No bidders for bat-shaped bread (and peeing for science)

July 18, 2008 —

In our collection of oddities this week we find some relief from stories about people making gobs of money selling stuff that looks like other stuff, NASA finally showing some concern about an issue that has troubled us all since we first stepped into the Apollo model at the science museum, and proof from the animal kingdom that Circuit City is a wretched store. Also, we exact our revenge on the iPhone 3G and we take a little time to mock a student hacker.

Americans suddenly too good to bid on stupid things that look like things on eBay
Desperate for help paying for his lavish nuptials, Dave Taylor looked into his pantry and found what he thought would be a Godsend: a slice of bread that looked vaguely like the Batman logo! Based on America's moronic track record with things that vaguely look like other things, he assumed that some twit would spend hundreds or thousands of dollars of good money to buy the useless slab of processed bread. Unfortunately for him, our nation seems to have suddenly come to its senses, and no one has bid a red cent for the useless bat-shaped foodstuff. read more

NASA employees peeing for science
As NASA's next-generation Orion spacecraft takes shape, engineers are still stuck on what's always the toughest part of space engineering: the toilet. The Orion's toilet might have to deal with six months worth of urine, which contains solids that are difficult to remove. To help the cause, NASA employees have been asked to donate their urine to the team trying to build a better potty, since, as one engineer says, "you can't make fake urine." read more...

Bear leaves Circuit City in disgust
Was he horrified at the high prices or turned off by the lack of selection? Whatever the case, the bear that wandered into the Colorado Springs Circuit City left without any game consoles, PC hardware, or large-screen TVs. read more...

High school student smart enough to hack computers, too dumb to pass algebra
Kenneth Van Dyke is apparently quite the clever lad with computers, having changed his grades on school computers multiple times in the past two years. Unfortunately, he's not clever enough to pass the classes in the first place, or to think that one of his teachers might notice that a failing student was suddenly getting straight As. read more...

Apple iPhone 3G is a tough little bugger
After two weeks of nearly constant iPhone 3G news, hype and gossip, I've been wanting to get my hands on one -- to wring its little neck. But the good folks at PC World beat me to it:

Apple's new 3G iPhone doesn't just look good. It's one resilient little bulldog.

We put this faster version of the iPhone, released Friday in the United States, through dropping, scratching, and dunking tests, and the device performed like a champ. In fact, it wouldn't knuckle under until we ran it over with a motorcycle.

In PC World's second annual battery of iPhone Stress Tests our 3G iPhone test unit withstood a serious beating from keys, breakfast cereal, water, dish soap, and city sidewalks.

Only a renegade videographer on a motorcycle was able to render it fully non-operational--and even then, its battery kept on ticking. In fact, several hours after these event, its splintered screen was still glowing.

Read the full article here