October 22nd, 2009 at 7:55 am
The World of Goo is a physics-based puzzle game released in October of 2008. It was favorably received by the gaming community, receiving many awards.
On the one-year anniversary of the product’s release, the developers decided to undertake an e-commerce experiment. They offered to sell the game (previously retailing at $20) to anyone for whatever price the customer was willing to pay: “…one cent, a million dollars, the usual twenty, or any creative number they let you type into the text field.”
In the week that followed, 57,000 additional people purchased the game; the graph above shows what prices they opted to pay. About 17,000 people paid $0.01, but another 16,000 paid $1.00-$1.99, and several hundred paid the full $20.00 original price. Total sales = over $100,000 for the week. And still rising, because they have announced that they are continuing the offer until October 25…
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October 22nd, 2009 at 7:38 am
Do YOU have what it takes?
“Do you have a medical condition that necessitates marijuana? Do you have a way with words? If so, Westword wants you to join the ranks as our freelance marijuana-dispensary reviewer.”
The local “burgeoning medical marijuana scene” in Denver, Colorado, is growing and the weekly publication Westword wants to be on the forefront, said Joe Tone, the paper’s Web editor. “We want someone who can get in and relay to our readers what it is like inside these dispensaries.”
It’s not exactly like a food critic job. The online-only reviewer won’t be showing up anonymously and sampling the wares…
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October 21st, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Politically Incorrect Balloon Boy Halloween Costume in Action.
I think we laughed for about 20 minutes when we came across this…
“Now you too can enjoy all the media attention you want with Plantraco’s Balloon Boy Hoax kit. A great flying saucer that is going to put a big smile on your face. Colorado flying saucers and hot air balloon hoaxes are famous these days, get on the bandwagon for trick-or-treat halloween fun and loads of laughs for everyone!
Just ring the doorbell and say “I’m supposed to be flying in there, but my dad said to stay in the box for the show!” – you are practically guaranteed to get double and triple halloween treats with this authentic and collectible Balloon Boy Flying Saucer Hoax trick costume!
Don’t forget the name tag!
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October 21st, 2009 at 2:57 pm
“Daddy, look at all the FILM (Females I’d Like to Milk)!” thinks baby Gordon.
As a perspective parent I have been bumping into a lot of new parent web sites. Many of them have some great do’s and don’ts that they recommend or condemn. The fine folks over at Parent Fail spotlight the don’t side of the spectrum quite well.
Their site is proudly promoted by the motto, “Proof that certain people just shouldn’t be allowed to procreate.”
And for us the proof is in the picture (or video). See more astounding photos after the jump…
October 21st, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Hey shooter, tired of going down range setting up new targets, or wondering where your last shot went?
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October 21st, 2009 at 11:36 am
Genetically modified (GM) crops have been around for a generation but there are now new possibilities thanks to developments in understanding of the makeup of plants.
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October 21st, 2009 at 11:23 am
A new giant orb spider has been discovered in South Africa.
A new giant spider – which has huge five-inch females and tiny males – has been discovered by scientists. The female of the new species of golden orb weaver spider has a body one and a half inches long with a leg span of five inches and weaves a web more than three feet wide.
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October 21st, 2009 at 10:54 am
As part of a project to understand how the brain learns, biologists have written memories into the cells of a fruitfly’s brain, making it think it had a terrible experience.
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October 21st, 2009 at 10:45 am
Gyrowheel
A new device called the Gyrowheel could soon revolutionize the way children learn to ride bicycles, and they will be able to learn on their own, without training wheels, and in as little as half an hour. (Videos)
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October 21st, 2009 at 10:21 am
Flexible dye-sensitized solar panels incorporated into this bag make it capable of recharging electronic gadgets.
The first commercial product to incorporate dye-sensitized thin-film solar cells will soon be on the market. Backpacks coated with the cheap, lightweight, and flexible solar cell, for on-the-go recharging of portable gadgets, were unveiled at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair last week.
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October 21st, 2009 at 7:57 am
The Philips DirectLife Activity Monitor isn’t much more than a glorified waterproof accelerometer. Yet it might be brilliant.
Using Philips’ software, you preload your fitness goals (the amount of daily activity you’re aiming for) onto the device. Then, as you go about your day with the monitor in your pocket, its series of opaque dots will begin to glow green.
With each 15% you finish of your daily quota, this makeshift status bar fills that much more.
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October 21st, 2009 at 7:30 am
Snow, snow, go away…
Pigs still can’t fly, but this winter, the mayor of Moscow promises to keep it from snowing. For just a few million dollars, the mayor’s office will hire the Russian Air Force to spray a fine chemical mist over the clouds before they reach the capital, forcing them to dump their snow outside the city. Authorities say this will be a boon for Moscow, which is typically covered with a blanket of snow from November to March. Road crews won’t need to constantly clear the streets, and traffic – and quality of life – will undoubtedly improve.
The idea came from Mayor Yury Luzhkov, who is no stranger to playing God. In 2002, he spearheaded a project to reverse the flow of the vast River Ob through Siberia to help irrigate the country’s parched Central Asian neighbors. Although that idea hasn’t exactly turned out as planned – scientists have said it’s not feasible – this time, Luzhkov says, there’s no way he can fail.
