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Blogger Crabfu really likes Theo Jansen's enormous kinetic sculptures and toyed around with small models of it powered by different energy sources. It occurred to him that with the right gearing, a hamster exercise sphere could provide locomotion for it. And he was right!

Princess is a tiny little thing, much smaller than what I had imagined and prepared for. I was afriad that her weight wouldn't be enough to get the ball going. But luckily it all worked out great, and test pilot Princess had no problems getting the strandbeest up to speed.

Link via Make

Here's a clever use of shadowing by photographer Joe Baran. All that's necessary is the right spot at the right time and a little bit of graffiti.

Link via reddit

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Filmmaker Freddie Wong specializes in producing innovative and exciting action scenes, but before that he was a professional Guitar Hero player. He even won a 2007 world championship. In this homage to that time, Wong replicates himself on a massive scale to present an entire army of guitarists.

via The Presurfer | Wong's Website

Talking about driving your point home! Pictured above is a billboard created by the government of Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia, to discourage drunk driving. The text on the back side, according to English Russia, reads "Your body could have been here."

Link via Jalopnik | Photo: English Russia

In The Twilight Zone episode "Living Doll", a young girl is given a doll. Talky Tina, as she is known, speaks cute phrases to the girl, but death threats against the child's father. Now you can have one in your own home! Entertainment Earth is selling Talky Tina replicas which say the following phrases:

"My name is Talky Tina, and I love you very much."
"My name is Talky Tina, and I don't think I like you."
"My name is Talky Tina, and you'd better be nice to me."
"My name is Talky Tina, and you'll be sorry."
"My name is Talky Tina, and I'm going to kill you."

Link via Geek Dad

Home Gunsmith forum user rhmc24 took parts from a 12 gauge shotgun and a 1857 Remington revolver and created a shotgun with a revolving cycle:

Using chambers cut off 12 ga. scrap barrels and a new $10 bbl for an Italian auto shotgun, the only other gun part is a scrapped hammer from a 1857 Remington perc revolver. Loads like a SAA Colt but underlever rotates and cocks it. Blow-by is negligible, hardly noticeable with normal shirt sleeve.

Opened for some still shots, at top of the inside pix screwed in is the firing pin, impact type with return spring. The ratchet or star with the hand is visible below on the left side, also the pawl that cocks the hammer. The cylinder indexing lock is external, operated by the under lever. At very bottom the small knob releases the cylinder to turn clockwise for loading.

Due to limited equipment I was unable to copy existing mechanisms so it is pretty much designed from scratch, largely by cut and try, trial and error, etc.

There are two more detailed pictures at the link.

Link via Everyday, No Days Off

I like this guy's sense of humor. He's lost a toe, but he can joke about it.

Link (main site NSFW)

A man in Silver Spring, Maryland, is under arrest for multiple burglaries. Police caught him because he left his cell phone charging in one home as he robbed it:

Police say that Wilkins's home lost power in the storm and that he needed a place - anyplace, it seems - to charge his phone. In his haste to flee, he left it charging.

Link via Geekologie | Photo (unrelated) by Flickr user Debs used under Creative Commons license

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Michael S. Deak, a movie makeup artist, has made several trailers for fake horror movies from the 1950s and 60s, such as Attack of the Brain Leeches. His YouTube channel is filled with similar works. Most noteworthy among them is a trailer for Gli Uccisori Del 'Idiota, a really well-made imitation of 60s-era Italian spy movies.

YouTube Channel via Boing Boing

Yong Hsueh, a Shaolin monk, appeared on the Chinese version of Britain's Got Talent to demonstrate his ability to get kicked in the crotch without suffering injury:

He told the audience: "Steel crotch Kongfu is an ancient art, with roots stretching back to ancient China.

"It's a practice to strengthen and protect the male genital organs so there is less chance they are injured or incapacitated in battle."

Cross legged male members of the audience watched in shock as various members of the panel were invited to boot the monk - who simply bowed and smiled after each blow - between the legs.

And how does one learn this skill?

The monk said the former could only be learned by a student that started in childhood - it involved pushing the testicles into the body where they could not be hurt.

Link via The Corner | Image: Orange News

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Corgis Martin and Aston love to be play tetherball. This is a regular activity for them, as you can see from the other videos at the video link.

via Super Punch

John Looser of Belgrave, Ontario, makes birdhouses with the upper-class bird in mind. Some have over a hundred rooms, swimming pools, and convenient fly-through tunnels. Each one takes between a week and a month to build and can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Link and Video via Born Rich | Photo: Extreme Birdhouse

The StreetFlyer vehicle, developed by Dr. Carsten Mehring, is supposed to represent a land version of hang gliding. The rider is suspended in a harness from the top. She steers with her hands and pedals the rear wheel. Mehring asserts that the StreetFlyer could serve physical rehabilitation purposes as it puts limited stress on the user's limbs.

Product Link via OhGizmo!

Cartoonist Caldwell Tanner thinks that the Girl Scouts really need to rethink their cookie designs. Here's one of several proposals that he's making: wrap the best cookies in the most unappetizing packaging possible.

http://www.collegehumor.com/article:1813128

Sure, you can cook a squirrel in a popcorn popper, but those really aren't that common since the advent of microwave popcorn. Max Eddy of Geekosystem has a more practical guide for you: how to cook food in a coffee pot. He has links to instructions and recipes including lemon pepper chicken, chicken pesto pasta, and fish steaks. Inspired by his post, right now I'm cooking eggs in my coffee pot. I'll let you know how they turn out.

What foods have you cooked in a coffee maker?

Link | Previously: How to Brew Beer in a Coffee Maker