Music

Theremin Guitar Hero 79

An anonymous reader writes "Greig 'Theremin Hero' Stewart has developed a way to play Guitar Hero with a theremin, like an air guitar. The results speak for themselves, in this rocking video complete with awesome costumes and some sweet artwork. It even has a Co-op mode. ROCK ON! This needs to be a real product!" The beginning is a bit annoying, but this has to be one of the coolest "projects" I've seen in a long time.
Star Wars Prequels

1950s Empire Strikes Back 1

There are no new stories, only new ways of watching them.
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Steak-Scented Billboard Entices Drivers Screenshot-sm 282

In addition to car exhaust and road grime, travelers along Highway 150 in North Carolina can now enjoy the smell of a barbecue thanks to a new billboard. The work of ScentAir, which provides custom scents for businesses, the advertisement for a local grocer emits the smell of charcoal and black pepper over the highway. "Marketing director Murray Dameron said the beef scent was emitted by a high-powered fan at the bottom of the billboard that blows air over cartridges loaded with BBQ fragrance oil. 'It smells like grilled meat with a nice pepper rub on it,' he explained."
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Farmer Uses Homemade Cannon to Fight Off Developers Screenshot-sm 14

If you try to evict Chinese farmer Yang Youde you better be ready for a lot of attitude and his homemade cannon. Land developers have attempted to confiscate his farm twice, only to be met with homemade rocket blasts. From the article: "'I shot only over their heads to frighten them,' the China Daily quoted him saying of his attacks on demolition workers sent to move him off his land. 'I didn't want to cause any injuries.' The rockets can travel over 100 meters, and exploded with a deafening bang, the official paper added. It did not say if anyone had been injured."
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The Star Wars Kid Is Back Screenshot-sm 275

An anonymous reader writes "It was eight years ago that Ghyslain Raza slashed his way into our hearts with his Star Wars Kid video. Sadly, Raza suffered from severe bullying and abuse for his video and eventually ended up in a psychiatric ward for children. However, his video was seen 1 billion times and multiple thousands of geeks came immediately to his defense. While those must have been the worst years of his life, things are now looking up."
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Man Plans to Offer Segway Tours of Mississippi Riverfront Screenshot-sm 1

When considering a tour of the Mississippi River, most people think of paddle boats or tubes, but Mike Mott wants you to think of Segways. Mott is working with Iowa officials and the city of Davenport to set up Segway tours along the Mississippi River recreational trail. "Mott said his tours will begin in the parking lot of the Union Station Visitors Center at 102 S. Harrison St. After a 20-minute safety orientation, the tours will proceed west to Credit Island, then back to the visitors center and east to the Davenport-Bettendorf border and back again. The tours will take about two hours and will include information about local history and sites of interest, Mott said."
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Restaurant Tells Diners To Eat Everything On Their Plate Screenshot-sm 126

Chef Yukako Ichikawa will offer a 30% discount to patrons who eat all the food they have ordered, and will kindly ask those who don't clean their plates to not come back. "Finishing your meal requires that everything is eaten except lemon slices, gari (sushi ginger), and wasabi," says the menu. "Please also note that vegetables and salad on the side are NOT decorations; they are part of the meal too."
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Anti-Speed Camera Activist Buys Police Department's Web Domain Screenshot-sm 680

Brian McCrary just bought a website to complain about a $90 speeding ticket he received from the Bluff City PD — the Bluff City Police Department site. The department let its domain expire and McCrary was quick to pick it up. From the article: "Brian McCrary found the perfect venue to gripe about a $90 speeding ticket when he went to the Bluff City Police Department's website, saw that its domain name was about to expire, and bought it right out from under the city's nose. Now that McCrary is the proud owner of the site, bluffcitypd.com, the Gray, Tenn., computer network designer has been using it to post links about speed cameras — like the one on US Highway 11E that caught him — and how people don't like them."
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Inventor Sues Because His Invention Is Being Used As a Sex Toy Screenshot-sm 15

Inventor Jiro Takashima had a simple dream. He wanted to create the world's most perfect hemorrhoid massager. He realized his dream with the invention of the Pro-State massager. It wasn't long however until it became obvious that people were using his design for pleasure instead of legitimate medical purposes. He and his company, High Island Health, are now suing a British company known as Pleasure2Me and others claiming infringement of his patent of a plastic massager designed to massage a man's prostate without the use of electrical power. From the article: "'Our business took a major detour when men started using our prostate massager for recreational purposes,' said Amy Sung, executive director of High Island Health, a Houston company named for a translation of her inventor father Jiro Takashima's Japanese name."
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Man Smuggles an Amazing Amount Into Jail With His Portable Hole Screenshot-sm 8

