Design cool shit, get an internship at CERN

CERN, the world's largest particle physics laboratory, birthplace of the World Wide Web and home of the famous Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has a great opportunity for you. We are about to kick-start the most complex scientific project ever conceived by mankind, and would like you to witness and record its unveiling, and help us spread the news.

We want you to start by showing us your communication and creative skills by producing an original short film or multimedia piece, incorporating material about ATLAS, the biggest experiment on the LHC. The best submissions will be posted on the ATLAS website and YouTube page with full credit to the author, and enter a competition for a paid internship at CERN or alternatively win a Adobe Production Suite package. The winner will be offered a trip to CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, and given exclusive access to scientists working on the project as well as all the equipment and expertise in CERN's audiovisual lab.

What we want from you is your unbridled creativity. In return, we offer a chance to experience history in the making, and a global platform for your work as the world's eyes look towards CERN this fall. To apply, read the official rules and register below. What are you waiting for?

The deadline is July 31, so lights, Camera, Action!

ATLAS/CERN Multimedia Contest and Intern Program, via BoingBoing

RIP Byron

Our oldest cat died today. Best estimate puts him at 14 years old. He was fat, crabby and grumpy but I still loved him.

Rising to fame in my first submission to ICHCB, Byron was named after Lord Byron, in a long standing tradition of cats named after famous poets.

He didn't like being picked up, didn't like being patted, was very fussy about his food and intimidated people out of his favourite spot on the couch. He had some odd sexual habits, attempting to hump mum's fluffy dressing gown. Byron managed to outlive four other cats, and we always suspected it was due to his intolerance for them, and subsequently pushed them all in front of cars.

It is now Byron's time. He has been getting progressively sicker over the past few months, and yesterday my mum took him to the vet to do the humane thing. Rest in Peace you grumpy old bastard, Byron - I will miss you.

2012

I strongly predict this will become my favourite movie.
Roland Emmerich directing? Check.
John Cusack involved? Check.
World destroyed? Check.
www.whowillsurvive2012.com

Giant robots for everyone!

What's that? Oh that's just a six storey replica of a Gundam robot. What, you don't have one in your city?

via LikeCool

Koogle

Check out Koogle - the new, Hebrew language search engine.

It filters out 'objectionable content' that would not be appropriate for people of the Jewish faith.

Whilst I'm not a fan of the filtering aspect, I do love this:

Nothing can be posted on Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath, as Jews are banned from all types of work and business activity. If Koogle users attempt to search for an item or post a message on the Sabbath, it crashes and won’t let you.

via Telegraph

I can so relate to this

via XKCD

Australia's bid to host World Cup

So, I've just been to the event launching Australia's bid to host the 2018 or 2022 Soccer World Cup. It was actually pretty cool. Imagine the Great Hall in Parliament House (usually a fairly solemn, boring room), entirely decked out as a soccer stadium, complete with astro turf, bleachers and digital crowds projected on walls completely surrounding a central soccer pitch.

I now own a soccer scarf and a mini soccer ball. Their ad is also pretty cool.

Back to the 80s

I don't know if I should be ashamed of this, but the new song from Aqua (yes, they're back!) is actually quite good. Perhaps it's the several thousand references to the 80s, because I doubt it's the musical genius. Still... hehe 'back when Michael Jackson's skin was black.'

via BuzzFeed

Wipe your ass in style

Uhm... I is confused.

WANT! CAKE!

See, I'm not alone. Other people have obsessions with Back to the Future as well.

Check out this wedding cake, recreating the Town Square of Hill Valley. Personally I would have done the year 2015 version of the town, but not everyone is perfect.

via BoingBoing

Applejack

The Geek in me is excited.

AppleJack is a user friendly troubleshooting assistant for Mac OS X. With AppleJack you can troubleshoot a computer even if you can't load the GUI, or don't have a startup CD handy. AppleJack runs in Single User Mode and is menu-based for ease of use.

Using AppleJack, you can repair your disk, repair permissions, validate the system's preference files, and get rid of possibly corrupted cache files. In most cases, these operations can help get your machine back on track. The important thing is that you don't need another startup disk with you. All you need to do is restart in Single User Mode (SUM), by holding down the command and s keys at startup, and then typing applejack, or applejack auto (which will run through all the tasks automatically), or applejack auto restart (which will also restart the computer automatically at the end of the process).

Hammer Dance Time

M.C. Hammer has a new TV show coming out. To drive up some publicity, this flash mob was organised to do the Hammer dance. Love it.