October 20th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Colorado Inventor Showcase 2009
Inventing the Economic Engines to Create a Better Tomorrow
The DaVinci Institute’s will mark it’s 5th annual Colorado Inventor Showcase on November 3, 2009. The Colorado Inventor Showcase is one of the nation’s premier events focused on creating a link between inventors and world marketplace. By allowing inventors to take center stage and tell the world about their product, we are creating win-win situations for creators as well as the people.
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October 20th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Scientists use fiber-optic cables to control neural activity in mice
Molecular “light switches” can reveal exactly which neurons are involved in creating a memory, allowing scientists to trigger that memory using only light. The finding, presented at the Society for Neuroscience conference in Chicago this week, is just one example of how a novel technology called optogenetics is allowing scientists to tackle major unanswered questions about the brain, including the role of specific brain regions in the formation of memory, the process of addiction, and the transition from sleep to wakefulness.
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October 20th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Colorado Inventor Showcase 2009
Inventing the Economic Engines to Create a Better Tomorrow
The Colorado Inventor Showcase is one of the nation’s premier events focused on creating a link between inventors and world marketplace. By allowing inventors to take center stage and tell the world about their product, we are creating win-win situations for creators as well as the people. The DaVinci Institute’s will mark it’s 5th annual Colorado Inventor Showcase on November 3, 2009. This year’s Showcase is quickly becoming a “can’t miss event.”
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October 20th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Use Foursquare to find friends when you want to meet
Twitter and Facebook ask users to answer the question: What are you doing right now? But for many urbanites in their 20s and 30s, two other questions are just as important: Where are you, and can I come join you?
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October 20th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Colorado Inventor Showcase 2009
Inventing the Economic Engines to Create a Better Tomorrow
This year’s Colorado Inventor Showcase on Nov 3rd is quickly becoming a “can’t miss event.” The Colorado Inventor Showcase will mark it’s 5th annual event this year. Each year the Showcase attracts some of the nation’s finest inventors and their incredibly clever inventions. Inventions are judged by a cast of 72 celebrity judges, and will be on display throughout the afternoon and evening for all attendees.
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October 20th, 2009 at 7:47 am
What kind of critter flesh will you grow today?
The Cocoon Cooker isn’t just some fancy steamer or something like that. No, it’s a machine that actually grows meat and fish from heated animal cells. A-whaaa?
It’s a mere design concept, sadly, as we don’t have the science of growing animal proteins quite figured out yet. But Electrolux is serious about making it a reality, giving the designer a $7,347 prize and a six month paid internship at their design center.
October 20th, 2009 at 7:31 am
Isn’t this what a computer was REALLY designed to do?
Tim Quax of ByteMods combined a PC with a coffeemaker to make this Coffee PC case mod. Best of all, the coffeemaker is controlled by software:
The relay gets it’s power from a molex connector on the power supply; a small amount however, just enough to not flip the relay. Second connection to the relay is a cable to the COM port on the PC. Thirdly, the relay is hooked up to the power cable to the PSU that powers the coffee maker. I wrote a script in Visual Basic Scripting, that uses a module to enable the COM port on the PC. The power on the COM connection is enough to flip over the relay, thus giving the coffee maker it’s much needed power, which makes the coffee maker do it’s thing. The script enables the PC to make coffee with the push of a button!
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October 19th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Last year, procrastinators were rewarded when they finally got around to booking flights for holiday travel. Back then, airlines were not prepared for the sharp falloff in travel and offered last-minute deals to fill up empty planes. This year? Dilly-dallying, even waiting just a few days, could carry a steep price. Fares, though still lower now than at this time last year, are rising each day, a trajectory that began more than a month ago.
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October 19th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Ad pricing down across the board
The first half of 2009 has drops in ad spending across all media—even online—but advertisers are more optimistic about the latter part of the year, according to JPMorgan.
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October 19th, 2009 at 9:56 am
Sanwei Bookshop in central Beijing
China has excelled in recent years at producing Olympic gold medalists, skilled factory workers and more billionaires than any country other than the United States. But authors are another story. The influence of China’s novelists and other writers has long been stunted by the country’s history of censorship and custom of detaining government critics. At the Frankfurt Book Fair, billed as the world’s largest gathering of publishers, government officials said they want to extend China’s cultural clout by persuading the West to read more of its books.
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October 19th, 2009 at 9:39 am
Students use digital materials instead of traditional textbooks
The dread of high school algebra is lost here amid the blue glow of computer screens and the clickety-clack of keyboards. A fanfare plays from a speaker as a student passes a chapter test. Nearby, a classmate watches a video lecture on ratios. Another works out an equation in her notebook before clicking on a multiple-choice answer on her screen.
October 19th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Sheri West lost her home in Cleveland last year and had to sleep in her car
The first night after she surrendered her house to foreclosure, Sheri West endured the darkness in her Hyundai sedan. She parked in her old driveway, with her flower-print dresses and hats piled in boxes on the back seat, and three cherished houseplants on the floor. She used her backyard as a restroom.
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October 19th, 2009 at 9:22 am
Aspergillus sp. of mold on bread. Mycelium and conidia (spores) visible. Live specimen. Wet mount, 40X objective, transmitted brightfield illumination.
The fact that they eat a lot – and often – may explain why most people and other mammals are protected from the majority of fungal pathogens, according to research from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.
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