Regruntled.com

Cracked.com has a collection of ordinary objects as if designed by M. C. Escher.  This was my favorite.

Reader TTB sends this T-shirt ad, which reminds me of the video below.  Remember, this is math humor, and it’s rather lame.  Laugh at the math nerds, not with them.

BBQAddicts.com has the recipe and tutorial for this cholesterol bomb.  Two pounds of Italian sausage and two pounds of bacon, rolled up like a cinnamon roll and slow-cooked in a smoker.  It does sound tasty, and it’s not covered in French fries.

I thought this particular architectural form was a relatively modern innovation, but apparently it goes back to the Romans. 

This is all about making two-dimensional representations of three-dimensional objects.  It doesn’t quite work, because we’re minus one dimension.  Perspective in art is historically recent, arguably beginning in the Renaissance.  Once we figure out perspective, we can make realistic two-dimensional representations. 

The next step is to play with the rules of perspective and create realistic representations of objects that can’t possibly exist… visual paradoxes.  This is even more recent, dating back only to the 1930s.  We’re all familiar with M.C. Escher, but the real pioneer of impossible objects was Oscar Reutersvärd, and I’d never heard of him.  The internet is not just a series of tubes, it’s also an education.  See Impossible World for lots of pictures.

From a Russian site.  Note the blue and pink ribbons, suggesting that the bears are of opposite gender, even though conjoined twins are always identical, not fraternal.  Maybe it’s different for bears, but I don’t think so.  I think it’s just a little extra perverse humor.

Bored Bored has photos of a toothpick city… buildings made out of toothpicks.  Just offhand, I see the Washington Monument, the CN Tower, the Empire State Building, the World Trade Center, the Chrysler Building, the Space Needle, Yankee Stadium and the Gateway Arch… all in one place.  New York Plus, I guess.  And that’s just all I can identify from this particular angle.  Is that the Brooklyn Bridge? 

I’ve been playing with an online paint application: SUMO Paint.  There are many paint applications, and I’m not sure whether being online is a good thing or not.  I have the same reaction to all of them: there are so many features that I don’t know where to start.  All I can say is that I’ve gotten farther with SUMO Paint than I have with the others.

i-Hacked.com explains how to reprogram a portable road sign:

** HACKER TIPS ** Should it  ask you for a password. Try “DOTS”, the default password.

In all likelihood, the crew will not have changed it. However if they did, never fear. Hold “Control” and “Shift” and while holding, enter “DIPY”. This will reset the sign and reset the password to “DOTS” in the process. You’re in!

Good to know.  Not that anyone would ever actually do this.  That would be wrong.

It does illustrate that  physical access trumps password security.  Almost every password-protected device has a reset button that resets the password to a factory default.  Both the reset procedure and the default password are available in the manual, which is on the manufacturer’s web site.

The Last Appetite has the recipe and complete instructions for this monstrosity, a hot dog, covered with French fries, on a stick.  My first impression was that this is not all that much more disgusting than a corndog, but on closer inspection, I found that the French fries are glued to the hot dog with what is essentially corndog batter.

Then there is the matter of condimentary dissonance.  I put mustard on hot dogs, and I put ketchup on French fries.  Doing it the other way around is just wrong.  Whatever I put on this is unnatural, and eating it without condiments is unthinkable.  I went through the comments at The Last Appetite and someone suggested dipping it in chili and cheese.

Seen at Hello Kitty Hell.  See also: Hello Kitty assault rifle.