WebProNews

Tag: WTF

  • This Crying Robot on a Shopping Cart is Not Suitable for Bedtime [NSFB]

    Ok, I know that people often make jokes about the robot apocalypse. Virtually every robotic advancement presented to the world elicits at least a couple “oh, great, look what they’ve done now” responses. I’m as guilty of this as the next guy.

    This robot scares the sh*t out of me. But it’s not because I think it has any thoughts of global domination on its barely sentient mind (in fact, I doubt this blathering idiot of a robot would even be allowed in the robot uprising army). It’s because HOLY HELL WHAT DID I JUST WATCH.

    It’s a screaming, crying, robot monkey that jerks around in the most terrifyingly unnatural way you could imagine. It’s apparently called the Nightmare Machine, and I cannot argue with that moniker one bit. Check it out below:

    [via reddit]

  • This Artist’s iPhone Oil Paintings Utilize Face Grease

    For smartphones users, keeping the touchscreen clean and free of fingerprints, debris, grease, and smears of inexplicable origin is one of the hardest battles. As a glasses-wearer with an iPhone, I always feel like I’m looking at everything on my screen through a hazy dual-film. It’s kind of gross, when you really think about it.

    Gross or not, all of that grime that accumulates on your touchscreen is the basis for some of the most unusual art I’ve seen in quite some time.

    (image)

    New York-based artist JK Keller is currently the world’s premier iPhone oil painter. No, he doesn’t paint pictures of iPhones with oil-based paint. He doesn’t dip the iPhone in paint and use it as a brush. In his case, the “oil” he uses as a medium is human in its origin.

    The self-described “self-obsesser” uses his oily face as his palette, and he mixes his pigment by rubbing an iphone across it. As you would imagine this produces a nice sheen of grease, produced from his very own pores, on the screen. The next step in creating one of his iPhone oil paintings is to use his fingers to spread the face grease into patterns that will ultimately look cool when light hits them.

    “It’s a play on expectations of what that phrase [oil paintings] means in the traditional sense…You’re a little grossed out, but also think it looks pretty cool to watch the anisotropic light reflections shift as you move the phone around,” he told Mashable.

    “Well, if they introduce special anti-grease glass I’m screwed,” said Keller in a tweet. Lucky for him, that wasn’t one of the new features announced during last week’s big iPhone 5 event.

    Check out some of his “paintings” below:

    (image)

    (image)

  • Ok, Finland, You’ve Scared Me into Never Drinking Around My Kids [VIDEO]

    I don’t have children, but if I did I imagine I probably wouldn’t want to get hammered drunk in front of them. Apparently, that sentiment isn’t shared by everyone, and Finnish group Lasinen lapsuus (Fragile Childhood) is fighting to get the message out that children are truly affected by their parents’ alcohol abuse.

    “The campaign activities are also to highlight the fact that is still not widely understood how much harm parental drinking problems causes to children. For example, previous research has shown that every fourth Finnish child has suffered some harm because of its parent’s alcohol usage,” they say.

    And to make this message hit home, they’ve taken to YouTube with a nightmarish PSA.

    The following Public Service Announcement is brought to you by terror, giant fish-rabbits, wtf, and the letter NOPE.

    “How do our children see us when we’ve been drinking?” it asks. Check it out below:

    [via reddit]

  • Lawyer Posts Photo of Client’s Underwear on Facebook, Quickly Leads to Mistrial

    We’ve seen plenty of stories over the last few years involving court proceedings, social media, and how the two often run up against each other. We’ve seen a couple of cases that have gotten thrown out due to juries with impatient Twitter thumbs. We also saw a recent case where a young girl was nearly held in contempt for tweeting the names of her rapists during a trial. Most of the time, courtroom proceedings need to be keep private, and we know that social media simply doesn’t lead to much privacy.

    Today’s social media idiot doesn’t come from the jury, or the plaintiff’s side. This ethically challenged Facebooker comes from the defense.

    According to The Miami Herald, a Miami defense attorney has been fired after she uploaded a photo of her client’s leopard-print underwear to Facebook. Anya Cintron Stern reportedly snapped the photo of the unusual briefs when her client, Fermin Recalde, had his family bring him some fresh clothes to wear during the trial.

