for now, are scared of the new antipiracy law that took effect in Sweden yesterday. How long will this downturn in net traffic last?
As of 2 p.m. local time Wednesday in Sweden, Internet traffic was down about 30 percent from the day before, according to Computer Sweden (in Swedish). The average traffic over Netnod, a company that measures most of the Internet traffic access points between Swedish and international networks, was 80Gbps Wednesday compared to Tuesday's 120Gbps. Traffic had been steady the previous week.
$173000 Microsoft Sunglasses
Top Google Trends Today
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Control Your Car With An iPhone
You guys have to see this video of some guy controlling his car with an iPhone. Aside from being able to start and shut down his car with the iPhone, the real-time data he gets on his phone is impressive as well. Check it out:
Conficker Worm A Dud
And the award for "Best April Fool's Day joke" for the year 2009 has to go to this whole Conficker worm scare. It seems that everyone was panicking for nothing, no doomsday, no end of the world…*sigh* kind of a let down actually.
The worm's programming included a change in tactics on April 1: The estimated 3 million to 12 million computers infected by Conficker were told to step up their attempts to "phone home" for commands. But that seemed to be the only sign of life from the bug. "One thing we're not seeing is any mass malicious activity," said Joris Evers, an analyst with McAfee. "The Internet today is working just as well as it was working yesterday."
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Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Anatomy of a black hole
Top 25 Google Trends Today
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Travelodge hotel made out of shipping containers
Travelodge, the budget hotel company, have completed their first recycled hotel made out of shipping containers. The 86 containers used in the Uxbridge hotel were prepared in China with plasterboard walls, electrics and bathrooms already in place before being shipped to the UK, stacked and assembled like lego pieces.
Disassembled household appliances
StillTasty Your Ultimate Shelf Life Guide
Revealing the pyramids of the future
Chemical Party
Ride a lion, swing a bear cub and stroke a tiger…
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