Starbucks releases "Mobile Pour" App

From the Starbuck's press release:

"We've all been there. You’re walking down the sidewalk with a huge craving for Starbucks coffee with no time to find a location and buy one (no "there’s a Starbucks on every corner" jokes, please).
What if the solution was as easy as whipping out your smartphone to have one delivered to you without missing a step? Well now it is that easy, inspired by your ideas on MyStarbucksIdea.com we’re proud to introduce the exciting new Starbucks® Mobile Pour service that puts baristas on scooters. In seven of the largest cities around the country, we’re sending out two scooter baristas per every square mile to ensure speedy service.
We've even made ordering easy with our Mobile Pour app for your smartphone. Simply download it, allow it to pinpoint your location, select your coffee order and keep walking. Your fresh, hot Starbucks brew will be in your hands before you can say abra-arabica.

Click on picture to activate the demo

What's more, the Starbucks® Mobile Pour is only the first exciting development of our new mobile replenishment strategy. In the coming months we'll be introducing several other exciting (can you say "mall" and "rollerblades") initiatives that make getting your Starbucks coffee easier than ever."

The date of the release. April 1, 2011. Chalk it up to April Fools!

One man's look at redesigning the Mexico/USA border wall

Ron Rael, an assistant professor of architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, thinks the 700 mile border Mexico/USA border wall is bad idea and inhumane, but has turned his talents on how to make a bad thing better. What he has done is come up with some unique designs for it.
From www.fastcodesign.com:

"To that end, he has re-envisioned the wall as something like a town center, complete with infrastructure, social services, and recreational facilities. Among the stations he envisions along the wall are a volleyball court, a confessional, a lending library, a water catchment system, a wastewater treatment plant, a solar farm, and even a "burrito wall" featuring "a food cart inserted into the wall, allowing people from each side of the border to share a meal, chat and conduct business, all within full view of security." The designs are partly practical, partly satirical: call it ironic architecture."  Read more here ....

Big Brother is tracking you – by your cellphone

We've all seen the TV thrillers as the good guys, and sometimes the bad guys, track the perp or the hero by there cellphone use. Well, in Germany, one politician put this to the test. Politician Malte Spitz sued to have German telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom hand over all over his phone data for six months. He turned the data over to German paper ZEIT,  who combined his geolocation data with other online information, such as Twitter feeds, blog entries and websites.

ZEIT created this interactive graphic which takes you on a trip through the six months of Malte Spitz's life. Click on the graphic to go to ZEIT and the interactive graphic. You are being watched!

Video: "Full-immersion video" of Libya war

Photojournalist Danfung Dennis pushes the boundaries of photojournalism with his system he called "Condition ONE". Seeking to create an experience resembling virtual reality, Dennis teamed up with photojournalist Patrick Chauvel in Libya and produced this intense video. Read more about Dennis system on FastCoDesign.

"Through our work we hope to shake people from their indifference to war, and to bridge the disconnect between the realities on the ground and the public consciousness at home," Dennis told DSLR News Shooter.


My Freedom Or Death - Condition ONE Beta from Danfung Dennis on Vimeo.

Charlie Sheen banned from many New York hotels – where will he stay?

Image via Wikipedia

Tiger blood man Charlie Sheen, on tour performing his one-man show "Violent Torpedo of Truth," is headed to New York in April, but he might face a challenge finding lodgings. The New York Post is reporting that Sheen is not welcome at many of the city's top hotels. Last October he trashed his hotel room at the Plaza after partying with a prostitute. Not an isolated incident. Other hotels, including the Waldorf-Astoria and the Trump Soho, have also let it be known he is not welcome

"Many of the big New York hotels don't want the drama. He is now looking at renting a private residence," a source told the New York Post. Another source close to Sheen told the Post, "The real issue is finding him a hotel that allows smoking. He has to be able to smoke. And it's hard to find a place that will accommodate him, plus his entourage that will be more than 30, including the lighting people and of course the goddesses."

Charlie, you are always welcome to crash at the Cry Baby's digs.

World penis size map - country by country

Does size matter? Have a look at penis sizes worldwide. Ladies, pick your country.

