Google Reader Shared Post - Source URL XKCD
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Aww Sad....
Google Reader Shared Post - Source URL Techdirt
We've seen over and over again that redlight cameras and speed cameras almost never have anything to do with increased safety on the roads (and some studies have even suggested they make the roads more dangerous). Instead, in almost every case, they really appear to be about revenue generation for the local municipality. Tim DiPaula points us to what at least appears like a very sketchy situation in Baltimore where the city installed brand new 40 MPH signs... and then, about a block later, there's a sign that is partially obscured by the trees, suddenly dropping the speed limit to 30 MPH. And, of course, there's a speed camera right there. I'm sure that makes the roads much safer.
Google Reader Shared Post - Source URL There, I Fixed It
Submitted by: Brendan via Submit a Kludge!
Favorite Comment: Fixer Pat says, “Even more impressive is the quality of the photography, taken from the perspective of that particular plug. Very Tarantino-esque.”
Google Reader Shared Post - Source URL The Consumerist
Since we're on Team CoCo, we thought it was time for an update. Recently, our pale, pale friend Conan O'Brien put "The Tonight Show" up on Craiglist -- and apparently the ad was so successful he's now upped the offer and placed an ad for himself in the "casual encounters" section. I would put this in "Morning Deals" but I don't write that post. Let's take a look.
Here's the text of the ad:
TALL, SLENDER REDHEAD AVAILABLE FOR NIGHTTIME RECREATION - m4ww - 30 (Universal Studios)
- Tall, slender redhead available for nighttime recreation.
- 6’4”, completely ripped, VERY Caucasian.
- Drapes match the carpet.
- Currently homeless, must meet at your place.
- Can go a whole hour (with scheduled breaks every 7-10 minutes).
- Fatties welcome.
- Not afraid to take two people at once, and then a musical guest.
- NOTE: If you want me to perform after midnight, it'll cost you!
* Location: Universal Studios
* it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
And here's some lovely video. We like the cat with makeup.
Google Reader Shared Post - Source URL adamandmarcie's YouTube Activity
Google Reader Shared Post - Source URL MAKE Magazine
I love these makeshift hidey-bars people make in offices...
Google Reader Shared Post - Source URL Slashdot
An anonymous reader writes "During several months of 2009, Moscow police looked at fake pictures displayed on their monitors instead of what was supposed to be video from the city surveillance cams. The subcontractor providing the cams was paid on the basis of 'the number of working cams,' so he delivered pre-cooked pictures stored on his servers. The camera company CEO has been arrested."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Google Reader Shared Post - Source URL Woot! - One Day, One Deal
Video game adaptations of movies have almost always been a little lacking in the quality department. Usually rushed money-grabs hoping to ride on the coattails of a film's popularity, very few of them ever seem to recapture the magic and thrill of the source material. I mean, there are a lot of very good reasons why Atari buried the E. T. game in the middle of the New Mexico desert.
But we do like a good retro mash-up around these parts, and these video game box mock-ups from Australian graphic artist Robert Penney are pretty fantastic. I can almost hear a much younger version of myself whining at my mother for a copy of "Avatar: The Game". "But look, mom! Aren't the graphics awesome?"
You can check out the full set, including Cloverfield and Snakes On A Plane, at Penney Design's tumblr. Anything you'd like to see done up in the old Atari style?
Google Reader Shared Post - Source URL mental_floss Blog
Your local convenience store may not accept bills larger than $20, but once upon a time you could have paid for your gum with a nice fresh $10,000 bill. What’s the story behind the large-denomination bills that the government used to issue?
In 1928, the federal government overhauled its system of printing banknotes. It shaved about an inch of length and just under a half of an inch in width off of the bills and issued the new smaller bills in the $1 to $100 denominations with which we’re familiar. However, the Treasury also issued larger denominations. They featured William McKinley ($500), Grover Cleveland ($1,000), James Madison ($5,000), and Salmon P. Chase ($10,000).
His name might not be as familiar as those of the Presidents featured on the other big bills, but once upon a time Chase was a big wheel in American politics. Chase, a mid-19th century politician, served as Chief Justice of the United States, spent stints as Ohio’s governor and senator, and was Lincoln’s first Secretary of the Treasury.
