not a kludge

At 11:58pm, you have to do your best Bruce Dickinson impression. ~Not-So-Handy Andy

The Hungarian Forint is used in very large quantities ($1 USD = 218 Ft) so the government recycles a few tons of it every year. After shredding it and bundling it into bricks, the currency is shipped to charitable organizations to help with their heating cost.

This is what happens when you put recycling in the trash bin.

~NSHA

3 U Penn students developed the µWave (microwave, get it?), an Arduino based kitchen hack that plays Youtube videos while you wait for noms. Once you set the cooking time the program goes to Youtube and finds a highly-rated video for the exact length. Read more about it at the project's website.

I have no idea why anyone would need this, but either way....

http://blogs.965thebuzz.com/files/2011/05/Shut-up-and-take-my-money.jpg

It's normal to want to lick your keyboard, right? ~Not-So-Handy Andy

Someone didn't listen to Homer:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy0UBpagsu8&w=500]

Prolific hacker Craig Smith digs up a toy from his childhood:

About 1983, when I was fifteen, I dropped my dad's red Bakelite soldering gun and broke the casing. Of course he was upset, so I did my best to "fix it." So I took my original Star Wars Han Solo pistol and gutted it to hold the soldering gun components. I even ran the lightbulb up into the scope on top. The button on the handle worked well for the trigger switch. Ten years later, when the old house was sold, the gun wound up in my belongings. To this day, when an underpowered iron just won't do, I pull out the "Han Solderer" and get the job done. Half of me likes the mod, the other half is ill over the fact that I gutted my vintage Star Wars toy. What's done is done.

RO&AD, an architectural firm whose name sounds very much like a quote from an intoxicated Chris Farley, recently designed The Trench Bridge. A pedestrian foot path designed to make us rethink the way we look at bridges, this one crosses the moat in front of Fort de Roovere in Halsteren. A neat concept, but one that would only be applicable on a small scale to bodies of water that stay at a constant depth.

Youtuber Spiritplumber devised a cheap and relatively-simple way to extend your cell phone's battery life. Recording video on smart phones is notorious for draining your juice and he claims this workaround can last a few hours with just a couple of bucks. Or you can go the less ugly but more expensive route and just pick up one of these guys.

http://www.amazon.com/Duracell-Instant-Charger-Lithium-universal/dp/B002FU6KF2/ref=sr11?ie=UTF8&qid=1320097675&sr=8-1

I've seen photos of this thing floating around for a while, but never did it occur to me that it's in fact a real product. Available from Hammacher Schlemmer, this Wenger tool holds the Guinness Word Record for being the most multi-functional penknife. Kudos to you if you can name all of its fucntions. If not, here's a real Swiss guy going over how ridiculous this thing really is.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnmfzhKYcHE&feature=related]

I'm pissed they took the laser out.