    She promptly uploaded the photo to Facebook, saying that she couldn’t believe that the family thought it was “proper attire for a trial.”

    As you may have guessed, someone spotted the photo in their news feed and notified the Judge in the case, who then declared a mistrial.

    Recalde was on trial for murder, having been accused of stabbing his girlfriend to death back in 2010. According, to the Herald, Recalde had been attempting to fire his lawyers for some time.

    Going forward, it’s obvious that legal proceedings will never be the same, as long as social media is so popular. Although Judges now routinely gives social media instructions before trials even begin, the temptation to tweet or make a quick post on Facebook is to much too handle for some participants.

  • Groupon’s Insane Kidz Club Is Back [Video]

    Groupon’s Insane Kidz Club Is Back [Video]

    “Groupon is no stranger to what kids desire,” Groupon claims in its latest blog post about the return of the Groupon Kidz Club.

    First, for a bit of background, let’s review what the Groupon Kidz Club consists of – one character who doesn’t love his parents, one that hates stray dogs, one that simply carries around a dinner roll, one, who is just some guy the kids “took in” after finding him on the beach with no recollection of his identity, and one, who is an escaped swarm of bees who are “attracted to the smell of school kids who like Groupon,” and can form the shape of sharp stabbing weapons.

    I’m not making this up. Here’s our earlier post about it.

    Yes, the Groupon Kidz are back. This time, with a video and a new member:

    In the episode, Pyles, previously described as “piles of stuff,” is kidnapped by the Boring Brigade, and taken “underneath Mount Jerk.” The kids decide that they can use a Groupon to get to Mount Jerk.

    Mount Jerk

    Roll, continues to hold his roll in each scene he is in:

    Roll

    Roll

    Roll

    This guy makes a dial-up modem sound when he springs into action, which most kids these days probably won’t recognize:

    Emale

    And let’s not forget the aptly named Glasses, who is always wearing her glasses, provides such mermorable quotes as “I can’t even see him, and I’m wearing glasses.”

    Glasses

    There’s also memorable quotes like, “It’s OK Swarmy. We all know that Pyles is your favorite member of the Kidz Club, and we know how much you love eating the pudding from his body,” and “Give it to Fop Top. He’s the one who can read.”

    Going into the episode, I did not realize Pyles’ body consisted of pudding, but we eventually learn that the kids made him and filled him with pudding. That explains it.

    The kidz ultimately vaporize the Boring Brigade, and a new character named Question Mark (he has a question mark for a head) is introduced as the new kid (with a decidedly adult voice).

    Question Mark

    If none of this makes a great deal of sense to you, you’re not alone. I assume that is the point, but I’m also trying to decipher why Groupon would want to make such a point.

    Groupon explains the new character: “We at Groupon are just so, so proud to unveil our new character here for you today. The Kidz Club has been a beloved name in child’s advertainment for more than 30 years. An entire generation has grown up knowing, loving, and trusting the Groupon Kidz Club, so adding a new member to the team was no small decision. After numerous months of planning, testing, talking to random children, and sleeping and eating, we are happy to present the newest member of the club … QUESTION MARK!”

    According to Groupon, Question Mark is the “coolest kid on the block,” he loves puppies, hates hats that have been shaped to fit his head, loves soccer, is going to school full-time, and has had 12 birthdays.

    “He definitely loves you,” Groupon assures us.

    Groupon has printable coloring sheets here.

  • So…Insane Clown Posse Sat Down and Reviewed the Call Me Maybe Video

    I know, it’s another Call Me Maybe-related YouTube video. But multitudes of covers be damned, I know what you guys have really been waiting for. Fuse aligned the stars and got Insane Clown Posse to sit down and provide commentary for the Carly Rae Jespen viral smash.

    And it doesn’t disappoint.

    “If this were real life, they’d be behind the house smokin bath salts, and she’d be topping him off.”

    That’s just one of the many pearls of wisdom you can expect from Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope. Others include commentary on the size (or lack) of CRJ’s breasts, the inability to notice the difference between a 26-year-old and a 16-year-old, and the inability to notice the difference between a girl and a dude in a wig.

    Ok, on second thought, ICP may not be the best commentators out there.

