For 90 years, lightbulbs were designed to burn out. Now that's coming to LED bulbs.


In 1924, representatives of the world's leading lightbulb manufacturers formed Phoebus, a cartel that fixed the average life of an incandescent bulb at 1,000 hours, ensuring that people would have to regularly buy bulbs and keep the manufacturers in business. But hardware store LED bulbs have a typical duty-cycle of 25,000 hours -- meaning that the average American household will only have to buy new bulbs ever 42 years or so.

boingboing.net

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48 Hours on the Dark Side of Las Vegas


Penthouse orgies fueled by pill-pushing hotel employees. A drug house stocked with sex slaves. Hidden homeless encampments underneath the casinos. A shockingly personal investigation shows the real Sin City is even seedier than you imagined.

There is a tension in the crowd, a sizzling silence as words and cheers cut short and all eyes focus on the same point, everyone holding their breath, every jaw and fist clenched like in the final moments before a fight, as if everyone is about to explode at once. More people are huddling around the table now, closer to the action, pushing against one another until there are no distinct bodies anymore but rather a single compacted entity made of suits and cleavages and spilled glasses, a wordless human volcano ready to erupt under the wary watch of the floor muscle, the entire casino going silent as the wheel spins and spins and spins. “Black eleven,” the croupier announces as the ball stops in a jolt. And the volcano goes off. A deafening cry of victory immediately surges from the crowd’s collective throat. Strangers shout at the top of their lungs until their lungs are shut out of air. You can feel the heat being released like lava and undulating over the cheering people. You can feel it in the timeless night – or is it day? – and in the vodka-infused breaths, as heads go lighter when the chips totaling more than $250,000 get counted and pushed toward the winner. “Vegas, baby!” someone yells.

narrative.ly

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Sweden asks to meet Julian Assange inside Ecuador embassy


Ecuador has received a formal request from the Swedish authorities to interview Julian Assange, inside its London embassy, in a potential breakthrough to the long-running saga. The WikiLeaks founder, 44, is wanted for questioning over a 2010 rape allegation in Sweden, which he has always denied. He has been living inside Ecuador’s UK mission for four years in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden, saying he fears he would then be transferred to the US to face political charges for orchestrating leaks of diplomatic cables.

theguardian.com

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Kroatische Polizei nimmt Penis-Sammler fest


Die kroatische Polizei hat in der Stadt Slavonski Brod im Osten des Landes einen bizarren Fund gemacht: Sie nahm einen Mann fest, der eine Kollektion von Penissen hatte. Die Körperteile waren in Glasbehältern in Formaldehyd eingelegt.

derstandard.at

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Ultimate Close Call Compilation


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Americans now 'racist' for waving American flag


Americans now are being blasted as “racist” for the simple act of waving an American flag.

It happened Monday in California to a small group of protesters who waved U.S. flags in front of a school where officials had banned the practice to avoid violence threatened by Hispanic students celebrating Cinco de Mayo.

wnd.com

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Tokyo's Toilet Cleaning Social Club


A group of adults and children assemble at a public toilet near a station in Tokyo on a Sunday morning at 6am.

They're here to scrub it clean - from top to bottom.

Urinals and toilets are the first targets, then it's the turn of the walls, the sinks and the floor.

By 7:30am, they are gone, leaving behind them a gleaming public toilet, looking as good as the day it was installed.

wtvy.com

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Man steals 200 bicycle seats: “I wanted to smell them.”


We love documenting the intriguing fetishes that exist out there — and be sure, we don’t do out of any sense of judging! Quite the opposite, we are kind of celebrating difference.

Anyway, another example has just come to light.

A man was arrested in Kanagawa prefecture over the weekend for stealing. Nothing new in that, except that he stole bicycle seats. A lot of them. 200 of them.

tokyokinky.com

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Selbst geflickte Luftmatratze: Falsch repariert, fies explodiert


Die Explosion war so heftig, dass Ziegel vom Dach fielen: Ein Mann aus dem niedersächsischen Barver reparierte seine Luftmatratze mit einem Dichtmittel für Autoreifen. Beim Aufpumpen flog sie ihm dann um die Ohren - und verwüstete sein Haus.

Barver - Eine falsch geflickte Luftmatratze ist einem Mann aus Niedersachsen zum Verhängnis geworden. Beim Aufpumpen explodierte sie und richtete im Haus großen Schaden an. Ursache war offenbar ein gefährliches Gas-Luft-Gemisch: Der 41-Jährige hatte bei der Reparatur ein Dichtmittel für Autoreifen benutzt.

spiegel.de

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Hollister-Mitarbeiter dürfen allein zur Toilette


Was in den meisten Firmen selbstverständlich ist, mussten Angestellte der Modekette Hollister erstreiten. Sie dürfen künftig auch ohne Begleitung durch Wachleute die Toilette aufsuchen. Die Einigung gilt jedoch bislang nur für eine Hollister-Filiale.

spiegel.de

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Welcome to the future: New Zealand approves permit for jet pack


We could all be flying around on jet packs sometime soon—we just have to pony up $150,000.

New Zealand and Australian media reported Tuesday that the country’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has granted approval to the Martin Aircraft Company for an “Experimental Flight Permit,” which could pave the way for broad commercial sales.

arstechnica.com mashable.com

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Toter Hai in New Yorker U-Bahn-Wagen entdeckt


Eine stinkende Überraschung erlebten New Yorker, die am frühen Mittwochmorgen (Ortszeit) die U-Bahn von Coney Island nach Queens benutzten. In einem Wagen lag ein toter Hai, nach Augenzeugenberichten ungefähr einen Meter lang. Wie das Tier dort hinkam, sei ein Rätsel, berichteten mehrere US-TV-Sender.

derstandard.at

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