Epic Super Mario Bros. Cake [Pic + Video]

Last Sunday in NYC, Nintendo unveiled this awesome Super Mario Bros. cake during the game’s 25th anniversary celebration.

[Via TechEblog]



The Death of KFC’s Double Down

Barely a week after eating their “Angry French Canadian Sandwich“, the crazy dudes from Epic Meal Time are back, and this time, they’re making their own version of KFC’s Double Down. They named it the Double Kill. Behold:

I swear, these guys are going to wake up someday and die a very slow and agonizing death… or maybe a quick one where their heart will burst out of their chest. Who knows? One thing is for sure though, their livers would probably then be considered as a delicacy by foie gras-loving cannibals.

Beautiful: Speedflying in Wengen, Switzerland.

Check out this amazing video showing 2 crazy dudes speedflying in the area of Wengen, Switzerland.

[Via Reddit]



Thoughts on Going PC: A Decade-Long Mac User Makes Peace with Microsoft

My post from a few weeks ago, detailing why I’d decided to switch to a PC from a Mac, really got some of your blood boiling. While there were a few folks utterly aghast at my decision to nix the shiny world of Apple for the starker, more sterile world of Microsoft, on the whole, I think most of you were pretty supportive of my choice. (As an aside: Mac Mini was still too expensive!)

The rundown: All in all, the whole computer cost us about $300 or so (including Windows 7), and a third of that was from an Amazon gift card we had. We used spare parts from a Dell we had on hand, as well as a new motherboard, processor, and power supply. An awesome friend of ours gave us the video card (both the first and second, more on that later) at no cost other than the promise we’d play WoW and D&D.The biggest expense ended up being Windows 7.  Now it all sits comfortably (and quietly) in an obsidian black box near my feet.

One of the things commenters on my first post asked for was an update as to what life was like after the switch. And indeed I wondered the same thing: what would working on a PC be like, ten years after starting with Macs? Truth be told, I had a short stint with Vista in about 2005 — but that experience was akin to some sort of torture. So I’ve got to say, initially my expectations really weren’t that high.

So, here are my first overall observations now that everything is fully functional and Tyrol the Cylon PC is now my day-in, day-out companion.

The Joy of the Buy

Buying parts for your own computer is both really exciting and really frustrating. I’ve never just been able to traipse into a computer parts store and buy stuff to put in my computer. So the experience has been kind of novel for me. I picked out my own power supply, ordered my processor and motherboard. Then I put them into my computer — with the help of my far more technically-inclined husband — and everything, after a fair bit of troubleshooting, actually works. It’s kind of magical!

However. Buying parts for your computer can also be frustrating. Finding cables and power supplies and then bringing them home to find out they don’t quite work, for example. Or having a video card simply fail. These things happen. But it’s part of the experience, this troubleshooting. And it’s super empowering to find the solution yourself! Which, most of the time, is the case. And if you’re having weird errors? Oh, Google Search is totally your friend.

The Operating System

Windows 7… is pretty awesome. I learned to type on an Apple IIe. Not until I was in high school, and my parents got an Aptiva (through which I became horrifically addicted to the game Torin’s Passage), did I have any schooling in the ways of Microsoft and IBM. And even then it was kind of crappy. Then I had that whole Vista debacle I mentioned before. I won’t even get into how much trouble Vista gave me, as these discussions are like beating a dead horse. Thankfully, Microsoft listened, and finally have an OS that is a breeze to use.

Windows 7 is easy to organize and, dare I say it, very Mac OS-like. It’s streamlined and easy to get used to. I no longer have the problem of files downloading into the netherspace (which was always my gripe with previous versions). Not to mention the search function is great. I think I’m doing more than I’ve ever done on a PC before, simply because it’s easier.

Plug and Play… No Really!