    Screw it, just watch this please:

    And since we don’t get many opportunities to talk about ICP, it would be a damn shame not to capitalize on it (NSFW, also NSF much of anything else):

  • Why in the Hell is Jerry Jones Rapping about Papa John’s?

    You didn’t need to do this, Jerry. Nobody needed to do this.

    There’s a new ad for Papa John’s pizza featuring Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, and it’s really really bad. Not so bad that it’s good, just really really bad.

    Something something about Jerry Jones shooting off like a Roman Candle. something else about a double threat. It’s Jerry Jones rapping – that’s all you really need to know. The YouTube description says that “there are three things Texans enjoy: pizza, football and Jerry Jones rapping.” Can any Texans attest to this?

    Courtesy of the Loomis Agency, who fashion themselves as “an ad agency that lives to help underdogs find their voice and fight the big dogs.”

    Apparently, this isn’t the first time that this agency has put Jerry Jones in a Papa John’s commercial. Let’s just hope that Jerry is a better hands-on team manager this year than he is at whatever the hell this is.

    [via Mashable]

  • Redditors Photoshop the Hell out of Paul Ryan’s Wikipedia Photo

    Redditors Photoshop the Hell out of Paul Ryan’s Wikipedia Photo

    Redditor SiliconC noticed that presumptive Republican VP nominee Paul Ryan’s Wikipedia page features a photo with an “absurdly high resolution” (2,046 × 2,557 pixels). They suggested that shop-happy redditors have a bit of fun with it. And boy, did they.

    Just another example of how the internet has changed U.S. politics, I guess.

    First their submission, “Little Face Paul”:

    (image)

    “Lazy Eye Ryan”:

    (image)

    No title, courtesy photo:

    (image)

    “Elton Ryan”:

    (image)

    No words. Have fun sleeping tonight. Courtesy user eylyana:

    (image)

    “All lip Ryan”:

    (image)

    There’s plenty more where those came from, as the thread is over 2000 comments long. I truly hope this becomes a series – ObamaShop, RomneyShop, and BidenShop. Only in America, folks.

  • Dallas Cowboys Sued Over Butt-Burning Benches

    In strange lawsuit news of the day, a Texas woman has filed suit against the Dallas Cowboys organization and team owner Jerry Jones after she fried her posterior on a sizzling-hot bench outside the Cowboys Stadium.

    Jennelle Carrillo claims that an overheated black marble bench and negligence by the organization led to a severe burn on her backside:

    “The bench was uncovered and openly exposed to the extremely hot August sun. The combination of the nature of the black, marble bench and hot sunlight caused the bench to become extremely hot and unreasonable dangerous,” says the suit. “She sat down on this black bench, outside an entrance and unfortunately she suffered third-degree burns as a result of it and had subsequent skin grafts.”

    According to Carrillo, the burn occurred in August of 2010 during the Cowboys’ annual Blue and Silver scrimmage. It was quite the scorcher that day, according to records. Though it’s not a surprise that it was hot in Dallas in August, the suit claims that temperatures hit triple digits on that particular day.

    Carrillo claims that she was given no warning of the potential damage that could be caused by sitting on the hot bench. She’s claiming physical pain and disfigurement, as well as mental anguish as a result of the incident.

    Now, we’re not going to pass judgement on her case or her claim in general. A lawsuit like this is somewhat reminiscent of a famous case involving a woman who sued McDonalds over hot coffee. Her story became a punchline for jokes about legal frivolousness and the bloated civil system. But later reports revealed that her claim probably wasn’t as ridiculous as popular history remembers it.

    But do we really need places to post warning signs about how things can get hot when it’s really hot outside?

  • “Take This Lollipop” Sequel Gets a Kickstart

    Last Halloween, a viral experience took the internet by storm, leaving a trail of freak-out social media users in its wake. Do you remember the interactive short film “Take This Lollipop?” Because I sure as hell do.

    In the original experience, all viewers had to do was to allow the app to access their Facebook information, then sit back and be thoroughly creeped out. In the short film, a sweaty, intensely unnerving man sat in a dark, dingy room, looking at his computer. On the screen were images from Facebook – he was obviously stalking someone. Slowly you realize that this guy is stalking you, using all of your personal information from Facebook.