Instead of congratulating 24-year-old Washingtonian Gavin Stanger on the remarkable amount of things he could hide in his rectum, Wenatchee Police have arrested and charged him with introduction of contraband into a jail. Stanger smuggled a cigarette lighter, cigarette rolling papers, a golf-ball-size baggie of tobacco, a bottle of tattoo ink, eight tattoo needles, a one-inch-long smoking pipe, and a small baggie of suspected marijuana into the Chelan County Regional Justice Center, a feat that left officials gaping. "We were all wondering, 'How do you put all that up there?'" Sgt. John Kruse said. "The tobacco was pretty impressive; it was a good ounce."
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Cemetery Seeks To Change Image With Concerts and Exhibits Screenshot-sm 8

The management of Wheat Ridge, Colorado's Olinger Crown Hill Cemetery wants to change its image by hosting special events including art exhibits and concerts. The 103-year-old burial ground hopes that the events will change perceptions of their cemetery as "something more than a spot for solemn rituals." From the article: "The push to make the cemetery feel more like an ordinary part of the community began a few years ago and is gaining momentum. Crown Hill now urges people to tour the grounds and examine works by the Mexican artist and architect Dionicio Rodriguez — his only pieces in the state are scattered throughout the grounds."
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North Korea Develops Anti-Aging "Super Drink" Screenshot-sm 296

__roo writes "According to North Korea's official news agency, a drink produced by North Korea's Moranbong Carbonated Fruit Juice Joint Venture Company can cure aging and all disease. 'It, with effects of both preventive and curative treatment, helps improve mental and retentive faculties by multiplying brain cells. It also protects skin from wrinkles and black spots and prevents such geriatric diseases as cerebral hemorrhage, myocardium and brain infarction by removing acid effete matters in time.' It also has no side-effects." Last month North Korea announced its fusion breakthrough, and now it has a super drink. One can only imagine what wonders may come in July — perhaps self-buttering toast.
Education

What Does Your Ph.D. Look Like In Dance Form? 3

cremeglace writes "The journal Science is sponsoring the 3rd-annual 'Dance Your Ph.D.' contest. Grad students in science-related fields create a video of their dissertation, interpreted in dance form, and compete for $1,000 and a screening at a film festival in New York. 'Science-related field' is broadly defined and includes computer science and engineering. Some funny videos from past years of the contest are up at the contest website, and an official announcement is in the print edition of this week's Science."
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Drunken Parrots Falling From Sky Screenshot-sm 30

An anonymous reader writes "Parrots intoxicated by a mystery substance are dropping out of the sky near Darwin, Australia. From the article: 'It seems that the birds get intoxicated by something they have eaten and it renders them unable to fly and function ... they can get very sick as a result.' Around eight to ten birds a day have been brought to the hospital after falling to the ground in backyards and along roadsides. A total of 40 lorikeets are now receiving treatment."
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New Gadget Tells You When To Take a Break Screenshot-sm 50

Kilrah_il writes "An Israeli company developed a gadget that measures your blood pressure and tells you when you are stressed and need to take a break from your computer. 'The user grasps two sensors shaped like computer mouses to measure the electric activity of the heart in minute detail. Software then combines the measurements with prerecorded personal details such as age and sex to calculate various indicators for stress and mood.' Looks like a must-have accessory for Slashdotters everywhere."
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OH Senate Passes Bill Banning Human-Animal Hybrids Screenshot-sm 197

An anonymous reader writes "The sci-fi movie Splice seems to have scared the Ohio's State Senator Steve Buehrer. The Ohio Senate has passed Sen. Buehrer's bill banning 'the creation, transportation, or receipt of a human-animal hybrid, the transfer of a nonhuman embryo into a human womb, and the transfer of a human embryo into a nonhuman womb.' So much for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."
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Military Develops "Green" Cleaners For Terrorist Attack Sites Screenshot-sm 97

An anonymous reader writes "Chemists with the US military have developed a set of ultra-strength cleaners to be used in the aftermath of a terrorist attack. The formulas are reportedly tough enough to get rid of nerve gas, mustard gas, radioactive isotopes, and anthrax. But they are also non-toxic, based on ingredients found in foods, cosmetics, and other consumer products."
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Chinese School Turns Wimps Into Men Screenshot-sm 10

Worried that it is turning out a generation of sissies, a Chinese elementary school has started a program designed to teach boys to be more masculine. Wang Jianhua, who has been teaching at the school for 14 years, says the boys are getting "more and more girly. During class breaks their favorite game is elastic band skipping, which is a typical girl's game. And the boys are very fragile. If we just scold them a bit they will cry out loudly."
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Homer Simpson Named Greatest TV Character Screenshot-sm 142

A survey by Entertainment Weekly has named Homer Simpson the greatest character created for television or film in the past 20 years. Everyone's favorite beer-swilling, donut-eating dad beat out Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the top spot. From the article: "'People can relate to Homer because we're all secretly propelled by desires we can't admit to,' Groening was quoted as telling Entertainment Weekly. 'Homer is launching himself head-first into every single impulsive thought that occurs to him. His love of whatever ... is a joy to witness.'"

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