Researchers from Taiwan have developed a machine that reads people's hand gestures and thereby permits them to open doors by waving a few fingers:

"In the future, you won't have to worry about losing or forgetting your keys," said Tsai Yao-pin, who teaches at the Technology and Science Institute of Northern Taiwan.

At the heart of the technology developed by his team is a chip that can detect movement in three dimensions, as used in Nintendo's Wii video game console, he said.

The technology allows users to easily unlock their doors by repeating a gesture preset in the sensor, according to Tsai.

You'll just have to be careful about your body language.

Link -via TechCrunch | Photo by Flickr user Eddi 07 - Free Stock

(Video Link)

John Kricfalusi, the animator for the legendary Ren & Stimpy Show, got a chance to direct the couch gag for last night's episode of The Simpsons. Kricfalusi is not one to hold back his creative vision, even for a children's show (Nickelodeon ultimately fired him). His work in this short is deliciously weird and psychedelic.

-via Boing Boing | Previously: Banksy's Couch Gag

It even comes with instructions: "Right click options: Save as snack; Add to meal favorites; Eat source; Export to kitchen table."

Link -via That's Nerdalicious!

Oh, you think that shaving with a straight razor is hardcore? Don't tell that to Alexander Karpenko, a Russian professor who has been shaving with shovels since he was 16. While he was growing up, his grandfather, a veteran of World War II, told him that it could be done. So Karpenko tried it with a very sharp shovel and found that it worked!

http://www.tden.ru/articles/show/14711 (Google Translate) -via Oddity Central | Photo: Tden.ru

N.B. is a common abbreviation for the Latin phrase nota bene -- "note well". It's an old style of annotation that has sadly passed out of common use. David, the man with this tattoo, says of its meaning "that everything is better with footnotes." This lovely sentiment so totally non-MLA standards compliant.

Link

Nicholas Hanna is an architect by training, but he's fascinated by Chinese calligraphy. He's invented an ingenious gadget that writes messages in Chinese with water. It's attached to a tricycle and as he rides it, the electronically-controlled machine sprays water onto the pavement.

If you had such a device, what would you write with it?

Link -via Bit Rebels | Artist's Website

(Video Link)

This clip from Penn & Teller's Magic and Mystery Tour shows a Chinese performer who can change between ten different masks so quickly that you can't see him switch. He waves his cape in front of his face, and he's a different character in the story!

-via reddit

The Man in Black wanted to keep organized, so he kept a regular to-do list. Very smart. Also, his choices are smart. But is it really necessary to write down #5? Would he have forgotten otherwise?

Link -via Ace of Spades HQ | Image: Julien's Auctions

Previously: The Johnny Cash Project

Children are never too young to be properly introduced to Star Trek, and a crafter named Julie Bell is getting her kids off to the right start. She's made a cloth book filled with age-appropriate activities that introduce the Enterprise-D crew and life onboard. Pictured above is a zippered turbolift door that opens to reveal finger puppets of the major characters. You can also do bat'leth training with Worf, reconstruct Picard after he was rescued from Borg assimilation, separate the saucer section, and more. Just go ahead and look at this simply delightful work at the link.

Link -via blastr | Previously by Julie Bell: Star Wars Quiet Book for Kids

(Video Link)

Lutz Eichholz has accomplished the impossible. He previously set the world record for riding a unicycle down a line of beer bottles (a highly competitive event) at 7.99 meters. Now he's smashed that record by riding 8.93 meters at the Unicycle Israel Convention in Tel Aviv.

Link -via That's Nerdalicious!

It's a common problem: you'd like to have a girlfriend. So you go out and meet women. And that's when it all pretty much goes downhill.

Now there's a solution, brought to you by software engineer Ricky Robinett. His service sends you tweets from an apparently female person who not only tolerates your company, but actually likes you. Customers can receive messages like these:

"I miss you, honey. xoxo. (:",
"When are you going to come see me?!?! I miss you! :0)",
"I'm lonely ;) ;) hehehe",
"Why don't you leave the boys and come hang out with me?",
"I wish I was with you!!! (0:",
"I just need someone to talk to... Call me?",
"Thanks so much for the pics ;) I'll send some soon (:",
"I *3 you. xoxoxoxo. *3 *3 *3 *3",
"Oh hai! (0:",
"THANKS FOR THE FLOWERS!!!"

Link and Company Website -via Gizmodo

Divorces can be messy, so legislators in Mexico City are considering a way to prevent them. They want to allow couples to set expiration dates on their marriages. If a couple decides not to renew, their marriage simply dissolves after as little as two years:

The minimum marriage contract would be for two years and could be renewed if the couple stays happy. The contracts would include provisions on how children and property would be handled if the couple splits.

"The proposal is, when the two-year period is up, if the relationship is not stable or harmonious, the contract simply ends," said Leonel Luna, the Mexico City assemblyman who co-authored the bill.

"You wouldn't have to go through the tortuous process of divorce," said Luna, from the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, which has the most seats in the 66-member chamber.

Link -via Dave Barry | Photo by Flickr user habi used under Creative Commons license

GM has developed an airbag that inflates from between the front two seats. It's designed to protect the driver and passenger during side impacts which may drive them into each other, or onto the far side of the car. At the link, you can watch a slow-motion video of one inflating with a crash test dummy.

Link -via DVICE | Photo: GM

(Video Link)

Do you want to live forever? You can do that, in a sense, by turning your name into a noun. The French doctor Joseph-Ignace Guillotin invented the guillotine. James Brudenell, the 7th Earl of Cardigan, is known for his now famous sweaters. Jules Léotard lives on in common dancewear. That's the key! You've got to become an object, immortalized forever in the dictionary. Robert Krulwich and Adam Cole explain how it works in this catchy tune.

-via Nag on the Lake

(Video Link)

The genius of many street artists lies in seeing patterns in ordinary objects that other people don't. In a digital display in the Montréal Métro, Robert Hibourassa saw action hero John Rambo.

-via Dude Craft