Devices. Oh, sweet little devices. I have a really cool phone that takes pictures and videos. But it wasn’t compatible with my Mac. I just plugged it in to the PC and, voila! Pictures. Videos. Right there. Extremely cool, magical, beautiful, awesome, fantastic. Peripherals and networking have also been a snap. Of course, this is somewhat expected as the vast majority of gadgets and whatnots are designed for use with PCs; however, having never had the money (or the available contract) to get an iPhone, this is still really exciting for me (and probably slightly annoying for the people I keep sending pictures to). Sorry, Facebook friends. The thrill will wear off soon enough.

Other Considerations

Shortcomings? I’d be lying to say it’s been easy. We had a video card meltdown, as I mentioned. We had some pretty weird errors as we went along, too. But all in all, it’s been over a week of me exclusively using the PC and, with so much of my job now in the cloud (at last count I had something like seven separate WordPress accounts), I can honestly say the experience isn’t really that different than it was on my Mac. Gaming is better, sure. Media sharing and networking is easier. But so much of the computer experience these days has less to do with hardware than it does to the internet at large that it’s really not as big of a transition as I expected.

My only significant complaint? The beta version of Scrivener has too many bugs, which means I’m back to using Word for writing. Hopefully when it’s out of beta, Scrivener won’t eat all my formatting and send me stomping into the next room. For now, it’s Notepad for posts and Word for novels.

If I had the money, would I splurge on a MacBook or an iMac? It’s possible. I don’t know if Apple will ever stop being appealing to me, even if I know better on some level. They are great computers that work for a very long time and do some very remarkable things. However, the price of that dependability and greatness is high–far too high for me. For now I’m pleased as punch — and admittedly proud — of putting this really nifty little computer together.

Geek Achievement… unlocked. 40G.

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Sperm Docs on Laptops: Legs Akimbo!

Laptop cooling pads may do little to help prevent raised testicular temperature — a potential cause of fertility problems — according to a new study. Instead the best policy may be for men to keep their legs apart.

The study, published in the Fertility and Sterility magazine, looked into ways of mitigating the effects of a laptop on scrotal temperature. Although there are no clear studies conclusively proving that laptops can damage fertility, it is known that a raised temperature can damage sperm.

Indeed, the need to keep sperm at the correct temperature is the reason why the testicles are outside the body and thus slightly cooler than the body’s usual internal temperature.

The study was carried out at the State University of New York. It involved 29 test subjects, meaning the precise details may not accurately represent the general public, but any clear general conclusions should be correct.

The participants used laptops in three different set-ups, each for 60 minutes of continuous use. The first set-up was to sit with legs together, the second with legs together while using a lap pad below the laptop, and the third to sit with legs at a 70 degree angle.

The changes in temperature on both sides of the scrotum were measured after each session. In all three cases there were increases: with legs together the average overall increase was 2.435 degrees Celsius; with legs together and a lap pad; the average increase was 2.1 degrees; and with legs apart and a lap pad, the average increase was 1.44 degrees.

All three figures raise concern as it’s believed a temperature increase of as little as one degree Celsius can affect sperm quality. The researchers timed how long it took to reach this one degree increase and found it was 11 minutes with legs together, 14 minutes with legs together and a lap pad, and 28 minutes with legs apart and a lap pad.

Yelim Sheynkin, who led the study, said people shouldn’t panic as using a laptop wouldn’t automatically make you infertile: rather, frequent use might contribute to problems. He said lap pads made little significant difference and could even lead to a false sense of security and cause users to keep laptops on their laps a longer time.

Instead Sheynkin’s advice is that there’s no way to avoid the fact that laptops cause heating, and men should mitigate the problems by keeping their legs apart and severely limiting the time they keep laptops on their laps.

(Image credit: Flickr user M.V. Jantzen)

Ender’s Game Fan-Made Movie Trailer

Youtube user stevendavishoops613 used audio and video clips from Star Trek, Star Wars episodes I and II, Starship Troopers, Serenity, Soldier, Tron: Legacy, and a bunch of other movies, to create this cool trailer for a fictional Ender’s Game movie. Check it out:

[Via Topless Robot]