(Video Link)

Yuri Volodchenkov and his horse only make one cycle of the rope, but that's a great start. A casual YouTube search suggests that Volodchenkov is an accomplished trick rider.

via Ace of Spades HQ

I can't tell you much about this item because the information is in Japanese. The video at the link, however, shows men throwing two canisters into a burning box, and those actions alone extinguishing the flames.

Link | Product Site | Photos: Rakuten

Terry Garrett has been blind since the age of 10, but he can play certain video games exceptionally well by using in-game sounds to figure out his character's environment. Garrett is especially skilled at the game Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee:

The beep of a blinking bomb, the desperate cry of a friend in need, the pounding of a Mudokon’s hammer: They all provide crucial details that enable Garrett to get through the game’s punishing levels. When he needs orientation, Garrett listens carefully for “sound landmarks” like running water or footsteps shifting from grass to earth. And as he works his way through the side-scrolling puzzler’s world of weird creatures, Garrett pieces the noises together and sees the game’s levels laid out in his mind.[...]

Today, Garrett can beat the entire game, executing every jump and step with near-perfect precision. He’s honed his hearing to the point where he can recognize exactly which sounds refer to each object and act accordingly. He hasn’t memorized every level, but he knows enough about the sound design to beat Oddworld without dying.

“Through Abe’s sounds, I was able to figure out how to navigate the world,” Garrett, now an engineering student at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, told Wired.com in an e-mail.

According to its creator, Oddworld wasn't created with visually-impaired playing in mind. But the role of sound in it makes it well suited for that purpose.

Link | Photo: Oddworld Inhabitants

Previously: Three Men Create 100,000-Keystroke Script So That Blind Gamer Can Complete a Video Game

(Video Link)

Well, it's Thursday, so it's time to clean out the cobra pit. Come'on, punch the timeclock and get to work. I'm not paying you to stand around all day.

via Nerdcore

Would you like to have pointed ears like a Vulcan or an elf? There are doctors and body modification artists who will do it for you. Doctors warn that it's essentially permanent, so be sure of your decision before going under the knife. There's a video at the link from ABC's morning show, which is labeled "Spock Ears for Kids", though they're no indication that children are getting the procedure.

Link via io9 | Image: ABC News | Previously: Pointy Ears

This is good, but the moves get really explicit once you start into calculus. If you know who's responsible for this great cartoon, let us know in the comments.

via Geekosystem | Previously: Math Dances and Other College Application Videos

In J.R.R. Tolkein's The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins became extravagantly wealthy by looting the treasure of the dragon Smaug (which he split with the dwarves). In today's value, how much money was that? Forbes' Michael Noer ran some calculations and came up with $8 billion:

To keep the math relatively simple and to avoid complications like integrating the partial volume of a sphere, we can approximate Smaug’s bed of gold and silver to be a cone, with a radius of 9.6 feet (1/2 the diameter) and a height of 7 feet (assuming the weight of the dragon will smush down the point of the cone by about a foot).

Now we can calculate the volume of Smaug’s treasure mound:

V= 1/3 ? r2 h = 1/3 * ? * 9.62 * 7 = 675.6 cubic feet

But, obviously, the mound isn’t solid gold and silver. We know it has a “great two-handled cups” in it – one of which Bilbo steals – and probably human remains, not to mention the air space between the coins. Let’s assume that the mound is 30% air and bones. That makes the volume of the hoard that is pure gold and silver coins 472.9 cubic feet.

We know that Bilbo eventually takes his cut of the treasure in two small-chests, one filled with gold and the other filled with silver, so it seems safe to assume that the hoard is approximately ½ gold and ½ silver, or 236.4 cubic feet of each metal.

Link via Nerd Bastards | Image by deviantART user Remainaery

(Video Link)

And by "extremely", I mean points about 2-7 feet long extending beyond the toes.

This video, which is voiced in Spanish but subtitled in English, is from the web series Behind the Seams. It describes the emerging Mexican fashion trend of wearing boots with very long points, which is closely affiliated with the Tribal music and dance scene.

via Nerdcore | Show Website (warning: auto-sound)

Russian photographer Dmitry Ivanov visited the Ijen volcano complex in Indonesia took pictures of people mining fresh sulfur deposits there. He writes (as rendered by Google Translate) of the hazards experienced by the workers:

The best remedy for the treatment of depression of office - to organize tours to the crater Idzhena: and a secretary and bookkeeper, and even the janitor miner immediately fell in love with my profession!

Part 1 (Google Translate) and Part 2 (Google Translate) via Geekosystem

Who do you think would be a better podracer: Ronald McDonald or Anakin Skywalker? This piece by Tommy Williamson was submitted to a contest for unique LEGO podracers.

Image Link and Contest Link via Super Punch

(Video Link)

These soldiers are drilling in formation. One shoots the beret off of another, who seems unfazed. Either he has nerves of steel or doesn't realize what happened.

via Say Uncle

Ugh. It's been about seven years since I've played Dungeons & Dragons, and it shows. I scored only 8 out of 22 (although I did recognize that one was not, as suggested, a "coast guard spork"). My usual weapon of choice for fighter characters was a polearm of some sort, so I expected to do a bit better. How well did you do?

Link via Ace of Spades HQ

Stefan and Erika Svanstrom of Stockholm have had an eventful honeymoon. So far, they've endured a snowstorm in Munich, Germany, a cyclone that struck Cairns, Australia, the floods of Brisbane, Australia, the wildfires in Perth, Australia, the earthquake that hit Christchurch, New Zealand, and then the earthquake in Japan:

The family returned to Stockholm on March 29 after a much calmer visit to their last destination China.

But Mr Svanstrom – who also survived the devastating Boxing Day tsunami that hit southeast Asia in 2004 – said the marriage was still going strong.

He added: "I know marriages have to endure some trials, but I think we have been through most of them.

"We've certainly experienced more than our fair share of catastrophes, but the most important thing is that we're together and happy.

Link | Photo by the Svanstroms, via the New Zealand Herald

(Video Link)

I offer four hypotheses to explain the awesomeness of this video:
1. A video editor carefully sifted through hours of floor speeches and spliced together the lyrics to Rick Astley's song.
2. The clerks working for the legislators are pulling a huge, well-orchestrated prank.
3. The legislators are reading letters from constituents, who are the true pranksters, into the House record upon request.
4. The legislators themselves are intentionally Rick Rolling their colleagues.

via The Agitator

I'd like to say that Jesse Yuan's guitar reminds me of school lunch food, but it looks too tasty and realistic. Still, an A for effort. Yuan's guitar is one of many submitted by graduate students in design at the School of Visual Arts in NYC. Each of the students was given a brand new Fender guitar and told to reshape it according to their own visions. You can see pictures of the other students' work at the link.

Link via Walyou | Photo: Imprint Magazine