Tech tip for the freak

I've always hated the 'man vs. machine' theme that began with 1984, and 'man = machine' doesn't sit well with me either.

Recently Jerry Jalava from Finland lost a finger in an accident. Being a computer programmer I guess he was being opportunistic when he replaced it with an prosthetic finger that had a USB drive attached. He 'uses the 2GB memory stick, accessed by peeling back the "nail", to store photos, movies and programmes'. While that might make most SMU students drool, it really does not turn me on!

Read more about the 'finger drive' here.

Two scoops please!

Am flailing in an essay cesspool, so I decided to go looking for an e-pick-me-up by researching something that is representative of all things beautiful. Ice Cream! Except that throwing in 'weird' before the phrase kind of skews thing a little.



Photo Credit: Who Sucks

The Japs have come up with ice-cream in Fish, Octopus, Squid and Ox Tongue flavours (including horsemeat and many more). How about that to whet your tastebuds?

Sheepvertising

Check out Samsung advertising their LED technology with LED-lit sheep!

"More than a million internet users have watched the viral video in the four days since it was released online.

The 200 second ad also sees the creatures manoeuvred into position to create a giant sheep and even has them creating the Mona Lisa with the various coloured LEDs on their back." - Telegraph UK

What are they going to make animals do next?!?! But yes, pretty cool.

That's not very nice!

Gizmodo: How to shame one into going to the gym.

If SBS did this, they'd lose money, considering how weight-conscious Singaporeans are. Wouldn't this encourage anorexia and lower national self-esteem? Although this would probably make for a successful business collaboration between Slim 10 and the public transport system.

This is what it's like to be different.

This is the shih-tzu poodle and a Black Lab-Daschshund.



Forget about them, though. Check out the long-haired donkey and the unnamed... thing.



From F*** You Penguin (excuse my french- not my fault!)

Vamp it down!

First there was Dracula, then there was Buffy the sexy vampire. I vaguely remember reading Christopher Pike's series, The Last Vampire, in between- slightly sordid and disturbingly salacious children's fiction that I gobbled up with naughty pubescent curiosity. Then came the unstoppable proliferation of vampires from movies like Blade to recent tv series True Blood, and then Twilight came along. The books are shit, the movie's average, and now it's just become plain obnoxious as it takes over jewellery lines and fashion shows with comicon-lookalikes, turning fashion shows into total bloodbaths.

Picture credits: Trendhunter

Ad-dict

Advertising tools of today: the dead, or the KAWAII!!!

Apparently advertisers are sick of sex scandals, druggies and wifebeaters (i.e. Chris Brown) tarnishing their ad campaigns, and have decided to turn to the dead. After all, “You’re not going to catch Elvis in a sex scandal, or Albert Einstein’s not going to hit his girlfriend.” -Trendhunter

In my opinion, however, that might not work so well with everyone- as Anna Nicole Smith exemplifies.

A safer bet would be the KAWAII. It's been found that people turn to The Cute during hard times. This phenomenon has also been digitalized through the Internet, as the increasing number of websites like Cute Overload have evidenced. Check out this tv ad and the Michelin Baby:

Trends via TrendHunter.com.

From Trendhunter

I genuinely think he looks way more appealing that that freaky tyre dude they usually employ. Although is that a 'he'? Hmmm. Well, you can't go wrong with fat babies and rodents/household pets I guess.

Hungry?

This space has been pretty quiet the past week, as it's been inundated with paper after paper that has drained me, spent me and shot my stress level to hell. And there is only more to look forward to! But before I'm rained down by another essay avalanche here's what people have been getting up to.

I love the Guinness World Records- it AMAZES me. Here's an update on Uribe, the fattest man in the world.

He's spent 6 years lying in bed, immobile. Finally getting tired of his sedentary lifestyle, he hollered out for some new wheels so he could see the world. Now, he's gotten custom fixtures added to his van to support his record-breaking weight, converting it into some kind of 'an open-air, flatbed pickup of sorts', so he can finally roll out and lounge outside of his 'remodeled garage that now include(s) a forklift to help raise his regular bed up to the level of his car bed, allowing him to switch locations from time to time'. Isn't that inspiring!!! He should totally get an episode on Pimp my ride!

Time recently posted an article that might appeal to you, if you're into weird aesthetics when it comes to food. The following images are of the Modern Toilet, an increasingly popular taiwanese food chain, where they have installed poop-shaped lights and dish covers and the curry on toilet-shaped plates in their restaurants. Personally I can think of one person - my friend M, who might appreciate this!



photo credits: Fun fever and Time

Though hardly as gross as Japan's newest shit-for-food fad (could only find a forum conversation- guess it advertises by word of mouth!), it still makes me wonder how these places actually gain popularity. Have people really run out of ideas, to the extent where they have to resort to such disturbing business innovations? I'm pretty old school myself, I like my plates and food-shaped food!