GRK BLOG/ZINE

A spinning, cylindrical-shaped structure with the ability to hold 10,000 residents was named the winner of an annual NASA competition which was the brainwork of a Toronto high school student. Eric Yam, a 12th grade student in Toronto’s Northern Secondary School took the grand prize making him the first Canadian to win such an award. The space colony Asten, named after the Egyptian god of balance is 1.6 kilometer-high structure made up of a series of habitation rings stuck in the shape of a cylinder. The entire structure rotates on its axis, simulating Earth-like gravity for its inhabitants. Yam’s plan calls for 15 years of planning followed by 12 years of construction and another three years to make the settlement habitable. His estimated cost to build the station is $563 billion US.

(more…)

iBUYPOWER is one of the largest gaming system manufacturers in the world and they have just released their small form factor system known as the LAN Warrior. The LAN Warrior offers more firepower to stand shoulder to shoulder with even the most advanced gaming systems and has room for two full-sized dual slot video cards, up to 24GB of Triple Channel DDR3 and a 1000 W power supply. It also comes with a carrying strap and harness system for taking the LAN Warrior on the road.

(more…)

Generatus is a social networking status generator. How many hours have
you wasted trying to think of something suitably witty, funny and
original for your status on Facebook or Twitter? Let’s face it, a
status like ‘Dave is mowing the lawn’ or ‘Kate is asleep’ is not going
to impress that huge entourage of friends you’ve amassed.

Never fear! With Generatus
your days of boring status updates are over! Simply type your name,
indicate whether you are a boy or a girl, then hit Generate. You will
be served up a brand new, sparkly status all ready to be copied and
pasted into Facebook, Twitter or whichever social networking site you
like best.

Obama Grabs Headlines.

Barack Obama made history by becoming the first African-American to win the US presidency.

Barack Obama, who launched an admittedly improbable campaign for the presidency 21 months ago with a remarkably focused appeal to a widespread hunger for change in a distressed nation, has claimed an insurmountable majority of the electoral votes required to name him the 44th president.

The Brokers With Hands On Their Faces Blog.

That’s He Pingping, who at 2 feet and 5.37 inches tall is the world’s smallest man, underneath Svetlana Pankratova, the world’s leggiest woman:

The two met, with He standing at Pankratova’s knees, the publicize the release of Guinness World Records 2009. This year’s version of the popular book is due out Wednesday.

Pankratova, 36, who is Russian but lives in Spain, has legs that are nearly 52 inches long, or more than 4 feet long. Her upper body has nearly typical proportions, giving her a giraffe-like appearance.

Link

Bridging the gap between dSLRs and medium format cameras, the new Leica S2 ($TBA) packs a 30 x 45 mm, 37.5 megapixel sensor and compatibility with Leica’s range of S-series lenses. Other features include a high-res 3-inch display, the exclusive MAESTRO image processor, a dual shutter system, a precise, quiet autofocus system, and more. It’s an entirely new class of camera.

For all you pervs out there (you know who you are), Microsoft has added a new, uh, tool called InPrivate Browsing, to the second Beta version of Internet Explorer 8, which is handy if you don’t want your wife, girlfriend or daughter to see where you’ve been when you said you were paying the bills. This feature will not save your browsing or search history, cookies, form data, or passwords, and will clear its cache when you’re, uh, finished. No wonder it’s nicknamed “Porn Mode.”

Via ComputerWorld.

Adobe has announced that the next version of Creative Suite will be unveiled on September 23. Adobe is showing web broadcasts to publicly launch the new software, but it probably won’t be available to buy until October. Adobe recently released the beta version of the CS4 Dreamweaver, Fireworks, and Soundbooth. Go to Adobe Labs to download them.

To see the web broadcast of the CS4 unveiling on the 23rd, register here:

http://adobe.istreamplanet.com/default.asp

Through an exclusive interview with Vanity Fair and Supertouch news, 7-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong has confirmed that he will return to professional cycling in 2009 to compete in the Tour de France, really ?!

