A Welsh View

Video: Marlin 1 Fisherman 0

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75 Million-Year-Old Fossilised Pregnant Turtle Unveiled

Nine years after its discovery in the badlands of southeastern Alberta, Canada, a 75-million-year-old fossil of a pregnant turtle has finally made its public debut.

At 40 centimetres long, its turtle shape is still evident and most of its skeleton is complete but its shell is crushed. The pregnant fossil was found in 1999. Six years later, a fossilized nest of eggs was found from the same species about 50 kilometres away.

Both specimens belong to an extinct turtle called Adocus, a large river turtle that lived with the dinosaurs and resembles today's slider and cooter turtles.

"It is the first fossil of a pregnant turtle found in the world and it's only the second fossil of an animal found in the world that's pregnant," explained Darla Zelenitsky, a University of Calgary scientist whose expertise is fossil nest sites.

View a video here.

The Athlete With The Unfortunate Name

And judging by his ranking, he does. [via]

Video: Tractor To The Rescue

A 4x4 gets stuck. A Hummer H2 tries to pull it out but it too gets stuck. A small van with an overly confident driver tries to pull out the Hummer but fails. There's only one thing left to do - call in the tractor. [Thanks Yves Lalonde]

World Body Painting Festival 2008

The Sun has a slideshow showing some of the works of art featured at the World Body Painting Festival 2008 in Daegu, South Korea.

The main festival is held every year in Seeboden, Austria, but expanded into Asia for the first time this year with a bonus exhibition. It lasts until 31 August.

Update: Here's a large Flickr set from the event.

Video: Man Jumps Off Golden Gate Bridge, Survives

London From Above At Night

Boston.com's Big Picture has posted some stunning photos by Jason Hawkes of London from Above at Night.

11-Month-Old Baby Weighs 62lbs

Doctors in Colombia are trying to determine how an 11-month-old baby is already the weight of an average eight-year-old.

He has had several medical examinations carried out which suggest he may have a problem with his endocrine system. A cardiogram test has shown that he has the bones of an eight-year-old boy.

More photos here.

Hannah Montana Guitar Candy

Bad choice of colour. [via]

Video: Fans Beat Up Fighter

[via]

Cow Gets Head Stuck In Washing Machine

Image via The Sun

An inquisitive cow had to be freed from a washing machine drum after it got its head stuck in it. “It is one of the more unusual things we had had to rescue an animal from,” said RSPCA spokeswoman Jo Barr. Link

What Does a Video Ad On the YouTube Homepage Cost?

Forbes has reported that a video ad on the front page of YouTube costs $175,000 plus the advertiser must agree to spend a further $50,000 on ads on Google or YouTube. If you want a custom-branded channel it will set you back $200,000. [via]

WinXP Pro Pirates To Be Annoyed With Black Desktop

Microsoft has started to introduce an update to WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage) that will nags users of pirated copies of Windows XP Pro until they by a legitimate copy.

Every 60 minutes the desktop background will change to black and a message will appear in the lower right corner informing the user that their copy is not genuine.

If you're like me and you only get to see your desktop when you reboot your machine every few weeks then a black background wouldn't be much of an annoyance.

Microsoft say that this is something that XP users actually want:-

...Our research has clearly shown that customers value the ability of Windows to alert them when they may have software that is not genuine, but they also want the ability to stay up to date with the least effort required on their part. ...

Link

Video: Atomic Bomb Blast

Beautiful yet so deadly.

Man Hires Hitman To Kill Wife, Wife Kills Hitman

What kind of hitman uses a claw hammer? [via]

Nintendo Controller Skin Removal Scarification

"It wasn’t the most fun experience I ever had, but I’m glad I went through with it. It looks so cool!” Link [via]

Icons and Porn

OrangeLabel.com can make you a set of icons for $19.99 and whilst they do, they like to surf porn websites.

[via]

Video: YouTube In 1985

I never knew that YouTube was around in 1985. [via]

Take A Tour Of The YouTube Offices

Take a tour of the YouTube offices. It doesn't look like much work gets done there.

Video: Weather Is Funny

[via]

The World's Worst Hotel Guests

Concierge.com lists the 15 worst celebrity hotel guests.

Update: Link fixed.

San Francisco Advice

Image via Scott Laird

My trip to San Francisco is just around the corner (6 weeks away) and I want to make sure that I get the most from the trip. I've been there twice before and have been doing some research but sometimes you can't beat some advice from the locals.

I'm going to be alright when it comes to attractions but could do with some tips on the following:-

Restaurants - Chinese Is probably my favourite but I'm also partial to a quality burger. I wouldn't mind trying out a fast food restaurant that we don't get over here (i.e. Not McDonald's, KFC or Burger King). Also, any good delis where you can get a good sandwich. I wouldn't be looking for anything too expensive.

Breakfast - Where are some good places to get breakfast? I'm going to be staying on Powell/Bush so places not too far from there would be good.

Pubs - I love trying new beers so would be looking for pubs with a great selection of beers. I've come across the Magnolia Pub - is that any good? Are there any quirky pubs that are worth a visit?

Photography - Are there any places, apart from the usual, where I can take some photographs? Places that may be off the beaten track or unusual. I'm already working my way through Thomas Hawk's collection for inspiration but if anyone has any links to good Flickr sets of San Francisco that would be great.

I'm also going to be staying in Monterrey and Half Moon Bay so the above applies to them too.

I've mentioned it before but if anyone wants to meet up I'm going to be in San Francisco between October 7th-12th, Monterrey on the 13th and 14th and Half Moon Bay on the 15th. Drop me an email and maybe we can arrange something. Don't worry, I'm not as weird as some of the things that I post!

