Thursday, October 26, 2006
For me, the first tipoff would be the fact Elmo suddenly weighs four pounds. Imagine your kids' surprise when Elmo starts staying up all night taking apart alarm clocks. NBC-5.com:[Denver] Authorities said Wednesday that they have broken up a methamphetamine ring that shipped the drug in toys including an Elmo doll. Agents said 19 people were in custody, including the alleged leader of the northern Colorado drug ring, and that they seized more than 45 pounds of what they described as high-quality methamphetamine...Officials released photos of an Elmo doll found in a car in Barstow, Calif., with a caption saying 4 pounds of methamphetamine was found inside. U.S. Attorney Troy Eid said he could not discuss what happened because the doll of the "Sesame Street" character was evidence in the case.
- BBC's "Tetris: from Russia With love" documentary tells the story of inventor Alexei Pazhitnov and his smashingly popular game - and the convoluted wranglings involved in securing the rights to intellectual property owned by the former socialist state. [via Kottke]
- Researchers Sangho Park and Jake Aggarwal have developed a computer program that can distinguish between friendly and violent behavior on videotape/CCTV [via New Scientist]
- Shades of the "Barney's Penis" movie marquee debacle, a Jacksonville, NC father wants a talking policeman toy pulled from store shelves because he believes its its recording of "Stop! I don't want to have to pull out my nightstick!" sounds like "F--k! I don't want to have to pull out my nightstick!" Thoughts:
- It's almost impossible to understand anything those cheap talking toys say
- His 6-year old wouldn't have misunderstood the recording if he wasn't already familiar with the f-bomb
- He doesn't have a problem with an action figure "pulling out [his] nightstick"?
- WIRED News investigates the dubious chemistry behind the "world's most unnatural food," squirtable cheese. Fun Fact: the natural cheese industry once sought to have process cheese labeled as "embalmed cheese." [Technically, that's what it is - but I wouldn't wan't my salami labeled "embalmed beef." - ed.]
- Nose shape not to your liking? Try the CoCo Nose Straightener. That should put all those Hollywood nip n' tuckers out of business. [via Gizmodo]
farkleberries Links du Jour 162: The Tweak Me Elmo Edition
