The library is still cool.

So I suppose all those predictions about libraries being felled by the Internet were a little premature. In fact it looks like all the cool kids are doing the library thing.

According to the newest study from the Pew Internet and American Life Center – the youngest, most affluent and most internet-connected adults in the US are also the most likely to visit a physical library. It wasn’t that way just 10 years ago. How many other legacy industries can you think of today that can say their strongest growth is among young, affluent, power-internet users? Something is going very right in library land.

For once I am one of the cool kids.

Robot buses coming soon.

Aww man, I wish I had a robot bus for my commute.

The ‘turtle’ doesn’t float very long.

Performance artists Duke Riley launched his replica of the Revolutionary War submarine, the Turtle, in the New York harbor on Friday. Although the Coast Guard didn’t really like how close it got to the Queen Mary it still looks purty cool.

{Via}

Walkie talkies.

I don’t know why, but I’ve always wanted some walkie talkies. Every time I pass the collection of walkies at Costco I stop and admire them for a fleeting moment. But now I no longer have to want from afar because I now possess a set of walkie talkies of my very own.

I recently celebrated my ten year anniversary at my place of employment and one of the rewards for my loyalty was to pick a gift from a catalog of schwag. In the mix with the watches, radio coolers, and crystal vases where a pair of Uniden 2-Way-Radios <Aside: I say the Uniden 2-Way Radios just like the kid from The Christmas Story says An official Red Ryder carbine action two-hundred shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time. Except instead of shooting my eye out everyone warns me of brain cancer when I mention my Uniden 2-Way Radios with 22 channels, voice scramble, and 16 mile range>. I selected these little treasures under the guise of “my son would love these.” He could care less about them.

Since my walkie talkies have arrived in the mail my wife (a very willing participant in this geekery, btw) and I have used them in the following places:

• At Target (the employees looked at us very strange and asked if needed any help multiple times).
• On the way to Chick-Fil-A to communicate with another car of family members.
• To have a conversation while she sat ten feet away form me in the living room.
• At the party where I burned my tongue mentioned here.
• And various times to keep track of each others whereabouts.
• Walkie talkies also enhance you impersonations of truckers, airline pilots, security guards, drive-thru attendants, and any other persons who use 2-way communications regularly. This results in pure comedy gold.

So I highly recommend getting a pair of walkie talkies for you and your partners in crime to play with. They are hours o’ fun.

Furnish all your ghost hunting needs at Ghost Mart.

Check out this article about ghost hunting tech. Included in the article is a link to Ghost Mart, which is a place where you can get all your “discount paranormal research equipment.” Electromagnetic Field (EMF) and Radiation Meters go for as much as 400 bucks.

I can cross Ghost Mart and nunchuck.net off my list of weird online shopping sites that I wanted to start. Darn niche markets!

Tent, water filter, parachute.

This could save some lives. [Via]

The bug gun.

This article prattles on about a strange family in England, but the only thing you really need to read is this little tidbit on one of the weirdos inventions.

Another invented a tiny revolver for shooting wasps [...]

Say what! Forget the fly swatter I want the bug gun! I would be busting caps all over my backyard.

The fort you wished you built as a kid.

Check out this fascinating story (with video) of a “homeless” man who built a bunker to live in. He uses a car battery for power, engineered a toilet from a walker and a bucket, and read library books to learn how to build the roof and make the earth walls structurally sound. Oh yah, he also has a fireplace for warmth and cooking.

‘Different’ gift ideas for your dear ol’ mum.

Still racking your brain for a great Mother’s Day gift? <Aside: it’s this Sunday in case you didn’t know, and if you didn’t – shame on ye!> Looking for something a little different then the usual flowers, jewelry, or perfume? If so then I got ya covered. Here are three items that your mom is sure to be surprised by.

• Every mom should have an Anti-Violence Electrode Shock Gun. Unless you’re scared she will use it against you (see disclaimer below). Via The Raw Feed.
• How about something from Tender Loving Empire? These guys do everything: music, books, comics, and clothing. What mom wouldn’t want a t-shirt with a bunch of jack-o-lanterns sitting around a camp fire? Via Pink Raygun.
• Wouldn’t a used airline food serving trolley come in handy during Thanksgiving dinner. They are fully customizable to match mom’s china pattern. Via stampkit.

You can thank me later, for now you better get that credit card out and start ordering. Hope your mom loves her special Mother’s Day gift.

Disclaimer: All items above are actually things I want. The Short Fat Kid does not take responsibility for any disowning, smacking, or use of shock gun against gift giver by upset mother who wanted a standard mother’s day gift (see first paragraph above). Thank you for reading.

Warbot buddies.

This article explores the connection between soldiers and the robots that serve them in the field. They give them names, promotions, medals, and are upset when their warbots get blowed up.

I suppose this past perdiciton may actually be close to being true.