    Not only was it scary in its own right, it magnified all of those little privacy concerns you push to the back of your mind every time you log on to Facebook or Twitter. It was a very well done piece, and it even garnered a Daytime Emmy award. It’s been watched over 100 million times worldwide.

    And now, Director Jason Zada wants to make a sequel – but he needs you help.

    He’s just launched a Kickstarter page for Take This Lollipop (The Sequel), and it says that the project needs to raise $150,000 by September 2nd.

    “By funding the sequel, you are helping provide a budget for the entire pre-production, production and post-production process. For every extra dollar we raise beyond our goal, you will bring us one step closer to realizing some incredible features and added bonuses that would make the experience even scarier than last years,” they say.

    Hopefully, backers can help this viral hit come back for part two.

  • Watch 5th-Graders Describe the Internet with Mind-Blowing Precision…in 1995

    The internet is our telephone, our TV, shopping center, and workplace – this is all true. And a 1995 Public Service Announcement featuring a class of 5th-graders accurately predicted these things about the internet – back in 1995.

    The PSA comes courtesy of students at Ray Bjork elementary school in Helena, Montana. “All the Internet possibilities mentioned in the script are today a reality. The production won a local ADDY Award in 1996 for Best PSA,” says the YouTube description. Impressive then, impressive now.

    These kids predict a lot of other things concerning the interwebs that we know now to be true. One young internet enthusiast is particularly partial to cats. I blame her.

    Bonus points for the rapid-fire mid-90s web pages, all being accessed in Netscape:

    [via ReadWriteWeb]

  • Surprise, You’re a Gun Owner Now; Man Orders TV from Amazon, Gets Assault Rifle

    Now how am I supposed to watch the Olympics?

    After ordering a new flat-screen TV from Amazon, a Washington D.C. man got quite the shock when his package arrived without a flatscreen TV inside.

    But it wasn’t empty. Instead, his shipment contained a semi-automatic rifle with a 20-round mag and an MSRP price of a little over $2,000.

    The gun was a Sig Sauer SIG716, to be exact. But honestly, it doesn’t really matter which assault rifle shows up to your front door instead of your new television. I’d say it’s pretty strange either way.

    The surprised new gun owner, Seth Horvitz, tells FOX 5 D.C. that he ordered the TV through a third party via Amazon.

    “[Police] were a little confused at first, they’ve never seen anything quite like it,” says Horvitz. “They just took my information and then said we’ll handle this weapon because it’s illegal to keep here. It’s illegal to transport in a car, so it can’t be returned.”

    Here’s the gun in question (fully assembled):

    sig 716 carbine rifle

    Apparently, the gun’s actual destination was a gun store in Pennsylvania, according to shipping papers. But just how did it wind up at Mr. Horvitz’s apartment doorstep? Police are currently investigating.

    Although Horvitz had to know something was amiss when he saw a short, rectangular box that couldn’t possibly fit a flatscreen TV, opening it up and seeing an assault rifle must have been quite the experience. It’s kind of scary that the weapon was just sitting in his apartment hallway for a while – someone could have themselves a brand new large caliber carbine right now.

    Strangely enough, this isn’t the first strange shipping story involving Amazon we’ve heard this year. Back in January, a college student in Kansas found a bag of cocaine inside a used book she ordered via Amazon’s Warehouse Deals program.

    DC Breaking Local News Weather Sports FOX 5 WTTG

  • Someone Thought a Robot that Swims Like a Human Was a Good Idea

    I no longer feel the need to preface anything about robots with the phrase “it’s my belief that,” because it’s now a mathematical certainty that humans are slowly but surely engineering our violent and imminent overthrow by continuing to make smarter, faster robots.

    Google’s busy making spider robots, some scientist with a death wish is teaching them how to learn from prior actions. Other are making sure they can perform like SEAL Team Six – it’s insanity.

    But the one thought that has allowed me to sleep at night was the hope that during the violent robot uprising, I could simply swim out into the ocean and await my fate at the hands of a shark or something.

    Apparently no, I won’t even have that option.

    Japanese engineers (surprise) have developed Swumanoid, the prototype swimming robot.

