Offbeat posts

It was a scumbag move, but in the end the sheep will still buy it. And so will I. When PC game peripheral maker Razer put the word out earlier in the week that something big was coming, speculation rose. It wasn’t necessarily about the potential product, it was about the message itself. “PC gaming is not dead.” Gamers and bloggers rallied around the message excitedly. People started wondering what it meant. Was there a battle coming? Was a revolution starting? With the ominous messaging style used by Anonymous when they declare things such as taking down Facebook on November 5th, Razer sparked interest…

In late March 2011, NASA’s Swift satellite alerted astronomers to intense and unusual high-energy flares from a new source in the constellation Draco. They soon realized that the source, which is now known as Swift J1644+57, was the result of a truly extraordinary event — the awakening of a distant galaxy’s dormant black hole as it shredded and consumed a star. The galaxy is so far away that the radiation from the blast has traveled 3.9 billion years before reaching Earth. Speculative video representations of something unseen are often weak at best and completely wrong at worst. When NASA steps…

When it comes to renewable energy, solar is often considered the easiest to acquire. The sun is a source of so much energy and the potential to collect it is almost limitless. There are both financial and logistical challenges surrounding solar, but in tough economic times any industry that has been proven to create jobs should be incentivized over others. Yet, 37 states do not offer incentives to bring in solar jobs. This infographic breaks down the statistics about the states the do and do not have incentives, the states that are most “ripe” for a solar job boom, and ways that people can act. Click…

Companies are often no longer the experts about their own products. The internet has allowed us to find information like never before and people are able to offer advice or resources at a bulk rate in ways that companies simply cannot replicate. Such is the case for Nintendo who, according to Reddit, has simply given up. It’s probably a good move….

Ever since the Portal phenomenon started in 2007, memes, strategy groups, and a sequel have popped up. What started out as an add-on portion of a bundle turned into one of the most loved puzzle-solving games of all time. Filmmaker Dan Trachtenberg put together the most epic live-action Portal video to date. There is no doubt to that. One thing is clear – the character might pretend like she’s never played the game, but after seeing her moves, it’s clear that now she’s thinking with Portals. …

If the statistic is true (and there’s no reason to believe otherwise – heck, it’s on the internet!), then there was an average of 30 million daily tweets between June 13th and July 13th this year that mentioned the Copa America Tournament in soccer (football). Stat. Blows. Mind. According to the same study, there were 7,196 tweets per second during the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final. Apparently, only a few came from Barack Obama. More amazing statistics: Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona acquired 6.6 million “likes” on his Facebook page… in one hour. A stadium in Kansas City can handle 18,000 WiFi…

Gaming was once ripe with solitude and individualism. Sure, there were multiplayer games, but that required people to be playing on the same console or computer with joysticks attached to the same device. They either took turns or played with each other, depending on the game. In the last decade and a half, network connections, the internet, and social media have changed the face of gaming forever. Social media in particular has drawn a lot of interest in recent years because of the way that it is attracting a larger demographic. Nearly 60% of gamers play with friends. One-third play with siblings,…

As sports go, surfing is one that has always had the stigma of being both relatively safe and potentially deadly. Injuries aren’t very common, but the risk of getting knocked out and drowning is ever present. Billabong’s Hub Hubbard and pro surfer Shane Dorian took an idea born from a scary moment and turned it into a nice little piece of technology. The Billabong V1 wetsuit has an inflatable air bladder that surfers (and potentially anyone who works in the ocean) can use to float to the edge in moments of desperation. The only thing it needs is something that automates it, as it requires manual pulling…

Fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation are very familiar with the deep, resounding voice of Patrick Stewart. It’s coarse, like weathered leather, and has a sophistication to the pitch and diction that make it challenging to get right. For co-star Brent Spiner, he can fool (for a time) just about anyone, even Stewart’s wife. Here his is at Comicon, 2011. The video quality is poor but the sound is good enough to hear the expertise associated with the impression. …

It’s no secret that many American family purchases are made or influenced by women. The 80/20 rule, which says that women control 80% of the purchases, is a simplification and exaggeration on the facts, but it’s a good rule to follow simply because it emphasizes the power that moms in a household have over purchases. As mobile and online advertising continue to grow and influence the ways we buy, having an understanding of the female influence is essential. In this infographic, BuySellAds explores “mommy power” in purchases. Click to enlarge. …