For those of us who cannot get enough Google Maps, check out Nighttime. Nighttime is a 128 megapixel image from NASA of the earth at night that you can navigate using the Google Maps inverface. It really is gorgeous and makes one wonder if this is what astronauts see. (via MAKE)
nighttimegooglegoogle+mapsnasaearth+at+nightblue+marble

I wish we had this kind of toy when I was a kid.

Bubo is a toy with “magic” powers that can cast spells and take control over innocent devices or other kids’ toys in its surroundings… Bubo takes control of home appliances by constantly sniffing for IR transmission, intercepting and learning infrared commands from remote controls to their devices and acquiring their functionalities.

I am not sure every parent wants to give their kid a universal remote that can control every device in the house. I am pretty sure, however, that every kid wants one.
toysbuboowlstoy+owlsIRtransmissionremote+controlremoteuniversal+remote

The Japanese amaze me. One of their latest inventions is the Cold Fusion Shower. It is a shower light made of LEDs that are powered by the water pressure. Even better, the LEDs change color with the temperature. No longer do you have to worry about jumping into a too cold or too hot shower. You can know visually the temperature of the water.
cold+fusioncold+fusion+showerledshowersfutureinventionsjapanjapanese

The Graffiti Research Lab came up with a wonderful little device that anyone can make: LED Throwies. From their website:

LED Throwies are an inexpensive way to add color to any ferromagnetic surface in your neighborhood. A Throwie consists of a lithium battery, a 10mm diffused LED and a rare-earth magnet taped together. Throw it up high and in quantity to impress your friends and city officials.

(via MAKE)
LEDLEDslight+emitting+diodesled+throwiesgraffitigraffiti+research+lab

Last week, I found this wonderful sight: Google Sightseeing. The premise is simple. The site’s owners and their readers find the best tourist spots in the world via satellite images from Google Maps and Google Earth. Not only does the site catalog the images they find, but they link directly to Google Maps so you browse around for yourself. Needless to say, I fell in love with them right away. Here are a few of my favorites from the last couple of weeks:

Alien Crop Circles!

GS found a whole series of crazy crop circles that aliens (or farmer kids with too much time on their hands) could have created.

Stonefridge

Stonefridge is exactly what its names implies: a complete replica of Stonehenge made entirely of refrigerators. Apparently, the monument is now 2.5 fridges high and requires 60 more refrigerators to complete.

Winter Olympics 2006

And for you fans of the World Games, GS has cataloged many of the great sites marking this years events.

googlegoogle+sightseeingsightseeingcrop+circlesaliensstonefridgeolympicswinter+olympics2006+olympics

After doing a little research, I found this website that explains how to prevent other sites from hotlinking your images. Well, the good thing was that these other sites could no longer use my images. The bad news is that no one removed the now broken links to me on their sites so my stats are still getting messed up. Also, I noticed new people continue to hotlink to me even though the images are not showing up on their site. Not too bright.

So, I decided to follow in the footsteps of Switcheroo and Cockeyed.

Not only can I prevent my images from showing up on a hotlinker’s site, I can make any image I want show up on their site. With inspiration from Matt Kelley, J-Luv, and a poster inherited by Alicia, this is what I came up with:

If they’re going to link to me, I might as well get some free advertisement with a little help from Burt Reynold’s and his famous Cosmo picture. Also, I hope that it encourages them to take down the links.

Check out what it looks like to this MySpace holtinker stealing my squirrel image before:

After:

Check out these other sites. I took screen shots for a permanent memorial.

Spider-Man Official Forums: Before and After
MySpace Person 1: Before and After
MySpace Person 2: Before and After
MySpace Person 3: Before and After

hotlinkingdirect+linkingmyspacetheftburt+reynoldsspiderman

The World Pyro Olympics is an annual international competition amongst the most prestigious fireworks companies in the world. Nine international participants will showcase the best of classical pyrotechnic displays. On the final eve of the event, the sky will be illuminated by the La Mancha Fellowship of Fire pyrotechnic display -a joint fireworks display from the nine countries and the organizer, La Mancha Pyro Productions.

fireworkspyro olympicspyroolympics

Apparently, someone with way too much time on their hands has timed their entire holiday home lights display to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s piece, “Wizards In Winter”. The video is quite a testament to the rock band. If anyone has any more info on where this house is located or who made it, let me know.

You can learn how to do this yourself or listen to more Trans-Siberian Orchestra pieces.

trans-siberiantrans-siberian orchestratransiberiantransiberian orchestrawizards of winter

Update: Amanda writes, “Where else would you find such craziness than Mason, Ohio. Unfortunately the light show was cancelled last week.”

Tired of playing war with your local paintball buds? Worry no more! At Live-Paintball.com, you can hunt nearly nude chicks (or dudes) from anywhere in the world! All you need is a computer and an internet connection. You can even shoot the real live targets from your own home. Happy hunting!

You just gotta check out the video!

paintballlive paintballhuntingchicks

Here is a frozen card they shot with a bullet:

And here is a frozen rose they shot with the same:

For more pictures, check out their tag on Flickr. (via Boing Boing)
mitstrobe labmit strobe labstrobe photography