    The robot overall has a special-purpose drive using four struts, and the force the robot receives from the water can be measured. Because the robot is currently at the prototype stage, its swimming speed, corrected for size, is 0.64 m/s or approximately three times slower than the current world record for the 100m freestyle. From now on, the researchers are planning improvements to make it faster.

    Yes, let’s make it faster…

    Zombies? Hah! You’re looking at the end right here folks.

    [via Geekologie]

  • What Should Facebook Do About All Of These James Holmes Pages?

    I’m not really sure of my purpose behind reporting this. And I’m not really sure what this says about the internet, Facebook, people in general – if anything. Maybe it says something about our culture, and how criminals are made into celebrities by the 24-hour news cycle. Maybe it’s merely a commentary on just how large of a tragedy the Aurora theater shooting really was – that so many people would feel compelled to do this on a public forum like Facebook.

    Maybe it’s because it can compel a vigorous debate on free speech and distasteful speech, and what Facebook should do in situations like this.

    What should Facebook do about the multitude of pro-James Holmes pages on the site? Should Facebook be in the business of censoring impertinent speech? Let us know in the comments.

    Truly, I’m not sure I can flesh out a deeper meaning to this. All I can say is whoa – there are already an epic amount of James Holmes-related Facebook pages.

    (James Holmes, as you’re probably well-aware, is the alleged perpetrator of last weekend’s brutal theater massacre at a screening of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colorado. His actions left 12 dead and 58 injured.)

    A large majority of the pages that have popped up are simply “public figure” pages. They typically have anywhere between a few dozen and a few hundred “likes.”

    Of course, there are also plenty of “James Holmes must rot in hell” and “James Holmes needs to be decapitated” pages.

    But some James Holmes-related pages are insensitive in a typical internet-troll fashion. You’ve got your “Holmes, James Holmes” page, your “James Holmes fan club,” your “Jame’s Holmes didn’t really do anything” page. Ultimate troll award goes to the person who created the “James Holmes – Probably not such a bad guy” page.

    Their only post goes like this:

    James Holmes- Probably not such a bad guy2 days ago

    Learn before you judge; This guy is probably a brilliant young man who had motives for his actions beyond the conventional sense of right and wrong. Just my opinion, but what if, as a discouraged genius who couldn’t find work decided to kill a bunch of stupid people watching a new Batman movie? I truly hope he gets the chance to speak his mind, lest someone else need to acquire their own 15 minutes Powered by socialditto  1 likes ·  61 comments

    Then, you have the newly formed page “James Holmes is a true hero” where they say they are “here to praise our dark knight.” Here’s the photo that stands as that page’s profile pic:

    +50 for humanity that it only has 1 “like” so far.

    I counted over 150 James Holmes-related pages that have already popped up since Friday.

    Facebook has responded to these pages.

    “While incredibly distasteful, [it] doesn’t violate our terms,” they said.

    Indeed, Facebook’s Statement on Rights and Responsibilities clearly states that Facebook users will not “bully, intimidate, or harass” any other user. It also forbids content that is “hate speech, threatening, or pornographic; incites violence; or contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence.” So, unless the James Holmes Facebook pages begin posting content that falls into any of those categories, Facebook will keep out of it.

    “We are heartened that the vast majority of activity on Facebook surrounding this tragedy has been focused on helping the community cope and beginning the healing process in the wake of these events,” said Facebook.

    Of course, this isn’t the first time that Facebook has felt the heat over controversial content on the site. Back in March of 2011, Facebook removed a page called “Third Palestinian Intifada” after a load of pressure from outside groups. In that case, Facebook took a while in removing the page, even though ti clearly called for a violent uprising against a specific ethnic group.

    In August, a post on the Fox News Facebook page concerning an appearance by Blair Scott of American Atheists on the station was inundated with hateful and often violent comments against atheists. The comments included death threats, for instance “Shoot them, shoot to kill” and “Nail them to that cross then display it.” We asked whether or not these kinds of comments were free speech or if Facebook had an obligation to pull them as they incited violence. Fox News ended up deleting the comments before Facebook had to make a decision either way.

    And there continues to be an ongoing battle with breastfeeding activists over Facebook’s removal of many images of mothers feeding their babies.