Bender's back!

Futurama is back, baby!

After four whole series and four movie length straight-DVD movies, Futurama is back in production.

Comedy Central has given the series an order for 13 additional episodes to air.

Yaaaaaaayyyyyy!!!!!

Pirates take over the EU Parliament.

The Pirate Party has won a huge victory in the Swedish elections and is marching on to Brussels. After months of campaigning against well established parties, the Pirate Party has gathered enough votes to be guaranteed representation in the European Parliament.

Now that the votes have been counted, the Pirate Party have secured themselves two of the 18 available seats Sweden has at the European Parliament.

At least partially, The Pirate Party puts its increased popularity down to harsh copyright laws and the recent conviction of the people behind The Pirate Bay. After the Pirate Bay verdict, Pirate Party membership more than tripled and they now have over 48,000 registered members, more than the total number of votes they received in 2006.

Yarrr!!! It be aboot time them landlubbing euros be made to walk the plank!

via BoingBoing

Dear Senator Fielding

I've just been forwarded the following application letter for a position as Family First Senator Steven Fielding's media adviser. For those non-political readers, Family First is the psychotically right-wing fundamentalist Christian political party, and Fielding's Senate spot was only secured when the ALP backed him over the Greens in the 2004 Federal election.

Dear Senator Fielding,

I am writing to apply for the Family First Media Adviser position advertised on My Career.

I have a lengthy marketing and communications background and a strong media network. I have extensive experience selling potentially unpalatable products, including funeral insurance, canned meat and imitation leather goods. I believe this makes me an excellent candidate for employment with Family First.

My values are closely aligned with those of Family First. I believe women belong in the home and should be seen and not heard. I believe the earth is less than five thousand years old and that God made it in six days, and on the seventh day, took a well-earned rest. I like to think He went to the beach (which He had just Created).

I am opposed to g-y marriage, not because i'm hom-phobic, but because I believe that marriage is sacrosanct and should be between a man and a woman. Preferably white, Catholic, middle class men and women, but as long as there is one of each set of gen-tals, we're sweet. I do not believe that g-y 'partners' should have access to each other's superannuation. I think a fair and equitable solution would be to round them all up, load them into a cannon and shoot them into the sun. I understand this is also Family First's official position on the issue.

I am a card carrying climate change skeptic. Not just because it suits my economic ideals (which it does), but because that position is backed up by esteemed scientists like Andrew Bolt and Piers Akerman. I have frequently used Google searches and Wikipedia to generate proof that the climate is not changing. Victoria's recent coldest morning in fifty years is undeniable proof that the planet is not heating up, wouldn't you agree, Senator?

I am an advocate of the proposed internet filter. I strongly believe that our children should be protected from evils such as p-rn-graphy, 'R' rated video games, terrorist information and 'rock and roll music'. I would like to see the proposed list of banned sites and subjects expanded to include drug and alcohol information, 'YouTube', all archaeology information and the Green Party home page.

I would like to see Family First take a more proactive role in its media relations. When the media and the nation get distracted talking about issues like asylum seekers, tax cuts and carbon trading, Family First should always be ready to manoeuvre the conversation back to the important issues, like teen sex, women who choose not to reproduce, and getting the Story of Creation back into our public schools.

I would steer the party away from conversations with liberal and scientific media. Where this would not be possible, I would ensure the party representative was always provided with a comprehensive list of relevant Bible passages to enable them to properly respond to any controversial or potentially problematic questions.

I can be contacted on 0444 326 459 (that's 0444 FAMILY - neat, hey?) at any time to discuss this application. I hope to meet with you at interview to discuss how I can use my skills and experience to promote the important work of the Family First party and finally squash the gays, immigrants, atheists, junkies, conservationists, heathens, small 'l' liberals and latte-sipping bleeding hearts into the ground and help make Australia the white, Catholic, capialist society that the Good Lord intended.

Yours oh so very sincerely,
Whit Bozeman

Love it.

Han Solo. P.I.

Hott. Han Solo. P.I.

Laser kitty

Laser kitty haz no needz for door handels

Climate change discussion

I've just finished a rather crappy quality video of the Australian Greens National Council - Climate Change discussion, but then, it's the content that's interesting...

Spin around! Ninjas!

Good god, this is good. Literal translation of Total Eclipse of the Heart. To join the already awesome Take on Me, White Wedding, Never Gonna Give You Up and We Built This City.