Entertainment

Riding on a sleeper train for several thousand miles seems a bit silly sometimes when you can just hop a plane for a couple of hours and get to the same destination in a fraction of the time, especially when it's often cheaper to fly anyway. Amtrak, however, is attempting to counter that image by promoting its train service as the landlubber's equivalent of a luxury cruise--a booze cruise, that is. According to an Associated Press article, the passenger rail service is trying to "gin up new business" (Ha, ha! You slay me, AP!) by offering … Read more

If you're famous at work for doing the impossible, it's time to deck out your desk with something fitting.

This limited-edition M.C. Escher Waterfall Sculpture is available on ThinkGeek for an impossible-to-believe price of $59.99. Only 500 of the sculptures exist, so you should act quickly if you want to get in on the fun.

The sculpture, based on the famous M.C. Escher woodcut, is just six inches tall. That puts it squarely in the running for the object with the most ability to blow your mind per square inch.

Alas, the water in the … Read more

Here's one way to transform a special occasion into something even more special. And, quite possibly, get a stomachache in the process.

Nashville's French Confection cake shop created this impressive Optimus Prime cake, using Rice Krispies treats, brownies, and cake to make the edible robot.

The Autobot-themed cake was special-ordered by Morgan Valentine for her husband's 30th birthday party. You're a lucky man, Mr. Valentine.

The bakery's repertoire is pretty impressive. Other nerd-worthy cakes (see below) include The Simpsons, a delicious six-pack of Coke, and Yoda.

[[Via Boing Boing.]]

ROSWELL, N.M.--If you're coming to this town for anything other than UFO madness, you're probably heading to the wrong place.

I came as part of Road Trip 2007, my driving tour of the Southwest in search of the most interesting technology- and science-related stories.

Roswell is the self-proclaimed UFO capital of the world, and it is still reaping the tourist-dollar benefits of an event that happened 60 years ago, when a local may have found the remains of a crashed UFO in a field that's actually quite some distance from here.

The event made world … Read more

Gen Xers too busy to relive the glory days, when Lollapalooza was actually alternative and cool, can enjoy it from the comfort of their laptop couch.

The now heavily sponsored concert festival, taking place August 3-5 at Grant Park in Chicago, will be Webcast live from AT&T's Blue Room Web site.

The Webcasting service starts at 12:30 p.m. central time on Friday and features some good, though mostly adult-alternative, bands. Included in this year's lineup are Pearl Jam, Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals, Amy Winehouse, Modest Mouse, Patti Smith, The Black Keys, Spoon … Read more

We want to love iPlayer, we really do. The BBC is always trying hard to make sure its content is available to as many people as possible on as many platforms, and we love Auntie for that. iPlayer, which we should point out is still in beta, goes far beyond the services from other broadcasters--the amount of programming on offer is vast, with something for everyone.

But as much as we love the concept, there are a few things we hate about iPlayer in practice. Here are the five key things we think need changing before the final iPlayer release. … Read more

During football season, there are really only two times of day: game time, and the lame 164 or so hours a week when your team isn't playing.

Finally, there's a watch that realizes this. The Pro Sports Schedule Watch comes preloaded with your favorite NFL or MLB team's season schedule.

These $130 watches aren't one-year wonders, either. The USB-compatible watch can download future schedules from the Web, so you'll always have the current schedule on your wrist.

When it's game time, the watch plays "The Star Spangled Banner" for football games or &… Read more

According to this story in the Los Angeles Times, the semi-classic car featured in Back to the Future may be primed for a limited-run comeback.

DeLorean Motor Co. Vice President James Espey has 200 of the original V-6 engines in stock. While DeLorean Motor Co. still stays in business refurbishing and servicing early-1980s DeLoreans, Espey says they may start building new ones from the stock parts in the next few years.

Don't expect to see new DeLoreans all over the place. If it happens, Espey is quoted as saying new car production will be limited to about 20 per … Read more

Levitating TVs are nice, if a bit nerve-wracking. Levitating globes are great if you're planning world domination.

But what about in-home object levitation for the rest of us television-boycotting, non-geography-loving types?

It's not new, but the IFO 3000 fills in that gap nicely, offering desktop (actual desktop, not computer desktop) levitation for such items as picture frames, Mini Coopers, and alarm clocks. And, yes, globes. For good measure.

The IFO 3000 does not come with a wizard who makes objects levitate via witchcraft. Instead, magnetic fields are to blame for all the levitation action.

Again, it's nothing new, … Read more