BOOK NERDS RULE OK

Spotted on Judge A Book By Its Cover, this one goes out to all the librarians out there.


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Working the stacks,

This is dF

THE THINKING MAN’S ROBOT

ITEM [via Pink Tentacle]: Honda has developed new brain-machine interface (BMI) technology that allows humans to control an Asimo humanoid robot simply by thinking certain thoughts.



Downside: you look this this.



Upside: with a firebreathing robot army doing yr bidding at the speed of thought, who’s going to laugh?



[Fire-breathing robot also via Pink Tentacle]

I must not think bad thoughts,

This is dF

MISS UNIVERSE ENJOYS GITMO, SPANKING AND NASCAR

For those of you wondering, “Where is dEFROG’s April Fool’s post?”, the answer is: I don’t have one.

At least, I don’t think I do.

To explain: we don’t have AFD here in Hong Kong, or really anywhere outside of the US and the UK. And while I appreciate a practical joke as much as the next person, the fact is most AFD hoax stories aren’t funny, and have lost their impact ever since The Onion went online. I mean, what’s the point?

(Although The Telegraph’s story about how govt scientists have discovered how to convert swimming fish into electricity is pretty good.)

The other problem is that in the 21st Century, where real life is getting weirder every day, it’s getting harder to know when a story is a prank or not.

Here, I’ll show you.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING STORIES IS FAKE?

1. From New Scientist: Two studies of hormonal changes associated with BDSM play find that spanking, bondage and flogging helps bring consenting couples closer together.

2. From Reuters: Reigning Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza visits Guantanamo Bay and blogs: "It was a loooot of fun!”

3. From Car And Driver: President Obama bans Chevrolet and Dodge from sponsoring NASCAR events as part of his auto industry bailout plan.

( Answers behind the jump! )

Honorable mention to the Conficker virus, which was real, but the way the non-tech media cheerfully milked the story for all it was worth as the new Y2K that will destroy the motherf***ing Internet and take yr bank account with it, it might as well have been a hoax. Threat Level’s hilarious coverage of the Interweb Conficker meltdown speaks volumes.

Won’t get fooled again,

This is dF

YR NEW FAVORITE GWOT

ITEM: The Global War On Terror (GWOT, formerly known as GSAVE, formerly known as GWOT) has a new name.

In a memo e-mailed this week to Pentagon staff members, the Defense Department's office of security review noted that "this administration prefers to avoid using the term 'Long War' or 'Global War on Terror' [GWOT.] Please use 'Overseas Contingency Operation.' "

*head*desk*

According to the Pentagon memo, the OCO terminology is by order of the Office of Management and Budget, the executive-branch agency that reviews the public testimony of administration officials before it is delivered. An OMB spokesman denies this. Wouldn’t you?

I’m guessing they changed it to OCO because secretary of homeland security Janet Napolitano has begun referring to “terrorism” as “man-caused disasters”. And “Global War On Man-Caused Disasters” would sound, you know, stoopid.

I’d go on, but Jon Stewart and John Oliver do it for me.

See also: George Carlin, who saw this coming years before he died.

PRODUCTION NOTE: Someone’s edited the "fucks" out of this video, but all the other versions have been sued off of YouTube by Warner Music Group. Or, as I like to call them, “fucking greedheads”.

FUN FACT: I always thought the term “War On Terror” was pointless sloganeering too. I’d elaborate, but Terry Jones has my back.

Speak yr mind,

This is dF