Retro commerical – Own a piece of the Skydome in Toronto

Credit: Wikipedia Commons

You need a little history lesson on the Skydome, now the Rogers Centre, to know just how sad and stupid this commercial from 1989 is. The stadium was built largely with government funds to house the baseball team the Toronto Blue Jays. Huge costs overruns, pushed the cost to C$570 million ($884 million in 2011 dollars), well beyond original estimates of C$150 million. Stuck with a white elephant that struggled to even meet its interest payments, on November 1998, the stadium filed for bankruptcy protection. In 2004, Rogers Communications, the parent company of the Blue Jays, bought SkyDome for about whopping  $25 million – about 4% of the cost of construction. What a great deal for Rogers and the taxpayers get hosed again!

Nasty mom gets kids high then beats them

Podsobinski (Oregon State Police)

Did she get them high first and then beat them or was it the other way around? I suppose it really doesn't matter. Valery Lee Podsobinski, 45, in Oregon allegedly fed her children pot-laced goodies and beat them with household objects, including belts and spoons. When police arrested her, she was also in possessing of a big bag of magic mushrooms, aka Psilocybin.

Podsobinski has been charged with possession of hallucinogens, possession of marijuana, delivery of marijuana, three counts of felony fourth-degree assault, fourth-degree assault and two counts of reckless endangering.

Podsobinski was  jailed then released on her own recognizance. Let's hope those kids are kept far, far away from her.

Blind date turns out to be long-lost brother and sister

Image via Wikipedia

Sarah Kemp, 42, and George Bentley, 47,  met online and swapped emails and photos back and forth after it became clear to both of them that they had met someone special. Very special it turns out. After meeting in a pub for their first date, talk turned to their childhoods and they soon realized they were brother and sister.

"Can you imagine the surprise, joy and embarrassment we both felt? It was such a crazy thing," Kemp said.

Fortunately they found out before their relationship had passed any more embarrassing romantic milestones. Both were born in Ashford, Kent, where they spent an "idyllic childhood" with their parents. In 1975 their parents divorced. Sarah, went with her mother to Edinburgh, while David went with his father to London.

As adults,both siblings tried to find the other without success. Score one for online dating. Just be careful you're not dating your sister!

Video: The most dangerous intersection in the world

Have a look at this shocking compilation of accidents captured by surveillance cameras from one intersection in city of Heze in China.

It started out as a public service announcement to promote road safety, but it has not gone viral. Chinese sharing site Youku had over 2 million views of the video.

One Trillion Stars – Andromedea Galaxy

This image from the Spitzer Space Telescope (not to be confused with Elliot Spitzer of call girl fame) shows the Andromedea Galaxy in infrared and x-ray wavelengths. The infrared light from dust shows up as red and old stars as blue. The huge spiral galaxy is 2.5 million light-years away, a stone's throw when compared to other celestial distances and is over twice the diameter of our own Milky Way.Andromeda holds around 1 trillion stars, compared to 4 hundred billion for the Milky Way. See more at the Daily Galaxy.

I'm setting course for Rigel 5!

Wrongfully convicted man spends 20 years in prison, freed, gets engaged and then dies in freak accident

This is just a sad saga. Joseph White has had a lot of very bad breaks and the last one cost him his life. White was wrongfully convicted of a1985 rape-slaying and spent 20 years in prison for it. He was freed after DNA evidence cleared him in 2008, the first person in Nebraska to have a murder conviction overturned through DNA testing. White's life finally was getting on track. He got a job in a coal processing plant, was set to marry his high school sweetheart he proposed to 30 years ago and was owed $500,000 from the State of Nebraska for his wrongful conviction. The stars were finally in his favour. Not quite. On Sunday he was crushed to earth by heavy machinery moving coal.

“You'd think he was in line for some better luck,” White's attorney, Robert Bartle. “It's a very sad and tragic life.” White was 48.

MIT creates 'Holy Grail' of science: The artificial leaf – ten times better than real thing

Image by bitzcelt via Flickr

MIT professor Daniel Nocera says he has created an artificial leaf that is ten times more efficient at photosynthesis than the real thing. The artificial leaf has been the 'Holy Grail' of science and could theoretically turn every home into its own power station.

Described as an "advanced solar cell the size of a poker card," the leaf device is made of silicon, electronics, and inexpensive catalysts made of nickel and cobalt. When placed in a gallon of water under direct sunlight, the catalysts break the H2O down into hydrogen and oxygen gases, which are then stored in a fuel cell.

"A practical artificial leaf has been one of the Holy Grails of science for decades," said Daniel Nocera, Ph.D., who led the research team. "We believe we have done it. The artificial leaf shows particular promise as an inexpensive source of electricity for homes of the poor in developing countries. Our goal is to make each home its own power station," he said. "One can envision villages in India and Africa not long from now purchasing an affordable basic power system based on this technology."