He was in the right place at the right time. When the federal government started issuing greenback notes in 1861, Chase, as Secretary of the Treasury, was in charge of designing and popularizing the new currency. The politically ambitious Chase had to pick a portrait subject for the first $1 bill, and he chose…Salmon P. Chase.
Although putting his face in everyone’s pocketbooks never propelled Chase to the presidency, when the Treasury started issuing the new $10,000 bills in 1928 they put Chase’s portrait on the obverse to honor the man who helped introduce modern banknotes.
Even if you don’t have a $10,000 bill Chase’s name might still be in your wallet. Chase National Bank, the forerunner to Chase Manhattan Bank, was named in his honor.
Believe it or not, it wasn’t just to save space in fatcats’ wallets. When the Treasury started printing these giant bills, their main purpose was making transfer payments between banks and other financial institutions. Before sophisticated wire transfer systems were fully developed, it was apparently easier and safer just to fork over a $5,000 bill to settle up with a fellow bank. Once transfer technology became safer and more secure, there really wasn’t much need for the big bills anymore.
That would be the Series 1934 $100,000 gold certificate. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing only made these notes during a three-week stretch during December 1934 and January 1935. Even the few plutocrats who had that much cash during the Depression couldn’t carry one of the $100K bills, though. They were only used for official transactions between Federal Reserve Banks, and the Treasurer of the United States only issued them to Fed banks that had an equal amount of gold in the Treasury. The note featured a picture of Woodrow Wilson.
There sure are, but don’t expect to find a $500 bill the next time you make an ATM withdrawal. The Treasury announced on July 14, 1969, that it would quit issuing the $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 notes immediately, since the bills were so sparsely circulated. It’s not like the Bureau of Engraving and Printing had to stop the presses, either; the bills hadn’t seen an actual print run since 1945.
When the Treasury discontinued the bills, they rapidly fell out of circulation. However, a few are still lingering; as of May 2009, there were still 336 $10,000 bills at large. At the same time, Slate reported that there were also 342 $5,000 bills and 165,732 $1,000 bills still floating around.
Although the Treasury is no longer issuing these bills, according to the Fed they’re still legal tender. So yes, although it would probably raise some eyebrows, you could walk into Best Buy and plunk down a $1,000 bill to pay for a new plasma TV.
That wouldn’t be the smartest move, though. Most of the high-denomination bills that are left in circulation are in collectors’ safes, and at auction the bills tend to fetch prices that far exceed their face values. For instance, a pristine $10,000 bill can command a price as high as $140,000 on the open market.
If you put it in your safety deposit box, your bill will be safe. Chase Bank actually acquired one of the $10,000 bills in its currency collection when a deceased customer’s family found the bill in her deposit box and traded it for $10,000 in cash. Deposit the historical loot into your checking account, though, and it’s bad news for the bill. You’ll get the cash deposited in your account, but since the 1969 order to stop distributing these bills, Fed banks have been pulling the notes from circulation and destroying them whenever they are received.
Of course, there are other potential pitfalls to depositing a big bill, like blowing your cover when you’re on the lam. Last February, three teenagers in Texas Township, Michigan, swiped one of their parents’ safes and drove to Birmingham, Alabama, with their booty. Their downfall came when they tried to change an antique $1,000 bill from the safe at a bank. The police nabbed the thieves after a call from a suspicious teller.
Nope, but that doesn’t mean that people haven’t tried to make one. In 2004 woman in Covington, Georgia, tried to pick up a $1,675 tab at a local Wal-Mart with a forged $1 million bill featuring a picture of the Statue of Liberty. Police quickly arrested her. It’s hard to say what’s more ludicrous: trying to pass off a million-dollar bill or thinking that Wal-Mart would just fork over $998,325 in change.
As long as you don’t try to spend it or deposit it, you’re in the clear. Gag makers and some religious and political groups have printed novelty $1 million bills for decades. In 1982, these novelty bills came to the attention of the Secret Service, which ruled that since there wasn’t a real $1 million bill, these joke versions weren’t technically forgeries or violations of any laws.
Although you don’t see the $2 bill all that often, it’s still a circulating denomination of American currency. According the U.S. Treasury, there are over $1.5 billion worth of $2 bills currently circulating around the world. However, since the bill changes hands less frequently than other denominations, it’s not printed as often, either. The Treasury hasn’t whipped up a batch of twofers since 2003.
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