There are too many Wangs in China. “There are 93 million Wangs and 92 million Lis.” // When squirrels attack. // Warfare with drugs. And pterodactyls. // Lego furniture. Not really made of Lego. // The Music Sofa. // Robo-chair. // Mary Jackson on Deleuze and the passing of gas. // Oh, look. It’s Carolyn Guertin. Deploy the weapon. // Photoluminescent acrylic brick. // Flow. Trailer. // Julie Szego interviews Ayaan Hirsi Ali. “The term ‘enlightenment fundamentalist’ makes reason and tolerance seem negotiable.” // Iranian judiciary advisor defends stoning. “We had a revolution so that Islamic laws would be implemented.” // Mick Hartley on Jihadi Etiquette. Killing bystanders with car bombs isn’t a problem. Allah will sort innocent souls from their disassembled bodies. // Education as social engineering. Making sure youngsters have the right kind of thoughts. // Via 1+1=3, ambient intermission sounds. Murmurs, coughs, tuning. An extract. More here. // Vintage comic books and dust jackets. // Pies Across America. Where to find good pie. // Exercise your teeth. (1939) // The International Toaster Museum. “The world’s largest online toaster collection.” // The Toaster Film Festival. // Typorganism. // Via Artblog, a rather wonderful TV moment. Nicely done, Mr Potts. Nicely done.

Kazuko Shinoka’s tofu robots. 4” high. Extra firm. Not really made of tofu. // Also available: Astronaut Jesus. // Via Ace, Dr Grordbort’s retro-future ray guns. Atomise those moon soldiers. // Arcade games of the Soviet Union. // Okayama’s slightly alarming pedal-powered rollercoaster. // Aging Haight-Ashbury hippies hassled and disgusted by younger, “uncivilised” drop-outs. Bummer. // New age hippies bang drums, attempt “astral travelling.” One hippie leaves body. Permanently. (H/T, Tim Blair.) // The alien abduction lamp. (H/T, Technabob.) // Cow abduction. Watch the skies, click the cow. // Via Coudal, the best looking supermarkets in the world. // New punctuation mark to denote irony. Winking smileys not suitable for literature. (H/T, 1+1=3) // Remember the interrobang? Thought not. // 3D web browsing. // Inscrutable planetary clock. “The beautiful object where magnificent outer space is made to think.” // Flies on a window. // Beer-pouring robot. Noisy, slow and pointless, but lovely nonetheless. // Disembodied robot head grimaces at scary words. Later models could be “companions for the elderly.” // The ultimate deer hunting truck. Can drive over most large mammals. // The Dreidel Song. 

Joi Lansing is trapped in the web of love. Bird cages, cannibalism and a switched-on blonde. // If the volume of crap in your inbox has dropped recently, this could be why. “Soloway could face decades in prison.” Being punched, one hopes. // The world’s, erm, greatest album covers. Bow ties, bikinis, sweater girls. (H/T, Warren Ellis.) // Via Bloody Scott, the rules and history of Victimhood Poker. // Flags of the world by colour usage. Guess, then click. (H/T, Coudal.) // Sketchfighter! Blast those ladybugs to atoms. // Venture. The plug-in 3-wheel tilting hybrid. Did I mention it tilts? // Pop-up pulp dioramas. Cowboys, detectives, sirens and boxers. // 70’s shoe designs. Pop art platforms, 11-inch heels. // Platform footwear of the 1600s. // The virtual shoe museum. // The time fountain. Strobes pulse, causality defied. More here. // The Moon and Saturn. An illusion of proximity. // Robert Spencer on America’s “tiny minority” of 300,000 people. // World history. All of it, just about. // The evolution of speech balloons. From 300AD to the 20th century. // The Acme Catapult. Hurls fridges, cookers, dryers, most large appliances. // Jacket cuff lights. Find keyholes, fight crime, look dramatic. You know you want them. // If apes could jive.

Dr Robert Albert Moog. Synthesisers, sex changes, radical fashions. “People were freaking out.” (H/T, 1+1=3) // Cinematic drugfest. Tokin’, gulpin’, sniffin’, shovellin’. (H/T, Metrolander) // Fun with vibrating cornstarch. Wait for the tendrils. // Time-lapse film of Sunspot 875. Plasma “granules” the size of continents. Watch that hydrogen seethe. // Researchers eye bacteria for long-term data storage. (H/T, Protein Wisdom) // The USB Mini Fridge. // Multi-Tool! It’s 8 screwdrivers in one. And Multi-Hammer too. // Thought-reading machine. (1919) “For the office of the future.” // Robot plays air hockey. // Japanese manhole covers. Firemen, fruit, anime. // Basic reasoning test deemed “discriminatory” and “racist” by US Department of Justice. // Christopher Hitchens on a transformed London. “The roots of violence are in the preaching of it, and the sanctification of it.” // Diana West on Pew’s “encouraging” survey. “Just one in four. Isn’t that something to be upbeat about?” // Iranian modesty police in action. Shrouded zealots accost and berate women. “Your hair is showing. Come with us.” Struggles ensue, blood flows. But remember, “all cultures are equal.” Sure they are. // Christina Hoff Sommers on the silence of Western feminists. // An imposing chandelier. // 50 things to love about superhero comics. // The best and worst airports to sleep in. Mosquitoes, shootings, uncomfortable chairs. (H/T, Coudal.) // Scary Mary. (H/T, Ace) // Hush now, children. It’s Henry Hall. 

Via 1+1=3, How Mouse Clicks and Cursors Work. // An ambitious summer project: How to Destroy the Earth. // Live power line maintenance. Guy hangs from helicopter in Faraday suit, climbs along live cables. // Diving tigers. (H/T, Ace.) // The Man Amplifier. // The Bionic Woman. // Look lovelier down there. // Via 1+1=3, Maps of the Cold War: “Europe from Moscow”  and “Asia from Irkutsk.” (1952) // Jen Stark’s paper sculptures and animations. // “100 Girls and 100 Octopuses.” Art, not tentacle porn. Painting assembled from 98 smaller paintings. Click to disassemble or enlarge the whole thing. // When the Milky Way collides with Andromeda. Fate of Sun “uncertain.” Simulation here. // Christopher Hitchens says goodbye to Jerry Falwell. More here. // Iran’s crackdown on “slack dressing” continues. Fifty “badly-veiled” women stopped by Iranian airport police. 17,000 women warned to “respect Islamic dress codes.” // Four Iranian students criticise “modesty” crackdown, question infallibility of Muhammad. Jail sentence beckons. (H/T, B&W.) // The Entity. Someone call Mr Garrison. // When hippies attack. Crowd of eco-hippies block road, intimidate elderly couple in van. Bikes get crushed, tears ensue, victimhood is claimed. Protestors’ version of events quite bizarre. // A narrow escape. (Scroll down after reading.) // Something French, methinks. Boum.