Threadless $12 T-Shirt Sale

It's sale time at Threadless and all tees are just $12 including 18 new designs and 18 reprints. I knew I should have waited and not placed an order last week!

Video: Theme Park Riders Stuck Upside Down

Is this part of the ride?

Stunning Black & White Photos

Omar Vega

A large collection of stunning black & white photos, both real and computer generated, from the 2007 Black & White Spider Awards. The 2008 awards are on Sunday.

USB Foot Warmer

You may look stupid and geeky but at least your feet will be warm during those long cold nights in front of the computer. Link

Video: Police Bicycle Patrol Training

[via]

The Water Powered Calculator

Solar powered calculators are so old school.

Runs on water – no need for a light source! Plain tap water powers this unique, H20 desk calculator! Add a few drops of water to the removable battery and insert it in the calculator for up to three months of use. When the display begins to fade, just refill the battery! It’s more reliable than a solar-powered calculator – and friendlier to the earth, too.

You can get one for $24.99 from here. [via]

Anatomy Of A Malware Scam

The Register has an in-depth article about a malware scam that you're bound to have come across or may have been infected with.

Stupid Signs

Image via The Daily Telegraph

Just incase you didn't know. More signs here.

Engrish Funny

EngrishFunny.com is a blog dedicated to funny Engrish pictures. You can never have enough Engrish. [via]

Wife Sells DVD Case With $1,200 Inside For $10

A man who had secretly saved $1,200 to take his family to Disney World has lost it after his wife accidentally sold the DVD that he was using to hide the money in.

"He thought apparently (the DVD case) was a great spot to hide it from me, and it was. I didn't think to look there."

The family are hoping that the man bought the DVD will return the cash. Link

Video: Horrific Bus Crash Caught On Camera

Horrific Bus Accident Leaves People Screaming

The driver of the car miraculously survived although he spent two days 'picking glass out of his scalp'.

Violent Death in the Insect World

Image via Londieone

A collection of photographs showing death in the insect world. Some are strangely beautiful.

Video: Man Almost Killed By Train

A very near miss.

License Plates For Geeks

Image via John Canady

Pingdom has a collection of 23 geeky license plates. It's a pity you can't plates like these in the UK.

Note: If you don't know, #FFFFFF is the hexadecimal color code for white.

Video: How Do You Move A Super Cargo Plane

10 men will do the trick.

Video: Bus Overturned By Tornado

Related: "Video of Skypumpe"

45 Beautiful Motion Blur Photos

Image via Amnemona

Smashing Magazine has posted 45 beautiful examples of motion blur in photography.

Video: Weatherman Stalked On Live TV

That guy's dream has just come true. You gotta love that grin he has on his face.

Kim Jong Il Is Dead

At least that's what Japanese professor Toshimitsu Shigemura thinks. According to him the North Korean leader died in 2003 and has been replaced with a looklike.

In other North Korean news, scientist in the country have developed a new kind of noodle that delays feelings of hunger.

Nokia Car Tyre

I knew that before mobile phones Nokia produced all manner of things including car tyres but this is the first time that I've actually seen one.

It was one of two spare tyres on a Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire 360. The car was introduced in late 1951 and was sold until 1958.

There are two more photos here and here.

Sumo Omni Review

The CEO of SumoLounge, Andrew Milligan (interview here), has been kind enough to send me one of their Omni chairs in exhange for my thoughts on the product. I’m always up for testing out products so was more than happy for him to send me one.

The Omni is a giant chair (4.5' x 5.5') that’s similar to a bean bag but different. For a start it’s not a bag, rather it’s a giant pillow. It’s made from space age rip-proof nylon sand come filled with top quality virgin polystyrene foam, aka Sumo Beads. The chair is water resistant and stain which means that it will always look like new.

The chair can be ‘moulded’ into a variety of shapes (there are 10 listed on the SumoLounge website) including some strange ones. This flexibility means that you can use the chair in a variety of locaations and for a varitey of activities.

The chair does a good job of moulding to the shape of your body whilst being supportive. So far it has been great for relaxing and watching movies, kicking ass online on the Mario Kart DS and typing this review.

The Omni comes in 10 different colours (I chose the Fiery red one) and costs £99. I'm not sure how much bean bags usually cost but it probably wouldn’t be fair to compare the Omni to a regular bean bag as it’s quite a different chair.

At the moment, only the Omni is available in the UK but if you live in the US you have a lot more choice.

Beijing Olympics Photos

A large collection of photos from the Beijing Olympics. There are tons of great photos including a few you probably won't see in the mainstream media.

Game: Real or Photoshopped

Can you tell if these images are real or photoshopped?

Man Steals 2,865 Bicycles

Image via Core77

A man in Toronto has been caught stealing 2,865 bicycles. He allegedly recruited homeless people and mental patients to help him steal the machines which he stored at his shop, the Bicycle Clinic.

According to this article, almost 500 bicycles have been returned to their owners. Here's a NYTimes article with more information and a mugshot.

Cakes That Look Like Steaks

YesButNoButYes has posted some photos of cakes that have been made to look like steaks with one actually being made from meatloaf! Mmmm...steaky!

Dinosaurs Helped Build The Pyramids

At least that's what Vince Fenech, Evangelist pastor and director of a Creationist institution believes. He also believes that the universe was made in 4004BC and this is how he proves it:-

“When man landed on the moon (in 1969), they expected the landing module to sink in a deep layer of dust. But the layer was only a few inches deep. This proves that the universe is still young!”

Old Women In Swimsuits Greet Russian Navy

After spending a couple of months on the sea, this is hardly the sight you want to be greeted with on your return.

Video: Lightning Strikes Plane Shortly After Takeoff