    So, one could argue that Facebook will remove a post show a natural act because of a hint of a nipple is showing, but will allow other users to upload photoshopped images of President Obama pinning the medal of honor on James Holmes to their pages.

    Then again, the pages that have popped up in praise and support of James Holmes and his actions in Aurora last Friday aren’t really violating any of Facebook’s terms. And it is people’s right to be impertinent, as long as it doesn’t translate into illegal. Is it really Facebook’s job to police disrespectful, distasteful, and otherwise unpopular content? Or does Facebook make the right decision when they allow all kinds of speech to exist on the site? Let us know what you think in the comments.

  • Forever Alone No More: Meet Kissenger, the Kiss Transmission Robot

    Sometimes, when your significant other is far away, all you want to do is give them a big kiss. When sexting has run it’s course, you may need something a bit more physical to fill the chasm of emotional separation.

    Meet Kissenger, a “kiss messenger” robot that can communicate kisses across the interwebs.

    From the Kissenger site:

    Kissenger system consists of a pair of robots to transfer kiss over distance. Kissenger provides a novel way of transferring a kiss through interactive digital media. It provides a physical interface enabling kiss communication for several applications facilitating intimate human tele-presence with the real and virtual worlds.

    In other words, these little robots allow you to physically feel the kiss of your faraway lover. At least the pressure and movement of their kiss.

    “In version 2.0, each Kissenger robot can be connected to a computer via USB port. The client software on that computer connects the Kissenger device to the server. The server manages all the communications between kissenger robots and connects two Kissenger devices of the partners together,” says the bot’s creators.

    Admittedly, my mind lives in gutter. But does anyone else see this technology broadening to encompass…other areas?

    [via psfk]

  • Porn-Watching Home Invader Left Samples At The Scene

    I’m not exactly sure what prompted 21-year-old Antoine Owens to (allegedly) break into a series of homes with the sole purpose of masturbating to porn, all I know is that my Monday morning thanks him, immensely.

    That’s right, in hey-you-really-don’t-have-it-all-that-bad news, a young man in Oregon has been arrested as police suspect him of committing a string of lewd acts involving the strangest cases of breaking and entering that you’ll ever hear about.

    According to KVAL in Eugene, Owens’ M.O. involved learning the schedules of his target homeowners – all of which lived within a couple of blocks. Once he figured out their daily routines, Owens would break into their houses and have a bit of alone time. He is suspected of doing this at least four times, the latest of which occurred just a couple of months ago.

    A woman reportedly came home to find lube, towels and a cell phone sitting by her computer – which was blaring porn. This time, he was apparently still at the home:

    He managed to open the door and stormed inside, threatening to kill the woman as he grabbed the phone and lube before fleeing the home at Van Buren and 22nd in Eugene.

    At least he managed to grab the lube, I suppose.

    Not every victim caught the man in the act. Some simply came home to find lube and towels near their computers. According to police, Owens was matched to the crime scenes by some DNA that he’d left behind. He’s been charged with four counts of first-degree burglary – although it appears that the only thing he stole was these people’s ability to comfortably use their computers ever again.

    Check out the local news report below, if for no other reason than to see what one neighbor thinks may keep our masturbating menace at bay

  • Moron Brutally Beats Disabled Man To Death, Posts the Video on Facebook

    When it comes to criminals who commit violent acts, it is oftentimes their sheer brutality that is the most shocking element of their crime.

    But when it comes to criminals who involve Facebook in their crimes, the utter stupidity is usually more shocking than anything else.

    Today’s story of idiot Facebook criminals comes from the Windy City, where three men have been charged with first-degree murder after the violent attack that led to the death of a 62-year-old disabled man.

    According to police, the men aged 16,17, and 18 attacked Delfino Mora in an alley. He suffered blunt force trauma that eventually led to his death at a local hospital.

    The youngest suspect, Malik Jones, made it all too easy for police when he posted a video of the beating on Facebook.

    I guess criminals are not that different from the law-abiding portion of the population in one regard: they simply haven’t figured out the fact that Facebook (and other forms of social media) are public forums. Anything you post could wind up biting you in the ass, even if you think you have your privacy settings locked down.

    Just ask the guy who posted pics of syphoning gas from a cop car on Facebook, or the guy who posted photos of all of his cash on the network and was promptly robbed.