Watch his video announcement HERE…

I just can’t believe this news, I very like the Lance, I want to more info and from his word to confirm he will try for an eighth Tour title - at age 37.
Photos from Vanity Fair and Elizabeth Kreutz.

Wow! Policemen in Kuwait will get the chance to ride on Dodge Chargers as there are 150 Dodge Chargers have been ordered and to be modified as police vehicles.

“In the meantime, the lots of them are heading to Canfield Equipment Service in Michigan where they’ll be fitted for their new Kuwaiti roles in traffic, security, and emergency response.”

Besides policemen, criminals will have the chance to sit on it too. At the back please!

(more…)

The Victoria and Albert Museum has purchased the original artwork of the Rolling Stones’ tongue logo for $92,500. John Pasche designed the logo in 1970 for £50. Read the full story on Creative Review’s Blog.

Hari Merdeka (Independence Day) is a national day of Malaysia commemorating the independence of the Federation of Malaya from British colonial rule. In a wider context, it is to celebrate the formation of Malaysia.

image credit to vincent

*note: i love my country!

Psst! Got an overdue library book? Didn’t think that they could do anything about it? Well, think again - Heidi Dalibor of Grafton, Wisconsin, just got arrested for failing to return books she checked out from a library:

Heidi Dalibor was arrested after she failed to return the books, “Angels and Demons” and “White Oleander”, last year.

“I said, what could they possibly do? They can’t arrest me for this… I was wrong,” Dalibor said.

Dalibor did not respond to four notices from the library, two phone calls and two letters. The library forwarded the case to police, who issued a citation for Dalibor’s failure to return the materials or pay the fine. The citation included a court date, which Dalibor admits she ignored.

With arrest warrant in hand, police showed up at Dalibor’s door and led her away in handcuffs.

And find out why she’s still not returning the books: Link

Here’s a common scene—but still impressive—at the Beijing Olympics: dozens of photographers firing the most expensive digital photography gear available on the planet at full speed. The sound of all those shutters re-clacky-clicketing alone must give goosebumps to any photo aficionado, but the total price of all this machinery would actually make anyone faint. How much does this all cost?

(more…)

This trend of faking things in the Beijing Olympic 2008 games really bothers me. After finding out that the opening ceremony’s fireworks display was faked, it turns out that Lin Miaoke, the 9 year-old little girl who sang “Ode to the Motherland” was actually miming and lip syncing.

What makes things worse is the ‘excuse’. It’s not because the girl was doing flips or dancing a la western pop starlets who often lip sync in concerts. The reason is because the real singer, 7 year-old Yang Peiyi, was not considered cute or ‘flawless’ enough to appear.

According to the show’s musical director, the ‘cute’ Lin was used because, “The main consideration was the national interest. The child on the screen should be flawless in image, in her internal feelings, and in her expression.”

May I remind you that we are talking about little girls? To deprive a talented girl from her moment to shine in front of the whole world because she’s not considered cute enough is just wrong.

The essence of the Olympic games is the true excellence of the human achievement. By trying to force things to deceivingly look ‘perfect’, China has ruined the spirit of the Olympics.

If we follow this twisted logic, we should allow athletes to take performance enhancing drugs. After all, it would make their performance more ‘flawless’ and ‘perfect’…

see this video

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Paris Hilton has just been paid the ultimate compliment as a Russian teenager, Anna Ivanov, has undergone surgery to look just like her.

19-year-old- vanov was already nicknamed Paris by her friends for her resemblance to the socialite, but she really wanted to be her in every detail.

(more…)

Beijing held its formal opening ceremony today for the 2008 Summer Olympics. The ceremony, held in the National Stadium known as the Bird’s Nest, was attended by thousands, and watched by millions more on television. Below are some highlights of the nearly 4-hour performance.

A dancer performs during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium on August 8, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

(more…)

Need to demonstrate the cleanliness of a hotel room?Forget scientific tests, black lights and Petri dishes. All it takes is a girl, her tongue, and a complete lack of oral hygiene. OCDers and germaphobes, turn away now…

see this video

Be sure to check out extstay.com for more tongue-tastic taste tests. [ExtStay.com]