Related articles

• Scientists find 'Holy Grail' of science as they mastermind the world's first artificial leaf (dailymail.co.uk)

Funny Video: "Yo, I'm From Windsor Dude" (which is across from Detroit!)

This is the Cry Baby's home town, so I have a soft spot for Windsor, which is in Canada dude. It's polluted, economically depressed and actually, just kind of depressing. The two biggest industries these days appear to be gambling and stripping (as in strip clubs – which abound). Like Detroit, Windsor is an auto city, except the auto industry has not been doing so great lately. There is an island in the Detroit River across from Windsor that glows at night with from the Ford foundry furnaces, looking like a scene from Hell. Back in the day, my day that is, it would spew out a caustic ash that would coat the cars on Windsor's west side and eat away the paint. Well, you get the picture, now watch this funny video.

Man makes quilt from women's panties

Meet Vietnam vet Louis Garrett aka Shovelhead. Louis had a brainstorm: Make a quilt out of women's panties. The idea for the quilt came from a magazine, which makes me wonder what magazines he subscribes to. He also has a mannequin collection, and dresses them in lingerie.

This is one very well rounded gentleman.

Anne Frank Center to move across the street from Ground Zero mosque

Anne Frank via Wikipedia

The New York Post is reporting that the nonprofit Anne Frank Center USA, a partner of the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam,is poised to sign a lease in the building across from the proposed Ground Zero mosque in New york City. "Board members at the Anne Frank Center said they harbored no concerns about their odd juxtaposition with the mosque, whose proximity to the 9/11 site has sparked outrage."

Read more in the Post here.

Related articles

• Anne Frank Graphic Novel Launched (prathambooks.org)

Natalie Portman's double says she did most of the dancing in "Black Swan"

Believe who you want on this one. My bet is on the double, Sarah Lane. Having just watched the film last night,  I wondered how much of the dancing Portman could have actually done. My intuitive answer was "not much." Maybe yes,  then again according to Black Swan” dancer – choreographer Benjamin Millepied, who is expecting a child with Portman, maybe no.  (see Wall Street Journal excerpt at bottom of post)

This from Entertainment Weekly:

"The ballerina who served as a dancing double for Natalie Portman’s Oscar-winnning role in Black Swan tells EW she has been the victim of a “cover-up” to mislead the public about how much dancing Portman actually did in the film. “Of the full body shots, I would say 5 percent are Natalie,” says Sarah Lane, 27, an American Ballet Theatre soloist who performed many of the film’s complicated dance sequences, allowing Portman’s face to be digitally grafted onto her body." 

 .... and this from a Wall Street Journal story:

"“Black Swan” dancer/choreographer Benjamin Millepied, who is expecting a child with Portman, told the Los Angeles Times this week “Honestly, 85% of that movie is Natalie.” (Lane says that if she had to quantify it, Portman did “about 5%” of the on-screen dancing.)"

Beautiful video of northern lights in Russia

I'm not sure where this came from, but have a look at this stunning video of the northern lights in Russia.

"Fat Ho Burgers" has Texans stompin' mad

Waco, Texas native Lakita Evans, 23, decided to fulfill her dream and open a restaurant. The locals did not take well to it. It could be because her restaurant is named "Fat Ho Burgers." Evans says the name is in good fun and people shouldn't get upset. “It’s not calling people a ho. It’s just like they say, 'Oooh that ho is big,' or, 'That ho is tight!’” said restaurant’s owner Evans."Look what's going on in Japan. It's clear this world is not gonna get any better. Why cry and be depressed? ... Somebody's gotta keep a sense of humor around here." Patrons of the Gospel Cafe, volunteer-run religious café and bookstore around the corner are not amused. “Would’ve been nice to think a little more sensitively,” said Pastor Marsha Martie.

'Fat Ho Burgers' Opens in Texas: MyFoxDFW.com

Nuclear fears prompts Chinese man in Japan to turn himself in to police

Lin Jian Ming, 48, came to Japan on a 90 day visitor's visa in 2000 and liked it so much he decided to stay on – illegally. Fast forward to the nuclear crisis at Fukushima. Lin, fearing for his safety from radiation, turned himself in Nagasaki Prefectural Police Saturday afternoon asking to be repatriated. Lin said he had fled from Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, one week earlier to avoid radiation contamination. He apparently thought he would be safe from leaked radiation if he traveled to Nagasaki. Police have arrested Lin for staying illegally in Japan.

Fukushima reactors