    Police in the U.K. analyzed their files and determined that someone commits a crime involving Facebook every 40 minutes – so this latest idiot is definitely not alone. Beating a guy to death is terrible, but posting your crime on Facebook is a whole other level of dumb that I can’t even begin to fathom.

  • Aaand…Here’s How You Go Out With A Japanese Virtual Pop Star

    Aaand…Here’s How You Go Out With A Japanese Virtual Pop Star

    Hatsune Miku is an incredibly popular “singing synthesizer application with a female persona,” or, virtual pop star for short. The Japanese creation is voiced by a popular voice actress and actually performs concerts, live, as a projection.

    So, I guess it’s understandable that someone could take a particular liking to the character.

    But this, my friends, is forever alone level 99. It’s not 100, because there is still something pretty neat about it.

    Basically, a guy has turned Miss Miku into his girlfriend – or at least made her go on a date with him. The video shows the two taking a nice stroll through the park, and finally ending with some… inappropriate touching that leads you to believe that there will be more to this date once the cameras are off.

    Check it out below:

    Based on the video, and a little bit of translation we can see that the “date” was made possible by an ASUS Xtion (Kinect-like device) and some modified video goggles. A bit creepy? Sure. Fascinating use of technology? Absolutely.

    [via Hack A Day]

    [Image Credit]

  • Here’s How The 1% Prepares For The Zombie Apocalypse

    Sure, everyone says that they are ready for the zombie apocalypse. Hell, I’ve read enough zombie fiction and watched enough movies to know how to best the bastards. It doesn’t matter if they are the slow, dumb kind or the fast, smart kind – I have a strategy for both.

    Double tap.

    But are you really ready? Think fast – do you already have your tactical fields op waterproof uni-directional bezel watch? How about your assault gear cheat rifle with grenade and magazine pouches? No? You really think your shotgun and case of shells is going to do the trick?

    If you’re of the belief that this situation is imminent, you may want to check out OpticsPlanet’s Z.E.R.O Kit – but only if you have some disposable income…like $23,999 worth of it.

    Here’s what OpticsPlanet has to say about their kit:

    There is no room for error when dealing with the undead. Our Z.E.R.O. (Zombie Extermination, Research and Operations) Kit takes into account all the different aspects of surviving the looming zombie apocalypse. When the undead hordes rise from their shallow graves to wreak havoc on all decent civilization, you’ll need to both fight back (Extermination), and find a cure (Research).

    Always be prepared. In the new zombie world you can be king of the hill, or the tastiest treat in town.

    And of course, zombies may not be the only thing trying to turn you into a treat. Tough times call for even tougher actions – and the survival kit may have to protect you from Mr. Anderson across the street, who’s hunger has led him to make some interesting decisions concerning the value of a human life.

    The most intriguing part of the kit comes from the “R” in “Z.E.R.O”: Research. You can only kill so many zombies before you lose focus and become food or lose the motivation to live and just off yourself. To avoid such fates, one has to work on a cure:

    “We’ve included Qorpak Beakers, Labnet Pipettes and a Celestron Microscope so you can take samples and study the innermost workings of zombies. The destructive nature of their cells might lead you to a better understanding of their life expectancy or how to possibly treat their symptoms so they no longer hunger for human flesh,” they say.

    Here’s the list of weapon accessories that you get for your $24K:

    • GG&G Extreme Heavy Duty Swivel Bipod GGG-1245
    • Eotech Gear Scopecoat Cover for EoTech Zombie Stopper Red Dot Sight
    • OPMOD PVS-14 Monocular Gen 3 PINNACLE Night Vision Scope 64 lp/mm GNVPVS14-OPMOD
    • Thermal Eye X50 100x800px Waterproof Thermal Imaging Camera, NTSC – 1000380-0001
    • Surefire 6V LED Shotgun Forend Weaponlight for Benelli M1-M2 617LM
    • Leupold VX-R ZOMBIE 1.25-4x20mm 30mm Riflescope ZombieDot Green SPR
    • Plano Moulding Zombie Ammo Can
    • Champion Zombie Target 6-Pack, Attack
    • Streamlight TLR-1 HP Long Range Rail Mounted Flashlight, Standard Switch w/ Rail Locating Keys for Glock Style,1913 Picatinny, S&W 99/TSW & Beretta 90two & Lithium Batteries, Box 69217
    • Safariland 6305 ALS Tactical Holster w/ Quick Release Leg Harness – STX TAC Black, Right Hand, Hood Guard Sentry Protection 6305-7742-131-SH
    • New, Steiner 10×50 Military Binoculars Laser Rangefinder
    • Leupold Mark 4 20-60x80mm, Black Spotting Scope, TMR Reticle 110826
    • Laser Devices DBAL-I2 Dual Beam Laser, Visible Green Laser
    • Mako Group Fab Defense Handguard w/Rails For Remington Model 870 PR870
    • Trijicon ACOG 6×48 Dual Ill Riflescope w/Mount, Green Chevron .308 Reticle
    • Vero Vellini Premium Padded Leather Rifle Sling, Brown V17228
    • Crimson Trace Full size Glock Laser Zombie Edition
    • Eotech Zombie Stopper Red Dot Holographic Sight

    And that’s less than half of the kit’s contents. You can check the product page for a complete listing. No actual weapons, however, but that’s cool. Anyone knows the first act of any zombie outbreak is raiding the local gun store.

    [h/t Geekologie]

  • Here’s Why Justin Bieber Is Never Going To Reply To Your Tweets

    Holy crap, Justin Bieber is popular on Twitter. He’s the second most-followed person on the entire network with just over 24.6 million followers – second only to Lady Gaga and her army of 26.7 million little monsters. But anyone who has spent even a little bit of time on Twitter knows that the Beliebers are quite the enthusiastic bunch. I mean, nobody can hijack a trending topics list quite like excited Justin Bieber fans.

    Even though I knew all of this, nothing could prepare me for what you’re about to see. YouTube user Mateo12485 appears to have used Tweetdeck to show us exactly how rabid Bieber fans really are. All that had to be done was to set up a stream of @ mentions for Justin Bieber, wait for him to tweet something, and sit back in abject horror.

    Check out the absolute insanity below:

    Shocking, right?

    I wondered if the sheer quantity meant that anyone with an eleven-digit followers count would see this kind of reply activity. I set up the Bieber @ stream next to the Gaga @ stream and the pace of each wasn’t even close. Tweets were flying in to Beiber at an insane rate – about ten times the rate of Lady Gaga mentions (based on my best estimate). To be fair, Bieber had tweeted more recently than Gaga, but the disparity was staggering.

    I guess Bieber fans really are the most crazy passionate fans in the world

    “@justinbieber Just waiting for the day you’ll notice and follow me,” read one tweet, flashing before my eyes for a brief moment before being swallowed up by dozens more. Yes. Good luck with that.

  • If You Think You’re A Sh*tty Parent, Just Check Out What One Mom Posted To Facebook

    People post some seriously screwed-up things on Facebook – for instance anything surrounding a birth. Or in some cases, their proudest number twos (seriously, I know this guy). I once witnessed, live, two Facebook friends go at it about one of their sexual dysfunctions. Spend any time on reddit, Failbook, or Lamebook, and you’re bound to see much, much worse.

    But this one is right up there with the dumbest of things ever posted to Facebook.

    The scene played out on video is shocking enough. The fact that someone recorded it and uploaded it to Facebook puts the icing on the wtfcake.

    The incident, which occurred in St. Louis Missouri, involves a mother goading two young children to fight.

    “Y’all better ball up some fists,” the woman yells at the two kids, who can’t be over 3 or 4 years old.

    “Hit back…y’all better hit back, ball up your fists,” she continues.

    The whole time, one or both of the young girls cry incessantly. Check out the shocking footage below:

    “It’s just sickening and I feel like there should be some kind of criminal action taken,” an anonymous acquaintance of the mother in the video told FOX 2. “I couldn’t even watch the whole video. I had to stop it and look again. It was sad.”

    She’s the one who alerted local news that the video has been posted to Facebook.

    According to FOX 2, the Missouri Department of Social Services may be involved, but the department doesn’t comment on the details of current case.

    Struggling parents out there, just know that you’re not really doing as bad as you think you are. You could be this mother.