That is all he asked for when he posted his ex-wife’s size 12 wedding dress on E-Bay [mirror]. The dress, which cost US$1200 new, sold for an amazing US $3,850.00 (used, twice). So is the dress that valuable? No. In fact, in his own words, he describes it as a “$1200 shower curtain” and in one of the pictures the dress “look[s] like the chest plate off an Imperial Storm Trooper”. The dress is not worth US$3,850.00, but the man’s entertaining, gruff personality is most definitely. His wife took off with the US $4,000.00 engagement ring, at least he made back most of the money. His frequent updates are amusing. He received multiple marriage proposals and basically earned his 15-minutes of fame with appearances on Star94 radio in Atlanta, then King5 in Seattle, and now the Today Show. Want a sample of the humour you will find on this ebay posting (note: the location listed at the top of the item is Seattle, WA):

This one guy emailed me and said, “Hey, bud. What part of Texas do you live?” Uh… Well, sir, I am from Seattle. Uh, Seattle, Texas. Right next to AreYouAFreakingMoron, Texas, which is a hop, skip and jump from IWasEducatedByGeorgeBush, Texas. Thanks for asking, neighbor.

It is amusing. Give it a read before it is all gone!

Anyone read what finishes off all trailer from Twentieth Century Fox recently?

“(TM) and (c) 2004 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved. (All Rights Reserved.)¹ Property of Fox. Promotional use only. Sale, Duplication, other transfer of this material or excerpts thereof, is strictly prohibited. The download of the trailer by website vistors is only permissible for individual desktop use as long as no further copying, use, or transfer is made.”

1: The one I copied this from had “All Rights Reserved” in there twice … most only have it once.

The way I read that is they don’t want people downloading the trailer and making it available to others … reducing their bandwidth usage and costs. Interesting. I understand why they don’t want people taking peices of it apart and such … but not distributing a trailer? Don’t they want everyone to see it? How does placing restrictions upon its distribution make sense? Those kookie Corporate Overlords. Got to love ‘em … err, I wonder if the copyright notice was copyrighted … they sound very strict about that “excerpts thereof” bit …

“.. the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.”

— Bennett Marco

A remake of a classic … flashy special effects … same psychological mind games … good actors … I wonder how they’re going to fsck this one up ’cause I know they are … I know it … I’m still going to see it … but I know they are going to ruin one of my all-time favourite movies …

I, Robot has a featurette on Apple’s Trailer site.

Hey look, it’s a teddy bear that’s actually useful! It’s amusing what one can accomplish with mini-ITX systems…

Watch THIS then having making your own.

Hy-wire is GM’s concept car for their new line of fuel cell vehicles. The “Hy” in Hy-wire stands for hydrogen (as anyone who has taken chemistry could have guessed), the standard fuel for a fuel cell system. Not only are Hydrogen cells more environmentally friendly¹, but the electric motor is significantly smaller and more decentralized than conventional mechanical motors which siginificantly reduces the size of the engine compartment (IE: it is in the 28 cm thick aluminum chassis along with the fuel tank). In addition to this, the car uses a Drive-By-Wire system which means that the passenger compartment of the vehicle can be removed and replaced. IE: If you want to switch from a sports car to a Van, you don’t need a new car, you just need a new passenger compartment. This is very similar to the old Volkswagen Beetles.

1: Hydrogen Cells are more environmentally friendly to run, but a major hurdle for this type of car is figuring out energy-efficient methods for producing, transporting and storing hydrogen for the onboard fuel-cell stacks. With the current state of technology, actually producing the hydrogen fuel can generate about as much pollution as using gasoline engines, and storage and distribution systems still have a long way to go. This, of course, is just the tip of the challenges ice berg (so to speak). Many more must be overcome. See this, this, and/or this.

Read the rest of this entry »

I finally found the truck for Delg.

General Motors is developing a hybrid-electric drive system for its V8 engines that will enable GM to boost the economy of its GMT-800 full-size trucks by between 10 and 15% without compromising towing and hauling capacity. The hybrid Chevrolet Silverado prototype employs a conventional 5.3-L pushrod GM V8, rated at 213 kW (285 hp). Engineers have replaced the traditional starter and alternator with a 4.8-kW (6.4-hp) electric motor that is integrated into the engine’s flywheel. The integrated starter is not used as an assist motor, as on the Honda Insight and Toyota Prius; it provides instant stop/start capability and captures energy during deceleration. The stop/start function of the system feels similar to that of the Prius; customers will notice little difference other than the quietness while stopped. In other conditions, the prototype drives like a typical Chevrolet truck.

Automotive International

The coolest part of this truck, which I noticed today on KTLA5 was that it has a full electrical plug in the bed of the truck to power standard 120V (I think) appliances (like Saws, Computers, etc) from the electric motor. Very neat. Put on a waterproof top and you have “mobile computing power”. Alas, this is a “hybrid-mild”. Unlike the Prius, the hybrid component is only used to reduce the time the engine is running. Instead of increasing fuel efficiency into the 21.66/25.48 km/litre (hwy/city) like the Prius, it is still in the 8.49/7.64 km/litre range (according to US Goverment Fuel Economy website and w/ a conversion rate of 1 miles per gallon = 0.425143706 kilometers per litre). The good news is that that is still better than the non-hybrid version at 7.64/6.37 km/litre. Just an FYI, my 2001 Olds Intrigue, according to the US Gov Fuel Economy website has a fuel efficiency of 11.89/8.07 km/litre (sounds wrong from my calcs from my trip but whatever). The Prius is about twice as fuel efficient on highway, and three times as efficient in city. Amusingly, my current car is still more efficient than this new “hybrid”. Not a very promising sign.

From The NY Times, concerning Kill Bill:

“This is the beauty of having two volumes, Vol. 1 goes out, Vol. 2 goes out, then Vol. 1 Special Edition, Vol. 2 Special Edition, the two-pack, then the Tarantino collection as a boxed set out for Christmas. It’s called multiple bites at the apple. And you multiply this internationally.”

— Rick Sands, Chief Operating Officer, Miramax

WTF! Everyone knows why movie studios do this kind of shit, but you have to be massively stupid to say it in a public forum. The article is talking about how movie studios are employing techniques like this to recoup costs from piracy … WTF! It is tactics like this that promote piracy. Argh!

After lots of searching over the past year or so for ACTUAL radio stations from japan (online), I came across this I was a little surprised, but so far it is the best I have found. Watch the funny upskirts well, not really…. just grabbing your attention… anyway, japanese TV at its internet finest…. (so don’t expect like TV… but ok)